We are one day away from announcing the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2026 Best Buy winners. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the majority of last week, our team of experts was locked in our review rooms, crossing the Ts and dotting the Is for this year’s testing.
But as the final round of this year’s hi-fi and home cinema battle royale played out, a couple of news stories broke that any discerning music or movie fan should be aware of.
Amazon ran a sales event – it wasn’t great
Last week Amazon ran a Prime Big Deal Days event on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our team of experts searched high and low for the top AV deals and, sadly, outside of a couple of exceptions, it was slim pickings, especially for hi-fi fans.
Thankfully, we have another big sale rapidly approaching, in the shape of Black Friday, which is set to happen at the end of November. As always, if there’s a specific product you’re looking to buy, let us know, and we’ll keep a particularly keen eye out for good deals on it.
Read the full story: I test hi-fi for a living and recommend audiophiles skip the Prime Day sales and upgrade during Black Friday instead
Magico launched entry-level, high-end speakers
Yes, the phrases entry-level and high-end sound a bit weird next to each other, but that’s exactly what Magico’s A3 2027 floorstanders are. Featuring a new chassis, upgraded drivers and a redesigned crossover, the A3 2027 is a refined version of the A3, which first launched all the way back in 2017. Despite being set to retail for £28,998 per pair (around $38,000 / AU$55,000), the A3 2027 still sit at the lower end of the high-end audio firm’s range of floorstanders.
Read the full story: Magico's A3 2027 refines every part of the original A3 speaker, with a new cabinet, drivers and crossover – but costs over twice as much
We found a diamond in the rough 5.1 surround sound package
2026 has been a tough year for home cinema fans on a tight budget, with not one but two of the more affordable packages we long recommended in our best surround sound systems guide going to the audio farm in the sky.
Thankfully, last week, we finally found a replacement for one of them in the shape of the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i HCP. Built around the firm’s entry-level Diamond 12.1i standmount speakers, the £999 package delivers a nicely cohesive and entertaining performance. As we said in our review:
“Wharfedale’s Diamond speaker series offers exceptional value for money, and the 12.1i HCP’s detailed, cohesive and dynamic sound is further proof.”
Read our full Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i HCP review
Rega strikes turntable gold (again)
Last week we finally finished reviewing the Rega Planar 6 RS Edition, a turntable we’ve been excited about for quite some time.
The idea’s simple: take the Award-winning Planar 6 turntable as a starting point and then add elements from the next-tier-up Planar 8 model.
What’s the result? A sublime LP spinner capable of delivering a wonderfully expressive, but precise and authoritative, sound. As we said in our review:
“Rega’s ‘RS’ spin on a more premium model is a thrilling success: it looks great, it sounds great, and it’s great value – what’s not to love?”
Read our full Rega Planar 6 RS Edition review
MORE:
These are the best turntables we’ve tested
We rank the best floorstanding speakers
Our picks of the best surround sound speaker packages
