The annual High End Show always treats us to the very best and latest from the world of hi-fi, but this year, the move to a new venue in Vienna, Austria, seems to have invigorated the industry as a whole. There were several new launches and upcoming previews to feast our eyes upon.
We saw big anniversaries, a couple of comebacks and new designs and concepts, all of which showed that the world of hi-fi is in pretty good health.
You can head to What Hi-Fi?'s Instagram channel to see more from the show floor, but below is a curated list of our main hi-fi highlights from the High End Show 2026.
Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond D5
Bowers & Wilkins is turning 60 this year, and it's gone big with the celebrations. The iconic British brand has updated its flagship 800 Series Diamond speaker range, with the fifth generation imbued with a huge list of improvements, advanced technology and more luxurious finishes.
B&W says this range has been five years in the making and "is the most advanced loudspeaker range we’ve ever made and the ultimate embodiment of John Bowers’ True Sound philosophy". It aims to "deliver a flawlessly accurate rendering of the original recording."
The 800 Diamond D5 range comprises seven models, starting with the 805 D5 standmounters (£10,000 / $15,000) and culminating in the range-topping 801 D5 (£43,000 / $65,000) floorstanders. We heard a demo of the 801 D5 and got a taste of their powerful, authoritative bass and vividly detailed sound – and came away wanting more.
Read our first impressions: I've had a first listen to Bowers & Wilkins' new flagship 800 Series Diamond speakers – and now I'm desperate to hear more
JBL Summit Everest
JBL wants to be on top of the world with its flagship Summit Everest speakers, which are an appropriately mammoth pair, comprising two 38cm woofers and twin 25cm mid/bass drivers, and a large 'Sonoglass' horn working alongside a trio of 5cm compression drivers.
These are the 80-year-old brand's biggest and most expensive speakers: they cost $160,000 per pair, measure 144 x 99 x 69cm (hwd) and weigh 237kg. Phew.
In our demo, they sounded big, powerful and bold, and seemed to handle small-scale recordings with as much gusto and dynamism as more dramatic and demanding tracks.
If our review of the punchy, capable and much smaller five-star Summit Ama are anything to go by, then the Everest should be something quite special.
Read our first impressions: Are JBL’s range-topping Summit speakers worth $160,000? I've had an exclusive listen to find out
Ruark Audio R710
If all of the above seems a bit too rich and too gigantic for your tastes, let us offer something a little more home-friendly.
Ruark Audio's five-star R610 streaming amplifier impressed us hugely with its blend of stunning design, ample feature set and engaging sound, and now it is upping the ante with the step-up R710.
The R710 features the same streaming features and connections as the R610, but boasts a more powerful 200W per channel, a larger cabinet and display screen, and, most important of all, an integrated CD player.
Ruark says it was a popular request with CDs back in demand, and the R710 could be your one-stop music console that can play just about anything. All you need to do is add speakers.
Yours for £2199, the R710 blends “analogue charm with digital convenience” and looks gorgeous in the flesh with the wood details and tactile RotoDial controller on top. The CD drive being hidden in the wooden slats at the front is a clever touch, too.
Jamo Concert Element 50
Another brand that is keeping lifestyle-friendly designs at the forefront of its offering is Jamo, whose return is marked with a variety of ranges, from the traditional Concert Legacy speakers to the small, portable, Bluetooth-friendly Hyg range.
But the model that caught our eye is the Concert Element 50 bookshelf speaker, which is intentionally not designed like a traditional speaker to blend into living spaces.
The Element 50 features a concentric circle of drivers and a shallow 18cm cabinet, so it can fit neatly into bookshelves and cabinets. The fabric grille is removable and can be swapped out for different colours.
We liked how fresh and fun this design feels, and with a price tag of £999/$1099 per pair, Jamo is aiming high for sound and design alike.
MORE: Jamo's Concert series gets an encore with two new ranges from the newly resurrected brand
Dali Vega
Dali's all-in-one wireless system is one of the more interesting and innovative designs we saw at High End Vienna. The Dali Vega can be placed on a tabletop or wall-mounted in landscape or portrait orientations, and is designed to be “the most versatile and user-friendly audio source in the home”.
There are thoughtful touches – from the rather lovely control dial to the OLED screen that flips according to the orientation – while there are modes that detect where the Vega is placed and adapts the sound accordingly.
The music system (it's not a soundbar, there's no Dolby Atmos here) has a 400W digital amp powering 8 channels, and runs on the reliable BluOS streaming platform.
