Tagged: home cinema

Most budget subs sound worse the harder you push them because of built-in limiter behaviour, not the driver. Here's how to find the real ceiling.

Vinyl and a dedicated Atmos set-up can share a room, but rarely share a rack. Here's why, and what I'd actually do about it.

The subwoofer crawl is a good starting point, not a finish line. Here's how I actually locate sub placement on real jobs, and when to trust the numbers instead.

Headphones bypass room acoustics for the direct sound, but the room you sit in still shapes fatigue, focus and what you hear. Here's why.

Choosing between standmounts and floorstanders isn't about budget or looks. It's a room-shape and listening-distance decision, and I've watched it wreck good systems.

Most Atmos height channels underperform because of placement, not gear. Here's how to actually get overhead sound working in a real room.

Jitter gets blamed for everything from harsh treble to flat soundstages. Here's what clock sources actually do in an AV receiver and where the worry is misplaced.

A second subwoofer often solves bass problems that EQ can't touch. Here's why multiple subs smooth response across a room, not just at one seat.

DSP can fix room-driven bass problems no amount of placement tweaking will solve. Theo Mensah explains what the tools actually do and how to use them without making things worse.

Atmos promises to place sound anywhere in three dimensions. Here's the engineering behind it — and where the format's limits actually are.

Room modes cause boomy, uneven bass in almost every listening room. Jonno Fraser explains what they are, how to find them, and what actually fixes the problem.

Getting a subwoofer to truly disappear into your system is harder than it looks. Here's how to dial in level, phase and time alignment so the bass sounds like it's coming from everywhere and nowhere.

The DAC chip is only half the story. What the output stage does to that signal — and how it interacts with your amp — matters just as much.

Crossover frequency, slope, and phase — Marcus Vale cuts through the confusion with measurement-backed advice on dialling in your subwoofer correctly.

Jitter, clocking and word-clock inputs: do they matter in a home cinema system, or is it audiophile folklore? Jonno Fraser cuts through the noise.

Room modes wreck bass regardless of placement. Here's how to use DSP equalisation to actually fix the problem — and where it can't save you.

Cables, equipment racks and power conditioning: Jonno Fraser cuts through the folklore to explain where your dollars genuinely improve a home cinema or hi-fi system.

Good bass isn't about buying a bigger sub — it's about where you put it. Priya Anand explains the practical art of subwoofer placement for real listening rooms.

Running a single subwoofer is leaving bass performance on the table. Sofia Laurent explains the acoustic case for multiple subs — and how to do it properly.

Sealed and ported subwoofers behave very differently in a real room. Here's how to choose the right design before you spend a cent.

Screen gain, acoustic transparency, and placement aren't independent decisions. Here's how to choose a projector screen that works with your speakers, not against them.

Crossed over wrong, a subwoofer makes everything worse. Theo Mensah breaks down bass management, crossover settings and placement so your sub actually locks in.

Dirac Live, Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and Yamaha YPAO all promise to fix your room — but each works differently. Here's how to get the best from whichever system you have.

AV receivers and dedicated processors both decode Atmos — but the engineering tradeoffs are real. Marcus Vale breaks down what the measurements actually tell you.

Jonno Fraser breaks down how to correctly position every Dolby Atmos speaker channel — from the LCR front stage to overhead heights — in a real home cinema room.

dCS unveils its first-ever multichannel DAC at High End Vienna 2026 — eight stereo Ring DACs, discrete Class A outputs, and a question worth asking: is this the future of high-end home cinema?

AWOL Vision's new Aetherion Max and Pro UST projectors bring tri-laser DLP, Dolby Vision Gaming and 240Hz to the laser TV fight. Here's what AU buyers need to know.

Hisense unveiled the XR10 long-throw and PX4-Pro UST at CES 2026, pushing its TriChroma RGB laser line further than ever. Here's what AU buyers need to know.

BenQ's W5850 brings laser/phosphor to the W5800 formula at US$6,999. Is the step up worth it for serious Australian cinema rooms?

The Valerion VisionMaster Max brings tri-laser DLP, Dolby Vision and 110% Rec.2020 to Australian lounge rooms for around AUD $3,896. Sofia Laurent investigates.

XGIMI's TITAN Noir Max debuts at CES 2026 with RGB triple-laser, a dual-iris contrast system and up to 100,000:1 dynamic contrast. Here's what AU buyers need to know.

JVC's BLU-Escent laser D-ILA range — from the compact NZ500 to the 8K e-shiftX NZ900 — continues to define premium projection heading into 2026.

Epson's Q-series flagship QB1000 is now established in Australia at AUD $11,900. We dig into whether it truly resets the benchmark below $12k.

Marantz slots a new mid-tier separates pairing beneath its flagship AV 10 and AV 20, with an 11.4-channel processor and 6-channel Class D amplifier, both priced at US$4,000.

Yamaha's new entry-level RX300A and RX500A AV receivers inherit the flagship AVENTAGE A.R.T. Wedge — a rare and meaningful trickle-down at under $600 USD.

Denon refreshes its mid-tier X-Series with the AVR-X2900H and AVC-X3900H, bringing Dirac Live, Auro-3D, IMAX Enhanced and wireless rear channels to the mainstream.

HARMAN expands Arcam's Radia family into home cinema with three AV receivers, a 16-channel processor and two power amps — all landing in Australia Q3 2026.

Onkyo unveiled a 15-channel THX Dominus processor and new receiver line at CES 2026, signalling a serious return to the AV separates market.

JBL Synthesis unveiled two new processors and a flagship receiver at ISE 2026. Here's what the SDR-40, SDP-60 and SDP-70 mean for serious Australian home-cinema buyers.

HDMI 2.2 doubles bandwidth to 96 Gbps, introduces the Ultra96 cable and a new latency protocol. Here's what it means for Australian home cinema buyers right now.

LG's Sound Suite H7 is the world's first soundbar powered by Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, promising adaptive spatial audio across up to 27 speaker configurations for US$999.99.

Dirac's 3.14.1 and 3.14.3 releases retire the old DLCT and expand ART support. Here's what changed, why it matters, and what AU buyers need to know.

miniDSP's Tide16 bundles Dirac Live Room Correction, Bass Control and ART in a standalone 16-channel processor. Marcus Vale unpacks what that means.

SVS debuted its biggest 3000-series overhaul in over 20 years at CES 2026. Here's what the R|Evolution means for Australian buyers.

SVS debuts its first-ever soundbar at CES 2026, pairing Dolby Atmos with a 600W wireless sub — and the 3000 Micro R|Evolution is already in AU.

REL's new Planar series breaks from the box format with two slim, wall-mountable subwoofers just 5.7 inches deep. Here's what it means for AU buyers.

CEDIA's 2026 Australian calendar is locked in: the Tech Summit and Smart Home Awards head to the Gold Coast in late October.

KEF's new Ci5120QLM-THX and Ci3120QLM-THX bring Uni-Q with MAT and THX certification to the in-wall space. Here's what AU buyers need to know.

ISE 2026 confirmed what many of us have suspected: microLED and RGB laser are rewriting the rules of residential cinema. Here's what it means for Australian buyers.

Samsung's R95H and R85H series bring RGB mini-LED LCD down to $1,599 at CES 2026 — a genuine shift in big-screen home cinema value.

Dirac Live ART uses MIMO technology to let speakers work as a coordinated acoustic network, reducing low-frequency decay — and it's now in a $3,500 miniDSP unit. Here's what it means for AU buyers.

WiSA Technologies launched a three-module WiSA E ecosystem at CES 2026. Here's what it means for wireless home theatre in Australia.