What Hi-Fi? team recall £38k home cinema demos and hi-fi legends

What the team shared

The staff of What Hi-Fi? have published a set of personal recollections to mark the magazine turning 50, according to What Hi-Fi?. The piece appeared the morning after the publication's awards ceremony, where the team joined figures from the hi-fi and home cinema industry to celebrate this year's Product of the Year winners.

The article is a collection of anecdotes rather than a news story, and the magazine describes it as a trip down memory lane. It covers the arrival of formats from the CD and DVD to SACD and Blu-ray, the rise of streaming, the short life of 3D TV, and various unusual speakers the team has encountered over the years.

Because the piece is written by the magazine's own staff about their own experiences, the details are personal accounts rather than independently verified reporting.

A £38,000 home cinema lesson

One of the most striking stories comes from a relatively new member of the team, who describes watching the animated series Arcane in the magazine's test room only a few months after joining. At the time the reference system consisted of a PMC Twenty5.23 speaker package, a Marantz Cinema 30 AV receiver, a Sony Bravia Projector 8 and an Oppo UDP-203 Blu-ray player.

The writer says the setup was worth around £38,000, and that having previously only seen the show on a laptop, the scale of the sound and the size of the projector image came as a revelation. The experience, the writer says, sparked a lasting interest in home cinema.

Another long-serving staffer, with more than 20 years at the publication, recalls the test rooms themselves as the highlight of the job, including listening to music on the reference system as a way to reset during difficult days.

Launch events and awkward moments

A third contributor shares a less glamorous memory from an early launch event. The writer, whose household kept a copy of the magazine on the coffee table while growing up, attended a demonstration of a luxury-oriented audio product alongside both audio press and lifestyle journalists.

Arriving late to a packed listening room, the writer was pushed to the back, far from the ideal listening position. When asked to suggest a track, the writer named the heavy metal band GWAR, prompting the host to read through the band's most-streamed songs on Tidal aloud to a room full of startled attendees.

The writer declines to name the brand involved, saying it took the company some time to forgive the incident, but notes the episode at least freed up the best seat in the room.

Why it matters

The article offers a rare inside look at how a specialist AV magazine works, from its reference test systems to the launch events where products are first demonstrated to the press. It also underlines how much the audio and home cinema landscape has changed, with streaming now dominant after decades of shifting physical formats.

For readers, the piece is mainly of interest as context: the reference systems the team describes, such as the PMC and Marantz combination, are the same kind of equipment used to judge the products that earn the magazine's awards. The magazine credits its readers for reaching the milestone, and says the shared memories were prompted by the celebrations at the awards ceremony.