Philips in recent times has come up with two affordable models to accompany the expensive Philips MCM906 Heritage series hi-fi set, which is the company’s flagship model. The Philips MCM772 hi-fi sits pretty between the two extremes. The design of the unit is a bit laid back, with traditional and conservative touches clearly visible. The gadget comes adorned with a two-way drive system that delivers some stimulating audio sound measured at 50W.

The device digresses from its cousins in the sense that the amplifier is all solid-state, with no signs of any valve whatsoever. The sound tends to twitter a bit when heard in very high volume, but that is no cause to discourage you as the sound levels otherwise is quite vibrant and sufficient for a home-setting.

The device is build of brushed aluminium separates and boasts of chunky silver knobs which elegantly complement the speakers. In fact the aesthetics of the Philips MCM 772 may prompt you to use it as a decorative element in your bedroom, a fact that is also supported by its other specifications. One aspect that may leave you dissatisfies is the unimaginative LCD display, which for the major part looks out of sync with device.

The compact build quality of the device is another nice thing, and so are a host of connectivity options that enable you to optimise its output. Meanwhile, the hi-fi device scores a lot of good vibes also because of its user friendly attributes as you can avail most of the services that the model has to offer with the minimum of fuss.

There are many amongst us who believe that home cinema systems are better off tucked away from public gaze. If you happen to belong to this special brigade then you should look no further than the AN-PR1500H home cinema rack by Sharp. A DVD player and 2.1-channel speakers are inconspicuously included within its solid frame, thereby providing you with a convenient, tangle-free home cinema solution. The top shelf of the rack hosts the DVD player and can only be identified via the disc slot on the front panel. You will feel glad that there are a wide range of connectivity options like HDMI, Scart, Component, Composite, S-Video outputs and no less than three digital audio inputs that are more than enough to fulfill your requirements.

Futures that are high on the wish list are also there such as Dolby Virtual Speaker and Audistry Sound Space, which there are also a couple of sound modes as well that more or less make up for the lack of rear speakers. The DVD player included in the Sharp AN-PR 1500 H offers support for for Dolby Digital and DTS, apart from the customary play modes and the ability to upscale pictures to 720p and 1080i. You will however feel stung b the absence of the 1080p upscale feature.

Playback formats supported by the unit includes MP3, WMA and JPEG files, as well as DivX from CD-R and CD-RW. Then, two microphone inputs are also included on the front panel that is specially designed for someone who has a passion for karaoke.

On the downside, the Dolby Virtual Speaker and Sound Space features are not a worthy substitute for the more efficient 5.1 format. Consequently all you get is commendable stereo performance, but shoddy surround sound.

The NAD Viso Five home theatre box is an exceptionally good device designed to render hi-fi digital entertainment. Most of the digital entertainers today are either bulky or come with a high price tag. The NAD Viso Five home cinema box is the exception, as it’s not only sleek and smart looking, but also an affordable choice.

It offers a wide range of functionality and awesome performance in everything it does. The Box has been integrated and engineered with the aim of filling large space with high quality sound, while occupying a minimal amount of space.

The NAD Viso Five home theatre box is capable of delivering 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound and is powered by a surround sound processor that has five channels, each of 45 Watts. If you have only two speaker set, then also you can connect it to the NAD Viso Five home theatre box and enjoy in-depth clarity and distortion free high powered bass. Unlike traditional juke boxes, the NAD Viso Five home theatre box takes you beyond acoustic experience. Apart from the satellites, woofers, sub-woofers and speakers, you can also connect a HDTV and other equipment to it, in order to make a customised home cinema setup. The Viso Five also supports CDs, MP3s and DVDs.

eSYS Information Technologies has recently launched the Divoom COMET-A1, a hi-fi home cinema system which will definitely change the way you perceive entertainment.

The Divoom COMET-A1 is powerful, sleek and has exceptional looks and design. It offers 5.1 multi-channel surround sound with 400 watts of RMS. The best part of this home cinema system is its 5 floor standing satellites with 20W speakers and 100 W subwoofers, which are more than enough to produce floor shaking bass. The Divoom COMET-A1 is fully functional and compatible with Dolby/THX hardware decoding which means that it can generate multi-channel sound for awesome listening experience. It has an AV receiver too which can be used to connect and play A/V equipment such as a DVD player, Sony Playstation 2, VCD player, MP3 player, high defintion television, FM radio and more. You can connect the Divoom COMET-A1 to any computer.

