Studios back Toshiba's HD DVD

It looks like the DVD collection and the Onkyo might be obsolete in the not too distant future!

4 studios back Toshiba's HD DVD
REUTERS[ MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2004 02:48:25 PM]
TOKYO: Toshiba said on Monday it had won support for the HD DVD optical disc standard from Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Studios and New Line Cinema, advancing its cause in the battle for the next-generation DVD. Toshiba, with NEC, is promoting a next-generation DVD technology called HD DVD, while Sony and several other giants of the electronics, computer and movie industries are backing a competing standard dubbed Blu-ray. Both technologies use blue lasers, which have shorter wave length than the red lasers used in current DVD equipment, allowing discs to store data at the higher densities needed for high-definition movies and television. Support from US film studios is seen as vital in this format battle, just as it was when the VHS standard prevailed over Sony's Betamax two decades ago. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner, Universal Pictures is a division of General Electric and Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom. Blu-ray has the support of Sony Pictures and the tacit backing of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, recently acquired by a Sony-led consortium. It is also counting on Twentieth Century Fox, which recently joined the Blu-ray Disc Association board.

Only 97 to go.....

It was inevitable that one day the DVDs would hit the bicentennial but the blockbuster sale on the weekend put me over the edge (not having a counter on the DVD List I almost missed the milestone.... Note to self, write XSL to group and count DVD list)

But as Valavien said only 97 to go to the 300 mark!

The Store Line Conspiricy

Ok so I went to the Blockbuster Sale on Saturday... nothing too extraordinary, I went mainly to get Troy (2 Disc Set) which they had for $9.95. I had a bit of a look around but there was nothing much else of note so I headed to the counter only to be caught by the dreaded marketing ploy of bordem. The line was pretty long packed with plenty of Mums and Dads hawling the young ones around trying to find a some more DVDs and Videos to keep the little ones amused during the pending school holidays... So I'm standing in the line for about 15 mins and had nothing better to do but entertain myself perusing the tables of DVDs.

I succumbed to the presure and ended up picking up a couple of DVDs that were on my wish list, Mummy Returns, The (DTS - 2 Disc Set) and Long Kiss Goodnight, The but at least I managed to get out the store for less than $25.

Beware the long line!

Tunes a bit early

I had a day at home on Saturday and managed to get though a few tunes while I was doing some stuff around the house. I had a good listen to Chris Joss on my gear at home after listening to it all week on (fairly dodgy) headphones. I was also in a pretty hyped up mood as Saturday night was the last night of the musical I had some tunes spinning to help :)

You've been spiked just seems to get funkier every time I hear it. And the beats really kick the sound home. Junior Senior have a great album so many awesome beats and tunes, most of the tracks are just fun tracks to dance around the room to. Orbital and the Shirley Bassey remix album just snuck in for good measure. This is a short one because I've got to get ready for the final show tonight! Break a Leg!

Not Something you want to see in a Lift.

The last thing you want to see when hopping into an express lift to the 20th floor is "Starting Windows"

Triple J Grooves

I was up fairly late last night working on some SQL Scripts and I had JJJ playing in the background. roots 'n all were running a Funk & Soul special with some very cool tracks. I would definately recommend streaming the show from Thursday night and checking out some of the funky tunes they had running. They also had Alice Russell and Quantic as guests and Alice Russell's Album Under The Munka Moon has definately moved up on the radar. I'm keen to listen to the whole show and note down some of the awesome tracks.

Chris Joss Funks on in

After searching for the album on the web without much success, I was lucky enough to stumble across it in JB yesterday purely by accidental. It was fairly reasonablely priced so I snapped it up. I always find these CDs a bit of a risk, I'd only heard Discotheque Dancing off the album and although it's a very funky track, I often discover that the rest of the album is not of the same genre. I'm pleased to say that Chris Joss has managed to turn out a excellent album and dispel my fears of owning another 'one track album'. He's maintained the funky theme throughout all the tracks. I've found myself grooving along to the tracks almost unconsciously. In fact even whilst writing this I've got 'A Part in that Show' spinning in the background and I have to consciously stop my head from bopping along and my feet from tapping. There are times (like the track 'Drink me hot') in the album where you could be forgiven for thinking you've slipped in the soundtrack to a 70s Crime fighting show. All the tracks have a very authentic 70s Funk feel to them.

This is one disc that is going to be on high rotation in my collection for a while I think.