With its distinct style and hefty price at £2599 / $4500, it's a more expensive all-in-one system than the Naim Mu-so 2 and Ruark R410, but it could well go toe-to-toe with the even pricier Focal Mu-so Hekla. We're excited to find out after the Vega is available in October.
Read our first impressions: Dali Vega hands-on review
Cambridge Audio Evo 300
Cambridge Audio took to High End Vienna with its most powerful streaming amplifier yet.
The new Evo 300 boasts 300W per channel of Hypex NCOREx Class D power and a new ESS Sabre DAC for playing hi-res files up to 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512. It's packed the gills with every popular network streaming feature you can think of, along with HDMI eARC and a moving magnet phono stage.
As before, it retains the lifestyle-friendly design with swappable side panels and a larger, full colour display that looks crisp and punchy in person.
In our brief demo, we found that the Evo 300 delivered an open, expansive sound with a good amount of bass weight, although we'll have to spend more time with it in our test rooms to get a full picture.
The Evo 300 is also Cambridge's priciest streaming amp yet, costing £3499 / $3999.
Read our first impressions: Cambridge Audio Evo 300 hands-on review
AudioQuest DragonFly Copper
One of our favourite products from the show wasn't big, expensive, flashy or outrageous. It was the latest small but potentially mighty USB DAC/headphone amp from AudioQuest's celebrated DragonFly range, and we couldn't be more excited.
The now-retired DragonFly Cobalt has been one of our most recommended, easy-to-use DACs for many years, and the new DragonFly Copper is set to take on that mantle.
It has the same small form (albeit with a shiny copper exterior), with a USB-A port at one end and a 3.5mm headphone jack/audio output at the other.
The Copper claims to be the most powerful and efficient DragonFly yet, and it will be on sale from September with a modest cost of £230 / $250. If it can match – or improve upon – the performance we enjoyed from the superb Cobalt, then it could be on to another winner.
MORE: The DragonFly Copper hovers into view as AudioQuest's most powerful and efficient DAC yet
Clearaudio Rammstein
We're used to seeing eye-catching artist collaboration turntables from Pro-Ject (who did debut a new Harley Davidson special limited turntable for €2590), but Clearaudio is also dipping its toe into this arena with its inaugural Artist Series.
The first artist for this collaboration? German metal band Rammstein. The Rammstein turntable stands out with a substantial MDF block chassis with metallic lacquer finish, with internal LED lighting in red or white illuminating the band's name.
The turntable is based on the five-star Concept's engineering, and comes fitted with the T1 tonearm and a specially branded moving magnet cartridge.
Only 1000 units will be made worldwide, and it will be available to buy from October with a price tag of £1990 / $2600. A nice touch is that each turntable will ship with a wooden crate that can be used for vinyl storage, too.
MORE: Clearaudio unveils five (!) new turntables, including a new range and a Beatles tribute deck
Arcam A50 Signature
Another brand celebrating a big birthday is Arcam, who is turning 50 this year (the very same age as What Hi-Fi? in fact) and at Vienna, it went for a more subdued approach in its mature age.
The A50 Signature sits at the top of the Award-winning Radia amplifier range, and is created in collaboration with Arcam co-founder John Dawson, who insisted on looking forward instead of revisiting past designs or creating a nostalgia-driven amplifier.
The A50 Signature wants to be the ultimate expression of Arcam's Class G design, and uses a dual-mono architecture with 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms.
Plenty of care has been taken with the internal circuitry to deliver the purest audio performance possible. It follows the same minimal design language and ample feature set as the Award-winning A15+, with Dawson wanting to ensure that the A50 Signature "remains relevant to how people listen today."
His signature can be seen on the rear cowl and on the PCBs (printed circuit boards) inside, but that's all the flourish you'll get on this £2499 / $3000 stereo amplifier.
MORE: Arcam celebrates 50 years of hi-fi with a new signature amplifier and a premium CD player
Musical Fidelity A1 CD
We'll end this list on a product that isn't a reality yet, but still had us talking about it during the show.
Musical Fidelity showed off a prototype CD player based on a mid-90s design that was affectionately nicknamed "The Frog." Why? Because it used Class A single-ended triodes in the output stage, with the valves sticking out at the back of the unit like the amphibian's eyes.
Like the original Musical Fidelity CDT CD player, this conceptual A1 CD features the same casing and design as the iconic A1 amplifier, with a top-loading disc tray, updated to look sleeker, along with redesigned buttons.
We don't have any more information about pricing or availability of this disc spinner, but it's a charming design, and one we hope becomes a reality soon.
MORE:
7 of the quirkiest, coolest and most expensive things we saw at High End Vienna 2026