This home cinema offers lots of customisable options. As far as the connectivity is concerned, the Divoom COMET-A1 has got all the necessary inputs including coaxial and optical ones. Besides this, the system’s design and contours are also as good as its ergonomics and sound. Five satellite speakers are mounted on beautiful stands along with one subwoofer box. Divoom COMET-A1 is the ultimate choice for those who love to explore the high definition digital entertainment.

It won’t take a great deal of effort on your part to differentiate Onkyo’s HT-S770 home cinema system from the towering tallboy speakers and futuristically slender receiver with DVD players that are the fashion recently. The HT-S770, successor to the excellent HT-S760, instead offers a component-size 6.1-channel receiver, a fully powered subwoofer, and rather odd fashioned boxy speakers. The design is peculiar to say the least, especially at a time when the thrust appears more towards more glitzy and stylish looking sets. The unit however, more than makes up for its insipid design by delivering a memorable performance, with the audio output turning out to be the standout performer. It goes without saying that the unit outperforms its stylish counterparts on a number of fronts.

The channels, six of them, are each powered by a hefty 130 watt and deliver quite a stunning performance. The 6.1-channel processing modes include Dolby EX and DTS ES. So the Onkyo HT-S770 home cinema is only overpowered by 7.1 systems like the Onkyo HT-S990THX. The Onkyo HT-S770’s connectivity is another one of the unit’s advantages, as it provides two component-video inputs, four A/V inputs and two outputs, four digital inputs, two stereo ins and one out, in addition to comprehensive front-panel-mounted connections. Remarkably, the 5.1 SACD/DVD-Audio inputs are also there. Moreover, the speaker connectors are all heavy-duty binding posts that accept banana jacks.

The specifications of the unit, on the other hand, suggest that it game for fairly large rooms. It really reaches its peak at high-volume and delivers quite a fearsome performance. The surround sound effects are also immaculate creating a dynamic and dramatic feel.

The latest model to have come out of the Panasonic ranks, the SA-XR10, signifies an inconsistent combination of impressive style and mediocre features. The unit’s sound quality and ergonomics are reasonable, but overall it fails to measure up to the standard set by other members of its ilk.

The SA-XR10 unit boasts all-digital amplification and has a daring design that stands just a shade above two inches. The unit’s simplistic design is overtly visible and, as can be expected, there are glowing pitfalls that result from it. A major casualty of this simplistic design is that it imposes a great deal of limitation on the unit and what you get are only the bare essentials. The display, for one, is awfully small and you only manage to get hold of the source selection, surround status, and volume level functions with a good deal of effort. The Back-panel real estate is another casualty. Panasonic’s newer AV receivers, like the Panasonic SA-XR700, thankfully make no such mistakes. Moreover, versatile speaker-binding posts on the SA-XR10 are replaced by second rate spring-loaded wire connectors. Then, video-switching features are also scarce, and component-video and S-Video offerings are nonexistent. The ominous signs do not stop here as contemporary features like Phono input and A/B speaker switching are absent as well. These inadequacies will really affect you badly and leave you handicapped.

Thankfully, it comes with 5.1 DVD-A/Super Audio CD inputs along with a select group of inputs, outputs, and digital-audio connections, which appear to be the only saving grace of this insipid unit.

The sound output is no either, as you are left to compromise with the mediocre brash and hard sound. Actually, the unit has reservation against some particular speakers, and sounds better with some speakers than others.

Onkyo is really upping the ante with the release of the TX-SR606, a worthy successor to the TX-SR605. It goes without saying the TX-SR605 was one of the best models in its product category and offered an unparallel set of features that contradicted its outrageously cheap price. The audio output was unequivocally one of the major highlights of the TX-SR605. Outperforming its illustrious predecessor, the TX-SR606 has taken the popularity of the series to new heights.

The unit boasts four impressive HDMI inputs and offers upconversion to 1080i for analogue signals. Considering that you are getting the set at absolute peanuts, such features are always welcome. Quite ironically however, the improvements carried out by the TX-SR606 notwithstanding, the rest of the field has also caught up. The Sony STR-DG920, for example offers the same functionality. Moreover, weakness in the video processing feature negates whatever advantage the unit has gained over its rivals. The video processing is in fact, so pathetic and hopeless that even the average user will lose heart. An interesting conclusion that emerges from this peculiar situation is that its rival brands have come up with more innovativeness than Onkyo has.

The unit is at its core a 7.1-channel AV receiver, with its output rated at 90 watts per channel. Typical of majority of the speakers, it offers a full selection of standard Dolby and DTS surround processing modes.

