Welcome to the final entry this year into our weekly Rewind, hi-fi and home cinema news digest.
As a special treat, rather than detail the top stories to hit the headlines in the past seven days, our team of experts has taken a wider look at the year.
Below you’ll see the What Hi-Fi? team’s detailed breakdown of 2024's most important stories and why we think they’ll have a big impact on the wider industry in 2025.
Panasonic TVs made it state-side
Words by Alastair Stevenson, editor-in-chief
I’ve been reviewing OLED TVs longer than I care to remember. But one very fond memory I have was being one of the first journalists to get an opening look at the Panasonic TX-65CZ950.
This was the first ever OLED from the company and a classic in many home cinema reviewers’ and fans' minds as it cemented the brand’s ongoing reputation as the best place to go if you want a TV focussed on delivering an “as the director intended” picture.
This focus is why so many of its OLEDs have consistently scored so well over the years and remained a staple sight in our best TV buying guide. So why doesn’t Panasonic have a bigger market share than Samsung and LG you ask? The answer, and one of the biggest problems for movie lovers over the years, is that outside of Europe Panasonic TVs are pretty hard to get hold of as the brand famously pulled out of the US many moons ago.
Thankfully all that changed this year, when Panasonic confirmed key sets, including its five-star flagship OLED, the Panasonic Z95A – which I helped test earlier this year – would sell in the US via Amazon.
We haven’t had any solid sales numbers letting us know if the move has been a success. However, considering how much we loved the Z95A, which we described as “one of Panasonic’s finest flagship OLED TVs to date” the move is a great development for US movie fans – one we hope will continue in 2025 as more choice and competition is always a good thing for consumers.
Cyrus Audio’s 40 Series marks an exciting new era
Words by Kashfia Kabir, Hi-Fi & Audio Editor
For many hi-fi brands, it can be difficult to straddle the line between staying true to your heritage and making genuine advancements that feel fresh and modern. How do you ensure you remain true to your roots, but still develop a product that feels exciting and forward-thinking, and deliver even better performance than ever before (and one that surpasses your rivals)? For Cyrus Audio, that answer arrives in its new 40 Series of hi-fi products that launched this year – and it’s the most excited we’ve been about the brand in years. Cyrus has made some superb products since it was founded in 1984 (the original Mission Cyrus One amp, the multiple Award-winning CDi CD player, the Phono Signature…), but it’s fair to say that recent efforts haven’t quite been as successful and felt rather staid, while its rivals have leapt forward with more exciting, modern designs.
But that all looks like it’s about to change. When you think Cyrus, you think of its distinctive half-width die-cast chassis – a form that has lasted for decades – and the new 40 Series has managed to retain that half-width hallmark while updating the design to a new, slightly bigger anodised aluminium casework that looks and feels wonderfully sleek and high quality. It’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into the design to make it more contemporary, while still remaining recognisably Cyrus. But even more exciting is the performance: we’ve just reviewed the Cyrus 40 ST streamer and were left impressed with the incredibly expressive, punchy and rhythmically exciting sound we heard. It’s tremendously capable, subtle and even-handed, but also knows how to have heaps of fun and to just let the music shine through – it even. If this is an indication of what the rest of the 40 Series sounds like (look out for our 40 AMP integrated review in the new year), then Cyrus will have pulled off one of the most difficult tricks of all, and even shaken up the industry while at it. Which, for a comparatively modest brand, would be a hell of an achievement.
Sony chose Mini LED for its 2024 flagship TV
Words by Tom Parsons, TV & AV Editor
After Sony dominated 2023 with its sensational A80L and A95L OLED TVs, we were slightly taken aback when it announced the arrival of the Bravia 9 in April of this year. Instead of launching a dazzling new OLED set to serve as the flagship model in the range, Sony's trio of TVs saw just one new OLED model, flanked by a tag team of Mini LEDs.
We'll give Sony the benefit of the doubt here; the A95L was merely six months old at the time, thanks to a later-than-expected launch towards the end of 2023, so a replacement wasn't desperately needed. Sony instead took a unique route, opting to create its own advanced Mini LED backlighting system, and the Bravia 9 was the first TV to use this newly developed panel technology.
The core of this system revolved around smaller, more tightly packed dimming zones paired with an advanced processor that allowed the Bravia 9 to have practically pinpoint control. This meant that, in theory, it would eliminate common issues with backlit TVs such as blooming and poor black depths (compared with OLED).
So, did Sony succeed in its mission to dethrone OLED? We weren't convinced on our first and second viewing of the Bravia 9 TV as we tested it twice due to some technical complications in our initial review. There were a few teething problems at launch, namely it starting at a huge 75-inch screen size in the UK (Sony quickly rectified this with a 65-inch model), as well as an issue with the backlight that would noticeably raise and lower brightness with specific content.
While these kinks were ironed out, we just weren't convinced by the picture performance; ultimately we just couldn't find an aspect of the Bravia 9 Mini LED that outdid OLED aside from brightness. Contrast, colours and image solidity were all the better on the cheaper Bravia 8 OLED (which was recently crowned our 2024 Product of the Year in the TV category), and if we're being brutally honest, the current crop of OLEDs go plenty bright enough for the majority of available video content. In all honesty, we felt as though Sony was attempting to fix an issue that didn't really exist, and in doing so made too many compromises.
Put simply, if the only movie you watch is Pan (2015) which is mastered at an abnormally high 4000 nits, then the Bravia 9 could be perfect for you. However, considering its 26 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score and horrific rendition of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, we doubt this description applies to many people.
Bose buys McIntosh and Sonus Faber
Words by Andy Madden, Deputy Editor
Well. I think it’s fair to say the audio world didn’t see this one coming. When the press release announcing Bose’s acquisition of the McIntosh Group dropped into my inbox in November I had to double-take, just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it.
