Having resisted for almost two decades, I finally took the plunge recently and tried living with a turntable as part of our special Vinyl Week.

I expected to enjoy the experiment. What I didn't expect was to fall completely in love with it.

Within days, I found myself eagerly browsing record shops, keeping an eye out for bargains on eBay and looking for excuses to put an album on.

More surprisingly, my family got into it, too. The simple ritual of choosing a record, putting it on the platter and dropping the needle proved far more engaging than scrolling endlessly through Spotify.

There was just one problem: because my main living room system is the Sony HT-A9, I needed a Bluetooth turntable that could sit at the back of the room without cables trailing across the floor.

The Pro-Ject T1 EVO BT fit the bill perfectly, but while the setup worked, I quickly discovered that the HT-A9 only supports compressed Bluetooth audio.

The result was a noticeable compromise in sound quality. I loved the vinyl experience, but I knew I wasn't hearing what the turntable was capable of.

Rather than abandon the whole project, I decided to build a minimalist hi-fi system that could coexist with my existing home cinema setup.

The turntable's location was already approved by my wife, so moving it wasn't an option: whatever I chose had to work wirelessly, fit neatly into our living room and, ideally, sound fantastic.

After much research and consultation with my esteemed colleagues Kashfia Kabir and Ketan Bharadia, I settled on the KEF Coda W active speakers – and they've been brilliant.

They're not quite as eye-catching as the models in KEF's LS range, but they're very handsome in their own right and, crucially for me, compact enough to slot into the existing bookcase in our living room. More importantly, they sound superb.

For relatively compact speakers, they produce a surprisingly big, confident and weighty sound. That's partly down to the hefty 100W of amplification power per channel. They're also detailed without sounding analytical, tonally balanced without sounding dull, and wonderfully fluid with music.

Crucially, they also support the aptX HD-quality Bluetooth streams sent by the Pro-Ject turntable, and the improvement was immediately obvious.

The speakers impressed me so much, in fact, that they inspired the next stage of the project.

Wanting to get more use from them, I borrowed a WiiM Pro Plus streamer from our hi-fi team and connected it to the Coda W via optical. The result is what I now consider to be a near-perfect modern hi-fi system: a Bluetooth turntable for vinyl, a streamer for everything else and a pair of active speakers that require no separate amplifier.

It's compact, easy to use, living-room friendly and, most importantly, it sounds terrific.

Unfortunately, the KEF Coda W speakers aren't discounted for Amazon Prime Day, nor have I spotted any worthwhile deals elsewhere. That's not especially surprising given how new they are.

Even so, I'd argue they're excellent value at their £799 asking price. There's a reason we awarded them five stars in our KEF Coda W review.

Prime Day is often about chasing the biggest discount, but sometimes the best products to buy are the ones that aren't on sale. The KEF Coda W is just one very personal example.

If you do fancy recreating my minimalist hi-fi setup, though, the good news is that both the Pro-Ject T1 EVO BT turntable and WiiM Pro Plus streamer are currently available at reduced prices:

Amazon Prime Day is off and properly running, but one of the best deals we've found isn't even on Amazon. Bluetooth speakers and wireless headphones are all well and good, but if you're after proper hi-fi and are willing to splash a bit of cash, this could well be the deal for you.

We can think of a worse pair of speakers to get hold of than the the large, refined Focal Aria Evo X No3. They originally debuted at £3499, but you can now pick them up for just £2689 at Peter Tyson, a whopping saving of £810. Now that's a deal!

Measuring in at 115cm tall, the Focal Aria Evo X No3 floorstanders aren't exactly dinky, so you'll need plenty of room to get them sounding their best.

Their considerable height also means that their tweeter axis is quite high, so to ensure their presentation retains the optimal focus and balance, it’s best that your listening height doesn’t fall too far below the tweeter. Maybe sit on a cushion or something...

The speakers' three-way design consists of Focal's favoured inverted metal tweeter, along with a 16.5cm Flax midrange and a trio of 16.5cm Flax bass drivers. with Focal promising that the Flax diaphragms offer a great balance of low weight, rigidity and self-damping.

How does that all translate to the test toom?

During our time with the Aria Evo X No3, we found them to be ideal for listeners who value “refinement, composure and unfussiness above all else”. While tracking rhythms and teasing out genuine excitement could be a little better, the Aria Evo X No3 provide plenty of detail, while their midrange is “among the more charming and articulate floorstanders” at this premium price.

As we concluded in our verdict: "The Focal Aria Evo X No3 are a pleasant and undemanding listen; one that is detailed but never ruthless in exposing a recording. If you are after unfussy but still capable floorstanders you could do a lot worse than to give these a listen. They might be exactly what you are looking for".

Now that you can pick them up at their lowest-ever price at Peter Tyson, they could well be the speakers for you. One of the best deals of this Prime Day week, and it's not even on Amazon.

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If you’re just getting into hi-fi, or short on cash, but still want a stellar pair of floorstanding speakers capable of punching above their sonic weight, then we have good news.

After years of belligerently selling at full price, you can currently pick up the Dali Oberon 5 for £499 at Peter Tyson. That’s a solid £299 saving on their regular price, and the lowest currently available; the next best deal we’ve seen is on Amazon, which is selling the Oberon 5 for £599.

Why the Oberon 5 when they’re so long in the tooth? It's a fair question, as the speakers last won a What Hi-Fi? Award all the way back in 2020, and are currently being replaced by Dali’s new Sonik 5.

The answer is simple: they still sound great and are incredibly competitive performers at their new, lower price. In fact, they were so good that eagle-eyed regular readers will know I had them shortlisted to replace the Q Acoustics 3030i in my home system for many years.

They only got dethroned after I heard the Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2, which has since replaced them as the top entry on my letter to Santa. However, with them selling for £1199, that’s a big step-up in price. And for those looking for an entry-level, sub-£500 set of speakers, the Oberon 5 is a fantastic option.

As we say in our review:

“Overall, these speakers manage to sound notably larger than they are. The Q Acoustics 3050i dig even more deeply into the bass, but lack the sheer expressiveness of these Dalis, particularly through the mid and higher frequencies.”

As we said in our review, they offer buyers an unfussy, fun-sounding set of floorstanders that will match nicely with a variety of amps – including the Technics SA-C600 system I have in my lounge and the newer, Award-winning Arcam A5+ from last year.

That’s why, if you’re shopping at that level during Prime Day, I’d wholeheartedly recommend considering grabbing a pair at their current price while stocks last. With the Sonik 5 now out, they won’t be around much longer if you don’t.

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Searching for floorstanders this Prime Day week? You're in luck!

The Q Acoustics 5050 are some of the finest mid-price floorstanders you're likely to find, and while their makers took a risk in reinventing its new 5000 range at a shifted price point and a new sonic signature, it paid off handsomely. That What Hi-Fi? Award wasn't given for nothing, you know.

They've just got a lot more affordable for Prime Day, too, but not at Amazon. The Q Acoustics 5050 are down to £999 at Sevenoaks, Richer Sounds and Peter Tyson, knocking £300 off what was already a very competitive price and representing the lowest we've yet seen for the five-star floorstanders.

We've been suitably enamoured of the Q Acoustics 5050 for a while now, so much so that they're still our mid-range pick on our list of the best floorstanding speakers.

As a member of the 5000 range, the 5050 shares a lot in common design-wise with the Award-winning Q Acoustics 5040. The main difference is larger twin mid/bass drivers (15cm vs. 12.5cm) and a larger cabinet making the 5050 a better choice for bigger listening spaces.

Despite the increase in size, there’s no sign of overreaching for the Q Acoustics towers. As we wrote in our review: “There is no questioning the clarity and insight on offer. Like their junior siblings, these speakers dig up plenty of detail.

“They can delve into complex productions such as Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians and deliver clear insights. They never sound confused and manage to keep hold of a multitude of instrumental strands without losing track of the musical whole. That is not an easy thing to do.”

The 5050 are particularly impressive with bass, remaining composed and unstressed even at high volume. In short, they offer some of the most controlled and articulate bass we have heard from a tower at this level.

The 5050 do need some care with partnering, though, especially as their presentation can be a touch forward. While the 5050 will provide a decent sound with budget amplifiers, we recommend looking at more talented options – Arcam’s A5 and A5+ or the Cambridge Audio XA81 are good starting points.

Partner those with a decent source such as the Arcam CD5 CD player or Rega Planar 3 record player and you have a heck of a system on your hands.

Smartly finished and a delightful listen, the Q Acoustics 5050 offer grace and power at a really competitive price. With £300 off at Sevenoaks, Richer Sounds and Peter Tyson, they're more tempting than ever before.

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French audio manufacturer Triangle has unveiled three passive speakers as part of its new Solstice range. Building on the legacy of the Esprit series, the Solstice lineup features the Solstice 8 floorstanders, the Solstice 3 standmounters, and the home-cinema-oriented Solstice C3 center channel.

The new Solstice speakers aim to offer a "natural and deeply lifelike sound reproduction" that will appeal to demanding audiophiles and first-time hi-fi buyers alike.

Priced at £1999 / €1999 / $2799 per pair, the Solstice 8 floorstanders feature a three-way design. This configuration combines Triangle’s new 25mm horn-loaded tweeter with a 16cm driver and a pair of 16cm woofers. To enhance low-end performance, the speakers also include a concealed bass port, which has been neatly integrated into their base.

The Solstice 3 standmounts, costing £999 / €999 / $1349 per pair, are a two-way design intended to create an “open and precise sound”. The speakers pair a 16mm mid/bass driver with the same 25mm tweeter and inconspicuous bass port design found in the Solstice 8.

In our five-star review of Triangle’s Esprit Comete Ez, we emphasised the speakers’ need for solid stands. Triangle appears to have taken note, because the Solstice 3 have been specifically designed for use with the company’s S05 stands, which are available separately for those willing to fork out £279 for a pair.

To complete the range, the Solstice C3 centre channel “ensures perfect sound consistency within home cinema set-ups” according to Triangle. Priced at £579 / €575 / $750, the C3’s sealed enclosure houses a two-way design, featuring dual 16cm midrange drivers and the signature 25mm tweeter.

You might have noticed that all of the Solstice speakers employ Triangle’s visually striking new horn-loaded tweeter. By including an injection moulded phase plug and barrel-shaped cut out at the base of the horn, Triangle claims the new design delivers a more consistent frequency response and better integration with the midrange drivers.

The cabinet for each speaker has new internal reinforcement to reduce unwanted resonances from affecting the signal, in pursuit of improving the "acoustic neutrality" of the speaker.

Starting from today, Triangle’s new Solstice speakers are available in teak, birch, white and ash black finishes.

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Focal has a new flagship active wireless speaker system, and you'd better start saving it you want to get your hands on one.

The new Focal Diva Alta Utopia sits at the summit of the brand's Diva Utopia range, which is made in collaboration with sister-brand Naim Audio. As with the rest of the range, the new system offers built-in amplification alongside wireless streaming powers in a pair of floorstanding speakers – and it's the largest, most powerful and most expensive model yet.

We reviewed the first of the range, the five-star Diva Utopia system in late 2024, and found it a very impressive offering.

Focal pledges that this new flagship Alta Utopia system is "aimed at the most demanding audiophiles looking for an exceptional system", taking the ingredients of the established lineup and elevating them to new heights.

The Diva Alta Utopia features a new generation of the brand's 'Prism' tweeter, a 27mm unit which combines multiple materials for "the perfect balance between lightness, damping and rigidity".

That tweeter is complemented by a reinforced 13cm 'M-profile' midrange driver, with carbon reinforcement and a sealed enclosure that aims to offer a detailed, natural sounding mid-frequency reproduction.

Four 20.5cm woofers in each tower tease a deep and articulate bass, while a 16.5cm 'W' mid/bass driver uses a cone with two sheets of glass on either side of a central foam body, which, says Focal, grants the ideal blend of lightness, rigidity and damping.

The active system packs a huge 600 watts of Class A/B power per speaker, which is distributed over four dedicated amplifiers to provide what Focal says is an "exceptionally wide" sound with "no dynamic compression".

Thanks to the implementation of Naim's Pulse streaming platform, the flagship system can accept high-resolution files up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM. The Diva Alta Utopia uses Focal's 'Ultra Wideband' technology to ensure 24-bit/192kHz wireless support between the speakers, and a hi-res connecting cable is also provided.

'Focal Time Management' tech is integrated, wherein the speakers' drivers are arranged in a curved arc to obtain a more consistent and realistic sound image at all times. This design is in keeping with Focal's Utopia series of passive speakers.

Streaming support is extensive, with UPnP compatibility allowing you to stream digital files across a home network from a NAS unit, and the system is compatible with the most popular platforms, such as Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz. AirPlay 2 and Google Cast are also on board, while aptX Adaptive codec support allows for 24-bit Bluetooth playback from a compatible source.

For physical connections, the primary loudspeaker houses HDMI eARC, optical, USB-C and RCA line-level inputs, and an ethernet port if you prefer a wired connection to the internet. Those physical connections are mounted to a curved heat sink, designed for maximised thermal dissipation, while an aluminium base aims for optimised airflow and better ventilation.

The Focal Diva Alta Utopia is available now, in five distinct finishes: Grey Felt, Ivory Felt, Black High Gloss, Off White High Gloss, and Dune High Gloss.

The price? A rather hefty £165,000 / $199,999 / €190,000 for the felt finishes and £175,000 / $210,000 / €199,990 for high gloss. That's considerably higher than the original Diva Utopia we tested at £29,999 / $39,999 / AU$59,999 per pair.

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Wharfedale has revamped its top-of-the-range Elysian series of loudspeakers.

The Elysian Series R now replaces all of the five established models in the range, including the five-star Elysian 4 floorstanders, promising "elevated engineering and an even more captivating musical performance".

The new line-up consists of the Elysian 1R two-way standmounts, the Elysian 2R three-way standmounts, the Elysian 3R and 4R three-way floorstanders, and the Elysian CR centre channel.

Wharfedale describes the new R range as an evolution of the previous Elysian speakers rather than a full-scale reinvention, with components revisited and refined to deliver "greater accuracy, transparency and musical realism".

The Elysian R range deploys enhanced 'Air Motion Transfer' (AMT) tweeters, designed for greater sonic resolution and accuracy alongside ultra-low distortion. The AMT tweeters have been updated with a new "ultra-light" pleated diaphragm, with an "enlarged, high-specification design" combined with the acoustically damped rear chamber. This should result in a more open and effortless quality to the high frequency performance.

Apart from the smaller Elysian 1R, all of the new speakers house a 15cm midrange driver with a cone constructed using a woven glass fibre matrix, which Wharfedale promises results in "astonishing realism and tonal accuracy".

Depending on the model, either an 18cm or 22cm glass fibre matrix bass driver is used, which has also been refined alongside the motor system, in pursuit of better depth and control at the lower end of the frequency range.

Wharfedale's the Slot-Loaded Profiled Port returns to work alongside the bass drivers, while the brand has refined other areas of the speakers throughout. These include revised crossovers to improve transparency, and components and circuit board layouts chosen for the shortest signal path and less electromagnetic interference.

For the cabinets, all five Elysian R models feature Wharfedale’s latest Panel Resonance Optimisation System (PROS), whereby a multi-layer construction of woods of differing density is accompanied by strategic bracing for enhanced structural integrity and reduced panel resonance.

All five Wharfedale Elysian R Series speakers will be available from late June in a choice of matt black, matt grey or piano lacquered walnut wood veneer finishes. Prices are as follows:

- Elysian 1R standmounts: £3499 / $5995 / AU$7999 per pair (stands £399)
- Elysian 2R standmounts: £4999 / $8495 / AU$11,999 per pair (stands £449)
- Elysian 3R floorstanders: £5999 / $9995 / AU$13,999 per pair
- Elysian 4R floorstanders: £6999 / $11,995 / AU$15,999 per pair
- Elysian CR centre channel: £3499 / $5995 / AU$7999 (stand £449)

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This year's High End Show uprooted itself from its established base in Munich and found a new home in Vienna, meaning a new venue, a new city and, most importantly, the chance for lots of new people to come and see the best that the world of high-end hi-fi has to offer.

While the venue might have been different, one thing has remained the same: the propensity for the High End Show to throw up some mind-blowing marvels for the delectation of thousands of eager punters.

From massive horn speakers to setups costing more than your family home, Vienna has been host to some of the most striking hi-fi concoctions on the planet over the past few days.

ESD Acoustic Super Dragon horn speakers

Ah, the ESD Super Dragon speakers – it's always good to see them.

Not that you can miss the mighty Dragons, mind. We've been crossing paths with the mammoth horn speakers for quite a few years at High End Munich, and now they've flown themselves over to pastures new to wow Viennese audiences with their big sound and unmistakably gigantic horns.

Calling themselves the "biggest hi-fi speakers" in the world, ESD's monsters stand at 140cm tall, weigh 1190kg, and house foiled beryllium and titanium sandwich diaphragms.

Want a full Dragon System? Prepare to hand over $1,531,163 for the "entry level" version. The even higher-end, special edition Super Dragon we saw at Vienna reportedly costs over $3.6 million...

Acoustic Signature Invictus Neo turntable

"We could now write an essay on our Invictus Neo. But this would make no sense. You wouldn’t believe us any­way until you have heard our master­piece your­self".

Now that's how you market your product. If big-money turntables are your sort of thing, you won't find many that will empty your bank balance with the same rapidity as Acoustic Signature's Invictus Neo.

At €184,798, it's easily one of the most wallet-busting decks we saw at this year's High End Vienna show. To justify the price, its makers candidly describe it as "the best turntable in the world".

To live up to such a lofty moniker, the Neo packs six integrated AC motors and an external digital control, as well as a rigid DTD bearing, a diamond-coated spindle, and an anodised aluminium and brass sandwich platter. Oh, and a 15-year warranty to soften that mighty financial blow.

MBL 101 X-Treme MKIII loudspeakers

From its polished website to its richly adorned listening space, it's clear that German audio brand MBL is trying to evoke a sense of luxury from its price-stretching range of hi-fi separates and speakers.

MBL had a number of its enviably high-end wares on display in its Vienna showroom, though there's no question that the 101 X-Treme MKIII were the centrepiece of the company's not-so-modest exhibition.

The 101 X-Treme MKIII house a tweeter, upper-midrange, lower-midrange, and a large twin-layered aluminium sandwich subwoofer housed in a downward-firing enclosure. The speakers' drivers use a radial design made from carbon fibre and aluminium segments, which flex outward to fire sound more evenly throughout the room.

We don't know prices yet, but considering the previous generation speakers sailed north of £300,000, that should give you a good idea of what we're dealing with.

Kharma Enigma Veyron EV1D loudspeakers

We don't know about you, but when we hear the word 'Veyron', we think of Bugatti's iconic supercar from a few years back, which smashed records left, right and centre and was the darling of the Top Gear trio for pushing the boundaries of what a legal road car could do.

Kharma teases similar boundary-pushing levels of engineering with its namesake floorstanders, claiming they offer "a new level of sound quality" and "superior technology that pushes the limits of current dynamic loudspeakers".

At the heart of the Enigma Veyron EV1D is the brand's new Omega C-Driver, engineered in-house with a rigid metal composite chassis and solid silver connectors. Those massive cabinets, meanwhile, are constructed using CNC-milled bulletwood, chosen, according to Kharma, for its "exceptional density and acoustic properties".

The EV1D don't just push the boundaries of performance, either. Some have reported the Kharma towers to be "the most expensive speakers in the world" – at $1.5 million, they can't be far off.

Wilson Audio Autobiography loudspeakers

There are houses... and then there are houses. There are cars... and then there are cars. There are speakers... and then there are Wilson Audio's Autobiography towers. Do you get where we're going with this?

To illustrate our point, the Bowers & Wilkins flagship 801 D5 Diamond Series speakers will cost you £43,000 / $65,000 / €50,000, and that's not exactly pocket change. The Autobiography are a tad pricier at $788,000. That's not a mortgage on a house – that's just a house, and quite a nice one at that.

We don't have the time or the space to tell you everything there is to know, but the key bullet points include seven drive units, handcrafted sculpted cabinets, around two meters of height and a total weight of roughly 1000kg.

AMR Luna Series

AMR is back, and it unveiled at High End Vienna its new Luna Series of ultra-high-end separates. The series includes three new models: the Luna Ingenii DAC, Luna Medii preamplifier, and Luna Procellarum monoblock power amp. AMR claims each will offer "unconstrained audio...conceived without commercial compromise".

