HCD Trade Awards Unveiled!
The annual HCD Trade Awards have now been announced, in the latest edition of the magazine. Boasting a gorgeous consumer-mag-style paper-edition front cover, it’s also our second ‘tip ‘n turn’ edition, with the popular HCD SmartHome section boasting its own AWE/Kinetik-sponsored front cover, on the underside of the mag. And if that weren’t enough, the digital edition (which can be viewed here) sports a Peerless cover, promoting the brand’s HCD Trade Awards successes. Click ‘Read on’ to see all three covers side by side. Both the paper and digital editions feature news from the annual CES, a special report on Smart TVs, profiles on LG and AWE, comment from editor/publisher Jamie Carter, CI guru Martyn Williams, CEDIA’s Wendy Griffiths and What Hi-Fi Sound & Vision’s Clare Newsome. Next month, our March edition focuses on this year’s ISE, with a full report on the best Integrated Systems event ever (it just keeps getting better!). We also take a good look at some of the companies which shone in this year’s HCD Awards, with profiles on brands and products and trade opinion.
To subscribe to the FREE digital edition of HCD and HCD-SmartHome, click here
HCD Consumer: Issue 2 still available to view online
HCD is now available in a quarterly, toned down, consumer-friendly (ie enthusiast-friendly!) edition. Home Cinema Digest: The Ultimate Sound & Vision Insider’s Guide will be mailed direct to over 7,000 enthusiasts’ in-boxes four times a year, and is available to view (for free) online at www.homecinemadigest.com.
You can view the second edition of Home Cinema Digest: The Ultimate Sound & Vision Insider’s Guide by clicking this link. The next edition will be available to view online and mailed out to subscribers in early April.
Alphason launches nationwide bracket install service
Alphason has launched an installation initiative to help retailers take advantage of the increasing demand for on-wall TV bracketing.
Those Alphason retailers not currently offering their own installation service can plug into a nationwide market leading installation company. Retailers with their own installation teams can use the new service as a back up when they are extra busy.
Ultra simple to use, the service is available online via Alphason’s new Dealer Portal. First, retailers have to register for the new Dealer Portal by going to Alphason’s website. After that they can click online to use the service or call 0844 225 0346. Once booked an email or text will be sent to the retailer and their customer confirming the date of installation. Twenty-four hours before the installation an email or text will be sent again confirming the exact time for the job to be done. An engineer will then connect all new and existing equipment as well as installing the bracket.
For added convenience consumers will have access to the engineer’s diary online to select the best time for the installation. As a further bonus, retailers don’t even have to hold stock of the product but instead charge the consumer for the product and the installation.
Alphason is launching the service in tandem with a new range of eleven new slim-line mounts – an extension to its award-winning Viewsmart range. The new Viewsmart wall mounts are produced from high quality materials, and boast post-installation adjustment and magnetic spirit levels for perfect installations every time.
“Alphason prides itself on going that extra mile for its customers and this nationwide installation service is a prime example of that,” says Alphason’s COO Chris Emerson. “It will take the worries out of bracket installation for those retailers with no facilities of their own, and provide a very useful back up for those with installation teams. And because it’s a nationwide service provided in co-operation with a professional fully accredited installation partner with more than 20 years experience, it comes with a complete peace of mind guarantee.”
www.alphasondesigns.com
Domestic and General launches new logo
Domestic and General has launched a new logo. Bidding a fond farewell to the yellow swan logo that served the brand well for several decades, the company has ushered in a vibrant new logo to bring a fresh look to the company and underpin its key brand values - creativity, dependability and expertise.
Check out the interview with D&G’s Jeff Griffiths in the latest edition of HCD.
www.corporate.domgen.com
Alphason team completes three-peaks charity climb
An intrepid team from Alphason took part in the National Three Peaks Challenge last weekend in aid of Cancer Research UK. In just 24 hours the Alphason mountaineers climbed Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon.
The climbers are three-quarters of the way to their £2,000 goal but would be delighted to receive further donations to help them reach it. If you would like to make a donation go to www.justgiving.com/3peaksNW
HCD previews CEDIA HTE and World Cup in HD!
The latest edition of Home Cinema Digest is hot for some June lovin’ – specifically CEDIA’s HTE and the first-ever hi-def World Cup! It provides all you need to know about the upcoming new CEDIA ‘expo’ and the free-to-view options for HD footy.
Featuring a freesat-sponsored front cover, HCD is your essential industry news, views and features fix. Articles include special reports on freesat HD and Freeview HD, ahead of the World Cup, an interview with CEDIA chairman Robert Hallam, and our in-depth CEDIA Home Technology Event (aka Expo!) show preview.
