THE BEST TECH FOR… audiovisual supremacy
1 Sonos Beam
Sonos’ new soundbar packs a stunning amount of audio into your bedroom or living room, lifting the flat sound you get from most TVs. But it’s also a great addition to a smart home setup, thanks to built-in Alexa voice control, and it’s part of a Sonos or Apple AirPlay 2 multi-room music system. And that Sonos support means you could add a couple of Sonos satellite speakers or its subwoofer to extend it into a more comprehensive surround system. There’s really no better-value way to boost your home’s sound and smarts. $599, sonos.com
2 Sony AF8
Our favourite telly on the market right now starts with a gorgeous OLED 4K panel that produces perfect HDR visuals, and then continues with best-in-class image processing for making HD content look great at Ultra HD, and making motion perfectly smooth in sports. It also comes with ‘Acoustic Surface’ speaker tech: the whole screen itself is a speaker (with a woofer at the back for added oomph), creating a more engrossing soundstage than other TVs. From $3,499, sony.com.au
3 Sony WH-1000XM2
Get rid of the outside world and focus solely on your music with Sony’s advanced noisecancelling headphones. They’re comfortable to wear for long periods of time, and do an amazing job of cutting down on exterior noise (and even have special tuning for pressurechange environments, such as planes). Most importantly, they sound fantastic. With lively detail and rich bass, it all sounds perfectly balanced. Add smarts like being able to place one hand over a cup to let in noise from the outside temporarily, and you’ve got a winner. $498, sony.com.au
4 Optoma UHZ65
When it comes to projectors, you need to go laser if you want the best picture possible. But buying this kind of cinema-quality tech has always been the reserve of the really rich… until the UHZ65 arrived. This projector blows the mind with its HDR pictures, the laser system creating deep blacks and vibrant colours. The 4K image is also packed with detail. It’s not too large either, so you won’t need to create a whole home cinema space just to accommodate it. $8,999, optoma.com
Pro-Ject RPM 9 Carbon
Rectangular turntables? Forget it. Half the fun of getting back to vinyl is how everything looks on display in your home, so you want to buy a player that’s as much objet d’art as practical tool. Say hello to the RPM 9 Carbon. The main plinth, with platter and tone arm, is shaped like a guitar pick, and finished in dramatic carbon fibre. The motor is in a separate section of the base, ensuring that it doesn’t interfere with the smooth motion of the platter, so your records always sound impeccable. $4,199 project-audio.com
Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 2
Continuing our ‘audio as art’ theme is B&O’s 360-degree wireless speaker. The gorgeous aluminium design comes in silver, gold and Infantry Green finishes, and is easy to play music to, thanks to wireless support for Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Chromecast and DLNA. The sound spreads around the room beautifully thanks to that striking ‘Acoustic Lens’ design at the top: the tweeter fires downwards onto a teardropshaped structure, which reflects it out in all directions. $TBC, bang-olufsen.com