It's finally October, and despite the unseasonably warm and sunny start to the month, everyone at What Hi-Fi? is gearing up for a cosy autumn. After a manic September where we listened to dozens of new products for our annual What Hi-Fi? Awards, we're now just a week away from announcing the 2026 Best Buy winners – tune in next Tuesday, 13th October, to find out!
We have plenty of reviews coming up in the meantime, from an affordable set of wired in-ears to £20,000 Italian floorstanders. We're also testing JBL's Sonos-rivalling wireless speakers, a successor to an Award-winning hi-res music player, and trying the best combination of rear surrounds and subwoofer to complete the five-star Sony Bravia Theatre Trio system.
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 swiftly answer. For now, enjoy a little peek into the hi-fi and home cinema products we've got in our test rooms this month.
Sonus Faber Olympica III G3
Sonus Faber makes some beautiful speakers. Especially at the high-end level, the Italian hi-fi brand's speakers are hand-crafted with utmost care – and the new Olympica III G3 is no exception. These floorstanding speakers feature acoustic technology derived from the flagship Suprema system – such as the irregular-shaped, unpainted Camelia midrange driver that promises "exceptional clarity, transparency, and vocal realism".
These are the third-generation versions of the Olympica range, and the floorstanders we have in for testing cost a pretty penny at £20,000 / $24,000 per pair. Landing firmly in the 'Temptation' category, we can't wait to hear if they live up to expectations.
Sennheiser CX 80U
Wired earbuds are booming in popularity, and they have evolved from their 3.5mm versions to feature a USB-C connection, so they can be plugged into any modern smartphone, laptop, tablet or games console with a USB-C input.
We have Sennheiser's CX 80U wired in-ear headphones in for testing, whose USB-C connection offers low-latency, lossless music playback, with the internal DAC supporting native files up to 24-bit/96kHz.
Costing just £35 / $40, can this affordable Sennheiser model take on the long-running, Award-winning SoundMagic E11C or five-star E80D in-ears?
Astell & Kern PD5
Astell & Kern's A&norma SR35 has been another favourite of ours, nabbing a What Hi-Fi? Award for the best portable music player three years in a row since its release in 2023. We have its successor, the Astell & Kern PD5, in our hands right now, and have been putting it through the paces and comparing it with our old favourite.
Along with a price jump to £899, the premium PD5 sports a simplified redesign, boasts eight hours longer battery life and double the number of DACs compared with its predecessor, and promises to deliver even better sound than before.
It's decked out with exhaustive file compatibility – up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM, native DSD256, aptX and LDAC for wireless – and you can download Tidal and Qobuz onto the compact player, too. Will it continue to lead the field, despite the rise in price? We shall soon find out.
JBL Cove X1
JBL has been dominating the portable Bluetooth speaker category with its Go, Flip, Charge and Xtreme models, but now it has set its sights on the wireless multi-room home speaker category. That's right, JBL is taking on Sonos with its new Cove wireless speaker range, with the flagship of the range – the Cove X1 – in our test rooms right now.
The Cove X1 features six drivers and supports Dolby Atmos spatial audio, with support for AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Bluetooth and all the popular music streaming services. JBL boasts easy connectivity and quick set-up as the things that set the Cove apart from its rivals. Costing £430 / $450 / AU$650, the Cove X1 goes directly up against the five-star Sonos Era 300 (£499 / $449 / AU$749) – we can't wait to hear how it performs.
Dali Sonik 5 5.1 speaker package
Dali’s new Sonik range has been something of a revelation in hi-fi terms, with both the Sonik 1 and Sonik 5 having scored five-star ratings as stereo pairs. One would expect, therefore, that a 5.1 speaker package that features both speakers would be similarly impressive.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that the two speakers will work together harmoniously, and there’s always a chance that the centre (the Sonik Cinema) or subwoofer (the E-9F) could upset the balance, which is why we’re testing the system as a whole (costing £2199 in total) this month.
Sony Bravia Theatre Trio + Rear 9 and Sub 9
When we tested Sony’s Bravia Theatre Trio, which is essentially a soundbar deconstructed into centre, left and right speakers, we also gave it a try with the optional Rear 9 speakers and Sub 8 subwoofer. We found this full system to be close to perfect for its purpose and price, but theorised that a swap from the Sub 8 to the Sub 9 would solve the last remaining imperfections.
Well, this month, we’re putting that theory to the test…
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