French electronic music maestro Jean-Michel Jarre had one of the most space age stands at this year's IFA 2011, showing off his latest range of Jarre Technologies Apple docks. Though the star of the show was the gigantic AeroDream One, he was also displaying his eqaully stylish AeroPad One and AeroPad Two docks.

Both are iPod, iPad and iPhone compatible, and each features the same chrome finishing as see in the larger dock. The AeroPad Two is the more powerful of the pair (pushing out 200W compared to the AeroPad One's 120W output) and is resultingly the more expensive of the pair at €699 with the AeroPad One €499.

Once you're done checking out Jarre's space-age docks, check out his truly mad AeroDream, 11ft iPad dock in our video interview with the electro pioneer himself.

2.1 speaker systems aren't always the most exciting of ventures when it comes to home cinema gear, but Panasonic have a nifty little unit heading to stores before Christmas in the shape of the HDB15 2.1 soundbar.

The HDB15 can split into two separate speaker units sitting either side of a smaller flatscreen TV, or transform into a single bar to sit under the display.

Hit the video above to see what we mean.

Tech Digest got a little starstruck at this year's IFA 2011 conference, as we got to meet electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.

The electro star's presence caused quite a stir at the show, not least of all thanks to his startling AeroDream One iPad/iPhone/iPod dock.

Think you've seen all that the world of iPod docks has to offer? Think again; Jarre's AeroDream One takes Hi-Fi docks to a whole new level, with the emphasis on the "Hi" part. The docking port sits on top of an 11ft column, which necessitates the need for a fixed ladder on the side of the speaker to reach it.

It's also got enough punch to match its gigantic size, pushing out an ear-popping 10,000 W through its 5 channel amplifier.

The AeroDream One is very much a luxury item, and priced at € 399,000 (£349,873) is definitely a statement piece as much as it is a speaker system. As such, Jarre sees it just as at home in concert halls as the homes of the wealthy elite.

We have a chat with Jean-Michel in the video interview above, discussing his range of Apple product docks (which includes more affordable miniature versions of the AeroDream One among other designs), the state of the music industry and the inspiration behind his latest mad venture.

Name: T12v3 Soundbar (Orbitsound)

Type: Stereo soundbar with subwoofer

Specs: Click here for full specs

Price: £299 direct from Orbitsound

UK audio specialists Orbitsound return with their latest re-vamped T12 Soundbar, the T12 v3. Have they perfected the "spatial stereo" wizadry to kill off audio sweet-spots for good? Read on to find out.

We know what you're thinking; "V3? It seems like yesterday that the the v2 launched!" It's a little under a year since Orbitsound's last T12 soundbar launched, but the smaller, dynamic nature of the UK audio upstarts means that they can churn out updates to their gear far faster than rivals. But far from being a mere incremental update, the v3 is a marked improvement over its predecessor.

The T12 v3 set includes a gloss black soundbar (600 x 100 x 100mm) and similarly styled subwoofer (230mm x 460mm x 200mm) connected via cable as opposed to a wireless connection, which may limit its placement in more spacious AV set-ups. As well as an iPod connector on the top of the dock, connectivity on the rear of the soundbar includes optical, coaxial and analogue ports as well as a 3.5mm connection for those with mp3 players or phones from stables other than Apple's. Leads for all these connections are included inside the box, while a volume dial also sits on the back.

It's worth noting at this point that we've had our hands on a pre-production model rather than the final retail build. It's almost identical to what's headed to stores, barring a few quirks. Firstly, there's a rear switch for changing the intensity of the stereo effect that wont be present in retail models as it's more a feature to demonstrate Orbitsound's "spatial stereo" tech to reviewers and journalists, which we'll speak about in a second. Also, the volume steps on the remote control will be a little more refined, giving you more precise control over volume levels in the final product.

What makes the Orbitsound soundbar unique from its rivals is how it uses a proprietary "spatial stereo" system. Designed by Orbitsound founder Ted Fletcher (whose CV includes working alongside musical luminaries The Eagles, Elton John and mad-cap producer and sonic-scientist Joe Meek), it is able to deliver stereo sound from a single central unit. In other words, it does away with the concept of a "sweet-spot", giving anyone standing at any position in a room with a T12 v3 soundbar the same left and right stereo fields as if they were standing between two separate left and right speaker channels.

In practice, it's not quite as clearly defined as that, but there's certainly a separation in the audio delivery no matter where you're standing in relation to the T12 v3, making it the perfect choice for those who indulge in busy movie nights with a gang of pals. What's arguably more important is the overall sound quality of the unit, and that thankfully is very good indeed, thanks to improved drivers and a new metal grille across the soundbar that allows for a greater spread for the audio image.

