If you're looking for the next film to take centre stage in your upcoming movie night, then you will find plenty of contenders on the plethora of streaming platforms at your fingertips.

There are times when you are craving something in particular, but it is nowhere to be found. That's why physical media is still so important. You can be safe in the knowledge that your favourite movies are tucked away on the shelf.

And if you are looking to jump into the world of Middle-earth with your next film night, then we have spotted the perfect Amazon Prime Day deal. You can pick up the complete The Lord of the Rings trilogy in 4K Blu-ray, including both the theatrical and extended releases, for a discounted price of £60 at Amazon.

That's the cheapest we have seen the trilogy this year, although it's not the lowest price we have seen it drop to since its release. You also have to be an Amazon Prime Video member to snag this deal, so remember to bear this in mind.

If one of the most successful and influential trilogies of the last 30 years has somehow passed you by, let us fill you in.

The first instalment in the series (The Fellowship of the Ring) sees our meek protagonist Frodo's begin his perilous journey to make sure the powerful One Ring does not fall into the wrong hands. In the rest of the trilogy, we follow Frodo and his band of companions as he puts everything on the line to complete his quest.

The theatrical release runs for just under 9 hours, and the extended version comes in at over 11 hours. That's a lot of time to spend with our friends from the Shire.

I've watched the movies countless times, with both versions delivering a masterclass in world-building and drawing me into the magical land of Middle-earth.

You can find the standard versions of the films on HBO Max, but there's no sign of the extended releases on the streaming service. There is the option to buy or rent from other platforms such as Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV, but that does not have the same certainty as holding the discs in your hands.

And then there is the superior picture and sound quality to consider. Even the best streaming service cannot match a 4K Blu-ray's more detailed, sharper image and fuller-feeling audio.

So, if you are sick of searching for the full Lord of the Rings editions on streaming services, then this is a great solution, especially at such a good price of £60 at Amazon.

MORE:

This Prime Day 4K Blu-ray deal lets you watch your movies in higher quality and keep them for life

These are the best Amazon Prime Day deals right now

Check out the best 4K Blu-ray players

As we did during Black Friday, we launched an Amazon Prime Day live Q&A to give you, the readers, tailored and personalised buying advice during this manic sales period.

Only this time, we took the Q&A to the wild west that is social media, giving our Instagram followers a chance to get their hi-fi and home cinema questions answered over Prime Day.

• View all the Prime Day deals

We wouldn’t want to deny our website readers some of the buying advice that was dished out, so we have collated some of the questions and our answers below.

Take a look below to see what our readers were curious about and considering this Prime Day – and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you haven’t already!

Is the Sonos Arc Ultra still the best wireless soundbar, especially for the Apple ecosystem?

It is, yes! At least on a performance-per-pound basis and if we’re purely talking solo bars.

The only similarly priced alternative worth considering is the Samsung HW-Q990F (the newer H is still quite a lot more expensive). That delivers a more complete and immersive Dolby Atmos experience – but it’s also a four-box system. The bar alone isn’t a match for the Sonos, and if music also matters, the Sonos is again the best choice.

If you have a bigger budget, here are some better-sounding alternatives:

• Sony Bravia Theatre Trio (three-box system)
• KEF XIO

Really, though, we recommend going for the Sonos Arc Utra, which can be expanded with additional speakers further down the line if required as well.

There’s currently no Prime Day deal on the Sonos Ac Ultra, unfortunately, but it’s well worth the money even at full price.

Is it worth upgrading from the Monitor Audio Bronze 2 to the Bronze 50 7G?

Yes, the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G is a worthy upgrade.

The Monitor Audio Bronze 2 are stunning standmounters, but the 50 7G are a proper step up in build quality and offer a very clear, precise and confident sound.

“For a speaker at this price level, the Bronze 7G are unusually precise and controlled,” our Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G review reads. “They are really clear, fast and detailed, and grab you right from the start with a front-footed, vibrant presentation that can’t be ignored.”

The current best price for the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G is £449 at Peter Tyson, a nice £50 saving from their test price of £499.

What’s the best 55-inch OLED deal?

There has been one OLED TV that has pretty much dominated Prime Day 2026 – the multi-Award-winning LG C5.

All sizes have seen rock-bottom pricing, including the 55-inch model, which is currently available for £969 at Richer Sounds with the code RSTV30.

If your budget can stretch, there are more-premium 55-inch TVs on offer, but the C5 is easily the best-value deal – under a grand for an Award-winning OLED is awesome.

What’s the best Sony WH-1000XM5 deal?

They may have been superseded by the Sony WH-1000XM6, but the Sony WH-1000XM5 have been one of the most popular products this Prime Day – thanks in part to some rock-bottom prices.

The best Sony WF-1000XM6 price is currently £179 at Amazon – but you might want to be quick, as stock seems to be drying up!

What is the difference in sound quality between the Denon AVC-A10H and the AVC-A1H?

Unfortunately, we haven’t tested these AV receivers – at least not yet. We have the Denon AVC-A1H in for review, so watch this space...

MORE:

Amazon Prime Day 2026 Live Q&A: personalised hi-fi and home cinema buying advice, direct from our experts

Prime Day 2026 Live: all the top TV, soundbar and projector deals handpicked by our home cinema experts

Prime Day 2026 Live: the best headphone, speaker and vinyl deals picked by our hi-fi experts

With Amazon Prime Day in full swing, it can be hard to sift through all the deals thrown your way, and see if they're worth the dent in your budget.

What if your budget is really tight and you can only consider deals under £50, or you simply can't go over a strict £150 limit? Don't worry, we're here to help.

I've been reviewing products at What Hi-Fi? over 14 years, and I love seeing a good discount on a product we've tested and genuinely recommend. So I've combed through the best audio and home cinema Prime Day deals currently live, to narrow down your choices to a select few that are worth your attention.

Every deal below is under £200, with clear price segments to make your choices easier. You'll find more details about the products below, but first, check out these excellent savings on products (many of which are five star-rated!) enjoying a Prime Day deal right now.

Deals under £50

Deals under £100

Deals under £150

Deals under £200

If you're looking for a cheap and cheerful deal under £50, you've got plenty to choose from. Nearly all of Amazon's Fire TV Sticks are enjoying a discount this week, but I've highlighted the HD version as it's the cheapest – just £16.99!

If you want 4K picture and Dolby Atmos, you can spend a little more for the five-star Fire TV Stick 4K Max for £38.

If we're sticking with Amazon, you can't go wrong with this 45% discount on the latest (and best) 5th Generation Echo Dot smart speaker. It's nicely made, Alexa is useful and it sounds decent, too.

Sony's headphones are having a fantastic week of discounts, but I've stuck with the very cheapest options here. The five-star WH-CH520 on-ear headphones are a robust on-ear pair that gets the basics right for just £30 (!); spend a little more and you'll gain the noise-cancelling talents of the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning CH720N model – both offer really enjoyable sound quality for very little money.

If you or your kids have been eyeing up a pair of AirPods, the standard AirPods 4 (without eartips) are the cheapest option yet under £100 – a pretty good bargain considering how expensive Apple products tend to be.

The AirPods with ANC are also on sale, but we would point you two the great alternatives from Bose and Sennheiser here if you're looking to spend between £100-£150. Both offer great sound, high comfort levels and decent battery life – it's simply a matter of preference, but you'll be well served with either option.

JBL's Flip 6 Bluetooth speaker is another great bargain we'd encourage you to snap up – its detailed, dynamic sound and excellent rhythmic ability alongside a rugged, portable build make them great to use outdoors (and indoors).

Don't think you can't get a proper hi-fi deal with such strict budget limits! The iFi Go Blu is a tiny portable DAC that you can put in your pocket to help boost the sound quality from your smartphone or laptop, and you can use wireless and wired headphones with it. For just £129, it's a great little audio gadget.

Spend a little more – but still keeping things under £200 – and you can nab the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning WiiM Pro Plus music streamer that we recommend during every sales period. It will imbue your old hi-fi system with cutting-edge streaming powers, and is so slick and easy to use.

For AV fans, Xgimi's adorable little Vibe One portable projector is fantastic option even at full price. It delivers a detailed, natural picture with good dark levels – ideal for impromptu late-night movies and World Cup watch parties in the garden.

And the most 'expensive' deal here is a corker of a bargain: the Award-winning, five-star Hisense Dolby Atmos wireless system offers impressive weight, scale and a convincing Atmos effect – all for under £200!

Prime Day quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• Richer Sounds: big savings on top-rated hi-fi and TVs
• B&W speakers: save hundreds at Peter Tyson
• Best Prime Day TV deals: LG, Samsung, Sony and more
• Sevenoaks: shop all the latest hi-fi and AV deals

MORE:

Prime Day 2026 LIVE: the best headphone, speaker and vinyl deals picked by our hi-fi experts

The "unbelievable" LG OLED TV deal I wrote about two days ago has been beaten – time to buy!

I would swap a week's worth of Tesco meal deals for these cheap £30 Sony headphones

As a deals writer, I spend my days hunting down the best savings on What Hi-Fi? recommended products, whether that's the latest home cinema release, hi-fi separate or other AV tech.

For Prime Day, though, I didn't have to hunt very hard – we've been flooded with savings, and luckily, most of them have been rather good.

So to celebrate, I've put together a little visual collection of some of the best Prime Day deals so far from the worlds of hi-fi and home cinema.

As always, these are all deals on products that we have tested and rated ourselves, and our expert reviewers have given them at least four stars – or, in some cases, five stars and maybe even a What Hi-Fi? Award.

I'll go into detail down below, but for now, feast your eyes on these great Prime Day savings.

The LG C5 won multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards at our most recent ceremony, thanks to its excellent picture quality and incredible gaming specs. There are LG C5 deals on virtually every size, but we've highlighted the 42-inch model as it gives you an Award-winning LG OLED TV for only £623.

The Dali Oberon 5 are a bit long in the tooth now, but they're still remarkably accomplished floorstanders for anyone getting into hi-fi or working on a budget. This is the first decent discount we've seen on the speakers – our Editor-in-Chief has been waiting half a decade.

The Award-winning Hisense AX5125H gave us quite the shock when we tested it – despite its low price tag, the soundbar system produced a room-filling, sofa-shaking, exuberant sound with amazing scale and a convincing Dolby Atmos effect. Get it quick, as it was also on offer during Black Friday last year and promptly sold out.

The JBL Charge 6 is our current Product of the Year in the wireless speaker category, thanks to its expansive, detailed and clear sound from a portable design. It hasn't been this low in price since Black Friday and is the top Bluetooth speaker deal we'd recommend this Prime Day.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 may have been replaced by their successor, the XM6, but they had a long reign as one of our favourite wireless over-ear headphones and are still an excellent choice to this day – especially at this new lowest price.

If you're looking for more budget headphones, then it doesn't get much cheaper than the Earfun Air. They're only £23, and are five-star earbuds that still offer great value.

MORE:

Amazon Prime Day 2026 Live Q&A: personalised hi-fi and home cinema buying advice, direct from our experts

Prime Day 2026 Live: all the top TV, soundbar and projector deals handpicked by our home cinema experts

Prime Day 2026 Live: the best headphone, speaker and vinyl deals picked by our hi-fi experts

Looking for help finding a decent deal on a new OLED TV? Unsure which speakers to keep an eye on over Prime Day? Or just fancy a chinwag with our team of hi-fi and home cinema experts?

If the answer is yes to any of the above questions, then you’re in the right place! Welcome to What Hi-Fi?’s Prime Day 2026 Live Q&A where we’ll be answering all of your questions between 1.00-2.00pm (UK time) throughout the event.

We’ve already concluded our day one Q&A session, but we will be back every day until the event ends on Friday 26th of June.

• View all the Prime Day deals

If those hours don’t work for you, don’t worry. You can queue your questions right now and check back for our answer after the event.

Just log in to your account (or sign up) using the link below, and get posting. Once the event starts, our experts will work through all the queued questions in chronological order.

As always, while the hub is for Prime Day, our experts are happy to offer their holistic advice and will recommend non-Amazon deals if they feel they’re a better value or on a superior product – we’re on your side, not Big Tech’s.

Every deal we recommend, unless we explicitly state otherwise, will be on a product we’ve fully reviewed and have price checked to make sure it’s retailing at a good price.

If you’re the shy type and don’t want to chat directly, we’re also running Prime Day Live Hubs, where the team are dropping their recommendations in real-time.

Jump on over to our Prime Day 2026 audio deals Live Hub for all things hi-fi. Or, check our Prime Day 2026 home cinema deals Live Hub, for our picks of the top savings on TVs, projectors, soundbars and the like.

A heat wave. Having to go back to work. Not being able to keep up with all the latest hi-fi and home cinema news. There’s a lot of stuff for us to deal with right now.

And while we can’t do much about the first two problems, we can help you with the third, with our latest Rewind column.

Once again, our team of experts detail all the top hi-fi and home cinema developments you need to know about over the past week.

We reviewed Focal’s new hi-fi system and Dolby Atmos soundbar hybrid

We first saw the Mu-so Hekla at a press event last year, where it piqued our interest. Built as a partnership between Focal and Naim, the unit aims to offer buyers a premium Dolby Atmos soundbar that can also function as a dedicated hi-fi all-in-one system.

After finally getting one into our test rooms nearly eight months later, we can confirm it was worth the wait. While its size makes it slightly awkward to place on traditional TV racks, it’s undeniably a fantastic performer, both for films and music. So much so that our reviewers reported:

“As far as all-in-one systems go, the Focal Mu-so Hekla offers the best of both worlds. It delivers all the drama you could want from a soundbar when watching movies, with controlled bass and authoritative overall sound that elevates each scene.

But you can also feed it a delicate piece of music and be treated to a finessed performance that makes you feel the emotion of each note. It might come at a high price but, if you have the funds, its performance more than justifies the cost.”

Read our full Focal Mu-so Hekla review

Sony’s dissected soundbar delivers the sonic goods

The Hekla was one of two atypical Dolby Atmos systems that we reviewed last week. We also got to put the swish new Sony Bravia Theatre Trio through its paces.

As the name suggests, the unit has three parts: a tiny Sonos Beam (Gen 2)- sized central channel and twin left and right channel satellite speakers. As well as widening the soundstage, the satellites also house the unit’s upfiring Dolby Atmos drivers.

While the setup is a little atypical, it managed to impress our testers, offering a huge, immersive soundstage and cohesive, convincing Atmos performance. Hence our five-star rating and verdict: “An ingenious Dolby Atmos system that combines huge scale, impressive cohesion and excellent usability in one stylish package.”

Read our in-depth Sony Bravia Theatre Trio review

Bang & Olufsen launched a “new” music system

Bang & Olufsen unveiled its sort of new music system, the Beosystem 300c Dune Grey Edition, last week.

We say “sort of new”, as it's largely built around a restored Beogramm 3000 Series turntable – a record player that first launched all the way back in 1985. Pairing the iconic turntable with a pair of the firm’s modern Beolab 8 wireless speakers, it aims to combine retro chic with cutting-edge performance.

As always, the design is eye-catching, with the press shots turning more than a few heads in What Hi-Fi? towers. Sadly, as is often the case with B&O hardware, it’s also ultra exclusive, with the firm releasing only 100 systems, each costing £22,800 / $30,000 / €27,000.

Read the full story: Bang & Olufsen's limited-edition turntable system is sleek, stylish and very exclusive

We had a chat with AudioQuest about the new DragonFly

The original 2012 DragonFly DAC is fondly remembered by many millennials, being one of the first devices of its kind and a convenient way to elevate any mobile device’s audio performance.

In fact, our editor (me) used it nearly every day during his days as a cub reporter who frequently had to travel. Which is why, last week, we took the time to talk to AudioQuest director of marketing, Stephen Mejias, to see if he has similar hopes for its recently launched new DragonFly with Gen Z.

Read the full story: “It would be disingenuous to say that we have a plan for attracting younger music fans” – AudioQuest on the new DragonFly and getting Gen Z into hi-fi

Monitor Audio launched three new hi-fi and home cinema speaker systems

Systems are all the rage right now, which is why it makes sense that Monitor Audio wants to get in on the action with its newly launched Radius Series 4G line of speaker systems.

The series currently offers three options: the Radius 1, the Radius 3, and the Radius On-Wall.

The units are designed to work equally well for stereo hi-fi, or home cinema multi-speaker set-ups and have been designed to “raise the performance benchmark of the compact speaker category”.

In keeping with that, Monitor Audio has already made some big performance claims about the series, boasting they will offer “genuinely high-fidelity sound”.

Here’s hoping those claims ring true when we get the new speakers in for review.

Read the full story: Monitor Audio’s versatile hi-fi and home cinema system boasts “genuinely high-fidelity sound”

MORE:

These are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars we have tested

Our reviewers rank the best hi-fi systems

The best turntables for serious music fans, according to our experts

The sun may be out in full force here in the UK, but that hasn't stopped us from burying ourselves in our dark test room to see how the latest TV and AV kit performs.

We have been testing out a range of products, from Dolby Atmos soundbar systems to QLED TVs. And all of those models need to be tested by the best test discs out there. There are steadfast classics that we turn to time and time again. If you regularly read our reviews, for instance, you will have spotted Blade Runner 2049, Civil War and Dune: Part Two making frequent appearances.

But we have to keep our eyes peeled for new movies and TV shows that will keep home cinema products on their toes. There are some on this list that have only just hit the cinemas and cannot wait to get into the test room, and others that we already regularly use.

Without further ado, let's get into it.

One Battle After Another (2025)

Words by Daniel Furn

After sweeping several award ceremonies over the winter, including this year’s Oscars, you probably don’t need to be told how good One Battle After Another is.

As long as you can stomach the 2-hour 42-minute runtime, Leonardo DiCaprio’s long-awaited collaboration with auteur director Paul Thomas Anderson doesn’t disappoint, following a washed up revolutionary who scrambles to find his daughter who scrambles to find his kidnapped daughter.

DiCaprio plays against type as the wide-eyed, stoned and super-paranoid Bob, and his lengthy phone calls to his former revolutionaries are the film’s comedic highlight, but the real standouts here are Sean Penn and relative newcomer Chase Infiniti as Bob’s military nemesis and spirited daughter, respectively.

I had the pleasure of watching the film in KEF’s Ultimate Experience Room and their 9.14.4 audio configuration, but whatever setup you have at home, the film will shine.

Anderson’s first foray into action means there are several scenes to test your sound system, including an opening raid on an immigration detention centre that sees gunshots and flares fired in all directions and bombings that will give the low end a workout. But the real benefit is to the score – Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood brings in skittery jazz and driving synths that ratchet up the tension more than any bullets, particularly during a lengthy climactic chase scene.

Legends (2026)

Words by Joe Svetlik

Legends refers to the secret identities assumed by undercover agents during an operation. But these are no ordinary agents – these are customs officers (i.e. airport bag checkers), who, incredibly, were enlisted by the Thatcher government in the war against heroin with minimal training. It’s quite a story, and it’s based on real events.

The biggest name is Steve Coogan, but the main character is played by Tom Burke, looking like a grizzled Charlie Brooker. He plays Guy, a bored customs officer who goes deep undercover with London heroin importers. But it’s really an ensemble piece, with Hayley Squires, Aml Ameen and Jasmine Blackborrow all putting in fine performances as the rest of the customs crew. Special mention goes to Charlotte Ritchie as Burke’s wife Sophie, encouraging him to finish the job while also struggling seeing him trying to reconcile his legend with his life as a family man.

Liverpool and London look their grimy best in the dying days of the Thatcher government – the gritty industrial wastelands are reminiscent of Newcastle in Get Carter (one of the main villains is also named Carter, possibly in reference to Mike Hodges’ landmark British thriller). And the soundtrack is A1 – The Stone Roses, Depeche Mode, The Cure, N-Trance, Happy Mondays… It gives a nostalgic wrapper to a show that demonstrates that the old days, like today, were something of a mixed bag.

Backrooms (2026)

Words by Alastair Stevenson

A horror about an empty, well-lit office doesn’t sound like nightmare fuel. But, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms somehow manages to make it exactly that and one of the most interesting horror movies I’ve watched this year, as a result.

That’s a particularly impressive accomplishment given the strength of 2026’s lineup, which also includes Hokum – a film I’ve already heaped praise on for its stellar use of audio. Based on internet folklore and Parsons’ previous YouTube series, the film sees furniture salesman, Clark, accidentally discover an endless network of interconnected rooms (most of which look like yellow offices) in the basement of his store.

Rather than jump scares or overt gore, the film gives a subtle nod to the classic psychological horrors of old, showing Clark slowly descend into madness as he delves deeper into the labyrinth.

