Home cinema, when done right, is a truly magical experience.
Watching your favorite movie, on the big screen, in the comfort of your own home, wearing your own Ninja Turtles pajamas with a cat on your lap and a whiskey in hand (the last three might be me). To quote the Goo Goo Dolls, “the closest I’ll ever be to heaven”.
It is this magic that makes me and the universe What is Hi-Fi? The home cinema team has been part of that lucky few who truly love what they do. Specifically, testing the latest and greatest hardware so that, in a small way, we can help others enjoy that magic.
But the problem is, getting there is more complicated than most people think, as the magic depends a lot on what hardware you use – especially if you’re going to set up what our technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, would call a “proper home cinema”, with a multi-speaker surround system, a long-throw projector, a decent AVR and a source.
Why? Because, despite the common assumption (even among some of our forum users) that home cinema sound is somewhat different from hi-fi sound, and you can get a good setup by combining five-star parts, the truth is, matching is still very important.
And my experience helping to test the KEF R Meta and Denon AVC-A1H speaker package (reviews coming) this week proves that point.
Listening to the speaker package, we started with our Marantz Cinema 30 AVR reference and, without giving away any spoilers, as you would expect, combining two accomplished pieces of hardware delivered excellent results. The system felt expansive, compact and incredibly controlled, creating an immersive home cinema experience.
Viewing a difficult scene for our test Dune: Part One 4K Blu-ray, the setup was masterful in every part of the frequency range. The power hidden under the incident drums was right there, and the unit gave a real sense of direction as the ornithopters flew from right to left and behind the viewer.
But as we go on, and especially when we change to our own F1 test disc and we spent some time listening to stereo music, our chief writer, Lewis Empson, pulled a face – the same one he always does when something goes wrong. One by one, we all did the same until, in unison, we asked, “Does anyone else think this sounds like a touch? again smooth?”
Yes, the sound was refined and recorded effortlessly (and remember, at this level we’re nitpicking about very small but important differences in performance), but the combination is probably the farthest part from smoothness. It wasn’t lacking in quality – far from it – but there were times when we wanted bite and urgency.
Not surprising as our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, lead reviewer of the speaker package, described it generously as “smooth and refined”.
That’s not digging; in fact, in some settings, it is a force. But it’s a problem here because if you jump to our Marantz Cinema 30 review, you’ll find the same words, “smooth, refined and always in control”, at the top of the page.
Both have very similar sonic characters, and while that creates a nice introduction to the mix, it also skews the overall balance further towards development than we’d like.
It’s less that the pairing doesn’t work – it clearly does – and more that pairing two parts with similar personalities softens the sense of invasion a bit.
Enter the Denon AVC-A1H. During the test, the Denon appeared to have a dynamic, convincing character that complements the KEF package differently, adding more power and attack without disturbing its natural balance.
Since then the icon of Led Zeppelin Whole Lotta Love he began, i F1 The scene felt electric, the Denon adding bite to guitarist Jimmy Page’s groove.
Then, when John Bonham’s iconic drum line comes in, it hits with the intensity you’d expect from drum critics who are clearly praised for his “hard-hitting” style of playing. That’s all before we start explaining the extra heft and impact of the race.
To be clear, this is not a dig at Marantz. In fact, the Marantz/KEF combination is excellent in many respects, producing a wide, balanced and very full sound.
We just found that, on this particular show, the refinement of the Cinema 30 combined with the incredibly smooth presentation of the KEF R7 Meta front speakers tipped the balance too far for relaxation. Swap in a more assertive AVR, or pair the Marantz with more powerful speakers, and that balance shifts again.
Lewis summed up this idea well, describing it as being like cooking. “Even if you like salty food, if you add a few salty ingredients, it won’t taste good.”
So, please remember, when planning a home cinema, don’t just think about individual components; think about how they will work together as a system and complement each other.
Even if you’re watching at home alone (apart from the aforementioned cat), when it comes to hardware, home cinema is a team sport.
MORE:
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Our options for excellent AV receivers