An OLED TV shootout, unique five-star amp from Chord, new Onkyo hi-fi and more

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

It’s the start of the week, which means another entry into our regular Rewind hi-fi and home cinema news digest.

While it was a fairly quiet week for news, there were a few key announcements and developments that should pique any music or film fan’s interest.

These included fresh products from Japanese hi-fi (and surprisingly gin) maker, Onkyo, a wish directed to Apple from our hi-fi head-honcho, and more.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Chord’s latest amp is niche, but excellent

Chord Electronics Alto headphone amp — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Chord Electronic’s Alto is an interesting beast. The unit was originally designed for recording and mastering studio engineers who need to regularly swap out cabled headphones – hence the analogue amp’s inclusion of an atypically plentiful four headphone outputs.

But, Chord’s added the ability to use it to drive a pair of speakers, meaning it’s technically also a high-end pre-amp. This hybrid usage means it doesn’t neatly sit in any one hi-fi category.

Thankfully, oddities aside, for any buyer who finds the above appealing, having put it through its paces last week we can confirm it’s an excellent purchase.

Whether it was cabled headphones or price appropriate speakers, the Alto delivered a neutral, detailed and punchy sound, making it an easy, if niche, five-star recommendation.

Read our full Chord Electronics Alto review

Our TV and AV editor is enamoured with TCL’s latest giant Mini LED

The 98-inch TCL C7K Mini LED TV pictured in a test room — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Last week our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, took the time to look at TCL’s latest giant Mini LED, the 98-inch C7K (review incoming).

And while we’ll save any final judgements for our full review, let’s just say he walked away fairly impressed.

So much so that he not only walked into our offices with an ear-to-ear smile, he also felt the need to pen an opinion piece, discussing what the set’s cutting edge performance and competitive pricing means for the wider home cinema market.

Read the full story: TCL's new 98-inch Mini LED TV is so good and such great value, I think it spells trouble for projectors

We ran LG’s small-ish OLEDs head-to-head

LG C5 48-inch OLED TV — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

The team at What Hi-Fi? have long considered 48-inch OLED TVs to be an under-appreciated option in the top end of the market.

Small enough to neatly slot in a bedroom, or sensibly fit in a smaller lounge, they offer the same core perks as their larger siblings and are also often significantly cheaper.

If you’re after one, then you’re likely to be at least considering one of LG’s 48-inch C-series models, and for good reason – with this and last year’s models both earning five-star ratings from our reviewers.

Here to help guide your purchase decision, last week we penned a fresh piece detailing the key technical specs and relative performances we’ve encountered comparing the 48-inch LG C5 and 48-inch LG C4.

Read our in-depth LG OLED48C5 vs OLED48C4 guide

Our hi-fi and audio editor has a request for Apple

Apple Music logo on a red and pink blurred background

(Image credit: Apple)

A lot of the What Hi-Fi? team uses Apple Music – hence its ongoing five star rating. That includes our hi-fi and audio editor, Kashfia Kabir, who has been a subscriber since the service launched a decade ago.

But, despite her ongoing enjoyment and use of Apple’s music streaming platform, recently she’s been hankering for one key upgrade. Specifically, a version of Tidal Connect or Qobuz Connect for AirPlay that will let her stream at higher bitrates and quality on the platform.

Read the full story: I’ve been using Apple Music for 10 years, and this one hi-fi feature would make my listening complete

Onkyo launched a CD player

Front of a black Onkyo C-30 CD player on a pink background — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Finally, last week Japanese audio brand Onkyo added a new product to its latest Icon Series of separates. Specifically, it unveiled its new budget C-30 CD player.

The unit sits alongside the P-80 network preamplifier ($1999), the M-80 power amplifier ($1999) and the A-50 amplifier ($1599) we originally saw at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas at the start of January.

Despite being set to retail for just $349 (UK pricing TBC), Onkyo is making some pretty bold claims about the player promising it will offer cutting edge “high performance”.

Read the full story: Onkyo adds “high performance” budget C-30 CD player to its Icon Series of hi-fi separates

MORE:

These are the best CD players we’ve reviewed

We rate the best Mini LED TVs

Our picks of the best OLED TVs

TOPICS

Alastair is What Hi-Fi?’s editor in chief. He has well over a decade’s experience as a journalist working in both B2C and B2B press. During this time he’s covered everything from the launch of the first Amazon Echo to government cyber security policy. Prior to joining What Hi-Fi? he served as Trusted Reviews’ editor-in-chief. Outside of tech, he has a Masters from King’s College London in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, is an enthusiastic, but untalented, guitar player and runs a webcomic in his spare time.

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