I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but I can say the film then takes the terror level up to 11, offering viewers a gradual stream of reveals that hint at, but never fully explain what it is he’s stumbled upon.

Add to this solid use of audio and compelling found-footage segments, and the film manages to create a chilling, slow-burning experience that keeps you guessing and glued to the screen for its entire runtime – so much so that I’ve found myself watching the old YouTube videos, which expand on the film’s lore in my spare time.

It's still only available to watch in cinemas, but we can't wait to get it into the test room once it is released on streaming and 4K Blu-ray.

Limitless With Chris Hemsworth (2022 - 2025)

Words by Harry McKerrell

Everyone knows that proper documentaries make great test room fodder. Anything fronted by the mighty Sir David Attenborough tends to set the standard in terms of the quality of the cameras and equipment used, with nature’s diverse array of weird and wonderful beings helping to give our testers a pretty firm idea of what any given screen can do.

Limitless with Chris Hemsworth isn’t a nature documentary per se, but it’s made in partnership with National Geographic and produced by Darren Aronofsky, so the budget is colossal and the production values are exquisite. Hemsworth is no Attenborough when it comes to pointing out the intricacies of the natural world, but he does have a much nicer torso.

That’s also not the point of the series. Big Chris’ job isn’t to explain nature, but to throw himself into it, all in a bid to fight the ravages of ageing with some surprisingly in-depth scientific backing. Fasting, exercising, brain training; he does the lot.

Theoretically, this could all have been performed in a drab science lab, but instead, Thor treks from exquisite location to exquisite location – the icy Arctic Fjords, the Australian Outback, the Swiss Alps – to take part in a series of challenges that will boost his longevity and, more importantly, look really cool on camera.

And most importantly of all, give him plenty of reasons to take his shirt off.

1917 (2019)

Words by Robyn Quick

I'm not usually the biggest fan of war movies, but the excellent sound and picture quality displayed in Sam Mendes' 1917 makes it an essential test disc.

Starring George McKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, the film follows two young British privates who are tasked to deliver a message across no-mans-land to prevent another battalion meeting a grisly death. Suffice to say, 1917 is certainly not a cheery watch.

It was filmed in a single-shot style (although it actually uses cleverly hidden cuts throughout). That creates a plethora of motion-heavy scenes, challenging your TV or projector to make movement look realistic without judder or excessive smoothness.

With the most iconic sequence of the film, you can also challenge your Dolby Atmos system. As McKay's Private Schofield sprints across the top of a trench while soldiers charge across his path, the layers of sound wrap around the listener to bring the battlefield to your living room. Shell explosions, gunfire and raining debris are heard from all directions as Schofield powers on, and your system should place them around the soundfield with startling accuracy.

MORE:

Check out the best soundbars we have tested

Here are the best OLED TVs

And these are the best streaming devices

Another Prime Day is on the horizon – or perhaps that should be Prime Days, with the sales event spanning from 23rd to 26th June.

Not content with four days of discounts, Amazon has started a week early, with some genuinely early Prime Day deals popping out of the woodwork.

With the World Cup happening simultaneously, there have been some great deals on home cinema, with Amazon’s own Ember TV range seeing up to £450 off.

That’s not all, though – an elusive AirPod discount is also upon us, as well as a saving on an Award-winning Audio Pro wireless speaker.

As always, these are all products we have reviewed and rated ourselves, and must have earned at least four stars to get our sought-after recommendation.

So take a look at the offers below – and make sure to check back next week, where we’ll be hunting for the best deals during the main event itself.

Formerly known as the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED, the Amazon Ember QLED with Fire TV is Amazon’s latest QLED and a solid, affordable TV. We reviewed the 65-inch model only back in March and it has already got a £450 saving in an early Prime Day deal.

The Audio Pro C20 W is currently our favourite premium wireless speaker. With a broad, clear, and detailed sound, it is easy to use and immensely versatile – it can stream music, serve as a turntable speaker, or function as a soundbar for your TV. You’ll need to be a Richer Sounds VIP member to get this discount, but it’s completely free to sign up.

If you don’t like eartips but still want noise-cancelling in your earbuds, then the AirPods 4 with ANC are for you. Jam-packed with features and a clean, detailed, and powerful sound, the brilliant buds are available at their lowest-ever price in this early Prime Day deal.

If you want a 4K projector that is just portable enough to take outside, then the Nebula X1 is a great choice. The X1 has a class-leading audio for a projector, so there’s no rush to buy speakers, and the claimed 300-inch maximum image size will be great for World Cup matches.

The TCL C6KS is our favourite budget TV, and was such good value for money that we gave it a What Hi-Fi? Award. The code TCLTV20 brings the price down to £336, and for the money you’ll get a 50-inch Mini LED with excellent brightness and contrast as well as comprehensive HDR support.

The Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air is our favourite portable projector. It doesn't boast the 4K resolution or the audio quality of the X1, but it’s a fair bit cheaper and comes with a built-in battery, an ultra-portable design and surprisingly good picture and sound quality.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Mark your calendars: we have set the date for the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2026. And this year, we will not only crown a fresh set of winners, but we’ll also be celebrating our 50th birthday!

Yes, on 12th November, the crème de la crème of hi-fi and home cinema will don their gladrags and descend on London to celebrate the top products in their categories at an exclusive black-tie event.

But ahead of the big hi-fi and home cinema gala, there are a few dates you should mark in your calendar.

As of now, companies can submit products for consideration on our Awards site. Submissions close on 12th August, at which point our team will get all the products into our viewing and listening rooms and begin testing in earnest.

These, along with any product that is still on sale that we have reviewed and awarded five stars, will then be considered for a Best Buy trophy in their relevant category.

After the AV battle royal plays out and we have decided which products are truly the best of the best in each category, we will then reveal the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2026 Best Buy winners on 13th October.

These brilliant products then form the shortlists for the Product of the Year categories, which will be revealed at the black-tie event on 12th November in London. While the event itself is closed to the public, you can follow along on our social media feeds, where we’ll be posting updates and all this year’s winners.

If you want to get even more involved in the action, we will also be running our special Readers’ Award. This lets you vote on a shortlist of products, created by our reviewers. Voting goes live on 14th September and closes a couple of weeks later on 28th September – so make sure to mark the date if you want to get involved.

On top of all that, as What Hi-Fi? is turning 50 this year, we’ll also have a special category that we have never run before. We’ll reveal details of that closer to the ceremony – so watch this space!

MORE:

Check out the full list of What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 winners

Make sure to take a look at our What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame

Rega's Roy Gandy wins What Hi-Fi?'s Outstanding Contribution Award for 2025

June is always a tricky time for hi-fi and home cinema fans. For whatever reason, companies seem to think the Summer Solstice period is the perfect time to launch new products.

2026 has proven no different. Over the past seven days, our team has wrapped up its coverage of the High End Vienna show, dealt with some surprise AV announcements at Apple WWDC, all the while continuing its eternal search for the best hi-fi and home cinema products.

Eager to make sure you don’t miss any of the important announcements, we’ve inked a fresh entry for our weekly Rewind column detailing all the salient points.

We had an opening look at Dali’s new premium system

Hi-fi systems are a growing category, even at the premium end of the market. Which is why we were curious to check out Dali’s take on the format at the High End Vienna Show.

The giant new Dali Vega is an instantly eye-catching, eight-channel system designed with flexibility, as well as performance, in mind.

At a platform level, this is due to its use of BluOS, which means it has all the streaming smarts most music fans will need.

But it is also due to its design, with Dali claiming you can position it horizontally on a stand/desk or on a wall in either portrait or landscape without impacting performance.

Read our full Dali Vega hands-on preview

One of our favourite portable DACs is back

The appearance of a new AudioQuest DragonFly Copper portable DAC / headphone amp was a welcome surprise last week. Unveiled at High End, the tiny portable DAC is being pitched as a refinement, rather than a rethinking, of the DragonFly’s offering.

It’s a tiny USB dongle designed to offer hi-fi fans a quick and easy way to improve their laptop, tablet or phone’s audio. Key upgrades on its recently retired predecessor include the use of a new 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC and Microchip Technology Microprocessor.

The ESS Sabre doubles the unit’s power output, while the microprocessor reduces the current draw by 25 per cent. We didn’t get to demo it at the show, but we are hoping to get a DragonFly Copper in for review soon. Watch this space.

Read the full story: The DragonFly Copper hovers into view as AudioQuest's most powerful and efficient DAC yet

We had a chinwag with Ruark about why it loves CDs so much

There’s a lot of hype around CDs right now, with numerous reports suggesting Gen Z is suddenly interested in the format.

But, UK-based firm Ruark has long championed CD, even when it wasn’t in vogue with younger listeners.

Which is why, when the firm launched its new Ruark R710 streaming amplifier with integrated CD player at High End Vienna, our hi-fi and audio editor, Kashfia Kabir, headed straight to its stand to have a chinwag with owner and managing director Alan O’Rourke about it.

Read the full story: "It's the last physical format we'll ever have." How the demand for CDs, tactility and good design led to Ruark's new R710 streaming amplifier

Apple unveiled its new TV software

We’ve wanted to see a new Apple TV 4K streaming box for quite a while now – especially our senior staff writer, Lewis Empson.

While one didn’t appear at the tech giant’s WWDC developer conference, we did at least get a hefty update to the current Apple TV’s software, in the shape of tvOS 27.

The new OS promises to help give the long-in-the-tooth Apple TV 4K, which launched all the way back in 2022, a new lease of life, making it “30 per cent” faster and more responsive.

Read the full story: Apple officially announces tvOS 27 – and it nearly makes up for the missing next-generation Apple TV 4K

Moon’s new hi-fi left us wanting more (in a good way)

Moon’s latest 491 streaming preamplifier (£5950 / $6500) and 461 power amplifier (£4450 / $5000) are the latest additions to the firm’s high-end Compass Collection, which includes the five-star 371 streaming amplifier we reviewed in March.

Designed specifically for high-end hi-fi enthusiasts, both units come armed to the teeth with top-end features and hardware. So much so that after having an opening look and listen to both at the High End Show, our global technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, walked away wanting more, reporting:

“All in all, the Moon 491/461 combination makes a great first impression. We’re due to get the products in for review in the next few months, and we can’t wait to hear what they do in our test room's more familiar surroundings.”

Read the full story: Moon's new 491 streaming preamp and 461 stereo power amp is a formidable combination – our first impressions left us wanting more

MORE:

We rank the best stereo amplifiers for hi-fi fans

Our picks of the best hi-fi systems

The best DACs ranked by our experts

The World Cup is now officially in full swing, and you've likely had a taster of what your home cinema set-up can do when it comes to football.

But do you wish it could do a bit better? Well, we have you covered. This week has seen plenty more TV deals, from brand new RGB mini LEDs to budget 2026 OLEDs at head-turning prices.

Not that hi-fi has been left out – we've only just reviewed the stunning five-star Wharfedale Diamond 12.3i, but they've already got a tasty discount.

So what are you waiting for? We'll go into more detail on each product below, but for now, happy shopping!

The Hisense UR9 is one of the first mainstream RGB Mini LED TVs to hit the market, and the technology delivers an impressively controlled and consistent backlight performance. Enter the code RSTV100 at checkout to save £100, and you can also claim a 40-inch QLED TV absolutely free. Ts and Cs here.

The newly reviewed Wharfedale Diamond 12.3i replaces the Award-winning 12.3 model, offering a more exciting and dramatic listen as well as greater bass authority and punch. Excellent for beginners or those on a budget, especially with £30 off.

We haven't tested the LG B6, but we were impressed when we saw it in action and we're fans of previous B-series models. For £879 you'll get a brand new 2026 OLED, with superb gaming specs and plenty of features. Use the code LG20PERCENT to get this price.

The TCL C7K is mightily impressive, offering explosive brightness, contrast and colour as well as rich gaming support. What might be most impressive, however, is that it offers this picture quality and features for under £720. The code TCL10PERCENT gets you this deal price.

We've only just reviewed the Soundcore Nebula P1, and we were particularly impressed by the clean yet punchy sound. The code WS24D2431UK will get you a £51 saving, but bear in mind you'll have to cast from your phone or use a streaming stick to get BBC iPlayer.

If you're looking for the ideal blend of quality, portability, and affordability, then the recently discounted Tribit StormBox Micro 2 is a great choice. You'll get an abundance of features and a booming sound level for only £46.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

It might not be your first consideration when watching a film, but good sound design can take your movie viewing experience to the next level.

The most recent film to prove this point for me is Tuner. It follows Niki, a young man with a hearing sensitivity which makes everyday sounds seem much louder than they should – also known as hyperacusis.

The condition means he can’t pursue his rising career as a pianist, so instead works with his father figure, Harry, as a piano tuner. When Niki discovers he can use his sensitive hearing to open safes, a world of possibilities and danger opens up.

Niki often evokes Baby Driver’s Baby (played by Ansel Elgort), in exuding an aloof yet coy nature. Both films even have a song in common in the soundtrack, with Dave Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance playing as the two characters embark on their respective heists.

As you would imagine, that premise gives the sound team a lot to play with. Sound designer Johnnie Burn took the helm, with a back catalogue that spans a broad range of movies from The Zone Of Interest to Hamnet. Burn suffered from hyperacusis for a period, like Niki, which meant he could connect to the script on another level.

When watching the film in my local cinema, the sound design immediately gave me a taste of Niki's way of hearing.

As a motorbike passes him, the throbbing engine and squealing tyres make for an uncomfortable listen, which shows how difficult navigating the everyday is for our hero.

That’s taken to the next level when a fire alarm goes off, and the wailing sound completely fills the cinema. After the ear-splitting sound has stopped, our sound is muffled to match the shock that Niki is experiencing. Voices become vague and unclear, while a bothersome ringing persists in the foreground.

The safe-opening montages continue to bring us into Niki’s world. When methodically fiddling with the safe’s handle, we hear the subtle change in pitch as the metal clicks in and out of place. It becomes more like percussion thanks to the clever sound editing, and the lock’s clinking is placed with excellent precision around the soundfield.

This thoughtful sound design all creates an immersive and at times wince-inducing cinema experience that gives a glimpse into Niki’s hearing condition. The film is yet to be released on streaming or on 4K Blu-ray, but we can’t wait to get it in as a test disc to challenge all the latest home cinema kit.

MORE:

The challenges of taking sound from the cinema to the home

These are the best Dolby Atmos scenes to test your home cinema system

Check out the best TVs right now

High End Vienna concluded on Sunday, with the event offering a whole bunch of exciting upcoming releases that we cannot wait to get into our test rooms.

From Bowers & Wilkins' new flagship 800 Series Diamond speakers to Audio-Technica’s high-end flagship cartridge, there is a range of hi-fi products coming soon.

We have gathered some of the most exciting announcements from High End below, as well as the biggest news from the world of hi-fi and home cinema you might have missed in the past week. Let’s get into it!

WiiM launches its first-ever Dolby Atmos soundbar

WiiM, a company best known for its music streamers and streaming amplifiers, has announced its first venture into the soundbar category at High End Vienna 2026. It is, rather predictably, called the WiiM Bar and boasts a 3.0.2-channel configuration. That is powered by an eight-driver array, including front mid-woofers, front tweeters, and full-range height drivers. The bar offers Dolby Atmos capability.

At the front of the ’bar, you will find a stylish glass-covered 2.1-inch round touch display. You can choose to show off album art, or use it to access playback controls, input, or EQ settings.

The WiiM Bar has got some tough competition, with its price tag (£449 / $479) putting it directly against the Sonos Beam Gen 2.

Read the full story: WiiM launches its first ever Dolby Atmos soundbar – and its sights are set on Sonos

Yamaha launches its new wireless speaker system to challenge KEF

Yamaha hadn’t launched a wireless speaker in a decade; the NX-70A has changed all that.

It uses some of the same technology and materials as Yamaha’s renowned grand piano soundboards, though sadly it doesn’t use anything from its motorbikes. The Yamaha NX-70A aims to make high-quality sound more accessible, whether it’s playing back one of the best music streaming services or a movie soundtrack straight from your TV.

The Yamaha model is out in July for £2587 (around $3500 / AU$4799), so it will be a rival for the KEF LS50 Wireless II. We can’t wait to compare the two in our test room soon.

Read the full story: The Yamaha NX-70A wireless speaker system arrives to take on the KEF LS50 Wireless II

We reviewed Esoteric’s high-end streaming preamplifier

Last week, our testers finished reviewing the Esoteric N-05XE, which costs a whopping £13,000 / $13,000 / AU$17,000. This beautifully made unit combines network streaming, digital-to-analogue conversion and a preamplifier in one neat, albeit chunky box.

And, while its price tag is pretty jaw-dropping, we can confirm that it is a hugely capable product that compromises very little compared with more purist options. We conclude in our review: “If you are looking for a top-class sound and don’t want the clutter of conventional high-end separates, this Esoteric is a great place to start.”

Read the full Esoteric N-05XE review

We saw an unfortunate trend continue from TVs to cars

What Hi-Fi?’s deputy editor Andy Madden has been out and about testing an in-car sound system: the Bose Surround Sound System for the electric Porsche Macan. While his full comparison against the step-up Burmester option is still in the works, Andy spotted an ‘Eco’ mode setting that had been seen only with TVs before.

Having such a mode in this car does make sense. EV ownership centres around power consumption, efficiency and squeezing the most mileage possible from the car’s battery.

Unfortunately, the mode apes the pattern of performance we see in the majority of TVs. It results in a “shrinking of scale, diminished dynamics and a more laid-back and less expressive sound.”

Read the full story: I used an Eco setting on a car audio system for the first time — and my worst fears were confirmed

A selection of World Cup tracks to test your sound system

To celebrate the football event of the year, which kicks off on 11 June, we have hand-picked some of the best World Cup songs to listen to on a decent system. There are some absolute bangers to choose from, including releases from Giorgio Moroder and Pavarotti.

A highlight is New Order’s only UK number one single, World in Motion. The 1990 track is still a banger nearly 40 years on. Those euphoric strings – so ’90s! – will test your system’s midrange, while that drum machine beat is a workout for the low end.

Read the full story: The best World Cup songs to test your system

MORE:

These are the best TVs right now

Check out the best soundbars on the market

Ready for the World Cup? These are the three projectors you should consider

Temperatures might have dropped, but so have prices, with yet more products enjoying their lowest prices and five-star savings over the past seven days.

With less than a week to go until the World Cup starts on Thursday, there are only a few days left should you wish to get some home cinema equipment delivered and installed before Mexico and South Africa kick off to launch the festival of footie.

Luckily, the retailers have saved some of their best deals until now. There are great savings on brand new 2026 OLEDs, Award-winning 4K projectors, and Dolby Atmos soundbars, so you can kit out your home cinema any way you see fit.

Not that hi-fi has been left out – there is also a great value deal on some five-star Sony headphones.

All of these products have been tried and tested by our expert review team, and must earn at least four stars to get our sought-after recommendation. We’ll go into more detail on each product below.

The LG C6 is our favourite TV of the year so far, with its new processor resulting in brighter, richer and more refined pictures than the C5. Use the code LG20PERCENT to get this deal price.

The Epson EH-TW7100 was one of our 2024 Award winners, and still holds up thanks to its excellent contrast-handling and good connectivity options. A brilliantly well-judged and affordable 4K projector.

The Sony WH-CH520 headphones are the top budget choice from our pick of the best wireless headphones, thanks to their balanced and engaging sound, extensive control app, and whopping 50-hour battery life.

The 48-inch LG C5’s bright, detailed picture makes it a great choice for the World Cup, while the flawless gaming specifications and strong app support make it a great all-rounder. Use the code KICKOFF100 to get 46 per cent off our testing price.

It’s hard not to like the five-star JBL Bar 300MK2. It’s powerful and bassy, produces clear dialogue and has a rather convincing Dolby Atmos effect for a solo soundbar.

We have seen the TCL C6KS cheaper before, but even at full price, the Mini LED is one of the biggest bargains in television. For a shade under £400, you get excellent brightness and contrast, comprehensive HDR support, and plenty of features.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Summer is finally here. That means most of us are dusting off our beachwear and getting ready to enjoy the five minutes of sunshine Blighty offers.

But, our team of reviewers is forgoing the sunshine and remains locked away in our viewing and listening rooms, continuing their search for AV perfection.

Not even the record-breaking heatwave in our native-land could deter them from their sworn duty – we’re that committed/foolhardy.

