NEWS: NAD's one-box home cinema - Viso Five

Looking very unlike existing NAD products, this is the company's new Viso Five, an all-in-one DVD/CD receiver.

Due to launch in February and sell for £900, it can deliver video images upscaled to 720p or 1080i via HDMI, and accepts optional modules for DAB digital radio or, in the States, XM digital satellite radio.

The unit handles all the current DVD-based surround formats, including 24-bit/96kHz DVD-Audio, and also offers NAD's proprietary Enhanced Ambience Retrieval System (conveniently spelling EARS!) to create surround from stereo sources.

Dolby Virtual Speaker can create surround effects from multichannel sources using two speakers and a subwoofer, and headphone listeners can enjoy Dolby Headphone processing for surround effects from two channels.

There's 5x40W output plus a subwoofer out, and the Viso Five has component and Scart outputs as well as that HDMI, component video input, and both analogue and digital optical/electrical audio inputs. A 5.1-channel analogue input is also provided.

The 30-preset FM RDS/AM tuner can be supplemented with the addition of the £120 DB-1 DAB module, and there's also the option of using NAD's IPD-1 iPod dock with the system.

Technorati Tags: 2.1, 5.1, AV receiver, DAB radio, DVD, NAD, upscaling

Andrew has written about audio and video products for the past 20+ years, and been a consumer journalist for more than 30 years, starting his career on camera magazines. Andrew has contributed to titles including What Hi-Fi?, GramophoneJazzwise and Hi-Fi CriticHi-Fi News & Record Review and Hi-Fi Choice. I’ve also written for a number of non-specialist and overseas magazines.