With the clocks moving back, summer long gone, and our What Hi-Fi? Awards 2026 winners all announced, we find ourselves suddenly in the penultimate month of the year. Where does the time go, and so on?
But being in the waning months of 2026 doesn't mean there isn't a lack of new launches and exciting products. Rega surprised us all by announcing a new budget turntable last month (which we now have in our test rooms), while Rotel's new premium CD player is waiting in the wings. Who says physical media is dead?
On the home cinema side, we have a soundbar system with novel battery-powered surround speakers and a high-end UST projector that goes up against one of our newly minted Award winners.
As always, 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 get back to you with an answer.
Rega Replay
Rega made a splash when it unveiled its newest budget turntable: the Replay. Priced at £259 and sporting an all-new minimal design, the Rega Replay sits below the Award-winning Planar 1 (£329) and goes up against another formidable Award-winner, the Pro-Ject Primary E (£249), which has ruled the budget turntable roost for the best part of a decade.
The Replay borrows many elements from the Planar 1 – the phenolic resin platter, the RB110 tonearm, and the Carbon MM cartridge fitted as standard – but it features a skeletal MDF-core plinth. The Replay is designed to be as plug-and-play and fuss-free as possible and aimed at those completely new to vinyl. We're looking forward to finding out how quick the set-up really is once we get it out of the box, and how it will perform against its more established rivals.
Rotel Michi Prestige Q430
Rotel's new Michi Prestige range aims to bring the brand's more high-end technology and performance standards to more (relatively) accessible prices, and we've already been impressed with the newly crowned 2026 Award winner, the Michi Prestige X430 integrated stereo amplifier.
Now we turn our attention to the partnering CD player, the Q430 (£3599 / $3999 / AU$5499), which features a glass-fronted display, front-loading CD mechanism, an eight-channel 32-bit ESS Sabre ES9028PRO DAC, and has power and internal components that are engineered for optimum performance and reduced noise and distortion.
With physical media – especially CDs – enjoying a boom in popularity, we're excited to give this a spin.
JBL Bar 1300MK2
JBL’s higher-end soundbar systems are designed for those who want a fully enveloping Dolby Atmos surround system without permanently positioned surround speakers. Instead, the battery-powered surround speakers can be docked at either end of the bar and then placed behind your listening position only when you want the full home cinema effect.
This flagship Bar 1300MK2 model (£1400) is considered an 11.1.4-channel system by JBL, which also claims a pretty massive total system power of 2470W.
Samsung Music Studio 7
Samsung's new Music Studio wireless speakers look rather smart with their compact and minimalist lifestyle-friendly designs. We have the bigger and pricier Music Studio 7 (£449) in for review, which boasts Dolby Atmos support and room-filling sound from its 3.1.1-channel driver configuration and 150W of Class D power.
It also features Tidal/Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2, Google Cast and Bluetooth, while an HDMI eARC input makes them ideal for TV speakers (you can pair two together for stereo sound). It can also be used with compatible Samsung TVs thanks to Q-Symphony integration. Rivals include the Sonos Era 300, Apple HomePod 2 and newer competition from the JBL Cove X1, but will Samsung's distinct style make it stand out from the crowd?
Hisense L9Q
Hisense has an excellent track record where UST projectors are concerned, so we have high hopes for this flagship L9Q model, priced at £3499.
With its 4K resolution, a claimed 5000 ANSI lumens of brightness, support for all HDR formats and a sound system tuned by Devialet, the L9Q has all of the ingredients to be a roaring success. But how will it fare against the Award-winning AWOL Vision Aetherion Max?
MORE:
What's your favourite physical music format of all time? Tell us why
Bose has bought Skullcandy, but is it going to be good for its headphones business?
