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:

You know how fancy restaurants have this tendency to deconstruct classic recipes? Well, Sony’s done the same thing to the soundbar, but unlike that deconstructed lasagne, which you rather wish was just a perfectly delicious, fully constructed lasagne, the Bravia Theatre Trio is an almost flawlessly tasty treat.

Sony’s thinking behind the Theatre Trio is that as TVs get ever bigger, soundbars will struggle to create audio on a scale to match the visuals. The obvious solution is to switch to having speakers on either side of the screen, which is what the company’s done previously with the HT-A9 and Bravia Theatre Quad, but that creates its own issue: a lack of central focus, which is particularly important for dialogue.

The solution to the solution, then, is to break the soundbar down into three parts: a centre, a front left and a front right.

In a way, this is the antithesis of the soundbar, which was created, of course, to reduce all of the speakers needed for satisfying home cinema into one, slender unit. What’s next: the return of full home cinema in a box systems?

Let’s not get bogged down in the circular nature of home theatre fashion right now, though. Let’s just enjoy the Sony Bravia Theatre Trio for what it is: one of the finest lifestyle Dolby Atmos systems you can currently buy.

Price

The Sony Bravia Theatre Trio has launched at £1999 / $2000 / AU$2999, making it a very premium proposition indeed.

It’s a highly unusual proposition in today’s market, too, which makes direct comparison rather tricky. Someone considering the Bravia Theatre Trio might also have on their shortlist solo soundbars such as the KEF XIO, Sonos Arc Ultra and Bravia Theatre Bar 9; full soundbar systems such as the Samsung HW-Q990H; and bar-less set-ups such as the Bravia Theatre Quad.

It’s a good job, then, that we have all of these on hand for comparison with the Trio.

Almost inevitably, the Trio system can be expanded through the addition of wireless surround speakers and up to two wireless subwoofers. The new Rear 8, Rear 9, Sub 7, Sub 8 and Sub 9 are all compatible with the Bravia Theatre Trio, and if you buy everything together, the prices of the surrounds and sub(s) are halved.

Several legacy accessories – the SA-SW5 and SA-SW3 subwoofers, and the SA-RS5 and SA-RS3S surrounds – are also compatible with the Trio, should you already own any of those.

We’ve tested the Trio with the Rear 9 surrounds and Sub 8, as well as solo, and you can read our thoughts on the value of expanding the system in the sound quality section.

Design

The Bravia Theatre Trio is a slightly odd thing to behold, especially if you're coming from a soundbar.

The left and right speakers will look familiar to anyone who remembers Sony's HT-A9 system. They share a similar cylindrical shape and fairly substantial dimensions, though the Trio's versions are considerably more stylish, with a black fabric (rather than grey plastic) finish that helps them look modern and discreet despite their size.

They're attractive speakers, too. A metallic ring around the top of each cabinet adds a touch of class, while perforations in the top reveal the up-firing drivers responsible for the system's height effects. Build quality feels reassuringly solid throughout, too.

The centre speaker is a little more divisive.

Essentially a very narrow soundbar that sits beneath the TV, the centre isn’t unattractive exactly, but there is something slightly awkward about its proportions, particularly when it’s positioned beneath the sort of super-sized TV that the Trio is primarily designed to partner.

Thankfully, its low-profile design means it won't obstruct the screen, and Sony includes spacer feet in the box should you need it to straddle your TV’s pedestal stand.

Sony has also done an excellent job of making the Trio as installation-friendly as possible.

The rear of each speaker is flat, allowing for neat wall-mounting, and the left and right speakers require little more than suitably positioned screws. A dedicated wall bracket for the centre speaker is included in the box, too, alongside an HDMI cable and usefully long power leads.

Sony has gone out of its way to ensure that the system isn't overly fussy about speaker placement. It's still worth positioning the speakers as symmetrically as possible, but if real-world constraints mean one speaker ends up slightly higher or further away than another, the calibration system is designed to compensate.

There are compromises to the minimalist approach, though.

Like many modern soundbars, the Trio has no traditional display. Each speaker instead features a small status light that indicates power and connection information. Anyone wanting more detailed feedback will generally need to open the Bravia Connect app, which isn’t always ideal, despite the quality of the app itself.

This is a non-issue for owners of compatible Bravia TVs, at least, as the Trio’s settings and status information appear directly within the television's interface.

Sony also supplies a small but useful remote control that provides quick access to the essentials, including volume, bass level, sound modes, voice enhancement and input selection.

Features

While the Bravia Theatre Trio's three-piece design is its most obvious distinguishing feature, the real cleverness lies in how Sony attempts to make those three speakers sound cohesive, like a soundbar, yet also much bigger, like a more traditional home cinema set-up.

Officially, the Trio is a 3.0.2-channel system comprising dedicated left, centre and right speakers. The centre houses two front-firing woofers and a tweeter, while the left and right speakers each feature a front-firing woofer and tweeter, plus an up-firing driver. Together, Sony claims the three speakers deliver a total power output of 405W.

The system supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. It’s IMAX Enhanced certified, too, but only once compatible rear speakers and a subwoofer have been added.

Key to the way the Trio handles these 3D audio formats is Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology. Using the physical speakers as a foundation, 360SSM then creates up to 24 'phantom' speakers around the room. These virtual speakers are designed to bolster the real ones and create a larger, more immersive soundstage than would otherwise be possible.

One area in which Sony has clearly put particular effort is set-up and calibration.

Installation is handled via the excellent Bravia Connect app, which guides you through the entire process with clear, well-illustrated instructions. Despite the sophistication of the system, getting everything connected, positioned and configured is refreshingly straightforward.

As part of the set-up process, you're asked to specify the locations of the speakers relative to one another, either approximately or by entering precise measurements. You can also specify their height, allowing the system to compensate for the sort of less-than-perfect real-world placement that often comes with living-room-friendly home cinema set-ups.

The calibration itself is unusually thorough, too. As well as using microphones built into the speakers, the Trio comes supplied with a dedicated USB-C calibration microphone that you plug into your phone before measurements are taken from the listening position. The result should be a level of consistency and accuracy that's difficult to achieve with systems that rely solely on onboard microphones or a smartphone.

Despite that thoroughness, the process is remarkably quick and painless, and, once complete, Sony's Sound Field Optimisation technology adapts the system’s performance to both your room and speaker placement.

There are plenty of further adjustments available within the app should you wish to experiment. You can choose between Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping processing, Dolby Speaker Virtualiser and DTS Neural:X, adjust the height of the soundfield, create a temporary listening position and access the usual assortment of voice enhancement, bass and night mode settings.

Happily, Sony's default settings are generally spot on, and most users will never feel the need to delve into the Trio’s advanced sound settings.

Connectivity is solid, too. The centre speaker houses an HDMI eARC connection for your TV, plus a dedicated HDMI input with support for 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM passthrough.

Wireless support includes Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay and Spotify Connect, while Sony's DSEE Ultimate processing can be used to upscale compressed music files.

Owners of compatible Bravia TVs get a few extra perks, including Voice Zoom 3 dialogue enhancement and, as mentioned, the ability to control many of the Trio's functions directly through the television's interface.

Sound quality

The whole point of splitting a soundbar into three separate speakers is to create a larger and more spacious soundstage, and that's exactly what Sony has achieved.

Compared with even the best conventional soundbars, the Trio sounds huge. Effects stretch much further to the left and right, dialogue remains firmly anchored to the screen, and there's a greater sense of sound being projected out into the room rather than simply originating from beneath the TV.

Blade Runner 2049 demonstrates these strengths particularly well. The sounds of the city as K walks towards his apartment spread far beyond the physical locations of the speakers, filling our large listening room with impressive width and scale. More importantly, the system doesn't just sound wider than a soundbar; it sounds taller, too.

In fact, the Trio's Dolby Atmos performance is one of its most impressive achievements. The sounds of passing vehicles, overhead announcements and environmental effects frequently extend above the listening position, creating a genuinely convincing sense of height. Given the size of our test room and the almost three-metre distance between the seating position and speakers, that's no small feat.

The system proves equally adept with the chaotic battle sequences of Civil War and the aerial action of Top Gun: Maverick, maintaining an impressively large and immersive soundfield without losing track of the finer details.

Perhaps even more impressive than the scale, though, is the cohesion. Despite the fact that you're listening to three physically separate speakers, the Trio rarely sounds like three separate speakers. Instead, it creates a single, unified wall of sound that stretches right across the front of the room.

That sense of integration is particularly important because it allows the system to retain one of the key advantages of a traditional soundbar: you never find yourself consciously thinking about which speaker is producing which effect.

Much of the credit for this appears to belong to Sony's Movie Theatre Acoustics processing. Switch it off, and the soundstage immediately shrinks, while the illusion of a single coherent soundfield begins to weaken. Leave it enabled, however, and the Trio sounds significantly larger, more immersive and more convincing.

There is a small trade-off. The processing can occasionally exaggerate echo that's already present within a soundtrack. The interviewer's voice during K's baseline test in Blade Runner 2049 is one example, while Nandez's dialogue during the early autopsy sequence gains a touch more resonance than is strictly correct.

These moments are relatively rare, though, and the benefits broadly outweigh the drawbacks. Some people might prefer the cleaner delivery when Movie Theatre Acoustics is disabled, but most will want to leave it enabled (as it is by default) for the additional scale, weight and cohesion it brings.

In some respects, the Trio highlights the limitations of conventional soundbars.

Using the excellent Sonos Arc Ultra as a reference point, Sony's system delivers substantially greater scale, bass weight and Atmos immersion. This isn't really a criticism of the Sonos, which remains one of the most capable soundbars at its price, but it does neatly demonstrate what can be achieved when you physically separate the front channels: the Trio simply fills the room more effectively.

One small issue to note regarding movie sound is that the centre speaker can buzz slightly when pushed by super-deep bass, such as that at the start of the second chapter of Blade Runner 2049. It's not something that crops up often enough to become a significant issue, but it is one of the few occasions on which the centre speaker draws attention to itself.

For music, meanwhile, the Trio offers something that most soundbars simply cannot: genuine stereo reproduction.

Switch Sound Field processing off and the centre speaker drops out, leaving dedicated left and right channels handled by dedicated left and right speakers. Give those speakers a small amount of toe-in, and the resulting stereo image is impressively focused, while still benefiting from proper separation.

My Curse by Killswitch Engage is delivered with excellent punch, dynamics and drive, while Rosalía's Divinize demonstrates the system's ability to produce serious low-frequency heft. The dense instrumentation of Karnivool's Salva remains composed and controlled, and Alone On A Hill by Silversun Pickups is rendered with convincing scale and strong stereo focus.

Sony's hi-fi heritage shines through here. The Trio sounds weighty, energetic and engaging in a way that most soundbars simply don't.

That doesn't mean it's a replacement for a properly sorted pair of powered hi-fi speakers, of course, but it comes closer than most lifestyle home cinema products.

One similarly priced alternative to the Trio that we’ve not yet mentioned is the excellent KEF XIO.

With both movies and music, the KEF sounds cleaner, crisper and more detailed than the Sony, with excellent organisation and precision. The Trio counters with greater weight, larger scale and the sort of genuine stereo separation that only physically separated speakers can provide.

Neither approach is inherently better than the other, and preferences will inevitably vary, but the comparison reinforces the fact that Sony has created something genuinely distinct rather than simply another premium soundbar.

And, while the Bravia Theatre Trio is a complete and highly capable package on its own, adding Sony's optional speakers and subwoofer takes things to another level.

Testing with the Rear 9 surrounds and Sub 8 dramatically increases immersion, creating a seamless bubble of sound that extends around the entire listening position. Atmos effects become even more precisely placed, and the busy cityscape of Blade Runner 2049 becomes extraordinarily convincing.

Just as importantly, the minor shortcomings of the standalone system largely disappear. The slight buzz from the centre speaker vanishes once deep bass duties are handed over to the subwoofer, while the occasional over-emphasis of echo through Movie Theatre Acoustics is also cured.

There remains a very slight amount of distortion from the Sub 8 itself during the deepest bass moments, and we'd be fascinated to hear whether the larger Sub 9 can eliminate this final remaining niggle. That's a discussion for another review, though.

Judged as an initial package, the Bravia Theatre Trio is a hugely impressive performer that successfully combines the scale and spaciousness of a separate-speaker home cinema system with much of the convenience and cohesion that make soundbars so appealing.

Verdict

Sony's Bravia Theatre Trio could easily have ended up feeling like an awkward compromise: neither as neat as a soundbar nor as capable as a traditional speaker system. Instead, it succeeds in taking many of the strengths of both approaches while avoiding most of their weaknesses.

It's not quite perfect – the centre speaker isn’t quite as capable as the larger speakers flanking it, there's no display, and some rivals can sound a touch cleaner and more detailed – but those shortcomings are minor in the context of what the Trio achieves overall.

Ultimately, Sony's deconstructed soundbar concept proves brilliantly effective. If you're looking for a premium lifestyle Dolby Atmos system and have the budget to stretch this far, the Bravia Theatre Trio is one of the most compelling options in years.

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Design 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the KEF XIO

Also consider the Samsung HW-Q990H

Read our Sonos Arc Ultra review

Best Dolby Atmos soundbars: our reviewers' five recommendations

High End Vienna concluded on Sunday, with the event offering a whole bunch of exciting upcoming releases that we cannot wait to get into our test rooms.

From Bowers & Wilkins' new flagship 800 Series Diamond speakers to Audio-Technica’s high-end flagship cartridge, there is a range of hi-fi products coming soon.

We have gathered some of the most exciting announcements from High End below, as well as the biggest news from the world of hi-fi and home cinema you might have missed in the past week. Let’s get into it!

WiiM launches its first-ever Dolby Atmos soundbar

WiiM, a company best known for its music streamers and streaming amplifiers, has announced its first venture into the soundbar category at High End Vienna 2026. It is, rather predictably, called the WiiM Bar and boasts a 3.0.2-channel configuration. That is powered by an eight-driver array, including front mid-woofers, front tweeters, and full-range height drivers. The bar offers Dolby Atmos capability.

At the front of the ’bar, you will find a stylish glass-covered 2.1-inch round touch display. You can choose to show off album art, or use it to access playback controls, input, or EQ settings.

The WiiM Bar has got some tough competition, with its price tag (£449 / $479) putting it directly against the Sonos Beam Gen 2.

Read the full story: WiiM launches its first ever Dolby Atmos soundbar – and its sights are set on Sonos

Yamaha launches its new wireless speaker system to challenge KEF

Yamaha hadn’t launched a wireless speaker in a decade; the NX-70A has changed all that.

It uses some of the same technology and materials as Yamaha’s renowned grand piano soundboards, though sadly it doesn’t use anything from its motorbikes. The Yamaha NX-70A aims to make high-quality sound more accessible, whether it’s playing back one of the best music streaming services or a movie soundtrack straight from your TV.

The Yamaha model is out in July for £2587 (around $3500 / AU$4799), so it will be a rival for the KEF LS50 Wireless II. We can’t wait to compare the two in our test room soon.

Read the full story: The Yamaha NX-70A wireless speaker system arrives to take on the KEF LS50 Wireless II

We reviewed Esoteric’s high-end streaming preamplifier

Last week, our testers finished reviewing the Esoteric N-05XE, which costs a whopping £13,000 / $13,000 / AU$17,000. This beautifully made unit combines network streaming, digital-to-analogue conversion and a preamplifier in one neat, albeit chunky box.

And, while its price tag is pretty jaw-dropping, we can confirm that it is a hugely capable product that compromises very little compared with more purist options. We conclude in our review: “If you are looking for a top-class sound and don’t want the clutter of conventional high-end separates, this Esoteric is a great place to start.”

Read the full Esoteric N-05XE review

We saw an unfortunate trend continue from TVs to cars

What Hi-Fi?’s deputy editor Andy Madden has been out and about testing an in-car sound system: the Bose Surround Sound System for the electric Porsche Macan. While his full comparison against the step-up Burmester option is still in the works, Andy spotted an ‘Eco’ mode setting that had been seen only with TVs before.

Having such a mode in this car does make sense. EV ownership centres around power consumption, efficiency and squeezing the most mileage possible from the car’s battery.

Unfortunately, the mode apes the pattern of performance we see in the majority of TVs. It results in a “shrinking of scale, diminished dynamics and a more laid-back and less expressive sound.”

Read the full story: I used an Eco setting on a car audio system for the first time — and my worst fears were confirmed

A selection of World Cup tracks to test your sound system

To celebrate the football event of the year, which kicks off on 11 June, we have hand-picked some of the best World Cup songs to listen to on a decent system. There are some absolute bangers to choose from, including releases from Giorgio Moroder and Pavarotti.

A highlight is New Order’s only UK number one single, World in Motion. The 1990 track is still a banger nearly 40 years on. Those euphoric strings – so ’90s! – will test your system’s midrange, while that drum machine beat is a workout for the low end.

Read the full story: The best World Cup songs to test your system

MORE:

These are the best TVs right now

Check out the best soundbars on the market

Ready for the World Cup? These are the three projectors you should consider

We have seen several feature-packed all-in-one hi-fi systems enter the market from traditional manufacturers in recent times. Cambridge Audio, KEF, Sonus Faber, Naim and Ruark Audio, to name but a few, all offer one-box solutions which include source(s), input and speakers built-in. And now we can add Danish speaker manufacturer Dali to that list.

At High End Vienna 2026, it launched Vega, a hi-fi system with a twist, and one that the company has actually been working on for four years. Obviously, we couldn’t resist dropping by the Dali stand for a closer look to see the system in action.

Price

The Dali Vega costs £2599 / $4500 / AU$4499 and launches in October. This makes it more expensive than the Ruark Audio R410 (£1299 / $1699 / AU$2599) or Cambridge Audio Evo One (£1299 / $1499 / AU$2499.

However, it does sit below the £2999 / $3600 / €3300 asking price of the Focal Mu-so Hekla, which will be one of its key rivals.

Design and build

Dali claims Vega has been designed to be “the most versatile and user-friendly audio source in the home”. And it definitely delivers the kind of flexibility and thoughtfulness we haven’t seen in this arena before.

Besides placing Vega horizontally on a tabletop, you can also wall-mount it. Not only that, but you can flip it through ninety degrees so it hangs upright.

It’s a clever idea and offers users an extra solution when room space might be tight, and attaching it to a wall is an option.

Although it does offer HDMI connectivity, Dali is at pains to say this is a wireless sound system and not a soundbar – there’s no Dolby Atmos or upfiring drivers.

What it does have is a 400W digital amp running 8 channels of audio. Under the woven fabric speaker grilles are two 25mm soft dome tweeters and two 4.5in wood-fibre/paper mid/bass cones on the front, and you'll find the same driver configuration on the rear.

At either end of the unit is an anodised aluminium passive radiator, which matches the finish of the speaker. They’re black on the dark oak finish and silver on the light oak silver finish.

You can’t miss the large circular control on the top of Vega. Dail has spent a lot of time trying to make it tactile and nice to use, and when we try it out, it seems smooth to operate.

It uses a military-grade ball-bearing, while the housing of the wheel is metal with a glass top. Tap the glass, and it brings up Vega’s menus, which are located on a small OLED screen positioned next to it.

The writing on the screen switches to match the unit's portrait or landscape orientation, which is a neat touch. Dali explained that this functionality would have been difficult to achieve with a more traditional dot-matrix LCD display.

It does seem a little small, especially when trying to read the speaker’s settings from a distance, but once the speaker is set up, you’ll mainly be interacting with the BluOS app on your smartphone or tablet.

To the left of the control dial is a row of buttons which includes power, mute and input switching. You also get five customisable preset buttons, which you could assign to a radio station or streaming service – you can even map one to a particular input.

Features

As we’ve mentioned, Vega is powered by BluOS, which we've found to be a stable and well-featured streaming platform. Everything else for Vega has been designed in-house by Dali.

This includes a patent-pending Adaptive Stereo Enhancement (ASE) DSP processing that monitors the incoming stereo signal in real-time and adapts it to fill your room in a spacious and immersive manner.

Out of the box, Vega is set up for use on a shelf or tabletop and has three settings to choose from depending on its placement: free space, medium, and close.

Each one of these affects the sound output from the rear of the speaker, which is at its maximum when in free space mode.

You also have not one but two wall mounting options (it comes with a bracket in the box). It can be positioned horizontally or vertically and uses an internal accelerometer to work out its orientation, and it will automatically switch the output of the speakers to match.

So, when it’s mounted vertically, instead of still having left and right channels firing out of the front and rear, the whole left side of Vega becomes the left channel, and the right side becomes the right channel. Very clever.

To accommodate wall mounting, all connections are underneath the system as opposed to on the rear – Vega offers HDMI ARC, an RCA analogue input, an optical digital connection and a USB input for an external drive. There’s also a subwoofer output, should you want to up the bass at a later date.

In addition to the BluOS streaming smarts, Vega’s wireless connectivity also includes Bluetooth aptX HD, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect and AirPlay 2.

Sound

During our demo with Vega, we were shown the effect of having the ASE processing on and off, and although it was tricky to hear too much, thanks to the noise coming from other areas of the exhibition space, you could still hear the sound shrink and become smaller scale when it was turned off.

Turned back on, you could hear the sound open up again and become larger and fuller.

We’ll obviously need to get it into our test rooms for a full sound quality evaluation, but we heard a few seconds of Ray Charles and Natalie Cole’s version of Fever and the double bass and finger clicks seemed to be nicely defined and have decent snap to them.

Vega seems to serve up an open and dynamic sound, although it was difficult to really evaluate the detail and definition that managed to cut through the noise on the stand.

We switched up the pace with the Stereo MC’s Step It Up, and the Dali seemed to have a skip in its step with seemingly decent punch and power. We couldn’t really hear anything stick out of the frequency range, but it was competing with a lot of environmental noise.

Initial verdict

Obviously, we won’t know how the Dali Vega truly fares until we’ve had a chance to put it through its paces in our test rooms, but it’s an eye-catching offering from the brand in the category of all-in-one hi-fi systems.

Not only does it boast interesting tech developed in-house, Dali’s managed to package its wireless sound system with an attractive amount of versatility.

Some might see the wall-mounting as a bit of a gimmick, but we think the extra flexibility has legs and is a novel approach where space in many living rooms is at a premium. If Vega manages to execute it successfully, Dali could be onto something, and we can’t wait to find out.