Thankfully, the sacrifice was, for the most part, worth it, with our testers identifying five hot ticket items (see what we did there) worthy of our hallowed five-star rating in May.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless

Sennheiser holds an interesting place in the wireless headphone market. Both of its recent over-ear pairs, the Sennheiser HDB 630 and Momentum 4, scored solid five-star recommendations. But look at our list of Award-winners, and you’ll see they were overshadowed by even stronger performers from Sony in most segments of the wireless market.

Which is why we were happy to see the brand come out all guns blazing with its latest Momentum 5 Wireless, which pack a wealth of hardware upgrades, including reworked drivers, longer battery life and improved ANC. The combined package is so good that the new cans give the ruling Sony WH-1000XM6 a run for its money.

As we say in our review: “Sennheiser’s most ambitious wireless headphones don’t only nail sound quality in their own right, but also bless iPhones and other audio sources with a significant sound upgrade via a neat bundled accessory. The result? Sony XM6-beating sound performance in a well-built, feature-rich and competitively priced package.”

Read our in-depth Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review

TCL Q6C (65Q6C-UK)

The TCL Q6C sits just above the Award-winning TCL C6KS. For film fans, the main difference between it and the five-star C6KS is the inclusion of more dimming zones and higher peak brightness.

For gamers, there are a few other quality upgrades, chief of which is the addition of 120Hz/4K signals. Outside of that, it tries to replicate the same stellar value for money performance as its sibling.

Given how much we like the cheaper C6KS, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it is rather good as a result. For your money, you’ll be treated to a ridiculously good value Mini LED capable of excellent, bright picture quality. Hence, our five-star rating and glowing verdict:

“If the Q6C cost twice as much as it does, we’d still class it as good. In fact, for a 65-inch TV at its price, it’s nothing short of ridiculous. If this is how TCL signs off its current range, we seriously can’t wait to see what the brand brings to the table next.”

The only downside is that this set’s time in the sun may be setting; we are expecting TCL’s next wave of affordable Mini LEDs to start appearing in our review rooms in the not too distant future.

Read our in-depth TCL Q6C review

Naim NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR

There’s been a version of the Naim NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR pre/power combination in production for more than a quarter of a century.

While the name hasn’t changed, the firm has been making ongoing tweaks and improvements to the combo the whole time. Last month, our reviewers took the latest iteration of the iconic high-end amp combo for a spin in our listening rooms.

And the Naim NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR once again cemented its place as one of the top options for buyers looking for a new engine to power their high-end setup. Yes, it’s ruthless in its ability to expose flaws with partnered hardware; but if you have the high-end parts to make it shine, the results are sublime. The unit delivers class-leading rhythmic cohesion and transparency and an utterly engrossing sound that will delight any serious music fan.

As we say in our review: “25 years is a long time for any product to be in production. Having talked to Naim’s representative, there is no sign that this pre/power is going to be put out to pasture anytime soon. We are glad of that. The Naim NAC 552/NAP 500 DR pairing remains an exceptional performer and is up there with the best we have heard at this level. Highly recommended.”

Read our in-depth Naim NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR review

JBL Xtreme 5

The Xtreme 5 is the latest entry to JBL’s “adventure” speaker line. It’s a portable Bluetooth unit designed to be as rugged as possible, and equally at home on the beach or on the mountain-top, as it is on your patio table.

Though its design is a bit of a marmite factor, with it being unashamedly “hench” (our writer’s words, not mine) even compared with past Xtreme series speakers, it thankfully delivers on all the areas you’d expect, given its target market.

Despite their best efforts, including a prolonged water-resistance check with a Super Soaker, our reviewers couldn’t break it. And, while we would have liked aptX support for better quality Bluetooth streaming, it still offers decent audio quality.

During all our tests, the speaker delivered an impressive sense of scale and punchy rhythmic drive. As we say in our review: “JBL’s big Bluetooth speaker might have bulked up, but it's sounding better than ever.”

Read our in-depth JBL Xtreme 5 review

JBL Go 5

Right now, £40 doesn’t go a long way. A couple of LPs, a cheap takeaway, or a trip to the cinema? That’s about as far as it will stretch in the current economy.

But last month, our reviewers found a stellar, tiny Bluetooth speaker that costs just that: the JBL Go 5. If you’ve only got a stipend to spare and want a decent portable speaker with decent sound to take to the park, this is a stellar option.

Despite its low cost and small dimensions, the speaker delivers a surprisingly musical, engaging sound with impressive levels of detail and clarity. Add to this solid battery life and a small handbag, or satchel, friendly design, and it’s hard to fault.

As we say in our review: “As far as budget Bluetooth speakers go, the Go 5 is a no-brainer – we can’t think of anything that squeezes so much performance out of such a small form factor at such a low price.”

Read our in-depth JBL Go 5 review

MORE:
These are the best Bluetooth speakers we have tested

We rank the best Mini LED TVs

Our picks of the best stereo amplifiers

It's Awards' time at Sound+Image: we had the offical ceremony, now it's the official Special Awards Issue of Australia no. 1 mag for audio & AV reviews, news and technology.

Sound+Image Awards 2026
In our annual Special Awards Issue we announce this year's hi-fi and AV winners, the stand-out products which have especially thrilled us with their performance over the last year of equipment reviews and tests across our magazines and mastheads. All the key information for each winner is brought together only in this print and digital magazine, a celebration of the best and best-value consumer audio and AV products available in the Australian market today, and our top recommendations of the year.

FULL BUYING GUIDE
In addition to this year’s illustrious winners, there are many former winners from previous awards that are still on the market. That’s why we include our full Sound+Image Buying Guide, bringing together present and past winners in a complete set of recommendations, whether you’re after a $1000 streaming speaker, a $5000 separates system, or a home cinema totalling tens of thousands of dollars.

AUSTRALIAN HI-FI SHOW – FULL REPORT
Three days of music and movies across four floors of the Sydney Central Hotel: check out our full report and find out who won Best Sound in Show, as voted by show visitors!

Welcome to the latest entry of What Hi-Fi?’s regular news digest, where we, once again, detail all the top hi-fi and home cinema developments you need to know about.

It was another chockablock week for the team, with Sony unveiling its latest TVs and a new Dolby Atmos sound system, less than a day after audio heavyweight Sennheiser lifted the lid on its new wireless headphones.

Here are the Cliff Notes.

Sony hardware galore

Last week, Sony unveiled its new Bravia 9 II and Bravia 7 II televisions alongside its new Bravia Theatre Trio Dolby Atmos sound system.

The Bravia 9 II is the firm’s new flagship TV and a successor to the four-star Bravia 9 we reviewed a couple of years ago.

It is set to sit alongside the firm’s current top-end OLED, the Award-winning Bravia 8 II, not replace it.

The big selling point is its use of Sony’s True RGB panel tech. This is the Japanese giant’s take on RGB Mini LED. Below it, the Bravia 7 II is its latest upper-mid-range Mini LED.

Finally, the Trio is a new surround system, which combines a central channel with wireless left and right satellites. It’s being pitched as Sony’s most accurate sound system to date and a direct rival to the KEF XIO, our current recommended premium Dolby Atmos soundbar.

Read the full story: Sony's 'True RGB' Mini LED TVs have arrived – and the fight is on against Samsung and TCL

Sennheiser’s new Momentum 5 headphones are its best to date

Sennheiser has always been in a bit of an awkward spot with its wireless headphones. All its recent sets have been easy five-star recommendations, including the Momentum 4 and HDB 630, but they’ve never been the best of the best, usually losing out to their Sony rivals for the top spot.

Which is why we’re very excited about its new Momentum 5 wireless headphones. Launched last week, the Momentum 5 not only proved to be the firm’s best to date when we got them into our test rooms – they also matched, and at times beat, the Sony WH-1000XM6 we pitted them against.

Read our in-depth Sennheiser Momentum 5 review

Neat new speakers

Neat revealed its latest Vito speakers last week. Positioned at the top of the firm’s Classic range, Neat claims the speakers are its most advanced to date and will deliver a "spacious, natural and emotionally engaging musical presentation" with a sound that feels "both effortless and immersive."

Considering how impressed we were with the firm’s five-star Mystique Classic towers and Petite Classic standmounts, we’re taking the claims very seriously and can’t wait to see the new floorstanders at Vienna High End next week.

Read the full story: Neat adds a small-but-powerful pair of floorstanders to its popular Classic speaker range

MORE:

These are the best floorstanding speakers we’ve reviewed

Our picks of the best wireless headphones

We rank the best Mini LED TVs

The UK’s latest hot spell might be coming to an end, but the sun is still shining on several top deals which our experts have found over the past seven days.

Given that it’s pay day for many of us, it could be the perfect time to take advantage of that discounted piece of kit you’ve had your eye on in recent months.

This week, there’s more of an AV slant to the bargain products we have seen. There’s big money off Dolby Atmos Soundbars and both Mini LED and OLED flat-screen TVs. Pair them together, and you could have the perfect combination of picture and sound, all for a very reasonable price.

We haven’t forgotten about hi-fi, though. We have tracked down top discounts on two five-star pairs of headphones.

Only products we have tested appear in this list, and they have to have received at least four stars to receive our coveted recommendation here.

We’ll go a bit more in-depth on why we like these products so much below, but for now, happy shopping!

At 42 inches, the LG OLED42C5 is a fantastic five-star OLED TV from LG at a size that is becoming increasingly rare to find. If you want a premium performer without the price tag, this could be the TV for you.

Alternatively, we also picked a 65-inch Samsung TV, the QE65QN90F, which uses Mini LED TV technology and boasts excellent gaming specification, a punchy, detailed picture and a dazzling better-than-half-price discount.

On the soundbar front, we have a firm What Hi-Fi? favourite from Sonos in the shape of the Award-winning Arc Ultra, complete with awesome Dolby Atmos sound and all manner of streaming smarts.

We also highlighted a talented bar from JBL, the Bar 1000 MK2, which boasts a very neat party trick: its detachable surround speakers can also be used as normal wireless speakers and can be dotted around the house when not in use.

Hi-fi hasn’t been completely left out this week: the five-star Grado RS1x are a classy pair of wired headphones with a big discount.

Fancy going wireless instead of wired? There’s a solid saving on a long-term favourite of ours, the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e. These classy-looking cans sound full of life and boast solid specifications.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Welcome to Rewind, the weekly column where we sum up all the latest big (and small) developments in the worlds of hi-fi and home cinema.

This week, our team was particularly busy. First, our senior staff writer visited Denon and Marantz in Japan to check out the companies’ reference systems.

Then, back home, our reviewers were hard at work testing Sony’s new premium wireless headphones.

Here’s what you need to know.

Denon and Marantz’s reference system is pretty amazing

Denon and Marantz are two big names in home audio. The two are behind some of the top hardware that we still use as reference equipment in our review rooms.

Which is why our senior staff writer took the time to check out the firms’ reference systems while visiting their HQ in Japan. Combining more than £200,000 of hardware and fitted in a bespoke room, it was quite the experience.

Read the full story: Denon and Marantz took me to hi-fi and home cinema heaven with its £200,000 reference system, and it sounded out of this world

Is reel-to-reel making a comeback?

Reel-to-reel has never been “mainstream” in the way vinyl, CD or tape has. But that hasn’t stopped it from getting its own retro-revival.

Throw a stone in audiophile circles, and you are quite likely to hit at least one enthusiast who swears by it or is at least interested in the format.

Eager to understand the appeal, last week our regular contributor, Joe Svetlik, took the time to talk to some of the enthusiasts, manufacturers and record labels fueling the format’s resurgence.

Read the full story: Forget vinyl, reel-to-reel tapes are the last word in sound quality – and they’re making a comeback

We tested the Sony 1000X The Collexion

Sony’s wireless headphones have been on a winning streak for a while. Jump to our current What Hi-Fi? Award-winners list, and you’ll see plenty of examples proving that point.

Because of this, we were excited to review its new 1000X The Collexion wireless over-ears last week. Sitting above their five-star Sony WH-1000XM6 siblings, The Collexion are direct rivals to the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, Dali IO-8 and Focal Bathys.

They feature a completely new design and bespoke carbon-fibre 30mm drive unit, and Sony is pitching them as its most premium and refined wireless offering to date.

There is undeniably some truth to that boast, with The Collexion offering a spacious, open and mature sound with exceptional levels of textural detail. But, they didn’t quite deliver in one key area we care about: fun.

Read our in-depth Sony 1000X The Collexion review

Naim’s NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR impressed our reviewers

Last week, we tested the latest generation of the Naim NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR. The original version of the set-up launched around 25 years ago, and while the latest iteration looks similar, Naim has been making subtle refinements to it over the years.

This latest version in our test room, then, is a fairly different beast from the original. It’s also why this remains a stellar option for serious hi-fi fans looking for a premium amplification solution to drive their high-end setup.

Though they require careful partnering – as the combination is ruthless with its ability to expose components’ flaws – when matched properly the results are excellent. As we say in our NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR review:

“The Naim NAC 552/NAP 500 DR pairing remains an exceptional performer and is up there with the best we have heard at this level. Highly recommended.”

Read our in-depth Naim NAC 552 / NAP 500 DR review

The inside skinny on turntable design

What makes a great turntable? It’s a tricky question that engineers and members of our reviews team have spent entire careers trying to answer.

Last week, our deputy editor, Andy Madden, took up the challenge, interviewing some of the top names in turntable design on the topic. And, as is often the case with hi-fi, the answer, if you could even call it that, is incredibly complicated…

Read the full story: “The tiniest difference in a component can significantly change the sound” – hi-fi engineers discuss the subtle art of turntable design

MORE:

These are the best stereo amplifiers we have tested

We rank the best turntables for vinyl fans

Our picks of the best AVRs

With a bank holiday weekend coming up, there is now plenty of time to decide on that all-important World Cup TV.

Luckily, this week has seen some stellar deals on all sorts of great TVs. Whether you’re after a new-release OLED or a budget LCD, we’ve got those and everything in between.

Hi-fi hasn’t been left out either: the Award-winning Cyrus 40 ST music streamer is on offer again; and Sonos is running a sale that includes its five-star spatial-audio Era 300 speaker.

As always, these are products that we have tested ourselves. And they have to have received at least four stars to receive our coveted recommendation here.

We’ll go a bit more in-depth on why we like these products so much below, but for now, happy shopping!

The LG C6 is the latest in LG’s hugely popular OLED C-series, and has the brightest, richest and most refined picture quality yet. We only reviewed it in March, but you can get 20% off with the code ‘LG20TV’ – you have to be a My John Lewis member, but it’s free to sign up.

The Cyrus 40 ST may not be cheap even with this discount, but it’s worth every single penny. The What Hi-Fi? Award Winner is the top dog out of the high-end music streamers and an incredible piece of kit.

We reviewed the TCL Q6C just two days ago, and we call it “ridiculously good value for money”. Well, the 65-inch version of this Mini LED set is already on sale – and it offers far more than a TV at this price has any right to.

If you want to go big-screen on a budget for the World Cup, then the 65-inch Samsung U8000F is an excellent choice. The Standard mode is enjoyably punchy and bright, with lots of smart TV content available in one great value package.

The Sonos Era 300 is a former What Hi-Fi? Award winner, and offers an immensely immersive experience thanks to its engaging sound and convincing spatial-audio effects. And now it can be yours with a rare £90 discount.

The 48-inch Samsung S90F made headlines for its low prices over Black Friday, but now it’s available for even less. The five-star OLED can be yours for only £764, but first you’ll have to use the code ‘RSTV100’ at checkout and then claim 10 per cent back directly from Samsung. Full T&Cs can be found here.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we have tested

Denon and Marantz are two of the biggest names in audio, especially if you’re obsessed with AVRs like me. Whether it’s the affordable Denon AVR-X2800H or the premium (and super stylish) Marantz Cinema 30, these sister companies occupy three of the five slots on our best AV receivers list.

Speaking of, that list is probably about to receive a bit of a shake-up. Last month, I travelled all the way to Tokyo for a secret mission, which I can now reveal was to check out the highly anticipated AVR-X2900H and AVR-X3900H: both sequels to two home cinema test-room legends.

You can check out our AVR-X2900H hands-on review for our extended first impressions of the new amplifier. But seeing (or should we say hearing?) the new AVRs was only half of the experience.

The other half centred around touring Denon and Marantz’s facilities, which included speaking to the companies’ respective Sound Masters, and experiencing the listening rooms in which these products are developed and tuned.

Denon is based in the historic city of Shirakawa, 185km northeast of Tokyo. It has called this city home for more than 40 years, and around 200 people work here across various divisions, including manufacturing and research and development (R&D).

Marantz joined Denon here in 2002, and now both companies share the space. There’s a Hall of Fame and a museum dedicated to products that define both audio companies’ respective histories, and there’s a manufacturing plant on site. Everything from handmade turntable cartridges to mass-produced AV receivers are assembled here.

The most enticing part of my tour of this facility, however, was the listening-room experience that the brands hosted. Denon opted to show off a multi-channel demonstration, whereas Marantz stuck to stereo; both were equally entrancing.

The room featured a 9.4.6 speaker arrangement, with four pairs of Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 floorstanders as the headliners. These cost £36,000 a pair, so it should be clear just how serious Denon and Marantz are about home cinema and hi-fi sound.

These were joined by a matching centre channel – the B&W HTM81 D4 at £8250 – and four B&W DB1D subwoofers at £4600 a pop. Height channels were handled via six in-ceiling Bowers & Wilkins speakers, including one pair of CCM663s (around £650/pair) and two pairs of the CCM664 speakers (around £600/pair).

If our maths serves us correctly, that prices the speaker package at a staggering £172,500, and that’s before we take into account the room treatment, cables, disc players and amplification.

Put simply, this room is an audiophile’s dream, and it was the perfect space to experience the top-of-the-range products being shown by each brand.

Denon also confirmed that this is where it tests and benchmarks new products, including the freshly announced AVR-X2900H and AVC-X3900H home cinema amplifiers.

Each step in the production cycle is tested at the Shirakawa facility, from the first prototype model to the mass production units. Denon confirmed that it uses a mixture of measurements and real-world cinematic content to verify performance, with Godzilla: Minus One, Top Gun: Maverick and Dune: Part One being selected as standout test titles.

Finally, the room has been designed and laid out so that the engineers don't need to use Audyssey room correction during the testing process. This allows for a cleaner and more authentic sound so that the audio engineers know exactly what they are working with when designing a new amplifier.

With all of that important context explained, let’s get into the listening experience...

Denon’s cinematic AVR-A1H...

Denon led with its AVR-A1H home cinema amplifier, known as the AVC-A1H in the UK due to it lacking an AM/FM tuner.

This amplifier launched at £6800, and it sits above the top of the range X-series AVC-X6800H and AVC-A10H amplifiers.

It has been on the market for a few years now, but as the premier of Denon’s AVR offerings, it remains a stalwart for devoted home cinema fans. Featuring 15.4 channels of amplification, it supports Denon’s reference system without breaking a sweat, and is rated to deliver 150W of amplification with two channels driven, meaning it’s plenty powerful.

Denon opted to use three well-known demo sequences, one of which we often use to test Dolby Atmos soundbars and surround sound speaker packages.

Starting with the first performance of the track Shallow from A Star Is Born, the AVR-A1H delivered a powerful, rich and enveloping performance. It balanced immense scale with intricate detail and subtle dynamic shifts, resulting in a supremely natural sound.

I have heard this sequence at countless hands-on events, and in our home cinema testing room, and yet this demonstration revealed some subtle sonic elements that I'd never heard before.

Speaking of sequences I've heard more times than I can count, Denon followed up with the introduction to Unbroken. The dynamic build of the plane approaching at the very start of the film was conveyed with an impressive balance of subtlety and weight, allowing the engine sounds to swell naturally, and ultimately pass to the surround and height channels fluidly.

When the bomber comes under fire, the flak explosions were expressed with a crisp, weighty punch of bass that remained totally in control while also delivering the intended impact.

Denon rounded out the experience with chapter nine of Gravity, in which (spoilers ahead) the space shuttle reenters the Earth’s atmosphere, and the Denon AVR-A1H takes us full circle.

It carried the same authoritative, muscular and rich sound of the five-star AVR-X6800H, but with a much broader and more powerful character that tackles cinematic scale with ease.

The rattling and creaking of the shuttle as it plummets towards Earth felt textured, while the stray debris whizzing past carried a genuine sense of speed and danger.

While the wonderfully overkill speaker system undoubtedly played a part in making this demo as impressive as it was, the AVR-A1H’s balance of sheer power and finesse made it all the more impressive.

Marantz’s musical Model 10, Link 10n and SACD 10 trio...

