We’re in the final days of September, and to celebrate the imminent arrival of 2025’s spooky season, we’ve penned a fresh entry into our weekly hi-fi and home cinema news digest.
It was an incredibly busy week for the What Hi-Fi? team with massive hi-fi brands including Bowers & Wilkins, KEF, Pro-Ject and Bang & Olufsen all launching new products. On top of that we also got fresh word from Harman, which completed its acquisition of Sound United.
Here’s everything you need to know.
We had a chinwag with Harman about its plans for B&W, Denon and more
The biggest news to break last week was Harman completing its purchase of Sound United, a giant group that includes Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, Classé, HEOS and Boston Acoustics under its umbrella.
The deal was announced in May but Harman, which has been owned by Samsung since 2016, has been tight-lipped about its specific plans for each brand.
Which is why, with the deal now complete, eager folks that we are we got straight on the phone to Dave Rogers, President, Lifestyle Division, Harman, to find out what the purchase means for each company.
Read the full story: “Maintaining that core identity of each brand is imperative” – Harman won't be tinkering with Bowers & Wilkins' sound following Sound United acquisition
Bowers & Wilkins launched new wireless headphones
Last week Bowers & Wilkins unveiled its latest Px8 S2 wireless headphones, claiming they’re “the best it has ever created”.
The new headphones are a follow up to the five star B&W Px8 we reviewed in 2022. B&W’s making some punchy claims about the upgrades it has made, the biggest being the use of a new 40mm Carbon Cone drive unit. B&W claims the new unit will let the headphones offer "exceptionally low colouration and distortion" and "stunning detail and clarity".
We’ve been testing the Px8 S2 for over a week and are on the verge of publishing our review, where we'll verify if the bold claims ring true with real-world use. So make sure to check back soon for our final verdict of the Px8 S2 and how they compare to their main rivals, the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Dali IO-8.
Read the full story: Bowers & Wilkins pledges its new flagship wireless cans are the "best headphones we have ever created"
KEF has a new Bluetooth speaker
KEF’s been on a run recently, launching a wealth of new products over the past nine months. These range from its first soundbar, the five-star KEF XIO, which we reviewed earlier this year, to a new Bluetooth speaker it unveiled last week.
Specifically, the brand launched its second generation Muo, a colourful unit looking to dominate the upper echelons of the Bluetooth speaker market, with pricing starting at £249 / $249 / AU$460.
The speaker has been redesigned internally from the ground up, making it a completely different beast to the original KEF Muo, which launched all the way back in 2015 and proved to be good, but not best in class – earning four, rather than five stars.
Technical highlights include the use of a tweaked version of the P-Flex Surround Technology seen in KEF’s KC62 and KC92 subwoofers, alongside the Music Integrity Engine DSP processing, previously found in larger hi-fi speakers, including the KEF LS60 Wireless.
Read the full story: KEF’s new Muo speaker promises premium sound, wrapped in funky colour options
Bang & Olufsen’s latest wireless earbuds are uber-expensive
Wireless headphones costing over £1000 / $1000 are becoming increasingly common. Bang & Olufsen, Mark Levinson, Focal, T+A and even luxury brand Loewe all offer premium pairs at the moment.
Thousand-bucks wireless earbuds, however, are still something of a rarity. Which is why when Bang & Olufsen unveiled its new £1000 / €1200 / $1500 Beo Grace earbuds, the move turned a few heads in What Hi-Fi? towers.
What has B&O done to justify their price? There are two key things. First is the use of premium 12mm titanium drivers and an “advanced acoustic architecture” that the firm claims will let them deliver “unrivalled audio performance”.
The second is their custom ‘EarSense-powered’ Adaptive ANC, which B&O claims is “four times” more effective than any previous B&O earbuds.
We haven’t had a chance to check either claim as we’re yet to get a pair in for testing. But the price and bold marketing claims make the Grace an interesting beast nonetheless.
Read the full story: Bang & Olufsen promises its new flagship wireless buds are its “best-sounding and most intelligent ever”
Pro-Ject’s new premium turntables look swish
After showing them off as prototypes earlier this year, Austrian hi-fi brand Pro-Ject has finally fully launched its flagship Signature 12.2 and The Classic Reference, putting them on sale in the UK.
The Signature 12.2 is the star of the show, with the firm claiming it is the most advanced turntable it has ever made – a bold message considering Pro-Ject's strong record in the record playing market. Built from 100 individually CNC-machined parts, the record player is full of custom hardware you won’t find anywhere else and is available at Henley Audio for £10,599 (around $14,000 / AU$22,000).
Below it, the Classic reference is a limited edition greatest-hits piece that combines elements of Pro-Ject's Classic EVO and VPO 175 Vienna Philharmonic. But, be warned, while it’s a lot less than its launch partner, the Classic is still an undeniably premium turntable, with pricing set at £4349 (around $6000 / AU$9000).
Read the full story: Pro-Ject's new flagship Signature 12.2 turntable is its "most advanced" ever
MORE:
These are the best record players we’ve fully reviewed
Our picks of the best wireless earbuds
We rank the best wireless headphones
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