Say what you want about Bose (we’d say that they make some of, if not the best noise-cancelling headphones out there), the fact is it’s an established multi-billion dollar business with a huge pedigree in the audio business.
The luxury audio market is growing and those with pockets deep enough to own serious high-end hi-fi will always have pockets deep enough to satisfy their desire. So why wouldn’t Bose want a piece of the action, especially if the price is right?
As one of What Hi-Fi?’s resident petrolheads, I’m particularly interested to see what this means for in-car audio. McIntosh already offers systems in select Jeep models, while Sonus Faber has partnerships with Lamborghini and Maserati. Don’t forget, Bose (who still has partnerships with Porsche and Honda among others) was one of the first brands to delve into that area of the market and has many years of experience under its belt.
And then if we turn it back to home audio and portables you could quite easily conceive where this might go. A high-end Dolby Atmos soundbar from McIntosh maybe? Or a pair of luxury wireless headphones from Sonus Faber? You’d have to think Bose has at some point thought about pursuing the high-end market, so owning both of these brands is just what it needs to make this a reality.
Of course, only time will tell whether or not this was a great purchase, but you’d have to say that having McIntosh, Sonus Faber and Sumiko Phono Cartridges under the ownership of an established audio company instead of a private equity firm can only be a good thing, right?
All the (many) Tidal changes
Words by Becky Roberts, managing editor
Tidal is a fairly different proposition now than it was at the start of the year, and certainly for the better. While it was positioned as a premium-priced 'audiophile' proposition compared to Spotify et al, in April the service streamlined its subscription by offering one all-in individual tier, and brought its pricing in line with the competition. Considering Apple and Amazon were offering similar hi-res audio quality for that standard price, it was probably necessary for Tidal to do so.
Not long after, it chose FLAC to back its hi-res catalogue as opposed to the MQA format it had used been using to facilitate hi-res for the best part of eight years. MQA soon disappeared from the library altogether, leaving the format much less relevant and the MQA team behind it (which was recently been picked up by The Lenbrook Group after the company went into administration) to focus its efforts on new digital technologies entirely. That could well be a space to watch.
In another mini format war, Tidal also decided to ditch Sony's 360 Reality Audio format and stick solely with Dolby Atmos for its spatial audio offering. So you could say there's been some ironing out in the music streaming service world this year, with supported formats and pricing now on a more level playing field across many of the big services. That said, the field could be ready for disruption in 2025 if Spotify pulls out its finger to offer lossless, and Lenbrook and HDTracks' planned new service amounts to anything competitive.
So what's next? My guess is as good as yours, although I hope the only direction it moves in is forward. Tidal has recently laid off around 10 per cent off its workforce, with its CEO, Jack Dorsey, saying the company must operate with a “much smaller team” and “like a startup again”.
The Sonos Arc Ultra arrived
Words by Lewis Empson, senior staff writer
The Sonos Arc has been a benchmark product in the soundbar category since it launched in 2020, so a successor has been on our wishlist for quite some time now. After many, many rumours and leaks that a new Arc was on the way – and a minor delay thanks to a not-so-well-received update to the Sonos app – we finally caught sight of the new flagship soundbar in October of this year.
Despite the name insinuating that this would be a new step-up model, the Sonos Arc Ultra turned out to be a full replacement for the existing version, and it houses a multitude of upgrades that resulted in it claiming sonic superiority over the vanilla-flavoured Arc. It featured Sonos’ new Sound Motion drivers, which are engineered to deliver enhanced bass weight and bigger sound without drastically changing the size of the ‘bar. In fact, the Arc Ultra is slightly more squat than the OG Arc, and it features a redesigned control panel.
The big question that lingered surrounded its performance; would it outdo its Hall of Fame inductee predecessor? Sonos pulled out all the stops with the Arc Ultra, delivering on its promise to add more heft and impact to the sound, while also improving how it handles Dolby Atmos height channels.
This has, of course, made our soundbar wishlist for 2025 spiral out of control. We’re eagerly awaiting a new Sonos Beam that utilises the new Sound Motion drivers, and we’re also keen to see how these drivers will impact Sonos’ future wireless speakers.
AKG returns with brand-new wireless headphones
Words by Harry McKerrell, senior staff writer
Am I allowed to be tentatively excited about the return of AKG to the ever-competitive realm of wireless headphones? When we discovered that AKG was unveiling not one but two pairs of wireless headphones at IFA 2024 – the in-ear AKG N5 Hybrid and the over-ear AKG N9 Hybrid – we allowed ourselves to fire off a small metaphorical party popper. AKG has been awfully quiet in the eight years since Samsung acquired its parent company Harman back in 2016, but in its prime, the brand delivered a string of great-value, comfortable and great-sounding wired headphones that picked up many five-star reviews and Awards trophies.
As I was actually on the ground enjoying the glitz and glamour of IFA 2024, I made it a priority to get hands- and ears-on with AKG’s brand new headphones, in keen anticipation that the esteemed brand might have returned from hibernation with something truly special to take on the might of Sony, Bose and Apple. Suffice it to say, my time with the AKG N9 Hybrid left me desperately keen to hear more. Even on a busy show floor in the midst of a hectic IFA, the N9 Hybrid over-ears sounded clean and musical, while boasting some decent noise cancelling and a rather lovely design. Ah, that lovely swivelling volume adjuster…
A brief demo on a crowded trade show floor is by no means a deep-dive assessment of a product’s concrete capabilities, but the signs were mightily encouraging from both the N5 and the N9. Without raising expectations too much, I’m very keen to get them into our test rooms in 2025.
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