MORE:

Dali's premium all-in-one system promises hi-fi-level performance in any place, and in any position

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

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Our pick of the best hi-fi systems you can buy for every budget

With a name like 'Ultimate Experience Room', expectations are inevitably set high.

What could possibly be inside? A 4DX cinema? A rollercoaster? Or just a comfy sofa and some peace and quiet?

Unsurprisingly, the room is, in fact, none of these things, but instead a demonstration space from high-end British audio company KEF, located at their Music Gallery in Central London. And in the realms of home cinema, it has a very valid claim to its name.

Nestled in the basement beneath the main gallery, the Ultimate Experience Room boasts a highly enviable 9.14.4 configuration. And just in case you skimmed over that bit, yes, that's fourteen subwoofers, with KEF utilising their own KC92 subwoofers (worth £2,499 a pop) running in two, seven-sub arrays via the system’s Trinnov Altitude 32 processor.

They're joined by three Ci5160REFM-THX (worth £9,500 a piece) for the front channels, with six Ci3160REFM-THX (£8,000 a pop) surrounds that have been classily recessed into the wall, and four Ci250RRM-THX (£1450 each) in the ceiling to boot.

And that's not even including the towering, curvaceous £190,000 KEF Muon speakers located at the front of the room that immediately draw the eye. It's clear this room is a bit of home audio heaven.

And the best part? This room is open to the public. As well as being available to book out for demos, every two weeks KEF Sound & Screen Presents shows a carefully chosen film in their Ultimate Experience Room. A glance at their programme shows a mix of older classics, newer Oscar winners and audio-focused animation, all for the highly accessible price of £5.

"With the ‘KEF Sound & Screen Presents’ series, we wanted to create a truly immersive and intimate way for our audiences to experience film as it was meant to be heard," Samara Wilson, KEF Marketing Manager for Europe, said. "By combining our award-winning speaker technology with carefully curated programmes, we’re able to highlight the full power of sound in storytelling. It’s about bringing people closer to the detail, depth and emotion that great audio can unlock."

As a dutiful What Hi-Fi? writer, I attended one of their biweekly screenings. Tucked away in an unassuming space on Great Portland Street, attendees were invited to wait in the spacious main gallery where numerous KEF speakers, soundbars and displays adorned the room, with a cafe located at the back.

After a complimentary drink, we were escorted downstairs, past relaxing demo rooms filled with big-screen TVs, plush sofas, and, of course, the premium KEF XIO soundbar.

As nice as these demo rooms are, they're clearly only a taster for the main event: the well-named Ultimate Experience Room. The towering KEF Muons and huge projector screen immediately draw the eye, but the other speakers are nicely ensconced into the walls and ceiling, drawing more attention to the 12 soft bean bag-esque chairs and the minimalist, luxury lounge design.

After a short introduction, it was onto the film itself. Recent Best Picture Oscar winner One Battle After Another was showing, capably delivered by a Sony VPL-XW7000 4K projector that showed every worry line and strand of unkempt hair on Leonardo DiCaprio's Bob.

But, as you would hope, it's the sound that was the real winner here. Gunshots and flares were fired left, right and just about every direction during a raid on an immigration detention centre. Bombings utilised those 14 subwoofers for low-end heft you could feel in your bones. A hovering helicopter was off-screen but unmistakably heard above our heads, and could be pinpointed sonically as it moved around the room.

The biggest benefit, however, was to Johnny Greenwood's nerve-shredding score. The grand, operatic synth surges of the main theme filled the room during several key scenes, and hearing the jittery piano over such a fine-tuned set-up only served to ratchet up the already anxiety-inducing tension.

The experience didn't end with the movie, however – a complimentary bag of popcorn was offered to me as I headed back to my now woefully inferior sound system. A set-up like KEF's Ultimate Experience Room is way beyond the means of even the most ardent home cinema fans – but with KEF Sound & Screen Presents, you can bask in the glory for just one night.

MORE:

Read our KEF XIO review

Our pick of the best KEF speakers

Denon and Marantz took me to hi-fi and home cinema heaven with its £200,000 reference system

It's one thing to make a film sound good in the cinema, but it is a whole other task to take that experience to your home.

Much of that process relies on sound editors and engineers, who have their work cut out adapting the sound to home cinema products.

During the launch of Sony’s latest soundbar system, the Sony Bravia Theatre Trio, we heard Academy Award-nominated sound editor Andrew De Cristofaro speak about the different ways sound must be engineered.

He has worked on films such as The Housemaid, Green Book and Venom: The Last Dance, and collaborated with Sony during the development of the new Bravia Dolby Atmos sound system.

De Cristofaro says: “Sound is doing way more than you think. You can close your eyes and still follow the story but if you mute it, the experience falls apart.” He adds that instead of purely making a film sound good, his job is about making “sound tell the story”.

We watch a scene from Venom: The Last Dance to demonstrate, in which Eddie and Venom come face to face with the monstrous Xenophage. First, we listen with the raw audio that comes to the sound department after filming. As you would expect, it feels far less exciting than the final cut. Footsteps sound more like shuffling, the cracking flame of a lit car has no impact, and the reveal of the Xenophage is as casual as someone getting on the bus.

Venom’s voice is not audible either, as Tom Hardy (who plays both Eddie and the aforementioned alien symbiote) records his lines offset right before he shoots. The crew then pitch the vocals down and feed them back to him so that he can interact with the character live.

Next, De Cristofaro demonstrates how sound effects start to make the scene feel more dramatic. Layer upon layer of crackling, humming and spitting is added to create the sound of the fire. The footsteps of Hardy’s character as he walks the street become precise, which creates more of a three-dimensional sound, and vocals are brought to the fore.

The stomps of the Xenophage are also given a low squelching sound that immediately makes you feel the weight and monstrous nature of the character. The final touch comes with some dramatic bass stabs, and the end result is a tense and atmospheric scene.

But how do you adapt that sound to home cinema kit? De Cristofaro admits that it is a different kettle of fish compared to the cinema audio. The impact can disappear, vocals get lost and the sense of space collapses.

De Cristofaro says that “you have to rebuild a three-dimensional soundfield” adding that “sound isn’t tied to the speakers necessarily; it is mapped into a 360 space”.

He uses the Bravia Trio as an example of this, as the sound engineers at Sony are employing the brand’s proprietary 360 Spatial Tone Mapping which “analyses your room and reconstructs that environment so you maintain the scale”. As its name suggests, the Trio system comprises three speakers: a tiny central channel soundbar and two left and right channels.

We are yet to hear the Trio soundbar system in our test room to confirm whether this is the case, but we have heard other soundbars such as the KEF XIO and the Samsung HW-Q990F come very close to the desired full dome of sound.

De Cristofaro adds: “When everything is working right, when the dialogue is clear, when the space feels real, when the dynamics land the way they should, you don’t hear the system. You feel the film.”

MORE:

Here are the best soundbars we have reviewed

Check out our review of the KEF XIO

These are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Chinese brand Haier is launching its latest range of affordable TVs, all boasting 4K resolution.

The new release is being led by the flagship S90 series, which the brand claims will combine “dynamic visuals, immersive audio with ultra-reactive gaming experience”.

This “immersive audio” comes in the form of Dolby Atmos support, delivering “three-dimensional and cinematic audio quality”. The two 10W speakers are employing technology from British hi-fi brand KEF as well.

The S90 uses QLED panel technology with AI picture optimisation, with Haier saying this results in “rich tones and smooth colour transitions”.

In terms of physical connectivity, you will find four HDMI ports, with one supporting eARC. We assume that means the TV can handle 4K/120Hz signals, given its 240Hz DLG feature, but when we asked a Haier representative for confirmation, they couldn’t provide a clear answer.

Haier is also launching the entry-level K85 and the mid-range S80 models. These step-down TVs do not have Dolby Atmos, but they do offer Dolby Audio for “clearer voices and more balanced sound”. The S80 features a QLED panel, like the S90, while the K85 uses a 4K LED backlight.

All of the TVs come with Freely built-in. That gives you access to streaming services such as BBC iPlayer, Channel 4 and ITVX in the UK. Fire TV acts as the smart platform for all the models, offering access to Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Each range offers slightly different sizing options. The S90 goes from 55- to 85-inches, with the latter being the biggest screen size across all the models. The K85 is available in 43- to 65-inch sizes, and the S80 from 43- to 75-inches.

If you want to get your hands on the 65-inch S90, it will set you back £580. That is certainly aiming at the affordable end of the market, so Haier has TCL firmly in its sights. The S90 is up against the likes of the TCL Q6C, which launched at £649 for the 65-inch model. When we had the TCL set in our test room earlier this year, we praised its excellent picture quality and gaming performance which meant we awarded it a five-star rating.

We are yet to see how the flagship Haier model compares, but its affordable price tag and comprehensive smart platform could spell trouble for the current market leaders.

MORE:

Check out our TCL Q6C review

These are the best budget TVs

And here are the best budget soundbars

With just under a month to go until a certain World Cup, TV manufacturers are looking to join in the football fever.

We've seen the lowest prices yet on some of our favourite OLEDs, including on Award-winners such as the Sony Bravia 8 II and the LG C5.

Not wanting to be left out, audio brands are joining in the discounts as well, particularly with Bluetooth speakers ready for summer garden gatherings. The JBL Xtreme 5, only reviewed two days ago, is already nearly ten per cent off.

As always, all of these products have been rated and reviewed by our expert testing team, and have been given a big thumbs up – and maybe even a What Hi-Fi? Award.

Take a look at the offers underneath, and we'll go into a bit more detail below.

The JBL Xtreme 5 had a high bar to reach, as previous Xtreme speakers had scooped up What Hi-Fi? Awards for their robust build, yet clean and detailed sound. Luckily, the Xtreme 5 received a full five stars only days ago, with a more powerful, clearer performance that made it the best-sounding Xtreme yet.

The Sony Bravia 8 II won our TV Product of the Year Award at our most recent ceremony, and is still our benchmark TV. The motion processing and OLED screen of the Bravia 8 II will make it an ideal World Cup TV, but it's stunningly authentic for movies too.

AirPods need no introduction, but the AirPods 4 with ANC are notable for introducing noise-cancelling to an open (no tips) design and making it work. iOS users will also find plenty of exclusive flagship features and snappy user-friendliness.

The KEF XIO is, quite simply, the best-sounding Dolby Atmos soundbar we have heard. It's also discounted for the first time, but bear in mind it's a cashback offer you'll have to claim back from KEF. Full T&Cs can be found here.

We're spoilt for choice with premium Bluetooth speakers this week. The Bose SoundLink Max wraps up excellent sound quality and an enjoyable experience in this attractive, outdoor-friendly package.

If you have a smaller room or are looking to upgrade to OLED on a budget, then this saving on the 48-inch LG C5 is for you. It's got flawless gaming specifications, excellent app support and is a whopping £618 off with the code 'HUGMAY8'.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we have tested

Fyne Audio is branching into new territory with its first active speakers, the Cubitt 5, which aims to connect "a whole new generation of music lovers through audiophile sound."

The Glasgow-based hi-fi brand has been on an admirable run with its ample stable of passive loudspeakers, including Award-winning F501E floorstanders, but now it is turning its attention to a younger, more convenience-hungry audience with the Cubitt 5.

Similar to the KEF Coda W active speakers, the Cubitt 5 features amplification, power and connections housed in bookshelf speakers, with Bluetooth on the menu for easy streaming from your smartphone.

At the heart of the new speakers is Fyne's latest 12.5cm IsoFlare point-source driver, designed to produce "precise stereo imaging and natural, room-filling sound". That IsoFlare unit is complemented by 'FyneFlute' surround technology, which aims to reduce unwanted colouration and improve overall clarity by reducing the extent to which energy is reflected back down the driver cone.

Alongside Bluetooth, the Cubitt 5 boasts a built-in phono stage for connecting turntables, as well as analogue RCA and optical connections. HDMI eARC is on board for plugging in a TV, while a subwoofer out means you can add some extra bass to your setup.

High-resolution files up to 24-bit/96kHz are supported over optical, while the Bluetooth aptX HD codec is supported.

According to Fyne, the Cubitt 5 has been designed to integrate seamlessly into modern living spaces. Each speaker cabinet features Fyne's high-density construction with internal bracing for reduced vibration, alongside a front-firing bass port which allows the speakers to be placed close to a back wall.

According to Fyne Audio's MD Anji Sosna: "The Cubitt 5 is the culmination of two years research and development into how we can best bring a whole new generation of music lovers into enjoying high fidelity music reproduction at home. Most of all, it had to distil Fyne’s extensive audio engineering pedigree and sound quality into truly class-leading performance".

Available in five finishes – Midnight Black, Pearl Titanium, Olive Green, Pebble Grey or Arctic White – the Fyne Audio Cubitt 5 will be on sale from June 2026, priced at £549 / €649 / $749. That makes them a more competitive option than the five-star KEF Coda W (£799 / $1000 / AU$1450) – stay tuned for our full review in the coming weeks.

MORE:

Read the Fyne F5E review

KEF Coda W vs LSX II LT: which speaker system is the best option for you?

Our guide to the best active speakers we've tested

We're big fans of the KEF XIO. Not only did we give KEF's first soundbar a What Hi-Fi? Award, but our Editor-in-Chief recommended purchasing the XIO on Black Friday even though it wasn't discounted.

Well, I'm pleased to report the KEF XIO sales drought is over. You can currently get the KEF XIO for £1799 at Peter Tyson, netting you a nice saving of £200.

Please bear in mind that this is a cashback deal, meaning you'll pay the full £1999 before claiming £200 back directly from KEF. Full T&Cs can be found here.

We appreciate that this is still a premium price, but you'll be rewarded with a premium performance. As our Editor-in-Chief said: "If you’re looking for the best possible audio from a Dolby Atmos soundbar and aren't interested in expanding to a system, let alone a full-fat multi-speaker 5.1.2 setup, just buy the KEF XIO."

After months of testing the XIO and several of its rivals, our expert review team is convinced that the KEF XIO is the one to get if you want the best audio possible from a single-box soundbar. So much so that we give it five stars, a 2025 Award and the premium spot in our best Dolby Atmos soundbars guide.

While there are cheaper soundbars that might offer better value, from a purely performance-based perspective, the KEF XIO is the current benchmark.

"KEF says that it wants the soundbar to effectively act as a hi-fi package wrapped up in one product, and it has achieved that," our KEF XIO review reads. "Put simply, it is one of the best soundbars we have heard."

Low-end performance is tight and agile, while the overall sound is detailed, precise, and, to put it simply, exciting.

KEF has said that the XIO is designed to excel with music as well as movies, a duality that most soundbars struggle with.

The KEF XIO achieves this with ease, though – listening to Radiohead’s Codex, voices sound natural while the bass and midrange meld together well. We feel like the XIO can easily serve as a standalone music system, unlike most soundbars.

There's no shortage of music streaming options, including Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Amazon Music, Qobuz, Deezer and, of course, through a smartphone via Bluetooth.

Physical connections include HDMI 2.1 eARC, optical and USB.

For serious movie and audio enthusiasts, the KEF XIO is quite simply the best experience possible for home cinema immersion. If you're not quite that dedicated, you may want to consider the Sonos Arc Ultra, itself a fine soundbar that is half the cost of the XIO.

If you are a cinephile, though, you might want to take advantage of this cashback offer while it lasts. KEF has stood firm on the pricing of the XIO so far, so there's no telling when or if there'll be a better deal on the best premium soundbar option, now £1799 at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Also consider the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9

Read our Samsung HW-Q990H review

Best soundbars: options for every need, recommended by our experts

A practical yet incredibly mighty home cinema speaker package, the Bowers & Wilkins 606 and 607 S3 5.1 set-up is one we love to recommend.

While B&W itself doesn't sell this particular bundle, many retailers do. But, we've never seen it drop this low before.

For just £1949 at Richer Sounds, it's an almost £550 saving on the original retail price. Previously, we've only ever seen it go as low as £1999, so we're more than happy to shout about this deal from the rooftops.

What happens when you pair up two five-star speakers? Unsurprisingly, some great things. With the Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 and 607 S3 speaker package, you get both speakers, plus the HTM6 S3 centre speaker and ASW610 subwoofer. Don't forget though, you'll also need stands for the front and surround speakers.

But why this combo? Well, because placing individual speakers all around your room is the best way to achieve the most convincing surround-sound experience – and it just so happens that these components are compact and well crafted enough to make an at-home set-up worth raving about.

In our full review, our testers said: "Despite this package’s overall small footprint, it certainly does not compromise on performance. Overall, we find ourselves grasping at straws when it comes to finding things to complain about, as the Bowers & Wilkins 606 and 607 S3 Surround Speaker Package is nothing short of spectacular in the sonic department."

The front, centre and surround channels all feature B&W's titanium dome tweeter accompanying a mid and bass driver comprised of B&W's Continuum cone material.

That tweeter design is crucial to the centre channel, which we found to deliver a “captivating vocal performance”, while the system as a whole offers up a clear, detailed, rich and dynamic performance that we said ticks all of our boxes.

With all the necessary components to create your own ready-made home cinema, it's an easy recommendation if you're looking to upgrade. And at just £1949 at Richer Sounds, it's the cheapest we've ever seen this 5.1 system available for, but you'll have to be quick.

MORE:

Read our full Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3 speaker package review

The best surround sound systems: home cinema speakers and soundbars put to the test

For more, check our guide on how to build the perfect home cinema system

Soundbars and soundbar systems with subwoofers and surround speakers are pretty great home cinema sound solutions. But, however well they perform, they aren’t the real deal.

To get serious home cinema sound, in a dedicated space, it is still very much the case that a full separates system has to be the way to go.

By that, we mean a (necessarily) expensive true 4K projector, backed up by a top Blu-ray player and video streamer, and a sound system comprising a hefty AV amplifier and separate loudspeakers.

Which – who would have thought it? – is what we have for you here. This is a premium home cinema system intended for the serious enthusiast and housed as a permanent fixture in a dedicated screening room.

The one we have all been secretly yearning for, in other words.

The system

• Projector: Sony Bravia Projector 8 (£15,999)
• Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB9000 (£999)
• Streaming box: Apple TV 4K (£149)
• AV amplifier: Marantz Cinema 30 (£3499)
• Speaker system: KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 (£2549)
• Total system price: £23,995

The projector

We lead things off with the magnificent Sony Bravia Projector 8 (VPL-XW6100ES). This native 4K laser projector is a worthy successor to the Award-winning XW7000ES.

Sony’s strength with its projectors has always been contrast, and the Bravia 8 is exceptional in this regard.

It delivers stunning black depth – a rarity in the projector world – and ensures that dark scenes, such as the night sky of Gotham in The Batman, are deep and imposing, and refrain from straying into the murky grey seen on many rivals – even some at this price.

The new XR Processor, a version modified from Sony’s high-end OLED TVs, brings features such as XR Dynamic Tone Mapping and XR Deep Black to further enhance light control and detail.

Detail levels are a standout, presenting complex patterns and textures with remarkable fidelity. Colour rendition, too, is superb.

As we say in our review: “skin tones are balanced and well-judged, resulting in a lively yet not overcooked presentation across a range of pigments.

"They’re exceptionally balanced and realistic, too, while also having the necessary punch to draw the eye.

"Speaking of which, the eye at the beginning of Blade Runner 2049 features a stunning array of blues and greens, with a rich presentation that blends the colours in a smooth gradient.”

This projector is great for gamers too, with an improved 2.1 specification on both HDMI sockets. It supports 4K/120Hz signals with Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and it has an impressively low input lag of 12ms.

This is truly a projector that delivers on the promise of a premium, large-screen experience.

The AV amplifier

At the heart of any great home cinema is an AV receiver capable of both refinement and brute force, and the Marantz Cinema 30 delivers in spades. This is a premium unit that justifies its price with an equally premium performance.

The amp’s ability to place sounds precisely in three-dimensional space combines with a knack for producing an absolutely huge and enveloping soundscape.

Detailed sound effects – crumbling plaster, dripping water, an electrical short and a high-pitched alarm – appear from all around you and together fill the room. Importantly, you hear the sounds, not the speakers.

Marantz has tuned this 11-channel amplifier to work beautifully with music as well as movies. A switch to Pure Direct means we can listen to just the front stereo channels, and the delivery is far superior to most AV amplifiers.

It’s quite likely that in a set-up such as this, the amplifier will be hidden away, to do its thing out of sight. If it does find itself out on display, however, this is a rather attractive unit by AV amp standards, with its small ‘porthole’ display.

More importantly, it is very well specified, with a whopping seven HDMI 2.1 inputs that support 4K/120Hz. It would be nigh-on impossible for even the most ardent enthusiast to run out of sockets to plug things into.

The speaker system

And making the most of the Marantz amplifier’s impressive abilities, we have the Award-winning KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 Speaker System.

This stylish package is headlined by a pair of five-star Q Concerto Meta standmounts, with support from the Q1 Meta surrounds, the Q6 Meta centre channel, and the formidable Kube 12 MIE subwoofer.

For the full Dolby Atmos experience, a couple of pairs of KEF Q8 Meta Dolby ‘toppers’ will set you back an additional £599 a pair. And in this system, that is certainly a worthwhile investment.

We’re treated to a muscular and rich, yet agile presentation from the Q Concerto Meta system.

This system sounds big and bold, enveloping us in engaging sound from all angles, but it refrains from losing focus and becoming sluggish as a result.

There is plenty of low-end punch, with the subwoofer delivering its gut-punch of low end while remaining in total control. And there’s no flab or waffle here; the KEF Kube 12 MIE delivers a powerful and dynamic low-end kick.

Voices are conveyed with clarity and texture, underpinned by an impressive handling of low-level dynamics. This results in a truly natural and realistic representation of voices with excellent projection, which is aided by how forthright and crisp this centre channel sounds.

It manages to remain well integrated into the system as a whole while it does it, which is impressive indeed. The left, right and centre speakers mesh seamlessly, and these in turn gel with the surrounds, leaving no noticeable gaps in between the channels.

The system’s brilliance, then, lies in its stunning sonic cohesion.

The Blu-ray player

To make the best of the superb projector and the powerhouse (yet subtle when appropriate) sonic package, you will need the best when it comes to sources to feed it.

As ever, we recommend physical media for this whenever possible – a wired connection will pretty much always provide a more stable connection than anything being passed through the air.

