Is it Halloween, or Black Friday? We found 7 spookily good hi-fi and home cinema deals at specialist retailers
Specialist hi-fi and home cinema sellers are already rushing out excellent deals on SACD players, integrated amps, OLED TVs and more.
by Alastair Stevenson · whathifiIf you’ve already got Black Friday fatigue we feel for you – the sales event seems to start earlier and last longer every year.
That’s certainly the case in 2024 as, even though we haven’t even finished canvasing our local road for free sweets to celebrate Halloween, retailers have started to drop a very different kind of treat – huge discounts on some of the year’s top hi-fi and home cinema hardware.
Key culprits include specialist retailers Sevenoaks Sound and Vision and Peter Tyson, which are already flooding our writers’ inboxes and store fronts with discounts on everything from SACD players to OLED TVs. The good news is that if you are willing to trawl through the sea of deals, there are a few excellent discounts to be had.
These are the seven best our team of deal hunting hi-fi and home cinema experts have spotted so far. Make sure to shout if you think we’ve missed any on our forums and social media channels!
1. Sony TA-AN1000
Looking for a great AVR? Then we’d recommend checking out Peter Tyson’s latest discount on the Sony TA-AN1000. The deal is live now and lets you get the stellar AVR for £699, a £300 saving on its regular price.
Why do we recommend it? Not only did the Award-winning unit earn a perfect five-star rating when we reviewed it last year, offering spacious but precise and detailed audio, it also remains a common sight in our test rooms and best AVR guide to this day. That’s because it’s so good that we often use it as a benchmark for quality during our comparative testing process.
Sony TA-AN1000 was £999, now £699 on Peter Tyson (save £300)
The TA-AN1000 is a fantastic AVR and best performer holistically in its class, based on our testing.
2. Sony Bravia 8
The Bravia 8 is the second in a trio of great Sony deals we’ve already spotted. There are currently two good deals on the TV doing the rounds. The first is on Sevenoaks Sound and Vision, where you can get the 65-inch Bravia 8 for £1999, a decent £700 off its normal £2699 price.
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If you want something smaller and cheaper and don’t mind shopping with a big-tech retailer, on Amazon you can also currently grab the 55-inch Bravia 8 for £1499, a £700 discount on its £2199 launch price.
The Bravia 8 is another 2024 What Hi-Fi? Award winner and one of the best OLED TVs you can currently get, offering solid peak brightness levels, wonderful inky blacks full of shadow detail and punchy but accurate colours. If you want a great new OLED this one is well worth considering, especially at this price – which, by-the-by, is its lowest ever.
Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED, K55XR80 was £2699 now £1999 at Amazon (save £700)
The Bravia 8 is an incredible set that's worth your consideration. On the 65-inch version, skin tones are warm and realistic, and advances in its light control make the picture look wonderfully three-dimensional. Audio also remains a cut above the experience you’ll get on rival sets.
3. Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9
If you want a great soundbar then the final Sony deal we’ve spotted so far that is worth considering is on the company’s five-star Bravia Theatre Bar 9. The Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 is currently available for £999 at Sevenoaks Sound and Vision. That’s a decent £400 discount on its regular price.
The Bar 9 is another What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024 winner and currently sits at the top of our best Dolby Atmos soundbar guide. During our checks we found its new 13-driver set-up delivers wonderfully punchy but accurate audio with a wonderful sense of gusto and decent amount of directionality. If you want Dolby Atmos, but don’t fancy a full speaker package, you’ll struggle to do better.
Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 was £1399, now £999 at Sevenoaks Sound and Vision (save £400)
The Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 is one of the finest Dolby Atmos soundbars we’ve tested this year – which is why we gave it a What Hi-Fi? Award. Five stars
4. Denon AVR-X1800H
If you’re after an AVR but don’t like the look of the Sony, then we’d recommend checking out Peter Tyson’s latest VIP discount on the Denon AVR-X1800H. The deal lets you get the 8K and Dolby Atmos-ready Denon AVR-X1800H for £399, a £300 discount on its normal price.
We haven’t reviewed the unit, but as it shares a lot of the same DNA as its step-up sibling the Denon AVR-X2800H, which we awarded a five star rating, we’re still happy flagging it as an alternative to the Sony here. The unit supports 7.2 channel surround sound or 5.2.2 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X speaker set-ups, making it a fantastically flexible option for home cinema fans.
Denon AVR-X1800H was £699, now £399 on Peter Tyson (save £300)
The Denon AVR-X1800H is the little brother to one of our favourite AVRs, the award winning Denon AVR-X2800H.
5. Marantz SA-12SE
Moving to the hi-fi-side. The first good deal we’ve spotted is on the Marantz SA-12SE Super Audio CD (SACD) player. The deal is live on Peter Tyson now and sheds a massive 50 per cent off the player’s regular £3199 price, letting you grab it for £1599.
While we haven’t had a chance to review the unit, the fact that it shares some DNA with the five-star Marantz SA-10SE means it’s worth considering if you have a collection of SACDs – a format created by Sony and Philips in the late ’90s that offers higher quality audio, multi-channel sound and longer play times than traditional CDs.
Marantz SA-12SE was £3199, now £1599 at Peter Tyson (save £1599)
The Marantz SA-12SE is a top end SACD/CD player designed for discerning listeners.
6. Bluesound Node
Looking to add streaming capabilities to your separates rack? Then you’ll want to check out Sevenoaks Sound and Vision’s latest deal on the Bluesound Node (2021), which lets you grab the dinky streamer for £349, a £200 saving on its normal price.
The 2021 model on offer isn’t the latest version, with Bluesound set to start shipping a new batch of Node streamers later this year. But the Node 2021 is still a solid option, especially at this price.
We gave it five-stars when we reviewed it, and it’s still competitive at its current price point. Highlights include generous wireless and wired connectivity, support for all modern streaming services and an infectious sense of rhythm that’s sure to get your foot tapping while listening.
Bluesound Node (2021) was £549, now £349 at Peter Tyson (save £200)
Despite its age, the 2021 Bluesound remains a fantastic value, small form-factor music streamer.
7. NAD D 3020 V2
The final deal on this list lets you grab the five-star NAD D 3032 V2 amp. You can currently buy the already great value, small-form-factor, amp for even less at Sevenoaks Sound and vision, where it’s selling for a wallet friendly £279 – it’s best price this year and a healthy £120 saving on its RRP.
The Class D integrated amp is the followup to NAD’s original 3020, which we described as “game changing” when we first reviewed it. To this day the V2 lives up to the original’s legacy, offering a small but convenient sonic upgrade for people that want to wirelessly stream music from their phone or laptop. In all our checks the unit worked seamlessly and delivered a full bodied sound with excellent rhythmic timing and dynamics. Trust us, you won’t find a better performer in the V2’s class at its current price.
NAD D 3020 V2 was £399, now £279 at Sevenoaks Sound and Vision (save £120)
The NAD D 3020 V2 is a favourite among the What Hi-Fi? team to this day. If you have a simple speaker and turntable package, and want a small integrated amp with streaming smarts to go with it, this is the one to get.
MORE:
These are the best AVRs we’ve reviewed
We rate the best integrated amps money can buy
Check out our picks of the best TVs