Marantz followed up with a triple threat of reference hi-fi products. The Model 10 Reference Integrated Amplifier, to give it its full title, was the star of the show, launching back in 2024 for £13,000.

It was joined by the Link 10n network preamplifier (which launched at £10,400) and the SACD10 (also £10,400); essentially, this is Marantz’s full reference hi-fi lineup. While the same B&W sound system was used, Marantz switched to stereo instead of surround and used only the front left and right channels.

To establish its musical prowess, Marantz used classical compositions by Shostakovich and Stravinsky, alongside a duo of jazz renditions from Miyuki Koga and Fourplay.

The classical tracks revealed the system's ability to deliver punch, scale and drama, all while remaining intricately detailed and superbly controlled.

Shostakovich's Symphony No.5 II Allegretto emphasised the big, powerful and rich sound that this system can produce. It did come across as a touch too forward and assertive at times during this track, but that didn't detract from the scale and spaciousness shown during the demo.

Miyuki Koga's rendition of Put the Blame on Mame demonstrated a rich and natural vocal presentation, with a solid sense of timing to back the lyrics up. Despite a lot of words starting with ‘s’ in this track, there was very little sibilance to note.

Finally, Fourplay’s Chant was underpinned by a fresh, airy and open sound, held together by snappy, tight bass that kept everything in check. All of the instruments featured in the track sounded realistic and natural, with the bass guitar and woodwind instruments being two standout elements.

Both systems lived up to expectations in many regards – given the price, I would have been shocked if they hadn't. We’re eager to hear how this testing environment influences the sound of the final products – and the good news is that we won’t have to wait long.

The Denon AVR-X2900H has just landed in our AV testing room, so stay tuned for our full review.

MORE:

Read our Denon AVR-X2900H hands on review

As well as our full Denon AVR-X2800H review

And check out our list of the best AV receivers

Welcome to the latest entry to our weekly Rewind, hi-fi and home cinema news digest, where our team of AV experts detail all the top stories you need to know about.

Despite our pleas to the AV powers-that-be, it was another busy one for our team of experts, who had to contend with everything from AVR launches to new portable CD players, all while reviewing the latest hardware to arrive in our test rooms – which included a particularly special treat last week.

Here’s what you need to know.

Yamaha launched two new Dolby Atmos AV receivers

First up, we have Yamaha, which last week unveiled not one, but two new Dolby Atmos-ready AVRs: the 7.2-channel RX500A and 5.2-channel RX300A.

Both models are built on the same core DNA as the firm's higher-end models, coming equipped with Yamaha's Anti-Resonance Technology (A.R.T.). Both also feature four full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs that support 4K/120Hz (and 8K/60Hz), VRR and ALLM. Passthrough of Dolby Vision and HDR10+ is also on board.

We’re waiting on pricing for the RX500A, but Yamaha has confirmed the entry-level RX300A will retail for a modest £349 (around $475) when it launches in August, making it an enticing prospect for home cinema fans on a budget, at least on paper.

Read the full story: Yamaha's two new Dolby Atmos AV receivers borrow one feature from their high-end siblings

Denon’s new AVR wants to dethrone Sony’s Award-winner

Speaking of AVRs, Denon also got in on the action, unveiling its swish new AVR-X2900H. Aimed squarely at the same step up space as the Award-winning Sony TA-AN1000, the unit comes armed to the teeth with new hardware and features.

The unit offers seven channels of amplification, running at 95W per channel. That means you’ll be able to run multispeaker 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos or 7.1 surround sound arrangements through it.

But the main upgrade Denon’s most excited about is its new 32-bit multi-channel DAC architecture, which it claims will offer “improved imaging, clearer high-frequency detail and more confident low-frequency energy across every channel”.

While it’s too early to deliver our final verdict on its performance, our senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, walked away from his hands-on demo with it in Japan impressed, leaving us eager to get it into our test rooms for the full What Hi-Fi? review treatment.

Read our in-depth Denon AVR-X2900H hands-on preview

Shanling made a portable CD player “for Gen Z”

Wired headphones, dumb phones, vinyl; everywhere you look, there are fresh reports of Gen Z getting into “retro” tech (an idea that makes me feel very old, as most of the stuff mentioned was cutting edge when I was a sprog).

Which is likely why Chinese brand Shanling decided to release a portable CD player that it’s marketing specifically to Gen Z. While we’re not sure what particularly justifies the age bracket it’s put in its marketing, there’s no denying Shanling's EC Play has some impressive hardware.

Highlights include Shanling’s proprietary active magnetic clamp mechanism, which aims to improve stability and reduce skips, a Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC at its heart, and Bluetooth connectivity – for the young folks yet to copy Zendaya and co by getting a pair of cabled cans.

Read the full story: Forget the vinyl revival, Shanling's latest CD player wants to bring the "Discman" to Gen Z

Our deputy editor visited New York’s House of Sound

Our deputy editor, Andy Madden, has seen many things in his tenure at What Hi-Fi?. Super yachts with Sonus Faber sound systems, KEF’s Music Gallery, super cars equipped with Bowers & Wilkins Dolby Atmos entertainment systems and more.

So when he returned from a wee sojourn to the McIntosh Group’s “House of Sound” high-end demo area in New York, beaming with excitement, we couldn’t help but sit up and take notice.

Specifically, he came back enamoured with the six-story town house’s 29-speaker home cinema theatre system, which he described as a completely reasonable purchase, if you happen to have $550,000 to spare – and that doesn’t even include the projector, or source.

Read the full story: “He told us outside of the mastering studio, this was the best place he’d watched his movie” – listening to the 29-speaker home theatre system that thrilled an Oscar winner

We finished reviewing our first RGB Mini LED TV

Last but not least, last week we finished reviewing our first-ever RGB Mini LED TV, the Hisense UR9.

Pitched as an “OLED-killer”, Hisense has made a lot of noise about the new hardware, promising it will offer palpable brightness increases, better black levels and richer but more accurate colours than competing sets.

During testing, we found a lot to like about it, with the UR9 delivering impressively controlled and consistent backlight performance and a wonderfully bright, punchy picture, especially with HDR content.

But, running head-to-head with our Product of the Year Award-winner, the Sony Bravia 8 II, it didn’t quite fulfil its promise as an OLED-killer.

Side-by-side, the Sony’s picture felt a smidgeon more three-dimensional, offered the perfect blacks only OLED can and significantly better viewing angles. This meant the UR9 earned a positive four-star, rather than a wholehearted five-star recommendation.

Read our full Hisense UR9 review

MORE:

These are the best surround sound systems we’ve tested

Our picks of the best TVs

We rank the best CD players money can buy

With just under a month to go until a certain World Cup, TV manufacturers are looking to join in the football fever.

We've seen the lowest prices yet on some of our favourite OLEDs, including on Award-winners such as the Sony Bravia 8 II and the LG C5.

Not wanting to be left out, audio brands are joining in the discounts as well, particularly with Bluetooth speakers ready for summer garden gatherings. The JBL Xtreme 5, only reviewed two days ago, is already nearly ten per cent off.

As always, all of these products have been rated and reviewed by our expert testing team, and have been given a big thumbs up – and maybe even a What Hi-Fi? Award.

Take a look at the offers underneath, and we'll go into a bit more detail below.

The JBL Xtreme 5 had a high bar to reach, as previous Xtreme speakers had scooped up What Hi-Fi? Awards for their robust build, yet clean and detailed sound. Luckily, the Xtreme 5 received a full five stars only days ago, with a more powerful, clearer performance that made it the best-sounding Xtreme yet.

The Sony Bravia 8 II won our TV Product of the Year Award at our most recent ceremony, and is still our benchmark TV. The motion processing and OLED screen of the Bravia 8 II will make it an ideal World Cup TV, but it's stunningly authentic for movies too.

AirPods need no introduction, but the AirPods 4 with ANC are notable for introducing noise-cancelling to an open (no tips) design and making it work. iOS users will also find plenty of exclusive flagship features and snappy user-friendliness.

The KEF XIO is, quite simply, the best-sounding Dolby Atmos soundbar we have heard. It's also discounted for the first time, but bear in mind it's a cashback offer you'll have to claim back from KEF. Full T&Cs can be found here.

We're spoilt for choice with premium Bluetooth speakers this week. The Bose SoundLink Max wraps up excellent sound quality and an enjoyable experience in this attractive, outdoor-friendly package.

If you have a smaller room or are looking to upgrade to OLED on a budget, then this saving on the 48-inch LG C5 is for you. It's got flawless gaming specifications, excellent app support and is a whopping £618 off with the code 'HUGMAY8'.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we have tested

Summer is finally here, and while we may have a few more weeks to wait before the High End Vienna show starts, there’s already more new hi-fi and home cinema hardware appearing than any normal person could hope to stay on top of.

Yes, over the past month, we’ve seen everything from new portable CD players designed for Gen Z to high-end hi-fi from Garmin unveiled. And while we love to see our beloved industry flourish, there’s no denying that the sheer volume of launches can make knowing which are worth following a little tricky.

Which is why we’ve penned a fresh entry into our regular On The Radar column, detailing the five big products we’re most excited about, and can’t wait to give the full What Hi-Fi? review treatment.

1. REL Acoustics Planar series subwoofers

REL Acoustics' new Planar PL-1 and PL-2 subwoofers aim to offer buyers who care about their room’s feng shui an easy, discrete path to better bass.

As well as looking swish, the new models are designed to offer floor-standing and wall-mounted orientations that don’t require careful placement to work.

The firm is also offering a clever “rolling car” option that adds wheels to them, in theory making them easier to store when not in use.

Outside of that, both models will feature Class D amplification and REL's Airship Direct wireless connectivity. The main difference between the two is their size.

The PL-1 features 6.5-inch long-throw active FibreAlloy cone drivers and a 10-inch passive, with a claimed power output of 300W.

The PL-2 features a single 8-inch FlatPiston active long-throw driver and a beefier 550W claimed power output. Sadly, there’s no official word on either model’s price yet.

2. Shanling EC Play

It seems that wherever you turn, there’s some bit of AV hardware getting a “retro revival”. Which is why it’s no surprise Shanling’s looked to get in on the action with its new portable CD player, the EC Play – aimed, at least in part, at Gen Z music fans.

The unit comes with some interesting hardware, including Shanling’s active magnetic clamp mechanism, which aims to improve stability and avoid the dreaded skips that those of us old enough to have owned an original Discman remember.

Despite this, it has some nicely modern parts, including a Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC, that can be used in isolation to run PCM files up to 384kHz/32-bit and DSD256 via a USB-C connection.

And, while it has enough muscle to run sensitive in-ear monitors and demanding headphones, there’s also Bluetooth support for people who prefer wireless cans (or speakers). All in all, a lot of features for a £209 ($199 / €220) spinner.

3. Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar

The LifeStyle Ultra is the latest Dolby Atmos soundbar from Bose. It’s also one with a lot to prove, with the firm’s previous attempt, the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, earning a middling three-star rating.

Thankfully, from what we’ve seen and heard during our Bose LifeStyle Ultra hands-on demo at its launch, the firm has made a lot of welcome changes. These include a new nine-driver design, featuring a pair of the firm’s proprietary PhaseGuide units, which Bose claims will offer significantly improved immersion, detail and clarity.

For people looking for a system, the firm also unveiled an optional Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and Lifestyle Ultra Speakers, which can be paired wirelessly with the central bar.

The only big question is whether the changes will be enough for it to defeat our current Award-winner, the Sonos Arc Ultra, with the LifeStyle Ultra’s £1000 (€1000 / $1099 / AU$1800) price putting the two in direct competition.

4. Jamo Concert Series

We all love a good comeback story, which is why we were pleased to see Danish hi-fi firm Jamo finally unveil its new Concert Series of speakers – its first new hardware since being bought by Cinemaster and Rayeligh Lab in 2024.

The new range is a modernisation of the firm’s original Concert 8 (D 830) and Concert 11 (D 870), which launched in 1996. It’s split into premium Legacy and more entry-level Element tiers.

The Legacy feature Jamo’s premium DualCore architecture, which aims to improve and maintain clarity, even during very bassy moments, by physically isolating the midrange and bass chambers.

Meanwhile, the Element speakers feature a single-driver-per-range architecture with a simplified signal path designed to reduce distortion.

Prices start at £629 / $699 for the cheapest Concert Element SW10 standmounts, rising to £7739 / $7999 for the flagship Legacy 11 floorstanders.

5. NAD C 589 CD player

The NAD 589 is a high-performance CD player designed for serious music fans. And as a part of that focus, it comes armed to the teeth with premium hardware.

These include the use of a “top-tier” ESS chip at its heart, which the firm claims will allow it to offer reduced distortion and generally “excellent dynamic range”, as well as MQA Labs Qrono d2a digital audio technology. The latter is a clever bit of tech we first experienced on the Award-Winning Bluesound Node Icon, designed to improve timing accuracy in the audio signal.

NAD claims the combination, plus the spinner's custom circuit design and high-quality disc loader, will let it deliver “uncompromised compact disc playback”. However, you will have to pay for the experience, with the unit confirmed to cost £1199 / $1399 / €1599, making it a smidgeon more expensive than its long-lauded rival, the Cyrus CDi.

MORE:

These are the best CD players we've reviewed

We rank the best speakers money can buy

Our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Google has just made a handful of announcements regarding the future of Android at its "Android Show I/O Edition 2026" event, and while the redesigned emojis and smarter AI news are fun, there was surprisingly little in the way of AV announcements.

Google TV, in fact, didn't get so much as a shoutout, but another offshoot of Google's software ecosystem did get some unexpected picture and sound upgrades.

Android Auto, Google's smart automotive software experience, will soon support a more immersive audio experience, and for the first time, video too.

Dolby Atmos is the big news here, as Android Auto will finally deliver the immersive audio format in a forthcoming update, though there are some stipulations to be aware of. This comes a couple of years after Apple CarPlay began rolling out Dolby Atmos support in 2024.

Google's current list of automotive manufacturers that will support Dolby Atmos includes BMW, Genesis, Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Škoda, Tata and Volvo, so you'll need a supported vehicle from one of these brands to access the 3D audio format via the Android software system. We expect this list to expand in due course.

You'll also need a streaming app that supports Dolby Atmos playback, which currently rules out the likes of Spotify and YouTube Music. Ironically, Google highlights that these two apps in particular have been freshly redesigned for Android Auto to accommodate better ease of use.

Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music Unlimited should all deliver Dolby Atmos playback, but we're clarifying with Google to confirm if all of these services are supported.

And it's not just audio that's getting souped up on Android Auto. For the first time, users will be able to watch videos in full HD up to 60fps on their car's infotainment display through "apps like YouTube".

We presume that this means other video apps will be supported when this feature launches later this year, but we've reached out to Google to confirm which streaming apps will and won't be supported.

Videos on Android Auto will be supported in vehicles from BMW, Ford, Genesis, Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Škoda, Tata and Volvo.

Watching videos while driving is, of course, a no-go, but Google has thankfully thought ahead. Video apps that support background audio will seamlessly transition into a podcast-style audio experience when you begin driving, meaning you can continue listening to what you were watching while you were parked.

These updates are both expected to roll out later this year, alongside a more customisable user interface and improved Google Maps experience.

With more in-car audio systems now supporting Dolby Atmos – Dolby itself made a big push for immersive in-car audio at CES 2026 earlier this year – it's encouraging to see Google make the necessary steps to upgrade Android Auto to support the latest in-car entertainment features.

MORE:

Read our full Sonos Premium Sound System (2026 Audi A3) review

I just had my favourite Dolby Atmos experience in years, and it had nothing to do with home cinema

Find our picks for the best music streaming services here

Regular readers will know that horror is a genre that lends itself to a lot of our AV testing scenarios. That’s why if you jump over to our regular Now Showing column, or main best Dolby Atmos scenes to test your system guide, you’ll see a fair few entries from the genre.

Whether it’s monsters coming out of the shadows, offering an excellent gauge of your TV or projector’s black level, or its janky, unnatural movements, pushing the tech’s motion handling, there’s a lot about the genre that is taxing for even the best hardware.

But this week, after daring to see Damian McCarthy’s latest film, Hokum, at the cinema, I was reminded of an even more important, in my mind, aspect of the genre that doesn’t always get enough praise: sound.

Hokum is a gothic supernatural horror film written and directed by Damian McCarthy, with Severance star Adam Scott in the lead role as depressed novelist Ohm Bauman.

Bauman retreats to a remote, Irish hotel where his parents had their honeymoon to scatter their ashes. At which point the film introduces the story of a spooky witch trapped within, and supernatural shenanigans ensue.

Editor’s Note: I’ll try to avoid completely ruining the plot, but the rest of the article will include detailed passages describing specific scenes from the film.

From the get-go, the film is a stellar example of how to use darkness to instil a sense of dread. From the opening scene, where Bauman writes in the dark, the background is full of bump in the night scares, and subtle details hidden in the black.

There’s also an excellent moment where a bell boy at the hotel shines a lighter to try to find the source of scary noises coming out of a blocked off elevator. I can already see this being a go-to test for dark detail in our review rooms when the 4K Blu-ray comes out.

As the film continues, as I’ve observed numerous times before, it’s more about what you don’t see, but hear, that really makes it stand out. These start with subtle moments, the sound of something sinister lurking below you as Bauman enters the locked-off room, where the witch was supposedly caught and trapped.

The manager, creeping above, as Bauman and his new friend try to continue their investigation unhindered. In each, the sense of directionality of the out-of-shot movements is pinpoint and makes you feel as though you’re there with him.

There is one scene in particular that truly had me on edge. After Bauman flees the witch, drawing a protective circle around a four-poster bed, he leaps in to hide as it stalks around the area.

Shot from his perspective, behind a thin cloth sheet hung around the bed, you can hear every raspy movement as it creeps up the shaft, then through the suite, room to room, getting closer and closer. Then, as it enters the bedroom, around the thin sheet, every hiss, curse, step and rasp is audible – immersively conveying its movements in a way only Atmos, with its dome of sound effect, can.

Pure nightmare fuel – especially as my wife has now figured out how to replicate some of the witch’s noises and enjoys catching me off guard with them.

The last time I felt this enamoured of a horror film’s use of Dolby Atmos was with Annihilation, which has a similar scene, where a group are trapped in a basement, and you can hear a monster on the floor above slowly approaching.

Which is why I am convinced you’ll be reading about Hokum again, in the not-too-distant future, as an entry in Now Showing, where we detail the latest test discs we’re using for testing purposes.

It's also why I'd urge any horror fan to go to see it at a decent cinema, with a solid sound system. Or, if you plan to wait, endeavour to watch it on a decent home cinema setup, with Dolby Atmos. Honestly, it’s that good.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we have reviewed

We rank the best Dolby Atmos soundbars money can buy

Our reviewers' picks of the best projectors

Wow. So that’s what it feels like to fly an F18 Super Hornet. No, I haven’t just passed my training and gone for a quick spin around the block. I have actually just finished watching the training mission scene from Top Gun: Maverick.

Such was the impact of the action as it unfolded in front of me, it felt as though I was actually sitting on the lap of everyone’s favourite five foot seven inch fighter pilot, soaking it all up from the front seat.

I’ve got a ridiculously capable six-figure home cinema system to thank for that. Its location? The House of Sound, an incredible six-floor townhouse tucked away in New York’s Chelsea district.

It’s an incredible building, used by the McIntosh Group (now owned by Bose, following a 2024 takeover), the parent company of high-end audio brands McIntosh, Sonus Faber and Sumiko, to showcase their impressive wares to dealers, clients and enthusiasts alike.

Once owned by Lady Gaga, the building is spread over six floors and contains some of the most expensive hi-fi systems I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

I’ll bring you more of that experience in an upcoming feature, but first I thought I’d share something on the dedicated home theatre, which is located on the ground floor.

As I walk through the door, I’m greeted by a monstrous 204-inch projector screen which is displaying the menu system to a Kaleidescape movie player.

Also catching my eye is a glowing tower of blue in the corner of the room. It looks like the kind of light arrangement that could be used to guide a jetliner to the runway on its approach to land, but it’s actually the huge stack of McIntosh amplification used to drive this mega home cinema system and custom install speakers, which come from Sonus Faber’s Arena line.

And when I say mega that’s exactly what I mean. The specifications are hugely impressive: 29 channels powered by 19 amplifiers capable of outputting 22,400W of power. The speakers and amplifiers cost $550,000 alone and that’s before you factor in the stunning $88,000 Sony GTZ380 projector and the other electronics used.

Out of those 29 channels, 16 (!) are Sonus Faber Arena S15 subwoofers – ten can be found under the screen with the remaining six at the back of the room. They each use four six-and-a-half-inch drivers arranged in two horizontally opposed pairs.

