Another Monday, another schlep to the office (or home office, if you’re lucky) and another entry into our weekly Rewind news digest.
In it our team of experts once again summarise all the top hi-fi and home cinema developments to break over the past seven days.
Once again, it was a busy week with top products including new Bose wireless earbuds and Marshall’s first soundbar passing through our review rooms, plus more than a few announcements from some hi-fi heavyweights. Here’s everything you need to know.
Marshall’s first Dolby Atmos soundbar needs some work
Last week our AV team finished testing the Marshall Heston 120, the guitar amplification heavyweight's first Dolby Atmos soundbar.
Its pricing also puts it in direct competition with the main recommendation sitting at the top of our best Dolby Atmos soundbars buying guide, the Sonos Arc Ultra.
All credit to Marshall for coming out guns blazing and making a big swing with its opening attempt – and there are some undeniable positives based on our testing.
Running through our comparative checks the unit offers solid amounts of low-end heft and handles dialogue well.
But, it’s got some issues with its precision, especially when trying to create the famous Dolby Atmos “dome of sound” effect. Add to this a slightly sibilant high-end and it becomes hard to recommend.
Our verdict: “While it clearly sounds better than any TV we’ve tested, the Marshall Heston 120 falls a long way short of the quality of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars at this level, which sound more exciting and fill a room more effectively.”
Read our full Marshall Heston 120 review
The latest Bose wireless earbuds are excellent
The wireless earbuds market is already pretty full, with every company and its dog trying to break into the market.
So, with all this competition, a five-star pair of earbuds is a pretty big deal. And that’s exactly what we have with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen).
Despite Bose downplaying any serious engineering upgrades to the earbuds' drivers, we found a wealth of positives when we tested them against key rivals, including the Sony WF-1000XM5.
Across every genre we threw at the buds they delivered a punchy, full bodied sound that paired excellently with industry leading active noise cancellation.
Hence their five-star rating and our verdict: “Their outstanding noise-cancelling capabilities, excellent design and a punchy, entertaining sound make for a powerful combination – these Bose 2nd Gen earbuds are pleasing all-rounders."
Read our full Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) review
We bid farewell to the father of metal
As hi-fi fanatics, it should come as no surprise that the What Hi-Fi? team are all pretty big music fans. And if you’ve checked out any of our guides to the best tracks to test your hi-fi, you will know plenty of us are also rock and metal fans.
Which is why this week we were sad to hear Ozzy Osbourne, founding member of Black Sabbath and father of metal music, had passed away, just weeks after playing his farewell concert.
Our editor-in-chief felt moved to pen a feature bidding farewell and thanking him for his music.
Read the full story: Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath helped cement my love of vinyl – RIP the Prince of Darkness
Musical Fidelity’s long awaited integrated amp is finally available
We first saw Musical Fidelity’s B1xi stereo amplifier all the way back at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show in February, where it piqued the interest of our hi-fi and audio editor, Kashfia Kabir. But, it was only last week the firm finally launched the amp.
Available now, the B1xi will set you back £699 / $879 / €799 – putting it in direct competition with the five-star Arcam A5 (£749) and Rega Brio Mk7 (£799). We’re yet to test the unit, but it does come with some decent specifications, despite its very reasonable price.
Highlights include a fully discrete Class A/B design capable of delivering 60 watts per channel into 8 ohms as well as toroidal transformers with large power reserves designed to help it deliver the "purest sound quality" possible.
Read the full story: Musical Fidelity's highly-anticipated integrated amplifier promises to deliver "great sound at an affordable price"
Monitor Audio revealed entry level hi-fi speakers
Following our review of the four-star Q Acoustics 5010 standmounts earlier this month, our experts are still ardently searching for a stellar pair of affordable speakers worthy of our hallowed five star rating – and last week Monitor Audio launched a new series that may just fit that bill.
Specifically, the audio powerhouse unveiled its new Bronze Series 7G series of speakers, promising they will "set a new benchmark" for entry-level performance.
The new range consists of five models centred around Bronze 300 7G floorstanders and Bronze 50 70 standmounts. For home cinema fans looking to build a surround sound system there’s a Bronze Centre 7G central channel, Bronze On-Wall 7G speakers and Bronze AMS 7G Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers.
Pricing for the Bronze 50 70 standmounts starts at £500 / €600 / $700 per pair. The Bronze 300 7G floorstanders will set you back a punchier £1000 / €1250 / $1400 per pair.
We’ve reached out to Monitor Audio for review samples, which we’ll hopefully get into our listening rooms in the not too distant future.
Read the full story: Monitor Audio's new speaker range vows to "set a new benchmark" for entry-level performance
MORE:
These are the best bookshelf speakers we’ve tested
We rate the best floorstanding speakers
Our picks of the best soundbars
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