Sound + Image May - June 2021

24 years with Stephen Dawson Our big sports-themed audio-visual focus this issue coincides with a sad moment — the last equipment reviews by Stephen Dawson that will appear in Sound+Image for the foreseeable future. Stephen is moving on to pastures new, undertaking a commercial writing gig which will preclude him writing for us. His new employers can congratulate themselves on obtaining the services of one of Australia’s very top rank of technical reviewers. Stephen has been writing for Sound+Image for 24 years (thereby tragically missing out on his silver Cartier watch by mere months), during which time his reviews and features have informed readers and manufacturers alike with his accuracy in fact-checking the puffery of public relations, and his delivery of honest and reasoned opinions on both new products and new technologies. Many…

This issue we talk with Tony Stantzos of Audio Solutions, the destination hi-fi store in Mascot, Sydney. SOUND+IMAGE: The challenges of the last year have been huge for everyone. How did you fare? TONY STANTZOS: For us, to be honest, look, we can’t really complain. We had a very reasonable year. We were pretty much open all the way through — we obviously followed the protocols, you know: sanitise your hands, only a few people in the shop in any given room at any time. But what changed was the balance between the three sides of the business — two-channel, home theatre and the real custom stuff. I’d say that 20% of it was in theatre and custom, and the other 80% was in mid to high-end two-channel. That’s a huge switch. S+I:…

This award-winning installation by The Digital Picture in Queensland’s Gold Coast delivered the ultimate ‘man cave’ with a 174-inch screen for watching sports and movies. The acoustically-transparent screen allows a discreet installation of three Krix Pix speakers behind the screen, along with two Cyclonix Passive subwoofers which were mounted to the ceiling at midpoints on the left and right sides of the room, and Krix Megaphonix speakers for side surround and overhead. Megaphonix Centres were mounted inconspicuously at the back of the room as rear surrounds. Trinnov processing and Emotiva/Yamaha amplification complete the 7.2.4-channel sound system (which can also play two-channel music “to immense sound pressure levels”). For more examples of thrilling custom installation havens perfect for sports fans, turn to page 34. We live in interesting times, as the oft-quoted but…

You can spend $1500, $15,000 or $150,000 on a projection system. What makes the difference? Budget: There are some amazing bargains in the projector world if you stick with full-HD resolution of 1920 x 1080. Indeed you can go even lower and still enjoy a big-screen image — portable and pico-sized projectors may use only WVGA resolution (1280 x 800) but can still be fun for a quick set-up, or for use on holiday, even when you’re camping, with some able to operate on battery power and using mobile-streamed video as a source. But at home a full-HD projector is the minimum to avoid the ‘flyscreen’ effect of visible pixels. For best results, you should budget for a screen; projecting on a wall may look good at first, but once you…

Let’s start with Samsung, which has plunged its fingers into the pies of multiple new screen technologies in recent years — and now has a potential ace up its sleeve for 2022. This year will see the launch of the first consumer model using the front-emissive Micro LED technology, along with ‘Neo QLEDs’ using astonishingly small Mini LED backlights claimed to be a mere one-fortieth the size of current LED backlights. (Look for ‘QN’ model numbers for the TVs which use Neo QLED.) Plus there’s finally news of the long-awaited QD-OLED front-emissive technology TVs getting into production late this year. The 110-inch Samsung Micro LED pictured above is certainly groundbreaking, taking the technology used in the previously available modular commercial ‘The Wall’ screen and using it in a single-panel TV. Despite being so…

LG Electronics has Mini LED as well, under the name of ‘QNED’ models that combine Mini-LED backlights with Quantum Dot and NanoCell technologies (shown above). Top of the range will be an 86-inch 8K model claiming nearly 30,000 Mini LEDs and 2500 independent dimming zones, also featuring the top-of-the-range Alpha 9 Gen 4 processor, which will also provide the smarts for the newest LG OLED TV models in the Z1, G1 and C1 series, and in two LG NanoCell models (without the micro LEDs). It’s perhaps ironic that LG’s QNEDs add quantum dots to the existing NanoCell structure, given rival Samsung has always led the QD charge, while LG has championed OLED. By next year Samsung should have QD OLED (under the altered name of QD Display), while with QNED now…