Sonus Faber claims that going down this route, instead of having just one, say, 15-inch driver in each box, allows it to move just as much air but better enables it to match the movements of the other drivers in the system. This makes for improved integration and more precise deployment of those low-frequency effects.

Now I’ve seen and heard Top Gun: Maverick on a wide variety of TVs, speaker systems and soundbars, but nothing quite prepared me for the adrenaline rush that I felt watching Mav fire up his afterburners and weave his way through a canyon against the clock.

Now I understand why Mark Weingarten, who was the actual production sound mixer for the movie, which also won an Oscar for best movie sound, found the experience particularly exhilarating when he attended an exclusive press screening at the venue.

Ricky Miranda, the Audio Experience Manager at House of Sound recalls, “he put his Oscar on the table and watched Maverick with the press and us, and I have not seen a bigger smile in this house since then. He told us that, outside of the mastering studio, this was the best place he’d watched his movie.”

Ricky has had an interesting route in to this industry himself. He’s worked in hi-fi for about a decade – but, ironically, started out as fighter jet mechanic. Having worked a few other roles, he got into hi-fi via Sennheiser, then Bang & Olufsen and has been with McIntosh for five years.

He sums up the listening space quite nicely, “This room is really special – I tend to refer to it more as a cinema than home theatre – it really is that next level of experience. It’s like a fine-dining meal; once you’ve experienced it, you can’t go back.”

It’s difficult not to agree. While you would expect it to go big and go loud, it’s the way the system communicates movement, combining an unbelievable level of detail and dynamics which impresses and syncs up perfectly with all the on-screen action.

As Maverick grabs the controls and weaves the plane through the canyon, you can almost feel each input, and how much effort he’s putting in to get the plane to do his bidding. The sense of drama that oozes out of the scene is almost tangible.

The rumbles coming through the system were enough to make my seat shake, but it’s not all about the amount of bass. It was also ridiculously tightly defined, with not an ounce of fat. Fitting, then, given the movie we were watching, that it was deployed with the precision of a laser-guided bomb.

What’s even more impressive is that I was sitting in the back corner of the room, next to all the McIntosh electronics. You wouldn’t expect this to be the sweet spot for all the action, but to its huge credit, the system still made me feel fully immersed in the action, which was a testament to how the guys had the speaker system configured.

It’s the kind of place you could lose yourself for not just a couple of hours but a whole evening and well into the early hours, which is exactly what one musical celebrity has done “Questlove, the drummer from the Roots, has rented us out twice for the SuperBowl and once for The Oscars,” says Ricky. Not a bad way to spend an evening, I think you’ll agree.

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Rotel Michi – behind the scenes of a “mad science project” and the rebirth of a hi-fi legend

Our pick of the best stereo amplifiers you can buy

And the best AV receivers we've tested

When I first saw the trailer for Pixar's Hoppers, I can't say I had the highest hopes. Animated movie releases have been somewhat oversaturated with talking animals in the last year, from GOAT to Zootopia 2, so I was worried it would go by the numbers and fail to make much of a punch.

But I was wrong, and I've never been happier to say that. Hoppers is a surprising delight, offering laugh-out-loud moments but also that trademark emotional core that we have come to expect from Pixar.

The film follows young activist Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda), who is fighting the destruction of her local woodland by the town's seemingly heartless mayor. When she comes across a technology to transfer her mind into the body of a robotic beaver, Mabel must team up with the forest inhabitants to save their home.

If you are looking to add the disc to your collection or want to watch it with the best picture and sound quality, then there is good news. There is a limited edition 4K Blu-ray release of Hoppers coming in June, complete with Dolby Atmos audio.

We have yet to use the film as a test disc, but judging from its performance in the cinema, it should be a great film to show off your screen's capabilities. The rich, bright colours of the forest, with the right system, should look vibrant but still balanced. Plus, there is a lot of detail in each scene, from long shots featuring countless woodland critters in the background to close-ups that require each strand of fur to appear textured but not over-etched.

There are also plenty of action scenes that should give your audio system a chance to shine. When Mabel sneakily boosts her consciousness into the beaver bot, for instance, she evades the grasp of scientists by leaping around the lab. That shows your TV's Dolby Atmos offerings, as the clattering of equipment and frantic voices move all around the soundfield.

You can pre-order the 4K Blu-ray from HMV or Amazon now. The film will also be released on Disney+, but there is no specific release date just yet.

MORE:

These are the best scenes to challenge your Dolby Atmos system

Check out the best TVs

And here are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Another week, another sea of hi-fi and home cinema releases, with a smattering of hands-on looks from our roaming team of experts, in between.

And yes, it’s great to see so much happening. But, at this point, there is so much to keep on top of that even most serious music or movie fans may be struggling to stay apprised of all the important headlines right now.

Which is why we have here another entry for our regular Rewind, hi-fi and home cinema news digest. Below, we bring you a quick and easy way to catch up on all the latest AV gossip.

Bose has new Sonos rivals

Last week, our intrepid deputy editor, Andy Madden, took a trip across the pond to get a hands-on look at Bose’s new Lifestyle Collection. The series includes a new Dolby Atmos soundbar, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, which aims to take on our current Award-winner, the five-star Sonos Arc Ultra.

Can it succeed where its predecessor, the three-star Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, failed? It’s too early to tell, but Andy walked away from his preview session with a positive impression – and the ’bar is certainly packed with new hardware. Highlights include a completely reworked nine-driver arrangement that includes two of the firm’s proprietary PhaseGuide units, which Bose promises will let it deliver improved immersion, detail and clarity.

Add to this the optional, also new, Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and Lifestyle Ultra Speakers, which can be used to turn it into a wireless surround sound system, and it has certainly piqued our interest. Here’s hoping it delivers the goods when we get it in for testing!

Read the full story: Watch out Sonos! Bose just launched a Dolby Atmos soundbar, subwoofer and wireless speaker – and a “reimagined approach to home audio"

We visited London’s new David Bowie experience

While Andy was with Bose, our regular contributor, Joseph Svetlik, was out and about checking out Lightroom's new 360-degree immersive David Bowie experience.

Taking place in London right now, the David Bowie: You’re Not Alone exhibition is an audio-visual experience split into different rooms and chapters chronicling the iconic musician’s work and life.

And, based on Joe’s time there, it’s well worth a look for any Bowie fan, with the exhibit offering a variety of different experiences, ranging from 360-cinema segments that make you feel as though you’re in the room with Bowie, to epic Spatial Audio renditions of some of his greatest hits.

Read the full story: I listened to David Bowie in a 360-degree show, and now I've seen what spatial audio can do

A big player in wearables and satnavs is getting into high-end audio

If you hear the name Garmin, your first thought is likely to be of one of its wearables or satellite navigation systems. But last week, it charted a course into different territory when it unveiled its new JL Audio Primacy range.

As the name suggests, it is built on technology from JL Audio, a US-based firm best known for its subwoofers, which Garmin acquired in 2023. The range includes premium S3 standmount and T6 floorstander speakers, which are powered by a central CS unit. This acts as a network streamer and preamplifier, and comes loaded with a custom room-optimisation processor.

Garmin certainly isn’t starting small: whichever speaker option you go for, the package is undeniably high-end, with the central CS set to retail for £14,500 ($15,000). A pair of the S3 standmounts will then set you back £34,000 ( $35,000), or, if you’re in the mood to go big, the T6 floorstanders are an even more premium £86,000 ($90,000).

Read the full story: Garmin – yes, Garmin – has launched a premium home sound system with a neat trick up its sleeve

We finally know what Jamo’s been working on

Remember a few weeks ago when Jamo teased new hardware, and we all went a little crazy with excitement? Well, now we finally know what the iconic Danish hi-fi brand has been working on. Last week, the firm unveiled its new Concert Legacy and Concert Element lines of speakers.

Part of the same line the firm launched all the way back in 1996, the new speakers feature a distinctly Scandinavian design, with nearly all the parts being made in the region. We haven’t had a chance to listen to either passive speaker, but there’s no denying they pack some interesting hardware.

Highlights include Jamo’s DualCore architecture, which physically isolates the midrange and bass chambers in a bid to maintain clarity as the low-frequency energy increases, and down-firing bass loading to allow for more versatile placement within your room.

Read the full story: Jamo's Concert series gets an encore with two new ranges from the newly resurrected brand

Speaking of legendary speaker lines…

Jamo and Garmin’s new offerings were not alone. Last week our technical editor, Ketan Bharadia, took the time to visit Wilson Audio and have an inside look at the firm’s latest high-end WATT/Puppy standmount speakers.

Speaking to the owner, engineers and more at the firm’s headquarters, he examined why a company that started life modifying turntables and producing high-quality records created what is now one of the world’s most iconic and successful lines of premium speakers – a legacy culminating in Wilson Audio’s current generation, which he got a chance to listen to while there.

Read the full story: “They fully deserve their legendary status” – listening to Wilson Audio’s The WATT/Puppy speakers, a resurrection with a modern twist

MORE:

These are the best floorstanding speakers we have tested

We rank the best Dolby Atmos soundbars money can buy

Our picks of the best standmount speakers

Fancy capping off a four-day week with some juicy deals? Then we have some good news.

It's been a surprisingly solid week for savings, with several Award winners crashing to new lowest prices.

There's potential for you to build a fully-fledged home cinema from this week's highlights, or if you're looking for new headphones, we've got you covered, whether you're after earbuds or over-ears, Bluetooth or a classic wired set.

Once again, these are all products that we've tried and tested ourselves, only gaining our recommendation after an exhaustive review process.

So take a look at the deals for yourself – we'll go in-depth into what we like about them down below.

We all love a new lowest price on an Award-winner. And that's exactly what we've got with the Epson EH-LS9000. The 4K projector has hit a new low of £2699, which makes it rather great value given its performance as a brilliantly effective dark room home cinema.

If you're looking for wired over-ear headphones, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than the multi-Award-winning Grado SR325x. Offering excellent detail and dynamics, hugely entertaining performance, and a rugged build, these What Hi-Fi? favourites are now 25 per cent off.

The Samsung HW-Q990F offers immersive, detailed and engaging cinematic sound, wireless convenience and features including HDMI 2.1 passthrough and wireless music streaming options. We've seen some heavy discounts on the Award winner before, but never as low as the current 56 per cent(!) price cut.

If you're after noise-cancelling in your wireless buds, then the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) are your best bet. The Bose flagships also offer punchy, full-bodied sound and a secure, comfortable fit, and are now at their lowest ever price.

If you're serious about sound, then the Arcam AVR5 AV Receiver may be for you. It lacks a few extra features compared to its rivals, but more than makes up for it with agility, rhythm and a dynamically authoritative performance.

The B&W Px7 S2e are the definition of old but gold – they may be from 2023, but that's also why they're enjoying a £150 discount. They're the complete portable headphones package, boasting a lovely full, lush sonic character, benchmark insight and the same devastating combination of style and performance as their Px7 S3 successors.

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Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we have tested

There are very few celebrities who can match the universal popularity of naturalist Sir David Attenborough. So I hope you all have your party poppers and balloons at the ready, because today marks his 100th birthday.

This milestone is almost as impressive as his incredible career, which has spanned eight decades and mapped the beauty of nature, as well as the destructive impact of climate change.

It all started in 1954 with his first appearance in Zoo Quest, where you can see a bushy-tailed Attenborough presenting the opening segment.

Since then, his calm, good-humoured tones have elevated countless documentaries and imparted knowledge on everything from elephants to eucalyptus.

He is also known for his pioneering approach to documentary filmmaking. In 2015, for instance, he and his team dived 1000 feet in a submersible off the Australian coast to film previously unseen parts of the Great Barrier Reef.

During our testing of AV and hi-fi kit, we often find ourselves reaching for a release in Attenborough's back catalogue.

That's because they invariably look absolutely stunning (especially the ones available in 4K), and offer exciting yet emotive soundtracks that can truly challenge a sound system. It's no wonder that David Attenborough's more recent work has been at the forefront of the BBC's expansion into 4K Ultra HD content.

It seems only fitting, then, that we highlight our top five Attenborough documentary scenes to mark his 100th birthday, each of which delivers a fascinating insight into the world around us.

Life on Earth – Gorillas (1979)

Words by Jonathan Evans

The one where it all began.

There were two major documentary series of the 1970s that had a profound effect on me, as a child and young teenager.

One was 1973’s The World At War, the astonishing history of the Second World War, narrated by Laurence Olivier.

(I suspect I must have watched a rerun of that one later in the decade – I would have been seven when it first aired, and I’m not sure my mum would have allowed me to watch it at such a tender and impressionable age).

And the other, of course, was Life On Earth, presented and narrated by another unique voice in UK entertainment – David Attenborough.

There hadn’t been anything like Life On Earth before it hit Britain’s television screens in 1979: its vast scope and scale; its ambition; its stunningly brilliant cinematography; and, of course, its driving force, the incomparable Attenborough.

The series came together with a mesmerising synergy that had the nation glued to its TVs every week, and discussing, at school or at work the next day, the wondrous sights they had borne witness to.

In the world of nature-documentary filming, nothing would be the same again, of course. After this groundbreaking series, every other nature-film creator had a benchmark that they had to strive to reach. It was almost unfair. For Life On Earth was a monumental, awe-inspiring achievement.

And this scene, of course, is the one to top them all. An impressively calm Attenborough lies in the Rwandan jungle near a family of gorillas, ready to do his trademark soft-voiced piece to camera.

Then he is astonished when a pair of baby gorillas come over and, literally, sit on him – quite comfortable with his presence, seemingly welcoming him into their home. And all under the watchful eye of their mother, who also seems keen to communicate.

The engagement is remarkable, and still – nearly 50 years later – is quite likely to bring a glisten to my eyes. As the great man himself said of the encounter: “Extraordinary, really. I mean, it was one of the most privileged moments of my life.” Truly iconic.

Frozen Planet – Criminal Penguins (2011)

Words by Joe Svetlik

Attenborough’s documentaries span the full gamut of genres, from drama to tragedy, romance to comedy. This one falls firmly in the latter category.

It centres on two penguins in Antarctica who are gathering rocks to build a nest. Or rather, one who’s doing that, and the other who’s stealing from him.

Having a good nest is important to attract a female penguin – think of it as having a nice pad (as Attenborough says in the narration: “an impressive property demonstrates your worth as a mate”). And while some penguins are happy to put in the effort that goes into making a place nice, some would rather freeload off of others’ hard work.

Which is exactly what we see here. Because while Penguin A is hard at it collecting a stone at a time and arranging them into a kick-ass bachelor nest, every time his back is turned, here comes Penguin B on the rob – the stone is in his beak before you can say “P-p-p-p-p-purloining penguin”, and he quickly adds it to his nest while looking nonchalant.

The opening vistas of Antarctica will showcase your TV’s shadow detail, but after that it’s penguin close-ups all the way.

Can you see the fine detail of each animal’s fur? The shades of black within their irises? The difference in texture between the various rocks? If not, upgrade your TV and make your own pad nice. Just look out for purloining penguins.

Wild London – Peregrine Chase (2025)

Words by Robyn Quick

Ah, the humble pigeon. Disliked by many Londoners, but trust good old David to put their ingenuity and adaptive nature on show. After all, it is his home town.

In a sequence from Wild London, one of the naturalist's latest narrative entries, we see the cheeky birds hopping onto the tube to move around the city – but also being targeted by the predatory peregrine falcon.

This battle culminates in an epic chase, as the bird of prey targets a flock of pigeons to try to feed its growing family.

As the peregrine soars effortlessly around the London skyline with the likes of the Gherkin in the background, your screen's motion handling is truly put to the test. The scene is filled with smooth panning shots across the sky, which will reveal if a TV or projector struggles with juddering motion.

But the frantic flapping of pigeon wings challenges screens differently – a more unpredictable movement compared to a classic panning shot.

Jasha Klebe provides the heart-pounding soundtrack, as he did with the excellent Blue Planet II score. The tension is elevated by the music as the peregrine plunges suddenly in an effort to pick off its dinner.

If you're a Londoner looking for an insight into the wonderful city wildlife that lives with us side-by-side, or just want to hear Attenborough's dulcet tones, then Wild London is a great watch.

Blue Planet II – Humboldt Squid (2017)

Words by Alastair Stevenson

Blue Planet II is full of wonderful test scenes, thanks in no small part to how great it looks in 4K HDR, as evidenced by our review of the 4K Blu-ray.

But the squid scene from series one, episode two, The Deep, is particularly iconic for the What Hi-Fi? team. Specifically, the deep-sea segment where we see a submarine descending into the depths following a swarm of krill and Humboldt squid in Chile.

It’s atypical among some of the other episodes, as nearly all of it is set in the pitch black, deep sea, at depths of up to 1000 metres.

As well as offering a fascinating insight into the mysterious creatures living there, showing the squid's effective hunting techniques and occasionally cannibalistic practices, it remains a fantastic test scene to this day.

Shots of the sub descending beneath the surface, its sole light throwing up a rare look at the life surrounding it, offer an excellent gauge of a TV or projector’s ability to deliver dark detail (as well as if they’re prone to banding, or the dreaded rainbow effect).

The swarms of krill racing through the water, avoiding the predatory Humboldt stalking them, also offer an excellent gauge of the hardware’s motion handling, with the rapid mix of smooth then violent movements proving taxing for even the best hardware.

And as a cherry on top, it’s narrated by David Attenborough himself, who draws the viewer into this hidden, rarely seen part of our planet in a mesmerising but educational way, that makes you feel like you're down there with the crew.

Even though it came out all the way back in 2017, when watched in 4K, there’s still nothing quite like it.

Planet Earth II – Iguana vs Snakes (2016)

Words by Kashfia Kabir

There was an Avengers: Endgame-level of anticipation in the What Hi-Fi? office after Planet Earth II was announced in 2013, as the series would be the first BBC programme to be filmed in 4K ultra high definition resolution. 4K was in its nascent stage then, barely a household name, and the prospect of seeing this next-generation picture resolution technology on broadcast was beyond exciting. When the first episode of the series – Islands – aired in 2016, the day after was one of those universal water cooler moments where we could talk of nothing else.

The highlight is the tense, nail-biting chase between a newly hatched marine iguana and a gaggle of deadly racer snakes on the Galápagos Islands. This four-and-a-half minute clip has everything: danger, suspense, tragedy, "a near-miraculous escape" and the kind of hair-raising, high-octane action that would put Christopher McQuarrie to shame.

It's a fantastic test scene, too. The entire landscape is various browns and greys that both reptiles can camouflage into, but the devil's in the details: the dark rocky terrain, the glistening multi-hued shingles, the leathery texture of the iguana skin, the smooth underbelly of the sleek snakes – it's a beautiful mix of textures that should be distinct and feel almost tactile on a sharply-detailed screen. The crisp picture quality of the 4K resolution really shines through here.

And then there's the score. Composers Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe deliver this most intense chase scene with music that melds with and heightens the action on screen, emphasising the sheer terror of the snakes moving in tandem, punctuated with heart-stopping dramatic silences during the near-misses. We watched this scene repeatedly in our test rooms when we got the Planet Earth II 4K Blu-ray disc, and were also struck by how stable the motion was, especially as the snakes' speedy movements could easily have been marred by judder.

Attenborough's narration takes a backseat here as the chase sequence stands on its own, and it remains one of the finest cinematic moments I've seen on screen – as well as being a trailblazer for cutting-edge picture quality.

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These are the best scenes to test your Dolby Atmos system

Here are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Check out the best OLED TVs

Looking for a place to discuss everything hi-fi and home cinema? Wanting to chat to fellow audiophiles about the latest headphones, or debate with other cinephiles about the best OLED TVs? Already spending far too long on Reddit? Then r/whathifi might just be the destination you've been waiting for.

That's right, we've officially launched a What Hi-Fi? subreddit to share the latest news from across the world of hi-fi and AV, and you can join the community right now.

You'll be able to find all of the latest news and reviews directly from our testing facilities in one convenient place, and discuss it with fellow enthusiasts.

Of course, we also have our own lively Forums, not to mention the Comments section, but if you're already spending time on Reddit, then you can now add r/whathifi to your feed.

I've been a long-time browser of the countless tech-focused subreddits covering everything from OLED TVs to soundbars, as well as headphones and smartphones, and even a hilarious community dedicated to shaming those who mount their TVs too high.

The best part about all of these different subreddits is the sense of community. The comments sections are often filled with advice, opinions, and even some crucial tips and tricks to help solve any home cinema issues.