Though a little muddy at first (which again may be tweaked slightly in the final product) dialling back the bass a tad and pushing the treble settings up a little via the lightweight remote offered a full, warm stereo sound that's incredibly detailed. The T12 v3 soundbar is billed as primarily a partner for your flatscreen TV, and it certainly does a great job of bringing dialogue to the fore in movies, without scrimping on explosive booms and tinkling details. We spent quite a few hours playing games through the soundbar, and was incredibly impressed with the incidental detail it managed to pick up whilst we played through the classic Half Life 2. The crackling flames of a ruined city, being bombarded by sci-fi shells have rarely sounded so crisp.

Our main bug bear was the way that the T12 v3 soundbar doesn't retain your audio tweaks if you switch it off from the mains, a problem considering it's initially a little flabby sounding. It has a standby mode in which it does remember your changes, but if like me your green-conscious worries mean you have to switch everything off from the wall at night, you're going to have to keep re-configuring the soundbar. This wouldn't be so bad if HDMI support was included to allow for an onscreen menu, but as it isn't you're going to have to keep your ears finally tuned to re-balance the sound each time.

Keep in mind too that you're not getting support for 5.1 or 7.1 surround channels here, with everything being scaled back to stereo instead. It's not a fault for a soundbar clearly billed as doing some pretty special stuff with its stereo tech, but with similarly priced bars offering the feature, it's worth considering.

Verdict:

Orbitsound's T12 v3 is a worthy update to the brand's popular soundbar range. There remain a few niggles (namely HDMI support and surround features) for this price point, but it's hard to argue with the overall aural quality of the product. If you're looking for a no-fuss system with which to boost your flat screen's sound capabilities, you can't ask for much more than the T12 v3.

Bose are once again bringing their much-lauded audio expertise to the PC market with the Companion 20 multimedia desktop speakers.

Offering "lifelike, natural sound", the stereo speaker set up uses a proprietary electronics and amplifaction system to deliver deep low notes and the volume levels you'd expect from much larger systems, according to the press release.

8.9cm (3.5") wide by 11.1cm (4.375") deep, the speakers also make use of Bose TrueSpace tech to inhance the stereo image, even if your set up demands a physically narrow soundscape.

A small control wheel is used for volume control and one-touch muting, and also allows for another audio source to be inputted (such as an MP3 player), making use of the speakers without firing up an attached PC.

"Millions of consumers have computers in the home today, and they're used for both work and play," said Lino Pucci, Computer Speaker Product Line Manager, Bose Corporation.

"The Companion 20 system is sleek and unobtrusive, but its size doesn't compromise the audio quality or power it delivers. It's ideal for anyone whose computer is the go-to device in the house for listening to their favorite radio stations over the internet, or enjoying their games, videos or iTunes playlist."

The speakers are avaialble now for £199. Visit www.bose.co.uk for more info.

Onkyo have revealed that they've have produced a free Android app to control their 2011 range of networked home cinema receivers.

The Onkyo Android app will touch down in August, available for tablets and smartphones, and will allow users to stream music to the receivers without turning on their televisions.

Working over a home Wi-Fi network, the app lets you navigate all of the recievers' functions by touch, letting you adjust volume and tone, switch sources and control what's playing back in individual zones if you have a multi-room set-up.

It'll work especially nicely with the Spotify-enabled TX-NR609, which we reviewed here back in May.

Sonos, the wireless home streaming speaker maestros, are staking a claim at smaller wallet sizes than usual with the launch of the the Play:3, set to cost £259.99. An entry level system, it not only offers bang for your buck but also introduces a new playful, simplified branding scheme for Sonos. As such, the popular premium S5 speaker gets renamed the Play:5 for instance. We went hands on with the Play:3 to see whether it can match the quality of its renamed sibling.

Packing in three Class-D digital amps, three drivers (a tweeter, two 3-inch mid-range and one passive) and a rear-firing bass radiator, the Play:3 acts in much the same way as the larger S5 (or Play:5, as it is now called). Connect the speaker to the internet via an Ethernet cable or the company's BRIDGE device (previously called the ZoneBridge which creates its own wireless network around the house), and you'll be able to stream music from all manner of sources.

This can include thousands of internet radio stations, Spotify Premium, Last.Fm, Napster, networked storage and perhaps most importantly, your iTunes collection. Navigating all the sources is a simple joy, wheter you use the Sonos dedicated CONTROL hardware remote, or the excellent free iPad, iPhone and Android apps available.

Sonos speaker systems come into their own however once you have multiple speakers in different rooms. You're then able to control what source and track is playing in each room individually from the apps or hardware remote, tweaking volumes as well as setting alarms. Synchronising all the speakers from a simple button press causes no lag in sound should you want the same tunes playing throughout a house, while it's also perfectly possible to have say a jazz room in the bathroom, an easy listening room in the bedroom and a death metal party in the living room.