That means 4K Blu-ray. Enter the Panasonic DP-UB9000.

The Blu-ray player market has struggled over the past five years or so, with the dominance of video streaming. New players into the market are few and far between. So it’s a good job that the old-timers that are still hanging around are such stunning performers.

The UB9000 offers supreme picture quality, and is a machine that will give sterling service for many years.

The streaming box

It is unrealistic to expect any home cinema to rely on physical media alone, though. Video streaming is here to stay, and picture quality is improving all the time.

The very best, most consistent quality, though, comes from Apple’s remarkably good Apple TV 4K.

We find it to be clearly the best performer compared with its many rivals – which is why it so merits its place in this brilliant home-cinema set-up.

These are the best projectors and best AV receivers you can buy right now

We rank the best surround sound systems

What Hi-Fi? turns 50 in 2026 and we're looking back on some of the most important hi-fi and home cinema products in our lifetime – and beyond!

We're going back further than 1976 in this article as we look back on a series of debut speakers from hi-fi brands that went on to great things.

Our list details the first-ever models from some of the most renowned loudspeaker brands in history, including Bang & Olufsen, Bowers & Wilkins, KEF and Quad, some (but not all) of which started life long before What Hi-Fi?.

Wharfedale Bronze 2 (1932)

Wharfedale’s first speaker was built in the cellar of founder Gilbert Briggs' llkley home in 1932.

The Bronze was purely a drive unit (in those days, radio enthusiasts assembled their own cabinets). A year later, it was housed in a wooden cabinet for those who wanted an ‘extension’ speaker. Shortly after came the ‘Nubian’ cabinet speaker in 1934.

But it was a whole decade before Wharfedale marked the first of many milestones: the invention of the first two-way loudspeaker.

In 1945, the company combined a 30cm bass driver with a 25cm full-range ‘treble’ unit, using a crossover at 1kHz. And in the years after the company’s introduction of ceramic magnets to moving coil drive units led to the company’s much-celebrated Diamond series.

• That Was Then... Wharfedale Diamond review

Bang & Olufsen Hyperbo (1934)

Not uniquely, Bang & Olufsen came to the speaker market through radio manufacturing. In 1925, Peter Bang & Svend Olufsen’s first commercial radio – the modest production of which began in Olufsen’s attic – was the Eliminator, a radio component that allowed the connection of a radio directly to the mains, eliminating the need for batteries.

Having moved to a factory in Struer just two years later (B&O remain at that same site today), the Hyperbo – a radio, gramophone and integrated loudspeaker – arrived in 1934.

Like every B&O product produced since, the Hyperbo was heavily influenced by the emerging Bauhaus style in the early 1900s: a design attitude that has consistently manifested itself in the artistic craft behind the company's many speakers and TVs.

Acoustic Research AR-1 (1954)

Acoustic Research was founded in 1952 by inventor Edgar Villchur and his student Henry Kloss. Based on the acoustic suspension principle patented by Villchur in 1956, its first model, the AR-1, sold for $185 (over £1000 in today’s money).

The AR-1's woofer trapped air in the speaker’s sealed enclosure to provide a spring for the diaphragm, enabling it to move back and forth – doing the same job as the more conventional mechanical spring.

This was followed quickly by the AR-2 but it was the AR-3, released in 1958, that became Acoustic Research's landmark speaker, borrowing the AR-1's acoustic suspension technology but bringing onboard newly designed drivers.

Quad ESL-57 (1957)

Quad founder Peter Walker was the first to implement electrostatic technology in loudspeakers, waving goodbye to traditional driver cones and cumbersome cabinets.

In their place he put a thinly-stretched, electrically-charged diaphragm between two metal grilles, which received the music signal from the amplifier.

The first in what has become a brand-defining range of electrostatic speakers, the ESL-57, was in production for nearly 30 years, while the ESL-63 continued Quad’s electrostatic legacy until 1999. Quad continues to manufacture electrostatic speakers to this day.

KEF K1 Slimline (1961)

KEF’s oldest speaker was born out of founder Raymond Cooke’s desire to achieve outstanding sound quality from a slim, living room-friendly enclosure.

At 12.5cm deep, the K1 Slimline incorporated the same driver innovations as the Monitor versions that arrived in the K1 series: the B1814 woofer with its flat rectangular diaphragm of aluminium skinned polystyrene, the M64 elliptical midrange unit with a similar diaphragm construction, and the T15 tweeter with its hemispherical Melinex diaphragm.

To minimise colouration, the wall panels of the braced cabinet were dampened with bituminous pads. And, lounge-friendly in their aesthetic as well as their size, the K1 Slimlines were finished in walnut with 'coffee' fleck grilles – a far cry from some of the designs it employs today.

• That Was Then… KEF Reference Model 101/3

B&W P1 (1966)

Beginnings don’t get much more humble than B&W’s. The year after founder John Bowers started hand-assembling speaker systems in the electrical store he ran with Roy Wilkins in Worthing, Bowers & Wilkins (then B&W Electronics Ltd) released its first loudspeaker: the P1.

The cabinet and filter were B&W's own, but the drivers came from EMI and Celestion – this was in the decade before the company started using the bright-yellow Kevlar woven composite.

The profits from the P1 allowed Bowers to purchase a Radiometer Oscillator and Pen Recorder, meaning that every speaker the company sold could have calibration certificates.

• That Was Then… B&W 602 S3 review

Spendor BC1 (late ’60s)

Bextrene was the material of choice for the speaker diaphragms in Spendor’s first pair of speakers, the BC1.

A product of BBC engineer Spencer Hughes (co-founder with Dorothy Hughes, hence the Spendor name) and co-designer Dudley Harwood, the BC1 speakers had a three-way design: the only commercial 8in Bextrene mid-bass driver, a Celestion HF 1300 tweeter and a Coles 4001 G supertweeter.

They were fed by a nine-element crossover comprised of film capacitors for frequency and temperature stability, and radio metal cored chokes that allowed for high transients and low resonances.

The BC1s hit the market in the late ‘60s and found their way into broadcast and recording studios before eventually being available to buy for consumers. Some 600 pairs were supposedly in operation at the BBC at one time.

• That Was Then… Spendor SP2/3E review

Harbeth HL Monitor Mk1 (1977)

British speaker brand Harbeth came about due to the discovery, by founder H.D. Harwood, of a potential new film plastic for speaker cones.

Towards the end of his career in the BBC’s Research Department, and during investigation into bextrene plastic as a cone material for BBC monitors in the ‘60s, Harwood proposed that polypropylene would make a good cone material.

And so, upon his formal retirement, he set up Harbeth to make a speaker with his patented polypropylene-coned driver. The HL Monitor was released in 1977, and four versions subsequently followed over the next decade.

Dynaudio P-series (1977/78)

We have to pedal back almost 50 years to find Danish brand's first speakers – the five P-series models in 1977. However, they were short-lived, had limited distribution and, while using the company’s own crossovers, were the only Dynaudio speakers to rely on OEM drivers.

The P series (P for 'passive') comprised the P16 (pictured), P21, P31, P46 and P76. All models used specially coated soft dome tweeter with high power handling – something Dynaudio would later become renowned for.

The first range to use Dynaudio’s in-house MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) woofers and tweeters, and receive international distribution, was the four-strong MSP series in 1984. Dynaudio has used its own drivers ever since.

• That Was Then… Dynaudio Audience 52 review

ATC S50/S85 (1978)

After a few years making drive units, ATC produced its first speaker systems in 1978: the bass-reflex S50 (pictured) and infinite baffle S85, which established a naming tradition based on the internal volume of the speaker.

Inside the plywood-based 50- and 85-litre cabinets were 2.5cm soft dome tweeters, a 7.5cm soft dome midrange driver and a 22.5cm woofer (two in the S85).

Unusually, the crossover arrangement allowed for true active tri-amping, allowing you to choose between either the internal passive crossover or an external electronic crossover via a rotary switch.

ProAc Tablette (1979)

A few years after founding loudspeaker manufacturer Celef Audio Ltd in 1973, Stewart Tyler decided that producing more expensive designs in smaller quantities, rather than increasing production capacity and potentially sacrificing quality, was the way forward.

With that decision came a new company name: ProAc, short for Professional Acoustics.

The first speaker to bear the name was the Tablette; mini monitors – they really are dinky – which have spawned more than ten variations since their original production in 1979.

Wilson Audio WAMM (1982)

Following Wilson Audio’s Smart turntable, which was essentially a re-jigged Acoustic Research deck and became Wilson Audio’s first ever product, founder Dave Wilson introduced the company’s first pair of speakers, the Wilson Audio Modular Monitor (WAMM), in 1982.

Each channel comprised two towers: one sub-bass module, and one with twin mid-bass drivers and an electrostatic supertweeter flanked by twin midrange/tweeter modules. It sold for $28,000 and was the most expensive speaker you could buy at that time.

The WAMM evolved through six versions from 1982 to 1993, and has since been revived, with the Master Chronosonic and Master Subsonic speakers still current in the company's catalogue.

Focal DB13 (1982)

JMlab established Focal for speaker driver production in Saint-Étienne in 1979, and three years later the company's first pair of speakers appeared.

The DB13 bookshelf speakers were equipped with a double voice coil driver plus Polyglass and Polykevlar driver cones, and were capable of volumes more akin to larger speakers.

They propelled the company towards the high-end audio market and to international shores.

Martin Logan Monolith (1983)

Convinced they could make a class-leading electrostatic speaker capable of adequate bass and suitable for rock music, Gayle Martin Sanders and Ron Logan Sutherland (later ‘Martin Logan’) conceived a prototype in 1980. Unfortunately, its flat aluminium panel blew up when they turned up the volume...

Undeterred, their first production-ready speaker arrived three years later: the Monolith. A revised transducer saw a clear Mylar diaphragm sandwiched between two perforated-steel stators.

And to ensure good sound dispersion, a horizontally curved panel was implemented, and this curvilinear transducer has been central to the design of every Martin Logan electrostatic since.

Sonus Faber Parva (1983)

In 1983, three years after Sonus Faber founder Franco Serblin produced his first system (an all-wood, all-in-one model called the "Snail" that really needs to be seen), the brand was established in a small laboratory in Monteviale, northern Italy.

It was in that year Sonus Faber launched its first product: the Parva 2-way speaker, featuring a Kevlar midrange cone and solid walnut wood cabinet.

This paved the way for some legendary models (such as the Extrema and Guarneri ranges), and what is today, 35 years later, one of the world’s most distinguished and design-savvy high-end speaker brands.

Dali 2 (mid '80s)

The Dali 2 was released shortly after the renowned Danish speaker company Dali (Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries) began in 1983.

The debut speaker had a two-way configuration, with a 6.5in laminate pulp/polyvinyl cone woofer, 1in tweeter with a soft polypropylene dome, and walnut veneered wooden cabinets.

The Dali 2 was followed by larger models in the range, the 3, 4, 6 and 8, which Dali explained shared the same design philosophy and signature sound: they don't "'thunder' or 'boom' bass – they just handle more power and provide better bass response".

Acoustic Energy AE1 (1987)

With the introduction of the AE1 Loudspeaker in 1987, Acoustic Energy Ltd was officially born. The concept was to create a compact studio monitor (it measured 30cm tall and 18cm wide) that could handle the high volumes and dynamics of larger speakers.

To achieve this, Acoustic Energy lined its cabinet with a concrete/plaster compound to eliminate as much resonance as possible, and developed a new mid/bass driver. It featured a 10cm cone of spun aluminium, thicker at the centre than the edges and anodised to create a ‘ceramic sandwich’, and used an oversized magnet assembly that allowed the AE1 to accept 200W of power.

The AE1 was refined in several revisions until 2016, when its SEAS tweeter went out of production. The design has since resurfaced in the amplified AE1 Active model.

• That Was Then... Acoustic Energy AE2 Signature review

Neat Petite (1991)

Neat Acoustics began life as a hi-fi shop in Darlington called North Eastern Audio Traders. After identifying a gap in the market for a small musical speaker, its owners developed the Neat Petite.

When we reviewed them in 1993, we heralded these speakers a musical success. We called their sound 'hugely stimulating', mostly due to the way they portrayed timing and dynamics – something that's continued to be a trademark in the brand’s more recent speakers.

• That Was Then... Neat Petite review

PMC BB5-A (1991)

After a stint as the manager of BBC's Maida Vale studios, Peter Thomas and former BBC engineer Adrian Loader designed the first PMC speaker, the BB5-A.

It introduced the company’s hallmark Advanced Transmission Line technology, in which drivers were used to improve bass output.

In an interview with What Hi-Fi?, Thomas said: “The design was certainly not conventional. Whereas the majority of speaker designers used ported or sealed cabinets, we found that a transmission line system for bass loading, if refined, gave a performance that significantly exceeded conventional bass loading principles.”

Wilson Benesch A.C.T. One (1994)

Five years after launching its first product, the Wilson Benesch Turntable, the British company launched a second: the A.C.T. One loudspeaker.

Unveiled at the 1994 Frankfurt High End show, the A.C.T. One used carbon fibre – the world’s first curved carbon fibre composite panel in a speaker design. It sported the sloping top and solid metal baffle that remain part of the company’s distinctive designs today.

While many years before the implementation of crossover-free midrange driver designs, as seen in the company’s Eminence series, the A.C.T. One placed great importance on phase coherence and the reduction of crossover elements.

Eclipse TD 512 (2002) 

Deviating from the traditional two-driver configuration and box design, Eclipse’s speakers are as distinct as they come. The company’s first, the 36cm-tall TD 512 speakers, were a "radical departure from the speaker norm" (as we stated in our 2002 review), with only one drive unit and an egg-shaped enclosure made of marble-loaded resin.

The former’s job to cover the whole frequency resulted in some shortcomings – namely, a rolled-off treble – but ultimately these beautifully imaged and detailed speakers did more than enough to enjoy a five-star debut. As we said at the time: "Little else at their price (£2350) will deliver such unrestricted access to the recording."

Q Acoustics 1000 series (2006)

Q Acoustics may not have the heritage of some other brands, but the British company’s debut, the six-strong 1000 series in 2006, has been one of the most notable of the 21st century.

The 1000 series comprised the 1010 and 1020 bookshelf speakers, 1010C centre channel, 1030 and 1050 floorstanders, and 1000S active subwoofer. Each model featured the same ferro-fluid cooled, micro-polyester weave tweeter and Linkwitz-Riley crossovers, and every drive unit was ‘torque mounted’ into its front baffle.

The 1010s were five-star performers in their own right, and later received another five-star review as part of a complete multi-channel surround package.

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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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In praise of small speakers: how their inherent design limitations can work to their benefit

As a professional magpie, I get to see a lot of cool hardware and, as a result, have a constantly updating list of stuff I wish I could afford for home use.

Before any of you ask, no, we don’t get to keep review samples. All the good stuff stays in our hi-fi and home cinema testing rooms, so we can use them for comparisons when reviewing. Nearly everything else gets sent back.

On the hi-fi side, I have detailed the swish lower/mid-level system I want, and that remains pretty much set in stone. As for home cinema, there’s an ongoing state of flux regarding the surround sound solution I want – it changes depending on my mood.

Some days, I’ll continue my Sisyphean task of trying to find a way to fit a full-fat 5.2.2 multispeaker system into my tiny office/home cinema/mancave. Each time I fail because, no matter which measuring tape I use, I have yet to find a way to fit it all in. I was never good at Tetris…

This is usually when I pivot to a more compact solution: the Award-winning KEF XIO Dolby Atmos soundbar. Each time this happens, though, even after I have plopped it in to my online shopping cart, I have never quite managed to take the final plunge and click the checkout button.

After much soul searching and a valuable meditative session listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide on repeat, I think I know why: KEF has yet to deliver the bespoke wireless satellite speakers it promised us at the XIO’s launch.

Now, I know waiting on a set of speakers we don’t know anything about seems strange. Especially as having them doesn’t automatically make a setup better.

Our staff writer, Robyn Quick, wrote a feature just this week explaining why satellites and a subwoofer don’t guarantee that a system will outperform a similarly priced single soundbar solution.

And I already know first-hand that the XIO is a fine soundbar that easily beats many soundbar systems, even as a standalone product. Its wide soundstage, atypical accuracy, and musicality were key factors that earned it an Award last year, and a place in our best Dolby Atmos soundbars guide to this day.

But there is an equal number of examples where satellites, and in some instances a subwoofer, can truly elevate a five-star Dolby Atmos Soundbar’s performance.

The Samsung HW-Q990F is a prime example of such a system done right. I can also confirm that adding two Sonos Era 300 speakers as surrounds to an Arc Ultra makes for a much more immersive experience.

The added height, sense of directionality and general oomph make such a difference, especially if you’re a horror aficionado like me.

Knowing how well they can work, and that these satellites are coming at some point, makes it hard to pull the trigger. I want to know what they are, how much they cost and most importantly, how they add, or detract from the XIO’s performance before I take the plunge.

And while I am, of course, unbiased as a reviewer, I can’t help but think the add-ons will surely be a positive, especially given KEF’s track record with wireless audio. Imagine how brilliantly a tweaked pair of LSX II LT as wireless satellites might perform, given their similar sonic profile!

All of which goes some way to explain why my illogical brain can’t settle on the XIO as my main workhorse. Not, at least, until I find out more about the promised add-ons, which truly could make the best premium Dolby Atmos soundbar money can buy even better.

All this is particularly frustrating for me, as when I asked KEF if there’s an update on the new hardware, I was firmly told, “There’s no confirmed timeline just yet.”

The only silver lining on offer is that KEF did reiterate that “rear surround connectivity is coming,” and that it has “started demonstrating” an early version of it to some retailers.

So for now, my Groundhog Day cycle of flip-flopping between a proper 5.2.2 and the XIO looks set to continue, at least for the foreseeable future.

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It’s not often that we at What Hi-Fi? come upon a product that looks like a decidedly old-school piece of kit, and then performs much more like a pair of modern hi-fi champions.

That, though, is what we have here, in the form of NAD’s hugely impressive C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module) streaming amplifier. This just-add-speakers setup is one of a batch of new products that are forcing us to revisit our long-standing opinion that separate products always provide better results than all in-one-systems.

Invest in a NAD C 3050 with the optional (and highly recommendable) MDC2 BluOS-D streaming module, and you are getting real engineering substance behind those lovely retro-looking mechanical power meters.

The system

• Streaming amplifier: NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module) – £1699 / $2199 / AU$3599
• Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 (with upgrades) – £739 / $943 / AU$1617
• Stereo speakers: KEF Q3 Meta – £649 / $900 / AU$1300
• Total system price: £3087 / $4042 / AU$6516

Streaming amplifier: NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module)

The headline feature, and the main differentiator between the C 3050 and excellent stereo amplifier rivals such as the Arcam A15 or the Rega Elex Mk4, is the option to add that streaming module. The MDC2 BluOS-D is based on a platform developed by NAD’s sister company, Bluesound, and adds £350 / $500 / AU$900 to the standalone unit. We think it's worth the extra cost.

We have no issue with the C 3050 streaming amp’s build and finish. It feels like a quality product with solid casework and sturdy controls. The fit and finish are good too, giving the NAD a proper premium aura. The streaming side is taken care of by the well-established BluOS app. This is one of the better pieces of streaming control software on the market and is stable, easy to use and intuitive on the whole.

When putting the unit through its paces in our review, we listened to a variety of digital files, from The Unthanks (the Mount The Air album) and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances Op.45 through to Nick Cave’s Wild God set, and the NAD didn’t skip a beat.

“It has the midrange clarity and fluidity to shine with a vocal-based group such as The Unthanks. Detail levels are good, but it's the organic way in which the C 3050 arranges all that detail that draws us into the music. It captures the texture and tone of the sisters’ voices superbly and so communicates the heartfelt passion in the title track, Mount The Air, better than most alternatives we’ve heard.

“The NAD doesn’t just excel with the subtleties either. It may be refined, but when the music demands, there is bite here too. The Rachmaninov piece shows the C 3050’s dynamic prowess and ability to convey the piece's power and authority. It sounds muscular, delivering lows with a richness and punch that’s enjoyable. The presentation is airy but still manages to retain the music’s exuberance.”

Importantly, in the context of this system, the phone stage on the NAD is good as well. All in all, this is a class-leading streaming system.

Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 (with upgrades)

That phono stage is put to good use by the turntable we have selected for this system. The Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 was a strong five-star contender at its price when it was first released. Add in some excellent-value upgrades, however, and the performance is elevated to an Award-winning level.

The Debut 2 is a well-built, easy to use turntable that is minimal in design, and you can choose from 10 finishes (some in very nice hues) to suit your tastes. The old steel platter has been replaced with a heavy aluminium platter here, which has a dense ring of TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) to help reduce unwanted resonances.

The 8.6-inch carbon fibre tonearm comes fitted with a Pick-It MM Evo moving magnet cartridge developed with Ortofon, and set up is no fuss at all. We particularly like the rocker switch underneath the plinth that lets us choose between 33 1/3 and 45 rpm speeds.

The standard Evo 2 has a wonderfully fluid delivery, with a rather lovely, sweet-toned midrange – these are qualities that make it a very appealing listen overall. It's a clean and nimble, if a little lightweight, presentation, with a fairly taut bass that keeps tracks moving along nicely.

Both the Alu Sub-Platter and the High Power it 2 power supply improve things remarkably. Indeed, as we say in our updated review of the Evo 2: “The High Power it 2 power supply could be the best £25 you ever spend on a turntable. It offers greater solidity and depth to the Evo 2's sound, without compromising that delicate fluidity we like so much. Voices have more conviction, dynamic swings are more subtle and dramatic, and you even get a snappier sense of timing.”

And the Alu Sub-Platter adds a satisfying amount of muscle, scale and authority to the Evo 2's sound that we were missing in our initial test. There is greater power and subtler detail unearthed, the soundstage is more spacious, and the dynamics are improved even further. This is a complete-sounding turntable, and one which fits in this system beautifully.

Stereo speakers: KEF Q3 Meta

The joy of the all-in-one system, of course, is that you need add only a pair of speakers to get the full experience. The turntable addition is a welcome option, without doubt, but the NAD with a pair of good speakers is a splendid starting point.

And we can’t think of a more appropriate pair of speakers to add to this set-up than KEF’s mature standmounts. The Q3 Meta are the step-up standmounts in KEF’s entry-level range, and offer a chance to experience the brand’s sonic pedigree at a more affordable price than the more premium Q Concerto Meta.

