Remember when you’d flip to the back of a hi-fi magazine to find an expert calmly explaining why your amp couldn’t drive your new speakers? What Hi-Fi? has brought that tradition back — and this time it lives online. Sound Advice, the magazine’s long-running reader Q&A, has been resurrected as a website feature, complete with a live two-hour session and a stack of questions pulled from email and social channels.
The format is refreshingly practical. Aside from diagnosing faulty kit (best left to manufacturers), the team fields anything hi-fi, home cinema or TV related — purchase dilemmas, format debates, and even questions about how they review. Here are a few highlights from the debut edition.
The OLED vs RGB Mini LED debate. One reader asked whether to buy now or wait. TV & AV Editor Tom Parsons noted that ‘Micro RGB’ — the term Samsung and LG use — is still early tech, and reminded everyone these panels are ultimately backlit LCDs. They can outshine OLED for brightness and dodge image retention entirely, but OLED still wins on blacks, contrast and viewing angles. His verdict: OLED remains superior overall, unless you’re watching in a very bright room or want a screen over 80 inches. If you do go RGB Mini LED, the Sony Bravia 9 II is the best they’ve tested, though the Bravia 8 II QD-OLED is the better set overall — and currently cheaper.
Streaming and TV setups. Australian reader Etienne weighed the KEF LSX II LT against a Wiim Ultra with active speakers such as the PSB Alpha AM5. Technical Editor Ketan Bharadia leaned firmly towards the KEF — neater and, in his words, great-sounding.
Vintage kit and upgrades. The team also tackled the eternal question of whether to pour money into ageing gear, including a set of Heybrook Sextet speakers owned for 30 years, weighing whether decades-old capacitors and other components still deliver against how far speakers have progressed.
There was measured caution too. Asked about the Sony SW9 subwoofer, Parsons admitted no full review yet exists; the Theatre Trio review shipped with the Sub 8 instead. He’s heard the Trio system running at a demo, but wants to test the Sub 9 solo before delivering a verdict.
It’s a welcome return. Send your questions to [email protected] — the next round lands next month.