Therefore, we're inviting our readers to get involved – share your setups, tips and tricks, and opinions on the latest announcements and products. Furthermore, you can find our regular feature columns, whether it's Stereo-Typing, Adventures in AV and Mutterings From The Test Room, or Now Playing and Now Showing playlists.

You can interact with a direct feed of all of our latest stories, discuss your thoughts with other Redditors, and even recommend your own favourite test tracks.

We'll be responding personally, and you can look out for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) event in the not-too-distant future.

You can check out r/whathifi on Reddit right here.

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best wireless headphones

As well as the best TVs

And read our Bose Ultra Lifestyle Soundbar hands-on review

As we hurtle past spring and into the early days of summer, our test rooms are overflowing with new products from the world of hi-fi, headphones and home cinema.

We have the very first RGB Mini LED TV from Hisense in for testing and ready to take on OLED; Anker’s mid-priced, feature-packed wireless ANC headphones vie for a place in a hugely competitive market; Dali’s new slimline floorstanders aim to make a big impact from a small footprint; and Naim’s flagship, four-box amplifier combination want to showcase the very best of hi-fi separates.

If you have any questions about the products we have in for testing, drop us a comment below or send us an email to whathifi@futurenet.com, and we’ll endeavour to get back to you with an answer.

Naim NAC 552/NAP 500DR pre/power amplifier

The pinnacle of Naim’s separates hi-fi is the Statement amplifier, which will cost you just shy of £235,000. The next step down from that is the brand’s flagship 500 series pre/power amplifier combination that consists of four – yes, four – imposing black boxes.

We’ve got the NAC 552 preamplifier and the hefty NAP 500DR power amplifier, each with its own power supply, which combine to serve as “a remarkable showcase of Naim Audio amplifier technology” and aims to deliver the very best sonic performance at this high-end level (just over £50,000). We can’t wait to hear how it sounds, especially when paired with our reference ND 555 music streamer.

JBL Xtreme 5 Bluetooth speaker

JBL’s line of portable Bluetooth speakers are on enviable form, with one of its beefiest – the Xtreme 4 – nabbing a What Hi-Fi? Award win two years in a row.

Its successor, the JBL Xtreme 5, doesn’t rest on its laurels. There are upgrades to make the burly speaker even more drop-proof and rugged, refined cosmetics to make it more user-friendly, while the acoustics have been overhauled for a deeper, louder and clearer sound. If that wasn’t enough, it now has customisable ambient lights, a real-time smart EQ Mode, lossless audio playback via wired USB-C, and you can use it as a powerbank for your phone. That’s a lot of speaker for £330.

Dali Sonik 5 floorstanders

Dali’s new Sonik range effectively replaces the much-loved Oberon speakers, and we have the smallest of the three floorstanders – the Sonik 5 – in for review.

Promising “a significant leap in detail, dynamics and musicality”, the Sonik 5 features an ultra-light 29mm soft-dome tweeter and two 13.3cm mid/bass drivers that use Dali’s Clarity Cone structure with patented SMC Essential Magnet System – a technology originally seen in the more premium Epicon speaker range.

Standing just 82.6cm tall (under three feet), this slimline floorstander is yours for £899 / $1800 per pair, which puts it up against ferocious competition from the Award-winning Fyne F501E.

Soundcore Space 2 wireless headphones

Anker’s range of wireless headphones has caused quite a stir with their blend of good features and sensible pricing, so we’re keen to find out how well the new Soundcore Space 2 over-ear cans perform.

They feature active noise-cancellation, hi-res LDAC codec support over Bluetooth, a massive 70 hours of battery life (50 with ANC on), and customisable audio tuning based on your hearing. All for just £130 / $130? That seems quite exciting, and we hope its audio claims live up to the competition, especially from the likes of five-star Sony and Austrian Audio rivals.

Hisense UR9 RGB Mini LED TV

The first RGB Mini LED TV to hit our test room, the Hisense UR9 is out to prove that a backlit TV can beat a flagship OLED. The £3000 launch price for the 65-inch model puts it in direct competition with OLEDs such as the LG G6 and Sony Bravia 8 II – and, indeed, we will be comparing it side by side with precisely those models.

Can its RGB LEDs and extreme brightness trump the pixel-level contrast of its OLED rivals? We’ll know soon enough.

Hisense XR10 projector

If an RGB Mini LED TV isn’t quite cinematic enough for you, this alternative Hisense product might be right up your street.

The XR10 is what we like to refer to as a ‘coffee table projector’, but its £5000 launch price and 6000 ANSI lumens of claimed brightness mark it out as a very different beast to other models in that category.

Q Acoustics 3050C 5.1 speaker package

Q Acoustics has an enviable track record where it comes to wallet-friendly speakers and speaker packages, so we are excited to start listening to the 3050C 5.1 system.

As the name suggests, the system is built around 3050C floorstanders, which perform front-left and front-right duties. A pair of 3010C bookshelf speakers work as surrounds, and you also get a 3090C centre and 10-inch Q SUB100 subwoofer.

MORE:

Now Playing: check out the five blockbuster test tracks we’re using this May

“They fully deserve their legendary status” – listening to Wilson Audio’s The WATT/Puppy speakers, a resurrection with a modern twist

This premium CD player has caught my eye – is this what my beloved disc collection has been waiting for?

Bose has just taken the wraps off its new Lifestyle Collection, a three-strong line-up of multi-room-friendly audio products, which it hopes will give a certain brand – cough, Sonos, cough – a serious run for its money.

The focal point is the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Dolby Atmos soundbar.

Bose claims it represents the biggest change to its soundbar design in a decade and boasts a whole new architecture, designed to deliver improved immersion, detail and clarity.

It uses nine drivers in total, including six full-range drivers, which are split into four front-facing units and two upfiring for handling Dolby Atmos soundtracks (no DTS decoding is built into the ’bar). When you’re not watching Atmos, Bose’s TrueSpatial technology takes over the processing to create a similar effect.

These drivers work with a pair of Bose’s proprietary PhaseGuide drivers, which help spread sound in specific directions to give a wide, all-encompassing soundstage.

• Hands on: Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar review

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra soundbar features a textured-knit fabric that wraps around the unit with a glass top which stretches across the soundbar and includes a touch-sensitive control panel for playback, volume and Bluetooth pairing.

Struggle to understand conversations in modern movies and TV shows? Bose’s new SpeechClarity technology uses an AI algorithm to boost dialogue but not the effects around it. There’s also CleanBass technology, which works with Bose’s QuietPort design (there are two ports on the rear of the bar) to deliver quality bass without any unwanted distortion.

To help with set-up, you can use Bose CustomTune (which used to be called Bose ADAPTiQ). This is a technology that analyses your room dimensions, surfaces and furniture placement to deliver the best audio experience for your particular room layout. It’s all done through the microphone in your Android or iOS device.

No remote control is provided in the box, although one is sold separately (as is an optional wall mount. Bose has revamped its own app, which you use to control and set-up the soundbar, connect a subwoofer and/or surrounds and alter audio settings.

You do get an HDMI cable, though, which you can use with the soundbar’s eARC-supporting HDMI socket.

There’s an ethernet port on the rear of the bar for a wired connection, or you can use the built-in wi-fi. Music streaming is enabled via Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay or Spotify Connect. Surprisingly, there’s no Tidal Connect at launch, but Bose guarantees us that it is working on bringing it to the Lifestyle Collection as soon as possible post-launch.

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is available in black or white smoke and costs £1000 / €1000 / $1099 / AU$1800, which puts it right up against the all-conquering Sonos Arc Ultra.

Want to add more oomph to the soundbar? This is where the matching Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer comes in. Priced at £900 / €900 / $899 / AU$1300 and available in the same black or white smoke finishes, the sub is ported underneath and features a 10-inch upfiring woofer.

If you want to add a couple of surrounds to the system or simply want a wireless speaker for another room in your house, Bose has also unveiled the Sonos Era 100-rivalling Lifestyle Ultra Speaker. Priced at £300 / €350 / $299 / AU$550, it uses a three-driver array (two front-facing and one up-firing) to disperse sound, although unlike the soundbar, it doesn’t support Dolby Atmos when used by itself.

It is available in the same black or white smoke finishes, but there is also a rather fetching ‘Driftwood Sand’ option, which features a solid white oak base. At £349 / €369 / $349, it does set you back a little bit more.

Like the rest of the products in the range, the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker includes Bose’s CleanBass technology, which combines the speaker’s QuietPort on the rear of the speaker with clever DSP (digital signal processing) to deliver deep, tight bass.

The Lifestyle Ultra Speaker can be used on its own or in a pair for stereo playback. Alternatively, you can add them as surround channels for the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar. The speakers aren’t backwards compatible with any of Bose’s older soundbars, though.

Like the soundbar, the wireless speaker features Alexa support, wi-fi connectivity, Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay and Spotify Connect. It adds an auxiliary 3.5mm input should you want to connect an external source. You also get touch-sensitive controls on top of the device, including the ability to mute the built-in microphone.

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, and the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer will ship from the 15th of May and can be preordered today through the Bose website.

MORE:

Read our Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar hands-on review

And our Sonos Arc Ultra review

Our pick of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars you can buy right now

Is the crown starting to slip on Bose, the king of noise-cancelling headphones?

It may be a Bank Holiday in our native land, but that hasn’t stopped our ardent team of hi-fi and home cinema experts from bringing you a fresh entry into our weekly news digest, Rewind.

Despite our heartfelt pleas to the audio-visual gods, it was another busy week for the team. Over the past seven days, we have covered everything from new CD spinners to Big Tech attacks on lossless audio.

If you have struggled to keep on top of it all, don’t panic, you’re definitely not alone. Here’s everything you need to know.

Apple thinks lossless audio is kind of pointless for most people

Lossless audio, like speaker cables, seems to be a hot topic. In one camp, you have people such as veteran rocker Neil Young, who famously called for “real” fans to listen to his music on services that support it, so they can hear “everything” he recorded.

Others are convinced it doesn’t make a difference. We have heard arguments from both sides for years, but last week, we were surprised to hear Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music, throw shade at lossless audio. Specifically, while on the Billboard's On The Record podcast, he suggested that most people can’t hear the difference between standard and lossless streams.

The statement is a little odd, given Apple Music offers tiers with hi-res streaming, and the firm makes a robust library of HomePod smart speakers, Apple TV streamers and iPhones that support the technology. But hey, each to their own, we guess. As we’ve said before, if you really can’t hear the difference, fair enough. You have probably just saved a lot of money in the long run…

Read the full story: Apple Music exec: “Most people can’t hear the difference with lossless audio”

NAD’s got a new “precision-engineered” CD player

If you’re a fan of CDs, have cash to spare and want a “life-like” sound from your shiny discs, then NAD’s new C 589 may be the player you’ve been waiting for.

NAD unveiled the new CD player last week, promising its use of high-end parts and a clever Qrono D2a filtering technology, developed by reader favourite MQA Labs, will let it offer unparalleled levels of performance and a holistically more natural, life-like sound.

Considering our experience with the filtering technology on the Award-winning Bluesound Node Icon last year, the pairing piqued our interest. Here’s hoping we get the new player in for testing soon, to hear how it performs in the real world.

Read the full story: NAD’s “precision engineered” CD player uses advanced digital filtering to deliver a lifelike and precise sound

We reviewed a Product of the Year winner’s floorstander sibling

The Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 are the floorstander sibling of the AE300 Mk2 standmounts we reviewed last year, which gives them some pretty big shoes to fill. Not only did the AE300 Mk2 earn a five-star rating, they also went on to win a Product of the Year accolade at the 2025 What Hi-Fi? Awards.

The AE309 Mk2 share a lot of common DNA with their standmount siblings, using the same drivers and having a similar (albeit larger), understated look. They also deliver the goods sonically.

Matched with price-appropriate hardware, such as the Arcam A15+ we used during testing, the speakers deliver a wonderfully natural, balanced sound that’s full of detail and insight. So much so that our reviewers didn’t find themselves pining for our current recommendation at this level, the Award-winning Fyne Audio F501E.

As we say in our Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 review: “Credit to Acoustic Energy, we now have another member of its 300 Series that comes highly recommended by our test team. The compact AE309 Mk2 stand tall in a tough sector of the loudspeaker market, but their superbly balanced and musical sound is a match for any rival. These are speakers that definitely deserve your time and, potentially, money.”

Read our full Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 review

Our senior staff writer saw Samsung’s next-gen TV

There’s been a lot of chat about RGB Mini LED TVs recently – including from us – we have our first set with the tech, the Hisense UR9, in for testing right now.

This is a new panel technology being pitched by numerous companies, including Hisense, Samsung, Sony, TCL and more, as the future of premium TVs. Philips is also using it in some sets, but was more reserved with its performance claims when we spoke to the brand last month.

While we are too early in our reviewing journey with the tech to confirm if it is the “OLED-killer” that companies are promising, based on our senior staff writer Lewis Empson’s latest hands-on experience with Samsung’s R95H, which uses its RGB Micro LED version of the tech, it’s certainly interesting.

Seeing the set next to Samsung’s latest OLEDs at a press demo, including the Samsung S95H, it was the R95H his eye kept coming back to. So much so, that he reported:

“Using a medley of reference clips we often use for testing, from films including Oppenheimer, Blade Runner 2049 and Pan, I got a flavour of what this TV can do. It’s safe to say that I walked away rather impressed.”

Read the full story: I’ve seen Samsung’s 2026 lineup early: there’s one TV I can’t stop thinking about – and it’s not an OLED

Our other senior staff writer went to a Dolby Atmos music mixing studio

While Lewis was having fun with Samsung, our other senior staff writer, Harry McKerrell, was jetting off to LA.

As well as taking some personal time to try to sell his screenplay, Harry also managed to visit Larrabee Sound Studios, to find out how Dolby Atmos music is mixed and why so many new artists are obsessed with it.

Featuring Studio 4, a specially designed room, the tour gave him a fly-on-the-wall look at how mixing maestros leverage Atmos’s ability to create a dome of sound to help make music “more immersive”. And it’s not as simple a process as you might think.

Read the full story: I heard a Dolby Atmos mix in a professional recording studio – and it has changed my view of spatial audio

MORE:

These are the best TVs we have reviewed

We rank the best floorstanding speakers

Our picks of the best stereo amplifiers

A bank holiday weekend is upon us here in the UK, which leaves plenty of time to check out the latest deals.

It also lines up nicely with payday, so now could be the time for you to pull the trigger on the high-ticket item you’ve been eyeing up.

So whether you’re after a Bluetooth speaker to spend your long weekend in the sun or looking forward to staying in with a new soundbar system, we’ve got something for everyone.

As ever, all products have been reviewed and rated by our expert testers, so you can be sure these are good purchases even at full price.

Not sure where to start? Let us help…

If you want a beefy, rugged outdoor speaker, look no further than the JBL Xtreme 4. The Award-winning Bluetooth speaker has a great discount right now at Richer Sounds, as you can save £150 by signing up to its VIP club (which is completely free).

The Dali Oberon 5 5.1 Speaker Package has earned a What Hi-Fi? Award an incredible six times and is back to its Black Friday price with £200 off. Surround sound with direction and heft doesn't get much better than this.

If your budget doesn’t quite stretch that far, then a soundbar system is a good compromise. And budget systems don’t get much better than the Hisense AX5125H, which offers amazing weight, scale and a convincing Dolby Atmos for a price less than some solo soundbars.

If you want luxury and audiophile credentials in your wireless headphones, you won’t do much better than the Focal Bathys. A classy design and a 24-bit/192kHz USB-DAC mode are two highlights out of a feature set that includes two different levels of ANC, a transparency mode, aptX Adaptive support and 30 hours of battery life included too.

For a mid-range wireless speaker that’s great value, look no further than the Audio Pro Addon C10 MkII. It has been succeeded by the newer, pricier Audio Pro C20 W, but it still has great clarity with clean and tight bass.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we have tested

Prog rock is a diverse, tricky genre. One where you’ll find everything from noodly album-length tracks full of warbling synths and screaming lead guitars to gentle minimalist folky ballads, with nothing more than the lead singer's voice and a flute.

And while this diversity is awesome, it has meant that fans of the genre can’t even agree on what qualifies as prog in some instances.

The only thing we know for sure is that it’s a favourite among you, our dedicated readers, who regularly suggest songs from the genre whenever we detail which test tracks we’re using each month.

Which is why, earlier in April, when we revealed our favourite prog rock albums of all time, we weren’t surprised that many of you got in touch to offer “feedback” on the list (not all of it sticking to our PG-13 language rule).

So, eager to let you offer your two cents in a more structured environment, we are opening the floodgates for our May Ask The Reader column, and asking which prog albums hold prime position in your collection.

Are you a fan of the 1970s classics? There’s plenty to choose from: King Crimson, Yes, Genesis (when they were good), Carmen, Rush and more, released some stellar stuff during the decade. If so, why this specific band and this specific album from them? Most carried on playing for decades. Some are even still actively touring…

Editor’s Note: there is a small, but vocal, part of the What Hi-Fi? team that’s convinced Geddy Lee is a positive vibes vampire – like Colin Robinson from What We Do In The Shadows, but feeding on niceness, not boredom.

Or do you prefer the modern stuff? Maybe Tool’s progressive metal is your jam? Or, you’re a big fan of one of Coheed and Cambria’s epic space opera concept albums? Opeth’s broody body of work is also pretty awesome for those of us with a soft spot for the darker side of prog. Again, we want to know which album and why it’s so special to you personally!

As always, we’ll be using your answers to create a responses piece detailing your top and most interesting choices, which we’ll publish at the end of May. So please make sure to avoid any swearing, and remember What Hi-Fi? is a safe-space publication where all are welcome. Let’s all be nice to each other, even if we disagree on some of the choices!

MORE:

These are the best speakers we have tested

We rank the best stereo amps

Our picks of the best hi-fi systems

April’s in the rearview (or should that be review?) mirror, but oh wowzers, what a month it was for our team of hi-fi and home cinema experts.

Not only did we run a special Vinyl Week event to celebrate Record Store Day, (which really should be a national holiday at this point) we also gave seven, count that seven, products five-star ratings.

Here’s what you need to know about them.

Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2

The Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 are the floorstander siblings of the AE300 Mk2 standmounts we reviewed last year.

That gives them some pretty big shoes to fill. The standmounts not only earned a five-star recommendation, but they also went on to win a What Hi-Fi? Award and hold a special place in our editor’s letter to Santa to this day. All in all, an impressive resume.

Thankfully, from the moment we got them singing, the AE309 Mk2, impressed, offering a similar balanced, natural sound that will delight many hi-fi fans. As we say in our review:

“Those looking for compact and talented floorstanders should pay close attention to the Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 – their wonderfully balanced sound gives class leaders at this level a real run for their money.”

Five stars

Read our full Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 review

Samsung HW-Q990H

Speaking of products with big shoes to fill, next up we have the Samsung HW-Q990H, which is the successor to not one, but two What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Dolby Atmos soundbar systems – the 2024's HW-Q990D and 2025's HW-Q990F.

Comprising a central soundbar accompanied by a wireless subwoofer and twin satellite speakers, it doesn’t make any big changes to the firm’s Award-winning formula visually. And with real-world testing out of the way, we can confirm it doesn’t rework the wheel sonically either. But the small refinements that Samsung has made add up to make it a clear step forward and one of the best soundbar systems you’ll find right now. As we say in our review:

“While it may look like a subtle upgrade on paper, and it even looks borderline identical to its predecessor when we unbox it, Samsung has made some worthwhile under-the-hood refinements with this soundbar package. Its ability to capture a touch more detail and nuance, and place spatial sound effects with even greater precision, makes this system another step up in a lineage of soundbars that have improved year on year.”

Five stars

Read our full Samsung HW-Q990H review

JBL Summit Ama

The Ama are the smallest and only standmount option in JBL’s Summit series of high-end speakers. Like their Summit Pumori (£79,999 / $82,500) and Summit Makalu (£49,998 / $68,000) siblings, they are named after a mountain, hence the name “Summit”. And, despite costing a cool £14,999 ($19,999 / AU$35,000), they are also the cheapest of the three.

Thankfully, after plugging them into our reference system, while we found they require careful partnering to shine, when matched with appropriately high-end hardware, they sound undeniably great.

If you have system partners to do them justice, you’ll be treated to a bold, punchy, dynamic performance with impressive detail resolution and a punchy, but not overbearing, bass. As we say in our review:

“The Summit Ama are one of the costliest standmounters we have ever reviewed, but their breadth of talents is hugely impressive. That they can rock should be no surprise to anyone familiar with the brand’s heritage, but it's their blend of insight, dynamic expression and finesse that marks them out as something special.”