Pop two Play:3 speakers in the same room, and it's just as simple to pair them as a stereo speaker pair, using the app to set one as the master speaker and the other as its stereo sibling. With the Play:3's designed to be compact (measuring just 132 x 268 x 160 mm and weighing 2.6 kg), they've been designed to fit anywhere, available in both black and white colours, and are just as secure sitting horizontally as they are vertically. In a neat touch, a built-in accelerometer recognises the speaker's orientation, and noticeably adjusts the way in which it throws music around the room.

As you'd expect from Sonos gear, the Play:3 speakers sounded great whatever the source, and whatever the configuration of mono or stereo speakers, horizontal or vertical. Playing everything from Daft Punk to Beethoven to Queens of the Stoneage in our short testing time, the speakers sparkled with detail and warm, rounded bass levels, going surprisingly loud without any sign of distortion. Stereo modes, as you'd expect, shone through as most impressive, and you'd probably want to nab at least a pair of the speakers as a result.

£259 is still a lot of money for a speaker, especially considering you're going to want to snap up a handful for the multi-room stereo set ups the Play:3 deserves. However, it's markedly cheaper than previous iterations of the Sonos gear, and apart from the absence of a line-in port, there's very little to set it apart from their more expensive outings. Simple to set up with perfect integration of so many music sources, it's hard not to fall in love with the Play:3.

We'll have a full, in-depth look at all the features of the Play:3 in a forthcoming review, but for now, check out a few more hands-on pictures in the gallery below.

Sony lift the covers on their latest micro hi-fi line today, announcing the launch of their AirPlay-compatible G Series range.

Starting with the CMT-G2BNiP (pictured), the hi-fi features a solid aluminium build with gloss black speakers and an LCD screen for displaying track, artist and radio station info. "Innovative geometric grounding technology" delivers a clean, crisp, distortion free sound from the speakers, while a high-amp output ensures acoustic balance sounds natural.

As well as housing a handy DAB tuner, the focus here is on the G-Series' "Made for iPod" features. As such, alongside AirPlay tune-streaming from iTunes on your computer or iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you can also get an iOS app which turns your Apple device into a remote control for the hi-fi.

To accomodate AirPlay, there are both Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity options with the CMT-G2BNiP. Those not rocking Apple devices can also make use of a USB input for playback too.

The presumably lower-priced CMT-G1BiP version packs the same USB and DAB features but none of the wireless connectivity options.

Pricing and availability is yet to be announced.

Those looking for a new hi-fi system but are stretched for space on their surfaces and shelves should take a look at Sony's latest home-audio system, the CMT-CX5.

Perfectly happy to sit as a conventional desktop or shef speaker, the CMT-CX5's main unique selling point is its wall-mountable nature. Packed with a bracket on the rear, it's just as easy to hang this slick-looking curved white or black speaker set as it is to pop up a picture frame.

Sony's latest audio processing tech, "Dynamic Sound Generator x-tra", gets an outing here, promising smooth and beefed up sound, no matter where you decide to place the system.

There's also the potential to run the CMT-CX5 as a three box system, seperating the player and two speakers into their individual units and placing them about the room as you see fit, which is great for those who like an exaggerated stereo soundscape.

Playback options are fairly robust too, with the option to listen to tracks via USB, CD, line-in and iPhone and iPod, as well as having a DAB tuner built in too.

No pricing yet, but expect to see the CMT-CX5 in shops around August time.

Name: Concept D 500 THX (Teufel)

Type: PC speakers

Specs: Click here for full specs

Price: £449

PC speakers come in many shapes, sizes and price brackets. While most of the time we'll be happy to sift through our iTunes catalogue with a respectably priced and spec'ed set of desktop noise makers, the audiophile in everyone sometimes wants a little bit more class to go along with those lossless tracks. Enter then the Teufel Concept D 500 THX PC speakers; massive in both physical size and pricing and packing THX certification, does more dough equate to more sonic bang for your buck?

Were we solely rating the Concept D 500 THX speakers on a matching price-to-size- ratio, they'd earn top marks. They're a gigantic pairing of two satellite speakers and a subwoofer (as well as a small wired remote) that will likely dwarf the other elements of your PC workstation. You're looking at 115mm x 290mm x 240mm for each satellite, and 210mm x 475mm x 455mm for the sub, with these weighing in at 1.9kg and 12.9 kg respectively. Solidly built, Teufel have sensibly kept to a minimalist approach in terms of design, with simple black gloss and matte surfaces accented by silver highlights. Despite their size, they'll fit in almost anywhere, style wise. The satellites can be supported by included metal stands, or can be free standing both vertically or horizontally, but their asymmetrical design can make them look a little bit strange in the latter orientation.

Flip the speakers around and on the rear you'll see the welcome sight of binding posts as opposed to spring clips for the cabling needed to link the satellites and sub together. It's also worth noting that Teufel don't supply the speaker cables here, just the power one; a little stingy considering the £449 price tag. As well as the binding posts, the rear of the sub also houses the power input, the connection for the wired remote, a microphone pass-through and a coaxial line-in connection. The LED-lit power button can be found on the subwoofer's front, sitting dangerously exposed to the point where it may be a little too easy to knock it off.