Product profiles include B&W’s sexy new loudspeakers, Sharp’s LED range and LG’s OLED sets. We also check out 3D amps.
Regulars include news, products news, CI news and products, opinion from our regular columnists – this month (as ever!) our own Editor/Publisher Jamie Carter, Dan George, Editor of Hi-Fi Choice, Steve May, Editor-in-Chief of Home Cinema Choice (amongst others!) and CEDIA’s Wendy Griffiths – plus our essential contacts and back issues pages.
Our ever-popular SmartHome section features all the latest news and training from the CI industry, as well our extensive CEDIA HTE preview.
Click here to go straight to the digital edition, and don’t forget to subscribe if you’re yet to do so.
The next edition of HCD is our summer issue, which will include a full report from the CEDIA HTE.
Pulse three-peaks charity climb success!
Pulse Marketing may have set its sights high with an ambitious charity climb – but the participants came good for the chosen children’s charities and the £10,000 target was met.
Pulse’s Mike Beatty and Andy Jones joined seven other climbers, including CEDIA’s Matt Nimmons, in climbing three of the UK’s highest mountains - in just 24 hours!
The feat took in the mountain scenery of Ben Nevis (1344m), Scafell Pike (978m) and Snowdon (1085m) - a challenge comprising in excess of 11,000ft of climbing, over 20 miles of walking, plus over 500 miles of driving!
Every penny raised is going to Edukid, a special children’s charity, One Voice, an anti slavery charity, and the Teenage Cancer Trust. Pulse Marketing contributed towards costs for the trip (car rental, petrol, subsistence), as well as promoting the recently built group charity website (www.nothingandeverything.co.uk) to the press.
Contributions are still being sought via sponsorship of the nothingandeverything.co.uk website, set up by a group of nine cause-conscious friends - many of them from the AV industry - to raise money for worthy causes while at the same time ‘pushing the individuals involved beyond what they thought possible’. The friends visited Uganda last year, as part of the Edukid programme, and are asking for donations from companies or individuals to support this year’s climbs, and the three charities - in return for which all sponsors will appear on the site.
“We’re asking the industry to help us all to reach our target for these really deserving charities, while we push ourselves to go beyond what we first thought was possible!” said Beatty ahead of the climb. “Pledge what you or your company can afford and we’ll put your name or company name and logo in the sponsorship area on nothingandeverything.co.uk. Thanks!”
You can donate via Virgin Giving on the nothingandeverything website.
Peerless launches connectors range
Peerless-AV Europe has launched an AV cables and interconnects range, designed by connectivity guru Ray Phillips and Peerless’ own Jim Edwards.
Offered in four quality tiers, ‘Ultimate’, ‘Best’, ‘Better’ and ‘Good’ - including an ultra-thin Slimline HDMI - the range is intended to offer a connection solution to multiple end-users, with the ‘Ultimate’ Omega heading up an HDMI range which uniquely provides HDMI 1.4 specification from a premium £149.99, to a super-affordable £39.99 from the ‘Better’ Delta.
“The Peerless AV Connectivity range is just what the market has been waiting for,” says Gordon Dutch, Managing Director of Peerless-AV Europe. “A range of top-to-bottom cables which suit all types of end-users, and provide - with the Ultimate and Best options - the last-word in cable technology for today’s high-end screens and source products, particularly the up-and-coming 3D launches and super-slim LED TVs.”
Omega has been designed to offer the ultimate performance from high-end home cinema equipment, in particular the forthcoming 3D Blu-Ray and TV displays coming from companies such as Panasonic and Samsung, and is available in 1 and 2 metre lengths, at £129.99 and £149.99.
Pictured here, Sigma (’Best’) complements Omega as a more affordable high-end solution, with HDMI, stereo RCA, digital coaxial, digital optical and Scart. The Sigma HDMI costs £69.99 for 1 metre and £89.99 for 2 metre lengths.
The ultra-thin, 2 metre Slimline (’Specialist’) is intended for connecting to wall-mounted super-slim LED TVs. It has been specially tooled with a 90 degree connector at one end that only projects 14mm from the rear of the screen once fitted, and has a low profile 3mm flat cable. Designed to complement the HCD award-winning Peerless Slimline wallmounts range - enabling screens to be positioned closer to the wall than ever before - it is also HDMI 1.4 and costs £59.99.
The Delta (also ‘Better’) series is intended for those wanting to up the ante on performance - with a mid-range, superior upgrade within reach of the typical consumer. Delta is available in 1, 2 and 5 metre lengths across nine different cable options, including HDMI 1.4 (also available in 3 metre lengths), component, Scart, digital coaxial and digital optical - 17 product options in total. The HDMI option costs £39.99 for 1 metre and £49.99 for 2 metre lengths.