I can see more DVDs in the near Future

Well it's that time of year again Blockbuster are having an Ex-Rental sale this weekend! They've been advertising Troy and The Day after Tomorrow from $9.95 so I can sense the DVD collection may be growing :)

Something from Everything else

While this doesn't strickly fall into the theme of this blog I did put a disclaimer of "and everything else". It's getting close to the release of Nintendo's new hand held system the Nintendo DS. Having had all the previous generations of the Gamboy Advance I'm very keen to get my hands on the new little gadget.

In anticipation of it's release Gamespy have release a Nintendo DS Beginner's Guide.

Tunes on a Sunday (well almost)

We had a pretty full on weekend but I still managed to find time to spin a few tracks up (although there wasn't much Musical or Hi-fi appreciation going on)

It's a given that I'm still Musical-ing at the moment so my Muse CDs are still going (but just the same as they were last week. During our parties on the weekend I managed to squeeze in a few laid back albums with the Second Verve Remix CD, which is always nice to sit back and groove along too. I've left Jamie Cullum alone this week hoping that I'll come to like it more in it's absence. With the invasion of little people I decided that a few soothing sounds was probably not a bad idea so I gave On and On from Jack Johnson a bit of a spin. The easy going guitar and laid back vocals are always a trick to easy back the pace a few clicks. Although I always have a bit of a chuckle when the track Taylor comes up, I just can't get the image of Ben Stiller's film clip out of my head.

The Bees got a bit of a run through while I was cleaning, a bit of Chicken Payback is enough to get anyone in the mood for anything. It's about the happiest song around and it always makes me want to get up and jump around the room.

On Sunday we were having a bit of fun with the sing along to the musicals and while we were in a singing mood I threw in The Darkness and had a good ol' belt out of Growing on Me.

The art of Hero (and chocolate skill testers!)

I had an excursion to the 'real' cinema last night to catch Hero (something I'd been dying to see since I'd seen a preview for it months ago).
We went with my cousin, who I discovered is the best person to have on a trip to the movies. I'd always seen the 'skill testers' in the arcades stacked with chocolate, but had always written them off as a rip off. My cousin, however, certainly has the skills for this test! For a few dollars see managed to pack her hand bag with more chocolate than the three of us could eat in the movie.

Now where was I? Anyway? Oh, anyway the movie was fantastic! It was like watching an artist create a masterpiece on canvas. I admit it is not everyone's cup of tea but I find these movies incredibly relaxing and peaceful experience.

The visuals were just breathtaking and teamed with the authentic orchestral score it was like wondering through a gallery whilst enjoying a symphony.

It will definately take up place on my list of must have DVDs (I'll probably still be munching on the last of the chocolate by the time it comes out)

Sunday Sing Along!

As my current musical commitments draw to a close we spent part of Sunday deciding what i should do next. As a result we started trawling through the musicals I had in my collection which degenerated to skipping through the discs to our favourite songs for a sing along.
As a result I discovered my musical collection is a little lacking. I think a trip to a few dvd stores to pick up a few classics may be in order!

And the winner is..... Jaycar!

After discovering the SCART-RGB adapter which will also do component on Friday, I stumble across the same adapter that Dick Smith were offering from Jaycar for about half the price. On my way to get meat for the barbeque on the Saturday I stopped off at Jaycar and picked up one.

I'm happy to say it worked a treat, and I now have both the DVD player and the DVB STB running through the receiver with Component Switching. (although I am embarassed to say that they are hooked up with dodgy a/v leads that come with hifi equipment because that's all I had at hand and it will be a while before I get some IXOS component leads)

Child's Play

Well I managed to have a bit of a catchup on my list of animated 'kids' movies. Being left with babysitting duties on Saturday the DVD collection kicked in to help entertain the 2 year olds. Both Pixar and Dreamworks were given a workout, starting out with Finding Nemo then moving to Monster's Inc. and finished out the trio with the original Shrek. I was amazed at how the movies managed to completely hypnotise the kids. They were just glued to the set with the occasional puntuation of 'Turtles', 'Whales', 'Grr', 'Shrek' and other important story telling notes. I must admit it Saturday would have been a struggle without the help of the Two animation powerhouses coming to the rescue.

Things looking forward

I was having a bit of a browse through ezydvd.com.au and came across a few DVDs on the New and Coming Releases. I thought I'd post up a few that I'm looking forward to as it is almost the silly season and there is nothing like a DVD as a stocking filler.

