Now on sale is the May issue of the new-look What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, complete with our unmissable Buying Guide to the crucial products you should consider whether you're starting out or upgrading.
Front and centre in this month's magazine is the Samsung UE55F8000 LCD/LED Smart TV – the first of the new 2013 models to find its way into our test-rooms and an absolute stunner, setting the standard for its rivals to beat.
That's just one part of a reviews package bringing you top choices in stereo amps, perfect projectors to deliver the bigger picture at home and desktop speakers for music while you work. And we're going wireless, too, with a round-up of Bluetooth speakers to make more of your tablet or smartphone.
And talking of smartphones, we also test the HTC One, and reckon it could just be the one to shake up the mobile market.
We also put the brand-new Sonos Playbar through its paces, and discover whether it pulls off the clever trick of bringing together better TV sound and streaming music.
For something different, we've been listening to the unique-looking Marantz Consolette, finally here after months of tuning and fettling, and finding that all the effort has been worthwhile: it sounds as good as it looks!
Our main Supertest this month is all about core values, with seven stereo amplifiers lined up in a shootout to the death. New models including the Arcam FMJ A19, Onix A-25, Pioneer A-70 and Rotel RA-12 face up to established leaders from Audiolab, Cyrus and Naim – if you're serious about your music, you need to read this one.
However, if you prefer your favourite songs or albums to form the soundtrack of your working day, then we have a quartet for you. No, not our travelling chamber ensemble, available for daily or weekly hire, but Desktop speakers from AQ Audio, Bose, Epoz and Monitor Audio, each designed to take your mind off the 9 to 5.
Sorry, that should of course have read 'make you more productive and diligent than ever'.
We also have seven Budget Bluetooth speaker solutions you can use anywhere around the house: just the thing for streaming your favourite tunes from your smartphone, tablet or computer, and all for £100 our less.
And at the end of a long day, when you want to kick back and enjoy a movie at home and even the biggest of TVs isn't cinematic enough, we've a trio of home cinema projectors designed to bring you big thrills without the blockbuster budget.
If you've always said 'I'd love a projector, but they're too expensive', this is the test for you…
Cost no object audio is what our Temptations section is all about, and this month we've some real objects of desire: the £4995 Chord QBD76 HDSD DAC, Copland's simple but oh-so-effective CDA 825 CD player, and the gorgeous ProAC Response D40/R floor standing speakers.
All this and more brand-new products in our First Tests pages, including Panasonic's TX-L50ET60B TV and the heavyweight Harman/Kardon Go+Play Wireless speaker system.
It's all in our May issue, on sale now in store, online and available to download from iTunes directly to your iPad, or for non-Apple users via Zinio.
Enjoy!
Written by Andrew Everard
