If you’ve figured out what wrong with the weather, make sure to let us know, because we sure have been puzzled about the on-and-off-weather last week. While it is a great excuse to get out of garden weeding and lawn mowing, we did enjoy some chronic binge-watching in our home theatre. Yes, that’s where you can find us, whenever some switch-off time is in place…. If we have your drooling, we have you exactly where we want you. But is it achievable to have a high performing set-up that you can be seriously proud of if you have a very modest budget? We say it can be done and we’ll show you how. We put together a 5.1 full home theatre set-up that is excellent value for money. We’ve recommended variations of this set-up (everybody’s situation is different) to several of our customers on many occasions and so far every single one has landed a very happy customer email in our inbox. (We love getting those, so keep them coming!)

When we wrote our Sony VPL-VW260ES true 4K projector review last week, it kind of caught our attention that the whole UHD Blu-ray lingo is a bit of a mine field. And then there are other important parameters that seem to come along with it like colour gamut, colour bit depths, colour subsampling, HDCP, HDMI and HDR. Huh…

We’ve so been waiting for this: a true 4K projector that was affordable to the average Joe, who is determined to put his money towards an awesome home theatre, rather than a boat upgrade.At just $7,999, the VPL-VW260ES is the least expensive native 4K projector that has been released in NZ so far. Hands up if you’re surprised we did a happy dance when we found. Since its release we’ve been heavily testing the precious magical box.And what do we have to say about the Sony VPL-VW260ES, you’re asking?

Shopping for an AV receiver is a little bit more complicated than setting a budget and sticking with it. In these day and age reading up on specs, streaming features and performance may only be the start of your journey.An AV receiver may look excellent on paper, but it is what it does in your personal set-up that really counts. You may have the best of the best, but do a half job at setting-up and you have wasted a truckload of money on air. Enter the room correction system that come with your AV receiver to help you out.

Setting up a home theatre -dedicated or not- is a pretty big project. One that requires planning and researching, but also time for proper set-up. To get the most bang for your buck when assembling an audio or audio/video system, it’s important to make each piece of equipment and the room all work together as a team. Simply buying good pieces of equipment isn’t enough, and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. While we understand that no situation is ideal, that rooms may have multiple uses and that compromises need to be made, some errors are just too sad for words.We sum up the things you want to do in order to avoid those common goofs so you can enjoy every moment of the precious pennies and time spent.

After a few weeks of serving our home theatre lovers, it’s time to indulge our friends, the Rapallo audiophiles.We thought we would have a chat about phono stages, after we called the Edwards Audio Apprentice MM phono stage Rapallo’s pick of the week. If you’re into vinyl, upgrading your phono stage can provide one of the most dramatic improvements to sound quality.

A few days ago, we were testing the Sony VPL-260ES 4K home theatre projector at 1,500 lumens. Compared to equal priced projectors boasting 2,500 lumens and knowing that some projectors go up to 5,000 lumens that doesn’t sound like a lot these days. Yet, when we looked at the calibrated pictures on the screen in our –admittedly- dark home theatre room, we wondered how come that a projector with 1,500 lumens stated on their specs appeared brighter that another projector boasting 2,000 lumens. Basically, that’s because one reading of lumens is not the same as another reading of lumens….Let us explain.

Gone are the days were every self-respecting New Zealand household would have a vinyl library sitting there ready to show off to any potential visitors. Whenever a new person would walk into your home for the first time, they would inevitably be drawn to your collection, making comments on your taste (or lack off;-)). It was a sure way to measure up people and a very effective conversation starter for that matter.  These days, while some of us have not given up on the vinyl or CD collection, for a lot of us, our music collection is to be found on your PC. Be it as a subscription service like TIDAL or Spotify or stored on your NAS.  This new way of accessing music gave birth to a new hi-fi component: The Network Audio player or streamer.

Lately, some Ultra Short Throw projectors have entered the home theatre projector market. We at Rapallo think this is something to be excited about. This is because it opens the option of having a projector to people who previously simply did not have that choice because of the area where they have their home theatre set-up.So, the logical question to follow is: what is a (Ultra) Short Throw projector and why could it be the cats meow for you?

We know our blog readers like having a peek at other people’s set-ups. So far, we have tried to offer a variety of lay-outs and budgets, but the bottom-line has been that it was AV applications in people’s private homes. But that’s not where Rapallo installations stop. We have been dealing with a wide variety of  AV installations in businesses too. From shop outfits, to B&B’s, to restaurants. Earlier this year, we completed a large commercial AV  installation at FlexiGroup.