At 35.7 x 21 x 30.5cm (hwd) and weighing 8.2kg, these are quite large speakers. They are built to the high standard that we have come to expect from KEF, and are weighty and solid – and KEF’s signature Uni-Q driver array is always attractive on the eye.

As befits their size, these standmounts have reasonably weighty bass performance. They sound most balanced when placed a fair way away from the back wall of our 3 x 7 x 4m test room – around 40-50cm into the room works well for us.

There is a pair of foam bungs provided, if you want to put your speakers close to your back wall, but you will receive a more congested, stunted sound in return. The bungs, then, are an emergency measure, not an optimal solution.

We find the best sound by angling the Q3 Meta in just a little towards our central listening position. That gives us a solid stereo image and a pleasing sense of focus.

And, when we have the positioning nailed, this proves to be an excellent pair of all-rounders, with no obvious weaknesses.

As we say in our full review: “The Q3 Meta deliver a composed, even-handed sound that will be familiar to anyone who has experience with a recent pair of KEF speakers, showcasing excellent stereo imaging and a talent for sonic organisation and integration.

“Despite being a pair of standmounters, the scale, breadth and solidity of their soundstage is remarkable, and even when our test tracks get demanding, their stereo imaging and overall soundstage rarely suffer.”

To sum them up, then, the KEF Q3 are excellent all-rounders, with a mature even-handed sound with plenty of bass and a rich, full-bodied appeal.

They fit in beautifully, then, with the NAD and Pro-Ject pairing in this stereo system – a solution built for the modern audiophile who refuses to compromise on either digital convenience or analogue flavour.

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In early 2019, a long-awaited house extension meant that after 15 years in the house, a dedicated home cinema was finally on the cards.

The plan was to knock down the single garage in the garden and rebuild it as a home cinema.

That sounds simple when written down, but the reality is, of course, far more complicated...

Plan A – the custom install dream

The initial idea was to use a professional home cinema company for a premium system with a premium finish, complete with room control and maybe even one of those cool star ceilings.

After finding out that there was a home cinema installer only a few minutes from me, I gave them a call and, following a promising initial conversation, we found ourselves standing in the pre-demolished empty garage talking tech for hours despite the cold, like a couple of happy AV-heads.

The space seemed ideal for an 11-channel Dolby Atmos system, complete with recliners, for a truly cinematic, truly luxurious experience. However, in the confined space I was going to be working with (just 2.5m wide and 4.5m long), rather than large speakers on show, a discreet in-wall system with the fronts sitting behind an acoustically transparent screen seemed best.

While I wanted a no-compromise solution, the Wife Acceptance Factor did impose some restrictions, too. First, the room needed to have a ‘sofa bed’ so it could potentially be used for guests (whatever), and while I wanted fully blacked out walls, that wasn’t going to fly, so grey it was.

Even though my available budget wasn’t confirmed, my local home cinema chap was still happy to advise and came round during construction.

This proved memorable, particularly as he noted that the location where the side speakers should go was, at that time, an empty window (it turns out that walls are much easier to attach speakers to than glass — who knew?), initiating an urgent call to the builder to reduce the window size.

My friendly installer also reassured me that the reasonably priced cable I had chosen to run through the walls was fine – I’m not here to knock the sonic benefits of esoteric speaker cable, but budget was already a key concern.

Plan B – reality

Of course, as poet Robert Burns famously (almost) said, the best laid schemes of mice and home cinema enthusiasts don’t always go to plan.

Inevitably, come the end of the building works, the hoped-for pot of cinema room money was notable for its absence, and I had to inform my hoped-for installer contact that I wasn’t in a position to proceed.

“Game over, man! Game over!”

As we all remember, (or was it a bad dream?) 2020 brought with it a global pandemic, and while I was grateful that we were cooped up in a bigger house than we previously had, my cinema room was sadly just a spare room with speaker cables dangling forlornly from the walls.

As such, it stayed for a couple of years. Until slowly, gradually, I began to dream again.

Surely, something was better than nothing? Maybe I could cobble a system together by reusing old speakers or an old receiver...

Enter, eBay

Suddenly, I realised that eschewing brand-new and going second-hand could get me somewhere.

I’d long hankered after M&K speakers, and there, on the eBay screen, were the speakers I was looking for – M&K IW150s.

OK, they were Mark 1 versions, rather than the current Mark 3s, making them around 20 years old, but a text to my wonderfully understanding professional contact reassured me that if they were in good condition, they would still sound great.

Suddenly, enthusiasm got the better of me, and I was bidding.

For a few minutes, I thought I was on the verge of a bargain, when someone else crashed the party. Darn. A bidding war.

Determinedly, I persisted and eventually won, giving me three M&K IW150 speakers for less than the price of a single brand-new one. Not bad, though I tried not to think about the steal they could have been had my original bid been unchallenged.

(It later transpired that the rival bidder was in fact someone I had been discussing the speakers with in a forum thread! All's fair in love and online auctions, I suppose, but he was only planning to use these classics as height speakers – the cheek!)

This was a collection-only auction, so I soon found myself travelling deep into the country along narrow lanes to a huge house complete with stables. (Oh, how the other half live). The M&Ks' new home would not be quite so grand, but they would now be calling me their master.

Try as I might, I couldn’t find any affordable M&K options for ceiling speakers, so I gambled on a set of four KEF Ci200QRs. Again, these were 20-year-old examples, but the wide dispersion should make them a decent match, I reasoned, and the price made it a worthwhile gamble.

For the subwoofer, I went with an M&K V8, once again discounted on the famous auction site.

Sit yourself down

All the talk of the cinema room had clearly got to my wife, who, despite initial scepticism, had caught the bug.

After some inspiration from forum pictures, she found two second-hand recliners on Facebook Marketplace.

The next step was the sofa-bed with another bargain from the ‘bay, soon couriered over.

Finally, we filled out the compact space with two bean bags, which would mean that up to seven people could squeeze into the room if required.

Better sound, less cash

To power the speakers, I realised that thinking second-hand offered up a thrilling possibility: for less than the price of a new one-box solution, I could get a higher-end 7-channel receiver and a second power amp for the remaining four channels.

After Anthem was recommended to me by my contact, I found someone nearby selling an MRX-720. This led to another fun journey, only this time to an enthusiast happy to let me hear it in action before I took it home.

To handle the remaining channels, I also found a second-hand Rotel RMB-1048 – a well-regarded Class A/B amplifier offering 65 watts into 4 ohms.

This would actually make it a good match for the M&K speakers, though, as I’ll discuss later, I failed to take advantage of that...

Seeing is believing

For projection, a native 4K model was, of course, what I wanted – but I obviously wasn’t going to get it. At the time, these could not be had for less than £5000 – way out of budget.

The saviour was the popular, What Hi-Fi? Award-winning, Epson EH-TW9400, a 4K-eShift 3LCD, HDR-capable machine offering a powerful mix of brightness, reasonable black levels and ease of setup.

Retailing for £2500, I was amazed to find a nearly new one on eBay going for £2000. It almost seemed too good to be true – and so it proved.

Moments after winning the auction, it was withdrawn from sale. Getting in touch, the owner said he suddenly realised how much he’d be losing in fees.

To salvage the situation, I offered to collect it in person and, if everything was fine, purchase it “off market” at the original price.

While this is not at all what eBay would recommend, this is what I ended up doing.

“I love it when a plan comes together”

The in-person visit to the projector chap turned out to have another upside in that I discovered he was selling his complete system, which just happened to include a pair of M&K LCR-55 speakers and M&K K-4 Tri-poles.

Old and entry-level they may be, but these M&Ks seemed perfect for use as my surrounds and rears, and they were soon in my room waiting to become fully armed and operational.

The final element was the screen, and finding one to match my exact room dimensions was going to be tricky. So, for once, I had to go brand-new rather than second-hand, and I ended up with a 113-inch, 16:9 Screen International with 1.0 gain.

Adding discs and streams

For media sources, I already had my venerable Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, and for streaming duties, I initially decided to add an nVidia Shield Pro – again, second-hand.

While I'm an Apple fan, I was intrigued by the flexibility that an Android device would bring, such as the ability to add a VPN (not possible at the time on tvOS), and its ability to stream games over a network.

Other things I reused were glass shelves that I’d had for over twenty years, and a router, which I turned into an access point for the room (I’d sensibly had Cat 6a Ethernet cable run throughout the house during the extension).

Construction

With all the basic elements in place, it was time to put it all together.

Not having the funds to go for a specialist, I simply grabbed (not literally) the builder who happened to be doing some work on the house opposite and explained to him what I was after.

Fortunately, he totally got the assignment and did a great job constructing a stud wall into which he placed the three M&K IW150s. He then attached the side speakers and built shelves to house the rear speakers.

He also helped me mount the projector above the door, and, with the help of three of his colleagues whom he borrowed for a few minutes, mounted the projector screen.

I also sourced black flock to go around it to maximise contrast as much as possible. Again, though, this had to be new.

“Great Scott!”

Time to relax and watch some movies, right? Wrong!

Inevitably, there were… issues.

A key one was that the builders had decided to troll me by leaving random lengths of cable coming out of the wall. Most had reams to spare; some were shorter than a T. rex’s arms.

The first time I tried to hook things up, it was like Doc trying to connect the power cable on the Hill Valley Clock Tower.

Trying to figure it all out was a bit of a nightmare, and in the end, I was forced to place the Rotel power amp at the top, or the cables wouldn't reach.

More recently, I sourced some spare speaker wire and some connectors to extend the existing cables, allowing me to rearrange things as I wanted, but it was a lot of work to get it all sorted in the first place.

A bug hunt

The next installation issue was the KEF Ci200QRs ceiling speakers.

They had been in their boxes for months, and only once I got them out for installation did I realise they had not come with their “dog-leg" clamping system.

To get around this, the builder was forced to screw them directly through the rims into the plasterboard.

It worked, but it means there is no mechanical decoupling, and under volume, it causes some vibrations.

This mainly occurs when doing the calibration test sweeps, but the front height left also rattles during actual movies.

I’ve yet to deal with this issue, but I plan to use some makeshift material between the speakers and the ceiling to try to solve it.

“I only told you to blow the bloody doors off”

The biggest issue by far, though, only revealed itself after several years of use. During one movie, the Anthem receiver suddenly shut down without any warning.

As I had CEC enabled to turn off the projector, too, I went from happily watching to a cold, disturbing silence. It was not a good moment.

It came back on, but from then on it kept happening every 20 minutes or so during operation. This was devastating, as it meant my home cinema was out of commission – and the funds for replacement amplification were simply not there.

To keep costs and time to a minimum, rather than going the official out-of-warranty repair route, I found a local engineer who would take it on – and, after a week or so, I had it back, repaired for a reasonable sum.

Dropping like flies

My component issues weren't over, though.

Having realised early on that the M&K V8 wasn’t going to cut it, I upgraded to a V12 (second-hand, of course). Eventually, I added a second, second-hand V12 to make a pair.

However, after a year or so, one of them started to “pop, pop pop”, indicating a faulty internal amp. This meant having to purchase a replacement.

So yes, I'm now on my third, second-hand, V12.

"Not again!"

For a little while, all was running smoothly. Just a couple of weeks ago, though, my Anthem had another panic attack.

This time, it stayed on – and I hoped that it was a resolvable overheating issue. The room was very hot when it shut down after all, not helped by the fact that I had set the projector to full brightness to get more lights into the deep shadows of Sinners on 4K UHD Blu-ray.

Research on a solution led me to realise that by foolishly only using the Rotel for the height channels and leaving the Anthem for the flat layer, I was making the latter work too hard, especially when trying to drive demanding 4-ohm speakers such as my M&Ks.

This was compounded by the fact that the amplifiers of the five main channels in the MRX-720 are Class A/B (as is the Rotel-1048), which explained why, when under load, the receiver and amp were producing as much hot air as Donald Trump.

Armed with this knowledge, I rewired and recalibrated the system so that the Rotel would take the load and leave the Anthem for just the front channels.

I was hoping the unwanted mid-movie shutdowns were now behind me.

Sadly, however, this hope proved to be misplaced.

Initially, things seemed very promising – with the Rotel handling the surround and backs, Atmos demos sounded more fulsome and detailed.

After around two hours of testing, though, the system suddenly shut down again. Sad faces all round.

It may actually be my Rotel receiver and not the Anthem that's causing the problem, so I’ll be disconnecting the 12V trigger and doing some more testing this week to see if I can get to the bottom of things once and for all.

The NeverEnding Project

As you can see, it’s all been, as the touchy-feely might say, “a bit of a journey” – and while I can see the destination, I'm still somehow not quite there.

Going it alone rather than going through a dealer has certainly allowed me to do more for the budget, but there are risks involved, and you have to expect bumps along the way.

While you can save on the budget initially, buying out of warranty means that when things go wrong, you will need to be prepared to pay for repairs or replacements.

Of course, even with a professional install, equipment can fail after a warranty has expired, but a great installer will at least be someone you can fall back on, even years after the initial build.

And while I hooked everything up successfully and have greatly enjoyed the room, many issues, such as the short cable runs and overburdened amplifiers, would have been foreseen by a knowledgeable professional.

So, would I recommend going second-hand?

In truth, it’s a lot of fun, and you will learn a lot – whether you want to or not.

If you have the means, I still recommend going to a professional dealer, but as long as you're aware of the potential pitfalls (which you should be now, having read my story!), buying second-hand will get you a system beyond what you might have dreamed.

MORE:

Practicality vs perfection: why comfort must sometimes trump pixels for serious home cinema

Here are the best projectors you can buy right now

One manufacturer, two active speaker systems, both with a five-star rating. But which is the best? Well, the first thing you should be aware of is that, despite them both being made by KEF, the Coda W and LSX II LT are very different propositions.

So, to help you find out which is best suited to your hi-fi needs, we’ve taken a deep dive into everything you need to know and directly compared the two against each other. Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

KEF Coda W vs LSX II LT: price

• The Coda W are the cheaper option in the UK and Australia, with both sets costing the same in the US
• The older LSX II LT are more likely to have discounts around

While there isn’t a huge difference in price between these two speaker systems, the Coda W takes the victory in this round. They cost £799 / $1000 / AU$1450, so they’re cheaper in the UK and Australia than the LSX II LT, which is priced at £899 / $1000 / AU$1695. US customers pay the same whichever KEF system you opt for.

As the older speaker system (they launched in January 2024), we have seen the LSX II LT drop as low as £699 in the UK during sales periods. The Coda W are a newer set, so we wouldn’t expect to see any discounts just yet.

**Winner: KEF Coda W**

KEF Coda W vs LSX II LT: build & design

• The Coda W are larger in size, while the LSX II LT are suited to smaller spaces
• The Coda W feature larger drive units and 12th-generation Uni-Q
• Both have 100W of amplification per channel

The first thing you’ll notice about these two active speaker sets is their size difference. The Coda W are the larger set, measuring 28.5 x 16.8 x 26.8cm (hwd). They are substantially taller, wider and deeper than the LSX II LT by 4.5cm, 1.3cm and 8.8cm respectively. The Coda W are 4.5kg heavier too, weighing 11.3kg in total.

Due to their bigger size, we find the Coda W are most at home on a pair of speaker stands, and we imagine they are a little too large to fit onto desks – although that’s not to say you couldn’t.

The more compact LSX II LTs, on the other hand, are ideal for smaller spaces, and work well placed on desks and on either side of your laptop. They’re more than happy sitting on a set of speaker stands too, though.

Both speakers use KEF’s Uni-Q driver array technology. Uni-Q is where the tweeter sits in the throat of the mid/bass unit. The main advantage of this arrangement is that sound is dispersed more evenly throughout a room than a conventional driver positioning would allow, so you can be less fussy about where you sit. This rings true in use.

The Coda W have been fitted with a larger and newer version of KEF’s Uni-Q driver array. Its 12th generation Uni-Q array consists of a 13cm mid/bass driver made from a magnesium/aluminium alloy and a titanium dome tweeter measuring 25mm. The tweeter and mid/bass unit are smaller in the LSX II LT at 19mm and 11.5cm, respectively. Significantly, the more compact speakers also use the previous generation of Uni-Q technology.

Both, however, are configured in the same way: one speaker is connected directly to the mains and provides power and signal to its partner via a 3m USB-C cable, which KEF supplies in the box.

Both speaker systems are fully active and have identical amplification ratings: 200 watts of Class D power available in total, or 100 watts per channel. Breaking this down even further, each enclosure has two amplifier modules, one providing 30W to the tweeter and another giving the remaining 70W to the mid/bass driver.

In terms of looks, the Coda W’s squared-off edges are sure to tickle the fancy of those who prefer a more traditional speaker aesthetic. But that’s not to say these speakers look dated. Quite the opposite, in fact, owing to their clean lines and minimalist design.

The LSX II LT have a more obviously contemporary look and are designed to be more lifestyle-friendly with their curved edges. Another point of difference is that the Coda W have a panel of touch-capacitative buttons on top of the main speaker, providing access to input switching, playback and volume controls. The LSX II LT have no on-unit controls.

The choice of finish always boils down to personal preference, of course, but you do get five options to select from with the Coda W (midnight blue, vintage burgundy, moss green, dark titanium or nickel grey), compared to three different hues on the LSX II LT (graphite grey, stone white or sage green), so there’s plenty of chance to find a finish that you like.

Whichever look you prefer, we found the respective review samples of each speaker system had been finished with care, with each feeling sturdy and excellently made for the price.

Essentially, what you have here is two equally well-made active speaker systems, one larger than the other, and with different finish options. So, there’s no clear winner in this category – it all boils down to your preferences.

**Winner: Draw**

KEF Coda W vs LSX II LT: features & connectivity

• The LSX II LT have built-in wi-fi streaming capabilities, while the Coda W are Bluetooth only
• Coda W have a built-in moving-magnet (MM) phono stage, the LSX II LT does not
• Both can be controlled via the KEF Connect app, but there are more settings on the LSX II LT

One of the key differences between these KEF speaker systems is network connectivity. The LSX II LT has built-in network streaming capabilities, so they can stream audio directly over wi-fi or Ethernet from a host of streaming services, including Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Qobuz. Streaming using Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast and via UPnP-compatible NAS devices is possible, too. The music services are all conveniently available at your fingertips via the KEF Connect app, too.

The Coda W, by contrast, doesn’t have any network streaming features, but it has Bluetooth 5.4 on board for wireless streaming from a mobile device. Support is provided for the aptX HD and aptX Lossless codecs.

The LSX II LT also features Bluetooth, but it’s the older 5.0 version. We can’t imagine many using the LSX’s built-in Bluetooth, though, due to their more flexible wi-fi streaming capabilities. But it is handy to have as a back up.

Unlike the LSX II LT, however, the Coda W feature a built-in moving magnet phono stage, meaning you can directly connect a turntable to the speakers for a simple and neat vinyl system.

Both of these speaker systems have a decent selection of inputs and outputs, but the Coda W is the only one to feature a line-level RCA input. There is some commonality elsewhere, such as a single USB-C and optical input, so you can hook up a laptop or CD player to each of them. Both feature an HDMI ARC input as well, so either can be used to enhance your TV’s audio and work as a soundbar alternative.

When it comes to operating the two speaker sets, both can be controlled with a supplied remote and via the KEF Connect app. Using the remote or app is pretty straightforward, and you can select input and adjust the volume via both methods. The Coda W can also be easily operated via the aforementioned buttons atop the main speaker, too.

For those who like to fine tune their EQ settings, you’ll be pleased to hear the LSX II LT has a pretty extensive selection. This includes things like distance from the wall, whether they’re placed on stands or a desk, room size and frequency filters, so you can really optimise the sound to the room and position that they will be placed in.

EQ settings for the Coda W, however, don’t extend much further than four presets: bass cut, bass boost, treble cut and treble boost. These all make a noticeable but subtle difference to audio playback.

In terms of audio resolution, streaming via the LSX II LT supports hi-res audio up to 24bit/384kHz PCM. It, like the Coda W, is compatible with 24-bit/192kHz files through the USB-C input.

The headline difference between these speaker systems is the LSX II LT has built-in network streaming capabilities, while the Coda W doesn’t. The Coda W also has a MM phono stage, so it appeals to vinyl fans. The use cases vary and your choice will be guided by which playback priorities are more important to you, but for the wider streaming abilities, the LSX II LT take this round.

**Winner: KEF LSX II LT**

KEF Coda W vs LSX II LT: sound

• Both speakers have a similar sonic character with a relatively neutral tonal balance
• The Coda W sound bigger and have greater authority and dynamic handling
• Coda W’s phono input is decent-sounding but not as good as its other inputs

The good news is neither of these speaker systems skimp on sound quality, so rest assured that your music libraries are in good hands whichever you opt for.

Beginning with the bigger Coda W, their ability to handle large-scale dynamics is excellent. During testing, we played Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 In A Major – 2nd Movement – Allegretto, and found the louder moments “really wallop you, whilst the delicate ones are delivered with incredible subtlety”. This classical piece also showcases their ability to deliver a spacious soundstage.

But that’s far from all the Coda W can do: they’re richly detailed and when we played Pearl Jam’s Even Flow, their fantastic sense of rhythm and drive propelled us through the song like a hurricane.

The built-in phono stage is one of the key reasons why you might choose them over the LSX II LT, and we’re happy to report that it’s a clear and enjoyable listen, albeit lacking in terms of dynamics and clarity compared to the Coda W’s other inputs. It’s good enough for casual listening, but if playing records is your priority, we would recommend using an outboard phono stage that is at least as good as the Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2, instead of using the speakers’ built-in one.

The KEF LSX II LT are also capable, no matter what input you decide to make use of. When we reviewed the LSX II LT in January 2024, we played Muse’s Madness and discovered a “solidity, crispness and breadth of bass that all belie a streaming system of this size”. We reported that they also offered “punch, focus and a snappy sense of propulsion without a hint of fuss or strain”.

We noticed much more than just bass and punch, however. They provide nuanced instrumental textures with plenty of detail. When playing Hans Zimmer’s Discombobulate, for instance, we said they “bend and flex to reflect the full range of strange, quirky timbres on display, be they the mischievous twangs of a cimbalom or the hurried, chaotic scratches of bows passing across the strings of a Victorian-style violin”.