Production is limited, though. No more than 176 sets of Luna Ingenii, 186 sets of Luna Medii or 148 sets of the Luna Procellarum will be built. According to the firm, this is mainly due to the scarcity of the components used in each and AMR’s desire to provide lifetime service and support.

AMR describes the Luna Series as boasting "engineering without economic restraint". The Luna Procellarum, for instance, uses a unique four-quadrant FET design in which four complete amplifier circuits operate in concert for every channel.

What sort of money are we talking? If you want the entire system, prices will start to creep beyond £400,000 for the pleasure.

Revox Deep Purple Limited Edition series

Are Deep Purple still considered cool? The jury's still out on that one, but we're pretty confident in saying that Revox's limited edition series, built in collaboration with the British hard rock pioneers, isn't exactly lacking in style.

The range consists of the T77 turntable, the Studiomaster A200 speaker and, as pictured above, the B77 MK III stereo tape recorder, all of which sport a rich blue design and distinctive iconographies as part of their special production aesthetic.

Limited edition really does mean limited, too. Only 25 units of the B77 MK III will be available worldwide, while only 50 T77 turntables and 200 A200 speakers will be produced.

We've got to admit that up close and personal, the exclusive new Revox range really does look the business. We only have one question: shouldn't they have been purple instead?

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There have been quite a few candidates vying for the ‘most exciting pair of hi-fi speakers making their grand public debut’ award at this year’s High End Vienna showcase.

Bowers & Wilkins treating the world to the fifth iteration of its 800 Series Diamond range is no small thing, whereas Ruark’s resurrection of its Talisman-R floorstanders is similarly big news but at a significantly lower price point.

Then there’s JBL. The US giant has added twin peaks (sigh) to its five-strong Summit range, with the range-topping Everest and K2 loudspeakers joining the established Summit Makalu, Pumori, and five-star Ama models.

If you want to know what the K2 and Everest are all about, one word springs to mind: big. Both stretch the bounds of both physical size and required cost, with the mighty K2 costing a mere $100,000 and the colossal Everest pushing the needle at a whopping $160,000 per pair.

Big speakers at big prices from one of the biggest names in audio. You know where this is headed – we had to go and give them a listen.

We have already heard the baby of JBL’s Summit range, the effervescent and richly talented Summit Ama standmounts, so as the iPad is unleashed and the test tunes queued up, we’re quietly hoping for those enviable qualities of punch and dynamism to have translated all the way up to the snowy peak of JBL’s mountain-themed roster.

With Mark Levinson’s 626 preamplifier and 631 monoblock stereo amp in tow, it’s time to call in the sherpas and start our trek up that most famous of famous peaks.

As Pete Belsasco’s Deeper blasts out across our reasonably spacious demonstration room, it’s clear that much of the punch and power, not to mention the poise and balance of the five-star Ama, does seem to have translated to these rather more bank-busting pair of Summit range-toppers.

Harman’s engineers quite candidly confess that they would have liked a narrower space in which to work in order to stop sound from dissipating before it reached each side wall, so our usual disclaimer about less-than-ideal test conditions must once again apply here. Show us an ideal demonstration room at a hi-fi show and we’ll show you a talking unicorn.

Deeper is a smooth, jazzy number designed simply to get things started with something relatively undemanding; a move over to Fink’s Trouble’s What You Are In grants a better showcase of what well over $100,000 can get you.

These are big, bold speakers, yet we do sense an admirable feeling of intimacy and closeness to Fink’s acoustic performance as he croons away during a live recording of his aforementioned sampler. What impresses us as we listen more and more is how the Everest seem to switch gears, moving from small-scale sincerity to more dramatic and demanding fare without painting everything with the same broad brush.

JBL is keen to show the depths to which the Everest are capable of sinking, so we turn to the Sound of Silence performed courtesy of Geoff Castellucci’s deep, rumbling baritone.

Thanks in part to those whopping cabinets and JBL’s three-in-one ‘Phase Coherent Manifold’ – wherein a trio of compression drivers are aligned in a balanced symmetrical configuration and mounted to an HDI geometry horn – Castellucci’s ultra-deep pipes plunge to below the basement depths, yet we sense that the speakers’ control and articulation at these extreme low reaches is enough to keep everything sounding remarkably intact.

The Everest come across as powerful and weighty, too, as you might expect from loudspeakers of this size and price. Our demo team want us to “have some fun”, and so Adriatique and Delhia de France’s pulsating rave tune The Future is Unknown kicks things up a gear – bass drum thumps land with proper wallop, vocals feel precise and well spotlighted, while assorted musical decorations are rarely lost amidst the clamour.

Midrange tones don’t appear to be put in the shade by any overpowering bass, either. If anything, those all-important middle frequencies punch through with remarkable gusto, an enthusiasm which sometimes threatens to tip over into hardness or over-eagerness.

Take that minor reservation with a very large heap of salt, though – these are very large speakers playing very loudly in a modest, poorly conditioned space, and such quirks are almost inevitable. Our overall impression is of a pair of speakers that blend fun and muscularity with considerable nuance and restraint, resulting in a demo that, while short, appeals as much to the heart as it does to the head.

The Summit Everest are JBL’s range-toppers in terms of both price and, from the little that we have heard, performance. As we are told during our sampler, the brand’s engineers were told: “don’t worry about the cost, don’t worry about the components, just make them sound as good as you can.”

Such money-no-object speakers don’t come around often, and while we imagine it can be tempting for designers and engineers to throw their cash around without the same care and attention reserved for more modestly priced models, we rarely had a sense of the Everest sounding like a throwaway indulgence. Proper sound is what we expected and, from what we hear, proper sound is what they deliver.

Are they worth their Olympian price tag? We’d need a lot more testing time to find that out.

We wonder if JBL gives out free samples…

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I’ve had a first listen to Bowers & Wilkins’ new flagship 800 Series Diamond speakers – and now I’m desperate to hear more

“It’s about bringing people closer to the detail, depth and emotion that great audio can unlock.” An evening in KEF’s Ultimate Experience Room

Bowers & Wilkins has just announced its all-new flagship 800 Series Diamond speaker range to celebrate 60 years of the iconic British brand.

The fifth generation of the established 800 Series of loudspeakers once again incorporates B&W's iconic Diamond Dome tweeter, and features seven new models, including the two-way 805 D5 standmounter and a trio of three-way floorstanding models: the the 804 D5, 803 D5, and 802 D5.

And the good news is, we've already heard them. We're on the ground at High End Vienna 2026 so we took B&W up on the offer of some listening time with the range-topping 801 D5 (£43,000 / $65,000 / €50,000).

We'll get a chance to have an even more in-depth listen in due course, but a pair of flagship Bowers & Wilkins speakers don't tend to come around too often, so we were eager to take this first opportunity.

First, the usual caveats. It wasn't the longest demo we'll ever be given – around 45 minutes – and demo rooms at hi-fi shows are rarely conducive to giving the best sound possible, especially when you're competing with below par acoustics and the sound of a few thousand hi-fi enthusiasts trying to get their bearings.

With all that said and done – the signs are positive.

It's taken around five years for B&W to bake its latest speakers in the proverbial oven, but as we get our demo underway, the promise of enhanced resolution and forensic levels of detail look set to be proved true.

B&W has promised a more "even-handed" and "generous" character without any loss of resolution from the 801 D5, and when coupled with a system which includes Mark Levinson's 626 preamp and 632 power amp, plus a high-end Innuos Nazaré music streamer, our demo speakers are ready to show some of their clear capabilities.

Odetta's Hit or Miss is our aperitif, with cascading opening drums sounding three-dimensional and authentic before that soulful central performance is given ample room in the spotlight.

We're sitting slightly off-centre, so it's hard to judge just how well the 801 D5 speakers assemble each musical element, but the impression we get is of speakers with a knack for putting music together in a neat, precise and cinematic manner.

We're also promised solid, integrated bass, something that B&W showcases with Eric Clapton's After Midnight and Thom Yorke's Black Swan.

There's ample power and authority to the lower end reproduction across both tracks, with strong evidence of a bass that, in B&W's words, blends "scale and integrity".

We're certainly keen to let the B&W 801 D5 loose in a larger, more conditioned room where the speakers have greater space to blossom and breathe, but regardless, there are strong hints at serious talent here.

Antigravity by Sohn finishes off our session, letting the B&W towers further showcase their dynamic abilities.

Flagship floorstanding speakers such as these should be able to tackle small scale shifts alongside those big dynamic swings, a balance the 801 D5 seem to manage as various instruments scatter and tumble all around.

We'll reserve any concrete judgements until we've had far more time to really dig into the 801 D5 and discover the bounds of their talents.

Initial signs point to a powerful, vivid and impressively detailed pair of flagship floorstanders, even if it's hard to escape the limitations of the listening space working against them.

Once we have a chance to get the speakers into a space where they can really shine, we'll be in a better position to see whether B&W has added a genuine classic to its long-running Diamond line-up.

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High End Vienna 2026: all the news and what to expect from Europe's biggest hi-fi show

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This is a big one: British brand Bowers & Wilkins has announced the new model in its legendary 800 Series Diamond range – and during its 60th anniversary year. The D5 is the fifth generation of the 800 Series to feature the Diamond Dome tweeter; it follows multiple five-star and Award-winning entries.

So what’s new? The D5 range includes new technology, a refined design and new finishes to deliver what B&W claims is its most advanced speaker range ever.

You can read our first impressions here: I've had a first listen to Bowers & Wilkins' new flagship 800 Series Diamond speakers – and now I'm desperate to hear more

The range comprises seven models: the two-way 805 D5 standmount, 804 D5, 803 D5, 802 D5 and 801 D5 three-way floorstanders, and HTM81 D5 and HTM82 D5 centre channel speakers for home cinema use.

Like previous models in the Diamond series, the speakers are luxuriously designed. The new models have new top plates, spines and plinths, and revised drive unit pods, tweeter bodies, trim rings and grilles. They also have new finishes with more durable paint than previous models.

We also get tighter production tolerances, with visible transitions between surfaces minimised, fixings hidden and gaps between panels greatly reduced. All of which should amount to a more seamless and premium finish.

There are improvements under the hood, too, resulting in “more openness, lower distortion, heightened resolution and superior dynamics,” B&W says. One of the highlights is Space Frame Bracing, which features parallel aluminium bracing rails that are periodically enforced longitudinally and transversely bolted onto the rear of the Matrix inside the speaker cabinet. This stiffens the inside of the enclosure, reducing the unwanted impact of vibrations and resonances.

The new plinths have been redesigned to match the form of the cabinet they support. They have new metal trims and have been extended to conceal the speakers’ wheels and spikes to make them more aesthetically pleasing. They benefit from constrained-layer and tuned-mass damping, again to reduce unwanted output.

The new aluminium top-plate braces the top section with thicker aluminium ribbing sections for greater stiffness. It also has more mechanical location points and revised coupling mounts, and an upgraded collar trimmed in Leather by Connolly.

The 804 D5 features an internal aluminium enclosure for its Continuum Cone FST assembly. This is derived from the stiff Turbine Head structure used on all larger floorstanding 800 Series Diamond models, and isolates the midrange assembly while also providing a consistent mechanical decoupling point for the drive unit. All of which should make for a more free and open sound from the Continuum Cone midrange.

All the new speakers have the same tweeter grille mesh design as the 801 D4 Signature, but made more acoustically transparent for greater resolution. Each midrange, bass/midrange and bass drive unit in the new range has lower-distortion motor systems based on Signature-specification components. Which should deliver a “cleaner, more accurate sounding presentation with better resolution, transient response and dynamics.”

They also have upgraded crossovers, again derived from B&W’s Signature speakers, and new wiring harnesses with higher-quality cabling and terminal post links for better resolution.

New stereo models benefit from a crossover assembly which is housed on an all-aluminium plate construction which is coupled into both the cabinet and the rear Space Frame Bracing using substantial M8 and M4 fixings to improve cabinet stiffness. But the fixings are concealed behind brand and model identifier plates for a more elegant look.

The 801 D5 is the flagship, while the cheaper 802 D5 has the same proportions and same same 6-inch FST midrange cone. The 803 D5 is cheaper still, with a smaller footprint, while the 804 D5 has a more traditional design than its siblings. The 805 D5 is the standmount.

The HTM81 D5 centre-channel speaker is for use with the 801 and 802 D5, whereas the HTM82 D5 is for use with the 803 and 804 D5. Both centre-channel speakers are three-way designs.

There are also stands: the FS-805 D5 (for the 805 D5) and FS-HTM D5 (for the HTM81 D5 or HTM82 D5).

Pricing is as follows:

• 801 D5: £43,000 / $65,000 (around AU$81,000)
• 802 D5: £32,500 / $45,000 (around AU$61,000).
• 803 D5: £25,500 / $35,000 (around AU$48,000)
• 804 D5: £16,000 / $25,000 (around AU$30,000)
• 805 D5: £10,000 / $15,000 (around AU$19,000)
• HTM81 D5: £10,000 / $15,000 (around AU$19,000)
• HTM82 D5: £8000 / $12,000 (around AU$15,000)
• FS-805 D5: £1600 / $2000 (around AU$3000)
• FS-HTM D5: £1100 / $1500 (around AU$2000)

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All the news from High End Vienna 2026

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After delving back into the world of passive speakers with the Sabre-R bookshelf model, Ruark Audio has turned its attention to one of its best-known floorstanding designs.

The Talisman floorstanders have been resurrected to mark Ruark's 40th anniversary, and this fourth-generation model features the same slim profile and sloped baffle design as the 1990 original.

We first glimpsed these new floorstanding speakers at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show earlier in the year, but they are making their official debut at the High End Vienna 2026 show this week alongside the new R710 streaming amp with CD player.

In keeping with the original floorstanders, the new Talisman-R is a two-way bass reflex design with a dual-flared port, but includes plenty of new technology and components. It features a 27mm silk dome tweeter alongside a 16.5cm NS+ long-throw fibre woofer, while the "carefully optimised" crossover features premium audio-grade components to ensure "best signal transfer and reduced distortion."

The result, says Ruark, are speakers that should deliver seamless integration and "a wide natural frequency range."

The cabinet of the Talisman-R has been given plenty of attention to reduce colouration. Aside from the fresh cosmetic design that keeps the visual identity similar to the current Sabre-R and 100 series – the lovely wooden slats, for instance – the floorstanders feature a new decoupled front baffle design. The bolts on the front suspend the baffle on elastomer bushings (a flexible mount) and, along with a dual damping strip, help to limit vibrations transferring from the drives to the main enclosure.

The enclosure's internal bracing system controls "acoustic hotspots" and is lined and damped with compound wadding to absorb a wide frequency range and control internal standing waves – all to deliver a purer sound.

The plinth for each tower is machined from 10mm plate steel, which adds mass to keep the Talisman-R stable, as well as giving them a floating appearance. Removable grilles with acoustically transparent fabric are also provided.

Made for "people who care about their home as much as their music," the Ruark Talisman-R is available in two finishes: fused walnut veneer or satin charcoal lacquer, to match the R610 streaming amplifier and/or newer R710 system with integrated CD player.

The Talisman-R floorstanders will cost £1499 / €1799 per pair, and will be available from September.

We reviewed the previous iteration, the Talisman-R III, back in 2006, and praised the five-star speakers' impressive build quality and fast, dynamic and exciting performance "that aim to bring out every last percentage point of entertainment from a piece of music." Let's hope the new version lives up to that reputation.

MORE:

Read our Ruark Sabre-R speakers review

And the Ruark R610 review

All the latest news from High End Vienna 2026

The US audio brand Klipsch has announced two new loudspeakers and a series of premium headphones to coincide with High End Vienna 2026.

The Limited Edition 80th Anniversary Klipschorn is a fully horn-loaded revamp of Klipsch’s 1946 patented design, while the Klipsch Rebellion is a premium stand-mount speaker.

Both arrive as part of Klipsch’s 80th anniversary celebrations, which kicked off at the start of 2026 with a new feature-packed range of its Fives, Sevens and Nines speakers.

The limited-edition Klipschorn will be limited in production to just 280 pairs worldwide.

It has a two-way design, using an active crossover to split audio between a 38cm K-33-E woofer and a 10cm compression driver coupled with a new K-5-K high-frequency horn. Klipsch promises “explosive dynamics, lifelike detail, and room-filling presence”.

We don’t yet know how much the new Klipschorn will cost but it will be available to order from authorized Heritage retailers, with further information available on Klipsch’s website.

As for the Klipsch Rebellion, the company’s latest standmount speakers promise “crystal-clear highs” courtesy of a horn-loaded K-702 tweeter and “deep, impressive low end” from a K-81-EP woofer. In a company first, a rear Tractrix flare port has been included in the speaker’s design for further low end reinforcement.

The Rebellion features a black cloth grille and will come in Klipsch’s standard finishes of American Walnut and Black Ash.

A limited-edition Tigerwood finish will also be available in celebration of the company’s 80th anniversary.

Klipsch hopes the Rebellion will be available in North America by July 2026, at a suggested retail price of $2599 per pair.

The new Atlas Series headphones expand Klipsch’s over-ear range for the first time since 2017, when it released the HP-3.

The new range will include two headphones: the Atlas HP-2, a closed-back headphone aimed at the “bass-forward enthusiast”, and the Atlas HP-3, a semi-open-back audiophile option, which Klipsch claims will deliver “spacious, speaker-like presentation”.

The Atlas HP-2 and HP-3 are expected to become available in Europe by autumn 2026, with pricing yet to be confirmed.

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JBL is expanding its mountain-themed Summit range of high-end hi-fi speakers with two new models: the next-generation Everest and K2 loudspeakers.

The two new models join the Summit Makalu, Pumori, and the five-star Ama to round out the five-strong series, a line-up that, says, JBL, "represents the most technically accomplished loudspeakers" the brand has ever produced for domestic use.

As their name suggests, the new 3.5-way Everest are designed to be the peak of the Summit series, acting as the successor to four iterations of JBL's Project Everest loudspeakers. At the heart of each new speaker is a new mid-to-high frequency array consisting of three JBL 5cm dual-diaphragm drivers mated to a large 'Sonoglass' horn, as well as twin 25cm mid-bass drivers and dual 38cm differential drive woofers.

The K2, meanwhile, are billed as JBL's "most accomplished 15-inch 3-way floorstanding loudspeakers", with each housing three 4cm dual-diaphragm drivers, a 25cm differential drive mid-bass driver and a 38cm woofer, all aimed at providing outstanding dynamic precision and emotional immediacy.

The two new models share a host of JBL's most advanced speaker technologies, including 'MultiCap' crossover networks with minimised electrostatic resistance for improved power handling and lower distortion, as well as multi-braced, curved-wall cabinets designed to reduce internal standing waves within each speaker.

JBL's own 'IsoAcoustic' isolation feet seek to further preserve sonic purity and promote a tighter bass performance by decoupling each speaker from floor vibrations.

According to David Tovissi, Vice President of Harman Luxury Audio: “With Summit Everest and Summit K2, we are honouring four generations of legendary engineering while introducing technologies that move the state of the art forward. These are reference loudspeakers built for listeners who refuse to compromise and who recognise what it means to own the very best."

The new Summit Everest and Summit K2 are available in either gloss black and platinum or ebony wood and gold finishes. The Everest will set you back $160,000 per pair, whereas the K2 are a little more 'affordable' at a mere $100,000 per pair.

Both will be showcased at this year's High End Vienna showcase (4th to 7th of July), so if you've got tickets, it's worth digging out your crampons and seeking out JBL's latest mountainous marvels.

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We hold the original Acoustic Energy AE1 Active speakers – tested originally in 2018 for £1000 – in such high esteem that they have held a firm spot in our best active speakers guide even as newer models with fancy wireless features have come along in the intervening years.

And now, after eight long years, the "new and improved" Acoustic Energy AE Active speakers are finally here. These speakers have been updated and upgraded, both acoustically and aesthetically, and promise to deliver a "compact, self-powered speaker system" that builds on the brand's 40-year heritage of precision engineering.

As before, these are fully active, two-way speakers that feature updated built-in Class A/B amplification. There are dedicated 50W amplifiers for each drive unit, which Acoustic Energy says allows for precise driver control, dynamic headroom and delivering "exceptional clarity." High-quality linear power supplies are used to ensure a consistent, low-noise performance across the frequency range.