Alpha (’Good’) is the ideal ‘first upgrade’ cable, a represents a significant improvement from cabling generally supplied with AV equipment. There are 25 cable options in total, including HDMI, component, Scart, digital coaxial and digital optical, at 1, 2 and 5 metre lengths. All Peerless cables and interconnects make extensive use of easy-to-understand icons to allow the consumer to choose the right cable for them, showing clearly which AV component can be connected to another.
AWE launches new custom install brand
AWE Europe has announced the launch its own brand of premium quality CI products under the Kinetik Labs brand, in a significant move designed to support its CI customer base with a consistent and comprehensive brand offering.
AWE will be selling directly to installers in the UK and is looking to appoint distributors throughout Europe to serve their local territories.
“For some time now, we have been looking to create our own range of installer-friendly products and I am delighted that we can now introduce Kinetik Labs as a new name into the CI marketplace” says Stuart Tickle, Managing Director at AWE Europe.
“To become a Kinetik product, the piece of equipment must meet our stringent quality criteria which is set out and assessed by experienced AWE people. This team is made up of front line technical and sales staff, including ex-installers who really know their stuff.”
“We know dealers want products that do what they say on the tin, no fuss, no smoke and mirrors, just well priced decent kit with all the essential accessories included. It must also have a very attractive dealer margin backed by great technical support and a solid market strategy…..all things that AWE has become renowned for over the years. In celebrating our 75th anniversary in 2010, we are really excited about this new landmark in the history of AWE. It will give our customers exactly what they want”.
With the Kinetik Labs brand, AWE will be able to provide its dealers with access to a wider range of high quality CI products and complement the scope of the existing brands it supplies to the sector. Initial Kinetik products will cover infra-red receiver kits and CI speakers, where the emphasis will be on reliability, quality build, affordability and CI friendly features and benefits. Specific product range details will be announced shortly.
For further information on Kinetik Labs visit www.awe-europe.com, email sales@awe-europe.com or call 01372 729777.
HCD Awards 2010 results revealed
Results in the Home Cinema Digest Awards 2010 have now been unveiled – with Winners and Highly Commended nominees announced. Designed to showcase the best products, ideas and innovations in the AV, Hi-Fi and CI industry, the first-ever HCD Trade Awards recognise the best of the best in AV, Hi-Fi and CI in almost 40 product and trade award categories. Winners and Highly Commended entries for each category are revealed below.
There’s never been a more informed awards roundup in any trade magazine. Having worked all around the industry, and for some of the UK’s best-selling AV and hi-fi magazines for decades, the editorial team at Home Cinema Digest (HCD to its friends!) has unrivaled industry knowledge, and the magazine hosts regular contributions from some of Europe’s best known AV, Hi-Fi & CI editors, journalists and commentators.
As a thank-you for helping us decide where these prestigious Awards will be going, all *complete entries went into a hat to win **£1,000 worth of free D&G promotional service plans, and full staff training for your store on how to maximise service plan sales.
There were some tricky choices to be made. How do you choose between Sky+HD, the Humax Foxsat-HDR Freesat recorder and Panasonic’s DMR-BS850 Blu-ray recorder? If you think Best Digital TV Box is tricky, how about Best High-End Display? Philips’ stunning Cinema 21:9 goes up against Panasonic’s 65-inch custom install plasma, Sharp’s 108-inch LCD TV and Loewe’s marvelous Reference system.
Thank you for your time and effort with these awards.