I know most of them are already on my wish list but most of them would be welcome in anyones stocking...

Cables, Cables, Cables

I had a bit more time to play with the Topfield last night and I discovered why they sell those things to mark your cables with colours. Although I've tried to keep the cables at the back in a fairly neat state, however as I've tried to keep with all the same branding cable for all my interconnects it is sometimes a little hard to tell which lead goes to which component. In my haste to hook up the new STB (and not having a spare Optical Digital cable handy) I stole one of the leads from the other components. Over the last few days I've been trying to get the digital audio working with absolutely no success... in a moment of brilliance I thought "I'll just double check that I swapped the right lead", sure enough I'd stolen the MD's Lead at one end and reseated the DVD end at the other. Serves me right for trying to do things in a hurry without moving the stand. I think I might picking up one of those colour coders on the weekend :$

On a brighter note however I did stumble across a converter to split a SCART sockets into RGB (or component) RCA sockets.

Made by Crest the PS3 is "Suitable for converting from RGB RCA connection to SCART connection or vice versa". The unit is from their PLATINUM A/V LEADS range so the quality should be sufficient.

Turns out Crest aren't alone in this pursuit Dick Smith Electronics also have a similar product although marked for Component.

TDK Slim down

TDK have continued their push for slimmer stereo systems. After their release of a system last year with 2 satellite NXT panels and a subwoofer they have again worked with NXT panels in their latest offering.

The NX-02 CD has clear NXT panels as the speakers integrated with a conventional cone driver in the main unit for low bass frequencies.

Cable Thoughts

So I thought I’d post a few of the Cable options that I’d been researching. First of all a bit of background, I’m currently looking at upgrading all the video sources to component video (i.e. STB and DVD player). All the sources are hooked into my Receiver via S-Video for Video Switching, the DVD player is currently hooked up directly to the TV via an IXOS 5 RCA to SCART (Component Video and Sound). I’m looking at moving the 5 RCA to SCART connection to the output of the Component Switching section of the Receiver. To accomplish this I’m looking at using the following IXOS cables to do the connection.

XHV704 (1713) Component Video 3 RCA to 3 RCA

This would be used to connect the DVD Player to the Receiver

XHD608 (1052) Silver Plated Digital

This would be used to connect the Audio for the DVD player to the Receiver.

144AV (1052) SCART to 5 RCA Component Video and Audio
This would be used to connect the STB to the Receiver, This is the same cable as I have connecting the TV to the DVD player at the moment but I cannot find it anywhere on the web (some stores claim such a cable doesn’t exist)

Component Cable Markups

So in my search for Cabling for my new STB via Component I came across the What Hifi Awards for best Component video cables. The winner was the QED Qunex P-CV1. Valavien has his system wired with some QED X-Tube and has been really happy with it. So I figured I'd check it out as an alternative to the IXOS cables. In the article they listed the price at 45 pounds, I though not too bad of a price (on current rates from XE.com it works out to be about $107 AUD). I put a call in to a local store that I know stocks QED, who came back with a price of $259. I think it's time to find someone in the UK who will ship to Australia.

Good news travels fast

I thought, as I got a pretty good price for the STB-PVR I'd post it on the aus.tv.digital forum as I'd got a fair bit of info off them and I'd spread the word on where to get a good deal... Turns out it may have been a better deal that I thought. Post from dtvforum

I've also posted up a copy of the HN Docket as I've had lots of requests

Topfield moves into Stage 2

Unlike the first day it arrived I managed to spend a bit more time with the setup of the new box last night. Having only setup the system to watch digital broadcasts there were still quite a few options and bits of tweaking that needed to be done. The list of things for stage 2 are as follows:-

• Setup 2^nd tuner via loop of RF out from tuner1 and copied all the digital services to the second tuner, got a Picture in Picture (PIP) going, in my book a completely useless feature but it’s a nice show off technique
• Enabled Live TV, had a bit of a play with moving around the program I was watching, during the Simpsons (pausing, rewinding, etc) found out that if you change channels etc you loose your buffer…
• Recorded CSI and Cold Case whilst watching them and setup the system to record a show in the middle of the night (just to check the timer setup was working)

Still haven’t managed to get the Digital Audio to work so far but there are a few post around about buggy audio dropouts via the Toslink so I’m running on analogue audio for the moment, no big deal ATM. Component still hasn’t been hooked up but I need to source some IXOS Scart leads before that will be done.