Five stars

Read our full JBL Summit Ama review

Sony PS-LX3BT

The PS-LX3BT is one of two Sony turntables to make it into this month’s column. Retailing for a modest £299 ($400 / AU$469), it sits in the entry-level segment of the market. As a result, like key rivals including Rega Planar 1 Plus and Pro-Ject Primary E, it aims to be as plug-and-play as possible, but comes with the added allure of a built-in phono stage.

And, to our surprise, unlike many previous challengers to Rega and Pro-Ject’s reigning cheap champs, the Sony is a very competent option if ease of use is your primary concern. While purists will probably be better off paying a little more for the likes of the Planar 1 Plus, the PS-LX3BT is still very capable. During all our testing, it delivered robust, well-organised, sound, that was full of detail.

As we say in our verdict: “As an affordable and effective way to get your records spinning, the Sony PS-LX3BT is hard to top – it’s easy to use, easy to listen to, and very easy to recommend.”

Five stars

Read our full Sony PS-LX3BT review

Sony PS-LX5BT

The PS-LX5BT is the step-up option to the above PS-LX3BT. At first glance, you may struggle to spot the difference between the two and wonder what specific benefits you’re getting for the added £100 ($100 / AU$150). Truthfully, the tweaks are very subtle: a step-up cartridge, slightly different arm tube, mat and finish, and detachable interconnect cables.

Ultimately, it does perform very similarly to its cheaper counterpart. But there are noticeable sonic upgrades that more serious listeners will appreciate. A smidgeon more detail, slightly more cohesive, clearer sound, those sorts of things. Those small improvements add up to make it a worthy option for entry-level buyers with a little more cash to spare who want a truly plug-and-play turntable. Hence, our review verdict:

“On paper, the cheaper PS-LX3BT might appear to be the better-value buy. But if you’re looking for longer-term satisfaction thanks to a noticeable step up in sonic performance and versatile features, the PS-LX5BT more than justifies its place within the market.”

Five stars

Read our full Sony PS-LX5BT review

Merlin Tarantula

Who doesn’t love a good speaker cable review? This month, that sentiment was particularly apt, as we had the opportunity to put the Merlin Tarantula to the test. And it delighted our hi-fi review team.

Some of our readers seem belligerently reluctant to pay anything other than the absolute minimum for their cables; but for those willing to invest in every part of their system, the Tarantula is an extremely attractive option. One that is capable of delivering a balanced and informative presentation and expressive dynamics. As we say in our review:

“The Tarantula ticks all the boxes as far as we are concerned. While not cheap, it remains sensibly priced and has the kind of sonic characteristics that will slot in effortlessly with a wide range of systems.”

Five stars

Read our full Merlin Tarantula review

LG C6 (OLED65C6)

The LG C6 is the first new OLED launching this year that we have had the chance to test properly and put through the full What Hi-Fi? paces. Like a lot of the entries on this month’s list, it comes from a line of products with a pedigree, with every generation of the C-series since the LG C2 winning at least one accolade at our yearly What Hi-Fi? Awards.

The biggest upgrade, sadly, is limited to the larger 77-inch and above options in the range. Those come with a brightness-boosting Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel. The 65-inch model we reviewed, though, has a traditional WOLED panel. The main upgrades to this set, then, are its improved chipset and minor refinements made to its tuning and the like.

While we are a little sad the 65-inch model isn’t as big a technical leap as its larger siblings, there’s no denying it’s still an excellent OLED and a clear step up on last year’s Award-winning LG C5. As we say in our review:

“While it might seem at first glance to be the least exciting model in LG’s 2026 OLED TV range, the ‘normal’ sized C6 is, in fact, a revelation. This is a big upgrade by C-series standards. We don’t typically get too excited about processor upgrades, but the Alpha 11 Gen 3 has forced a brighter and richer performance out of the same OLED EX panel technology, and improved upscaling and shading subtlety.”

Five stars

Read our full LG C6 (OLED65C6) review

Audio-Technica AT-VM740xML

Looking for a new cartridge to complement your turntable? Willing to spend a couple of hundred for it? Then we have a new recommendation for you to consider, in the shape of the Audio-Technica AT-VM740xML.

In the world of cartridges, Audio Technica is a big name, so the AT-VM740xML, which aims to overhaul the company’s moving-magnet range automatically piqued our interest. Sitting in the upper echelons of AT’s new VMx range it’s designed to work with record players costing less than £1000.

During testing we found that, while some premium elements have been tweaked to keep costs down, for its target market this is an excellent choice. It offers hassle-free setup, and a sonic performance that will delight listeners who favour balance over oomph; we highly recommend it.

As we say in our review verdict: “Audio-Technica’s AT-VM740xML is a superbly balanced cartridge that ticks all the boxes.”

Five stars

Read our full Audio-Technica AT-VM740xML review

MORE:

These are the best budget turntables we have tested

We rank the best OLED TVs

Our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Here we go again. Amazon Prime Day will return in June, the firm has announced, though it stopped short of naming the exact dates. The rumours say late June.

What we do know is that the annual sale will take place in 22 countries (including the UK, US, France, Germany and Singapore). Customers in Australia, Brazil, India and Japan will get their own separate Prime Day later this summer.

We are promised deals on “the hottest brands, trending items, creator favourites, and Amazon-exclusive products”, though it doesn’t name any brands that will be taking part. If past years are a guide, expect to see big discounts on LG TVs, and some of the best wireless headphones from Sony, Bose, Apple and more.

As ever, you will need to be a Prime member to be eligible for the discounts. But you can take advantage of the free trial, if you haven’t done so before.

According to Amazon, Prime Day 2025 was the biggest so far. It says that independent sellers – mostly small and medium-sized businesses – account for more than 60 per cent of the site’s sales, and they achieved “record sales and a record number of items sold” (though it doesn’t go into specifics).

We’ll bring you the official dates for Prime Day 2026 once they are confirmed, and of course we shall highlight the best deals on all manner of audio visual gear. Stay tuned.

MORE:

The best headphone deals around

The best TV deals

Deals of the week: on five-star earbuds, huge OLED TVs and more

In our dedicated AV test room, there is a wide range of discs that we rely on to put a variety of home cinema hardware to the test. Whether it is a premium 4K projector or a budget soundbar system, every product needs to be put through its paces with the right test discs.

And one of the most enjoyable discs that lives on our shelves is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. Enter Jim Henson's Labyrinth, a fantastical classic that has delighted audiences since 1986.

If the film has somehow passed you by, let me fill you in. It follows teenager Sarah, who wishes her baby brother Toby would go away to the Goblin King (played by David Bowie). But when her wish comes true, she finds herself navigating a mystical world to get him back.

For physical media collectors or big fans of the film, there's exciting news to mark the anniversary. You can get a collector's edition of the film, complete with a 4K steelbook. As well as the film, a selection of bonus featurettes can be found, including Inside the Labyrinth, which is a making-of documentary, and audio commentary with the conceptual designer Brian Froud. There is also a contact juggling tutorial... I can't say I'm not intrigued to see that.

That all comes in at the rather hefty price of £70 at HMV. If you want the steelbook on its own, you can snag the disc for the cheaper price tag of £32.

It might not be the most technically challenging, as there are no demanding fight scenes or tricky segments to push a TV's upscaling powers, for example. But the physical effects Henson is famous for remain wonderful to behold, whether that is the dizzying visuals of the Escher-inspired staircase or the tactile-looking puppet cast.

Like, say, Little Shop of Horrors and A Nightmare Before Christmas, its stellar score, including team favourite Magic Dance, makes it a great way to gauge your audio system’s performance, even if it lacks the Dolby Atmos presentation that a more modern movie would enjoy.

Plus, hearing David Bowie absolutely hamming it up as the swaggering Goblin King is always a pleasure.

Both the steelbook and the collector's edition bundle will be released on 22 June, and you can pre-order from HMV now.

MORE:

These are the best scenes to test your Dolby Atmos system

Check out the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

And these are the best TVs we recommend

We’re one week away from the Bank Holiday weekend (at least those of us in Blighty), but ahead of it, the news continues to flood in.

Which is why even the most hardened of audiophiles and cinephiles may, justifiably, be struggling to keep up with all of it.

Here to help, we’ve penned a fresh entry into our weekly hi-fi and home cinema news digest, Rewind, to help you know what’s going on in both worlds.

Philips has some interesting thoughts on RGB Mini LED

There are few hotter topics in the world of TVs than RGB Mini-LED; a new panel technology hitting the market this year, being touted as an “OLED-killer” by many brands, including Hisense and TCL.

But, blunt industry expert that he always is, Philips’ Senior Director of Product Strategy and Planning, Danny Tack, had some choice words about the hardware when we asked him about it at a press event in Belgium last week.

Specifically, while Philips is going to use it and sees a lot of benefits, it doesn’t see it dethroning OLED in the premium market any time soon.

Read the full story: Philips on RGB Mini LED: “OLED is still better”

But OLED is having a minor wobble…

Despite Tack’s punchy comments, the team at What Hi-Fi?, last week voiced some concerns about the direction OLED is going in.

Specifically, after two of the first new OLED TVs to pass through our viewing rooms, the LG C6 and LG G6, suffered from minor black level issues, we’re slightly concerned that companies are beginning to forget what made OLED great to begin with. Here's hoping we're wrong.

Read the full story: OLED needs to lean into its unique strength, rather than fix its biggest “weakness”

BMW cars are getting a new Dolby Atmos sound system

It seems more and more car companies are adding “proper” sound systems to their wares. But last week it was BMW that got in on the action, confirming it will be offering a swanky Bowers & Wilkins Dolby Atmos system as an option on its latest generation of 7 Series luxury saloon.

With the firm also offering nifty 31.3-inch touch screens for people sitting in the back as an option, the system isn’t just for music, and looks like a tasty treat for movie fans who are regularly on the road (and can afford a chauffeur).

Read the full story: Dolby Atmos is coming to the new BMW 7 Series and its 36-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system

A surprisingly affordable UST projector, from a company we didn’t expect

Ultra Short Throw (UST) and 'home cinema in a box' projectors are both growing in popularity. Which is likely why Acer decided to get in on the action, unveiling its new, catchily named, PD1520Us.

The unit aims to let home cinema fans throw up a giant 100-inch-plus image on the fly, featuring a tiny design and a surprisingly affordable £550 / €650 (or £650 / €700 for the Touch variant) price tag. That puts it well below the Award-winning Hisense PL2, which we currently recommend to UST buyers.

Read the full story: Acer's compact new projector can beam a 100-inch image onto your wall without breaking the bank

We reviewed some high-end JBL speakers

Last week, our testers finished reviewing the £14,999 ($19,999 / AU$35,000) JBL Summit Ama standmout speakers. And, while they demand top-class partnering, when matched well we’re pleased to report that, as well as looking lovely, they sound sublime.

Across every genre and track we threw at them, the speakers delivered a bold, punchy, dynamic sound with authoritative, but never out-of-control bass. Hence, our five-star rating and verdict: “JBL’s Summit Ama is richly talented and capable of delivering a spellbinding performance. Partner with care, though.”

Read our full JBL Summit Ama review

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These are the best standmount speakers we’ve tested

We rank the best OLED TVs money can buy

Our picks of the best projectors for every budget

Isn't it frustrating when things don't just work?

I'm used to my fair share of software gremlins in the products I test every day, which makes troubleshooting my system at home a bit easier. The usual answer is to turn something off and turn it back on again, but that solution doesn't solve every issue.

The problem I've been having relates to playing Dolby Vision content to my Sony OLED TV via my Sky Stream box, which results in some odd visual artefacts: little white spots flashing up randomly when streaming content in the dynamic HDR format.

Most people, including my housemates, would gladly ignore these, but not me. Instead, I began trawling through the settings of my TV and Sky Box, and swapping between the HDMI sockets to negate the issue.

Nothing seemed to work, and if I used the passthrough HDMI socket on my soundbar, then the picture would cut out entirely.

This is when it dawned on me: is my HDMI cable not up to the task? Scrolling through the Sky forums, I found many users claiming that the Stream puck comes with a high-speed cable, and one post even claimed that it's a better idea to use the cable that comes in the box.

However, being the rulebreaker that I am, I disregarded this advice. One perk of being surrounded by AV and home cinema gear 24/7 is that I am never short of an HDMI cable, and I quickly found a 4K-rated high-speed cable.

I switched the cables around, played the latest episode of the once excellent, now extremely disappointing Euphoria on HBO Max in 4K Dolby Vision, and like magic, the issues were resolved.

It sounds simple and obvious, but I think many of us, myself included, just presume that the cables supplied with our home cinema products should do the job, but that's not the case.

Now, I know that discussing digital cables is a contentious subject. Many of our readers have expressed disdain towards the pricey "snake oil" HDMI cables that make all sorts of claims and can run you hundreds (sometimes thousands) of pounds, and to be honest, I'd recommend steering clear of those too, unless you are the most die-hard home cinema enthusiast with money to burn.

But your run-of-the-mill certified high-speed HDMI cable is the real deal, and one of those doesn't have to cost all that much. I've spotted plenty on Amazon for anywhere between £5 and £10, and they can be a quick, cheap and effective way to solve issues in your home cinema set-up.

And for troubleshooting needs, it's surprising how often a picture-related issue can be fixed by double-checking that you're using the correct HDMI cable and socket.

While I'm at it, some TVs require you to select the correct setting for your HDMI sockets; for instance, my previous Philips OLED907 and current Sony A80L TVs required me to go into the input settings and select "enhanced format" to unlock some HDMI 2.1 features, including VRR and 120Hz gaming.

These are simple fixes that often get overlooked, so if you're dealing with picture problems of your own, do yourself a favour and check your cables before you start spiralling in the settings menus.

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best OLED TVs

As well as the best streaming devices

And read our full Sky Stream review

It's been an interesting week for deals, seeing a mix of savings on old favourites, flashy new products and more than a few What Hi-Fi? Award winners.

Our expert team of product reviewers have curated the best into the round-up below, which will have something for everyone, whether you're more into hi-fi or home cinema.

Here, then, is the full list – and we break down some of the highlights below.

Spoiled for choice? Allow us to guide you…

The Roberts Revival Petite 2 is, quite simply, the best budget DAB+/FM radio on the market at the moment. The Award winner may be dinky, but it produces a lively, engaging and punchy sound, and is at the lowest price it has ever been

The Bowers & Wilkins 606 and 607 S3 speaker package may not be cheap, but it gives you a full 5.1 setup – and a great one at that: this package is a two-time What Hi-Fi? Award winner that makes an incredibly strong case for ditching floorstanding speakers. We have never seen the package this cheap before!

The Sony WH-1000XM6 were long awaited, and they didn't disappoint when they arrived. Our Product of the Year headphones and go-to recommendation, the Sony over-ears boast stunning sound quality, excellent comfort, great portability, and brilliant noise-cancelling skills. Now at their best price since Black Friday.

An 83-inch OLED with 55% off? I'm sure I don't need to do much more to convince you of how good this deal is. But if you had any doubts, rest assured that the LG C5 is one of our favourite TVs with a rich, engaging picture and an uncompromising feature set.

If noise cancelling is your thing, look no further than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen). Bose developed the noise-cancelling technology and is still the market leader, but these five-star earbuds also offer punchy, full-bodied sound and a secure, comfortable design.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we have tested

Ryan Gosling is really in his element right now. Following the success of the sci-fi blockbuster Project Hail Mary, every other piece of content on my social media is a slickly edited video of the handsome devil.

Much of his back catalogue regularly appears in our AV test room. Barbie and Drive, for instance, are both excellent test discs, and the eagle-eyed among you will have spotted us using them in our reviews.

But there's another film featuring Gosling that is a brilliant way to test your home cinema hardware, and it is celebrating its 10th birthday. Damien Chazelle's La La Land leapt onto the screen back in 2017, and blew critics and audiences away with its show-stopping score and captivating performances from Gosling and Emma Stone in the leading roles.

If you have somehow never seen the modern classic, let us fill you in. It follows Sebastian, a struggling pianist, and Mia, an aspiring actress, who fall in love. When their careers start to take off, they find themselves having to make some tough decisions.

It's a film that we see used time and time again in demos for a range of AV kit, but over the years we have not used it in our own test room as much as we would like to. So this anniversary seems like the best time to revisit the best scenes to challenge your home cinema system, and also to bring it back to the top of our shelf where it belongs.

Opening sequence

From the off, La La Land really starts all guns blazing. On a hot summer's day, a seemingly endless queue of cars stretches to the Los Angeles horizon during rush hour. And what would any of us do in this scenario? That's right, open up your car door and break into a synchronised song and dance number.

The six-minute scene is dynamic and energetic with near constant movement that challenges a TV or projector's motion handling. With the crowd weaving around the cars and dancing in every direction, keep your eyes peeled for motion blur or juddering.

On top of that, the scene puts your audio system to the test. As dancers clamber about on the roof of the cars and horns blare around the soundfield, the precision of your audio set-up will be challenged. With a convincing Dolby Atmos system, you should hear the various sounds all around the space with a sense of accuracy and immersion.

"A Lovely Night"

Even if you haven't seen the film, you will almost certainly recognise the classic iconography of this scene. After running into each other at a party, Sebastian and Mia find themselves at the top of a beautiful hill but, despite obviously having feelings, lament that they are wasting this romantic view by spending it with each other.

As the pair move from the shade under a tree to a colourful night sky, it is a good test of how your screen handles the subtle detail in the crinkles of Sebastian's white shirt and the darker areas of Mia's yellow dress.

This beautiful sky also delivers a great test on its own. It starts at the top of the screen with a bright violet, before merging to pink and then ending in a darker red. On many screens, this may reveal an issue with colour banding, which is where smooth colour gradients are instead divided into stark lines.

A dance under the stars

After admitting their feelings for each other, Sebastian and Mia take a romantic trip to the Griffith Observatory which makes for another excellent test scene.

As the scene takes a magical realist turn and the pair floats into the night sky, note the contrast between the bright twinkle of the stars and the dark of the sky. There is a danger of the deep black looking more like a dark grey, or the stars not standing out against the more cavernous black backdrop.

On top of that, the twinkling stars can go the other way to create an unwanted "halo effect" where light spills out too much. That is particularly prevalent with Mini LED TVs because they rely on a backlight with local dimming zones. This all means it is particularly useful if you want to challenge your own Mini LED screen.

What's your favourite scene in La La Land? Drop it in the comments below.

MORE:

These are the best Dolby Atmos scenes to test your system

Check out the best OLED TVs

Here are the best TVs we recommend

Happy Monday, and welcome to the latest entry to our regular Rewind column, where our team of experts detail the top hi-fi and home cinema developments you need to know about.

It was a particularly hectic time at What Hi-Fi? towers, with the team running a special Vinyl Week event to celebrate Record Store Day 2026 – which brought an especially decent batch of special releases with it this year.

That, plus the discovery of a new diamond-in-the-rough affordable turntable and a new AVR from Denon, gave us plenty of plates (and records) to keep spinning.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Denon has a new AVR

While our staff writer Lewis Empson was in Japan with the iconic AV firm (and visiting one of the world’s coolest record stores), Denon decided last week was a good time to lift the lid on its new AVR-S980H.

Aiming squarely at the same sub-£1000 market as the Award-winning Sony TA-AN1000, the unit has some big competition. But, on paper, it’s a pretty enticing piece of hardware. Offering 90 watts of muscle per channel and able to power 7.2 or 5.2.2 Dolby Atmos speaker arrangements, the firm claims it’s “an easy way to make every day experiences feel more engaging and far more enjoyable”.

As a bonus, it also works with Denon’s new Home 200, 400, and 600 wireless speakers, which is nifty for people looking to cut the cord. Hopefully, we’ll get one into our test rooms soon, so we can see if it cuts the mustard in the real world.

Read the full story: Denon is gunning for Sony's Award-winning AVR with its latest release

Sony’s affordable BT turntable is a great option for buyers on a budget

Finding a good, cheap turntable is tough. That’s why the Pro-Ject Primary E has ruled unchallenged as our main recommendation for many years.

For those that want even greater versatility, we're delighting to find that the Bluetooth-toting, fully automatic Sony PS-LX3BT not only has a compelling price, but it also sounds excellent. The unit is the cheaper sibling to the moderately more expensive, also five-star, Sony PS-LX5BT, which we also tested last week.

