NAD’s retro-looking streaming amp, Fell Audio’s affordable hi-fi duo, and a KEF speaker package are in for testing this month

We're in the second half of 2025, and as is tradition, it's usually when our busiest period starts.

While many of you may be enjoying a relaxing summer holiday, we are buzzing with excitement as we have some great new products in for testing.

Most notably, 2025's flagship TVs from Samsung and Panasonic and a KEF Q Meta Series surround sound speaker package are in, while we have some tasty hi-fi from NAD and new British brand Fell Audio.

Additionally, our annual What Hi-Fi? Awards judging period is underway, so our test rooms are being inundated with new products waiting to be considered and listened to, to see if they nab a coveted trophy this year.

As before, if you have any questions about these products before we get started on our reviews, don't be shy: post a comment at the bottom of this page, head to our forums or social media channels, or email us at whathifi@futurenet.com with your query. We’ll do our best to find the answer during our testing process and get back to you.

Now, to the products we have in for review...

NAD C 3050

The NAD C 3050 was originally launched as a limited edition model for the brand's 50th birthday, but is now fully available, and aims to combine NAD's vintage heritage with today's cutting-edge technology.

The 1970s cursive text, illuminated VU meters and walnut details might get your retro senses tingling, but inside the amplifier is NAD's modern HybridDigital UcD technology (which offers 100 watts per channel) and a Texas Instruments 32-bit/384kHz DAC. The amp boasts analogue and digital connectivity, including MM phono inputs and an HDMI eARC.

Another modern NAD blueprint is its modular nature, and this allows you to add on a MDC2 Blu-OS module and turn the C 3050 into a fully-fledged just-add-speakers streaming amplifier. This is the version we have in for testing, which includes the full complement of network hi-res streaming, Dirac Live Room Correction and multi-room capabilities.

Ruark Audio MR1 Mk3

Ruark Audio's MR1 series of dinky powered speakers has been some of our favourite desktop speakers for their good looks, great price and hugely engaging sound. After an initial preview during launch, we finally have a review sample of the MR1 Mk3 in our test rooms.

The MR1 Mk3 keep their dimensions, visual style and price point (under £400) fairly similar, but under the hood, they now have a Class D amplifier (instead of the Class A/B used in their previous two generations), a new 8.5cm mid/bass driver, and the inclusion of a moving magnet phono stage and a USB-C input.

We are promised deeper bass, greater control and power for "a significant leap in acoustic performance" – it's been eight years since the Award-winning MR1 Mk2 launched, so we can't wait to hear how these updated speakers sound.

Read our Ruark MR1 Mk3 hands-on review

Fell Audio Amp/Disc

Fell Audio has made quite the stir in the hi-fi market, launching last year with the aim of bringing back British manufacturing at affordable price points. The new brand is backed by AV retailer Peter Tyson, and its products are designed and built in the UK.

We have both the Fell Amp integrated amplifier and Fell Disc CD player in for testing, costing £599 and £499 respectively – highly competitive in today's market.

The illuminated green buttons (which are touch-capacitative) are reminiscent of many 1970s British hi-fi designs, but it doesn't look backwards with its specifications: both models feature analogue and digital connectivity, sporting an ESS Sabre DAC in the amp and CD player. The Fell Amp boasts 89 watts per channel of Class D amplification, alongside Bluetooth 5.0 streaming.

How will this nascent brand fare against its current rivals in both categories? We are curious to find out.

Panasonic Z95B

We had our first glimpse of Panasonic's flagship TV for 2025 back in January's CES showcase, but we now have a review sample (65-inch screen size) in our test rooms.

The Z95B uses a new OLED panel technology, called Primary RBG Tanden OLED. It's an LG Display technology that replaces the short-lived Micro Lens Array (MLA) panel, and stacks four OLED layers on top of each other to achieve much higher brightness than what MLA could manage.

Elsewhere, you get two HDMI 2.1 sockets, support for all HDR formats (HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision), and it continues to run on Amazon's Fire TV platform.

The Z95B also has a fancy arrangement when it comes to its integrated speakers, courtesy of sister brand Technics. It has a multi-speaker Dolby Atmos system with up-firing drivers in a 5.1.2 arrangement. We're excited to put this brand-new set through its paces.

Read our Panasonic Z95B hands-on review

Samsung S95F

We have another flagship 2025 TV model in for testing, this time from Samsung. The S95F has the same QD-OLED panel as the awesome, five-star Sony Bravia 8 II, and promises to be Samsung's brightest OLED TV yet.

The S95F is reportedly 30 per cent brighter than last year's excellent sets and claims to reach 2000 nits peak brightness – up from 1650 nits peak on the S95D – while retaining the same energy usage as its predecessor.

This TV also includes a new immersive format and potential Dolby Atmos rival, called Eclipsa Audio (developed in partnership with Google), which brings open-source immersive audio to YouTube.

Dolby Vision is off the menu but all other HDR formats and latest gaming specs are accounted for. Most positively, it features four – that's right, four! – HDMI 2.1 sockets.

Read our Samsung S95F hands-on review

KEF Q Meta speaker package

We really liked the all-round talented performance of the KEF's Q Concerto Meta standmount speakers – the first model we tested from its revamped, entry-level Q Series.

The updated Q Meta series features the brand's 12th-generation Uni-Q driver array and innovative Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT) for the first time. We have heard and been impressed by this MAT technology in KEF's LS50 Meta, R3 Meta and LS50 Wireless II (to name but a few five-star models). It is a complex, maze-like structure that sits behind the tweeter dome and absorbs 99% of unwanted high-frequency sound for a cleaner, detailed sound.

The five-star Concerto Meta standmounters form the basis of this surround speaker package we'll be testing, which also includes on-wall surrounds (Q4 Meta), a matching centre (Q6 Meta) and a 12-inch subwoofer (Kube 12 MIE) – all for a £3000 package.

Lindemann Limetree Phono II

Now for something a little different. Lindemann may not be a big hi-fi name, but the tiny, somewhat ordinary-looking products we've tested have won us over with their considerable musical talents.

We reviewed the first-generation Limetree Phono back in 2018 and praised its "amazing sound" for articulate detail, expressive dynamics, surefooted sense of rhythm and superbly judged tonal balance.

We now have the follow-up, the Limetree Phono II, in for testing and are hoping this dinky MM/MC phono stage for £650 delights us once more.

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