I’m testing the dual recording feature tonight with Law and Order and CSI:Miami.

I’m also in the process of looking at ProjectX for demuxing the Topfield’s .REC files (I downloaded the precompiled version Project X 0.81.7.05 vom 02.07.2004 (27MB with JRE)

Topfield TF5000PVR-T Tips

As I've been doing a fair bit of research in getting the Topfield working in it's best possible setup/configuration I thought I'd post up some of the links I'd discovered:
How to upgrade the Firmware(English).pdf (from a Korean site so the english isn't 100% correct)
Topfield Windows Applications Setup 1.0.4.zip
Latest Firmware Updates from the Korean Topfield Site
Toppy Tips (from the dbaforum)
Tony's Topfield TF5000PVRt Info.

I'll try and keep it up to date and re-post it as I find more.

New Arrival

Late lastnight I welcomed our newest arrival into the house. The Topfield was delivered at around 10:30 last night. Dying to see how it went I immediately took it out of the box and hooked it up.

The setup was relatively easy, simply hooking it up in replace of the Thomson DVB and I was off (after I hooked the antenna cable to the right socket). A quick navigation through the menu to kick off the automatic channel selection and I was watching Digital on the Topfield (total time 10mins). I haven't upgraded to component cabling as yet, but the picture is impressive even with s-video, Nor have I got digital audio up and running, but it's early days. (on a side note it did integrate with the Loewe much better, the automatic aspect ratio detection identified the 16:9 ratio immediately where it was often confused when connected to the Thomson)
The OSD and Guide are easily navigated and I was pleased to find the ability to delete channels from the list.

As I had to leave early this morning for a Microsoft Product event I haven't had much time to play with the PVR side. I'm thinking CSI Tonight might be it's first run.

Upgrade off the Path...

Well today was a resulted in an unplanned upgrade. Valavien stumpled across a real bargin for me today. Having recently upgrading my TV I've been keen to get a STB with Component out to take advantage of the better quality, Component switching on the Yamaha and helping the Loewe figure out it's Screen ratio a little better (it seems to struggle with S-Video inputs). I'd also thought about a PVR because it's very seldom I'm home when any good TV is acually on. It is widely reported that the Topfield PVR5000T is the about the best PVR on the marked but the $1100 RRP is usually a bit of a stumbling block.

Fortunately Valavien found one at Harvey Norman on a 50% off table and managed to get the system for $550 with a 5 year warranty!! So I'm now the proud owner of a new STB-PVR. Looks like it will be a fair while before The Upgrade Path starts rolling again.

Thanks again Valavien!

One down only 11 to go

Ok Just finished watching Dark City, I must say I really enjoyed the film (although the video transfer wasn't spectacular) and I'm not entirely sure how I'd managed not to watch it yet. However I must say that I think a fair bit of the film went into inspiring The Matrix.

As it's 11:30pm and work calls tomorrow I'll leave it at that.... (although it looks like I'm not the first to think it : Closer Look at Dark City and the Matrix;
Matrix vs. Dark City )

Tunes on a Sunday

Well I've had a pretty laid back Sunday today... I've spent most of the morning listening to a few CDs and I thought I'd post up what music I'd be listening to during the weekend (I must admit I did take some inspiration from Valavien for this one).

To start off with I'm still Musical-ing at the moment so my Muse CDs always get a work out. There is nothing like belting out Time is running out or Plug in Baby to get your vocal chords going. I have a bit of a system going, for Fridays Performance I listen to Muse - Absolution (because I always find I'm a bit flatter after a day at work and Butterflies and Hurricanes always lifts the spirit) Saturday is Muse - Origin of Symmetry so I can have an angry run through Feeling Good. I find their stuff pretty inspiring so it's always good to get you in the mood.

While I was waiting to head out on Saturday I had another run over Jamie Cullum, he's still hasn't jumped into my favorite CD list but I'm willing to give it a few more runs. I will admit when it was background music it didn't annoy me anywhere a much.

I also had a run over a trusty favorite today. Spun up some Jamiroquai although, picking one of his albums as a favorite would be like trying to pick a favorite component :) , I do have a bit of a soft sport for his latest offering.