Taking a look at the remote itself, you'll find a handy microphone input on it, meaning you wont have to fumble around the rear of the speakers if you need to get chatting online, as well as a volume dial and dedicated bass dial too. It's a little annoying that Teufel didn't accommodate for a second audio source with another input here, if for instance you wanted to play a handful of tracks back from a mobile phone or MP3 player without firing up your computer.

The Concept D 500 THX's gigantic size gives them the advantage of being able to cram in some suitably large drivers. In the satellites you've got 19mm tweeters for your highs alongside 100mm woofers to hit mid ranges. The subwoofer pumps out from a pair 165mm drivers that, when cranked up to the max through the remote's bass dial, give you lowrider-rivalling levels of heavy bass. As such, you're going want to pair these speakers with decent soundcard; a 3.5mm laptop output isn't going to deliver the best results.

Find the right balance with that potentially over-powering subwoofer however and you're in for a wondrous performance from the Concept D 500 THX speakers, as you'd expect from a set boasting THX certification. The satellites are detailed and crisp, without sounding clinical, and drove the dialogue of Saving Private Ryan over the shells, booms and crack of gunfire from the Omaha Beach assault scene with aplomb. Likewise, you can expect similarly bombastic results if you're a PC gamer. Testing a range of music yielded similarly impressive results. The sample-heavy, summery delights of The Avalanche's Since I Left You album had a delightfully smooth feel, shimmering with the title track's flute hook and condensed vocals, while the faux-vinyl pop of the record's ambience was nearly as good as the real thing. Cranking up the bass a little for Nirvana's In Utero saw Dave Grohl's pummelling drum tracks pound around the room with satisfying snap and kick from the snare, while the high sequels of Scentless Apprentice were no trouble for the satellites. Even at ear-splittlingly loud volume levels, the speakers showed no obvious signs of distortion. Top stuff.

Verdict:

While the jump in sound quality from lower-priced, high-quality rivals to the £449 Concept D 500 speakers may only be audible to a keen audiophile, they remain a superb set of speakers indeed. Their imposing size allows for superb bass response, and a warm, considered tone, even if similar audio delights can be found in cheaper rivals. Provided you've the money and the space to house these sizeable speakers, you won't be disappointed.

Name: OnBeat (JBL)

Type: iPad / iPod speaker dock

Specs: Click here for full specs

Price: £144.20 from Amazon

Image Gallery: Click here

iPhone/iPod docks are two-a-penny these days, but iPad docks? Even more than a year after the tablet's launch, they're still a relative rarity. JBL's latest speaker dock, the JBL OnBeat, could well be your one-stop-shop dock when it comes to blaring out music from an iOS device, thanks to a dock that supports iPhones, iPods and larger iPad slates. But is it any good? Read on to find out.

The JBL OnBeat has a rather snazzy oval shaped design, with swathes of silver edging and a peppered grille covering the speakers. Available in black or white, from the centre of the dock comes an interchangeable cradle arm. Two brackets (one for iPads and one for iPhones/iPods) are included, snapping easily onto the rotating arm that allows you to pop the iOS units into landscape mode.

While you can technically dock an iPad in landscape mode with the JBL OnBeat, we wouldn't recommend it; the arm seems designed to better distribute weight in a portrait position for iPads, and we'd imagine the arm would weaken over time. Of course, this isn't a problem for lighter iPods and iPhones.

Head around to the back of the OnBeat and you're greeted by the familiar and welcome 3.5mm aux input which will let you hook up practically any audio source that employs a regular headphone jack, as well as a USB port for firmware updates and a composite video output for pumping video content to a big screen.

A small 10-button remote is provided that offers basic playback controls (play, pause, volume up or down, track forwards or backwards, and a few menu navigation controls), and while it works perfectly well with iPods and iPhones, again iPad support causes problems. In this case it's purely down to industrial design; the iPad takes up more room on the front of the speakers, and depending on your angle in relation to the IR sensor for the remote, Apple's tablet may obstruct your remote inputs.

Sonically, the JBL OnBeat packs a punch, but no more than other docks in the £150 range. Mid range frequencies seem to benefit most of all, which leads to a warm sound that, while lacking a little in crispness, helps to prevent the dock from sounding tinny and cheap. Bass is a little lacking overall, and volume levels too high and lower frequencies distort noticeably. Treat the OnBeat then more as a casual player rather than a party centrepiece or audiophile unit and it won't disappoint.

Verdict:

The JBL OnBeat sits at the top of the iPad dock pile, but that's not a particularly hard feat considering how few there currently are on the market. Not being able to place an iPad in landscape mode safely will frustrate users looking to add a little more sonic "oomph" to their tablet movies, but it's a perfectly serviceable unit for iPod and iPhone users. If your dock must be a jack of all trades when it comes to supporting a wide range of Apple products then the JBL OnBeat is for you, otherwise your money will be better spent elsewhere.