Overall winners:
Best LCD/LED TV
LG 42SL9000
Best Plasma TV
Panasonic TX-P46Z1
Best Freesat HD TV
Panasonic TX-L37V10
Best High-End Display
Panasonic TX-P65VX100
Best Projector Under £3,000
Epson EH-TW2900
Best Mid-Range Projector
JVC DLA-HD950
Best High-End Projector
Runco Q750i
Best Blu-ray Player
Pioneer BDP-LX52
Best High-End Blu-ray Player
Pioneer BDP-LX91
Best Projection Screen
Screen Research ClearPix2
Best Blu-ray One-box Home Cinema
Samsung HT-BD8200
Best In-Wall Speakers
KEF CI9000ACE
Best On-Wall Speakers
Artcoustic DF100-75 X2
Best Architectural Speakers
Stealth AX3 Invisible
Best High-End AV Speakers
Monitor Audio PL300 AV
Best DAB Radio
Pure Evoke-3
Best AV Amplifier
up to £1,000
Denon AVR-2310
Best AV Amplifier
up to £2,000
Pioneer SC-LX82
Best High-End AV Amplifier
Yamaha DSP-Z11
Best Two-Channel Amplifier
Yamaha A-S700
Best CD Player
Marantz CD6003
Best Compact & iPod Hi-Fi
Yamaha TSX-130
Best TV Wallmounts
Peerless SlimLine range
Best AV Furniture
Peerless Manhattan
Best Cinema Seating
Fortress
Best Media Server
Imerge MediaServer MS1
Best Lighting Solution
Lutron GrafficEye
Best Touchscreen Solution
Philips Pronto TSU-9600
Best Digital TV box
Humax FOXSAT-HDR
Best Audio Innovation
Artcoustic Superstar
Best Video Innovation
BBC iPlayer
Best cinema install
Finite Solutions – Hidden Cinema
Best Trade Event
ISE 2009
Nomination-free awards:
Best Distributor: Retail
Armour Home
Best Distributor: Install
AWE Europe
Best Training: Manufacturer
Crestron
Best Training: Distributor
AWE Europe
Best Initiative: Manufacturer
Alphason ViewSmart
Best Initiative: Distributor
AWE Europe (CI dealer agreement)
Highly Commended nominees:
Best LCD/LED TV
Loewe Individual
Compose
Philips 32PFL9604
Best Plasma TV
LG 50PS7000
Samsung PS50B850
Best Freesat HD TV
Sony KDL-40Z5800
LG 42LF7700
Best High-End Display
Philips Cinema 21:9
Sharp Aquos LB 1085
Loewe Reference
Best Projector Under £3,000
Panasonic PT-AE4000
Optoma ThemeScene HD82
Best Mid-Range Projector
Cineversum Blackwing 1
Sony VPL-VW85
Best High-End Projector
Sim2 Grand Cinema C3X
Meridian 810 Reference
Best Blu-ray Player
Panasonic DMP-BD80
Sony BDP-S760
Best High-End Blu-ray Player
Panasonic DMR-BS850
Denon DVD-3800BD
Best Projection Screen
Beamax X-series Dellegno
Stewart CineCurve
Best Blu-ray One-box Home Cinema
LG HT954PB
Panasonic SC-BT205
Best In-Wall Speakers
Monitor Audio 300 Series
Triad Gold/6 LCR
Current Audio WS804
Best On-Wall Speakers
Procella Audio P-18B
KEF CI2002QR
Best Architectural Speakers
Amina AIWX
Sonance Architectural Series
Best High-End AV Speakers
B&W Nautilus
Monitor Audio PL300 AV
Best DAB Radio
Vita Audio R2i
Roberts Revival RD60
Best AV Amplifier
up to £1,000
Yamaha RX-V1065
Onkyo TX-SR607
Harman Kardon HK990
Best AV Amplifier
up to £2,000
Denon AVR-3310
Sony STR-DA5400ES
Best High-End AV Amplifier
Denon AVC-A1HDA
Audio Control AVR-1
Arcam AVR600
Best Two-Channel Amplifier
Marantz PM6003
Cyrus 6XP
Best CD Player
Yamaha CD-5700
Roksan Kandy K2
Best Compact & iPod Hi-Fi
LG FA163DAB
Yamaha M-430
Best TV Wallmounts
Vogels EFW 8000 range
Chief Fusion range
Sanus VisionMount range
Vivanco Titan range
Best AV Furniture
Alphason Iconn
Spectral Brick
Best Cinema Seating
Wharfeside
D-Motion
Best Media Server
Kaleidescape Mini
DF Solutions BASE
Best Lighting Solution
Niko Nikobus
Dynalite
Best Touchscreen Solution
Opus WCU600
Apple iPhone
Best Digital TV box
Panasonic DMR-BS850
Sky+HD
Best Audio Innovation
Yamaha AirWired
Q Acoustics Q-TV
Pure Sensia
Best Video Innovation
SkyPlayer on Xbox360
3D
Best cinema install
Custom Sight & Sound – Pan Peninsula
Imagine This – Forest Drive
Best Trade Event
CEDIA UK 2009
Bristol Sound & Vision
* Only those who voted in all categories were eligible for the D&G prize draw.
** Promotional warranties are a feature-limited version of D&G regular service plan products and can only be used as ‘free’ promotional sales incentives. Offer open to both existing D&G retailers and those new to retailing D&G service plans. Retailers that do not hold a current D&G account will be required to open a no-obligation account to activate the promotional warranty offer and receive staff training by one of D&G experienced sales training merchandisers.
