Home Cinema Choice Autumn 2022

Epic fantasy TV series are like buses. No sooner had we sat down to feast on HBO's House of the Dragon, we were gearing up for Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Both shows are gorgeous, high-budget drama, although it's the Tolkien adaptation that most astonishes. Of course, this series' success won't be judged on it making a profit. It just needs to keep Amazon's subscriber numbers ticking over. The world of cinema is more fickle. Consider 1997 sci-fi Event Horizon (p94). Made for a reported $60m, its studio panicked when the first cut was deemed too long and too scary, and insisted on a severe edit. Box office takings for the finished movie then fell short of expectation, earning it, and director Paul W.S. Anderson, the dreaded…

➜ NEWS HIGHLIGHTS REL Two more premium subwoofers from the bass specialist PRIMARE Swedish corp is back in the AV receiver game PSB Synchrony speakers mark brand's 50th anniversary BLUESOUND Compact Powernode Edge amplifier AT THE PLEX This month's cinema releases TOP GUN: MAVERICK 4K Blu-ray will ride back into the danger zone & MORE! Philips says its new OLED+907, which will launch at 48in, 55in and 65in screen sizes, shows it has listened to popular demand – the TV, which integrates a 3.1-channel Bowers & Wilkins sound solution 'within the overall silhouette of the set', mirrors the design of the 2018-era OLED+903 model. Bass weight is provided by four rearmounted woofers, while the Ambilight iteration is three-sided. The screen also gets the 'Royal' flavour of OLED EX panel,…

PSB Synchrony ➜ psbspeakers.com PSB has marked its 50th birthday with the launch of a new flagship loudspeaker series. Dubbed Synchrony, it comprises the T800 (£9,999-per-pair, pictured) and T600 (£7,999p/p) floorstander models, plus B600 bookshelf/standmounts (£2,999p/p). Features shared across the trio include woven carbon fibre woofers, 1in titanium dome tweeters, and braced, 'low-resonance' MDF cabinets with decoupled aluminium baffles. Suggested centre channel partners are models in PSB's PWM series.…

Prey (Disney+) If you haven’t done so yet, this brutal and brilliant Predator prequel merits a re-watch in its Comanche language incarnation. Dog Soldiers (4K BD) Loaded with extras and looking better than ever, Second Sight’s UHD is the definitive release of Neil Marshall’s action-horror romp. Resident Alien: S1 (BD) Alan Tudyk takes centre stage as an alien masquerading (badly) as a human in this comic sci-fi/ murder-mystery mashup. Explorer (BD) Go on a journey like no other with this fascinating documentary portrait of legendary explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes. The Midwich Cuckoos (BD) Sky’s compelling update of John Wyndham’s classic sci-fi chiller is now available to own on Blu-ray.…

Earlier this year (HCC #331) we looked at the A35.8, an eight-channel power amplifier from Primare that was its first multichannel model in nearly a decade. Although also targeted at hi-fi fans seeking to make use of its flexible amp configuration, did it perhaps show the Swedish brand returning to the home cinema arena? It certainly looks that way now, as Primare has announced a new AV receiver model, the SPA25, coming to market this November. It also says there are dedicated multichannel processors on the roadmap for 2023. Dressed up to the nines The receiver copies the 'elegantly simple design' of the rest of Primare's current models, the A35.8 amplifier in particular. It also shares that model's flavour of UFPD2 (Ultra Fast Power Device) Class D amplification, rated in…

Philips' has now officially unveiled its Fidelio FS1 wireless smart speaker, part of the same ecosystem as its FB1 soundbar (HCC #334). Two FS1s can be added to the 'bar to handle surround/rear Atmos channels for discrete multichannel playback. Alternatively, it can function as a single three-way speaker, or in a stereo pair, using DTS Play-Fi to access streamed content. Courtesy of rear-facing LEDs, it can even be used as an expansion of an Ambilight TV. Pricing and launch date are TBC. www.philips.co.uk…