If you ask people the one issue, other than finances, that holds most folks back from purchasing a 5.1 home cinema set, the answer you'll usually hear back is that the lengthy wiring needed for the rear speakers is unsightly and troublesome to feed around a living room. 5.1 speaker sales may be set to sky-rocket then thanks to RocketFish, whose new RocketBoost Wireless Audio tech offers a solution to the 5.1 trip-wire-cabling-conundrum.

Kicking off with a RF-RBKIT HD Audio starter kit (consisting of a wireless sender and an amplified receiver), the sender will hook up to your home cinema receiver using the speaker outputs, while the receiver is placed at the back of your listening space, connecting to your rear speakers. The audio is then sent from the wireless sender to the rear receiver without needing to have the rear speakers hooked up directly to your home cinema reciever.

While it's not truly wireless (as both the sender and reciever require your speaker cables to be fed into them) it does mean that you don't have to run the wiring around the walls, instead hiding it all with the sender beside the rear audio outputs, or down the back of the sofa in the case of many home cinema set ups. As the wireless units work on their own private network and intelligently pick a frequency free of interference in the surrounding space, playback is stutter-free. Also, as the unit is completely universal, it should work alongside any 5.1 system you own, regardless of brand.

If you want to later on expand to a 7.1 system, it's then simply a matter of adding another RF-RBAUX sender/reciever unit, or the same unit to hook up an auido source such as a PC speaker set wirelessly. Should your regular stereo speakers require an amp too there's the RF-RBREC amplified reciever variant, while RocketFish have also put together their own speaker set, the RF-RBWS02 Wireless Speaker kit, which is suitable for outdoor use.

As you can see, scalability is a key advantage with the gear, allowing you to expand the wireless sources and control them independently as your audio set-up around the house grows too. All in, you can send up to five sources of audio to nine different Rocketboost receivers without any drop in audio quality, including HD Blu-ray tracks in Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Exclusive to Best Buy, you can check out the RocketBoost gear by clicking here.

First revealed back in May, Philips' Fidelio SoundSphere DS9800 speakers represent the brand's top end in home audio, not only in terms of sound quality, but in their unusual design too. We headed down to a press preview to catch a glimpse of the speakers. Here are Tech Digest's hands-on thoughts as to what £699 worth of audio gear looks and sounds likes.

The Philips Fidelio SoundSphere DS9800 speakers are quite unlike any speakers you'll have ever seen. Like two lopsided, foot-high, half-cut aubergines, the speaker's tweeters sit outside of the main body of the unit on the end of a branch-like bracket. It looks great, but it's more than a simple matter of aesthetics; they result in a less directional soundscape, meaning you should get a decent feeling of stereo separation no matter where you are stood in relation to them. It also means that the sound pumped from the larger drivers within each unit won't interfere as badly with the tweeter's cross-over range frequencies. As a result, you get a beautifully crisp sound, highly detailed, but with the potential for bowel-rumbling bass.

The addition of AirPlay support means this set is most likely to appeal to Apple fans, allowing for wireless streaming from Macs, iPod Touch devices, iPads and iPhones. This negates the need for a central control unit, and while the speakers do look a little lonely as a result, you can imagine them fitting in beautifully at an Ideal Home Show "Home of Tomorrow".

Though AirPlay support means that there's no need for a physical dock, Philips do offer one that charges Apple devices (but does not send audio to the speakers) should you still need a central focal point for your music collection. Those of you who don't buy into the cult of Apple can still enjoy your music through the speakers too by using the AUX Input on the unit's rear, though of course this adds an extra cable, alongside the one tethering the two speakers together, into the equation.

An iOS app however further shows which tech fanbase Philips are aiming at with the SoundSpheres. It offers full volume, playlists and sleep timer functions among others, meaning once the speakers are plugged in and placed in your living room, you should in theory never have to go anywhere near them ever again.

£699 is a lot of money for a speaker set, but it seems you're definitely getting what you pay for here. The Fidelio SoundSphere DS9800 speakers look and sound great. We'll keep you posted on our more exacting thoughts when we get some more hands-on time with the speakers in the coming weeks.

Scroll down for some more pics of the Philips Fidelio SoundSphere DS9800 speakers

Teufel have revealed a new budget-friendly 5.1 speaker package today in the shape of the Columa 200 set.

Featuring four column speakers and a central bar speaker that's built to replicate the towering surround units, each houses two 70mm mid range drivers and a 19mm fabric dome tweeter. The included active subwoofer is of the 140W variety, packing in a 250mm Klippel optimised bass driver.

Designed for rooms up to 30 square metres, the speakers will be fully compatible with any brand of AV reciever that supports 5.1 channel output.

Available now, you can bag the Teufel speakers for £479 direct from the manufacturers at http://www.teufelaudio.co.uk/.