As you may have gathered by now, both these speaker systems sound excellent for the money. Their sonic characteristics are also remarkably similar, with a relatively neutral tonal balance offering a balanced presentation across the frequencies.

The LSX II LT are smaller, and so naturally can’t match the bigger Coda W when it comes to bass depth and scale. We played Althea & Donna’s Uptown Top Ranking through both speaker systems and the bass on this reggae classic had more weight and solidity to it when played through the Coda W. The soundstage with Pearl Jam’s Even Flow felt more open through the larger speaker set, too. Finally, we compared their dynamic handling and clarity by listening to Bach’s The Art Of Fugue – Contrapuncus and the Coda W came out on top again.

The LSX II LT are still highly entertaining if your listening space requires smaller cabinets, but the Coda W have the edge in terms of clarity, bass and dynamics, thanks to their bigger drivers and cabinets, so they take the win here.

**Winner: KEF Coda W**

KEF Coda W vs LSX II LT: verdict

• The Coda W are larger and have a better sound overall
• But the more compact LSX II LT has a similar tonal balance
• LSX II LT has full wi-fi streaming abilities

You’ve got to hand it to KEF, the Coda W and LSX II LT are two excellent speaker systems, with the former boasting a great sonic performance and ample connectivity.

If built-in network streaming smarts are an absolute must-have, the LSX II LT are the best option for you. The same is true if you’re strapped for space, thanks to their more compact size.

But if space isn’t an issue and you’re happy just using Bluetooth to play music wirelessly, the Coda W are the better-sounding – and cheaper – speaker system. The built-in phono stage, whilst not on par with the Coda W’s other inputs, also means they’re the obvious choice if you have a turntable in your system. Either way, you’ll be in good hands with whichever KEF speaker system you opt for.

**Overall winner: KEF Coda W**

MORE:

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KEF wireless speaker systems compared, from LSX II to LS60 – which one should you buy?

It's a battle of the British hi-fi Titans today; and this time it's being fought on the home cinema battleground.

We are pitting two five-star 5.1 surround sound speaker packages against one another. Each is a fierce competitor – and a What Hi-Fi? Award-winners at that – but which one is worth your hard-earned cash?

In the KEF corner, we have the Q Concerto Meta 5.1 Speaker System, which combines the talents of the Q Concerto Meta standmount speakers, Q1 Meta bookshelf speakers, Q6 Meta centre channel, and Kube 12 MIE powered subwoofer.

And in the Bowers & Wilkins corner, it's the three-time Product of the Year winning 606 and 607 S3 Speaker Package. This includes the 606 S3 standmount speakers, 607 S3 standmount speakers, HTM6 S3 centre channel, and ASW610 subwoofer.

Both sound great, and they look good too, but which should take pride of place in your home cinema setup?

KEF vs Bowers & Wilkins: price

These two launched with a pretty significant price disparity, but the current-day story brings something of a plot twist.

When we reviewed each of these speaker packages, we found that neither was available to purchase at an all-in-one bundle price. This meant that we tested the KEF package at £3146 / $4050 / AU$5650, and the Bowers & Wilkins package at £2496 / $3799 / AU$3947 – those prices established by adding the cost of each component separately.

However, since we bestowed these systems with five-star reviews and various Awards, retailers have begun selling the packages as convenient bundles, with all components supplied together.

The Bowers & Wilkins system can now be found at a heavily discounted price of £1999 (at Sevenoaks Sound & Vision), whereas the KEF package is down to an all-in-one price of £2549.

It's worth noting that these systems don't seem to be sold in bundles outside the UK.

That still gives the Bowers & Wilkins system an edge in the pricing department; however, the KEF can be found at a much more comparable price than initially seemed likely.

**Winner: Bowers & Wilkins**

KEF vs Bowers & Wilkins: design

We won't beat around the bush here; there's one speaker package that we have been swooning over ever since it strutted into our home cinema testing room late last year.

The KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 package is a rather handsome set of speakers, especially in the all-black finish that adorns our review sample. The finish is good too; the whole system is furnished in solid-feeling wood cabinets and wrapped in quality vinyl.

This is the more expensive package of the two, but its more premium feel goes some way to justifying the extra outlay.

The Bowers & Wilkins package, on the other hand, still looks and feels rather nice and is plenty premium enough for the asking price. It looks suitably suave in all three of its available finishes; but the little touches make the KEF system the better-looking of the duo.

The top-mounted KEF tab on the front and surround speakers, paired with the fossil-like waveguide, Uni-Q driver array (more on that in a moment), and sharp lines, really seal the deal.

We should note that you will need to invest in appropriate speaker stands to accommodate either of these systems – unless you want to set them up at shin-height, which we wouldn't recommend.

**Winner: KEF**

KEF vs Bowers & Wilkins: features

Each brand features its own proprietary driver technology throughout their respective speaker packages.

KEF employs its Uni-Q driver array, which places the tweeter in the centre of the mid-range driver, and accompanies the company's “tangerine waveguide”, which supposedly removes the traditional “sweet-spot” position that is a common factor with other speakers, producing an overall wider dispersion of sound throughout your listening space.

This is backed up by the company's Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT), which is claimed to “absorb 99 per cent of the unwanted noise from the rear of the driver for pure and natural sound”, according to KEF.

Taking a closer look at each component, the Q Concerto Meta speakers feature a 10cm aluminium midrange driver combined with a 19mm vented aluminium dome tweeter in the Uni-Q array configuration, alongside a 16.5cm hybrid-cone bass driver with a rear-firing port that's used to tune the lower frequencies.

The Q6 Meta centre channel sports an almost identical driver setup, but it sports an additional bass driver.

The Q1 Metas have a slightly larger Uni-Q array, comprising a 25mm vented aluminium dome tweeter with MAT, and a 130mm aluminium cone for mid/bass purposes.

As we reference in our review, “while that driver is a few millimetres bigger, it’s also expected to do a lot more due to the lack of a dedicated bass driver.”

Finally, the Kube 12 MIE features a 12-inch woofer, powered by 300W of Class D amplification.

Jumping over to the Bowers & Wilkins package, the 606 S3, 607 S3, and HTM6 S3 speakers all feature the company's titanium-dome tweeter, accompanied by midrange and bass drivers made of B&W’s Continuum cone material.

The 606 S3 sports a 25mm-dome tweeter and a 16.5cm-cone driver, whereas the 607 S3 surround speakers feature the same dome tweeter and a slightly smaller 13cm-cone driver. The HTM6 is most akin to the surround speakers, with the same 25mm tweeter and two 13cm mid/bass drivers.

Rounding things out, the B&W ASW610 subwoofer features a 25cm paper and aramid fibre cone long-throw driver and 200W of Class D amplification.

Taking stock, we find that the KEF package is the more fully featured of the two. It sports larger drivers for the front speakers, with KEF's Award-winning MAT technology, alongside a more powerful subwoofer and the Uni-Q driver array that features in many other What Hi-Fi? Award-winning speakers.

**Winner: KEF**

KEF vs Bowers & Wilkins: sound

This is the all-important category in this head-to-head speaker package comparison. So which surround sound system comes out on top?

Well, the good (and diplomatic) answer is that both of these surround sound packages sound fantastic, hence why they proudly sit shoulder to shoulder on our current Awards list. We'll start with the B&W package as it is defending its place as our Award-winner for three consecutive years.

We pretty much had only good things to say about the 606 & 607 S3 package's sound performance in our review, citing its warm, rich and detailed sonic signature as being a key component as to why we score it so highly. It blends insight and agility, without sounding too lean or skipping important details; it truly ticks all of the boxes.

We find it to be dynamically impressive at each end of the scale, too. The delicate handling of low-level dynamics captures the subtle inflexions of emotion in dialogue, whereas the system's extraordinary subwoofer delivers punchy, controlled and tonally varied bursts of bass when required.

This is all packaged in a system that works harmoniously, with no obvious sonic mismatches or conflicts, and the dispersion of sound means that no obvious gaps are left between the channels.

If there is one small drawback to this system, it would be the scale of the sound. It's by no means a deficiency of the system as a whole, but compared with other speaker systems we have tested, we find that the B&W package isn't as spacious or large-scale as others on the market.

This is where the KEF system steps in. It delivers all of the above, and more.

We rave, in our review, about its rich, powerful sound that ticks all of the boxes. Detail, agility, dynamics, timing; it's all here, and it handles all of this with an added sense of scale that helps tip the scales into KEF's favour.

All of this comes at the minor expense of a slightly less tuneful subwoofer, but its controlled and precise bass presentation ensures it remains a very worthy component of this Award-winning system.

What really seals the deal is the KEF's seriously impressive centre channel. It delivers crisp and deeply detailed dialogue to an extent that it almost feels as if the characters are in the room with you. This natural, balanced and rich sound is supported by the talented Q Concerto Meta front speakers, which capture fine details with ease, and the Q1 Meta speakers are the icing on the cake, delivering a tonally matched surround sound experience.

**Winner: KEF**

KEF vs Bowers & Wilkins: verdict

The truth is that you would find little to complain about if you pick either of these systems, as they both deliver high-quality cinematic sound. That being said, the KEF system puts the extra outlay to good use, as it comes wrapped in a more stylish design, and puts an emphasis on upping the ante when it comes to scale and subtlety.

Bowers & Wilkins has delivered an impressive speaker system in its own right, so if you're looking for something slightly more compact and a touch cheaper, you definitely won't be disappointed if you opt for the B&W package.

**Overall winner: KEF**

MORE:

Check out our full list of the best surround sound speaker systems

As well as the best AV receivers

And read our full Fyne Audio F500E AV Pack 2 review

The January sales might be done and dusted, but that doesn't mean there aren't some decent deals still hanging around.

And if you've had your eye on some of the best bookshelf speakers, the KEF LS50 Meta have just crashed back down to their lowest-ever price.

For just £899 at Peter Tyson, these Award-winning speakers can be yours for a whopping £400 saving. A small catch – the deal is only on the Royal Blue and Titanium Grey. If you're after one of the other finishes, you'll have to pay the original £1299 launch price.

The KEF LS50 Meta may have been around since 2020, but they remain excellent performers and work with a wide range of partnering kit.

Compared with the original LS50 bookshelf speakers, the Meta provide a greater level of clarity and finesse, with cleaner sound and more subtle and precise presentation.

KEF took the LS50 and improved its Uni-Q driver array, where the tweeter sits in the throat of the mid/bass unit. This has been thoroughly reworked from what KEF has developed over the years, and it has also added something new in the form of the Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT).

MAT is KEF's way of coping with the sound that comes off the back of the 25mm aluminium tweeter dome. While it would usually fire into a chamber behind the dome where it is mostly absorbed by damping material, here the rearward sound feeds into a plastic disc about the size of a hockey puck. This has shaped (bendy) tubes inside of various lengths that absorb different frequencies. The result should be cleaner, less distorted highs.

And in our review, our expert testers said: “Listening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, we’re soon marvelling at the LS50 Meta’s delicacy and precision. They sound so much more transparent than before and manage to render low-level details, such as instrumental textures, much more convincingly.”

We add: “Large-scale dynamics are handled well and there’s a good amount of muscle for a speaker of this size. These are refined and composed performers that rarely sound stressed unless volume levels are high.”

We have always been big fans of KEF's iconic LS50, and the Meta model takes their performance to a notably higher level. The price may have risen since we reviewed them – generally it's up to £1299 – but right now you can grab them for just £899 at Peter Tyson. That's an excellent £400 saving!

MORE:

Read our full KEF LS50 Meta review

Check out the best bookshelf speakers: top standmounts for every budget tested

And the best hi-fi speakers: budget to premium models tested by our expert reviewers

If you want to save space in your listening room, chances are you’ve looked at active speaker systems. Typically, audio sources and amplification are packed in with the speakers, so they're as neat and tidy as hi-fi gets. Plus, a host of inputs makes it easy to hook up alternative music sources and start listening. The great news is that, nowadays, such convenience doesn’t have to come at the expense of sonic performance either.

KEF is one audio manufacturer that is a great testament to this category. The brand’s wireless active speaker systems have been five-star successes, with multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards to their name, including the current LSX II LT (£899 / $1000/ AU$1695) and LS50 Wireless II (£2199 / $3000 / AU$4000).

KEF’s latest proposition, the Coda W active speakers, clearly have a lot to live up to, although they have some key differences from their Award-winning cousins.

The headline news is that the built-in streaming capability has been replaced by Bluetooth, and we now get a moving magnet (MM) phono stage, as KEF looks to tap into vinyl’s ongoing resurgence.

So, does this deviation from the winning formula still work? Let’s take a look and find out.

Build & design

We fetch our LSX II LT sample out of our storeroom to compare them to the new Coda W, and physically, what’s noticeable straight away is how much more substantial the new speakers are.

Unlike the LSX II LT, they look a bit too big to sit on a desk. This isn’t surprising considering they measure 28.5 x 16.8 x 26.8cm (hwd). At 11.3kg, they’re 4.5kg heavier than their compact cousins too.

The Coda W definitely seem most at home on a pair of speaker stands, which is where we have them for the majority of our testing. We settle with the stands about 30cm away from our listening room wall, which ensures plenty of low end but not so much that it begins veering into the mud, so to speak.

When looking at the Coda W and LSX II LT side by side, the new models definitely have more of a classic speaker aesthetic, owing to their squared-off, rather than curved, edges. Nothing about them feels remotely dated, however. The Coda W are slick and streamlined, while their clean lines give them a minimalist look that exudes a quiet elegance.

The choice of finish options is more understated than loud, but with five to choose from (vintage burgundy, nickel grey, moss green, midnight blue and dark titanium), there should be something to suit everyone’s tastes.

Our review sample is in the midnight blue colour, which looks to have been applied with care as the cabinets are neatly finished. When picking up the Coda W, they also feel nice and sturdy, while the overall build quality is excellent.

Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, but it does mean KEF can fit a larger version of its Uni-Q driver array into the Coda W. Uni-Q is KEF’s proprietary driver technology where the tweeter sits in the throat of the mid/bass unit, with one of its claimed advantages being that sound is dispersed more evenly, meaning you can be less fussy about your listening position. We’ve had lots of experience with KEF’s Uni-Q driver array over the years and its claims in this regard ring true.

The 12th-generation Uni-Q fitted to the Coda W has a larger 13cm mid/bass compared with the 11.5cm last-gen unit used in the smaller LSX II LT, which promises improvements to scale, dynamics and bass reach. Look behind the distinctively shaped waveguide in the centre of the Coda W’s unit and you will find a larger 25mm aluminium dome tweeter, too.

Inside, each channel has two Class D amplifier modules, delivering 70 watts to the mid/bass unit and 30 watts to the speaker, respectively. That’s a total of 200W combined from the speakers.

Another similarity is that the Coda W has all the connections packed into one of the speakers that you connect to the mains power. This speaker then feeds power and signal to its pair via a supplied 3m USB-C cable. If you want a wider berth between the two, KEF also offers an 8m lead that you can buy separately.

Features & connectivity

If you’re buying an all-in-one speaker system, you definitely want a good selection of digital and analogue inputs, and the Coda W have enough to satisfy most listening requirements.

The lack of any built-in streaming (there’s no wi-fi, no Spotify Connect, no internet radio) here might be disappointing to some. KEF’s engineers say this is to appeal to customers who want minimal fuss with connectivity, and to keep costs down. To stream tunes wirelessly from your phone or tablet to the Coda W, you can do so via Bluetooth, with support for the aptX Adaptive and Lossless codecs available.

Looking at the back of the mains-powered speaker, you’ll find the aforementioned MM phono input for a turntable, and an RCA line-level for hooking up a CD player or music streamer. An HDMI ARC port means you can use the speakers to enhance your TV’s sound, while an optical input supports high-resolution audio up to 24bit/96kHz.

There is also a USB-C input that supports hi-res audio up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM, ideal for plugging in your laptop or smartphone. Another USB-C port can charge your mobile devices, too.

While we think the Coda W should have enough oomph in the low end to satisfy most listeners, bass junkies will be pleased to hear these KEFs also feature an RCA output for hooking up an external subwoofer.

There are several ways to control the Coda W: the KEF Connect app, the supplied remote control and the touch-capacitive buttons on top of the main speaker. Switching between sources and pairing with Bluetooth is painless, and overall, the speakers are easy to use.

Selecting your source on the speakers is done through a single button that cycles through the inputs in one direction, so an additional one that scrolls the other way would have been handy. With that said, the remote lets you scroll both ways and the app gives direct access to all sources.

Some members of the review team find the noise the speaker emits to indicate a change of source a little annoying, although this can be switched off via the app.

You can change the volume on the unit, but you won’t find any indication of volume level on the speakers, which could lead to an unpleasant surprise if the previous night’s listening session involved a lot of loud Motörhead.

You’ll find the volume level in the app, however, along with several EQ presets: bass boost, bass cut, treble boost and treble cut. We’re pleased to say these make a subtle but noticeable difference to the Coda W during playback, but the ability to do more in-depth tweaking to suit the speakers’ sound to your room, in the way you can with the LSX II LT, would have been nice. Those speakers’ settings include wall distance, room size, and high/low frequency filters, amongst others.

Sound

So, how do the KEF Coda W perform? Well, we’re happy to report that they sound very good indeed.

We use Tidal on our iPhone to stream Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting over Bluetooth, and her vocal sounds incredibly natural, without the tiniest hint of strain – it simply flows from the speakers to your eardrums with complete ease. There is so much texture to her voice, too, that closing your eyes leaves you feeling almost as if she’s holding those beautiful notes right in front of you. She isn’t, of course, but it’s an enjoyable illusion all the same.

The Coda W’s ability to handle the large-scale dynamics found in Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 In A Major - 2nd Movement - Allegretto is also hugely impressive: the song’s louder moments really wallop you, whilst the delicate ones are delivered with incredible subtlety. Their adeptness at presenting a spacious soundstage is also on full display, with ample opportunity to pick out the individual elements making up this beautiful Beethoven piece.

But it doesn’t stop there. We play the hard-hitting Even Flow from Pearl Jam and the Coda W’s excellent sense of rhythm and drive propel us through the song like a hurricane. We’re also left surprised because the speakers’ exceptional clarity allows us to appreciate the individual elements in such a way as to appear highly sophisticated, yet that doesn’t come at the expense of the track's rawness and grit whatsoever.

If you want to play music at a volume that definitely will disturb the neighbours, these speakers will retain their sonic character exceptionally well and remain remarkably muddle-free as you go through the gears.

The story changes slightly at very low levels, however, where there is a noticeable drop off in resolution and clarity.

To test the Coda W’s analogue line-level and digital inputs, we connect to our Cyrus CDi CD player and begin playing A Dark Knight from The Dark Knight OST. Through the analogue input, the CDi’s more capable digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) comes into play, providing better dynamic handling and more clarity than the Coda W’s digital module.

That said, the Coda W’s internal DAC remains an enjoyable listen in its own right, delivering enough in the way of tonal balance, detail and clarity regardless of whether we use the USB-C or optical connections.

We also make use of the moving magnet phono stage by hooking up the Rega Planar 3 RS Edition turntable (£999 / $1795 / AU$2199) to play Lukas Graham’s Happy Home and Did Trouble Me by Tom Jones. Both tracks showcase the phono stage for what it is: a clear and enjoyable listen, albeit lacking in terms of dynamics and clarity compared with the KEFs’ other inputs. If playing records is a priority, an outboard unit that is at least the standard of Rega’s Fono Mini A2D Mk2 (£115 / $215 / AU$259) will help you make the most of them.

Put the Coda W speakers up against the LSX II LT rivals, and you instantly notice their similar sonic character, despite the size disparity. Both have a relatively neutral tonal balance, so the presentation is nicely balanced. You needn’t worry about a hi-hat sounding too prominent, for example, that it diverts your attention away from the rest of the song.

In terms of bass, however, the bigger Coda W speakers go deeper, while providing greater scale and authority. Their dynamic range and clarity are also superior. Mind you, the LSX II LT still sound good, just more as you'd expect from their more compact size compared to KEF’s latest beast.

Verdict

KEF has taken a slightly different approach with the Coda W active speakers, but has successfully maintained its recent high standards when it comes to sound quality. While the phono stage could be better, listening via the other inputs is a joy. The sonic performance is a step above its smaller, Award-winning cousins, and costs you less money to enjoy, too.

If you’re happy to live without the wi-fi streaming features and are looking for a neat speaker system that doesn’t cost thousands, this should definitely be on your radar.

Review published: 5th February 2026

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Features 4
• Build 5

MORE:

Read our review of the KEF LSX II LT

Also consider the Triangle AIO Twin

KEF Coda W vs LSX II LT: which speaker system is the best option for you?

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

Active vs passive speakers: what's the difference? Which is better?

We're coming to the final week of the January sales, but we're still seeing some stellar deals slip through. This includes some record-low prices, savings on Award winners, and discounts on recent releases we only tested recently.

Highlights include a discount on Apple's latest earbuds, which we just awarded five stars to in our Apple AirPods Pro 3 review, as well as the lowest-ever price on the Award-winning and highly popular LG C5 OLED TV.

The KEF LSX II is also at a historic low, and is interestingly now the same price as the slimmed-down affordable alternative, the KEF LSX II LT.

As always, we've reviewed and price checked every product, so you can shop with peace of mind knowing these are genuine deals and tried-and-tested recommendations.

We've mixed things up a bit this week with a more visual article format, so you can see the products quicker and in all their glory. Take a look below:

It’s strange to think that Nothing has only been around for about five years. In that short time, the company has carved out a modest but undeniably productive niche, courtesy of its aggressively priced smartphones and audio products, many of which employ distinctive designs and quirky marketing campaigns (look, tentacles on a smartphone!) to grab a slice of our attention.

Nothing has focused mainly on wireless earbuds on the audio side, producing a large roster of futuristic-looking buds which often promise extensive feature sets at lowball prices. The sonic results haven’t necessarily bowled us over, but it’s been refreshing to see a company trying to bring something different to the table.

These new over-ear headphones, though, are a whole different ball game. In putting out a pair of over-ears that straddle the line between mid-range and premium, Nothing is inviting competition from some of the biggest players in the wireless game, including the likes of Sony, Bose and Sennheiser.

Nothing is clearly attempting to disrupt the established order, but has it bitten off more than it can chew with the Headphone (1)?

