New Projectors

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Michael's Updated Projector Opinions

Following on from listening to the new Anthem amplifiers I spent an enjoyable couple of hours with the new Sim2 projector, the Crystal Cube. While Sim2 are well known for very high end projectors from 10k plus this will be their biggest seller, the entry level to Sim performance. The previous Crystal model was very successful however this is a jump up again.

Why Crystal Cube? How cool does it look? Italian design at it's very best

Firing up the Cube the lack of fan noise is immediately obvious. You can hear it when you get close but in real world conditions it is very very quiet. The picture is bright, 2300 lumens is high, and the colours are vivid. I immediately played 1080p blu ray material featuring some very bright snow scenes and some very dark concert scenes. Detail in these is very difficult to produce. You can't project black so the contrast has to be good. White scenes are immediately impressive on a bright projector but look closer and again details are missing or blurred if the contrast isnt really good. Fast moving scenes are another test. The image can stutter and blur if the processing isnt fast enough, and the Crystal was also very good in this area.

Projector specifications have increased dramatically in the past 10 years, to the point where you wonder what is the difference in a projector at £999 and £ 9999 as they read the same. Here is an analogy to explain part of the problem. Your phone probably has a camera with lots of mega pixels. We compare phone cameras' pixels to see how good they are, we have gone from 1Mp to 2, 5 , 10 and still the pictures they take are not as good as a proper camera. This is because the little plastic lens in your camera is usually rubbish, although not a problem when viewing it on a tiny screen. Think how important the lens is when you are projecting a picture between 7 and 10 feet wide! To have the complete projector everything has to be right, the lens, the light engine, the chip resolution, speed, processing power, everything makes a difference.

Back to the Crystal Cube, although described as 3D it is supplied without an optional 3D pack to keep the price down. Many of my clients are ambivalent about 3D anyway as it mostly applies to children's movies. In a cheaper projector 3D is thrown in as standard, here you can make a choice as doing 3D correctly is expensive, not a throwaway. £700 extra for the transmitter and glasses package. Aggressively priced at £ 4500 this Sim will dominate this part of the market. I very much like some Themescenes and Epsons for the performance package you get for the lower prices, but this is a higher level in every way and fully deserves to sell very well. 

Let's have a quick summary of the current state of the projector market:

Level 1 Get started with a Themescene HD33, great value at £ 1199

Level 2 THE NEW Epson 9200 is superb. Well worth £ 2699 for the picture and with a 3 year lamp warranty it's a no-brainer If wiring is a problem then add £300 for the wireless version

Level 3 Sim2 Crystal Cube, outstanding performance, a serious projector at not mad mad money

Level 4 Thinking 4K? Maybe a Sony VPL VW500 ES for £ 8799 to give you future proofing with NATIVE 4K

Level 5 Back to Sim2 and the ultimate most exquisite pictures you've ever seen! £12995, £ 18995, £27995, £ 33995, amazing!

Any questions? You are welcome to drop me a line. The blog is a good outline but I can give you more help on any of these projectors

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Naim Statement

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So Christmas is over for another year, hogmanay has come and gone, and we all look forward to a new year with exciting new products to breathe new life into our music collection.

Only 8 days in comes the daddy of all announcements from Naim Audio. So if you have spent the holidays wondering how to use that money burning a hole in your consciousness here is a solution for you.

The link below will take you to an introductory video for Naim Statement, a completely new amplifier built without compromise and with no expense spared to be the best you can buy. Every part is chosen, matched, cherished, and assembled into a monolithic design treat. It looks fantastic, and I trust it will sound just as good!

Watch Statement video

I almost forgot the price!

You dont need to know do you?

How should I describe it?

Its the same as 83,000 Tesco Meal Deals,

12,500 copies of the new Bruce Springsteen Cd,

373 season tickets for Ulster Rugby at Ravenhill

31 Sony 65" 4k televisions from Lyric Hifi

or

1 new Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet

&nbsp ;

Deposits now being taken for August deliveries,

Do drop me a line with any thoughts about it!!