Sony have revealed details on three new iPhone and iPod speaker docks as part of their ever-growing RDP range. The RDP-X60iP, the RDP-M5iP and the RDP-M15iP will all hit shops this summer.

Designed with home use in mind, the RDP-X60iP is likely to grab the most interest from music fans thanks to its wireless streaming capabilities. The first Sony dock to employ a Bluetooth connection, you'll be able to stream music from all sorts of MP3 players and mobile phones to the speaker as it's not locked into Apple's proprietary AirPlay standard. It should sound relatively beefy too thanks to a 20W+20W output power and two 76mm loudspeakers with twin port system and super-long duct.

The next two docks are more focussed on portability. The RDP-M15iP cuts down the output power to 10W+10W, and features a rotatable bracket for watching videos comfortably. Good for 6 hours of on-the-go playback, it also ships with a protective pouch to keep the speaker safe when travelling.

Last up is the smaller RDP-M5iP, with just a 2W+2W ouput. It still however squeezes in two 50mm loudspeakers with bass reflex just like its M15iP sibling, but runs off four AAA batteries and is equipped with a handle.

The RDP-X60iP and the RDP-M5iP will be available in June, with the RDP-M15iP following a little later in July. As ever with Sony gear, prices are yet to be announced.

Name: BDS 700 (Harman Kardon)

Type: Blu-ray deck and 5.1 home cinema combo

Specs: Click here for full specs

Price: £1099.99 direct from Harman Kardon

The convenience of one-box home cinema set-ups often make them the first port of call for budding home theatre enthusiasts. Combining a Blu-ray deck with 5.1 surround speakers, Harman Kardon's BDS 700 set is a stylishly designed premium AV solution. But can the sparse feature list do enough to justify its hefty price tag?

As the introduction suggests, in the box you're getting a Blu-ray player which also acts as a simple receiver for an included set of 5.1 home cinema speakers with the BDS 700. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to focus on both aspects individually, starting with the Blu-ray player.

The deck in question is the BDS 5SO. It's chunkier than your average player (as it needs to house all of the 5.1 audio connections) but is in no way lacking in the looks department. A mixture of gloss black with brushed aluminium accents, the large volume knob with its backlight adds a Tron-like air to proceedings, married with a clear blue dot matrix display. The slot-in rather than pop-out disc drive also allows the kit's smooth lines and curved front edges to be maintained, though we're always a bit fearful of what would happen if a disc ever got stuck inside.

In terms of connectivity, the deck has a single HDMI output, a USB port for media playback, an Ethernet port for BD Live functions and an array of speaker terminals backed by two optical digital inputs, two analog RCA stereo audio inputs and a coaxial digital input. You'll also be able to play files directly from an iPod or iPhone via an optional Harman Kardon Bridge IIIP dock (not included).

Despite being a premium bit of kit, we were disappointed to see how underused the Ethernet port is here. Solely for BD Live content, you can't access files stored on your home network, nor any media portals or web video services familiar to owners of Samsung or Sony decks. USB playback fares a little better (compatible with MPEG, DiVX-AVI files, MP4 in HD and even temperamental MKV files with the H.264 codec, as well as MP3, WMA , AAC and FLAC audio files) but shoots its usability in the foot by being limited to drives formatted in FAT32, leaving you with only 4GB of storage to play around with.

Thankfully, Blu-ray playback image quality is very good. We popped in the stalwart Casino Royale disc and were welcomed by sharp images and smooth-moving action scenes, crisp textures and vibrant colour reproduction. Even murkier scenes, such as when Bond is captured and tied up, retained visual clarity, highlighting minute details in the darkened dungeon room and making the purple-y bruises on Bond's face look all the more painful. Boot-times were fast too, taking just 14 seconds to get Bond going. Remember however, that you wont be able to play 3D discs here; another feature now quite regularly found in more reasonably priced sets.

DVD upscaling was equally impressive, pushing our Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back DVD to 1080p. Colours were natural and overall images were sharpened up nicely without any smeary artifacting. The only real weak spot was during the opening yellow-scrolling introductory text, looking a little shakey with slight colour bleeding over the black space backdrop.

On then to the BDS-700's sound capabilities, which are overall very good. In the box you'll find a 200W 353mm x 267mm x 267mm down-firing subwoofer, four 167mm x 100mm x 92mm 80W satellites, and a 120W 102mm x 241mm x 92mm dual-driver central channel. Compatible with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital and DTS-HD / DTS-HD Master Audio formats, it delivered crisp audio, consistently well spaced across the soundscape.

A quick jump to Avatar's massive tree-felling battle sequence really saw the subwoofer working a treat, booming with a ground-shakingly resonate sound every time an explosion went off, easily tweaked with the rear volume knob if it's a little overpowering. The central channel too did very well to keep dialogue clear over noisy action scenes, while the rear speakers blended in with subtle ambient sounds remarkably naturally. Our one complaint with the satellites is they at times felt a little bright, but tended to settle down once they'd warmed up a little.