Price

Whereas the majority of the big over-ear players in the ‘premium’ tranche tend to hover around the £300-400 mark, the Headphone (1) undercut the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM6 (£399 / $450 / AU$699) and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 (£399 / $449 / AU$699) with their more aggressive £299 / $299 / AU$549 price tag.

In the UK, we’ve seen Nothing’s debut over-ears fall to £249 in recent months and roughly $279 at some US retailers, making that aggressive price tag even more attractive.

This doesn’t give them a free ride, however. Competition still abounds at this price thanks to older, more established cans, including the still-outstanding Sony WH-1000XM5 (£279 / $329 / AU$399) and the five-star Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (£199 / $300 / AU$579).

If you’re after something even cheaper, the Award-winning Sony WH-CH720N, which we originally tested at £99 / $129, can usually be picked up for around £70 in the UK and $179 in the US.

Build & comfort

We predict that, from a stylistic perspective, the Headphone (1) will be nothing if not divisive. Nothing likes to go its own way on the aesthetics front, and now that there's a new product territory to be explored, there was little chance of the young brand playing things by the book.

Instead, the Headphone (1) look like little else occupying the current wireless headphone roster. It’s likely that your eye will be drawn first to the cassette tape-like design of the earcups, which combine a rectangular body with rounded outer cups. Nothing once again employs its signature transparent design whereby some of the cans’ internal workings are showing, like a thin-skinned cadaver hinting at the skeleton beneath.

Earcups aside, the over-ears are equipped with an adjustable headband which slides smoothly and easily in our hands, while those earcups themselves will rotate from side to side but sadly won’t fold away fully in the manner of the collapsible Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) or Sony WH-1000XM6, making them less suitable for portability and travel.

While the headphones exhibit high perceived value, in terms of actual comfort and wearability, it’s a mixed experience. For us, the clamping force of the Headphone (1) is okay, but the weight distribution of the overall design feels a bit off.

The combination of a bottom-heavy design and the earcups’ slightly soft material means that walking around can often lead to the headphones feeling as though they’re coming loose and trying to escape from embracing our ears with sufficient tightness. Note, also, that some members of our team also experienced on-ear over-heating during reasonably short periods of wear.

What about general usability? Nothing has made a big deal of its touch control integration, opting for a combination of three main control types – a roller, a paddle and a customisable button – for what it claims makes for a more intuitive user experience. It’s certainly different, but we predict that, as we found, it will take a bit of time to get used to the layout.

That said, the toggles themselves aren’t without their charms. The volume roller offers a pleasingly tactile way of getting your music as loud as you like it, while that vertical ‘paddle’ for switching songs by moving back and forth has enough resistance to feel satisfying each time.

Features

Put it in an ornate frame and hang it in the Louvre, because this is a battery life worth showing off. The Headphone (1) will give you a whopping 80 hours of playtime with ANC switched off and around 35 hours with noise cancelling turned on.

Additionally, as our tests demonstrate, a quick five-minute charge will grant around five hours of non-ANC playtime if you're in a hurry.

Those are excellent figures. For comparison, the Sony WH-1000XM6, B&W Px7 S3 and Bose QC Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) all eke out around 30 hours when ANC is on. Conversely, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless lead the field here, with a claimed 60 hours with ANC switched on.

There are plenty of ways to listen, too. The Headphones (1) feature the hi-res LDAC Bluetooth codec, while you can enjoy hi-res audio up to 24-bit/96kHz when using the wired USB-C connection. If you fancy something more traditional, a 3.5mm connection is also provided, but bear in mind that the headphones will still need to be switched on for wired listening.

Spatial audio with head-tracking is also on board, designed to transform stereo audio into a more immersive experience by expanding the overall soundstage. While this isn’t the finest rendition of spatial audio we’ve heard, we can hear what our test pair are attempting to do, as switching on spatial mode does pull instruments further apart from one another while lifting the overall soundscape a little further away from our head.

When put up against Nothing’s effort, though, we feel that Bose’s own ‘Immersive Audio’ spatial mode is something of a step up.

ANC & call quality

Nothing’s debut over-ears offer a standard ANC option alongside a pass-through transparency mode, with the former managing to soften unwanted sonic intrusions as opposed to fully blocking them out.

Be it the swoosh of cars, the chatter of office conversation or the clacking of computer keyboards, we find that the Headphone (1)’s noise cancelling offers a reasonable reduction of unwanted sounds as opposed to a full-fat elimination.

As you might expect, Bose and Sony’s efforts with the more premium QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) and WH-1000XM6 respectively offer more complete experiences by cancelling out more noise across the frequencies, be they deep rumbles of traffic or the whirring of an office fan.

How about phone calls? The Headphone (1) make use of Nothing’s 'Clear Voice Technology', though what we generally perceive during our tests is a slightly muffled, robotic handling of human speech.

That said, background noises are well suppressed during calls, so you’ll still be able to conduct a reasonably coherent conversation if you’re standing next to, say, a moderately busy roadside or sitting in a busy office.

Sound

Have a closer look at the Headphone (1) and you’ll notice the words “Sound by KEF” emblazoned on the left earcup. Nothing’s first-ever over-ears boast a custom 40mm dynamic driver tuned in partnership with audio brand KEF, with the headphones’ drivers, chambers and software all audited in KEF’s labs in pursuit of “immersive audio that feels natural, detailed and true to life”.

We kick off with Ludwig Goransson’s ever-building epic Posterity from the soundtrack of the brain-melting movie Tenet, with the headphones capably organising the track’s complex assemblage of layers and textures as an ever-growing army of instruments builds and blossoms.

We are rewarded with ample detail, so that intermittent piano passages and those strange synth sounds are communicated in a way that feels rich and weighty. The Nothings paint across a satisfyingly clear canvas, giving Posterity a reasonably cinematic feel which manages to avoid the trap of sounding cluttered or ill-defined.

These are positive foundations on which to build any sonic church, but what we find frustrating about the Headphone (1) is that they rarely seem to be capable of thrilling us. Yes, we discern those key elements of instrumental detail, cohesion and clarity, yet the over-ears fail to convey the ever-building drama of Goransson’s composition.

These are headphones which seem sonically limited, and we’re desperate for them to exhibit a wider spectrum of talents. Sadly, the Headphone (1)’s lack of drama comes partly from their restrained dynamic profile combined with their lack of any real rhythmic flair.

Björk’s fulsome Army Of Me should be bursting at the seams with forceful intent, yet the track’s aggressive propulsiveness is all but lost by the cans’ hesitant, almost sluggish approach. Even at their significantly lower price tag, the much cheaper Sony WH-CH720N seem to latch onto the track’s core feeling with more insight than the Headphone (1), and though they’re less detailed and not as crisp sounding as the Nothings, the Sony’s greater sense of musical understanding makes for a more entertaining listen.

While they might be rhythmically limited, the Headphone (1) can actually get ahead of themselves in other areas. We do occasionally hear a hint of peakiness and edge in the treble, something you’ll hear if you seek out Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees. We don’t hear it on all tracks or at all frequencies, but it’s enough to draw the ear on more than one occasion.

It’s not all bad news, though, and while Army Of Me might not propel itself forward with the vigour that we’d hope for, these are headphones which have the muscle and punch to make those huge industrial snare whacks land with a satisfying smack. That punchy feel is aided by a decent helping of hearty bass which, for the most part, rides a satisfying line between power and tautness.

Does all of this hold true when listening via USB-C? In general, yes, as the headphones retain their general character no matter whether you’re listening wirelessly using Tidal or Qobuz or with a wired connection. That said, plugging them in via USB-C will proffer greater levels of detail and clarity, plus a touch more control in the bass – so if you want to squeeze out a little extra performance, wired is the way to go.

Verdict

The Nothing Headphone (1) leave us feeling frustrated. We can sense that there are the makings of an interesting product in here, as shown by the headphones’ distinctive design, attractive price point and solid sonic foundation.

That sonic foundation, however, needs to be built upon with more adept dynamic handling and better rhythmic drive if the Headphone (1) are to be worthy of a hearty recommendation.

The essentials are there, but we want a pair of headphones that make us feel truly involved in the music we’re playing. Do that, and the established class leaders might have to sit up and take notice.

Review published: 23rd January 2026

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Build 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony WH-1000XM5

Also consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

Read our Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless

Best over-ear headphones: wired and wireless pairs tested by our in-house experts

Two-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winning speakers for a fraction of the price? The KEF LSX II fire out musical, detailed sound in a stylish, compact design, and right now they're sporting an incredible discount.

For just £899 at Peter Tyson, it's the lowest price we've ever seen them drop to (previously enjoyed on Cyber Monday) and the same price as the slimmed-down affordable alternative, the KEF LSX II LT.

A slight caveat, it's only on the Cobalt Blue model, but it's an attractive colour that, with a £300 saving, is an excellent deal.

For Black or the special Soundwave by Terence Conran models, you'll have to part ways with £1099, though that's still a £100 saving.

The KEF LSX II boast well-rounded sonic performance, excellent imaging and dynamics, HDMI and USB-C inputs, all wrapped up in a stunning, compact design.

When it comes to wireless speaker systems, KEF knows what its doing and the LSX II is a great addition to smaller rooms with the same design that KEF users have come to know and love.

Like the originals, the cabinets are rear-ported, although with added connectivity options. The first is HDMI ARC and the second is a USB-C connection for connecting to a TV and laptop respectively.

The speaker system uses KEF's W2 wireless streaming platform, the gateway to all the various connectivity options on offer, including wi-fi, Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast and Bluetooth.

Plus, you've got Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal streaming services to choose from, as well as the ability to stream any music stored on an external NAS drive.

But, what you're probably also wondering is, how do they sound? Well, during testing, our experts said: "KEF’s taken what was already a winning formula, introduced some key upgrades that improve functionality and usability, and without really altering the speaker hardware has produced a talented set-up that sings with any genre of music sent its way."

Adding: "Bass is tight and controlled, too, with a nice layer of texture on the surface of the notes. The LSX II also maintains a fine sense of rhythm, which is evident in the way we regularly find ourselves tapping a foot or finger along to whatever we play through them."

And while the KEF LSX II LT are considered to be the slimmed-down, affordable option if you can't quite stretch to the LSX II, we're happy to reveal that with this discount, they're the same price.

So, why not treat yourself to the premium Award-winning LSX II without the premium price tag? Secure it now for just £899 at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Read our full KEF LSX II review

KEF wireless speaker systems compared, from LSX II to LS60 – which one should you buy?

KEF LSX II vs KEF LSX II LT: which speaker system is best for you?

We're halfway through January now, but the New Year sales are still delivering the goods when it comes to discounts.

The bar has been set particularly high this week, with every product featured either a past or present Award winner.

This includes a Product of the Year winner in the Fyne Audio F501E, fantastic floorstanders which are seeing a ten per cent saving.

That is far from the only great deal available, though – see what else is on offer below:

MORE:

See all our 2025 What Hi-Fi? Award winners

KEF, Sony, Spotify and Harman all feature in our rundown of 2025’s hi-fi and home cinema highlights

9 affordable ways to upgrade your hi-fi system

When it comes to 5.1 surround sound systems, the Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3 speaker package is one we constantly recommend, even at full price.

The two-time Award winner offers detailed and insightful sound as well as excellent warmth and vocal richness.

If our glowing five-star review isn't enough to seal the deal, how about the fact that it's discounted down to £1999 at Peter Tyson. That's a near £500 saving and a return to their lowest ever price.

And, if you're looking for an equally impressive AVR to plug the speakers into, then grab the Marantz Cinema 30 that is currently discounted at Peter Tyson.

The fact that this speaker system is primarily composed of two Award-winning pairs of Bowers & Wilkins speakers – the 606 S3 and 607 S3 – should explain why this system is so impressive. Throw in the HTM6 S3 centre speaker and ASW610 subwoofer, and the 5.1 system is primed for home cinema sound duties.

We should remind you that the front and surround speakers are standmount units, so you should factor in the price of speaker stands if you're thinking of picking this system up.

The front, centre and surround channels all feature B&W's titanium-dome tweeter for crisp and stable high-frequency signals, which are backed up by Continuum cone material bass/mid drivers.

That tweeter design is crucial to the centre channel, which we found to deliver a “captivating vocal performance”, while the system as a whole offers up a rich, dynamic and engaging sound that ticks all of the cinematic boxes we look for.

B&W has been known to create some excellent subwoofers in the past, and the ASW610 is no exception. It’s small, to fit in with the fairly compact nature of this system as a whole, but it's also mighty when it comes to delivering weighty, controlled bass.

With a discount just shy of £500, this system is an easy recommendation for anyone looking to upgrade from a soundbar to a fully fledged 5.1 system. Don't miss this deal at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Read our full Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3 speaker package review

Check out the best surround sound systems

Need an AVR for this speaker package? Here's a five-star Marantz deal

Folks, we're battling through January.

But amongst the post-Christmas comedown and freezing temperatures, there is one shining light through the doom and gloom: the January sales.

The sales have been especially kind this year, with several Award-winners seeing prices slashed, half-price discounts on older products and even some recent favourites seeing impressive savings already.

On the home cinema side, highlights include a discount on the recently-reviewed Philips OLED910, a close competitor of the Sony Bravia 8 II despite costing hundreds less. There's also 46 per cent off a Samsung soundbar we reviewed only last month, and a sweet saving on our favourite budget TV.

The hi-fi side has spoilt us, however, with deals on headphones, streamers and speakers galore. This includes a Product of the Year in the superb Fyne Audio F501E floorstanders, as well as several other Award-winners such as the multi-talented Technics SA-C600 and great value Sony WF-C510.

Let's not hang around then – see the best deals from the January sales below.

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Are you craving smooth, rich, and powerful cinematic sound? Then you need one of the best AV receivers that money can buy. It's the Marantz Cinema 30, and right now it's discounted by £500 down to £3499 at Peter Tyson.

The Cinema 30 is for the person who desires a serious cinema setup and has the funds to indulge it. This is a feature-rich amplifier with a premium build quality, and it sounds absolutely fantastic! You really do get what you pay for here.

Premium price, elite performance: the Award-winning Marantz Cinema 30 is a feature-rich beast that dominates its class.

We deem the Cinema 30, in our review, to be an AVR of “rare ability”, due to its sensational cinematic sound. Rich, punchy, dynamic, detailed, this AVR has it all – and it's the perfect amplifier to take your home cinema to the next level if you've been thinking of upgrading.

With 11 channels of amplification and a claimed 140W of power when two channels are driven, the Cinema 30 can easily drive a 7.2.2 channel Dolby Atmos system. DTS:X and Auro-3D are also on board, and you can easily configure and calibrate your system with the included Audyssey microphone.

It's the perfect hub for all of your connected devices, thanks to its seven HDMI 2.1 inputs, all of which support up to 4K/120Hz or 8K/60Hz with VRR, ALLM and QMS. HDR is also supported in all of the major formats, including Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG.

Wireless streaming is another key component of this AVR, with a wide range of services supported. Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Amazon Music HD, and HEOS are all available, allowing you to beam music directly to the amplifier from a smartphone or tablet.

We also have to give Marantz credit for how this AVR looks. Available in two finishes – Black or Silver Gold – the Cinema 30 is a handsome piece of home cinema kit, with Marantz's iconic circular display up front and sleek accent lighting that accentuates the textured metal finish; this AVR is easily one of the best-looking home cinema amplifier we have tested.

Having all of these features and good looks to match is all well and good, but sound performance is paramount, of course. Thankfully, the Cinema 30 delivers a smooth and refined sound that can balance huge scale and control without breaking a sweat.

This AVR has earned its spot as the reference amplifier in our AV testing room, which should serve as a testament to its performance. We have been using it to test the capabilities of the latest speaker packages from Fyne Audio and KEF, so keep your eyes peeled for reviews of those 5.1 speaker systems coming soon.

The on-screen setup menus and easy calibration have made this process refreshingly simple, and its reference-worthy sound has ensured that these speakers are performing at their very best.

If you've been considering an AVR upgrade for your home cinema setup, the Marantz Cinema 30 is simply the best around at this price. While it costs quite a lot more than our current AV receiver Product of the Year – the Sony TA-AN1000 – its stellar sound (and looks) make it a serious consideration if you have extra cash to spend.

This deal at Peter Tyson will, of course, soften the blow to your wallet, and we assure you that you won't regret the purchase once you hear it in action.

MORE:

Read our full Maratnz Cinema 30 review

Here are the reference home cinema products we use every single day

How to set up your AV receiver and get the best sound

We only reviewed the KEF Q3 Meta a few months ago, but they have wasted no time in getting acquainted with the sales.

The impressive standmounts are now available for £499 at Smart Home Sounds – that’s a good £150 off the test price of £649.

You also get a free QED XT25 pre-terminated speaker 3m cable worth £89 included at the price, which we think is a pretty sweet deal.

Following the premium KEF Q Concerto Meta, the Q3 Meta brings the brand's signature sonic pedigree to a more affordable mid-range price level.

The technology you're getting includes KEF's own Uni-Q driver array, in which the driver array acts as a single point source to disperse audio more evenly.

And, far from being just a marketing gimmick, the Meta in Q3 Meta is actually short for Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT). Featured at the mid-price level for the first time, this KEF technology uses a maze-like structure to absorb 99% of unwanted sound from the rear of speaker drivers, drastically reducing distortion and delivering clearer, more natural audio.

It's perhaps not surprising, then, that such advanced technology results in excellent sound.

“The Q3 Meta deliver a composed, even-handed sound that will be familiar to anyone who has experience with a recent pair of KEF speakers, showcasing excellent stereo imaging and a talent for sonic organisation and integration,” our KEF Q3 Meta review reads.

“Despite being a pair of standmounters, the scale, breadth and solidity of their soundstage is remarkable, and even when our test tracks get demanding, their stereo imaging and overall soundstage rarely suffer.”

Pair the KEFs with a similarly talented source such as the Rega Planar 3 and an amplifier such as the Arcam A5+, and you’re onto a winning combination.

It's worth noting that the Q3 Meta are quite bulky standmounters at 35.7 x 21 x 30.5cm (hwd), but they are certainly built to a high standard, and have three stylish finishes to choose from.

So as long as you have the space, the KEF Q3 Meta are very easy to recommend. They are solid all-rounders that work with a wide variety of partnering kit – and they’re on sale now for £499 at Smart Home Sounds.

MORE:

Read our review of the Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3

Also consider the Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2

Best bookshelf speakers: top standmounts for every budget tested

Cambridge Audio is "ready for the fight." So it said when we asked it about going head to head with KEF in the wireless speaker system market.

As Cambridge's first all-in-one active speaker system, the L/R X is a direct challenger to the Award-winning KEF LS 50 Wireless II. Both products offer a pair of standmount speakers capable of amplification and streaming skills, doing away with the need for separates while also incorporating digital music listening.

Cambridge might be full of fighting talk, but is the flagship L/R X model up for the challenge?

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: price

The L/R series comes in three variants: the entry-level L/R S (which is a pair of powered speakers with Bluetooth streaming), mid-range L/R M and flagship L/R X. The latter is what we're dealing with here, and it will cost £1799 / $2299 (around AU$3600) when it goes on sale this summer.

That's cheaper than the KEF LS50 Wireless II's RRP £2199 / $2499 / AU$4295. Though the KEF system's price does vary – it often costs as little as £1799 in the UK depending on the finish and retailer, and has dropped as low as £1499 during the peak sales period. As the system gets older, more discounts are likely.

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: design & build

Like the LS50 Wireless II, the L/R X speakers have a clean, minimalist look that's designed to blend into your décor rather than leap out as a statement piece. Though maybe not if you opt for the bold orange finish. We weren't able to try out the LED underlighting during our hands-on, as it wasn't ready yet, but it should be a nice touch to elevate the L/R X above much of the competition in the design department.

Despite being the largest model in Cambridge's line-up, the L/R X aren't so big they'll take up all of the space in your room, and they can still go seriously loud if you crank the volume up to eleven.

A 28mm version of Cambridge's new Torus tweeter lurks inside – bigger than the usual 25mm size we see in the majority of speakers. This extra surface area should mean 25 per cent more air displacement, according to the manufacturer.

The L/R X also have twin 12.7cm woofers and a pair of side-mounted 15cm passive radiators, the latter of which aim to deliver deeper and louder bass from the modestly-sized cabinet.

The L/R X have a more angular look than the LS50 Wireless II, which are nigh-on identical to their LS50 forebears, but we're fans of their slightly more bulbous aesthetic, like they're bulging with sonic tech just waiting to delight.

There's also the contrasting Uni-Q driver array, a signature of almost all of KEF's speakers, consisting of a 25mm aluminium tweeter and a 13cm aluminium mid/bass. That's supported by KEF's 'Metamaterial Absorption Technology' (MAT) which, essentially, uses a maze-like disc to absorb sound waves that radiate from the rear of the tweeter dome for cleaner highs.

They've inspired a lot of imitators since they first launched, which is a sign of how significant the LS50 Wireless II have been and remain.

Their design is practical as well as good looking, with threaded inserts in the corners letting them lock onto KEF's S2 Floor Stands (which cost around £400 / $449 / AU$800 extra per pair).

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: features

Cambridge Audio wins the battle of power, with 400W per channel of Class D amplification, compared with the KEF LS50 Wireless II's 380W. But of course, there's a lot more to sound quality than sheer oomph.

The L/R X lets you connect the speakers together wired via USB-C, or wirelessly using WiSA HT tech. Both methods support 24-bit/96kHz resolution, which isn't quite as high as the KEF LS50 Wireless II's resolution of 24-bit/192kHz via an Ethernet cable.

In terms of connections, the L/R X boasts a separate USB-C port, RCA stereo and optical inputs, plus a moving magnet phono stage for plugging in a turntable and HDMI eARC for hooking up your TV. There's also a subwoofer output if you want to up the bass with a dedicated woofer.

The KEF system also has all these, minus the USB-C option.

That's physical connections, but what about streaming? The L/R X have Cambridge's StreamMagic Gen 4 platform, which includes UPnP streaming, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect and internet radio. There's also Bluetooth for local streaming and an Ethernet port for a more stable internet connection than wi-fi. Oh, and it's Roon Ready too, for music management using that platform. That's a lot of features.

KEF brings a similar suite of features via its KEF Connect app, including AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast and Bluetooth 5.0. So on paper at least, there really is very little to separate them.