Giving it the full review treatment, the built-in phono stage proved surprisingly capable, but it also played nicely with price-compatible amps and speakers. So much so that our reviewers reported:

“For a deck that does a lot on a shoestring, it’s perfectly fair to keep one’s expectations reasonably modest. Even with that in mind, it doesn’t take long before the PS-LX3BT confounds our expectations admirably. A sprinkle of textural insight here, a good dose of punch there – this is a far heartier metaphorical meal than we’d perhaps anticipated.”

Read our full Sony PS-LX3BT review

Dorpo released a new system

Hi-fi systems that can do it all are increasingly common, with many people favouring their simple plug-and-play nature over separates, which can, admittedly, be a little intimidating for newbies.

Which is likely why new brand Dorpo decided to jump on the bandwagon with its shiny new DMP-AQ: a multi-source digital music player, streamer, headphone amplifier, preamp and DAC. With a War And Peace-length specifications list, the unit promises to be a one-stop shop for all your hi-fi needs and is set to launch in the April to June period, costing £1799 (around $2400 / AU$3400).

Read the full story: This digital music player-cum-amp wears many different hats

Guess who’s back? Jamo’s back!

We all love a good comeback story, which is why we were delighted to see Jamo make a surprise return after a long silence.

Two years after being sold to Cinemaster and Rayeligh Lab all the way back in 2024, the new owners have finally confirmed that they will unveil a new range of Jamo products at the Vienna High End Show in June.

The only downside is that they haven’t given any other details, so we’ll have to wait and see what they actually are before we break out the party streamers in earnest.

Read the full story: Danish speaker brand Jamo returns under new ownership, will unveil new range soon

MORE:

These are the best hi-fi systems we've reviewed

We rank the best turntables

Our picks of the best AVRs

When reviewing the latest TV and AV kit in our dedicated test room, we use a huge range of different content to challenge each system. From blockbusters to indie flicks, there has to be a fair bit of variety to put each system to the test properly.

There is an elite selection of discs that we find ourselves reaching for regularly, such as Blade Runner 2049, Civil War and Alien: Romulus. But, as much as we would love to watch these great movies on repeat, new films and TV shows must be welcomed with open arms.

In our monthly Now Showing column, we take a look at the discs that we can't stop watching, and explore new movies that we cannot wait to get in our test room. Without further ado, let's dive in...

Ghost Elephants (2025)

Words by Alastair Stevenson

I’ve always been a big fan of nature documentaries. First, because they’re fascinating when done well. Second, because they are frequently fantastic test discs for reviewing home cinema hardware. Over the years, we’ve used numerous BBC series, including David Attenborough’s Planet Earth and Our Planet, because of their use of forward-thinking technologies and incredible production.

But this month, it was director Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephants, that scratched my wildlife documentary itch. The documentary sees veteran filmmaker Herzog follow South African naturalist Dr Steve Boyes in his near obsessive search for a new species of elephant.

It may not be a technical marvel, the way previous documentaries we used for testing are, currently only being available in HD and capped at 5.1 surround sound. But it’s still a majestic and thought-provoking watch; one that’s full of the small, wonderfully insightful details Herzog is famous for capturing, and often pointing out with his instantly recognisable, rasping voice.

The result is an engrossing journey that will keep you glued to your screen for the entirety of its two-hour-twenty-minute run time – one I’d thoroughly recommend to any nature documentary fan.

Stream Ghost Elephants on Disney Plus

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Words by Robyn Quick

Like many cinema goers earlier this month, I was absolutely blown away when I saw Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Project Hail Mary. It’s hard not to fall in love with a rock that is best friends with Ryan Gosling, after all.

If you have no idea what I’m on about, let me fill you in. The film follows Gosling’s Ryland Grace, a science teacher who finds himself at the helm of trying to save the earth from an interstellar parasite dimming the sun. Alone in space, he stumbles upon an alien he nicknames Rocky, who has the same mission.

Apart from the adorable friendship between these two unlikely pals, there was another reason I was so taken by the sci-fi release: it looks and sounds bloody brilliant.

Unlike an increasing number of blockbusters, Project Hail Mary ditches the green screen and relies primarily on practical effects to portray Grace’s spaceship and the vast expanse of space. That all adds to the film’s sense of realism, especially with Rocky, who was controlled by a team of puppeteers for much of the movie.

Daniel Pemberton, best known for his work on the Spider-Verse films, also knocks it out the park with his composition for Project Hail Mary. It ranges from ethereal, eerie vocals to convey the isolation of space to energetic tracks that pop up during moments of tension, all of which sounded incredibly immersive with my cinema’s Dolby Atmos set-up.

I have only seen it once in the cinema, but I can’t wait to get the 4K Blu-ray into our test room to watch it again and again. There's no release date for streaming or a physical edition yet.

Mickey 17

Words by Joe Svetlik

Robert Pattinson plays the eponymous Mickey, an “Expendable” worker tasked with dangerous jobs but who is cloned – and his memory restored – every time he dies. But when, in his 17th iteration, he’s assumed dead but returns to his spaceship crew on their mission to colonise an ice planet, he meets the 18th version of himself, who has already taken his place.

Instead of all clones being eliminated – par for the course when more than one exists – the two agree to stand in for each other, like a kind of sci-fi horror version of the end of Back To The Future mixed with the repeated deaths of Groundhog Day.

Like those films, this is a comedy, and overtly so. Parasite director Bong Joon Ho brings a knockabout energy to the slightly confusing premise, along with his usual visual flair – it never looks anything but stunning, whether it’s the Hoth-like snowy tundra of the ice planet or the equally cold utilitarian interiors of the spaceships.

The two-hours-plus run time is a little long, and the villainous turns by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette are scenery-chewingly over the top, but you can’t accuse it of taking itself too seriously, which isn’t something you can say of a lot of dystopian sci-fi flicks.

Watch Mickey 17 on 4K Blu-ray at Amazon

Stream Mickey 17 on HBO Max

The Pitt (2025 – present)

Words by Lewis Empson

This recommendation comes with a huge content warning: if you can’t handle very in-depth, scientifically accurate medical gore, skip this show. For those with stronger stomachs, HBO’s The Pitt is a superb medical drama that has entertained, educated and, in many cases, made me feel a little bit queasy.

It centres around the emergency department of a hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, following the daily trials of a team of overworked doctors as they navigate complex procedures and ethical dilemmas. While that may sound similar to countless other procedural medical dramas, what sets The Pitt apart is its episode structure.

Each season follows a single day in the emergency ward, with every episode covering an hour – the first episode, for example, is titled 7:00 A.M. This results in a throughline plot that’s woven in between the stories of individual patients, often with heightened drama that adds to the frantic, anxiety-inducing pacing of the show. Think The Bear, but set in a hospital rather than a restaurant.

As I’ve previously mentioned, this show features some pretty unflinching depictions of medical procedures, with incisions and organs frequently on show. That being said, these gruesome surgeries look glorious in 4K and Dolby Vision on HBO Max (providing you have the premium tier), and Dolby Atmos heightens the bustle of the ward and waiting room.

With HBO Max being the latest streaming service to launch here in the UK, it's already bringing some heavy hitters with it, and with season two of The Pitt rolling out as we speak and a third season ordered, I’m already planning on keeping my subscription going for quite some time.

Stream The Pitt on HBO Max

Bullet Train (2022)

Words by Harry McKerrell

You’ve seen plenty of movies like Bullet Train before.

Based on Japanese author Kōtarō Isaka’s zippy novel Maria Beetle, the narrative follows the sort of formula best described as ‘putting a load of ants in a jar and then vigorously shaking said jar’. Lots of characters in one place, all with their own motivations for wanting the mysterious macguffin at the centre of it all. See Smokin’ Aces, The Raid, The Running Man, Lucky Number Slevin, The Man With the Iron Fists, Bad Times At The El Royale, etc., etc.

Derivative and throwaway it may be, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had at Bullet Train’s expense if you are, excuse the lame pun, willing to sit back and just enjoy the ride. There’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s turn as dapper psychopath Tangerine, Brian Tyree Henry’s appalling London accent, plus lots of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos to watch out for.

If you get bored of all the mindless action and kooky characters trading wisecracks, just know that you can turn on your adult brain and use Bullet Train for its testing credentials. Going big on vibrant, colourful designs, from flashes of Tokyo-inspired neon to Joey King’s all-pink getup and Brad Pitt’s flowing blond locks, subtlety is very much not the aim of the game here.

There are some rather nice needle-drops to be enjoyed, too, including Avu-chan’s Japanese rendition of Stayin’ Alive and Tamio Okuda’s foot-stomping anthem Kill Me Pretty. Great, pun intended, test tracks.

Watch Bullet Train on 4K Blu-ray at Amazon

Stream Bullet Train on Amazon Prime Video

Malcolm in the Middle – Life's Still Unfair (2026)

Words by Alastair Stevenson

There are a lot of retro revivals going on in the world of TV right now. Especially ones that tug at ageing millennials’ heartstrings. But of all of them, my favourite right now is Malcolm in the Middle – Life's Still Unfair.

It picks up after a time skip from the original show’s ending. Exploring what the characters in everyone’s favourite dysfunctional, occasionally outright sociopathic show are up to as adults, and it does not disappoint.

Though the series is only four short episodes long, it’s a masterpiece from start to finish that manages to reunite nearly all the original cast and miraculously re-captures the magic that made the original series so great.

The plot’s simple. Malcolm, the titular boy genius, tries to reconnect with his family as a grown man with a teenage daughter after years of avoiding them. With that premise established, within minutes it goes from nought to 60. Fart jokes, hilarious family feuds and a woeful disregard for Bryan Cranston’s safety; it’s all there.

Frankie Muniz deserves credit for absolutely smashing his character’s neurotic breakdowns, turning red as he screams at his parents, delivering an S-tier performance, despite quitting acting to become a race car driver shortly after the original series ended over 20 years ago.

But once again, it’s Hal, ably played by Bryan Cranston in all his goofy, adorable glory, that steals the show, giving a body comedy performance that’s sure to be taught at Juilliard one day.

If you’re after a good laugh this weekend, and old enough to remember the original show, I’d strongly recommend giving it a watch. Or, if you’re yet to experience Malcolm In The Middle, use it as an excuse to start watching the original – which has stood the test of time remarkably well.

Stream Malcolm In The Middle – Life's Still Unfair on Disney Plus

Another week, another round of tempting TV, AV and hi-fi deals carefully curated by our expert team of product reviewers and deal hunters.

We've tracked down an eye-catching selection this week, which includes a sprinkling of five-star products from some of the biggest names in the business, including xyz, and many more.

See below for the full list and rundown of why some of these products should be on your shopping list.

We think you'll agree there's something for everyone here and we've picked out our highlights below...

Wired headphones appear to be coming back into fashion, so the deal we've found on the Award-winning Røde NTH-100 is well timed. They deliver a mature, revealing sound for not a lot of money, and they are comfortable to wear for long listening sessions.

Just in time for Record Store Day 2026 we've found a deal on a turntable that's only just passed through our test rooms. Fresh from a five-star review, the Sony PS-LX3BT is a great first deck for anyone looking to experience the format. It's a fully automatic design and also boasts Bluetooth connectivity if you just want to play through a wireless speaker or headphones.

Big-screen TVs are all the rage, but there's still plenty to be said for great sets under 50 inches, as is the case with the LG OLED42C5. This 42-inch set can be yours for a great price now that LG's C6 series has launched, which makes it fantastic value for money.

Next up is a five-star desktop speaker system from Onkyo. The GX-30ARC is a talented set-up that boasts impressive sound quality, excellent flexibility and all for a very reasonable price. The USB-C and HDMI connectivity means it can give your TV or your PC's sound a major boost.

If you're an iPhone, iPad or Mac user, the AirPods Pro 3 wireless earbuds are an obvious choice, especially at their discounted price. In typical Apple fashion, they deliver a wonderful user experience, but they also boast excellent active noise cancelling, and they are also a delight to listen to.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we've tested

Happy Monday, and welcome to another entry in our weekly Rewind, hi-fi and home cinema news digest.

And what a week we had. As well as finishing testing one of 2026’s most interesting flagship OLED TVs, we got a sneak peek at Sony’s next-generation home cinema tech and saw a British hi-fi heavyweight unveil a new modular line of speakers.

Here’s everything you need to know.

LG’s flagship OLED is good, not great

With Sony unlikely to unveil a Bravia 8 II successor, and Panasonic only having one new, entry-level OLED TV coming this year, the LG G6 is a big deal.

It’s one of just three new, big-name flagship OLEDs set to arrive this year, sitting alongside the Samsung S95H and Philips 911.

While we’ve had in-person, hands-on demos with all three, the G6 is the first we’ve managed to fully review in our dedicated viewing rooms.

We found a lot to like about the G6, which delivers a punchy, bombastic picture, but its overt focus on brightness above all else does bring some issues with it – ones that will put off cinephiles that want an authentic, “as the director intended” home cinema experience.

Read our full LG G6 review

A look at Sony’s next-gen TV tech

We’ve heard a lot about RGB Mini LED since early prototype sets with the tech started appearing last year. But this week we got a chance to chat to Sony about its plans for the tech, which it's decided to refer to as “True RGB”.

At a press event in Japan, attended by our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, the brand declined to give any info on specific models but it did confirm new True RGB TVs will go on sale “eventually” – and that it had been working on the tech behind closed doors for a staggering 20 years.

Apparently, it’s not interested in being “first”, as rival Hisense is; it wants to be the best.

We also got a chance to see a prototype model running alongside its four-star flagship Mini LED, the Bravia 9, which certainly gave us food for thought.

Read the full story: Sony's new True RGB TV looks amazing in action, but is it an OLED killer?

Modular speakers from Cambridge Audio

Cambridge Audio surprised us with a sort of new line of MSX modular speakers. Why sort of? Because under the hood they feature near-identical hardware to the firm’s older Minx range.

Consisting of MSX10 and MSX20 satellite speakers, and MSX Sub 200 and 300 subwoofers, the idea is that you can mix and match the units, even stacking them on top of one another, to create custom setups. Or, using an AV receiver, turn them into a surround sound package.

Read the full story: The Cambridge Audio MSX refreshes the Minx range of compact modular speakers

There’s yet another portable cassette player coming

Whether it’s Gen Z’s sudden interest in wired headphones, the long-promised CD revival, or the ongoing popularity of vinyl, retro audio tech is hot right now.

Which is probably why Gadhouse decided to get in on the action and launch the Miko Cassette Player last week. Well, that and the 200 per cent increase in tape sales.

Similar in kind to We Are Rewind's Edith, the Miko is a dinky tape deck with Bluetooth functionality, allowing you to enjoy the retro tech with your wireless headphones.

There is also a 3.5mm input for people looking to go the whole hog and use a pair of wired headphones.

Unsurprisingly, Gadhouse suggests pairing them with a pair of its 80s-inspired Wesley wired headphones…

Read the full story: This portable cassette player blends retro charm with wireless convenience

MORE:

These are the best wired headphones we’ve reviewed

Our picks of the best OLED TVs

We rank the best surround sound packages

We are well into April, and not only is the weather looking up, but so too is the scope for finding tempting TV, AV and hi-fi deals.

And we've tracked down a superb selection this week, which includes a sprinkling of five-star products from some of the biggest names in the business, including Bowers & Wilkins, Samsung, TCL, Technics, and many more.

See below for the full list and rundown of why some of these products should be on your shopping list.

Also, stay tuned for more deals next week…

We think you'll agree there's something for everyone here.

The Samsung HW-QS700F Dolby Atmos soundbar delivers a great feature set, including HDMI connectivity and a compact wireless subwoofer. It also produces a punchy sound and impressive bass performance that's above what many rivals around this money can offer. And with a mammoth £361 discount, you're saving a small fortune too!

If you're looking for a convenient stand-alone music streamer solution that doesn't cost the earth, there's money to be saved on Cambridge Audio's excellent MXN10. It's compact enough to slip into any hi-fi system and offers a control app which makes it easy to set up and a breeze to use. With £100 off, it's all you could really wish for from a product of this type at this kind of price.

Alternatively, if you want to stream music but also have a pile of CDs you want to keep hold of and enjoy, then we seriously suggest taking a closer look at the Technics SL-G700M2. It's a versatile product with an eye-catching £500 off. Build quality is excellent, you're provided with extensive connectivity options, a thorough feature set and a sound that delivers excitement in spades, whether streaming from your service of choice or spinning your favourite CDs.

Deals on Award-winning floorstanding speakers can be hard to come by, which is why we just had to highlight a £100 saving on the excellent Fyne Audio F501E. They are seriously talented performers for the money that deliver a focused, expressive and fun presentation no matter the music played through them.

We've also got two TVS for you at different ends of the price spectrum. The 50-inch TCL C6KS is an absolute bargain for the money. Its specs look great on paper, and it backs this up with five-star picture quality, with its excellent brightness and contrast being two particular highlights.

Those looking for a more premium set might be tempted by the 65-inch version of Samsung's QN90F flatscreen. As an alternative to OLED, this Mini LED set puts forward quite a convincing case, aided by a sizeable £600 discount. It offers a punchy, detailed picture and impressive gaming specs.

MORE:

Our pick of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars you can buy

And the best music streamers out there

Need something to listen to? Here are the best music streaming services we've tested

It's April and finally spring time, which in the UK means wildly inconsistent weather where you'll be met with rain and even snow for one half of the day, switching to blinding sunshine and warm temperatures without any warning. It certainly keeps us on our toes.

What remains consistent through it all is a steady of stream of hi-fi and home cinema products entering our test rooms, and we have a few highly-anticipated products to get started on this month.

This includes the first of Cambridge's new range of active wireless speaker systems; brand-new Onkyo hi-fi in many, many years; a sequel to Samsung's Award-winning Dolby Atmos system; and LG's flagship 4K OLED. We are also curious to find out how a high-end Optoma projector fares, and whether Acoustic Energy can repeat its sublime sonic success with a floorstanding model.

As ever, please do get in touch in the comments below or ping us an email at whathifi@futurenet.com if you have any questions about the products we're testing, and we'll do our best to get back to you with an answer. Enjoy the sunshine when it arrives!

Cambridge Audio L/R S

Cambridge Audio made a splash with the launch of its first-ever active wireless speaker systems earlier this year, and we have the smallest and cheapest of the trio – the L/R S (in the middle, above) – in for testing.

The active speakers feature Bluetooth aptX HD streaming, a USB-C input for easy desktop use, and 50 watts per channel of built-in amplification. Costing £399 / $549, these compact speakers are available in six finishes (including some colourful green and orange ones) and are in direct competition with the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3. Exciting.

LG G6

Hot on the heels of the five-star C6, LG’s flagship 4K OLED is in our test room to establish whether it’s worth the extra outlay.

We’re expecting a more polished and refined version of the Primary RGB Tandem OLED performance of last year’s G5 – but will it deliver that? And will that be enough for the G6 to topple the Sony Bravia 8 II from the flagship OLED top spot? We can't wait to find out.

Onkyo Icon A-50

It has been many years since we had any Onkyo hi-fi in our test rooms, and the Icon A-50 streaming amplifier has plenty going on to make up for the wait. Combining 140 watts of Class A/B amplification with excellent network streaming features, the A-50 is a thoroughly modern hi-fi component that includes HDMI ARC connectivity, a moving magnet and moving coil phono stage, and is encased in a sleek, minimal design.

Will Onkyo's comeback to the world of hi-fi be a success? Let's find out.

Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2

Acoustic Energy's AE300 Mk2 standmounters wowed us with their understated but incredibly accomplished performance for the price, nabbing a Product of the Year Award and earning a spot at the top of our best stereo speakers list.

Can this sonic goodness be replicated in a floorstanding model? We have the AE309 Mk2 towers in our test rooms, which feature the same cabinet construction and new drivers as their illustrious standmount sibling. At £1199, the AE floorstanders will be going up against the hugely enjoyable Fyne Audio F501E (another Award winner), and we're excited to hear how they fare.

Samsung HW-Q990H

The sequel to Samsung’s Award-winning Q990F Dolby Atmos soundbar system, the Q990H looks very similar to its predecessor, but it features enhanced processing for an apparently more immersive performance. As before, the new system includes a 'bar, a pair of wireless surround speakers and a subwoofer in the package.

We’ll be testing the new model directly against the old one to find out if the upgrades are worthwhile.

Optoma UHZ78LV

Priced at £6000, Optoma’s new flagship home cinema projector has rivals such as the Sony VPL-XW5000ES, Epson EH-QB1000 and BenQ W5850 in its sights. Its secret weapons? A massive claimed peak brightness of 5000 lumens and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ (as well as standard HDR10).

That could make the UHZ78LV an excellent choice for mixed-use rooms as well as dedicated home cinemas – if the performance is up to scratch. We'll find out this month!

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