Rewind: our verdict on Wilson Benesch’s $30k speakers, Denon and Marantz AVRs go head-to-head and more

Amazon Prime Day 2024 may be less than 24 hours away, but that hasn’t stopped brands from unleashing a sea of fresh hi-fi and home cinema news.

Here to help you stay on top of all the latest announcements, our team of experts has penned a fresh entry for our weekly Rewind news digest.

Scroll down to get the inside scoop on all the latest developments in the world of hi-fi and home cinema you need to know about.

Wilson Benesch’s uber-expensive standmounts justify their price

Even for audiophiles, £20k / $30k is a lot of money, especially for a pair of stereo standmount speakers. But, having put Wilson Benesch’s premium Discovery 3Zero speakers through their paces in our listening rooms, we’re pleased to report that, if you have the money and equipment to match them, they are a fantastic investment.

We originally saw the Discovery 3Zero, which are the standmount version of the company’s even more premium A.C.T 3Zero floorstanders, at the Bristol Hi-Fi show earlier this year. But it was only last week we got to properly test them.

During our checks, while you need very high-end separates and careful matching to make them truly sing, we found they are undeniably wonderful performers that will delight the small number of people that can afford them. Whether it was bopping pop, noodly prog or complex neo-classical tracks, the speakers delivered exceptional transparency and wonderfully vivid dynamics during our tests. With next to every part built by Wilson Benesch in-house, they’re also an engineering marvel.

Read our full Wilson Benesch Discovery 3Zero review

Samsung unveiled its latest Apple AirPods rivals

Last week Samsung unveiled a wealth of new hardware at its Unpacked events in London and Paris. The most relevant to you, our lovely readers, were its new Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. The new buds are different to their predecessors, in that they feature a distinctly AirPods-like design, featuring long stems protruding from the buds’ bottom.

Inside they also feature completely reworked hardware that Samsung promises will let the Pro in particular produce significantly improved audio. The only slight downside we noticed, outside of the fact that we didn’t get a chance to listen to them at the launch event, is that you’ll need a compatible Galaxy device to stream hi-res audio .

Read our Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro hands-on

We explained the difference between MLA and QD-OLED

One of the biggest fights going on in the world of home cinema is the ongoing grudge match between LG Display’s Micro Lens Array (MLA) and Samsung’s QD-OLED panel technologies. Both are staples at the top end of the OLED TV market, with MLA being on key sets including the five-star LG G4 , and QD-OLED featuring on rivals such as the Samsung S95D , which also scored five stars when we reviewed it.

On paper they’re also very similar, both being designed to help radically improve OLED sets’ max brightness levels. Despite this there are some pretty big differences between the two that any buyer should be aware of. Which is why last week we penned an MLA vs QD-OLED guide detailing the biggest differences, based on our expert knowledge of and experience with the two competing technologies.

Read the full story: MLA vs QD-OLED

Denon and Marantz premium AVRs went head-to-head

Last week our experts took the time to run Denon and Marantz's flagship AVRs head-to-head in our test rooms, in an attempt, in part, to finally dispel the myth that both companies’ products are identical outside of their branding. Specifically, we tested and detailed the differences between the Denon AVC-X6800H and Marantz Cinema 30 , which we can safely confirm are very different beasts.

Read our Denon AVC-X6800H vs Marantz Cinema 30 guide

Our experts revealed which TVs to look out for this Prime Day

Prime Day 2024 is a mere day away, and with it we’re expecting to see the usual sea of TV deals that come with it every year. Here to help you find the best discount possible for your needs and budget, we wrote a quick guide detailing the main sets our team are keeping a personal eye on over the event.

Read the full story: I review TVs for a living, and these are the ones to watch out for on Prime Day 2024

MORE:

These are the best OLED TV deals we’ve spotted

Our picks of the best speakers

We rate the best AVRs money can buy