We've used KEF's app extensively over the years, and have found it a breeze. As we wrote in our LS50 Wireless II review: "Loading dense service libraries, navigating its clean and logical interface and switching inputs proves a pleasant and reliable experience." If Cambridge wants to top it, it will have its work cut out.

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: sound

Of course, the million dollar question is: how do they compare in terms of sound?

We've only heard the Cambridge Audio L/R X in its maker's demo space, rather than our dedicated listening room, and what we heard might not be the finished product. The L/R range isn't due for release until the summer, during which time it could have changed significantly. Since we heard it in Cambridge Audio's London HQ, for example, the firm has fine tuned the audio to reduce some top-end harshness at higher volumes.

But our first impressions were of a clear, clean and rhythmically sound performer. That 400W per channel makes it go very loud for a system of its size, and it retains plenty of textural detail in the process. It displays a good level of musicality, with plenty of space around the distinct-sounding instruments.

The L/R X showed considerable dynamic headroom at loud volumes, and as we hopped between musical genres in our demo – from Alice In Chains to a techno cover of Come Together – a picture emerged of clarity, scale and snappiness regardless of the track chosen or volume it's played at.

We also detected a slightly hard, bright edge among higher frequencies from time to time, but we can't confirm this until we've carried out our own extensive testing in our own listening rooms, especially as this is something which Cambridge has vowed to look at.

Cambridge Audio was so sure of its system that it actually played it side by side with the KEF LS50 Wireless II, albeit very briefly. The L/R X seemed to go louder than KEF's system, although obviously we can't draw any concrete conclusions outside of our own test rooms. Let's be honest, there's a lot more to a system than pure volume.

The original KEF LS50 Wireless gained entry to the What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame, and the sequel has won an Award for a phenomenal six years running, so we know it sounds superb, but it's worth noting its many, many strengths to gauge exactly what Cambridge is up against.

KEF's Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT) helps achieve a clean treble, distinct mids and well-defined bass notes. There's more room within the presentation compared to its predecessor, with more detail and greater separation between instruments.

Listening to Adrienne Lenker's Symbol, the LS50 Wireless II "lay bare more intricacies in the guitar work, while disclosing the distinctive fragilities in her vocal," we wrote in our review. And these characteristics aren't unique to this track. "Similar sharpness and attention to detail is evident as we switch to Peter Broderick's Moment, the piano sequence aching with meticulously written melody as the LS50 Wireless II more deftly define the start and finish of notes."

They have a dose of extra punch too, and more agility, but these extra capabilities never come at the expense of subtlety. Cambridge Audio, the ball is in your court.

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: early verdict

It's too early to say whether Cambridge Audio has managed to dethrone KEF. Trumping a six-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winner is no easy feat, but the L/R X certainly looks ready to give it a good go: it's a nicely designed, well thought out system that offers many of the same features as KEF's finest.

With similar premium price points, truly, Cambridge is bringing the fight.

But if any music system is up for it, it's the LS50 Wireless II. With multiple Awards to its name, a proven excellent sonic performance, and regular price drops, it's a very tough act to beat. We'll update this with our full verdict once we've reviewed the L/R X in due course.

MORE:

Read our Cambridge Audio L/R X hands-on review

And our KEF LS50 Wireless II review

KEF wireless speaker systems compared, from LSX II to LS60 – which one should you buy?

The former What Hi-Fi? Award-winning KEF R3 Meta are superb standmounts. Not only are they an incredibly entertaining listen, but their build quality is also excellent.

It's been a couple of years since we reviewed them now and, surprisingly, we've not seen the R3 Meta at a discounted price. Until now...

It seems good things do come to those who wait, as these brilliant speakers can now be yours for £200 off their original £1999 price. If you’re looking to upgrade to a premium pair of standmounts this new year, you can grab the five-star R3 Meta for £1799 at Peter Tyson.

Finished and built to an incredibly high standard at this price, our review sample of the R3 Meta came in the indigo gloss finish and looked especially elegant.

The three-way design features KEF’s Uni-Q driver array, which consists of a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter sitting in the middle of a 12.5cm midrange driver, and a 16.5cm hybrid aluminium bass driver. A rear bass port is also present to fine tune the lower end frequecies

KEF built on the original R3 design to incorporate its celebrated MAT (Metamaterial Absorption Technology) into the R3 Meta and it’s a decision that paid dividends. This technology reduces distortion and improves the clarity of the high frequencies, and in the MAT-equipped speakers that we've tested so far, such as the five-star LS50 Meta, it's made a noticeable difference.

And it does so here, too. The result is a set of speakers that simply flow with every type of music thrown at them. When we tested the five-star R3 Meta back in 2023, we noted they “don’t just grab your attention from the start, they keep the momentum going over long periods of listening”.

We were also astonished by the "amount of detail and texture the R3 Metas manage to eke out of every song".

We recommend leaving ample space from a wall and using speaker stands to get the best sound from the KEF R3 Meta. But thanks to the Uni-Q driver array’s wide dispersion properties, you won’t spend much time trying to perfectly angle them for optimum listening.

If you’ve been waiting for a great deal on some premium speakers, £200 off the former Award-winning KEF R3 Meta could be just what you’re looking for. Check them out for £1799 at Peter Tyson or Smart Home Sounds.

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Check out our list of the best bookshelf speakers

2025 has been a bumper year for reviews.

I’ve crunched the numbers, and we published more than 200 over the last 12 months, roughly half of which were in the TV/AV category that I look after.

I was involved in pretty much all of those TV and home cinema reviews, either as the primary tester or as one of the ‘second-lookers’ (we test as a team, so every review involves several What Hi-Fi? staffers).

Of those 100 or so products, these are the five that rocked my world the most.

(This would have been a list of eight, but I decided to set myself a rule of just one highlight per brand)

Sony Bravia 8 II

Yes, I know I’ve written about this magical OLED TV a lot, but it would be disingenuous for me to start this list with any other product.

This has been an incredible year for OLED TVs, with a whole new panel technology (Primary RGB Tandem OLED) stealing the early headlines, and the QD-OLED camp raising its game to compete. The result has been the closest, most competitive flagship OLED TV battle I can remember.

What’s interesting is that the Sony Bravia 8 II is, in terms of pure numbers, arguably the least impressive TV of the bunch, but it’s the best in real terms. It doesn’t go quite as bright in outright terms as its LG or Samsung rivals, and it doesn’t use its innate Quantum Dot-enhanced vibrancy to dazzle you with colours.

Instead, it uses the bright and colourful potential of the latest-gen QD-OLED panel to deliver even more natural and cinematically authentic picture quality.

This is just the most all-round appealing TV I’ve ever tested, with a balance of technical innovation and processing mastery that I don’t think will be beaten for a while.

Hisense AX5125H

One of the best things about this job is, of course, getting to test the latest super-premium kit, but there’s also a genuine thrill to discovering an incredible bargain – and that’s exactly what this is.

The Hisense AX5125H was just £249 when we tested it, and it can now be bought for an even lower price of £199. That’s about half the price of most decent entry-level solo Dolby Atmos soundbars, yet this is a Dolby Atmos soundbar with a wireless subwoofer and two wireless surrounds.

I don’t mind admitting that my expectations for the sound quality weren’t high, but as soon as I set the system up and ran the first movie through it, I knew we’d stumbled upon a budget beauty.

Whenever I would take a break from testing, I’d convince myself that the Hisense couldn’t be as good as I thought, but then I would return to it, put on another movie and be impressed all over again.

Without a doubt, this is the home cinema bargain of the year.

Epson EH-LS9000

While not a bargain in the way of the Hisense soundbar system above, the Epson EH-LS9000 is fantastic value for money, essentially redefining projector expectations at its price.

That price is £2999 / $3999 / AU$7299, which certainly isn’t a snip, but the LS9000 fully justifies the outlay with specs that include 4K (via pixel-shifting), a claimed brightness of 2200 lumens, substantial HDR support, and 4K/120Hz gaming, plus a performance closer to models in the category above.

The crisp, colourful and three-dimensional-feeling picture is such a joy that we took time out of our busy testing schedule to watch more movies and play more games on the Epson just for fun.

KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 Speaker System

I could (some would say “should”) be writing about the incredibly impressive, boundary-pushing XIO soundbar here, but I’m an absolute sucker for ‘traditional’ home cinema, and I just loved listening to KEF’s Q Concerto Meta speaker package this year.

It probably helped that Senior Staff Writer Lewis Empson led this review, so he had to do all of the heavy lifting and calibrating, whereas I just got to enjoy the performance.

And what a performance it is: the combination of rich warmth and crisp punch is intoxicating, and the seamlessness with which effects are passed around the room is hugely immersive.

We put this system together by picking different speakers from KEF’s range, but it’s now being offered as a complete package for significantly less than the £3146 at which we tested it.

TCL 98C7K

If I had the space, I would have bought the 98-inch TCL C7K already.

The C7K had already impressed us in 65-inch form when we wrestled the 98-inch version out of its box, but I really didn’t think that TCL’s step-down Mini LED tech would effectively stretch to this gargantuan size.

Oh, how wrong I was.

This TV is an absolute joy to watch, delivering blacks, brightness and colours that projectors can only dream of. Like TCL’s other 2025 models, it’s nicely tuned, too, delivering a satisfyingly authentic home cinema experience.

It’s also now available for under £2000. That’s unbelievable value for money. If 100 inches was my limit, I would absolutely buy this TCL TV over a projector.

You don't always get everything you want for Christmas.

Some desired gifts can fall through the cracks, and while it's nice to have another set of novelty socks and a festive hamper from your estranged aunt who now lives over in Australia (doesn't she know you're a vegetarian?), sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.

Grannies are great for knitting jumpers, but they don't know a huge amount about wireless headphones or budget amplifiers.

That's why we've compiled this list of the best hi-fi and audio products we're eyeballing in the post-Christmas sales – if you're flush with cash, it might be time to take matters into your own hands and get 2026 started on the right foot.

MORE:

These are the best wireless speakers in town

I tested a host of standmounts this year, and it proves there are endless ways to design a great speaker

Winners and losers of 2025: which companies and products soared this year, and which sunk?

Isn’t it fascinating how such seemingly similar recipes can produce such wildly different results?

The exciting world of cooking keenly highlights this phenomenon. Add just a touch too much flour to your Yorkshire puddings and they’ll let down your entire Sunday roast. Too much salt in your Bolognese will have your Italian grandmother weeping similarly saline tears, while dialling up your mustard intake by a fraction can take a perfectly palatable sausage from tasty treat to eye-watering episode.

All very similar things, but change things just a touch and you’ve got something new entirely – a pancake and a Yorkshire pudding are the same recipe cooked in a different way, lest we forget, but you don’t eat Yorkshire puddings for breakfast. Anyway, enough of this culinary detour.

Standmount speakers are the same, believe it or not. This year, we’ve had the pleasure of testing (or else revisiting) a raft of contenders drawn from the same tranche of the market, and while our assessments have tended to be positive across the spectrum of models sampled, the underlying reasons for our enthusiasm have varied significantly from case to case.

2025: the year of the standmount speaker

Perhaps the most notable set to pass through our doors were the Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2, a pair of mid-price (£649 / $1099 / AU$1580) standmounts featuring a two-way design and a rear port. In case you missed it, they went on to become 2025 What Hi-Fi? Award winners (and received a coveted Product of the Year trophy) thanks to their natural, nuanced sound.

We also enjoyed the talents of KEF Q3 Meta (originally £649 / $900 / AU$1300), another pair of bookshelf belters which, while a little shorter and squatter than their Acoustic Energy rivals, again featured a rear port and a two-way design.

Then there’s the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G (£500 / $849 / AU$1099), which go in a different sonic direction to their rivals. Not that you’d know it to look at them – once again, two drivers housed in a handsome cabinet with a port at the back.

The only pair to break that pretty rigid formula have been the recently reviewed Triangle Borea BR04 (£529 / $649 / AU$1100), yet another pair of standmounters which hover around the same sort of price point and employ a two-way design, but with the key difference of having a port at the front rather than hidden away around the back.

What’s remarkable about this ever-growing roster of budget-to-mid-range speakers is just how different they are in terms of audio performance. Each showcases a unique character and general temperament which is distinct from its rivals, to the extent that our recommendations can often fluctuate depending on what any would-be buyer desires in their chosen speaker candidate.

Similar designs, different results

Push us, and the Acoustic Energy would be our pick as the speakers that we’d want were it our money being spent. They’re subtle and nuanced performers as opposed to showy dynamos, but that character only grows more engaging and enthralling when, after a time, you realise just how revealing these Award-winners can be. That all said, they’re still the most expensive pair here as they push well into what we would term ‘mid-range’ territory.

Were we to choose a safe alternative at a lower price, however, it’s hard to look past the KEF Q3 Meta, especially now that their price has dropped considerably since release. With their balanced, controlled presentation, flexible, accommodating temperament and impressive levels of resolution, they’re speakers that we’re confident would please most people most of the time. These aren’t specialists boasting one standout feature – instead, they’re truly accomplished all-rounders.

KEF’s Q3 Meta standmounts use the 12th generation of the company’s signature Uni-Q driver, in which the driver array acts as a single point source to disperse audio more evenly, something which lends to that immersive, cohesive soundstage we’ve experienced across other models in the KEF range, such as the LS50 Meta and KEF LSX II LT.

If you are after a more characterful presentation, the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G might be more to your tastes. The Monitors take a completely different direction entirely, prioritising punch and snap over trying to be even-handed and conciliatory. They’re not ones to sit back and relax with, but if sheer entertainment is what you want in speakers, these are born to have a good time.

Oh, and let’s not forget that the Bowers & Wilkins 607 S3 and 606 S3 are still around at this price range (albeit lower than their launch a few years ago) and they too have their own signature sounds. Clear, crisp and detailed, with a slightly forward treble and a looser, freer bass, they’re not the most forgiving standmounts you’ll hear, but these are still former What Hi-Fi? Award-winners, lest we forget. And yes, both are two-way configurations with a port at the back.

So, all seemingly similar designs at similar price points and with so many common elements, all producing wildly different sounds. The lesson here, naturally, is how those subtle differences in design philosophy, construction and tuning preference add up to create a diverse array of standmounted wildlife.

Put the smaller 607 S3 side-by-side with the larger Triangle Borea BR04, and it won’t surprise you to learn, it’s the latter pair that pump out more bass than the leaner, treble-forward Bowers boxes. That extra cabinet size clearly makes a serious difference, as does the fact that the BR04 are working with a 16cm mid/bass driver, whereas the 607 S3 have a comparatively compact 13cm alternative.

Then you’ve got to factor in driver materials. The 607 S3 employ a titanium dome and favour a clear, slightly bright treble reproduction, whereas the Bronze 50 7Gs’ light, thin 25mm C-CAM gold dome tweeter with an updated waveguide makes good on its promise of a wide, precise sound with excellent time alignment.

There are other factors at play, of course, from cabinet construction to how the crossovers are designed, but those materials are unquestionably having an effect, adding or complementing the other to give each speaker its own unique flavour.

Choice is king

The take home point is that all this is great news for the end consumer. That there are currently so many good, if not excellent, standmount speakers available in this mid-price range, with different styles, sizes and sonic characters – meaning there should be a pair to suit almost any set of personal sonic tastes for those looking for a new set of speakers.

Yes, we believe in certain qualities that make hi-fi objectively ‘good’, ‘bad’ or somewhere in the middle, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of ways of achieving a positive outcome, as all the speakers we've tested here prove.

In the world of midrange standmount speakers, you’ve rarely been so spoiled for choice. Now it’s time to go out and find exactly which pair is right for you – once you do, it’ll be a match made in heaven.

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Happy Boxing Day! To celebrate this day of delightful deals, we've found a doozy: the KEF LS50 Wireless II active speakers have hit their lowest price yet, with Richer Sounds offering them for a measly £1499 – a £700 reduction from the usual £2199 asking price.

Note this discount applies exclusively to the titanium grey colourway, with the carbon black, mineral white (pictured above) and crimson red special edition finishes remaining at their full retail price. Stocks are running low, though, so be quick!

Best Boxing Day KEF speaker deal

The KEF LS50 Wireless II earned a coveted five-star rating in our in-depth review, representing a significant upgrade over its already impressive predecessors.

These active speakers pack considerable advancements into their familiar and striking chassis, most notably KEF's innovative Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT). This clever tech uses a maze-like plastic structure behind the tweeter to absorb 99 per cent of unwanted sound waves that would otherwise distort the forward output.

KEF has also implemented its 12th generation Uni-Q driver array, which places a 25mm aluminium tweeter within a 130mm aluminium mid/bass driver.

Power comes from dedicated amplification – 100W of Class A/B amplification for the tweeter and 280W for the mid/bass driver – ensuring ample grunt for most listening environments.

In wireless mode, the speakers can handle files up to 24-bit/96kHz, with peak support extending to 24-bit/384kHz and DSD256 when wired.

Streaming capabilities are comprehensive as well, with the KEF Connect app providing direct access to Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Amazon Music, Qobuz, and Deezer.

The LS50 Wireless II also support AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, Bluetooth 5.0, and are Roon Ready. Physical connectivity includes HDMI eARC – a welcome TV-friendly addition – alongside coaxial, optical and 3.5mm auxiliary inputs, plus dual subwoofer outputs.

In our review, we noted how these sonic advancements are clearly audible. The MAT technology delivers noticeable improvements in treble cleanliness, while mids sound cleaner-cut, and bass more defined compared to the originals.

The soundstage benefits from greater spaciousness and instrument separation too, making for a more captivating and less congested presentation across the frequency range.

At this reduced price, the LS50 Wireless II in titanium grey represents exceptional value for a pair of premium active speakers that combine serious sound quality with comprehensive streaming features and elegant design. Rush to Peter Tyson before they're gone!

MORE

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2025 was a great year for hi-fi fans with normal-sized wallets – long may it continue

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As we reach the end of 2025, we're looking back at the home cinema highlights that defined the year.

And what a year it's been. We had a showstopping quintet of flagship OLED TVs from Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG and Philips, a handful of five-star projectors from Epson, Hisense and BenQ, and it's been an especially good year for home theatre audio.

I'd like to stick with that last shoutout, as today's Adventure in AV is all about celebrating a specific type of audio product that's wowed us in the AV testing room this year; that being subwoofers.

The humble sub, often overlooked in 5.1 systems when compared to impressive floorstanding speakers, or tucked away in Dolby Atmos soundbar systems while the soundbar itself sits proudly beneath the TV, has finally had its time to shine this year.

There are three instances in particular in which subwoofers have been the highlight of a respective audio product, and I'll start with the most prominent one.

The Samsung HW-Q990F was my personal product of the year, and it also took home an official Product of the Year trophy at the 2025 What Hi-Fi? Awards. While the soundbar is superb, and the surround speakers are no slouch either, the main draw of this package, and what made it stand head and shoulders above its predecessor, was the included wireless subwoofer.

Samsung shrunk the sub down to a cutesy cubic form, with dual 8-inch drivers, and while a smaller sub might denote smaller bass, that's far from the case based on our testing.

In our full review, we beamed about the sub's ability to deliver "rich, controlled and tonally varied bass". In fact, we had this to say in our full review regarding the sonic capabilities of the Q990F's subwoofer:

"There is a much greater sense of tonal variation from this sub, which unearths a new layer to the bass. The Q990F’s bass feels more organic, balanced, and seamlessly integrated into the system as a result.

"Dune: Part Two’s Harkonnen Arena sequence has a range of bass-heavy alien chanting and a bone-rattling score, and we are immediately immersed thanks to the Q990F’s encompassing sound and rich, textured bass."

While our full review divulges more, what you can probably tell from this is that we were seriously impressed by how well the subwoofer ties the whole system together.

While it fulfils its role in firing out hefty low-end sound for the odd explosion, we felt that it exceeded this to become a genuine companion and asset to the soundbar itself, which isn't always the case. Occasionally, we test soundbars that come bundled with subwoofers that underperform, which is sometimes worse than having no subwoofer at all.

Back to the positives, and I couldn't continue this love letter to 2025 subwoofers without mentioning the Yamaha True X Surround 90A's sub. In many ways, it reminded us of the subwoofer included with the Samsung package; however, it provided even more tonally rich and controlled bass.

Yamaha deployed a new design for this subwoofer called the "Symmetrical Flare Port". As the name suggests, this sub features a port with symmetrical flared openings, which Yamaha says can ensure that air is released smoothly from the enclosure, resulting in less bass distortion. In our full Yamaha True X Surround 90A review, we had this to say:

"The subwoofer produces tightly controlled yet powerful bass that underpins the thunderous soundtrack. We have no trouble believing Yamaha’s claims regarding the benefits of the new port design, as bass refuses to distort or falter in even the trickiest scenarios – including Blade Runner 2049’s infamous Chapter 2 sequence."

While the overall package wasn't perfect, we couldn't fault the subwoofer, as it backed up the equally impressive soundbar with the necessary low-end oomph it required.

Rounding out our subwoofer praise, we'll end on the KEF Kube 12 MIE subwoofer. This sturdy sub dwarfs the other two mentioned above, but it is designed for serious home cinema usage, so we understand why.

While this isn't technically a 2025 product – it actually launched in 2024 – it only landed in our home cinema testing room late this year as part of the excellent KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 surround sound speaker package.

We found it very hard to pick faults in this system, and we were especially pleased with how it handled bass. Here's what we said in our full review of the Award-winning system:

"The explosion towards the start of this sequence is delivered with a hefty dose of low-end punch, and the subwoofer delivers its gut-punch of low end while remaining in total control.

"There’s no flabby or waffly bass here, and while the Bowers & Wilkins 606/607 S3’s subwoofer is a touch more tuneful, the KEF Kube 12 MIE delivers a powerful and dynamic low-end kick."

Controlled, dynamic and punchy, the Kube 12 MIE underpinned this agile and detailed system with a much-needed dose of weighty bass.

These three subwoofers proved that you don't have to live with warbly, distorted or boring bass, and I hope to see many other companies follow in Samsung, Yamaha and KEF's footsteps.

I've already listened to the exciting JBL Bar 1300 MK2 in action outside of our AV testing room, and I'm looking forward to putting it through its paces in the near future. The LG W7, which it has announced alongside its new Sound Suite wireless home theatre system, is also a subwoofer I'm keeping a keen eye on.

But as we reach the end of 2025, I'd like to recognise subwoofers as this year's MVP (most valuable player) for all they have done in elevating some of the best home cinema sound systems that we've tested this year.