I also have some new music on the radar that I'll be keen to get. The first is from a song I heard on the Js the other morning Chris Joss - Discotheque Dancing a very funky tune to get your feet tapping, although the film clip is a little on the psychedelic side. The other is not so new but I stumbled across it whilst searching for Jamiroquai stuff and never knew of it's existence, it's a CD compiled by Jay Kay with some of the songs that inspire him on the Jamiroquai albums...

Looks like a nice addition

Whilst shopping around this weekend, (as you do) I stumbled across this little gem.

Yamaha's CDR-HD1300. The unit is a CD recorder with a built in harddisk (80Gb). It allows you to copy music from CD at 10x rate and then burn a compolation from any of the selected tracks at 8x. The unit won an award in What-Hifi Awards 2004 although it was released in 2003. There were never many units sold here simply because of the cost (about $3k). This one was fairly cheap on discount so it's fairly economical at the moment. However it is a little bit of a waste as I already have a 300 Disc changer, but I don't have a CD-R.

I'll see if I can talk them down anymore.... :)

The Kef's go Silver

Having always been a fan of the KEF Q series the news that they are to be released in a silver finish to match the new Plasma and LCD Craze was music to my ears (pardon the pun).

Kef Q Series

B&W CDM Series

In the never ending quest for Audio enjoyment the endless testing and reviewing of speakers continues. Valavien, fellow Audiophile, is currently upgrading his home theatre kit, he’s decided his (obviously inadequate) B&W 603 Series 3 speakers are more suited to a surround role and as such has undertaken the purchase of a pair of B&W CDM 9NTs.

The recent inclusion of the CDM CNT centre to his system will make for an impressive and very transparent front stage matched. The centre did have a short stay at my house for a bit of test. It was apparent from the outset that it was going to give very good bass response. The centre gives suprising low bass for a 6.5" driver, this is maily due to the dual ports that have B&W patented Flowport technology (making it look like and inside out golf ball). The speaker also delivered a sound that was crisp and clear (the Nautilus technology tapered-tube tweeter probably has a lot to do with that), although occasionally slightly hinting on the bright side. My Yamaha and setup for warmer sounding Wharfedales probably had a fair bit to do with that. Valavien's Marantz setup will undoubtably reduce this. The setup should be a joy for both music and movies.

timefordvd.com B&W CDM Series Review

DVD Stand is really in trouble now

Well I didn't hold out for long while the DVD stand was at its limit. Looks like there are going to be a few DVDs stacking up on the floor. I couldn't manage to let the 15% off at K-mart to go without picking up a couple that were on my wish list.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Bad Boys II

So I know that Bad Boys II isn't a great movie but... There is the Ferrari Car chase... and I have a thing about owning the sequels. The Collection just doesn't feel complete otherwise (admittedly by the same rule I almost bought Rush Hour 2). There is one DVD that was part of that rule but I've since removed, Speed 2. It was in my collection for a while (bought it as part of a Speed & Speed 2 pack) but it didn't stay there for long, being sold off.

Well with the two new arrivals it takes the list of DVDs that I've bought that I haven't watched to about 12...

Bad Boys II
Blade II
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Confidence
Dark City
The Day after Tomorrow
Kill Bill 2
The Lion King
Metropolis
Moulin Rouge
One Hour Photo
The Others

Looks like I need to spend some quality time with the Loewe.

15% off claims another victum

Oh so I was across at K-mart at lunchtime. Noticed that they had 15% off so of course I made a line straight for the DVD section. The trouble was I couldn't decide on any DVD to buy... I went from having about 5 in my hand to 1 back to 4 and ultimately gave up. Most of the DVDs I was looking at were new releases and decided that getting ex-rental from Blockbuster in a couple of weeks was probably a better option...

However, in a moment of weakness and not willing to let the 15% off go, I picked up the Jamie Cullum CD.

I thought... "There are lots of people raving about it", "There's a few standards on here I like", "Can't be that bad"

Unfortunately it really hasn't impressed me. I just feel in most of the songs that he's re-made in trying to "make them his own" he's missed the point of the song in the first place... You never know... it might grow on me...

Return of a few childhood favourites

I noticed this morning as I was trawling the 'net I stumbled across the release of a couple of DVDs that were among my childhood favourites. The NeverEnding Story and Flight Of The Navigator were released yesterday. Admittedly it wasn't until I saw the Flight of the Navigator in the latest released list that I remember the many hours in front of the TV wishing I had my own flying saucer to cruise around in.
I'm looking forward to a nostalgic journey with my DVD player in the coming weeks...