Unlike many modern active speakers, there is no network streaming or Bluetooth on board; there isn't even a DAC. The AE Active are "designed with purity in mind" and feature a fully analogue signal path, thus avoiding any digital processing to "preserve audio integrity."

The brand's design team did experiment with modern features such as wireless inputs, switch mode power supplies, Class D amplification and DSP, but says that "none delivered the audio performance befitting of a loudspeaker wearing the legendary AE1 badge."

One new feature is an auto on/off switch, which was included after feedback from customers of the original AE1 Active.

The two-way speakers continue Acoustic Energy's tradition of using all-metal drivers, with a new 5th generation 12.5cm pure-piston ceramic/aluminium mid/bass cone that offers "exceptional stiffness at low weight". This was originally developed for the very lovely AE1 40th Anniversary speakers, and aims to reduce distortion and minimise cone flex.

This is combined with a 27mm aluminium dome tweeter with the brand's proprietary Wide Dispersion Technology (WDT), which should result in a wide soundstage with "outstanding accuracy and detail."

The AE Active keeps connections simple with balanced XLR and RCA line level inputs, into which you can plug in a variety of components – including DACs, music streamers, preamps and more. Bass and treble controls return, which allow you to fine tune the speakers' performance to your room's acoustics.

The speakers continue to keep their compact footprint, while the cabinet has been wholly redesigned, with extensive bracing, internal damping panels and a bran-new slot reflex port. They will also be available in three premium finishes: Walnut Satin Wood Veneer, High Gloss Black, High Gloss White.

Acoustic Energy says the AE Active are suited to home audio systems as well as being used as studio monitors, promising to deliver a combination of "performance, versatility and simplicity".

Mat Spandl, Acoustic Energy's MD, says: “The AE Active represents our commitment to delivering true high-fidelity performance without unnecessary complexity. By focusing on analogue design principles and integrating amplification directly within the speaker, we’ve created an updated system that offers even better high-quality audio performance with modern convenience.”

The new Acoustic Energy AE Active speakers will be available from July 2026 for £1250 per pair.

We are huge fans of the original, Award-winning AE1 Active speakers, praising their ability to "do everything with a flourish", with superb clarity and balance going hand-in-hand with a rhythmically exciting and dynamic performance. We struggled to think of an external amplifiers/passive speaker pairing that could better the AE1 for the same price back then.

We hope the new, updated AE Active speakers continue that strong legacy – we can't to hear how they sound.

MORE:

Read our original Acoustic Energy AE1 Active review

Best active speakers 2026: our experts pick the top pairs with integrated amplifiers

All the latest news from High End Vienna 2026

In time for the High End Vienna 2026 showcase this week, American hi-fi brand KLH Audio has added a fresh pair of large standmount speakers to its vintage-inspired Model Collection range.

The new Model Four is a three-way speaker with a wide baffle and shallow cabinet depth – a design profile that allows customers to place the speakers close to a wall.

The Model Four features an 8-inch (20.3cm) pulp-paper cone bass driver (derived from the smaller Model Three 'bookshelf' speaker), and has the same 25mm aluminium dome tweeter, pulp-paper cone midrange driver and crossover architecture as the step-up, larger Model Five. Put together, this all should, claims KLH, offer "refined vocal presence, midrange clarity and high-frequency detail".

Additionally, the Model Four come with a three-position Acoustic Balance Control – which was originally introduced by KLH in the 1960s – which allows you to adjust the mid and high frequency to fine-tune the speakers' sound to the room's acoustics and your own tastes.

The structurally reinforced MDF cabinet eschews a ported design in favour of KLH's "acoustic suspension" technology, which essentially means it's a sealed box that uses the springy air inside the cabinet to control how much the drive unit moves.

This promises "tight, accurate bass" even when placed a few inches from a rear wall. KLH further claims this design should sound "consistent and accurate" no matter where you place it in the room.

Aiding that room-friendly design is the 13-inch wide front baffle and a shallow cabinet depth of just 8.25 inches (about 21cm). The speakers also come with a dedicated riser (stand) that offers a 6-degree slant to align the tweeter and midrange to the listener's position.

Combined with the retro-modern aesthetic (which puts us in mind of the Wharfedale Linton and Mission 770), the Model Four's narrow cabinet design is intended to fit into "the living rooms of apartments, lofts and condos where it must coexist with real life, in first homes and forever".

KLH Audio's CEO Scott Hagen says: "This is not a bookshelf speaker, nor is it simply a smaller Model Five. It is a distinctive, full-range acoustic-suspension loudspeaker, meticulously built to deliver the natural, controlled and room-friendly sound that defines KLH in a form that fits more homes, rooms and listeners."

KLH Audio Model Four will cost £899 / €999 / $1000 for each speaker ($2000 per pair) when they are available from September, with the riser stands included. The speakers will be available in three finishes: English Walnut, Black Ash and White Oak, with magnetic grilles included in the box.

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High End Vienna 2026: all the news and what to expect from Europe's biggest hi-fi show

Wharfedale seems to believe in the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach, if the new Diamond 12i range is anything to go by, and who can blame it? On paper, the highlights of this updated range aren’t particularly exciting: they include a revised set of finishes, redesigned reflex ports and a tweak of each speaker’s internal damping.

Nothing to get particularly excited about, although Wharfedale deserves praise for keeping the entire range’s pricing unchanged from its predecessors. In a world where every manufacturer is pushing up prices, this comes as a refreshing and pleasant surprise.

The original Diamond 12 series launched in late 2020 and quickly became our go-to recommendation for anyone looking for great value, affordable speakers, whether for stereo or home cinema use.

The original 12.3 floorstanders were a particular favourite of ours, offering an excellent all-round performance in a neat, easy-to-accommodate form. They won multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards over the years and remained the class leader right until it ended production in late 2025.

Design

Its replacement, the Wharfedale Diamond 12.3i, looks reassuringly familiar. In fact, you have to look hard to notice any substantial changes beyond the three new finishes (black, walnut and grey).

The revised rear firing port looks much the same from the outside, though we did notice a soft rubber ring mounted to the end on the inside, something the original never had.

The trio of drive units is essentially the same. That’s no problem, as they were hardly a weakness.

The 12.3i remains a 2½ way design where the upper 13cm driver handles the midrange and bass, leaving the lower one to add a bit of muscle only at the lowest frequencies.

Both of the larger drivers use Wharfedale’s Klarity diaphragm material. Klarity is the company’s marketing name for mica-loaded polypropylene, a material claimed to offer a good balance between stiffness, damping and light weight.

A 25mm textile dome tweeter takes responsibility above the 2.2kHz crossover frequency. We’ve heard this high-frequency unit in various Diamond 12 models and it has always impressed with its detail and refinement.

Build & compatibility

Take a look at the specifications and you will find nothing obvious has changed from the previous gen model. The 12.3i’s sensitivity is still 89dB/W/m and nominal impedance continues to be rated as 8 ohm compatible, with a minimum of 5 ohms.

These numbers imply that these floorstanders should be easy enough to drive for most price-compatible amplifiers. Certainly, the Arcam A5+ integrated amplifier we used for much of this test had no difficulty driving them.

We do notice that these speakers are now single-wired only. Is that a major loss? We don’t think so, and suspect most owners never took full advantage of the previous generation’s twin set of terminals.

Overall, the Diamond 12.3i’s build quality is good for the money. We have a pair of the originals for comparison, and notice that the finish on the new ones’ metal feet isn’t quite as neat, but to be fair this is something that you would never see once the speakers are installed.

There is little to complain about elsewhere. The cabinets feel solid and are finished neatly. Our review sample is in the new black finish and looks understated but still classy.

At 97.5cm tall and just 18cm wide, these Diamond floorstanders are compact enough to fit into most rooms without dominating, and in the UK at least, that’s a big positive.

We do find that the 12.3i is a little fussier about room positioning than its predecessor. Its revised porting arrangement has resulted in a more muscular bass performance, which many will prefer, but it also makes the speakers less forgiving about their proximity to a wall.

In our 3 x 7 x 5m listening room, the 12.3i sound most comfortable around 70cm into the room, and slightly angled towards the listening position to solidify their stereo imaging. The previous generation model could be placed closer and still sound balanced.

Sound

A floorstanding speaker at this price has a difficult balancing act to perform. It has to be forgiving with budget separates and streaming systems, yet still shine with more ambitious electronics. The original 12.3 did that superbly, and so does this new version.

The change of port and internal damping may seem slight on paper, but they have changed the Diamond 12.3’s character a little. The new “i” models are certainly bigger and bolder-sounding. Play a dramatic piece of music, such as the Indiana Jones theme by John Williams, and there is no denying that these new Diamonds produce more dramatic results.

Dynamic shifts are a little more vivid with the new-gen model going from quiet to loud and back again with greater conviction. The bass also kicks harder and, perhaps surprisingly given the identical specifications, seemingly a little deeper.

The tweeter is unchanged, so we’re surprised to find that the treble is now a little more forward than before. It adds to the sense of space in the recording and makes low-level details a touch more apparent. But don’t worry, things aren’t overdone, as the Diamond 12.3i still sounds refined and well-behaved by class standards.

As we work our way through the likes of De La Soul’s Cabin In The Sky set and Jill Scott’s To Whom This May Concern album, it becomes clear that the 12.3i floorstanders should still be considered class leaders. It is hard to argue against the fact that their combination of insight, dynamic expression and control is hard to beat at the money.

Given a song like De La Soul’s YUHDONTSTOP, the 12.3i are a fun listen, rendering the group's vocal flow with enthusiasm and clarity. Vocal and instrumental textures come through well, certainly better than any rival floorstander we’ve heard.

Rhythmically, these Diamonds are surefooted rather than enthusiastic, but they convey the music’s momentum and energy well enough. We’re having fun and these Wharfedale floorstanders are playing their part in that.

However, as good as these new speakers are, there are areas where we feel the older model edges things. In side-by-side comparisons, the original 12.3 sounds a little more cohesive and conveys musical momentum a touch more emphatically. Its bass is a little better integrated too, though clearly less powerful.

Verdict

Given that this “i” model replaces the original, perhaps the comparisons don’t matter so much. It is how the Diamond 12.3i compares to its price rivals that is more important.

In this respect, there is little out there to worry these Wharfedale floorstanders. They remain a cut above the competition, and that makes them an excellent buy at the money.

Review published: 1st June 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 4
• Compatibility 4

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One thing struck me while I was testing the excellent Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 floorstanding speakers recently. It was just how close they are in character and tone to their standmount siblings, the AE300 Mk2.

The consistency between the two pairs is seamless, and the jump in size brings all the benefits you’d expect from a bigger speaker while maintaining the balance and tonality of its smaller sibling.

Now I can hear some of you shout in unison, “Of course they do!”

Well, you’d think that would be the case, perhaps. But I have been testing speakers of all shapes and sizes for the best part of 20 years, and you’d be surprised at the number of times I’ve made the swap from a stand-mount to a floorstander from the same range and been left scratching my head.

I mean, surely in most cases it’s just a case of putting the drivers from the stand-mount into a bigger cabinet, adding a bit more bracing, damping, and job’s a good’un?

If only it were that simple…

All you want in this scenario is consistency between the models in a range. To be able to pick any speaker and for them to share the same sonic framework and characteristics, no matter the size.

But building a floorstander introduces a number of challenges. For starters, you are moving from a smaller, more rigid box to one that’s much bigger in volume. This makes it harder to control all the various internal vibrations.

Add to that the fact that you might be restricted on how much resource you can put into the design, the extra damping and bracing required, and you could be limited on the performance you’re going to be able to extract, especially at cheaper prices.

As price points go up, however, these potential stumbling blocks become smaller and smaller.

The drive units used in the stand-mount might not be optimised for use in a bigger box. They will have been selected to work with a given volume behind them, and going into a bigger box might not be ideal.

A manufacturer could modify a specific driver for different speakers in a range (Focal is a brand that has done this in the past), but this can ramp up the cost involved.

So what if you go up a size of driver instead? This inevitably introduces new hurdles. A new driver will have different acoustic properties and requirements from the cabinet. You also have the extra cost and complexity of designing the new driver.

Where tweeters are concerned, the jump in cabinet size tends not to be an issue. They normally operate in their own enclosure, separate from the other drivers, which operate out in the open in the main box.

Floorstanders are also trickier to get right because, in addition to the extra volume they offer, they have larger panels. Larger panels are less stiff, which means they are more susceptible to vibrations. Larger panels also have larger surface areas, which means more radiating area for any sound they produce.

If you have a driver producing a sound and one or more of the enclosing panels producing their own sound, that’s not good for audio quality. Extra bracing and damping can help, of course – but it all costs money.

Symptoms when something isn’t quite right with a floorstander include the speakers sounding less balanced, with poorer bass control; they can also suffer rhythmically.

Don’t think of this as a slight on floorstanders, though. Far from it. We all know the long list of benefits that a great pair of towers can bring to a hi-fi system. Huge positives such as greater bass weight and extension, a larger sound, and bigger-scale dynamics are all reasons to consider a pair.

And, of course, they are capable of filling much larger spaces with sound than a small stand-mount. If floorstanders make sense for your particular room layout, then, providing they are of a standard that suits the rest of your system, you’ll be sonically rewarded.

MORE:

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Neat Acoustics is adding to its Classic line-up of hi-fi speakers with the new Vito floorstanders.

Positioned at the top of the Classic range, which currently boasts the five-star Mystique Classic towers and Petite Classic standmounts, the new Vito speakers promise "spacious, natural and emotionally engaging musical presentation" with a sound that feels "both effortless and immersive".

Like their Classic counterparts, the Vito are reasonably compact floorstanders (just 90cm high), yet despite their relatively small size, Neat promises a genuinely "full range performance suitable for medium to large listening spaces."

To achieve this, the 2.5-way design houses the same AMT tweeter technology as found in the rest of the Classic range, while a dual bass driver configuration teases a "deep, controlled bass performance."

Neat will introduce the new Vito Classic loudspeakers at this year's High End Vienna showcase next week, running from 4th to 7th June.

The new speakers will be available to buy from September, costing around £4995 per pair (further prices pending), potentially making them around twice the price of their Mystique siblings (£2475). Finishes are yet to be finalised, but options may include Oak, Walnut, Pearl White and Graphite Black.

Neat hasn't yet released the full details and specifications for its upcoming Vito speakers, but we'll let you know when we have more information. We remain big fans of the Petite and Mystique, so we're more than a little curious to see if third time's a charm for Neat's Classic line-up.

MORE:

Read our Neat Mystique Classic review

1976 vs today: veteran audio experts discuss the biggest shifts in music and hi-fi during What Hi-Fi?'s 50-year lifetime

Our pick of the best floorstanding speakers for all budgets

Tannoy turns 100 this year, and while the legendary brand has been a little quiet on the new product front in recent years, it's starting to make some noise as it gears up to mark this significant milestone.

To start with, Tannoy will be launching exclusive limited-edition speakers based on the Prestige Gold Reference Series. These special-edition models will include enhanced crossovers and improved internal cabling – although that’s the extent of details so far. Full specifications, pricing and images will be announced later this year when they are officially launched.

What we do know is the very limited nature of this release: only 19 pairs of the flagship Westminster Royal GR and 26 pairs of the step-down Canterbury GR speakers will be made – with the numbers chosen to represent 1926, the year Tannoy was founded in South London.

The standard Westminster Royal GR is yours for about £55,000 and the Canterbury GR £33,000, so we imagine the limited edition versions won’t come cheap.

We are expecting full details to emerge in the coming months, but UK representatives from Tannoy will be at the High End Vienna 2026 show (4th - 7th June) for a natter about the exclusive speakers, “alongside the return of some truly iconic models,” we’re teased.

If you are visiting the High End show, you'll also be able to get a taste of what these special-edition speakers will have to offer, as the flagship Westminster Royal GR speakers (pictured above) will be on demonstration, driven by Esoteric electronics.

100 years is an astonishing milestone for any hi-fi brand; we look forward to getting the full details on anniversary products from Tannoy in due course.

MORE:

Read our Tannoy Kensington GR review

The best 39 hi-fi speakers of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime

“What is JBL sound? It’s powerful, dynamic and energetic” – we chat to JBL about headphones, history and 80 years in the business

“What took you so long?”

It’s a fair question we might aim at Cambridge Audio, which, over its near-60-year history, has dabbled in almost every audio category: amplifiers, CD players, music streamers, turntables, subwoofers, wireless speakers… even a Blu-ray player.

The fact that it has taken the British audio brand 58 years to launch its first-ever active speakers is perhaps surprising, but we’ll allow them to be fashionably late. The brand’s new L/R range of active speakers comes in three sizes, and we’ve got the baby of the bunch on test here, the Cambridge Audio L/R S. Is this petite desktop speaker the beginning of a hit series? It certainly looks promising.

Price

The L/R S is the smallest and cheapest model of Cambridge’s L/R speakers, and costs £399 / $549 / AU$949 per pair. This puts it squarely in the crosshairs of the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) powered desktop speakers, while Onkyo’s five-star GX-30ARC can be yours for a little less at £299 / $349 / AU$649.

The L/R S are available in six finishes that include the standard black and white, as well as more colourful green, blue and orange finishes. If you opt for the walnut veneer finish of our review sample, you’ll have to pay a little more at £449 / $599 / AU$1049 per pair.

If you’ll be placing the L/R S speakers on your desk, it’s worth checking out the optional angled desk stands (£49) that tilt the speakers up so the sound is more directed towards you.

Build & design

If you’re working with limited space – small rooms, student digs, not a lot of surface real estate – then these active speakers will work a treat. Each cabinet is just under 23cm tall and about 13cm wide – no wider than your average paperback book – which means they’ll fit onto most desktops and even shelves, ideally perched on either side of a laptop or your TV.

The speakers themselves look neat and stylish, and we can imagine the minimal cabinet design fitting into most interiors, whether you want them to blend into a spartan layout or add a splash of colour with the punchier hues.

Build quality is of a high standard, with clean, crisp edges and a smooth finish. We particularly like how the Cambridge logo is etched into the finish at the top of the cabinet. It looks classy.

Each speaker is furnished with a 21mm aluminium tweeter and a long-throw 76mm mid/bass driver, with a bass reflex slot positioned at the rear of each cabinet. All drivers are powered by Class D amplification, and altogether, the L/R S claim to offer a mighty 100W of total output, split evenly between the two channels.

The tweeter has a large waveguide that, along with the mid/bass driver, occupies the majority of the ultra-minimal fascia, with the metallic orange colour of the dome peeking through to offer some visual interest. The speakers don’t come with a grille, but the tweeter’s phase cap doubles up as a guard to protect it from poking fingers.

This is a fully active design with all the amplification and electronics housed in the primary speaker. The supplied 2m connecting cable has a bespoke 4-pin conductor that carries the signal to the secondary speaker. This cable has a pleasingly secure locking mechanism at either end, too. If you need a longer lead between the speakers, a 5m cable is also available to buy separately.

Keeping things simple seems to be the main aim with these petite active speakers. There are no controls or dials on the speaker for choosing inputs or changing volume – which might irk some users who like having such controls within easy reach – but there is a colour-coded LED under the primary speaker which clearly indicates the input chosen.

A remote control is supplied, which takes care of input choosing, volume and power. It’s a slim unit made of light plastic, but it works well, and we would take pains not to mislay this remote.

You can place these small speakers pretty much anywhere, and, knowing this, Cambridge has taken steps to ensure the L/R S are able to sound their best wherever you place them. At the back, you’ll find a pair of toggle switches: one to indicate whether the speakers are placed on a desk or not, and another to indicate if they are positioned close to a wall (“near wall”) or out in “free space”. The “near wall” mode is straightforward. It reduces the mid-bass around 100Hz to account for any boominess that might occur when placing the speakers very close to a back wall.

The “desk top on” mode, meanwhile, deals with two issues at once – time alignment and desk reflection – and shows how much thought Cambridge’s engineers have put into this design. When the small speakers are placed on a desk, the drivers will naturally be physically lower than your listening height. This desk mode compensates for this effect, delaying the tweeter output and readjusting the top and mid frequencies so that music sounds “right” from your listening position.

Additionally, this mode also notches down the mid frequencies (around 700Hz, says Cambridge) to balance out the unwanted energy coming from the speakers’ sound being reflected from the desk.

We would try out the various combinations to see what works best for your speaker placement. We quite liked the combination of "free space" and keeping ‘desk top’ mode off for a richer and more solid sound overall, but the effect will vary depending on your room and the surface the speakers are placed on.