Verdict:

If you've neither a Blu-ray player nor 5.1 system to accompany your HD TV, the BDS 700 kit isn't a bad shout at all, providing you've got the dough. It looks and sounds great, with sharp HD images from Blu-ray discs too. However, buying a separate Blu-ray deck and 5.1 set up from other brands for the same combined value as the BDS-700 would open you up to far more fully-featured products. Convenient, but not necessarily good value for money then.

Name: TX-NR609 (Onkyo)

Type: 7.2 channel AV Receiver

Specs: Click here for full specs

Price: £499

Onkyo have built a solid reputation for themselves by offering affordable AV kits that consistently perform as well as their more expensive rivals. Their latest effort, the TX-NR609, may be their best mid-range AV receiver yet, packing in a a range of web-connected audio features, including Spotify.

More-or-less maintaining the chunky black look of last year's range (though silver models are available too) the Onkyo TX-NR609 is a satisfyingly sturdy affair. Source and Mode controls are placed along a thin groove within the flat face of the receiver, with a chunky master volume dial to the right and an easy-to-read screen sitting near the top edge.

Six HDMI v1.4 input ports can be found on the receiver (including one sensibly on the front), suitable for full HD 3D signals, 1 output HDMI, as well as twin optical and twin coaxial digital inputs, a USB port for media playback and iPods, Zone 2 output, PC IN, component, composite, a Universal Port for Onkyo peripherals and of course the myriad connections for hooking up your surround speakers. An Ethernet port is included for accessing the many web features included here, and though Onkyo have an adapter planned in the pipeline, it's a shame the TX-NR609 doesn't ship with a wireless internet solution.

Set up is an incredibly simple affair thanks to the Audyssey 2EQ wizard. Plugging a supplied mic into the front of the unit that monitors a series of test tones, it intelligently weighs the volume and width of the sound image sent out from each speaker. You can of course tweak all manner of speaker distance, volume and panorama settings manually should you so desire, and a clean onscreen interface makes it a breeze to do so.

The connected capabilities here are incredible given the price tag. Chief among these is Spotify playback; those with a Premium account for the music streaming service will be able to check out all their playlists in a nicely presented user interface that includes artwork alongside "What's New" and "Starred track" tabs. If you've yet to sign up to the 10 million-strong song streaming catalogue, it should be your top priority if you purchase this receiver. Equally well presented are vTuner internet radio, Napster, Last.fm and DLNA-certified music streaming across your network, all accessible from a dedicated "Net" remote button.

If the range of web connected features wasn't enough to tickle your fancy, then audio quality certainly should. The TX-NR609 again performs marvellously here. THX Select2 Plus-certified, it has no problem decoding all manner of HD audio formats, also offering Dolby Pro Logic IIz and Audyssey DSX processing. Twin subwoofer outputs (hence the 7.2 categorisation) allow for a surprisingly sharp bass response, backed by a healthy 120 watts available to each speaker. In practice, it lead to truly dynamic sound reproduction from our Star Trek test Blu-ray; thunderous explosions resonated ground shakingly in the opening battle scene, while the sounds of sparking circuitry and tinkering glass scattered around the room with great fidelity at all but the highest of volumes. That then would be our one concern; that signal/noise ratings don't quite seem to match those quoted in the specs by Onkyo, distorting noticeably along higher volume levels.

Though it doesn't have much of a practical application at this point, the receiver also supports Marvell Qdeo 4K video upscaling, four times the pixel pushing power of 1080p upscaling to a whopping 3840 x 2160. 4K displays currently cost a bomb and are specialist items, but it's nice to know this receiver is future-proofed, particularly considering that the likes of Toshiba have glasses-free 3D sets supporting the feature waiting in the wings.

Verdict:

The features-to-pricing ratio on the TX-NR609 could easily lead you to believe that Onkyo would had to have had cut corners somewhere on this receiver, but that's plainly not the case. From the rich, detailed sound of the 7 channel amp to the painless mic set-up and slick Spotify interface, it's a real winner. You'll be hard pressed to find a better receiver in the sub-£500 price bracket than this one.

Lucky owners of a Sonos multi-room speaker system today have a brand new option when it comes to controlling their audio set-ups, as the company have today revealed their Sonos-compatible Android application.

A free app, similar in functionality to that of the iPhone app previously available but fine-tuned to make use of the Android OS's Back, Menu, Home and Search buttons, it will allow you to control the volume of all Sonos speakers around the house, as well as offering full playback controls, playlist editing and management of online sources such as Spotify and Last.FM.

The app also makes use of Google's voice search funtionality, meaning fans of bands with long names such as "...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead" needn't get RSI when huning down their tracks.

We caught up with Sonos senior product manager Craig Wisneski yesterday, who gives a quick demo of the app in the video above.

