Australia’s Smartest Homes
Watch the sunset over Sydney Harbour — or enjoy a feast of distributed entertainment in the first of our two featured smart homes this issue. The Silent Butler transforms a four-level house in Sydney, while on page 80 Smart Systems automates a Melbourne home to suit the Jewish Sabbath...
10 Steps to3D
FULL REVIEWS OF THE LATEST 3D TELEVISIONS IN AUSTRALIA
- PANASONIC Viera TH-P50VT20Aplasma 3D TV and DMP-BDT300 3D Blu-ray player
- LG Infinia 47LX9500 3D TV
- SONY Bravia KDL40HX800 3D TV
- PLUS all you need to know about receivers, cables and kit in our ‘10 Steps to 3D’ feature
- AND our review of the first 3D Blu-ray movie available
equipment reviews
GROUP TEST: 3D TELEVISIONS
There’s more to 3D television than the new dimension — most of the time you’ll be watching in 2D, so you need a screen that does justice to both...
Panasonic 50-inch Viera 3D
We take a detailed look at Panasonic’s first 3D plasma TV, together with the company’s 3D Blu-ray player and TV-based Skype too!
LG 47-inch Infinia 3D
LG’s 3D LCD TV uses LED backlighting to thrilling effect — the company’s best TV ever?
Sony 40-inch Bravia 3D
Sony’s TV uses LED edge lighting behind its LCD, and adds 3D with an attached transitter
Oppo BDP-80 Blu-ray player
Oppo calls this a Universal Disc Player, since it can handle Blu-ray, DVD, CD and even SACD and DVD Audio — one player to spin them all
Telstra T-Box
Telstra takes on the PVR market with an entrylevel offering that’s packed with new media abilities including movie streaming and web TV
Creek Evolution 5350 amp
The company’s highest-powered amplifier brings some smart tech and smooth sounds
GROUP TEST SUBWOOFERS
Eight subwoofers compete in our bass race for extension, output and musicality while supplementing music and movies in a surround system. Greg Borrowman tweaks the crossovers and calibrates the seismograph...
- Energy ESW-M8
- Helsyn SUB10
- Klipsch Icon XW500d
- Krix Volcanix
- Richter Thor MkIV
- Swans Sub10
- Tannoy TS1201
- Yamaha YST-SW515
- Conclusion and specs
Departments
Ed Lines
The Editor stops worrying about 3D TV and wonders about Ultraviolet and 4D audio instead
News
All TV receivers will require a parental lock from February, says Australia’s ACMA — but they admit it may cause blank recordings on PVRs... Arcam claims the new rDAC “does it properly”... New AV receivers released by Yamaha and Denon... plus 100GB Blu-ray Discs, Polk on-wall speakers and the latest media servers
Column: SoundOff
The media revolution in television is creating a confusion of competition over available content, reckons Derek Powell
SUBSCRIBE & WIN!
Our subscriptions team goes bonkers, offering half-price subscriptions and the chance to win a tropical getaway in Port Douglas...
listening & viewing
CD reviews
The Chemical Brothers come over all woozy and The Cat Empire all cinematic, reckons Lesley Sly as she rounds up the latest CD releases
CD replays
Flashing back to some classic releases from Nitin Sawhney, Scott Walker and Marilyn Mazur
Blu-ray reviews
Stephen Dawson ranges from Pixar to pink go-go girls as he dissects the latest Blu-rays
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