And finally, there is a third and very useful toggle switch that lets you assign the primary speaker as the left or right channel, giving you greater flexibility for placement.

Features

Whereas the bigger siblings – the L/R X and L/R M – boast full network streaming smarts, the baby of the family is once again keeping things pared down and uncomplicated by offering Bluetooth for streaming. Physical inputs on the L/R S include a pair of RCA line level, optical and USB-C, and there is a subwoofer output.

It’s worth noting that while the optical and USB-C both support hi-res audio files up to 96kHz, the speakers’ DSP will automatically resample/downsample all files to 24-bit/48kHz.

Perhaps surprisingly in this enduring age of vinyl popularity, there’s no built-in phono stage here, as you’ll find in the Ruark and Onkyo rivals. There’s no HDMI ARC input here either, which you will find on the cheaper Onkyo speakers.

Regardless, you can still connect a variety of products to these speakers, including a CD player, a TV, a smartphone/laptop, and even a phono stage-equipped turntable, such as the Sony PS-LX3BT. Bluetooth has the higher-quality aptX and aptX HD codecs on board, and pairing with our smartphone takes seconds.

Using these speakers is a cinch. Once connected, they’re easy to control using the supplied remote or with your paired phone when streaming from Tidal or Spotify.

Along with the toggles for adjusting the speakers’ sound depending on their position, there are also three sound modes to choose from: Normal (the default one), Voice (accentuates mids/voice) and Movie (increases in bass and treble frequency for more impact, and mids for clearer dialogue).

We appreciate that the EQ modes are rather subtle in action. Voices are a tad clearer and more prominent when deploying the Voice mode during podcasts, and the Movie mode doesn’t overdo the peaks in frequencies, but we prefer the more balanced, solid sound of the Normal mode for all kinds of audio.

Sound

We set up the L/R S speakers on the desk in one of our listening rooms, flanking our laptop, connected to Bluetooth, and leave them running in while we do some work. This allows us not only to run the speakers in, but also to gauge how they behave when used exactly the way we imagine most people will. Will the speakers sound too boomy on the desk? Will they sound too powerful and distracting, or will they fade into the background? Is there any peakiness in the treble to annoy us?

As we listen to Rosalia, Eminem, Waxahatchee, Geese, Rachmaninoff and more, we find ourselves living rather harmoniously with these compact Cambridge speakers. What’s impressive is just how nice and even they are throughout the frequencies – it allows for a very easy-going listen, and one you could listen to for hours without getting fatigued.

There is no discernible peakiness in the treble, which sounds rather civilised and cultured even when hitting the brash, brazen highs of Fontaines D.C.’s Starburster. The bass is rather taut and nimble but not overpowering, which is welcome if you’ll be listening to the speakers up close and on resonant surfaces. There is less bass weight on the L/R S compared with the more exuberant Ruark MR1 Mk3 rival, and it doesn’t sound as muscular when faced with the brooding bassline in Massive Attack’s Angel. But it nips along at a good pace.

There is a good amount of detail on offer, thanks also in part to a clean, low-distortion background. Whether we listen to these speakers using Tidal via Bluetooth or USB, or CDs on a connected Cyrus CDi disc spinner, the presentation is consistent. From Waxahatchee’s honeyed vocals to Geese’s more discordant and laconic tones, we find the speakers create a rather lovely solid sweet-spot for voices, too.

Listening at low volume doesn’t quite give us a full picture of the speakers’ abilities; turn up the volume, and you’ll find them spark into life. If you reach your smartphone device’s maximum Bluetooth volume limit and wonder if that’s all they can do, reach for the remote control and turn it up some more. These speakers can go pretty loud. Just be wary of going too high, as things do start to get unwieldy and shouty.

Even as we admire their evenness and orderliness, we find the L/R S speakers can be a touch reserved at times. On some tracks – such as on Eminem’s The Way I Am and Forget About Dre – we find ourselves willing the speakers on, to tackle the propulsive rhythm with more punch and panache. The piano notes in Game Of Thrones’ Light Of The Seven glide along smoothly, but they could do with a greater degree of precision and urgency to better impart the ratcheting-up of tension in the piece.

In comparison, the rival Ruark MR1 Mk3 speakers have the upper hand when it comes to rhythmic impetus and dynamic expression. They are able to deliver a bigger and more open sound too, with a greater amount of space in between the instruments and voices.

We find that the Ruark speakers sound clearer throughout the midrange, too, which reveals a greater degree of subtlety and insight. In comparison, the Cambridge sounds as though there is a cloudy veil over the mids, which we would love to hear scrubbed clean so that textures and subtleties can be unleashed. Bon Iver's voice on Exile is layered with rich textures and full of personality and emotion through the Ruarks – this effect is a little muted through the L/R S.

We would recommend investing in the optional desk stands for the L/R S, as physically tilting the speakers towards your listening position results in a clearer, more solid sound. Listening significantly off-axis changes the balance somewhat, so we would take some care when positioning the speakers and experiment with the various toggle modes to find the ideal sound for you.

Verdict

As Cambridge Audio’s first-ever active stereo speakers, the L/R S are off to a great start. It’s a confident design with thoughtful consideration for how people will use them in the real world. And they look stylish, too.

That even-toned, refined and easy-to-listen-to sound is impressive for a product of this type and price, and we think a sprinkle of energy, precision and insight could well catapult these compact Cambridge speakers to stardom. The Ruarks and Onkyos of this world might rest easy for now, but they’ll certainly be keeping an eye on this new contender.

Review published: 15th May 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Ruark Audio MR1 Mk3

Also consider the Onkyo GX-30ARC

Our guide to the best desktop speakers for hi-fi fans, tested by our experts

Flares, sideburns, the mullet... the 1970s must carry the can for some truly terrible style trends. But it also birthed some pretty great-looking speakers, like the Wharfedale Denton 1. Launched in 1974, it was a real landmark in Wharefdale's evolution. And now it's back, with a modern makeover.

The Denton 1S is the latest in Wharfedale's Heritage Series, which are all inspired by its models from yesteryear. But this is the first inspired by a specific model, the Denton 1. With an unusual full-range coaxial drive unit with two cones mounted on the same axis, it could be positioned either vertically or horizontally. It also broke away from the classic wood-panelled look that Wharfedale was known for in favour of a moulded polyurethane (plastic polymer) enclosure with curved edges. Which is a very modern look.

The new model keeps these trademark elements but packages them within a new design, with a "vastly elevated sound".

It's small enough to fit on a desk, but can be wall-mounted, situated close to a wall or placed on a stand. Inside is a new two-way coaxial driver developed especially for this model. A 25mm silk-dome tweeter sits within a 165mm enhanced polypropylene mid/bass cone, allowing both drivers to radiate from a single acoustic centre to produce sound that's time-aligned and phase coherent.

The cone should deliver a wide and balanced frequency response thanks to its enhanced rigidity and critical damping, while the 44mm voice coil allows for power handling up to 100W.

The result? Natural tone balance, excellent transient accuracy and reduced colouration across the midrange, according to Wharfedale. Bass should be warm and full of texture, while high frequencies come with smooth yet crisply rendered detail.

It should also deliver a wide soundstage to entertain you regardless of where you're sitting.

The Denton 1S's crossover network is mapped to Linkwitz-Riley 4th order acoustic slopes at 2.6kHz, and works with a form of EQ that Wharefdale has dubbed the 'Brilliance Switch', which is one of the best names we've heard for a long time. This has two positions: 'norm', or 'max', which raises the response by 1.5dB to between 2 and 4kHz, adjusting the sound for positioning the speaker close to a wall. So you shouldn't suffer acoustically just because you're short of space.

While it might look similar to the original Denton 1, the 1S's cabinet has a whole new construction. It's made of a thicker, denser combination of woods to scatter panel resonances, while differing-thickness fibreboard panels are bonded and braced to control critical resonance modes. The front baffle is also recessed for better structural integrity.

The rear bass port is double-flared with a soft rubber on the inner flare to reduce turbulence and avoid chuffing while also enhancing the bass response. It offers bass extension down to 45Hz (-6dB), and it should match with lots of different amplifiers thanks to its 88dB sensitivity and an impedance averaging 8 ohms, with a minimum of 4.5 ohms.

The Denton 1S comes in the same white matt finish as its progenitor, along with black and blue colour schemes. It's out in late May for £649 / $999 / AU$1799 per pair.

Wharfedale's other Heritage speakers, like the Denton and Linton, have reviewed well, picking up four and five stars respectively. You can read about them below.

MORE:

Read our Wharfedale Denton review

And our Wharfedale LInton review

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the Super Linton speaker from Wharfedale

We knew Jamo would return, and now we know how. With two new ranges as part of its resurrected Concert series: the Concert Legacy and Concert Element.

Jamo's first Concert speakers were the Concert 8 (D 830) and Concert 11 (D 870), launched in 1996. They set the company's acoustic benchmark for decades to come.

And now Concert is getting an encore.

The Concert Legacy is described as "the brand’s most important premium passive speaker family". It aims to imagine what the original Concert series would look like if it had continuously evolved over the last 30 years. But it's not a rehash – instead, it builds on the original ideas that informed the Concert 8 and Concert 11.

These speakers are Scandi through and through. They're made in Denmark, their drivers were developed with Scan-Speak in Denmark and SEAS in Norway, and the woofer materials incorporate Finnish wood fibre.

In terms of sound, we can expect "composed bass, open midrange and articulate treble", according to Jamo. The brand's DualCore architecture physically isolates the midrange and bass chambers to maintain clarity as the low-frequency energy increases. There's also down-firing bass loading to allow for more versatile placement within your room.

The Legacy 11 (pictured above) is the flagship, joined by the Legacy 9 (a more compact floorstander) and the Legacy 8 standmount.

The Concert Element is a bit more designer-y. Or, to put in Jamo's words, it's "Jamo’s purest form of Danish functional design." It was developed with help from Copenhagen-based industrial design studio HarritSørensen.

It has an interesting design choice. Instead of concealing the driver within the speaker's cabinet, the circular driver module extends beyond it, making a virtue of it. It looks like a round peg in a square hole – but in this case, one that fits.

These speakers are intended to become like part of the furniture – thanks to their shallow proportions and minimalist looks, they should look right at home among your sofa, shelves and side units. The Element 50 (pictured at the top of this story) is designed to fit standard shelving units, as opposed to most standmount speakers, which are the size they are.

The Element speakers might be less premium than the Legacy ones, but they still promise an acoustic punch. Developed with SB Acoustics, they use bespoke drivers that have been tuned to each cabinet volume and follow a single-driver-per-range architecture for a simplified signal path and less distortion.

They have down-firing ports along with time-aligned tweeters for greater accuracy. The floorstanding models have the same dual-chamber construction as the Legacy range to separate bass and midrange.

The fabric covers are sourced from Danish furniture supplier Gabriel. Want a more functional-looking design? Just remove them to expose the innards.

The range comprises the Element 50, Element 70, Element 90 and SW10 subwoofer.

All models go on sale in August, with pricing as follows:

• Concert Legacy 11: £7739 / $7999 (around AU$14,500)
• Concert Legacy 9: £4729 / $5299 (around AU$8900)
• Concert Legacy 8: £2839 / $2999 (around AU$5500)
• Concert Element 90: £2239 / $2499 (around AU$4200)
• Concert Element 70: £1719 / $1899 (around AU$3200)
• Concert Element 50: £999 / $1099 (around AU$1900)
• Concert Element SW10: £629 / $699 (around AU$1800)

MORE:

Read our Jamo S 805 review from 2018

We've been here before: Jamo returned to the UK market in 2018

And Jamo also had a rebirth in 2022

Have you ever seen speakers look like this before?

Should we even be calling them speakers? According to their Los Angeles-based studio Oben Hi-Fi, the new brand “occupies a category that does not yet have a name”, and describes its designs as “sculptural sound works that function as reference-level high-fidelity listening systems.”

We might just call them speakers for the sake of convenience, mind you.

Oben’s debut collection consists of five distinct series, each using different materials and design philosophies to create a unique set of speakers unlike much else we’ve seen before.

The disc-shaped Jovian, for example, are described as monolithic towers “that anchor a room the way an artifact from another age would”.

Handcrafted from wood and boasting a large oblong design mounted on a tapered plinth, the new speakers house dual 30cm drivers surrounded by six 20cm units to deliver “exceptional performance” which reveals “nuance, dynamics, and spatial detail with immediacy and precision”.

If you want something even more out there, you might be drawn to the Arqos, a pair of hand-sculpted towers which, says Oben, “recall the arch, the portal, (and) the threshold”.

They put us in mind of a very large set of Teletubbies’ antennae, but maybe that’s just us. The new series is available in two sizes – the David and the Goliath – with the David housing a pair of 20cm drivers and the Goliath offering a pair of 38cm units.

Other colourful creations include the Mane speakers, which are described as “acoustic totems cloaked in lush tactile fibres that blur the line between the natural and the surreal,” and the Callisto, crafted from hardwood and featuring a distinctive pimpled surface.

There’s also the Korus, a pair of chunky wooden towers sculpted from solid wood with carved acoustic chambers, again split into the smaller David iteration and the larger, 152cm tall Goliath.

All of the speakers in Oben’s new series are available to buy, although stocks are limited and prices, as you’ll see below, are rather steep. They are as follows:

- Oben Mane: starting at $26,000
- Oben Callisto: starting at $78,000
- Oben Arqos: starting at $71,000
- Oben Korus: starting at $71,000
- Oben Jovian: starting at $125,000

MORE:

15 of the very first turntables from iconic hi-fi brands

These are our best floorstanding speakers: budget to premium

Pick of the Month: a shining star OLED TV, twin Sony turntable treats, five-star high-end hi-fi speakers and more, tested

Audiovector, the Danish brand behind luxury loudspeakers such as the R6 Arreté and the Trapeze Reimagined , has announced a new entry in its line of big-money floorstanders.

The new R5 Arreté are the latest members of the company’s established Arreté range, a line-up that tops out at the R10 Arreté, which cost a mighty £127,5000 / $165,000 / €147,500 per pair.

At just shy of £18,000, the new R5 Arreté are a comparative steal, yet they’re not modest in terms of their ambition. Inheriting trickle-down technology from their flagship R10 stablemates, the new speakers pledge to “redefine what a loudspeaker of this scale can achieve”.

The new floorstanders are built around a 3.5-way architecture, with twin bass drivers operating distinctly from each other – one covering the full bass range, the second dedicated to the deepest sonic frequencies.

Those drivers combine to generate what Audiovector describes as bass “that is both deep and powerful", while a dedicated midrange unit promises a “clean, fast and transparent” response.

Each cabinet is hand-built in Denmark, with a narrow front baffle aiming to minimise edge diffraction for a more precise and transparent soundstage. The speaker plinths, together with precision-milled spikes and integrated decoupling system, further seek to eliminate unwanted resonances.

According to Renaissance Managing Director John Carroll: "We are delighted to launch the R5 Arreté. It’s a Danish masterclass in sound, styling and design that really hits the sweet spot."

The R5 Arreté will be available in a choice of Piano Black, White Silk, African Mahogany Piano and Italian Walnut finishes, priced at £17,950. Custom paint finishes are available on request.

MORE:

Read our five-star Audiovector QR 7 review

These are our best floorstanding speakers: budget to premium

Pick of the Month: a shining star OLED TV, twin Sony turntable treats, five-star high-end hi-fi speakers and more, tested

British brand Majority Audio has unveiled D100X powered Bluetooth bookshelf speakers, billing them as a "compact yet powerful audio set-up" built to give a budget sonic boost to your musical, cinematic or gaming experience.

Designed to be as happy on an office desktop as slotting into a small-scale hi-fi system, the new D100X boast up to 100 watts of output power from their compact design, while carbon fibre speaker cones promise "clarity and depth across all audio types".

The D100X offer Bluetooth 5.3 streaming for listening wirelessly, while physical inputs include HDMI ARC for connecting to a home cinema setup alongside optical, aux and RCA options. There's also a dedicated phono connection if you want to hook up your turntable.

If you're keen to tweak their sound, the new speakers let you adjust your audio output via adjustable treble and bass settings, whereas dedicated equaliser modes are designed to enhance dialogue clarity when connected to a TV via HDMI ARC or optical inputs.

2026 has seen quite a few feature-packed powered speakers enter the market, including the five-star Onkyo GX30-ARC( £339 / $349 / AU$649) and the Philips Fidelio FA3 (tested at £349 / $399 / AU$499).

There's also our current Award-winners, the Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899), which are our main recommendation for desktop speaker buyers right now.

Available now for just £129, the Majority D100X are significantly cheaper than all three key rivals, but as we well know, an attractive price is nothing without great sound to back it up.

MORE:

I heard a Dolby Atmos mix in a professional recording studio – and it’s changed my view of spatial audio

Apple Music exec: "Most people can't hear the difference with lossless audio"

These are the best hi-fi systems on the market

The Martin Logan brand is built on its excellent and rather elegant hybrid electrostatic/ dynamic driver high-end speakers. These are a little niche in design and, necessarily, rather pricey, so it’s no surprise to find that the company also makes conventional box speakers at lower price points.

Its entry-level series is called the Motion Foundation, and the F1 on test here is the smaller of two floorstanding options. The range also includes a pair of standmounters (B2 and smaller B1) and the C1, a dedicated centre speaker.

Design

All speakers use the same folded diaphragm tweeter with horn loading coupled to aluminium-coned drive units of either 14cm or 16.5cm diameter, depending on the size of the model.

The Foundation F1 floorstander uses four of the 14cm drivers, one for the midrange and three for the bass. Along with the horn-loaded tweeter, that makes for a pretty formidable-looking driver array for a speaker at this price.

The bass units are tuned by a pair of rear-firing ports that are positioned just above a pair of single-wire input terminals.

Martin Logan is particularly proud of its folded diaphragm tweeters. These are 24 x 25mm in size; the relatively large surface area, and the resultant reduction in excursion required, is claimed to result in a more detailed and lower-distortion performance than conventional dome alternatives.

The addition of horn-loading helps with efficiency and allows the engineers to control the way the high frequencies disperse.

The crossover frequency between the tweeter in the midrange unit is 3.7kHz and that between the mid and bass units is set at 240Hz. Both are fairly typical numbers. The F1’s 92dB/W/m sensitivity is decently high and might make you think that it is possible to get by with a lower powered amplifier, but the low-ish 4 ohm impedance still suggests something with a bit of grunt is a better way to go.

As usual, there is no harm in experimenting. We achieve good results with the Arcam A15+ integrated amplifier and the step-up Cyrus 40 AMP (both around 80 watts per channel), so that amount of power seems a reasonable starting point.

Build

Despite being the compact floorstander choice in the range, these are still imposing looking towers that stand well over a metre high. They are relatively slim at just 21cm though, and look smart and modern to our eyes. There are three standard enclosure finish options: black, walnut and satin white.

Cabinet build quality is good, with crisp edges and good attention to detail, though we feel that the feet (which are attached with a single screw) could fit more rigidly. They come as standard with rubber caps over the spikes, so those with wooden floors have an option that won’t cause damage.

The Motion Foundation F1 work best when given some room to breathe. In our 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd) test room, we end up with them around 90cm from the back wall and slightly angled in towards the listening position. It is worth taking some time to hone things as the stereo imaging really does snap into focus once optimised.

We would also ensure that your ears are broadly at tweeter height to get the most balanced presentation. If you sit too low, things start to sound a little odd.

Along with the aforementioned Arcam and Cyrus integrated amplifiers, we also test these speakers with our reference Burmester 088/911 Mk III pre/power pairing. Our main sources are the Naim ND555/555 PS DR music streamer and a Technics SL-1000R/Kiseki Purpleheart record player feeding a Cyrus Phono Signature/PSX-R2 phono stage.

Sound

We expected the Motion Foundation F1 to be something of a front-footed bass monster given the generous driver count and relatively large enclosure. We weren’t quite right. These towers do indeed produce a strong bass with good extension, but they prioritise articulation and control more than we were expecting.

Listen to bass-driven music such as The Dark Knight OST by Hans Zimmer, Bob Marley & the Wailers’ Catch A Fire or Massive Attack’s Mezzanine, and these speakers sound impressively taut at low frequencies. Bass is textured and agile, but not quite as authoritative as we hoped. Importantly, those lows remain balanced and nicely integrated with the rest of the frequency range.

