We're in September now, which means two things: a long summer has given way to rainy autumn, and our annual What Hi-Fi? Awards season is in full swing.
Our AV and hi-fi test rooms are stacked with brand new products across a wide range of categories, from flagship TVs and various-sized projectors, to new stereo speakers and turntables – and much more.
It's an exciting time for our reviewers, and while we can't list every single submission we have in here (that would take days to write and read – it's a huge list!), we have cherry-picked the biggest products that we are putting to the test imminently.
These include new stereo speakers from Monitor Audio and Dali, a Dolby Atmos soundbar system from Yamaha, a massive (yet affordable) 98-inch TCL telly, and a mid-range stereo amplifier from Musical Fidelity.
As ever, if you have any questions about the products we're testing, drop us a comment below or email us at whathifi@futurenet.com, and we'll do our best to find the answer during our review process and get back to you.
Musical Fidelity B1xi
The stereo amplifier category hasn't exactly been overflowing with new contenders in recent years. We have, therefore, been itching to get Musical Fidelity's new mid-range B1xi integrated into our test rooms ever since it was first teased at the start of the year.
It costs £699 / $879 / €799, meaning it goes up against terrific rivals such as the five-star Rega Brio Mk7 (also new this year) and the Award-winning Arcam A5 – so it should prove to be an exciting comparison. The B1xi sports Class A/B amplification and 60 watts per channel, (into 8 ohms) and has a nice array of analogue and digital inputs.
The internal DAC supports up to 24-bit/192kHz files, there's a moving-magnet phono stage, it has Bluetooth 5.1 for easy streaming, and an HDMI ARC input. That's plenty of features to please any hi-fi fan, especially at this price.
We can't wait to find out how it sounds.
Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G
Monitor Audio's entry-level Bronze speakers have a storied history with us, with the older Bronze 2 winning multiple Awards and being our go-to recommendation for budget speakers for many years.
While the last Bronze 100 speaker didn't go down quite so well with our reviewers, we are hoping Monitor Audio is back to form with the new Bronze 50 7G. The brand has looked back to all generations of Bronze speakers to identify their core DNA and strengths and has refined every element to deliver a high-fidelity entry point to its signature sound. They are the only bookshelf models in the latest seventh-generation Bronze series, and cost a competitive £500 / €600 / $700 per pair.
The two-way speaker features a 25mm Ceramic-Coated Aluminium Magnesium (C-CAM) gold-dome tweeter and a 15cm C-CAM mid/bass driver, while the cabinet has been reinforced to reduce unwanted driver resonance and improve structural integrity. It is available in three finishes, with a combination of real wood and plywood front baffles for an elevated look.
At this price, the Bronze 50 7G speakers sit between two Award-winning Bowers & Wilkins speakers, and also slightly undercut the new five-star Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2.
Dali Kupid
Dali has been focusing on high-end fare in the past few years (its flagship Kore speakers and premium IO-8 wireless cans, for example), so it was quite a surprise when the eye-catching and affordable Dali Kupid bookshelf speakers were revealed.
Just a single pair of speakers has been launched, not a series, but it has already made an impact in our test rooms. The Kupid are small, cost just £299 per pair and come in a variety of appealing and colourful shades such as bright golden yellow and chilly blue (our review pair, see above), along with white, black, and walnut.
The Kupid speakers feature a 26mm soft-dome tweeter and Dali's proprietary paper and wood-fibre mid/bass driver. They are designed around a philosophy of “keep it simple”, while also promising “hi-fi” quality sound when paired with budget amplifiers and modern streaming amps such as the compact WiiM Amp Pro and Amp Ultra.
The aim here is to make hi-fi more accessible, and the budget price point and friendly design of these Dali Kupid speakers certainly have our attention. Let's hope they live up to their positive first impressions.
Yamaha True X Surround 90A
Yamaha's new True X Surround 90A Dolby Atmos sound system consists of a soundbar, subwoofer and two wireless surrounds – a considerable evolution from the single-bar design of its previous efforts.
It takes inspiration from the brand's very first soundbar, the groundbreaking YSP-1 from 2005, with two arrays of upward-firing beam speakers at either end of the soundbar. Each cluster includes six drivers, which are modernised versions of the drive units found in the original YSP-1.
The new soundbar system doesn't come cheap – it is priced at a very premium £2500, meaning it will have to square up against some big-name soundbars and systems, which include the five-star KEF XIO, Samsung HW-Q990F and Sonos Arc Ultra rivals.
Our AV senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, went to Yamaha's HQ in Japan for an early preview of this new soundbar system, so check out his first impressions here: Yamaha True X Surround 90A hands-on review.
TCL 98C7K
If you think a gigantic, affordable image can be achieved only by a projector, think again. We have TCL's 98-inch C7K Mini LED TV in for testing, and our TV/AV Editor Tom Parsons is already convinced that it could spell trouble for the projector market.
Without giving too much away before the official review, he says this giant-screen TV is so good and represents such a good value, that it could be a genuine alternative to many projector brands’ current offerings.
The 98-inch TCL telly features 2000 dimming zones, Quantum Dot colours and a claimed peak brightness of 3000 nits. It's a bright, punchy picture, and while it can't achieve the depths of darkness and control you get from an OLED TV, consider that an equivalent OLED TV at this sort of size will cost upwards of £20,000.
This 98-inch TCL TV, meanwhile, costs just £2400. That's not a typo.
Philips OLED810 and OLED910
We have two key models from Philips's 2025 OLED TV range in our test rooms right now. The first one is the 77-inch OLED810, which is billed as the brand's “core” model and is designed to rival the LG C5 and Sony Bravia 8 – both of which have received five-star verdicts from us this year.
The OLED810 promises 1500 nits of peak brightness, an integrated 70W 2.1 sound system and three-sided Ambilight technology.
Meanwhile, the step-up 65-inch OLED910 features the same Primary RGB Tandem OLED technology as the flagship LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B models, and it will also square up against the Samsung S95F and Sony Bravia II – so it has sterling rivals to compete against.
The OLED910 is claimed to offer 3700 nits peak brightness, while offering a more immersive four-sided Ambilight. Its sound system is also a step up – it's a 3.1 system courtesy of Bowers & Wilkins.
Check out our Philips OLED910 hands-on review.
WiiM Amp Ultra
WiiM keeps going from strength to strength. Its compact music streamers have impressed us with their easy-to-use, versatile features and enjoyable sound at previously unheard-of budget prices. Its streaming amplifiers have been more of a mixed bag: the first WiiM Amp received three stars from us, while the step-up WiiM Amp Pro delivered a more enjoyable sound and gained four stars. If it continues this upward momentum, it could prove to be very good news for the range-topping WiiM Amp Ultra.
It has the popular network streaming features, an HDMI input, is capable of playing up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD512 files, and boasts a more powerful 100 watts per channel (into 8 ohms) amplification. To top it all off, it features the lovely touchscreen display we liked so much in the WiiM Ultra streamer.
Costing just £499 / $529, the Amp Ultra is still one of the most affordable streaming amp systems we have come across.
MORE:
Read our Eversolo DMP-A10 review
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