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System of the month

What Hi-Fi UK

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June 2025

A superb set-up for both movies and games, with LG's latest C-Series OLED at its heart

The system

  • TV LG C5 £1900

  • Soundbar Sonos Arc Ultra £999

  • Games console PS5 £429

  • Blu-ray player Panasonic DP-UB820 £349

  • TV streamer Sky Stream from £15/p/m

Total price £3677 (plus Sky Stream subscription)

The new LG OLEDs are fresh in the shops, and, therefore, fresh out of the What Hi-Fi? test rooms. As has become expected over the past few years, they are strong contenders in an extremely competitive marketplace. This shouldn't be a massive surprise, given that LG still makes the majority of OLED panels out there no matter the badge on the TV itself, but it is always reassuring to discover, each year, that eyes haven't been taken off the metaphorical ball by the Korean giant's fine engineering department.

With the LG ranges over the years, it's the C-series that tends to hit the sweet-spot for us in providing the best bang for your buck. The range-topping G5 (see p6) is a remarkable piece of televisual technology, but - inevitably - you must pay a heavy price for the privilege of owning the very best. The C5 may not feature the flashy new Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel of the G5, nor indeed the MLA OLED tech of last year's G4, but it does sport more than enough of its premium sibling's capabilities to make up for most of those shortfalls; and, of course, at a far more affordable price. The C5, then, is the hub around which we centre this amazing home cinema system.

What Hi-Fi UK

This story is from the June 2025 edition of What Hi-Fi UK.

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