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First Tests

Twelve pages of the hottest new products on the shelves in the world of sound and vision…

Tests

Blu-ray Supertest p34

Supertest Blu-ray players £200-£350 p34 It’s an exciting year for Blu-ray players, which have evolved into feature-rich entertainment hubs. Here are six of 2012’s best at less than £350

p6

Onkyo’s £1000 home cinema amplifier p10

We get our hands on Pure’s new AirPlay dock p11

The stylish and smart Sony KDL-32HX753

Mega-roundup – big TVs p48 We look at 10 massive-screened sets in this roundup, ranging from a ‘modest’ 50 inches to a supersize screen of 70 inches

Analogue interconnects p66 These nine analogue interconnects prove that it’s the small things that make all the difference

DACs p77

We’ve tested five big-name DACs that will do wonders for your digital music collection.

Temptations Five pages of high-end kit p82 Unison Research’s valve amplifier is a retro hit, while Neat’s small standmounters hit big p16

Go wireless with these iT7 Audio headphones

Temptations p82

4 www.whathifi.com p16 Get portable with the snazzy Big Jambox

Our ratings explained We always test products as a team, and always compare them with their peers – which is why our ratings are the most authoritative in the industry

Stunning all-rounder Well worth considering Decent Disappointing Awful

★★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★ ★

If it’s one of our winners, you know it’s top quality First Test p6 Powerful and muscular with impressive refinement, this amp is hugely likeable

Temptations p82 The kind of immersion delivered by these speakers is unusual – they’re addictive

A-Z of kit tested Televisions LG 55LM960V £2500 p54 Panasonic TX-P50GT50 £1500 p49 Panasonic TX-P65ST50 £2400 p62 Philips 50PFL7956T £2000 p52 Samsung P51E550 £850 p50 Samsung UE55ES8000 £2500 p55 Samsung UE64E8000 £3000 p60 Sharp LC-70LE741E £2500 p64 Sony KDL-32HX753 £700 p11 Sony KDL-55HX853 £1800 p56 Toshiba 55ZL2 £7000 p59

Home cinema Blu-ray players LG HR925M £350 p36 Panasonic DMP-BDT320 £200 p37 Panasonic DMP-BDT500 £300 p38 Pioneer BD-LX55 £300 p40 Samsung BD-E8500 £300 p41 Sony BDP-S790 £230 p42

Surround amplifiers Onkyo TX-NR818 £1000 p6

Hi-Fi CD player Cyrus CD8 SE2 £1200 p20

DACs Arcam rDAC £380 p78 Asus Xonar Essence One £350 p78 Heed Dactilus 3 £515 p79 Musical Fidelity M1DAC £400 p79 Rega DAC £500 p81

iPod docks Jawbone Big Jambox £260 p16 Pure Contour 200i Air £200 p10

Integrated amplifiers Audio Analogue Crescendo £595 p22 Sansui SAP-201V £300 p10 Unison Reserach Simply Italy £1495 p86

DACs p77 Analogue interconnects p66

Tannoy Revolution DC6T SE p11

Stereo speakers MAD 1920 £1350 p25 Neat Ultimatum XLS £4500 p82 Tannoy Revolution DC6T SE £950 p11

Streaming services Rdio £4.99/month p23

Turntables Pro-ject Debut Carbon £300 p12

Wireless speakers Audio Pro LV2e £700 p22

All in one systems Blu-ray systems Sony BDV-N590 £400 p19

Digital media devices Freeview HD PVRs Samsung STB-E7500M £270 p14

Accessories Analogue interconnects Audioquest Evergreen £29 p66 Black Rhodium Opus £49 p66 Chord Crimson Plus £45 p66 Ecosse The Composer £37 p66 Merlin Mozart £40 p67 QED Performance Audio 2 £40 p67 TCI Viper II £45 p67 Van den Hul The Name £59 p67 Wireworld Luna 6 £37 p67

Headphones Harman Kardon CL £170 p12 iT7 Audio iT7x £150 p16 Headphone amplifiers Edwards Audio HA1 £280 p25

Racks Hi-fi racks Akorner £930 p25

CONTENTS

Playlist p89 Dynamic and lyrical, playful or intense, the Nitin Sawhney album is a real system test

Features system builder Stereo amplifier advice p46 This small but stylish Heed Obelisk si integrated amplifier delivers seriously good hi-fi sound, and is a fantastic starting point for your system. Here we show you how you can partner it in three different ways: with a CD player, a turntable, or a state-of-the art streaming system.

Every month

Insider: Google on the rise p26 This issue sees Google launching new devices to rival the Apple iPad, and crossing the threshold into the living room with Google TV

Subscriptions p30

Every new subscriber will get SoundScience QSB desktop speakers worth £90

Best Buys

What to buy and what to partner it with. We’ve assembled our favourite products into some fantastic complete systems p33

Playlist p88

Nitin Sawhney and the London Symphony Orchestra re-score Hitchcock’s The Lodger, but can Disney’s John Carter live up to its hype?

Advice Centre p70

Our team of experts deal with your queries and show how to get the best from your kit

Competition p92

Win a great pair of Acoustic Energy speakers

Buyer’s Guide

The ultimate AV bible p91 Over 1500 products tested and rated

For a full list of specifications and other useful info visit whathifi.com www.whathifi.com 5