Martin Dew

Martin Dew

What makes you an expert?

Gosh, I’ve never been called an expert before, so that bit might be in contention. But I suppose I’ve had enough exposure to audiovisual devices, particularly during the Lucasfilm days, to decipher what’s working well and what isn’t. I believe I instinctively know what a customer would like to receive in a box on their doorstep.

What’s your specialist area?

Home cinema, hopefully. When the sound gets close to what mixers hear in a dubbing suite or the image approaches the warmth and texture of a first-gen 35mm film print, then I know I’m onto something.

Why do you enjoy doing this?

Because residential AV is like my trainset. That you can sit inside a hemisphere of sensory immersion in a small room using great loudspeakers, subwoofers and a projector fascinates me. I also love the look of beautifully integrated home cinemas. Who wouldn’t want their own toy version of the Odeon Leicester Square in their basement?

What’s the ultimate for you?

Playing a movie to friends and family and hearing how much they loved it. ‘It was like seeing the movie for the first time’ is the best compliment.

Are you a nerd, a geek, a sceptic, or an enthusiast?

I think I’m an enthusiast. My brain doesn’t work very scientifically. I come at AV more from an arts than a technology perspective. People get too hung up on the numbers and graphs. When I was at THX, Tom Holman used to say that although we weren’t the painters, we were at least the picture framers. Let’s present the art in the best way possible.

Do you watch the film, or are you always focused on the kit?

A bit of both. I collect Super 8 and 16mm films and I can’t stop looking at the spools turning when the projectors are running. Many serious Hi-Fi people despair of front panel lights on their amps, but I love it when the DTS:X logo flashes up red on the faceplate of my Lyngdorf processor. But nothing annoys me more than a pro or residential setting where care hasn’t been taken to optimise performance.

What are your preferred video and music formats?

4K UHD Blu-ray discs and Kaleidescape files for movies. I was sceptical of 4K at first, but the enhanced resolution and HDR has got us much closer to projected film. For music, I used to think Spotify was good enough, but TIDAL’s hi-res tunes are audibly game-changing.

Go to albums and movies for testing

I test what I know. My music taste is deeply rooted in an English aesthetic, I suppose. It’s not by design, it’s just what I grew up with: the prog rock of Genesis, Yes and Pink Floyd, and orchestral music of Britten, Howells, Rutter and Vaughan Williams. But if the recordings are woeful, I revert to stalwarts from TIDAL playlists and hundreds of CDs from all eras. 

My desert island movies are Jaws, North by Northwest and Where Eagles Dare. But in an entirely different category are my regular stress test discs, which include Aquaman, Gravity and Ready Player One. 

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