The F1 sound pleasingly even in our test room, with no part of the frequency range gaining undue prominence. They have a clean and detailed presentation that resolves a great deal of information and presents it in a composed and organised way.

Given a complex piece of music such as Orff’s Carmina Burana, these Martin Logan floorstanders don’t flinch as they hold onto the multitude of instrumental stands without losing grip.

Their midrange is open and nicely projected, doing a good job of letting us hear every single word in Eminem’s rapid-fire vocals in No Love, despite the dense instrumental backdrop. Higher frequencies stay on the right side of brightness, retaining plenty of bite and attack without erring into harshness.

Play a poor recording and the F1 won’t hide the shortcomings, but neither will they magnify them.

Stereo imaging is pretty good, with these floorstanders rendering a wide and nicely focused soundstage. The imaging isn’t the deepest we’ve heard, and the sound doesn’t quite float free of the speaker cabinets, but that’s broadly par for the course at this level.

We are less forgiving about the F1’s lack of rhythmic drive, though. While they are punchy performers, these towers don’t manage to convey musical momentum particularly well. The result is that songs such as Massive Attack’s Angel or Bob Marley’s Stir It Up don’t hit home with the emotional impact they should. The ebb and flow of energy isn’t quite there and our toes aren’t tapping.

Equally, a lack of dynamic expression, particularly through the midrange, means that the passion of artists such as Nina Simone or Nick Cave doesn’t come through as vividly as we would expect. While these Martin Logan speakers sound clean and clear, they also have a slightly clinical sonic character that class leaders like the PMC Prodigy 5 or Fyne Audio F502S avoid.

Verdict

Despite our complaints, we still find much to admire in these floorstanding speakers. The Motion Foundation F1’s presentation is packed with clarity and is a match for class rivals when it comes to control and resolution. Their bass, while not unusually powerful, is impressively articulate and nicely balanced.

If Martin Logan’s engineers could find a way to make them more fun, price rivals would really have something to worry about.

Review published: 28th April 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 4
• Compatibility 4

MORE:

Read our review of the PMC Prodigy 5

Also consider the Fyne Audio F502S

Best floorstanding speakers: budget to premium models tested by our experts

Our experience with Acoustic Energy’s midrange 300 Series speakers (which the company overhauled in 2025) has been a memorable one so far.

We’ve already tested the AE300 Mk2 standmounters, which were not only handed a five-star rating by our review team last year, but they also won Product Of The Year in the standmount speakers category at the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025.

So you can understand the feeling of anticipation around What Hi-Fi? Towers ahead of testing the AE309 Mk2, the entry-level floorstander from the range.

Of course, just because one speaker in a range gets five stars doesn’t mean that the rest of the speakers will automatically follow suit. Years of experience testing speakers have taught us that anything can happen when you jump around between models in a range.

But it is hard not to get excited about a close relative of a current class-leader. Fingers crossed these floorstanders don’t let the side down.

Build & design

Imposing, these speakers are most certainly not. Measuring 17cm wide and 90cm tall, we’d imagine the Acoustic Energy AE309 Mk2 would be a great fit for someone lacking a little floor space or who needs to reach an amicable compromise over how much room their hi-fi system can take up.

There’s something attractive about a compact floorstander, and we think Acoustic Energy has nailed the proportions here.

In the walnut finish of our test pair, these diminutive speakers look like they’ll blend into a lot of spaces. You also have matte black and matte white options available, too, so you can either go for full-on stealth mode or rock a slightly punchier look.

They’re nicely finished too, the curved edges on some sections of the cabinets add a nice air of elegance to an otherwise very functional and sturdy design.

Those cabinets are cleverly constructed. They are formed using a constrained layer construction that combines 18mm MDF with bitumen. Acoustic Energy claims it reduces cabinet vibrations compared to more traditional MDF or plywood designs.

As you’d expect, the AE309 Mk2 uses the same drivers you’ll find in the Award-winning standmounters. There’s a 29mm soft dome tweeter, but this floorstanding model doubles up on the 12cm mid/bass drivers, which are made from a paper/coconut fibre.

Compatibility

Before we sit down to put the floorstanders through their paces, as is the case with all speakers we test, first there’s the small matter of positioning.

The AE309 Mk2 boast a rear slot-shaped port just above the single-wire speaker terminals. It’s there to reduce the effect of air turbulence and help deliver clean, undistorted bass.

Acoustic Energy recommends you place them at least six inches from a rear wall and away from corners, and we’d agree. During testing, we find that we get the best results if we give them room to breathe and settle around 60cm from the rear walls in our test room, which measures 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd).

Place them too close to the wall, and we find the bass a little overblown for our tastes. It’s not unlistenable, but we’d struggle to live with it over long listening sessions, especially if you’re playing a particularly bass-heavy playlist.

We would also suggest angling the speakers so that the tweeters are firing at the side of your ears. The Acoustic Energy deliver a nice, cohesive stereo image, and this little tweak will help keep things focused.

Sound

Once we’re happy with the positioning, we fire up our tried and trusted reference system, which comprises the Naim ND555/555 PS DR streamer and Burmester 088/911 MkIII pre/power amplifier.

We know that in the real world, this isn’t exactly a realistic set-up, so we also have Arcam’s superb A15+ stereo amplifier sitting on the sidelines, ready to bring in. It’s much more price-appropriate for the speakers.

We start proceedings with Taylor Swift’s duet with Bon Iver, Exile, and it’s fair to say the AE309 Mk2 make an immediate impact. Well, it’s actually the influence of their cabinets, or rather the lack of it, that pricks up our ears.

The background of the track is eerily quiet – the soft, melodic piano play that opens the song just hangs in the open air before Justin Vernon’s deep baritone layers itself on top and locks into focus.

There’s quite a lot to take in here, not least an excellent amount of detail and texture. Each piano key strike sounds solid and detailed, and you can hear a good dose of the reverb around each note as they fill the stereo image.

Both Vernon and Swift’s vocals ooze emotion as the Acoustic Energy speakers do a great job of sounding natural, which allows them to capture the feeling and sentiment of the track with relative ease.

The sadness and anguish melded into the lyrics are all laid bare for the listener to hear, and as the track’s tempo speeds up, and the emotions rise ever so slightly, the AE309 Mk2 step up to match the subtle rise in intensity.

When the strings slide into view, the speakers showcase their excellent dynamics, tracking every rise and fall as the song reaches an emotional climax.

Next we employ Angel by Massive Attack, to get more of a feeling of how the Acoustic Energy pair handle low frequencies – and once again, we like what we hear.

There’s a real sense of solidity and weight as each note hits. There’s a good sense of drive too. We can hear detail and texture both at the surface level of each note, but also further down the sonic register. It feels like the floorstanders are squeezing out as much information as possible.

Our benchmark at this level is the Award-winning Fyne Audio F501E, and the fact that we don’t find ourselves pining for them every time we switch back to the Acoustic Energy shows the AE309 Mk2 must have something going for them.

The Fynes arguably have a bit more thrust and drive to their delivery with the Massive Attack track, though. They’re a bit more authoritative and punchier with exceptional dynamic stretch for the money – so much so that they can make the Acoustic Energy towers sound like they’re holding back a little. On the flip side, they don’t sound quite as natural or balanced.

We finish off with End Credits from the swashbuckling Pirates Of The Caribbean soundtrack. And the AE309 Mk2 deliver the track with enthusiasm and verve. The rapid, unrelenting pace of the track is no problem for these towers, which do a great job communicating rhythms and the textures of the instruments.

The precision and poise they can deploy give great clarity to a track that can sometimes be a blur of orchestral elements on poorer-performing speakers.

The hallmark of excellent speakers is that you don’t even realise they are there. Instead of being drawn to something they are or are not doing, you can close your eyes, and the music just washes over you. And that’s probably the biggest compliment we can pay the Acoustic Energy – the seamless integration between drive units simply lets the music do the talking.

It’s at this point that we retrace our steps, listening to the same tracks using the Arcam A15+ for amplification. And we can report that the speakers feel completely at home. The AE309 Mk2 sound much more relaxed (in a good way) in the company of something more suited to their price level.

They still deliver a natural, balanced and detailed performance, and it’s hard not to think that this pairing, driven by a Bluesound Node Icon music streamer, could make for quite a capable system.

Verdict

Credit to Acoustic Energy, we now have another member of its 300 Series that comes highly recommended by our test team. The compact AE309 Mk2 stand tall in a tough sector of the loudspeaker market, but their superbly balanced and musical sound is a match for any rival.

These are speakers that definitely deserve your time and, potentially, money.

Review published: 27th April 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Compatibility 5

MORE:

Also consider the Fyne Audio F501E

Read our review of the Q Acoustics 5050

Best floorstanding speakers: budget to premium models tested by our experts

By JBL’s own reckoning, the Summit Ama is the best standmounter it knows how to make. Let that sink in a little. JBL was founded back in 1946, and the decades of knowledge gained by making all sorts of speakers for use at home, in cinemas and concert venues, and for recording studios around the world, has led here. Few, if any, rival speaker manufacturers come close to this depth and breadth of experience

The Summit Ama is the smallest and only non-floorstanding option in JBL’s trio of Summit high-end speakers. All three are named after Himalayan mountains (the others are called the Summit Pumori and Summit Makalu). They all sit below the company’s well-established range-topping Everest DD67000 (£79,999 / $82,500) and K2 S9900 (£49,998 / $68,000) tower models in price and size.

Design & build

The Summit range’s technical highlight is undoubtedly the horn-loaded compression tweeter. JBL has decades of experience making such drivers, and the engineering in the D2815K unit used here in the Ama is impressive.

It uses dual 38mm annular Teonex diaphragms, two motor systems and is loaded by the company’s HDI (High Definition Imaging) horn.

The HDI horn is made of Sonoglass, a fibreglass-based material, and is carefully shaped to ensure that high frequencies disperse in a controlled way, both horizontally and vertically. The horn’s unusual profile also aims to reduce the distortions that are traditionally inherent in such designs.

Below the tweeter sits a 20cm triple-layer carbon fibre/cellulose hybrid composite mid/bass unit. This driver’s diaphragm sandwiches a closed-cell foam core between the carbon fibre/cellulose layers to achieve the balance of stiffness, low mass and internal damping that JBL’s engineers required.

The mid/bass’s motor system uses a ferrite magnet and has a cast aluminium chassis for rigidity. This driver is claimed to deliver high sound pressure levels with low distortion and good power handling. Its low-end output is tuned by a large, flared rear-facing port that sits just above the chunky set of biwire terminals on the back panel.

The Summit Ama’s two drivers are integrated by a carefully calibrated crossover network that swaps traditional large value capacitors for multiple smaller ones; a choice that reduces ESR ( internal resistance) and is claimed to result in lower distortion, increased power handling and better dynamics.

Physically, this JBL is a chunky design, standing almost 48cm tall and around 31cm wide. The cabinet depth is pretty substantial at 34cm, and when mounted on their dedicated supports, the speakers will certainly dominate in most typical small rooms in the UK.

Build quality is excellent. The Ama’s cabinets feel rock solid and nicely damped. They are substantial at just over 26kg each, so they need care in installation. There are two finish options, black or ebony veneer, both in high gloss. The overall effect may be a touch brutish for some tastes, but there is no denying the care taken in fit and finish.

Those aluminium stands are substantial affairs with twin pillars and isolating IsoAcoustics soft feet rather than the spikes we normally see. Some thought has been given to cable management to keep things tidy, which is something we wish more manufacturers would take seriously. The Summit Ama bolt onto the stand to keep things secure.

Compatibility

JBL quotes the Summit Ama’s sensitivity at 84dB/W/m and its nominal impedance as 4 ohms, which suggests that a high-quality amplifier with plenty of power is probably the way to go. Our experience reinforces this idea. We get great results with our 180-watt-per-channel Burmester 088/911 MkIII amplifier combination.

There is no point in spending so much on a pair of speakers if the partnering system is in any way compromised. Our sources are Naim’s ND555/555 PS DR music streamer and a Technics SL-1000R/Kiseki Purpleheart record player feeding the aforementioned Burmester pre/power or a PMC Cor high-end integrated. Cables are premium options from Chord Cables and Vertere Acoustics.

The Summit Ama prove relatively unfussy about positioning in our 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd) test room. They need a bit of space to breathe, so don’t be tempted to put them close to a wall or corner, as you’ll never really hear just how good they can sound.

After a bit of experimentation, we end up with them around 90cm into the room with just a little angling towards the listening position. It is worth taking some time to optimise the toe-in angle, as getting the best balance between solid stereo image focus and good soundstage width requires a little work.

Sound

Once properly set up, these speakers generate a huge sound that belies their relatively modest (by price standards) size. We are listening to 65daysofstatic’s Heat Death Infinity Splitter and are stunned by the wall of sound these JBLs produce. They sound bold and confident, generating a sense of solidity and authority that’s rare among high-end standmounters in our experience.

They sound earthy and physical, maybe lacking a touch of spaciousness some rivals produce, but compensating with a brawny, outgoing character that’s so easy to love. This muscular presentation is built on the foundations laid by the speaker’s weighty yet still pleasingly articulate bass performance. These standmounters delve deep and true at low frequencies, delivering a fullness and power in the bass that is unusual for a speaker of this size.

We find we’re listening much louder than usual. That’s because these JBLs retain their smoothness, refinement and composure even when pushed hard. Their highs may not be the sweetest we’ve heard, but there is no trace of unwanted tizz or edge, and the level of resolution is excellent.

Dynamics, both high and low level, are delivered with conviction. Not many alternatives are as good at resolving dynamic contrasts, and even fewer remain as interesting to listen to at low volumes. These JBL standmounts remain an entertaining proposition right down to whisper volumes, though it has to be said, they actively encourage the listener to turn the wick up.

All the work on optimising the horn shape works well. The Summit Ama’s sound remains surprisingly consistent as we move away from our main listening position. Their expansive imaging stays decently stable over an unusually wide listening area. We have no complaints about focus or the way these speakers layer the soundstage.

As we work through our most demanding test recordings (The Dark Knight OST by Hans Zimmer, Massive Attack’s Mezzanine and Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring), we can’t help but be impressed by the Summit Ama’s sonic unflappability. Their ability to retain control through the musical drama is excellent, as is the way they dig up so much information yet manage to organise it in a cohesive and musical way.

Tonally, we find they err on the side of richness; they sound pleasantly full-bodied and robust. This character trait gives voices and instruments an appealing palpability. We love the way they render instrumental textures and the skill with which they convey Nina Simone’s emotion in Sinnerman.

They are sure-footed rhythmically and convey musical momentum well. These speakers want you to have a good time with appropriate music, but feed them with Olafur Arnald’s Found Songs, and they are equally capable of getting introspective.

Verdict

The Summit Ama are one of the costliest standmounters we’ve ever reviewed, but their breadth of talents is hugely impressive. That they can rock should be no surprise to anyone familiar with the brand’s heritage, but it's their blend of insight, dynamic expression and finesse that marks them out as something special.

If you view your hi-fi as an analysis tool to dissect recording and production quality, there are alternatives which will serve you better. However, if you just want to have fun and get lost in the music, these JBL standmounters should be right at the top of your shopping list.

Review published: 20th April 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Compatibility 4

MORE:

Read our ATC SCM 50 review

Also consider the Magico A1

Best speakers: budget to premium models tested by our expert reviewers

We've recommended the five-star Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 plenty of times, and despite being released nearly three years ago, these bookshelf speakers are still worth your attention.

One of the benefits of them being a little bit older is that you can often snap them up for a seriously discounted price. Right now, Peter Tyson is selling them for just £549. That's a £200 discount on their full price.

Offering a punchy, open sound that goes big on clarity, refinement and detail by the bucketload, the 606 S3 are guaranteed to please.

Best B&W 606 S3 deal

The Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 are former What Hi-Fi? Award winners, receiving a five-star rating from our team of experts during testing and a whole lot of acclaim along the way.

The 606 S3 are the top standmounters in B&W's acclaimed 600 Series 3 range, acting as the larger siblings to the also-excellent B&W 607 S3. The 606 S3 offer a more mature presentation than the smaller 607 S3 thanks to their bigger cabinet, offering a punchier and more open sound, alongside plenty of clarity, detail and refinement.

If you're looking for serious oomph to your bass, the standmounts' 16.5cm mid/bass driver offers weight and authority at the lower end, especially when compared with their 607 S3 stablemates.

As we said in our review: “This extra bass power means the 606 S3 speakers aren’t quite as prone to the slightly excitable and forward treble of its lively 607 S3 sibling; but we’d still take some care with partnering hi-fi products to get the very best out of these speakers.”

You'll get a subtler, more refined sound from the more recent Award-winner at this price point, Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2, but there are plenty who might prefer the B&W's sonic balance.

The 606 S3 have been around for a while now, but their musical, entertaining performance is still capable of thrilling you for a knocked-down price.

If you're looking for some serious standmounts for a very attractive price, then check out this £200 off deal at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Read our Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 review

And check out the best budget hi-fi speakers 2026

Or if you're tight on space, browse our best bookshelf speakers 2026

Kerr Acoustic has lifted the lid on its latest pair of speakers, the K400.

The new standmounts are the company's most compact speakers yet, teasing a "home-friendly" design which brings technologies and design lessons from more premium models, such as the five-star K300 Mk3, to a more slimmed-down format.

The new standmounts employ a two-way design, drawing heavily on the engineering of the more premium K300 speakers. Inside, the K400 deploy a 150mm mid-bass unit is paired with a 45mm true ribbon tweeter, teasing a "majestic sense of scale" despite the cabinets' modest dimensions.

Like all Kerr speakers, the K400 use the brand's own transmission line loading technology in pursuit of a "well-controlled and extended bass" and a "clear, uncoloured midrange". The crossover, meanwhile, incorporates premium film capacitors and copper air-core inductors.

On the outside, the K400 also take inspiration from their K300 counterparts, with the cabinets using a birch plywood baffle alongside 12mm internal bracing for greater rigidity and reduced unwanted resonance.

According to founder Jes Kerr, the new K400, "take many of the same ingredients and design philosophy that made our K300 so special, and presents them in a more compact format that opens them up to users seeking a more compact loudspeaker".

Kerr Acoustic's new K400 standmounts will be available to pre-order from 8th May in a range of finishes. Prices are as follows:

• Real wood veneer: £4695
• Satin lacquer: £4925
• High gloss lacquer: £5125
• High gloss veneer: £5345

A pair of stands, sold separately, will set you back £595.

MORE:

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I visited one of the world's largest record shops, and it's like Disneyland for audiophiles

Best speakers: budget to premium stereo speakers

Jamo is back. The Danish brand had been a fixture of the hi-fi scene since the 1960s, but was sold off in 2024. Since then, things went very quiet. But now new owners Cinemaster and Rayeligh Lab have announced that new Jamo speakers will soon be unveiled.

Jamo was founded in 1968, and was known for fusing a Scandinavian design ethos with high-performance sound. It was previously owned by Voxx/PAC (which also owned Klipsch and Onkyo), but in 2024 was sold to Chinese companies Cinemaster and Rayeligh Lab.

Cinemaster is China's largest audio distribution company, while Rayleigh Lab is involved in audio research and development and manufacturing.

The new companies claim to understand Jamo's heritage and will draw on it for its new era.

"Jamo is a legendary brand for good reason – great sound and clever design never get old and we have set up development to create speakers which meet all needs of the modern listener from entry level speakers to high-end systems," Xiaodong Yang, Cinemaster's CEO, said in a statement.

"Production will be handled in both Denmark and China and we can't wait to show you more very soon."

Just a couple of months, in fact. The new Jamo range will launch at the Vienna High End Show in June. The parent companies claim this rebirth will bring a "renewed focus on design, craftsmanship and the people behind the brand."

It aims to return the brand to its core values of innovation, simplicity and elegance, with a particular emphasis on its Nordic roots. Its new design and engineering approach will draw inspiration from the "landscapes, materials and cultural traditions of Scandinavia."

Jamo's creative direction will be steered by Kim Michel, founder of KimMichel Design, and Simon Matthews, creative director at UK design consultancy Studio ISO (which has worked with Focal, B&W, and Naim Audio, among others).

Danish design agency HarritSorensen has also overseen the development of the new products.

The team has explored new materials and acoustic solutions to ensure the speakers perform acoustically while also being responsible to the environment. We're promised products that "feel authentic, refined and durable."

