2026 may only be less than a month old, but boy, what a year it’s already been. Everywhere you look, as Bob Dylan sang, “the times they are changing” with massive news breaking on a nearly daily basis.
And that remains true in the world of AV, where we’ve seen massive, industry-shaking events happen over the past seven days – including a merger between two home cinema powerhouses no one, our team included, saw coming.
Here’s what you need to know.
Sony and TCL are joining forces
The announcement that TCL plans to buy a 51 per cent share of Sony’s home entertainment business was, without a doubt, the biggest news last week for AV fans. The deal isn’t complete; last week, both just announced their intent. But if it does go through and complete in the 2027 estimate from both, it could be the end of an era for Sony TVs.
Details of how the merger will specifically work and what it means for Sony’s TV and soundbar offerings remain scarce, outside of the fact that Sony’s Bravia branding will continue to exist in some form. But that didn’t stop our experts from making a few educated guesses on what it could mean for Sony’s Award-winning, premium OLEDs in particular…
Read the full story: Sony is selling its home entertainment business to TCL – but what does this mean for future Bravia TVs?
And on the subject of Sony…
The TCL merger was one of two bits of hot news from Sony last week. The Japanese powerhouse also lifted the lid on two new Bluetooth turntables: the PS-LX3BT and PS-LX5BT.
The two record spinners are spiritual successors to the firm’s seven-year-old, five-star, PS-LX310BT Bluetooth turntable, which, until the arrival of the Pro-ject Primary E, was one of the main decks we recommended to vinyl fans on a strict budget.
The two are built on the same core mechanism as their predecessor, but have had several “optimisations”, which, according to Sony, will help them “achieve optimal performance”.
The Sony PS-LX3BT and PS-LX5BT cost £299 / €350 / AU$469 and £399 / €460 AU$599 respectively and are on sale now. We’re hoping to get both into our listening rooms in the not-too-distant future.
Read the full story: Sony lifts the lid on two new Bluetooth turntables with sleek, minimalist designs
LG’s planning a new range of “affordable” OLEDs
An affordable OLED offering decent picture quality at a price normal people can afford has long been top of What Hi-Fi?’s wishlist, and last week, LG announced new tech that may help deliver just that.
Specifically, the firm confirmed it is working on a new series of Special Edition panels, neatly named OLED SE. We haven’t got firm details on the tech, including which TVs LG plans to use it in. But we do know it has an “affordable” focus and will sit below its current OLED EX line of panels, which are a common sight on step-down OLEDs, including the firm’s own C-series.
Read the full story: LG Display has a new hope for cheaper OLED TVs, and it's taking the fight directly to Mini LED
Bowers & Wilkins unveiled new standmounts
Last week, Bowers & Wilkins unveiled its new 707 Prestige Edition standmount speakers. The firm’s making a big deal about the units, promising fans they’re the “ultimate Bowers & Wilkins bookshelf loudspeaker” and will deliver “an even more refined and spacious sound than the standard model”.
At a technical and design level, there’s plenty to get excited about. The speakers are a variant of the base 700-series loaded with a new classy wood finish and several of the components found in the 705 S3 Signature. We haven’t heard them yet, but that’s a pretty potent mix, at least on paper.
The speakers are set to retail for £1550 / €1750, which is a premium on the standard 707 S3, which launched at £1300 / €1500.
Read the full story: Bowers & Wilkins’ 700 Series speaker range just gained a special bookshelf model
Mission has a new CD transport
Finishing off this week’s Rewind column, we have the shiny new 778CDT transport from Mission. Unveiled last week, as the name suggests, the transport is part of Mission’s wider 778 series, sitting alongside the 778X stereo amplifier and recently announced 778S music streamer.
Designed to specifically shine with its amp sibling, the transport comes with some nifty hardware, including a custom-designed CD servo control system, which should ensure stable disc rotation and clean tracking.
Add to this a clever dual-core CPU and circuitry bespoke designed to reduce noise, and it becomes a fairly enticing-looking unit.
It’s also fairly competitively priced, with the Mission 778CDT set to launch at the end of January for £449 (around $600 / AU$886).
That’s a smidgeon below our favourite budget CD transport, the Cambridge Audio CXC, which costs £499 / $599 / AU$1099.
Read the full story: Mission's new CD transport completes the 778 Series, promises "uncompromised fidelity"
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