Best Buys Audio & AV is loaded to the gills with authoritative reviews on all types of hi-fi and home theatre products, from wireless speakers to valve amplifiers, AV projectors and streaming computer audio – it’s a must-read for those looking to assemble or upgrade their home entertainment systems. By publishing easy-to-read, well researched reviews, Best Buys Audio & AV provides at-a-glance summaries together with detailed reviews by Australia’s most experienced hi-fi and AV teams from Sound+Image and Australian Hi-Fi magazines.

Best Buys Audio & AV

THE HI–FI HEADLINES • NEWSLETTER No. 250

The perfect blend of Performance and Value

BENQ GS2 PORTABLE LED PROJECTOR • A packaway portable projector capable of creating bigscreen entertainment wherever you go, even on battery power. So cool!

EPSON EH-TW7100 AV PROJECTOR • Moving up to a full-size projector is the path to truly bigscreen images, and Epson’s ‘4K Pro-UHD’ solution brings brilliant (and eco-friendly) images to your home at an attractive price.

OPTOMA UHD50X AV PROJECTOR • Optoma’s projector delivers very low latency, a boon for gamers, but it’s also no slouch as a home cinema projector either. Is this the perfect choice for combo media rooms?

TCL 65X10 QLED MINI LED 4K TELEVISION • Using small zones of Mini LEDs instead of the usual backlight, TCL succeeds in delivering OLED-quality blacks from an LCD television.

MARANTZ NR1710 NETWORKED AV RECEIVER • Marantz keeps a low lid on this ‘slimline’ Atmos-equipped AV receiver, while the quality and the smart stuff could make it the perfect fit for your music as well as movies.

YAMAHA MUSICCAST BAR 400 SOUNDBAR + SUBWOOFER • Sonically, soundbars live on a scale from hopeless to magnificent. Not only does this Yamaha soundbar inhabit the latter echelons, it’s loaded with MusicCast smarts that give it full music streaming and multiroom abilities.

MusicCast Surround

COGWORKS DESIGN CINEMA SEATING • Comfort is king. And with three new styles of home cinema seats, Cogworks Design goes beyond the A-grade leather to powered reclining and other tempting tech.

AQUA LA SCALA MKII DAC • This is a digital-to-analogue converter with a difference — a valve-equipped preamp, and true resistor-ladder conversion. The resulting musicality is thrilling.

AUDIO-TECHNICA ATH-AWKT ‘KOKUTAN’ HEADPHONES • Good wood is just the beginning of the attention to detail on these superior over-ear headphones that yield sound which delivers its own fine attention to detail in music.

DENON HOME WIRELESS MULTIROOM SYSTEM • Denon’s new trio of wireless speakers use the well-proven HEOS wireless streaming platform, and share a clear and laudable focus on delivering high-quality music.

HARMAN-KARDON CITATION WIRELESS MULTIROOM SYSTEM • This Google-equipped ecosystem of wireless speakers, soundbars and more is a powerful entrant to the world of wireless multiroom audio.

NAIM MU-SO & MU-SO Qb WIRELESS SPEAKERS • The 2nd Generation of Naim’s two genre-busting wireless speakers help them maintain their leading position, boosted by more connectivity and upgraded performance.

QUESTYLE CMA TWELVE DAC + HEADPHONE AMP • As well as a hub and high-quality DAC for your system’s digital sources, Questyle’s CMA Twelve also proved a fine headphone amplifier able to drive even the most esoteric of headphone designs.

STAX SR-009S/SRM-700S EARSPEAKER SYSTEM • Stax is legendary in electrostatic ‘earspeaker’ design, and this combination of earspeaker and driver shows what scintillating sound quality the company can achieve with its statement products.

ARCAM SA30 STEREO AMPLIFIER • Arcam’s amplifier looks traditional enough, but it turns out...