Just use Contact Us above, Thanks 

A better AV amplifier?

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Spent an interesting day looking at the latest developments in projectors, av amps, and set-ups with Tom Garrett from Anthem. Tom is something of an AV guru in this industry, and even if you don't always agree with him his knowledge of products and setting them up is encyclopedic. Can't think of anyone else with so much geeky information stored up there, o his poor wife! Actually she's great too. 

Anthem is a Canadian company who's reputation for ground breaking av amps has been growing exponentially for a few years now. They are the outstanding pioneers of an auto setup that actuall y works. Anthem Room Correction, ARC, is their system and it measures your speakers responses and balances not only levels but frequencies for the best real world performance you can have in your room. While Anthem pioneered this others have copied it at lower prices less successfully. Remember though that a perfectly balanced rubbish system is still a rubbish system! Anthem started way way above the competition and their new amps have raised the bar again. They sound really good and then ARC makes them better again.

With amplifier combinations going up into 5 figure bills I have long regarded their technology as unsurpassed at the top of the tree, the new line makes this same technology available to you and me.

How can this be I hear to ask, well read on.....

There are 3 new amplifiers, MRX310, 510, and 710. These are nicely styled, understated compared to the brash boys from mainstream japanese offerings, very solidly put together, and cleverly designed.

The case and main chassis of all 3 amplifiers are identical, saving a fortune on tooling and allowing the volume sales of all 3 in total to keep the price of all of them down. A lesson learned from BMW with a 3 series from 316 to 330 and all of them great, just pick your preferred level.

The MRX 310 is great value for just £ 1199. There is nothing to touch it at this price. Both audio and video processing are just so good. The power is a generous 80 watts by 5, and ARC, 7 HDMI inputs, 2 HDMI outputs, and 4k upscaling and pass through are all included.

If you want to go out from any Denon/Yamaha/Pioneer/Onkyo/Rotel/Marantz and give your system masses more clarity and dynamics then this is your first port of call.

 Why go to a 510 then? Well it sounds better again. Facilities/connections are almost identical, more than you need, the real difference is that power and control improves with a seven channel by true 100 watt power amplifier section. This can also be easily configured to bi-amp your front speakers, so with proper hifi speakers it really boogies, loud, clear, and tuneful. A £ 1599 snip.

So if the 510 is so good why flash the cash for the £2199 MRX710. There is one big reason. True stereo hifi amplifiers use low vibration high current toroidal transformers to supply greater dynamics, and so does the 710. It's another noticeable jump in performance for the extra £500. 

And if you want to further you can add more power amplifiers to any of the three models, giving a sensible and logical upgrade path when you want to take it further.

So which will Lyric sell most of? Interesting to see how it pans out, my prediction is that many people thinking of a £ 700-1000 japanese amp will push the boat out for the kudos of owning an Anthem and go for the £1199 MRX310, and that many people looking at £1300-2000 will equally push the boat out for the £2199 MRX710. We will sell mostly 310s, then 710s, then 510s

Pics to follow soon, along with the rest of the story with Tom and I looking at a new projector. Finished by this weekend, probably. Didnt work out that way, follow on projector blog to come.

Rega Design Award

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International Designers Sir Jony Ive from Apple and Marc New son were charged with choosing the ' 18 Greatest Designs of all time' for the RED Auction on 23rd November at Sotheby's.

Iconic designs such as the NASA Spacesuit and the Airstream caravan are a given, but a surprise inclusion is the Rega RP8 turntable! While I think it's skeletal design is wonderful it's superb to see independent authorities like these from outside the hifi business agreeing!

These link s give more info, buy from the auction for the autographed version, only £ 5000, &nbsp ;or order one from Lyric Hifi, from £ 1598 depending on the cartridge.

Sotheby's RED auction catalogue 

18 Greatest Designs