14 T 3 JULY 2021
HorizonTECH-O-METERTECH-O-METERBEOVISION CONTOUR
From £6,300, bang-olufsen.comBang & Olufsen’s Beosound Stage might not
pull off actual surround sound, but it is
unquestionably one of the best soundbars in
the world – a stylish unit with a truly sublime
soundstage, so good that it bagged our best
soundbar gong in last year’s T 3 Awards. The
only problem was finding the right TV to pair it
with – or, at least, that used to be the case. The
Contour just looks cool, boldly integrating that
cloth- or wood-covered sound unit (which B&O
says utilises ‘sound technology based on the
Beosound Stage’) into a smart aluminium
surround with bold, deep bezels. The panel
itself is actually a straight 55-inch LG unit, so
B&O hasn’t quite properly dipped its toe in the
TV game just yet, but the whole package can
be controlled from the same one-piece
machined aluminium remote.
T 3 SAYS: That’s the living room sorted.
MARANTZ AV 8805 A
£3,899, marantz.comA new generation of TVs demands a new
generation of receiver, but that’s not always
straightforward. Marantz’s latest 8K, 60Hz-
compatible AV amp – released alongside
parent company Denon’s slightly less luxurious-
looking but otherwise nigh-on identical AVC-
X8500HA – fixes issues last year’s releases had
with 1 20Hz HDMI 2.1 passthrough. It also adds
a whole lot more support for key modern
formats – such as VRR, ALLM, QFT and both
HDR10+ and Dynamic HDR – and provides
Quick Media Switching, which stops TVs
showing a black screen when you’re jumping
between sources with different frame rates.
Finally, it adds DTX:Pro support, giving you the
ability to take advantage of unusual surround
setups like 7 .2.6 if your speakers fit the bill.T 3 SAYS: A solid and (whisper it) pretty
future-proof package.IMAGESOURCE:BANG&OLUFSENIMAGESOURCE:MARANTZ