Monday is upon us, which means yet another fresh entry into our Rewind hi-fi and home cinema digest.
In it we once again offer all the facts on the big news to break over the past week – and boy what a week it was. As well as the IFA tradeshow in Berlin, our experts had to contend with a wealth of surprise announcements from Dolby, Technics, Arcam and more.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Marshall’s finally lifted the lid on its second soundbar
Last week Marshall lifted the lid on its second Dolby Atmos soundbar, the Heston 60. The unit is a smaller, more affordable take on the full sized Heston 120 we reviewed and gave three stars to earlier this year.
Despite this, we can’t help but feel a little excited about the Heston 60 for one big reason – its small dimensions and price make it a direct rival to the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), which has been left unchallenged in the smaller Atmos soundbar space for far too long.
Read the full story: Marshall's Heston 60 Dolby Atmos soundbar wants to dethrone the Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
Surprise! There’s a new version of Dolby Vision
Last week the surprise launch of Dolby Vision 2 was without a doubt one of the biggest pieces of news to break and dominate the IFA 2025 headlines and showroom floor – where our roaming staff writer, Robyn Quick, spotted a rogue Vision 2 TV from TCL in the wild.
The new standard offers a wealth of new tools and features designed to help filmmakers make their movies look “better”, and TVs offer a more authentic, as the director intended experience playing them. Curious folks that we are, we also took the time to chat to a group Dolby engineers to get a sneak peek behind the curtain and find out how it actually works.
Read the full story: Dolby Vision 2 unveiled: AI-powered picture optimisation, creator controls, and more
Arcam’s refreshed a load of its five-star hi-fi
One big bit of non-IFA news came from Arcam, which lifted the lid on its new A5+, A15+ and A25+ integrated amplifiers.
The A5 and A15 are of particular interest as their predecessors, the five-star Arcam A5 and Arcam A15, are both What Hi-Fi? Award winners.
Every new model has been upgraded to support Bluetooth 5.4, allowing for streaming via the higher-quality aptX Lossless codec, LE Audio and the Auracast sharing protocol.
The A5+ has also had its internal components tweaked to allow for a lower power supply impedance. Above it, the A15+ and A25+ have had slightly bigger upgrades, with Arcam adding an HDMI eARC input to both, for people who want to connect it to their TV / home cinema set-up as well as upgrading their core specifications.
Read the full story: Arcam's refreshed A5+ and A15+ stereo amplifiers aim to improve upon the best
Technics new turntable turned heads
Technics last week unveiled its new SL-40CBT turntable, which caused quite a range of reactions amongst the What Hi-Fi? team.
Some were immediately enamoured with its modernised, distinctly Pro-Ject-like, design and ease-of-use focus, with it featuring Bluetooth connectivity, amongst other things.
Others, including our former editor-in-chief, Joe Cox, were less thrilled, going so far as to comment: “Is it even a Technics deck if it doesn’t have a pitch control?”
Read the full story: Technics modernises its direct drive turntable with a contemporary design and Bluetooth streaming
Our TV and AV has a new favourite Samsung OLED
Last week we finished reviewing the Samsung S95F – the firm’s current flagship OLED TV and a direct rival to the Sony Bravia 8 II, LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B.
And not only did the set earn a five-star rating, it also won over our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, who describes it as “the best Samsung TV he’s ever tested”.
Trust us, he doesn’t get excited like this often. Highlights include a bright QD-OLED panel that offers just enough punch to give it a proper “wow” factor, without venturing into overbaked territory, as many past Samsung OLEDs have.
Read our full Samsung S95F review
MORE:
These are the best OLED TVs we've tested
We rate the best Dolby Atmos soundbars
Our picks of the best stereo amps