Subwoofers in the round

In light of adding this gorgeous piece of kit to my upgrade wish list I thought I might post up a few of the reasons for adding to the wish list (not normally being a big B&W fan... No offence A.)

To start off with the B&W PV1 just looks outstanding, it's not a big box like most subs the enclosure is a sphere. Now not only does this make it look cool but also increases the structural integrity of the enclosure and as a result increasing the performance of the unit. Along with the spherical looks the enclosure is also constructed from aluminum so it's SHINY!

The list of benefits just keeps on coming. The system uses two aluminum 8" Drivers to produce it's outstanding sound. Being 8" drivers there is a great level of control that combined with the unit's ability to produce notes down to 18Hz makes it truly remarkable.

Now all I have to do is justify it's ~$3000 price tag an I'm in Business

Diamonds Tower In!

Was passing JB in the City today (and thought I drop in to check out what's new) :D

I was very surprised to see that the Wharfedale Diamond 9 series have made their way here already. Only a couple models were there, the Floorstanding 9.6s and a 9CS Centre. The new 9.6s were impressive units towering above every other speaker.

The Dual 8" drivers should give the system a deep bottom end. The one unusual trait is the Midrange driver, you would normally expect to see a small 4" cone (especially as they are producing the 9CC center with 4" drivers) to produce the midrange frequency. The 9.6 however has a 2" driver to produce midrange frequencies. It might lead to some light midrange but as they weren't hooked up the was no way of testing them just yet.

However priced at $1299 the Diamonds are starting to move out of the budget mold.

The Path Ahead

After a fair bit of bugging from a few people (yes that's you A.) I've
added an upgrade path to the site to keep track of the things I've got
planned/on the wish list.

The Upgrade Path

I'll try and keep it up to date with all the things I have planned.

Warning! Critical Mass Reached.

It's Happened... Obviously it was inevitable, but the DVD stand has
hit Critical Mass. (actually if it wasn't for the fact that a few of
them were out on loan I'd be overflowing). Having reached the point
where the stand can no longer hold any DVDs I have been offered a few
solutions.

1. I could stop buying DVDs (Hello... Like that was ever going to happen T.)

2. I could buy an Onkyo DV-M301 DVD changer, employing the same
solution that worked for CDs so well

3. I could sell some of the DVDs to buy new one... (Hoard... I must hoard!)

OR

4. I could buy a new stand..


Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to settle for number 4, as
good a solution as number 2 is I'm told it's really hard to watch DVDs
when you're dead.

A few easy steps to get your system singing

Audioholics have released a home theatre guide to help with the setup of your precious system. Taking some of these simple tests that can help ensure your system is performing at it's best. Let's face it... there isn't much point forking out all the hard earned cash for you system to have it held back by simple setup mistakes. You can read their Basic Guide for Home Theater Set-Up to get you system on its way.

Diamonds add another Carat!

After the numerous awards received by the Diamond 8 series the new Diamond 9 series has started in similar award winning fashion. The new Diamond 9.1 and SW-150 have won Product of the Year in the latest What Hi-Fi Awards.

The speaker range has been increased to include some boxes that look like they will have real clout! The inclusion of 8" drivers to both the Bookshelf (Diamond 9.3) and Floor Standing (Diamond 9.6) speaker models will add some bass extension to a range with an already impressive bass presence.

The range has also been increased in the home theatre area as well. They have included 2 new centres, the Diamond 9.CC a compact centre with dual 4" drivers and the Diamond 9.CM with 2 6.5" drivers. The 9.CC has been incorporated with the Diamond 9.0 and the SW-150 to create a compact cinema package that has already received a 5 star rating from What Hi-fi.

Parts of the range have started to turn up at JB stores. I've seen the new Diamond 9.5 Floor standers (the replacement for my Diamond 8.4s) and although I'm a bigger fan of the yellow Kevlar cones than the new black version, the curved cabinets do add a level of class to the finish of the speaker. Of course looks aren't much good if the sound isn't up to scratch and I look forward to giving the new series a run (especially some of those 8" drivers!) but on current reviews it looks like they will be a pleasure to listen to.

Until they arrive I'll just have to be enjoy them virtually - Diamond 9 Site