It may be a Bank Holiday in our native UK, but that doesn’t mean our team of audio visual experts are taking a break from our weekly hi-fi and home cinema news digest.
In this week’s Rewind we have a wealth of treats for you ranging from the inside skinny on Monitor Audio’s new special edition floorstanders to our final verdict on Panasonic’s latest flagship OLED TV.
Here’s everything you need to know.
New giant Samsung TVs
Giant 100-plus-inch Mini LED TVs are a vogue item at the moment with Hisense and TCL both selling them as the future of home cinema – sometimes going so far as to claim they’ll eventually replace projectors.
And with our TV and AV editor having seen some of 2025’s offerings and walked away impressed, we’re not completely dismissing that claim.
Which is why it makes sense Samsung has decided to throw its hat in the ring, unveiling its new 115-inch QN90F and 100-inch QN80F sets last week. Both are built on Samsung’s Tizen OS, though the more premium $27,000 QN90F is the most interesting of the two.
Set to go toe-to-toe with the TCL X955 115 Max, the giant set is full to the brim with cutting edge Samsung tech, including its class leading AI processing/upscaling.
Read the full story: Samsung bites back against TCL and Hisense by launching its own 115-inch Mini LED TV
Pro-Ject’s latest phono stage has valves
Last week turntable specialist Pro-Ject unveiled its latest phono stages, the Tube Box E and Tube Box S3 B.
The Tube Box S3 B is the more premium of the two, retailing for £529 / €599. It’s a valve-based balanced phono stage being pitched to hi-fi fans looking for an analogue unit with solid connectivity.
The tiny box is built around the firm’s symmetrical discrete gain stage which works to reduce noise and maintain detail when the S3 B is paired with a balanced turntable.
Below it, the £240 / €299 Tube Box E a features a fully discrete, dual-mono design that similarly aims to reduce noise.
Read the full story: Pro-Ject’s valve-based phono stage blends high-end technologies with a wide range of connectivity options
New special edition Monitor Audio speakers
If you like your speakers to look like they were dressed by Jonny Cash, then we have some good news. Last week Monitor Audio unveiled a new special edition version of its Monitor Audio Silver Series 7G speakers.
This means you can currently grab Silver 300 7G Limited Edition floorstanders for £2000 / $2750 / €2500 per pair and 100 7G standmounter for £925 / $1350 / €1300 per pair when they start shipping later this month.
Whichever you get will come in a cool new Carbon Black Metallic finish, which based on the promotional pictures we’ve seen looks pretty swish. Sadly this is the only change however, as under their black frames they have the same core hardware as the base models.
Read the full story: Monitor Audio Silver Series Limited Edition 7G speakers have a Carbon Black Metallic finish
Panasonic’s flagship OLED TV tested
Fresh off the back of our five-star review of the step-down 48-inch Panasonic Z90B, our testers delivered their final verdict on the firm’s flagship Z95B OLED TV last week.
This is a big-name set designed to take on the five-star LG G5 and Sony Bravia 8 II we reviewed earlier this year. It comes armed to the teeth with cutting edge features.
Highlights include the same brightness and colour volume boosting Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech seen on the LG G5, a custom AI focussed chipset and bolted-on soundbar system.
While we’re not completely sold on the sound system, after a bit of modest fandango-ing in the TV’s picture settings, we’re pleased to confirm the Panasonic Z95B lives up to the firm’s reputation for delivering balanced, authentic picture quality with its OLEDs. Hence its five-star rating.
Read our full Panasonic Z95B review
NAD’s charming, retro system is ace
Just add speakers systems are an increasingly popular category in the world of hi-fi – and for good reason.
They’re simple to set up and offer a convenient solution for music fans who don’t want to go the full separates route but still want to pick their speakers.
And last week we found a fresh one to recommend; the NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module).
Retailing for £1699 / $2199 / AU$3599, the unit has a distinctly retro aesthetic, but thoroughly modern smarts thanks to the addition of a streaming module.
This automatically differentiates it from its main rivals, the Arcam A15 and Rega Elex Mk4, which sound just a tad better as pure amps, but aren’t as versatile.
Built on Bluesound’s platform, this lets the amp stream hi-res music over your network with zero fuss (unless DSD is your format of choice).
This plus its solid physical connectivity and feature set, which includes a decent moving magnet phono stage for vinyl fans, makes it a versatile option for any music fan. Hence our five-star rating and conclusion:
“The attractive retro appearance may be the thing that draws people to the C 3050, but it’s the product’s all round abilities as a streaming package that makes it such a strong buy. Highly recommended.”
Read our full NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module) review
MORE:
These are the best OLED TVs we’ve fully reviewed
We rate the best hi-fi systems for serious music fans
Our picks of the best floorstanding speakers
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