It also promises to launch "a wide spectrum of listening experiences" including "traditional high-fidelity systems" and "modern connected solutions and lifestyle products". So it sounds like it's cooking up a lot more than just standard hi-fi speakers.

We'll bring you all the news from High End Vienna once it kicks off in June.

MORE:

Read our Jamo S 805 review from 2018

We've been here before: Jamo returned to the UK market in 2018

And Jamo also had a rebirth in 2022

In the same way we'd float the idea of buying a soundbar to boost your TV's audio, we'd also suggest a pair of external speakers (or a wireless speaker) to boost the audio coming out of your laptop or desktop PC, especially if you use it as your main music source.

A pair of speakers that are hugely capable and won't break the bank are the impressive Onkyo GX-30ARC. We've tested them and given them a glowing five-star rating thanks to their impressive sonic skills, excellent flexibility and attractive pricing.

We originally tested them at £339, and right now, you can buy a pair for £299 at Peter Tyson.

That's a very solid £40 saving, and one that our review team thinks deserves serious thought. After all, five-star options at this level are few and far between.

You can't accuse the Onkyo speakers of being short on features. They include a moving magnet phono stage, HDMI ARC connectivity, an audio-friendly USB-C socket, an analogue audio input and Bluetooth connectivity.

In our Onkyo GX-30ARC review, we praised their "crisp, measured delivery" using a Bluetooth connection, following it up with, "it’s hard to ignore the considerable talents the GX-30ARC speakers deliver, with their poise and cohesion lending tracks a wholly balanced feel."

We also enjoyed music played over USB-C and took time to praise the phono stage, concluding, "We are deeply impressed by how clear, punchy, and dynamically engaging the Onkyo speakers sound for the price".

While they might not be quite up to the super-high standards of the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 pairing, the Ruarks are much more expensive, and the Onkyos still deliver a very balanced and pleasing performance for the money

The only thing they're really missing is wi-fi connectivity, but you tend to have to pay significantly more for that privilege.

Finally, the Onkyo pair look the part, too, thanks to their clean, utilitarian aesthetic and smart-looking magnetic grilles.

They even come with a pair of upward-angled stands, which help with positioning if they're being used as a desktop system and you want the audio firing more up towards your ears.

As a desktop package, there's a lot going for the Onkyo G-30ARC, and they deliver a seriously good performance for what we'd consider a relatively budget price, especially now they're down from £339 to £299 over at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Read our full Onkyo GX-30ARC review

Check out the best computer speakers: the top desktop options for hi-fi fans tested by our experts

Also check out our Elac Debut ConneX DCB41 review

Canadian audio manufacturer Paradigm has announced its latest speaker lineup, the Premier Series v2.

Vowing to set "a new standard for affordable high-performance audio", the new range consists of six models and claims to completely overhaul the architecture of its preceding series. The aim, says Paradigm, is to bring "high-fidelity listening experience" to an "approachable price point".

Incorporating trickle-down technology and design principles taken from Paradigm’s more premium Founder and Persona speaker ranges, the Premier Series v2 has been engineered to remain sonically neutral to reproduce tracks "as the artist intended".

Those trickle-down technologies include combined aluminium, magnesium and ceramic ('AL-MAC') high frequency drivers, as well as carbon low frequency units designed to deliver "powerful, controlled bass", even at higher volumes.

Paradigm's own phase-aligning waveguides aim to focus sound towards the listener regardless of your room's layout, and the isolation feet decouple the speakers from the floor to reduce unwanted vibrations.

The three-way Premier 820F v2 and Premier 720F v2 floorstanders both deploy large carbon drivers, with the flagship 820F teasing "a powerful, lifelike performance" engineered for home theatre listening or as part of a high-end stereo system.

Next up are the Premier 120B v2 and 220B v2 standmounts. Both house twin drive units, with the more premium 220B featuring a larger 15cm driver and a larger cabinet volume for deeper bass and wider dynamic range.

The Premier 520LCR v2 LCR channel speaker and the Premier 620C v2 centre channel unit round off the range, with the latter using a four-drive array and dual passive radiators to deliver a "deep, impactful low-end" for your home cinema setup.

The new Premier Series v2 is set to be available this June in a choice of Piano Black, Black Walnut or Walnut finishes, as well as a more limited Satin White finish for the 120B and 520LCR models. We are waiting for UK/Euro prices to be confirmed, but here are the US prices for now:

- Premier 720F v2 floorstanders: $1000 each
- Premier 820F v2 floorstanders: $1300 each
- Premier 120B v2 standmounts: $400 each
- Premier 220B v2 standmounts: $550 each
- Premier 520LCR v2 LCR channel: $900 each
- Premier 620C v2 centre channel: $1300 each

MORE:

Like floorstanders? Read our Spendor A7.2 review

Now Playing: the 6 stellar test tracks soundtracking our spring listening

These are the best bookshelf speakers you can buy

Choosing the right floorstanding speakers is a big decision. After all, the right pair is going to supercharge your hi-fi system – but there are plenty of great options to choose from. A tempting discount is one way to make the decision a little easier.

Right now, the five-star Fyne Audio F501E floorstanders are down to just £899 at Richer Sounds. That's a solid £100 off their launch price.

Even better news? They're not just one of the best floorstanding speakers we've ever tested, they're our overall top pick at the moment, having scooped Product of the Year at the 2025 What Hi-Fi? Awards.

The Fyne Audio F501E provide the best value for money at their sub-£1000 price point, made even sweeter by this enticing deal.

They are, to be frank, outstanding loudspeakers at this mid-range level. And while they're not particularly stunning to look at, with Black Ash the only finish on offer, they certainly deliver top-class performance.

In fact, our expert testers said: "It doesn’t take long to realise that the F501E are hugely capable. They do the basics well by offering good insight and delivering decently balanced tonality."

And it's how they sound that really got us singing their praises in our full review: "We like the Fyne’s sense of scale and are impressed with the low-end authority and punch they generate on demand.

"Bass is taut, tuneful and articulate by class standards. We push the volume levels northward to see how the F501E cope – they tick that box confidently at anything that passes for normal listening levels."

The Isoflare drive array unit (a proprietary premium technology available at this price for the first time) properly delivers, offering a sense of dispersion and scale and keeping the lower frequencies taut and completely in check.

Thanks to their downward-firing port arrangement, these Fynes aren’t hugely fussy about positioning, although we found they performed best around 70cm or so out from the rear wall and well away from the sides of our test room.

In terms of partnering the speakers with suitable electronics, it goes without saying that a good quality stereo amplifier will go a long way to extracting the very best performance from the F501E. And our expert testers found them to be relatively accommodating in terms of partnering gear.

We tested them with Arcam’s A5 (50 watts per channel), the Naim Nait XS3 (70 watts per channel) and PMC’s Cor (95 watts per channel), and they sounded great with all three amplifiers.

Ultimately, the F501E's set a new benchmark for value. They're nuanced performers with a fluid and expressive manner that's fun to listen to.

And they've just upped the performance-per-pound ante, dropping to £899 at Richer Sounds.

MORE:

Read our full Fyne Audio F501E review

Our pick of the best floorstanding speakers you can buy for all budgets

Standmounts vs floorstanders: which speaker type should you buy?

We are massive fans of Spendor’s original A7 floorstanders. These slim, easy-to-accommodate towers launched in early 2018 and went on to win our premium floorstanders Award that very same year. Amazingly, the Spendors held onto that Award for six consecutive years right up to 2024 and were only edged out last year by ProAc’s excellent D20R.

The new Spendor A7.2 clearly has a huge legacy to uphold. On the surface, it looks like Spendor’s engineers have played it safe. The 93.4cm tall cabinet is the same size as before, and that is a good thing. One of the attractive aspects of the original design was just how easy it was to accommodate in a typically cosy UK listening room.

That original A7 was capable of filling larger spaces with sound, of course, but remained compact enough not to dominate in smaller environments. Such an easy-going nature remains rare in a pair of floorstanders of its price and quality, and we are pleased that this new version retains that trait.

Build & design

As before, the enclosure is beautifully made. Its edges are crisp, and the structure feels rigid yet well-damped. Spendor’s attention to detail is impressive, from the care taken to ensure that the floor spike/speaker cabinet interface is as solid as possible, to the high-quality, real wood veneer applied to our review sample.

These are expensive speakers, but the build quality reflects that. They aren’t unusually heavy at 17.7kg each, making them easy to move around, should you need to.

However, Spendor’s engineers haven’t just been twiddling their collective thumbs, as there are significant changes to this second-generation model. The A7.2’s tweeter is a more conventional 27mm polyamide soft dome rather than the 22mm wide surround unit used in the original. There is no longer a protective grille over the tweeter to protect it from prying fingers.

The crossover network has been redesigned, too. It now hands over to the company’s well-regarded 18cm EP77 polymer mid/bass unit at 2kHz rather than the unusually high 3.7kHz of before.

Unexpectedly, Spendor has also moved away from the previous generation's rear-firing slot port to a traditional tube design that sits towards the middle of the rear panel rather than at its base. The single-wire speaker terminals also move up the back panel, which we feel looks less tidy than the original’s low-down location.

The combination of the drive unit, crossover and porting changes has resulted in making the A7.2 less sensitive than its predecessor (85dB/W/m vs 88dB/W/m) and a touch more demanding to drive with a nominal impedance that is rated at a rather precise 6.75ohms (minimum of 5.4 ohms) against the 8 ohms (min 6ohms) of the original.

Compatibility

In our view, the small impedance changes don’t make any significant difference, but the drop in sensitivity means the A7.2 needs a more muscular amplifier than before if used in larger rooms or played at higher volume levels.

Any speaker at this level deserves suitably talented partnering equipment. We use our reference Naim ND555/555 PS DR music streamer for the bulk of testing, and also get good results with a Rega Planar 6/Nd7 record player. Good price compatible amplifiers include Naim’s Nait XS3 and the Cyrus 40 AMP, with the latter in particular working well. We also connect our Burmester 088/911 MkIII pre/power to hear how these speakers cope when fed a top-class signal.

Our comparison speakers are the Epos ES-14N, which are similarly priced large standmounters (£3750 / $4500 / AU$7495), the PMC Prodigy 5 floorstanders (cheaper at £1995 / $2999 / AU$3399) and our reference high-end ATC SCM50 speakers.

We don’t have a pair of original A7 to confirm this, but from memory we would say that these new speakers have become fussier about positioning relative to a back wall. We can’t recall the originals sounding so boomy when placed close to a room boundary.

Our listening room is 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd) in size, and we end up with the A7.2 around 80cm into the room, positioned well away from the sides. We angle them to cross a little behind our heads when we are seated at our main listening position. This gives us a solid and expansive stereo image with precise focus and a convincing sense of depth.

Sound

We are listening to The Imperial March (from Star Wars) by John Williams and find much to like in the Spendor A7.2. They sound agile and insightful, uncovering plenty of detail and arranging that information in a composed and organised way. We can track low-level instrumental strands without issue, even when the music becomes dense.

The sound is nicely projected, well free from the enclosures, which strongly suggests that the work Spendor has done on the asymmetric bracing and damping in the cabinet works well. There is a good sense of scale here and a decent amount of bass authority for the speaker’s size. The tonal balance sounds a little fuller than before, though it is still fair to describe it as generally neutral rather than warm or full-bodied.

Instrumental textures are nicely rendered, and there is little to complain about when it comes to leading-edge definition or the A7.2’s outright refinement. These are clear and highly resolving speakers, just as would be expected at this price, so if there is anything wrong in the recording or your system electronics, they won’t hesitate to reveal it.

Those familiar with this John Williams piece will know it is dramatic and challenging when it comes to dynamics. The A7.2 cope pretty well, though we do find ourselves wanting the speakers to let go a little and deliver the sound with greater enthusiasm.

We feel much the same way when we play Michael Jackson’s Jam. These Spendors have a measured delivery that we can appreciate, but are a little shy when it comes to communicating the momentum and drive in this piece of music.

We’re not totally convinced by the revised porting arrangement here, either. Low notes may have a bit more weight and power than before, but we would like them to be more agile, even and articulate. We didn’t have any such bass complaints about the original.

Verdict

As we work our way through our music library, taking in music by Bach, Prince and Jill Scott, we find that we’re less impressed by these new Spendor floorstanders than we hoped for. They tick most of the boxes - detail resolution, clarity, stereo imaging and seamless integration between the drivers - but they don’t pull us into the music in the way the best speakers at this price should.

The A7.2 is a capable performer, but not one that screams class leader anymore.

Review published: 7th April 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Compatibility 4

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Leak has launched the third speaker in its new range of Sandwich loudspeakers, the Sandwich 100. Joining the recently unveiled Sandwich 250 and Sandwich 150, the new standmounts are part of Leak's revival as it returns with its first raft of products since the 1970s.

The Sandwich 100 are designed to be easy to accommodate both in terms of size and price, sitting as the most affordable member of the current Sandwich range.

Each speaker features a specially developed 30mm textile dome tweeter, promising superior power handling and "open, finely detailed" sound at the higher frequencies.

That tweeter is complemented by a new 15cm mid/bass driver, built around a long-throw motor system with a high-gauss magnet and low-loss suspension. The driver cone has been shaped to reinforce stiffness and suppress breakup in a bid to "maintain purity across the vocal range and upper bass".

Those drive units have been "seamlessly" integrated thanks to Neat's own crossover design, which incorporates audiophile-grade polypropylene capacitors, air-core inductors and low-loss resistors to minimise phase shift and signal loss.

The speakers' cabinet walls are constructed using an outer layer of MDF and an inner layer of high-density particle board, with the materials' different densities helping to scatter panel resonances to preserve sonic fidelity.

A filling of special glue bonds the layers in a bid to improve resonance-damping and further reduce unwanted cabinet vibrations.

The speaker cabinets feature a walnut finish, aluminium driver trims and an aluminium insert around the edge of the front baffle.

According to Peter Comeau, Leak's director of acoustic design:

“In developing the Sandwich 100, our intention was to make a more compact speaker offering uncompromising sound for a smaller space. And, at the same time, take our new, evolved version of Leak's classic Sandwich design to a more accessible price point, thus broadening its appeal".

The Leak Sandwich will be available from mid-April, priced at £449 / €649 / $899 AU$1149 per pair. At that price, they're facing off against the marvellously entertaining Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G, which we tested at around £449 / $849 / AU$1099.

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Bang & Olufsen has unveiled the final two members of its five-part Atelier centenary series: the Beolab 90 Monarch Edition and the Beolab 90 Zenith Edition.

Following on from the Titan, Shadow and Mirage Editions, which were created to celebrate 100 years of B&O last year, the new limited production speakers boast exclusive materials and design aesthetics to put a new spin on the brand's mammoth Beolab 90 loudspeakers.

The Danish company already celebrated its big birthday last year with a trio of special edition products, including the reimagined Beoplay H100 headphones and an exclusive spin on the Beosound A5 wireless speaker.

The Belolab 90 Monarch employs rosewood lamellas alongside precision-engineered aluminium components to transform the flagship speaker, says B&O, into a "flowing, sculptural object".

The new Monarch speakers also feature semi-transparent fabric sections so that you can catch a glimpse of the many acoustic drivers working beneath, in a bid to seamlessly meld functionality and aesthetic into a cohesive, unified design.

The Zenith Edition, meanwhile, are described by its creators as "a symphony of pearls", wherein thousands of aluminium spheres and mother-of-pearl inlays combine to give the special speakers a layered, tactile effect.

The Zeniths' machined aluminium facemask has been pearl blasted and anodised in a dark grey so as to closely resemble an oyster shell, while semi-transparent fabrics have also been added to grant a glimpse of the workings beneath.

Both editions deploy the angular, 360-degree design of the classic Beolab 90 speaker, with each driver firing in a different direction to help disperse sound around the room. The towers hold a total of 18 drivers, consisting of seven 30mm tweeters, seven 8.6cm midrange drivers, three 21cm side and rear woofers, and a single 26cm front woofer.

Limited to just ten pairs per edition, each pair is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and come with a miniature aluminium Beolab 90 sculpture in the corresponding edition, presented in a custom aluminium delivery box.

Want to be part of a very exclusive club? That'll be £410,000 / €480,000 per pair, please, for either the Zenith or the Monarch.

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Lucky, that’s what I call it. The chances of having three of the most significant small speakers of the past 60 years all in one place at the same time, and in proper working order, are small. But here I am, listening to mini-monitor royalty and loving every minute.

Two of the speakers in this group, the BBC-designed LS3/5A and the Acoustic Energy AE1, can rightly claim to be legendary. I think the third, KEF’s LS50, has done enough in the past decade or so to lay claim to that status in the future.

The LS3/5A arguably originated the high-quality mini-monitor speaker category. This is a properly small speaker (about the size of a shoebox ) with an internal volume of around five litres.

It was originally developed for use in outside-broadcast vans and cramped studios, primarily to monitor speech, but was quickly hijacked by hi-fi enthusiasts who loved its gorgeous midrange performance and exceptional stereo-imaging skills.

The LS3/5A was one of the fruits of an extensive BBC research project into speaker design and was first introduced in 1975. The BBC isn’t a speaker manufacturer, of course, so the speaker’s design was made available under license to third-party manufacturers to make.

KEF was the supplier for both of the drive units, but didn’t make the complete speaker until the mid-’90s. Its version of the LS3/5A, the gloss black one we have in our test room, was made to celebrate the company’s 35th anniversary. Only 500 pairs were ever produced.

Given that the BBC had some of the best audio engineers in the business at the time, and resourced them well beyond the capabilities of any commercial speaker manufacturer, it's no surprise that the LS3/5A turned out to be a technical tour de force back then.

The use of a Bextrene cone in the 11-cm mid/bass was considered cutting-edge technology in a world where just about everyone else still used paper; and the thin multilayer birch-ply cabinet was intentionally designed with a bit of ‘give’ to move any resonances out of the midrange and down into the bass frequencies, where our hearing is less sensitive. The sealed (non-ported) enclosure was heavily damped to control those resonances.

The LS3/5A’s high frequencies are delivered by a 19mm mylar-dome tweeter with a perforated metal cover. The foam strips that surround it reduce reflections off the front panel and cabinet edges

KEF lists the LS3/5A sensitivity at a miserably low 82.5 dB/W/m and a modest power handling of just 30 watts. Essentially, high volume levels and wide-ranging dynamics are off the table if you want the speakers to survive.

This is where Acoustic Energy’s AE1 came in. It launched in 1987 and was a determined attempt to produce a small speaker that ticked all the boxes. The company succeeded, proving that a small box (about the same frontal area as the LS3/5A but a fair bit deeper) could really produce wide-ranging dynamics, high volume levels and a decent dose of bass. Its detail resolution was exceptional for the time.

This performance was made possible by a formidable-looking all-metal driver array that was cutting-edge back then, and an engineering ethos that focused on minimising dynamic compression. An ultra-rigid cabinet that was lined with plaster to reduce internal standing waves and an unusual straight-edged mid/bass cone profile also helped.

The new Acoustic Energy AE1 40th Anniversary model (£1499/$1999) we have isn’t identical to the 1987 original, though. Think of it as a resurrection that is faithful to the original’s character and engineering principles, but tweaked with the benefit of four decades' worth of progress.

The first-generation drive units are no longer available, so AE’s engineers had to remanufacture them. The new drivers adhere to the original’s design ethos, but are tweaked for improved performance where possible.

Both have ended up a few millimetres larger than before (the tweeter is 29mm in diameter and the mid/bass is 12.5cm). Modern manufacturing methods and advances in design mean that both are better behaved than before. The improved drive units have allowed the engineers to simplify the crossover network, so improving the speaker’s performance.

In addition, the cabinet, which is the same size as before, has also improved. It forgoes the mess and complexity of the earlier model’s concrete-lined interior, and is now made with composite sandwich panels tuned to retain the original’s sonic character while being easier to manufacture.

All these things have incrementally improved the AE1 without changing its distinctive sonic signature. I have to say that the build of this 40th Anniversary edition is light-years ahead of the first generation, and the speakers look lovely in their high-gloss finish.

The third of our speakers is KEF’s LS50 Meta (£1299/$1599). This has become something of a modern classic. The LS50 was first introduced in 2012 to celebrate KEF’s 50th anniversary – it seems that KEF likes its anniversary models – and was upgraded to include the company’s clever metamaterial technology eight years later.