You can grab the app by clicking here.

Sonos also today announced Airplay compatibility with Apple devices to go along with their speaker systems.

A free firmware update to Sonos System Software 3.4 along with an AirPort Express add-on from Apple (pictured above), will allow Apple devices such as iPads and iPhones to by-pass the Sonos software, negating the need to index tracks before they are available wirelesly, as well as opening up the potential for streaming music found within apps.

The set-up process can be found by clicking here.

Home cinema fans are in for treat today, as Sony have announced the launch of not one, but three new pieces of kit to turn your living room into a multiplex.

First up is the Skype-enabled BDP-S780 Blu-ray player. Compatible with any webcam, you can plug one into the player and have fullscreen video chats with your pals from in the living room. The Blu-ray player is also fully 3D compatible, converting 2D content to 3D, while built in BRAVIA Internet services give access to YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Lovefilm and more. There will also be a smartphone app to let you control the device from your mobile.

The new player is flanked by two new 2.1 speaker systems, the BDV-EF200 and BDV-L600. Each comes with S-Force PRO 3D virtual surround sound, IP Noise Reduction technology and two HDMI ports. They too come with BRAVIA Internet access, as well as an iPod/iPhone dock for playing back music and videos, all again able to be controlled by a smartphone app. The differentiator between the two is positioning options, with the BDV-L600 able to be placed in variety of horizontal, vertical or wall-mounted positions.

No news on pricing or availabilty yet, but we'll keep you posted.

Name: HD Theater 500 (Klipsch)

Type: 5.1 speaker set

Specs: Click here for full specs

Price: £499.99 from Klipsch

No matter what the brand or size, buyers of a flatscreen TV have to be ready for pretty woeful audio quality from nearly every set. This isn't necessarily a problem however, as ever-more-affordable home cinema speaker packages hit the market, making 5.1 surround sound far more accessible than it ever was. Klipsch's HD Theater 500 package sits at the top end of mid-priced speaker packages. As veterans of the silver screen cinema speaker scene, can Klipsch bring the Hollywood magic into living rooms too?

Comprised of four satellite speakers, a centre speaker and an active subwoofer, you've got nearly all you need to get a home cinema system set up straight out of the box, barring an AV receiver of course. For the most part, build quality on Klipsch's HD Theater 500 is very good; aimed at smaller rooms, the speakers are sensibly discrete. The surround satellites measure up at 6" x 3.6" x 3.85". the centre channel 3.6" x 9" x 3.85" and the subwoofer 13.9" x 12.5" x 12.5", each finished with a gloss matte finish and with removable grilles on the satellites that reveal the woofers and tweeters. Each had a solid weight to them, with smooth, well-finished casing. However, we were disappointed to find spring-clip wiring connections on the speakers, usually the reserve of cheaper all-in-one box 5.1 systems. They're fiddily and not as reliable as binding posts.

Wall-mounting the speakers shouldn't pose much of a problem, helped along by a collection of brackets in the box. In a nice touch, the speakers can be angled within a 40-degree cone, allowing you to fine tune the arc of the sound image.

On the rear of the 100-watt subwoofer you'll find a range of dials to tweak volume and crossover settings. Crossover range can be put between 80 and 160Hz, with something around the top end of that range best suited to the included satellites. A 150Hz subwoofer-to-satellite crossover seemed to be optimal during our testing. Line inputs, and switches to control flipping the phase 180 degrees are also housed on the back of the subwoofer.

Moving onto the satellites, each house a horn-loaded 0.75-inch aluminium tweeter and a 2.5-inch woofer, with the larger centre speaker using two 2.5-inch woofers either side of the tweeter.

We popped on the Star Trek Blu-ray to try out the Klispch HD Theater 500's movie performance in the film's particularly-testing opening scene, and came away very impressed. As explosions and alarms fire off all over the show, the speakers managed natural separation, with little notable join between the audio sources. Shattering glass and booming explosions felt measured and appropriate, with particular praise going to the subwoofer. While the satellites distorted slightly with the highest frequencies at louder volumes, the subwoofer massaged bass tones to a warm and satisfying degree, giving full-bodied sound that remained clear rather than grumbling. Also worht noting is the centre channel, which admirably pushed dialogue to the fore.

Playing back a range of CDs of many musical styles, covering everything from Lady Gaga to Metallica through to classical works by Verdi, all showed the Klipsch kit performing well, though we often again found the satellites making higher frequencies sound a little harsh.

Verdict:

They're not the cheapest speaker option, but you could do a lot worse than the Klipsch HD Theater 500 set. They'll easily provide smaller rooms with a significant cinematic audio upgrade over flatscreen TVs, pushing blockbuster sounds to your sofa. The spring clips may seem a little cheap, and there's the odd minor niggle with the satellites, but that subwoofer is a joy to listen to, with literally earth-shaking performance without compromising clarity.