Connectivity wise you will be disappointed, since it provides only two component video connections, at a time when three is the norm. Nevertheless, there are four S-Video/AV inputs, apart from an additional AV input on the front. The video connectivity of the Onkyo TX-SR606 is pretty flexible and offers four different labels DVD, VCR/DVR, CBL/SAT, GAME/TV, AUX, TAPE, and CD to which HDMI and component video sources can be assigned.

Sitting firmly at the top of the colourful ranks of Onkyo products is the TX-NR905. The unit dazzles with an unprecedented number of connectivity options only found on much-more expensive models, and is every bit a users delight festooned with some of the most sophisticated and state-of-the-art technology.

Under its not so impressive plain black fascia, lie the high-resolution Dolby and DTS audio decoding and 1080p video up-conversion for all sources. Then there is also an Ethernet connection meant for accessing networked audio content and internet radio stations, apart from a USB port that comes into play when you decide to read from an external channel. An Audyssey auto-setup feature alongside a microphone is there as well, that can be used any time you want to optimise speaker levels.

Hardcore cinephiles should love the amp option that offers THX Ultra2 post-processing.

The unit also has a well structured connectivity network including Four HDMI inputs and two outputs, which are some of the best you will come across. What is even more impressive, is that all of them are version 1.3a compliant, and consequently are compatible with 1080p video and bitstreamed multichannel audio.

Using the Silicon Optics HQV Reon-VX video processor the unit can upscale S-video, composite and component sources to 1080p which will eventually go a long way in ensuring that you can enjoy your movies in true cinematic-style. When it comes to sound reproduction, the Onkyo TXNR905 proves to be a powerful amplifier that generates high impression sound that would really suit high volume levels and large rooms. The unit has on board the modern THX processing feather and can quite clinically load a really large space - greater than 3,000 cubic feet to be precise.

Sony is all set to light up your home cinema with none other then the DAV-LF1 DVD, which is a superb product, both in terms of performance and design. The unit’s design is conspicuous for its sharp finish and use of cutting-edge glass panels around its edges. You will also feel impressed to see the trouble borne by the company to ensure you unrestricted and easy access to the system’s various key features. The use of soft-touch pad controls are a good testimony thereof.

Another distinctive aspect of the unit is its unique ability to wirelessly transmit sound to the rear speakers. We do, however, have to mention that it is not your average transmission, as it relies on a direct line of site between the two devices, unlike others that use the 2.4GHz radio frequency. This arrangement means that there is a certain element of disturbance, especially when someone walks past either speaker. You can overcome this peculiar problem by placing both the components, namely the speaker and transmitter, high in the room.

The unit supports most of popular modes, including Dolby Pro Logic II Movie and Music modes, alongside Cinema Studio EX A, B and C. The three cinema sound modes embedded in the Sony DAV-LF1 ensure that you have a more realistic and genuine experience while watching general movies, especially those with plenty of sound effects and classical music.

As a Home Cinema enthusiast myself, I can comprehend what goes behind your mind while deciding on a particular set amidst a sea of pretenders. The task gets all the more complicated with a profusion of varied information and rumours, and you are left bemused as to which information to rely on. There is no such confusion associated with the Sony DAV-DZ660 though, as it is an out and out entertainer from start to finish. Moreover, designed in a way to dazzle, it has a multitude of features that should make a mockery of its rivals. The fact that it is customised to integrate seamlessly with a BRAVIA TV is quite obvious.

The most intriguing facet of the unit is that it delivers some soul stirring sound which absolutely rocks. It pumps out an amazing 850W from 4 speakers, that are supported by a 120W subwoofer. What is also significant is that the Sony DAV-DZ660 is adept at decoding even the most sophisticated of formats including Dolby Digital Prologic II and DTS. The built-in upscaler feature, on the other hand, ensures that the average disc contents are upgraded to 1080p signal via the HDMI cable for a superb picture quality on your high-def TV.

Versatility is another one of the unit’s strong points and provides multiple format and codec support to DVD, CD, Video CD, SACD, MP3, apart from allowing playback of contemporary formats like DivX and JPEG.

The inclusion of the Dialogue Enhancer feature has a visible impact on the sound quality as well. As a result the sound quality appears much clearer. Meanwhile, the Portable Audio Enhancer function plays a crucial role improving the quality of compressed music such as MP3s. Further, the FM / AM radio tuner, with an RDS option, allows you to preset no less than 30 stations.