The heart of this speaker is the Uni-Q driver array that mirrors the AE1’s use of aluminium diaphragms, but places the 25mm dome tweeter in the throat of the 13-cm mid/bass rather than above it.

This coaxial configuration aligns the acoustic centres of the drivers, giving the LS50 even dispersion characteristics, which ensure an impressively wide listening sweetspot and enviable soundstage stability as we move around the room.

As touched on above, the ‘Meta’ in the KEF’s name refers to a technology that absorbs a claimed 99% of the rearward sound from the tweeter dome, reducing distortion and improving clarity in the process.

Elsewhere, the LS50’s curved front baffle is made of BMC (Bulk Moulding Compound), a material that provides a rigid and well-damped foundation for the Uni-Q array, and the speaker’s rear-firing reflex port is flexible to reduce resonances. Build, fit and finish are as good as we would want them to be.

I listened to all three speakers using the What Hi-Fi? reference system of Naim ND555/555 PS DR music streamer, Technic SL-1000R/Kiseki Purpleheart record player and Burmester 088/911 MkIII amplifier.

The LS3/5A is first, and its excellence with voices is obvious. It may not have the outright resolution of more recent designs, but there is a naturalness to its delivery that is hugely appealing. This is a fleshed-out performance that has a palpability that leaves many modern alternatives sounding thin, clinical and lacking in natural warmth.

If placed with care – a little away from a rear wall and on proper stands – these speakers also stereo image beautifully. That’s down to the well-damped enclosure, controlled dispersion and an impressive pair matching that is within 0.5dB of the BBC-specified reference target.

Given the age of the design, there are shortcomings, of course. Play any music that requires scale and dynamic reach (Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, say) or demands low-end muscle and punch (Massive Attack’s Heligoland or Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy), and these BBC speakers wave a white flag. They sound small, dynamically limited and rhythmically flat-footed with music such as this.

In comparison, the AE1 40th Anniversary speakers respond to such challenges with all the enthusiasm of a two-year-old bribed with a bucket of ice cream. These monitors sound bold and punchy, and are capable of sustaining high volume levels without issue.

Detail levels are clearly better than from the LS3/5A, though it has to be said that these all-action monitors don’t have the sweetness and body of the BBC design through the midrange and treble.

They are a more demanding listen, sounding harder edged without erring so far as to be unrefined or fatiguing. Tonally, they are more balanced, though the KEF LS50 Meta goes even further in this respect.

The AE1 are small boxes, so while they appear to bend the laws of physics when it comes to bass reach (given a muscular amplifier), listen carefully and you will find that properly deep bass is still missing.

Much the same can be said of the similarly sized KEF LS50 Meta. If anything, the Acoustic Energy sounds more muscular in the bass and is certainly more assertive generally, though the newer design’s progress in performance is obvious.

In comparison with the others, the LS50 Meta are clearer, cleaner and more spacious-sounding. They dig up a layer of fine detail that even the mighty AE1 don’t quite manage and deliver all that information in a wonderfully cohesive and balanced way. Their low frequencies may not be quite as burly as those the Acoustic Energy produces, but they are impressively agile and articulate.

In most ways, they are the most insightful and balanced speaker here, just as they should be given the age of the other designs. However, that doesn’t diminish the greatness of the others.

There is a reason that LS3/5A remains so beloved by many hi-fi fans. It has a sweet, easy-going manner that suits certain types of music beautifully, and if that’s what you listen to, these speakers remain as hard to beat today as they have always been.

The AE1 is my personal favourite. It is the small speaker that won’t wilt under pressure. It goes loud and delivers wide dynamic swings with enthusiasm. Sure, by current standards these speakers aren’t the last word in transparency and subtlety, but listen to a pair in full flow and the chances are that you won’t care. Feed them a quality signal, and the AE1 40th Anniversary will shine.

KEF’s LS50 Meta speakers have been What Hi-Fi?’s go-to premium standmounters for well over a decade. They are wonderful all-rounders that deliver a breadth of performance that few rivals get close to, let alone better. Of the three sets of speakers here, they get out of the way of the music most effortlessly. We can’t give them a higher compliment than that.

My conclusion? A great speaker remains a great product even as technology marches on. Sure, some limitations become more obvious over time, but the charm of classics such as the LS3/5A and AE1 doesn’t fade.

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Who doesn't love a deal on a four-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winner?

That's exactly what you're getting with this huge 38% saving on Elac’s Debut ConneX DCB41 speaker system.

Our team of in-house reviewers tested this system back in 2022, and it continues to hold its own with the very best at the money, which in this case is £329 over at Peter Tyson.

This is actually a £200 discount on the price we originally tested this system at, and the lowest price we've ever seen for the system, beating its previous low by £10.

If it's simple, affordable and great-sounding hi-fi you're searching for, then this Elac package could be right up your street – let us explain why.

The Elacs are flexible standmount speakers, combining best-in-class sound quality with Bluetooth for easy wireless streaming.

Set-up is fuss-free: one speaker in the pair contains all the electronics, amplification and connections, and the other sports a more conventional passive design. The speakers are then linked together with a cable.

You don't get any fancy network streaming smarts included here, as there is no wi-fi (see the Triangle AIO Twin and KEFSX II LT systems for wi-fi streaming setups), but you can stream tunes wirelessly from your phone or laptop thanks to Bluetooth.

Optical and USB inputs offer alternative wired connections to an external music source, while you can connect your TV and boost its audio courtesy of an HDMI ARC socket. You can also hook up a turntable thanks to the built-in switchable moving magnet phono stage.

It's all a very well-made, well-thought-out package and, of course, very convenient, removing the need for external amplification and boxes along the way.

The added convenience of having nearly all you could want in one place doesn't seem to have impaired the sound either.

In our Elac Debut ConneX DCB41 review, we said, "This is a product that fades into the background, leaving the music to take the limelight."

The speakers are clear, balanced and insightful performers, with pleasing levels of detail, proper levels of cohesion and an enjoyable overall presentation.

Our only slight reservation was the quality of that phono stage, which we felt could be better. It's fine for occasional use, though.

These fantastic powered speakers were already great performers at their full price, but their new low price of £329 at Peter Tyson makes should put the Elacs near the top of your shopping list.

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These are the best all-in-one systems you can buy

Desktop speakers aren’t what they used to be. Don’t worry, that’s no bad thing – this relatively unassuming corner of the audio world has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years, with many manufacturers now bringing potent performance and up-to-the-minute features to your humble desktop.

As a result, there are currently a healthy number of powered desktop speakers from which to suit your need, especially if you’re not keen on spending a huge amount to get hold of a pair.

The Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) are our established Award-winners at this budget end of the market, with the Onkyo GX-30ARC (£339 / $349 / AU$649) providing stern competition at a similar price and with a more comprehensive range of features and functions.

Then we have the Philips Fidelio FA3 (£349 / $399 / AU$499), which cost around the same money as their competitors but employ an active design – whereby each speaker takes power to amplify a separately powered drive unit, rather than the purely powered configuration of their counterparts.

Picking a winner

While these may ostensibly be a trio of ‘desktop’ speakers, their capabilities stretch far beyond the realms of dutifully flanking your laptop to give your daily YouTube scrolling a bit more pep. All are bolstered by Bluetooth streaming powers, and all – to a varying degree – offer a raft of physical connections to stretch their capabilities far beyond that of mere deskbound sound.

That can make your choice all the trickier, as the process is no longer as simple as finding the pair that sounds the best plonked in your office and wired up to your desktop PC (remember those?).

Here, then, we have assessed each of our three contenders as thoroughly as possible, judging them on their versatility, design and sonic talents across a broad spectrum of potential use cases.

Whether you’re seeking your next pair of purely on-desk sentinels, or you want a do-it-all pair that can even get your turntable sounding superb, we have covered all the bases to put you in the best position to make your selection.

What’s fascinating about this particular group test is how different our three rivals are. While they may all be active or powered desktop speakers in name, the divergent paths each brand has taken at this budget end of the market clearly demonstrates there’s more than one way to skin this particular cat.

Each pair is a different size, boasts a distinctive design, has a given array of features and offers its own unique sound signature. A certain degree of our recommendation, therefore, is naturally going to be based on users’ subjective needs and preferences, even if, ultimately, we know where we would put our money. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Philips' Fidelio FA3 go big and bold

If size without much subtlety is what you desire, the Philips Fidelio FA3 make that case with a loud, hearty shout. These are the largest speakers of our trio and the most assertive sounding, with the burly boxes dwarfing their Onkyo and Ruark rivals by a considerable margin.

They might be the biggest of the lot, but they’re not the best equipped on the features front. While the inclusion of Bluetooth plus RCA, optical, USB-C and HDMI ARC options isn’t stingy, a lack of a standalone 3.5mm auxiliary input, a subwoofer out or any phono stage means Philips lags behind its competitors.

The Fidelio FA3 are capable of going louder and prouder than most typical desktop speakers, with a muscular, bass-heavy signature which will offer some appeal for anyone who just wants to crank up the volume and fire out their tunes with vigour.

For subtlety and nuance, however, they are outmatched here, with that ill-disciplined bass and route-one approach leaving us disappointed in their sonic capabilities when put up against their rivals.

Onyko's GX-30ARC are stunningly versatile

By contrast, subtlety and nuance aren’t lacking from the Onkyo GX-30ARC. While the Philips go big at the lower end, the Onkyo pair prioritise clarity, detail and organisation. They are, perhaps, a touch light in the bass, but that’s a minor niggle that can’t spoil a very positive sonic picture.

They are the most versatile of our trio, too, offering Bluetooth streaming alongside a bulging arsenal of physical connections, including optical, 3.5mm aux and a pair of RCA inputs, as well as USB-C, a moving-magnet phono stage and HDMI ARC.

That phono stage is great, and if you’re planning on grabbing a pair, we recommend using some form of wired connection to get the most out of them. Bluetooth audio is capable, but when your source is connected via the likes of USB-C or RCA, the GX-30ARC shine via a clearer, nimbler and more balanced reproduction.

Ruark continues its sonic supremacy

The Onkyos are clearly multi-talented, but for pure sonic excellence, the Ruark MR1 Mk3 still lead the way.

They may be the smallest of our trio, but they are also the most musically involving. They offer a powerful, punchy and dynamic sound that picks up on emotional subtleties with a far keener ear. For us, this is still the best-sounding pair of powered desktop speakers we have heard at this price.

They are also some of the best looking, and thanks to their compact, stylish footprint, a great option for anyone short on space. They will slot neatly into a desktop setup, perched on a bookshelf or, if you like, flanking your precious turntable.

That last option is one we recommend. The MR1 Mk3s’ phono stage is the party piece here, sounding well-defined, clear and confident beyond the speakers’ meagre dimensions. Add to that Bluetooth streaming, a USB-C input, a combined optical and 3.5mm auxiliary input and a sub out, and you have a superb all-around package.

They may not be quite as feature-laden as the Onkyo GX-30ARC, nor as burly-sounding as the Fidelio FA3, but for their deeply musical sound and lovely design, the Ruark MR1 Mk3 stand alone in riding that tricky balance of style and substance.

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If you want a decent pair of active stereo speakers, you’re not short of options. The compact and affordable Ruark MR1 Mk3 (£399 / $579 / AU$899) and Onkyo GX-30ARC (£339 / $349 / AU$649), not to mention the more costly KEF Coda W (£799 / $1000 / AU$1450), have delivered ably on the promise of that signature stereo speaker sound and design combined with built-in amplification, Bluetooth streaming and plenty of physical connections.

Now it’s the turn of Philips and its active Fidelio FA3 speakers to see if it can muscle in on this market. At around £349 / $399 / AU$499, the FA3 cost around the same money as their Onkyo and Ruark competitors, and while the Ruarks derive much of their appeal from their compact size and engaging musicality, the Onkyo earned a five-star haul thanks to their solid performance and outstanding versatility. The bigger KEF Coda W, meanwhile, are for anyone wanting a significant step-up in sound quality for a more sizeable sum.

Lots of bases covered then, and all leading to one important question: do the Fidelio FA3 offer anything that their class-leading rivals don’t already have covered?

Build & design

The Fidelio FA3 are on the larger side of what you’d generally find from a pair of active speakers at this price – if anything, they could pass for a pair of dedicated hi-fi standmounts. Standing around 30cm tall, they dwarf their 22cm high Onkyo GX-30ARC rivals, all while making the 18.5cm Ruark MR1 Mk3 look titchy by comparison.

They’re big beasts, but not poorly made. The overall standard of construction feels admirable, while the main body of the speakers shines proudly thanks to its glossy black finish. That gloss black exterior gives the FA3 a somewhat flashy aesthetic, even if it leaves them susceptible to the ignominy of grubby fingermarks. Oh, and we hope you like that colourway, because it’s the only one currently available.

Unlike their key competitors, the Fidelio FA3 eschew a master and slave configuration – whereby one speaker takes the power and shares it through a wired cable connection to its companion – in favour of both units receiving power via two separate sockets. That can cause its own issues, as you’ll need two available plug sockets to keep your speakers firing, and the provided power cables are a little on the short side at around 140cm each.

The primary speaker houses the lion’s share of the inputs and buttons, including a power button, volume dial and source selector, with both speakers sporting a small LED indicator at the bottom. It’s nice to have those colour-changing LEDs displaying which source you’ve selected, but wouldn’t it have been more user-friendly to have mounted the volume dial at the front of one of the boxes? As it is, it’s just a small dial hidden on the primary speaker’s back panel.

The FA3 speakers come with a dedicated remote control for selecting your desired inputs, adjusting volume, managing playback and tweaking levels of treble and bass, and while that remote is a little plasticky, it’s about what we’d expect for this price. There’s also a set of magnetically attachable oval grilles which cover the core drive units rather than the whole of each speaker’s frontage, a smart decision which preserves the FA3’s overall aesthetic.

Inside, each speaker is fed by 50 watts of Class D power, with dedicated internal amplifiers powering a 25mm titanium dome tweeter and a 12.7cm glass-fibre mid/bass unit in pursuit of “breathtaking dynamics and soundstaging”. Bass performance, as you’ll discover when you turn your speakers around, is tuned by a large rear port on each unit.

Features

For simple convenience, Bluetooth is the only way you’ll get a wireless connection going from your system to your source device, with standard AAC and SBC living alongside the higher quality LDAC codec if you have a compatible source.

Physical connections include RCA stereo inputs alongside an optical input, as well as a USB-C option if you want to connect directly to your laptop or smartphone. For integration with a television, the Fidelio FA3 also feature an HDMI ARC port.

That’s a reasonably solid variety of connections, even if a lack of a standalone 3.5mm aux input, a sub out or any phono stage for connecting a turntable means Philips lags behind the comprehensive suite provided by the do-it-all Onkyo GX-30ARC.

The speakers themselves can be connected to each other wirelessly or via a coaxial cable. All digital input sources will be able to handle files up to 24-bit/192kHz, but regardless of input, note that the Philips speaker will downsample all incoming hi-res files to a maximum of 24-bit/96kHz resolution.

For taking charge of your Fidelio FA3 and tinkering with the finer points of your experience, you’ll want to get a hold of the Philips Entertainment app. Here, you’ll discover a reasonably wide range of handy boons, including an in-depth seven-band equaliser and a digitally mapped alternative to the physical remote control.

Sound

We kick off our testing by sampling the FA3’s Bluetooth powers, streaming music from Tidal after placing the speakers onto our office desk.

The sound we receive is powerful and meaty, but that meatiness comes with a good deal of fat at the low end that could do with some serious trimming. Whether it’s Goose’s funky So Ready, Hans Zimmer’s epic Why Do We Fall? or Radiohead’s refined Reckoner, the speakers sound loose and ill-disciplined, with a heavy-handed bass that lacks much perceptible precision or clarity.

Voices come through with ample expressiveness, and we detect a real keenness and full-bodied bite through what is an admirably detailed midrange. This isn’t a crisp or nimble sound, but the speakers’ weighty and impressively cinematic approach does give genuine muscle to Why Do We Fall? to give the titanic track a real feeling of epic drama.

The problem is that lower end. The deep bass plucks at the start of So Ready, for instance, don’t sound much like any instrument in particular, and while we’re aware that something is being played, and that it comes from the lower registers, there’s little evidence that this is the unmistakably resonant twang of a bass guitar.

Tinkering with the provided equaliser can take a bit of the overzealousness out of the lower end, but it can’t rectify what is clearly a fundamentally ill-defined and imprecise sound. Yes, there’s punch to the sound, but it’s more the imprecise thwack of a 20oz heavyweight glove as opposed to the razor sharp jab of a dancing featherweight.

This is all a little disheartening, so we lunge for the safety of a USB-C cable to see if we can put some pep into the Fidelio FA3s’ step. It’s a good decision, and while the Philips system’s core character remains, we find that those defects are slightly mitigated by the introduction of a good old-fashioned wire tether hooked up to our Lenovo Thinkpad laptop.

Everything sounds tighter and clearer through this wired connection, allowing what is an admirably detailed midrange to shine more clearly, and while that bass is still as overbearing as a strict mother turning up to her daughter’s first disco, it does at least have greater shape and precision this time around. There’s more space around the notes played, with music hanging together in a less slipshod manner – it’s far from perfect, but better than before.

A little more encouraged by the FA3’s USB-C performance, we recruit the services of our trusty Cyrus CDi CD player into the Philips’ RCA stereo input, discovering that the system is capable of accommodating a far more talented source player than a standard work laptop.

Moving over to the optical input shows the Philips’ DAC is a respectable one, even if we still discern a noticeable drop-off in performance when switching from the talented Cyrus’ DAC to that of the Philips. That’s not entirely surprising, as the Cyrus CDi, while advancing in its years, will still set you back around £1000.

Regardless of source, though, the Fidelio FA3 doesn’t have the chops to challenge the best in class. Admittedly, the powered Ruark MR1 Mk3 speakers sound smaller than the FA3, but they’re also a far subtler, sweeter and more expressive proposition than their larger rivals, bending and flexing to accommodate the mood and feel of a wide musical spectrum rather than simply barraging us with a somewhat shouty, route-one approach.

Similarly, the Onkyo GX-30ARC don’t have the burly sonic brawn of the Fidelio FA3, but those shortcomings are easily remedied by a clearer, cleaner sound and a more dextrous handling of those key bass frequencies.

Whichever competitor we compare the Philips with, it simply sounds too sonically unsubtle to compete with the class leaders – less a trained chorister in an airy chapel, more a merry football fan belting out Sweet Caroline on the terraces.

Verdict

The Philips Fidelio FA3 have their moments. They can sound bold, powerful and muscular for what is a pretty modest outlay, with a solid array of connectivity options granting decent versatility for the money.

The problem for the FA3 is that price-comparable rivals tend to give you more bang for your buck. Whether it’s the more comprehensive suite of connections from the Onkyo GX-30ARC or the sonically superior Ruark MR1 Mk3, we’re struggling to see where the Fidelio fit into the current landscape.

Review published: 10th March 2026

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Build 4
• Features 4

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Read our review of the Ruark Audio MR1 Mk3

Also consider the Onkyo GX-30ARC

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If you're looking for hi-fi speakers, it might be tempting to go for the newest, shiniest offerings around.

But then you'd be missing out on some genuinely great products, such as the Elac Debut B5.2, which won five What Hi-Fi? Awards in a row in the early 2020s.

And now the talented speakers are back at their lowest ever price – £179 at AV.com.

It's a solid £70 off the price we tested at, and a very reasonable price for a pair of capable bookshelf speakers.

The Elacs are an excellent option for a first starter hi-fi system, or for anyone looking to upgrade the speakers for an old-school micro system to something more qualified.

They're currently our favourite of the best Elac speakers, and we even prefer them to their successors, the Elac Debut 3.0 B5.3, due to their more forgiving and nuanced nature.

They’re even-handed and admirably balanced in the way they deal with poorer, more aggressive recordings, and deliver sound with a precision and cohesion that's rare for this level.

"You can enjoy a wide range of music too. We listened to everything from the sparse electronica of Neneh Cherry’s Broken Politics to Dave Brubeck’s Take Five and these little speakers take it all in their stride," our Elac Debut 3.0 B5.3 review reads.

"They have the dynamic expression, detail resolution and tonal sophistication to handle it all, and enough stretch in their abilities to get better even when the rest of the system is upgraded."

The front-firing nature of the Elacs means they're unfussy about placement, and will deliver relatively balanced results even with sub-optimal placement. They don't need to be angled in either, providing a wide, solid soundstage even when firing directly at the listener.

The speakers also have a more modern design than their predecessors, the Elac Debut 2.0 B5, coming in at 34cm tall, 18cm wide and 23cm deep.

The sound arrives courtesy of a 13cm aramid fibre mid/bass unit with a 1-inch, wide-surround tweeter. There's an excellent integration between the two, with rhythmic patterns followed with unerring precision.

The Elac Debut B5.2 were an Awards favourite for many years, only recently losing their crown to the likes of the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 and Dali Kupid, which will set you back a fair bit more.

So if you're looking for a budget bookshelf speaker, the Elacs are a great value choice for £179 at AV.com.

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'Bargain' is probably not the word that springs to mind when considering a £180,000 speaker. But when said speaker uses the same tech as a model that costs close to £1 million, it does seem incredible value for money.

That's the promise of Californian brand Magico's S7 2026, the flagship model of its mid-range S Series, and the replacement for the previous-gen S7 which was retired last year after a decade of service.

Inside is the same treble unit with a 28mm diamond-coated beryllium diaphragm as the M Series, whose M9 model costs close to seven figures. This is joined by a 6in midrange driver and three 10in bass units, all of which feature Magico's Gen 8 Nano-Tec cones.

These drivers are made coherent thanks to Magico's Elliptical Symmetry Crossover. This maintains phase and frequency linearity while reducing intermodulation distortion.

Its R&D process used the same Near-Field Scanner (NFS) robot as used in the development of the flagship M Series. By creating a complete acoustic map, engineers were able to refine its performance with extraordinary precision to create a speaker with "exceptional accuracy, coherence and realism."

It's quite a beast, standing 4 feet 6 inches tall, and its curved aluminium enclosure has been refined through 3D simulation to reduce internal resonances. There's a curved front baffle to minimise diffraction, while Magico's damping is also on hand.

Magico used a Laser Vibrometer to forensically analyse and eliminate the tiniest cabinet vibrations to give, Magico claims, "no audible colouration". The internal volume has also been expanded from 135 litres on the last-generation model to 180 litres, extending the bass response by 5Hz while preserving the speaker's sensitivity. The result? Deeper and more authoritative low-frequency performance.

The S7's Nano-Tec Gen 8 cone has an aluminium-honeycomb core sandwiched between graphene-reinforced carbon-fibre skins. The promise is ultra low distortion, thanks to its low mass, extreme rigidity and superior damping.

The third-generation driver chassis was developed over three years of research, and improves force distribution, refines suspension geometry and balances dynamic wire tension using a dual-post architecture. That should mean exceptional stiffness, optimal damping, minimised resonance and improved airflow for a cleaner, more accurate sound.

Like the M Series speakers, the S7 has three woofers vertically aligned to mitigate floor-bounce effects for a more consistent bass response.

The tweeter also derives from the M Series, with a 28mm diamond-coated pure-beryllium diaphragm promising a great stiffness-to-weight ratio and a neodymium motor system offering low distortion and better power handling. It should also have more nuance, texture and transparency in the high-end frequencies, thanks to a back chamber that's been acoustically optimised using FEA modelling.

Its midrange driver promises clarity and realism, while its three 10in woofers claim to give it the best low-frequency production of any S Series speaker yet, and while preserving the integrity of the original recording.

Its ESXO crossover includes components made by renowned component maker, German firm Mundorf. It also features CAST PP Radial capacitors from Danish firm Duelund Coherent Audio.

The S7 comes in a choice of 12 finishes: six Softec (powder coat) options, and six High Gloss (automobile paint). Softec options are £159,000 (around $211,000 / AU$302,000) per pair, and High Gloss are £178,000 (around $237,000 / AU$338,000) per pair. It goes on sale in the third quarter of the year.

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The original AE1 was Acoustic Energy’s first speaker and, to a large extent, remains its most iconic product. The fierce-looking compact standmounter first appeared on the market in 1987. It was an astonishingly ambitious design for a startup company to produce, with its technically advanced all-metal driver array, obsession with avoiding thermal compression and rock-solid build. A textured black finish suggested that the AE1’s primary purpose may have been studio use, but audio enthusiasts didn’t wait to hijack the product, and we’re glad they did.

The original sold for just below £700 back then, which was considered outlandishly expensive for something that was barely bigger than a size 11 shoebox. However, doubters were quickly convinced by the speaker’s blend of excellent detail resolution, strong dynamics and surprisingly potent bass performance. These were small speakers that could easily give physically larger price rivals a bloody nose, and usually did.

Over the years, Acoustic Energy continued to develop the original AE1 design, bringing in classier finishes and tinkering with the sonics until 2008, when the all-new MkIII came in. This third-generation model was a clean-slate design that marked a move upmarket and signalled a significant change of sonic character. It was a talented product, but somehow lost some of the original’s charm too.

With the company’s 40th Anniversary looming, the decision was made to bring the original AE1 design back to life. The company’s engineers could have made a modern speaker that kind of looked like the original and be done with it, but they decided to take a more interesting route.

Think of this AE1 40th Anniversary model as a reimagining of that original; the same sonic character and basic ingredients but, where possible, things have been tweaked to make it just that bit better.

Design & build

All the original’s parts have long been out of production, so Acoustic Energy had to start from zero. Both drive units are newly developed designs. The tweeter now uses a 29mm aluminium dome, 4mm larger than before, to give a greater radiating area.

The dome’s profile is shallow to help with bandwidth, and it vents into a rear chamber to keep the fundamental resonance low. Like the original, this tweeter uses ferrofluid to help power handling and reduce compression.

The use of an all-metal drive unit complement may not be unusual today, but back in the late ’80s, it was considered almost revolutionary. The original AE1 mid/bass was an unusual design with its straight-sided anodised aluminium cone, powerful motor system and ability to cope with high power levels thanks to good heat dissipation.

The straight-sided profile helped to make the diaphragm rigid, which improved resolution and dynamics. That distinctive pointy dustcap not only looked impressive, but also formed part of the heatsinking arrangement (together with the cone) to manage heat build-up in the voice coil. This gave the mid/bass unit impressive power handling for the time.

This new 40th Anniversary model doesn’t change any of that, but the cone is now 5mm bigger at 12.5cm in diameter, which increases the radiating area and sensitivity. The engineers have also adopted modern practices, such as adding a shorting ring in the motor system, to reduce distortion levels. The speaker’s bass output is still tuned by a pair of front-firing ports, though now they are flared at both ends to reduce distortion and allow more output.

These more capable drive units allow the use of a simplified crossover. It is now a low-order network, similar to that used in the original pricier Signature version of the AE1. This new crossover design is claimed to be more transparent than the 3rd-order Butterworth circuit used in the original, and makes the speakers easier to drive than before.

Sensitivity is up a few dB and is now rated at 87dB/W/m, while nominal impedance is quoted at 6 ohms. These are fairly typical figures that should pose no problems for most price-compatible amplifiers. Connection is by a single pair of functional-looking terminals.

The 29.5cm tall cabinet is the same size as before, but rather than being internally lined with latex-modified concrete to avoid resonances, this 40th Anniversary model uses Acoustic Energy’s RSC (Resonance Suppression Composite) technology instead.

The RSC panels used here sandwich a Bitumen layer between sheets of HDF (High Density Fibreboard) to create a rigid but low-resonance structure that replicates the sonic characteristics of the original cabinets. Switching to RSC panels makes for quicker manufacturing – no waiting for the concrete to dry – but also results in a slight gain of internal volume, which helps to extend the speaker's low-end reach.

The AE1 40th Anniversary’s build quality is excellent. The enclosure feels immensely rigid and is finished in a lovely, deep piano gloss. Our samples are wrapped in a Walnut veneer, but there is a black option too. We love the effort the company has put into replicating the look of the original AE1, from the pattern on the tweeter faceplate to the appearance of the rear panel.

Compatibility

Despite being more forgiving than the original, this 40th Anniversary model still performs best when driven by amplifiers that have a bit of grunt. We got great results using the likes of Naim’s Nait XS3 and Arcam’s A15+, but the AE1’s innate transparency means that the sound continues to improve as we push up in price to the Cyrus 40 AMP and even PMC’s Cor integrated.

Just for fun, we also connect our reference Burmester 088/911 MkIII pre/power, and the AE1 just lap it up, showing clear improvements in the process. This is clearly a speaker with plenty of stretch. Our sources are Naim’s ND555/555 PS DR music streamer and the Technics SL-1000R turntable with a Kiseki Purpleheart moving coil cartridge fitted.

Many small speakers need to be placed close to a wall to deliver a decent amount of bass weight and solidity. These don’t. In our 3 x 7 x 5m (hwd) test room, the AE1 40th Anniversary sound happiest out into the room where they can deliver proper stereo imaging while still rendering the lows with authority. We angle them in slightly towards the listening position to solidify and focus the soundstage.

Sound

If you are after the very best sounding standmounter pair available for this kind of money, the AE1 40th Anniversary isn’t it, and it was never intended to be. It is for those who still hanker after the original, and to a certain extent, people who want a characterful alternative to many of the slightly soulless designs on the market.

Even Acoustic Energy wouldn’t claim this to be the best it can do for the money. The company’s contemporary designs tend to sound more subtle and sophisticated than this. That said, the original AE1 has a legendary status and strong following for a reason.

For us, this remains a hugely engaging and entertaining design. Play a demanding piece of music like Tchaikovsky’s Marché Slave Op.31, and the new AE1 burst into life, producing a bold and punchy performance that belies their shoebox dimensions.

The sound is unfeasibly big, particularly when we turn the volume up, and it is delivered with deeply impressive confidence. We are still staggered at how this little box produces huge dynamic swings with such swagger, and the way it refuses to harden up even when pushed hard.

Tonally, it remains a slightly mid-forward performer, but this new model is certainly slightly warmer and fuller sounding than earlier versions we’ve heard. Refinement at the top end is better, too, sounding a little cleaner and sweeter than before. That makes it easier on the ear and more forgiving of poorer recordings and partnering equipment.

While there is certainly more deep bass here than KEF’s similarly-sized LS50 Meta manages, something this small will never convince you that there is a subwoofer in the room. Listen carefully, and it is obvious that the really deep bass notes are missing, but most of the time, the AE1 cover their tracks so well in this respect that we just don’t mind.

Class-leading price rivals such as PMC’s Prodigy 1 and the aforementioned KEF certainly sound more neutral, and have a degree of subtlety and textural detail that the 40th Anniversary can’t match. These modern rivals sound more open and spacious, too.

Yet, as we listen to these new AE1 in full flow, those things are easy to overlook, given how much fun we are having. Their stereo imaging is excellent and is properly out-of-the-box, which suggests that the RSC construction works well. Given a well produced recording, these Acoustic Energy speakers will render an expansive soundstage that’s impressively wide and deep, while retaining a great deal of precision in the positioning of instruments.

The story remains positive as we work our way through our music collection. Ice-T’s Original Gangster shows off the AE1’s impressive punch and taut low-end. His menacing vocals on The Tower come through with emotion and clarity intact, while the dense instrumental backdrop is handled with unusual composure and control. Rhythmically, these are surefooted rather than enthusiastic, but they still communicate the music’s momentum well.

The Assassination Of Jesse James by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is a more low-key affair, and the Acoustic Energy speakers respond accordingly, digging up a good amount of detail and organising it with care. There is a good degree of insight on offer, and the 40th Anniversary treats the music with the lightness of touch it deserves. Low-level dynamic shifts are conveyed with care, and the interplay between instruments is easily followed.

As we switch from Bob Marley’s Catch A Fire set to Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, it is clear that the AE1 40th Anniversary speakers are unfussy about musical genre. They have a broad enough spread of abilities to cope with all types of music without favour. Despite the pleasing musical cohesion, these speakers are still transparent enough to allow the listener to put the recording and production under the microscope should they desire.

Verdict

Forty years is a long time in consumer electronics. Think of how phones, televisions and cameras have changed in those four decades. CD players have come and almost gone in that time, amplifiers have become more sophisticated, and speakers, even though it may not seem it, have got significantly better too.

It is some testament to the original Acoustic Energy AE1 design that this 40th Anniversary model still sounds so appealing. It isn’t perfect, but given a carefully chosen partnering system it is still undoubtedly capable of sonic magic. These speakers are easily one of our favourites at this price.

Review published: 24th February 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Compatibility 4

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Best bookshelf speakers: top standmounts for every budget tested

Looks can be deceiving.

At first glance, you might not expect much from the ultra-compact, highly conventional Dali Oberon 1 – but you'd be wrong.

The Oberon 1 are exceptional performers, and are now available with a handy discount. The pint-sized speakers are on offer at Peter Tyson for £299, which is a good £50 off the price we tested them at.

Better yet, this deal is available on all four classy finishes – dark walnut, light oak, black ash and white.

Even knowing Dali's pedigree, we were not quite prepared for the sound that came out of these two-way, rear-ported boxes that measure just 27 x 16 x 23cm (hwd).

To quote from the Dali Oberon 1 review, the speaker is "a wonderfully articulate performer that marries a bold, forthright nature with the kind of refinement and insight that’s rare at this level."

The Dalis are stunning with vocal-based material in particular, with the voices of Tracy Chapman and Bon Iver delivered in a solid and expressive way during testing. Usually, we'd expect to pay close to four figures for a vocal performance this good!

Rivals such as the Triangle Borea BR03 can dig up more detail, but they lack the passion and enthusiasm of the Oberon 1.

Tonally, the Dalis are nicely judged, with a smooth treble that still has plenty of bite. The presentation is full-bodied, sounding impressively confident and composed no matter the track.

No matter how good the speakers are, they must obey the laws of physics, so be aware that the bass is limited compared to larger rivals.

Bigger rivals will have superior scale and authority, but just won't be as flexible when it comes to positioning and will struggle to match them for detail and musicality.

Anyone short on space, or just after an unfussy, high-quality pair of speakers, should look no further than the Dali Oberon 1. Especially now they're £299 at Peter Tyson.

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How to choose the right speakers

You know when you wait ages for a bus, and then two come along at once? Well, this scenario is a bit like that.

We reviewed the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G in September last year, but we had to wait until January for these marvellous standmounts to get their first discount. And now, these stylish, excellent-sounding speakers are reduced even further!

These five-star marvels were a cool £50 off in January, but now you can get them for £100 less than their original retail price.

Pick them up now for £399 at Peter Tyson, Sevenoaks or AV.com and have yourself a fabulous February!

Suitable for single or bi-wiring, the Bronze 50 7G are classy-looking cabinets, with a clean, minimalist fascia that slots nicely into contemporary living spaces.

Housed within these very well-made standmounts are two Ceramic-Coated Aluminium Magnesium (C-CAM) metal drivers: a 25mm gold dome tweeter and 15cm mid/bass unit. A rear-firing bass port is also built in to fine-tune the lower frequencies.

The combination of these technologies results in excellent sound quality for the money. In our Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G review, we noted they are “unusually precise and controlled” for speakers at this price point, adding that they are “really clear, fast and detailed, and grab you right from the start with a front-footed, vibrant presentation that can’t be ignored”.

To be frank, these standmounts are some of the best we’ve heard at this level, so with this extra discount, you really are getting plenty of bang for your buck.

Sound good? In that case, we strongly encourage you to check them out for £399 at Peter Tyson, Sevenoaks or AV.com.

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ATC's new high-end active speakers are inspired by a hi-fi legend

ProAc's small but premium standmount speakers aim to take performance to the next level

British audio brand ATC has launched new EL50 Anniversary floorstanding speakers at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show.

The new EL50 are being pitched as an evolution of the legendary ATC 50 speaker series and are specifically inspired by the EL150, which were first released in 2006.

The floorstanding active speakers offer a whopping 350 watts of power per channel, with a new proprietary three-channel ‘Amp Pack’ delivering 200W, 100W and 50W to the low, mid-range and high frequency drive units, respectively.

Speaking of drive units, the 25mm coated fabric dome tweeter is equipped with a neodymium motor, while the 7.5cm polymer-coated fabric dome mid-range driver can “resolve the smallest musical details while effortlessly handling the largest dynamic peaks found in complex recordings”, according to ATS. The speakers' three-way configuration is completed by a 23.4cm ‘SL’ bass unit.

Suitable audio sources are hooked up via balanced inputs, while class A-B amplification circuitry is on board. Users can also control input sensitivity for optimal source matching.

The EL50’s cabinets have been designed with rigidity and damping in mind and feature a curved front and edges, which the British audio brand says reduces diffraction and linear distortion.

Appearance-wise, they look very fancy, combining a walnut veneer finish with ebony inlays on the rear panel and Napa leather panels around the mid-range unit and tweeter.

The last time we had our hands on a pair of ATC speakers was last year, when we reviewed the SCM20ASL. Their clarity, control and resolution were outstanding, so we’re very keen to see how good the EL50 sound.

Just 50 pairs are being made, though, so once they go on sale in the UK in March, we’d advise any interested parties to snap them up quickly. ATC is throwing in a hardbound owner’s handbook celebrating the brand’s history with each set, too.

With a price tag of £49,500, you will need an amount of cash that we at What Hi-Fi? can only dream of, but it’s important to have dreams, right?

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The best floorstanding speakers are not cheap, but they deliver room-filling sound in ways that most bookshelf speakers can't manage.

One of our favourites is the four-star Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3, which is fortunately discounted down to £1,499 at Richer Sounds. That's lower than it's ever been, even during Black Friday sales.

Better still, for a limited time only, you can get a QED XT25 2m terminated pair of cables (worth £79) included free of charge! The free cables will be added automatically at the checkout.

With this discount and a freebie thrown in, there's no better time to upgrade your sound system.

The 603 S3 are the largest and most expensive speakers in Bowers & Wilkins' 600 series and are also recommended by us as the best Bowers & Wilkins floorstanders we've tested recently.

The 603 S3 use a 25mm titanium dome tweeter, B&W’s custom 15cm Continuum midrange cone, and a pair of 16.5cm paper bass drivers.

Tech has also trickled down from the more expensive 700 series, including a more powerful motor assembly for the midrange driver, which utilises a special type of foam to suppress vibrations in pursuit of a purer, clearer sound.

Be warned that the 603 S3 are sizeable towers, measuring 102cm in height, but they're ideal for anyone with ample space who wants an eye-catching speaker set-up.

Luckily, the 603 S3's sound lives up to its size. As we said in our Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 review: "There’s fullness and weight (to the music), with lots of drive and power that will please anyone looking for their music to enjoy a whole load of weight and muscle."

During testing, the speakers brought out detail and nuance while also adding clarity, focus and robust bass. They also showed an admirable knack for control and authority.

If you're on the lookout for large speakers and substantial sound, consider the 603 S3, available with £500 off at Richer Sounds.

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ProAc is launching a brand new premium standmount speaker, the Response DB1R, and is set to unveil the new model at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2026 this weekend.

The Response DB1R speaker builds on the compact Response DB1 that originally launched a decade ago, which was designed to deliver from a small speaker the kind of sound you'd normally hear from a larger model.

ProAc says that the new DB1R will take the DB1's musical, balanced and refined performance to "the next level" thanks to the inclusion of a new ribbon tweeter. The new DB1R is the smallest speaker in ProAc's range to include this ribbon tweeter, too.

The ribbon tweeter is apparently "lighter than a human hair", has a damped rear-chamber behind the diaphragm and an Alnico magnet (rather than a Neodymium one), and promises "exceptional high-frequency detail, speed and transparency".

As before, the DB1R will feature a rear port, with a long-throw woofer in the mix.

We've praised many of ProAc's speakers in recent years, including the D20R, the Response D2R, and the K3 floorstanders, and have noted how expressive, articulate and musical they sound. So we have high hopes for the new DB1R.

ProAc's director, Zoe Tyler-Mardle, commented: “The launch of the DB1R is the first step in developing our long-term plans while continuing to honour [founder] Stewart Tyler’s designs and the legacy he left behind. As a team, we want to take everything he taught us over the last 30 years and build upon it. Music is at the heart of our family and central to ProAc’s ‘perfectly natural’ sound – something we are fully committed to preserving.”

The ProAc Response DB1R is due to go into production around May this year, with prices for the standard finishes costing £2945, with premium finishes costing more at £3465.

If the new speakers follow the same finishes as the DB1, the standard finishes will include Black Ash, Mahogany, Cherry, Walnut, Natural Oak, and Silk White, while the more premium, luxury finishes will include Liquidambar, Rosewood, and Ebony at extra cost.

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