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best surround sound systems

As well as the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

And read our full Bowers & Wilkins 606 & 607 S3 speaker package review

The attraction of small speakers is obvious. They won’t dominate a room and can be tucked out of the way, maybe close to a wall, or – less ideally in a sonic sense – in a corner or a bookshelf. From this, it would be easy to conclude that opting for a pair of compact speakers is all about convenience and little else.

Physics certainly dictates that a speaker barely larger than a shoebox will have clear limitations compared with something more generously dimensioned. The disadvantages range from restricted bass-reach to compromised large-scale dynamics and lower volume limits.

Much of this can be put down to the size of the drive unit that can be fitted into a smaller, slimmer box.

It’s time for some maths: the radiating area of a 16.5cm mid/bass (as found in most larger standmounters and many of the floorstanders on the market) is around 60% greater than that offered by the 13cm drivers typically specified in smaller speakers. The smaller unit has to work proportionally harder to produce the same output as its larger counterpart; and a driver that has to work harder usually distorts more.

But there is another side to this coin, where small speakers turn the tables on bigger alternatives. The first benefit turns a limitation into an advantage and is centred around the lack of low-frequency extension.

Most people, particularly in the UK, don’t have the luxury of large listening spaces, and smaller rooms can easily be overwhelmed by powerful low frequencies. If you use larger speakers with extended bass reach, it is easy to excite room resonances, leading to lows that are bloated and ill-defined. Such characteristics have knock-on effects across the board, from degrading midrange clarity to spoiling rhythmic drive and agility.

Small speakers produce less bass, but if they are properly engineered, the low frequencies they do generate will still sound balanced and properly integrated (Dali's new Kupid speakers are a fine example of this). The result in most modestly sized rooms will be more satisfying in the long run.

Another advantage of a compact speaker design is that the enclosure is inherently more rigid, giving the drive units a more solid base to work from. Remember, any movement of the driver’s chassis relative to the cone means lost information.

Also, the cabinet’s smaller surface area means that unwanted sound caused by panel vibrations will be at a lower level, so any negative impact on the speaker's performance is reduced. The benefits of this are plentiful, from a purer presentation to improved stereo imaging. PMC's Prophecy 1 deliver a superbly focused soundstage, and I strongly suspect that their rigid, well-controlled enclosures are a key factor in this.

Our ears are great at identifying the direction of sound, and if a cabinet resonates, we are adept at locating the source of that vibration. So, even with eyes closed, it is clear where the speakers are positioned, and the impression of a well-projected soundstage, floating free of the loudspeakers, is lost.

If you don’t think a cabinet produces much sonic output, put your ears on the top panel of your own speakers as music is playing. I suspect you will be surprised by the volume of the sound it produces.

A smaller mid/bass driver may struggle to dig out the lows or deliver large-scale dynamic shifts at higher volumes, but it does offer an advantage in terms of driver integration.

Most sensibly priced speaker designs tend to work in a two-way configuration, with a typical crossover point positioned around 2.5kHz. The smaller the mid/bass driver, the more comfortable it will be working up at this kind of frequency, and this gives the engineers greater leeway in choosing the partnering tweeter and the type of crossover filter employed.

This is the reason that small speakers tend to have a clearer, more articulate and expressive midrange performance than their larger siblings.

The successful design of all hi-fi components is invariably rooted in choosing the right compromises. There may be greater freedom at higher price points, but in the end, it is all about the engineer choosing their priorities with care.

Designing a small speaker isn’t easy, but the format also offers plenty of inherent advantages over bigger designs that shouldn’t be overlooked.

MORE:

How to build the perfect hi-fi system

Our guide to the best speakers we've tested across all budgets

Goodbye, 2025! Check out 7 of our favourite test tracks of the year

On the hunt for an affordable hi-fi speaker system that's sonically superb? The KEF LSX II LT may be compact in size, but it's an Award-winning performer we're always happy to recommend.

And we're even happier to say you can currently pick it up for its lowest-ever price, just £699 at Sevenoaks Sound & Vision – but, fair warning, it's selling out fast!

This price has been snatched up across many retailers, but you can still grab it in Sage Green, while stocks last. Or, if you're happy to wait, you can preorder it in Graphite Grey or Stone White from Richer Sounds at this great price.

The five-star KEF LSX II LT can bring an awful lot to your home set-up. As well as being a compact, desktop size that slots right in, it's also more than capable of a cohesive, effortlessly-balanced performance, and full, well-formed bass.

It's a slimmed-down, affordable version of the KEF LSX II wireless speaker system, which costs £1199 (£500 more than the LT sale price). And, if you're still weighing up whether the extra money is worth it, you can always check out our KEF LSX II vs KEF LSX II LT comparison.

If affordability is high on your priority list and you don't mind losing a few connectivity options and features, namely the wireless link between speakers, aux input and a few colour options, the KEF LSX II LT is a great choice.

After all, you'll still get the signature KEF crisp and bassy sound, with plenty of punch and a great sense of drive. And they're true active speakers with a Class D power amplifier dedicated to each drive unit.

And, despite being the cheaper model, you'll also have access to plenty of features including a USB-C port, HDMI ARC port, an optical input and a subwoofer output to help create your system.

The LSX II LT also uses KEF's all-encompassing streaming platform, offering connectivity via Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, Bluetooth 5.0, Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and internet radio.

Design-wise, the LSX II LT is also pretty much indistinguishable from the standard LSX II in terms of the speakers' compact size and shape.

Yes, the lower price means fewer features than the LSX II, but for just £699 at Sevenoaks Sound & Vision, it's hard to argue with a price like that.

MORE:

Read our full KEF LSX II LT review

Best computer speakers: upgrade your desktop audio with our 5 expert picks

Best KEF speakers: budget, premium, bookshelf and wireless systems

Black Friday may be over – but that doesn't mean there aren't savings to be had.

Over the Black Friday weekend our crack team of reviewers and deals writers found some truly great discounts on several wonderful AV products, and a surprising number of them are still live now.

Even more perplexingly, a few products have even dropped in price further after the deals weekend wrapped up, so it's definitely not too late to make a saving.

So as we now start looking towards Christmas, here are the best deals still live this week, from Black Friday and beyond:

MORE:

See all our 2025 What Hi-Fi? Award winners

These 7 films have been dazzling us in our test room this month – and will give your home cinema system a workout

9 affordable ways to upgrade your hi-fi system

With the annual Awards issue of What Hi-Fi? out in the shops now, I thought it would be a good time to look back a quarter of a century to the November 2000 issue of the magazine. How mad is that, by the way? Twenty-five years ago is still in the 21st century…

I chose this particular issue to venture down memory lane – and to juxtapose with the 2025 Awards issue – for a couple of reasons. First, because it happens to coincide with my first stint on What Hi-Fi?, when I served for 15 months or so as deputy editor; I have always been partial to a little bit of nostalgia.

More importantly, though, this particular magazine jumped out at me for the sheer quality of some of the products in the First Test section. And then it surprised me again for the main Group Tests and round-ups: almost all of them are for products that, in effect, simply don’t exist any more. One, though, is for a product type that was only just starting back in 2000, but that has absolutely thrived since then.

There’s something in all that lot, then, to tick pretty much all the boxes for Back Issues requirements.

The cover of the November 2000 issue sums things up rather nicely as far as referencing those product types that have disappeared in the first quarter of the 21st century. The main cover line announces “MiniDisc vs CD-RW – we pick the best digital recorders from just £160”. That’s two down right there.

Four-saken

But there’s more. Taking third and fourth billing (after “Britain’s best £1000 system”) are two more product types that have gone the way of the VHS: “DVD-Audio has arrived!” we trumpeted, above a final round-up – “Put up your jukes” – on a trio of 200-disc CD multichangers.

Now that’s four products right there, I would wager, that most people today under the age of 35 (possibly even older) wouldn’t even have heard of – with MiniDisc possibly the honourable exception.

What I do know is that the concept of a bulky machine holding 200 compact discs caused much hilarity and no little bewilderment in my offspring – three young adults aged between 22 and 27. (Might as well take that November 2000 test headline and run with it…) Back then, though, it was a brilliant way of storing and playing your music collection.

Some stunning First Tests

While the cover of the November 2000 issue doesn’t age particularly well, inside there are a few stunning products making their What Hi-Fi? debuts that have stood the tough test of time remarkably well.

Chief among those is the lead First Test, the stunning and stylish Naim Nait 5 stereo amplifier. This marked the start of Naim’s 5 series of products – and it kicked things off with a real bang, proving to be competitive with such illustrious products as the Arcam Alpha 10, Cyrus 7 and Musical Fidelity A3. Tough rivals indeed.

Talking of the Cyrus 7, further along in the First Tests section is the Cyrus CD 7, the series mate to the amplifier above. Another product in this magazine that punched well above its weight and hung around our Awards judging for many years.

Joining these two heavyweights, and alongside a Linn Pekin tuner (also five stars), is a superb pair of speakers. The KEF Reference Model One-Two blew us away with their class and proved to be even more impressive than the Reference Ones they replaced.

From super dupers to the stuff that streams are made of

After the First Tests section, I was intrigued to see a half-page story announcing that “The world’s favourite hi-fi website just got better!” And yes, before you start being unkind, that was in reference to whathifi.com which had just undertaken a site-wide revamp.

Those were the days still, though, of What Hi-Fi? being first and foremost a magazine, with a website attached to it. It would be a decade and more before things started shifting to the digital-first strategy that the brand enjoys today.

Which brings us to the trio of tests that can no longer stand in 2025. We started with the digital format war of its age: MiniDisc vs CD-RW. There were a mighty 12 products tested, with star ratings ranging from a frankly dire one star for the unfortunate Goodmans GMD920 MiniDisc recorder, to five-star triumphs from Marantz, Sony and the Supertest-winning Pioneer.

I hope some of these fine machines are still doing service out there for their owners; but most people will certainly have moved on with their digital music to streaming from the likes of Spotify at the very least.

Then we come to a “New technology” feature all about DVD-Audio – and specifically testing the JVC XV-D721 player. Which, to be completely straight with you, didn’t cover itself – or the format it had intended to champion, come to that – with glory.

An overall two-star verdict, with another (in one issue!) one-star decision for sound, rather damned both machine and format.

The first steps towards wireless wizardry

But what’s this, tucked into the back of the test section, just before the Temptations? A double-page spread on upgrade headphones: six options, and three of them boasting a shiny new “cordless” feature. Not only new, but also (thank heavens) surprisingly effective at bringing users’ precious music to their ears.

The AKG K105 UHF were particularly impressive, with a five-star rating for sound, build and the overall verdict. I’m not sure we would have guessed at the time that such wizardry would become not only commonplace but the norm for listening on the go – but it’s good to know that we knew a good thing when we saw it.

Which brings us full circle, back from November 2000, to the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025. The 2025 Awards issue is in the shops now – and it is full to bursting with products that we know are not merely a good thing, but the very best thing out there in their particular category. Now that is praise indeed.

I wonder, though, how our choices today will seem to the What Hi-Fi? observer in 2050 when they are seeking Back Issues comparisons of their own.

MORE:

See all our 2025 What Hi-Fi? Award winners

These 7 films have been dazzling us in our test room this month – and will give your home cinema system a workout

I’m a MiniDisc fanatic and this is my love letter to the format

Black Friday is a great time to secure an excellent deal on some fabulous hi-fi gear. But as stocks deplete over the weekend, some great hi-fi products are getting even cheaper on Cyber Monday.

If you've been patient, you're in luck: we've checked the prices and have found six hi-fi deals that are even cheaper today than they were over the weekend, so you can save even more money on some five-star products.

Every one of these products has been reviewed by a member of our expert in-house team so we can personally recommend them. But hurry – we don't think these deals (or in fact stock of these products) will last very long!

Cyber Monday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 38% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Headphones: save over £100
• Bravia 8 TV: lowest-ever price on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £600
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £268
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £179
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £165
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £200 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

It’s always great when a company builds on a winning formula, and the KEF LSX II wireless streaming speaker system is an excellent example of this.

The follow-up to the KEF LSX, a What Hi-Fi? Award winner in 2021, the LSX II system took home an Award of its own in 2023. With their excellent sound quality, extensive features, and stylish, compact design, they were highly deserving of it too.

For anyone looking for a delightful all-in-one speaker system this Cyber Monday, you can get a whopping £300 off these super speakers. The Cobalt Blue version can be had for £899 at Peter Tyson if you sign up for a free VIP account.

If this finish is not to your liking, however, the Carbon Black and Soundwave by Terence Conran Edition are also currently £120 off, while the Red version is down to £939 at Smart Home Sounds.

As the old saying goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and that is exactly the attitude KEF have taken with several aspects of the LSX II.

Their stylish appearance is virtually identical to their predecessors, while they are also rear-ported and come with KEF’s 11th Generation Uni-Q driver, which consists of a 19mm aluminium tweeter and an 11.5cm aluminium mid/bass unit.

The system has amplification included in the speakers, with the total power amounting to a hefty 200W.

The result is a wonderfully well-rounded sonic performance with an expressive handling of dynamics.

During testing, we noted they were confident performers, deftly communicating the mood of the music being played. They have a “real sense of refinement and maturity without being showy”, with an inviting tonal balance that has ample warmth.

Given their compact size, the bass doesn’t delve too deep, but it’s “tight and controlled” with a “nice layer of texture on the surface of the notes”, too.

In order to enjoy their superb sound, the LSX II use KEF’s W2 wireless streaming platform, which acts as the gateway to connectivity options including wi-fi, Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast and Bluetooth.

There are plenty of streaming possibilities, including Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal, while HDMI ARC, optical and USB-C inputs mean you can connect to a TV or laptop.

The speakers can also be connected via an Ethernet cable, which is required for full native playback of high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/96kHz PCM. DSD256 and MQA decoding are also supported.

Due to their compact size, the LSX II are best suited to desktops and smaller listening rooms. If you’re looking to fill a larger space and have the extra cash to spend, the KEF LS50 Wireless II are worth checking out for £1499 at Peter Tyson, a whopping £700 off their RRP.

Conversely, if you'd like something more affordable, the KEF LSX II LT are currently down to £699 at Amazon, but they have fewer connectivity options than their more expensive counterparts.

If you’re set on a wireless speaker system that can do it all, Cyber Monday is an excellent time to get a great deal on the award-winning LSX II, especially at the lowest-ever price of £899 at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Check out all the best Cyber Monday hi-fi deals

KEF wireless speaker systems compared, from LSX II to LS60 – which one should you buy?

KEF LSX II vs KEF LSX II LT: which speaker system is best for you?

Cyber Monday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

We always maintain a reference system for our home cinema reviews. It combines a selection of Award-winning products that act as benchmarks, allowing us to accurately assess the performance of whatever we may be reviewing.

It's a collection of premium home cinema devices, with equally premium price tags to match, but if you want a reference system in your home that matches ours, then Black Friday is the best time to buy the components.

• Browse all the best deals on Amazon

Every part of our reference setup has been discounted for this savings event, meaning you can save a hefty chunk of change if you do want to replicate our system.

Now, ours is admittedly over the top (would you expect anything less?) as we always have multiple TVs and a projector set up at all times, as well as both a surround sound speaker package and a soundbar.

You may not need both a TV/soundbar and a projector/speaker system, so feel free to pick and choose what suits you best. Either way, you're guaranteed to experience the ultimate cinematic performance from these products and save a boatload of cash too.

Our projector: Sony VPL-XW5000ES

Sony's entry-level native 4K laser projector is on a What Hi-Fi? Award-winning streak, scoring its fourth Product of the Year title earlier this month.

It's still a pricey piece of kit, but this deal at Richer Sounds knocks £2000 off a supremely talented beamer that delivers seriously impressive contrast and black depths, sharp details, and rich yet balanced colours for an overall showstopping cinematic experience.

Our only gripe is the lack of motorised lens controls, but once you have the VPL-XW5000ES in place, you'll quickly forgive this minor shortcoming on account of its stellar picture.

Read our full Sony VPL-XW5000ES review

Our OLED TV: Sony Bravia 8 II

The Award-winning Sony Bravia 8 II has been the TV we've obsessed over this year, and for good reason, too.

It's served as a benchmark in our reviews for the Panasonic Z95B and Samsung S95F, beating both TVs in terms of sheer picture performance thanks to its deeply engaging and three-dimensional picture.

Sony's masterful picture processing paired with the QD-OLED panel technology makes this TV a sight to behold, and it's backed up by impressive built-in sound, a solid set of gaming features (HDMI 2.1, VRR and ALLM) and a sleek design.

Read our full Sony Bravia 8 II review

Our Mini LED TV: TCL C7K

For the times when we're not reviewing a pricey OLED TV, we find ourselves reaching for the TCL C7K.

This surprise hit of 2025 delivers a bright and punchy image when required, but it also has a trick up its sleeve to ensure it impresses during dark scenes too.

TCL's new Halo Control technology hugely mitigates blooming, and black depths are seriously impressive by backlit TV standards.

If you're not interested in OLED or want a TV that offers a stunning picture without a ludicrous price tag, then the C7K is for you.

Read our full TCL C7K review

Our AVR: Marantz Cinema 30

We've swooned over this AVR plenty of times, but we're here to do it once again.

The Marantz Cinema 30 is a handsome piece of home cinema kit, with a premium sculpted metal design, tasteful ambient accent lights, and even a gorgeous remote control; but in the grand scheme of things, none of that really matters, as we care most about sound quality.

The good news is that the Marantz Cinema 30 is a showstopper when it comes to delivering cinematic sound, with a rich, weighty and smooth performance that is guaranteed to immerse even the toughest audiophiles.

It's dynamic, can deliver huge scale sound, and features excellent connectivity; it really is the full package.

Read our full Marantz Cinema 30 review

Our speaker package: KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1

The latest addition to our reference home cinema system, the KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 was the sleeper hit from this year's Awards testing process.

It won us over almost instantly with its rich, powerful and engaging sound, complete with a subwoofer that handles bass like a champion. It's accurate and agile, yet warm and inviting, which is a surprisingly difficult balance to strike.

We're also huge fans of its dashing good looks, and the fact that it's comprised entirely of standmounting speakers means it should take up slightly less room than an equivalent floorstanding setup.

It's become our new reference system for a reason, and we're already looking forward to the next time we can watch a movie using it.

Read our full KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 review

Our soundbar: Sonos Arc Ultra

Surround sound speaker packages will always be our favourite method of achieving cinematic sound, but we can't deny the convenience of a soundbar. And this soundbar happens to be pretty fantastic.

The Sonos Arc Ultra had massive shoes to fill, but it did so with ease, delivering the punchy, big-scale sound of its predecessor with added richness and height, as well as a whole lot more bass.

This all-in-one cinematic sound solution is a perfect accompaniment to the Sony Bravia 8 II, and it's primed to be made into a full system with the Sonos Sub 4 and a pair of Sonos Era 300 speakers.

Our 4K Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB820

We tend to use the Oppo UDP 203 for a majority of our 4K disc spinning duties, but that player has been sadly discontinued.

Fret not, as the Panasonic DP-UB820 also has a permanent spot in our reference lineup, and considering it just took home yet another Product of the Year win, we don't see it leaving any time soon.

This easy-to-use 4K Blu-ray player delivers a vibrant, rich, and crisp 4K HDR image alongside powerful and spacious sound.

We've sung the praises of 4K Blu-rays over streaming countless times, and this player is one of the best ways to experience the benefits of physical media.

Read our full Panasonic DP-UB820 review

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

The period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday can be the best time to invest in some new hi-fi gear, but finding the perfect combination of a great deal and a fantastic product can be difficult.

If you've made it to Cyber Monday and you've still not managed to find the right deal for you, we've put this list together to help you get a great deal on only the best products. This list is compiled solely of cracking Cyber Monday deals on hi-fi products that are currently 2025 What Hi-Fi? Award winners.

From tantalising turntables to fantastic floorstanders and superb streamers, there is a plethora to choose from. All the products highlighted below have been tested by our in-house team of experts, who have confirmed that they are nothing but the best at their respective price points.

1. Marantz CD6007 CD player

2. Cambridge Audio MXN10 music streamer

3. Technics SA-C600 music streamer

4. Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 turntable

5. KEF LSX II LT active bookshelf speakers

6. WiiM Pro Plus music streamer

7. Wharfedale Diamond 12.3 floorstanding speakers

8. KEF LS50 Wireless II active bookshelf speakers

9. Cyrus CDi CD player

10. Triangle AIO Twin wireless speaker system

11. NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module) streaming amplifier

Black Friday / Cyber Monday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 38% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Headphones: save over £100
• Bravia 8 TV: lowest-ever price on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £600
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £268
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £179
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £165
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £200 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

If you are one of the lucky few with room for a full-fat, multi-speaker surround sound setup for your home cinema, then we have two bits of good news.

First, the KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 we built, reviewed and gave an Award to earlier this year is finally on sale as a bundle, meaning you don’t have to buy each speaker individually to make it.

Second, Richer Sounds is offering a pretty darned decent price on it, selling the KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 Speaker Package for £2549.

Cheap? Not by any stretch of the imagination, but a pretty reasonable price when you consider the fact it costs £3146 if you buy each part separately.

We built this system earlier this year by combining a number of five-star parts into a neat 5.1 setup. These include the two Q Concerto Meta standmounts (£1099), a pair of Q1 Meta bookshelf speakers (£499), the Q6 centre channel (£699), and the Kube 12 MIE subwoofer (£849).

Though the package doesn’t include the 8 Meta 'toppers' (£599) you’ll need to hear Dolby Atmos, the system is by far the best sounding we’ve tested in a 5.1 arrangement. So much so that for the first time in nearly a decade, we chose to replace our older PMC reference system with this KEF package in our home cinema test room.

Yes, it’s so good it’s become the new benchmark we use to compare other high-end surround systems against. Why? Because all the parts are wonderfully matched tonally, and combine to create a rich, warm, engaging sound that’s utterly engrossing when watching films.

As we said in our KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 review: “Put simply, the KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 reminds us why we love proper surround sound systems so much. It’s rich, crisp and dynamic sound instantly draws us into the action, and while it will certainly take up more room than your average soundbar, you won’t take umbrage with it taking up space in your living room thanks to its dashing looks.”

If you’re building a proper home cinema and want the most engaging, immersive audio possible from a 5.1 system, then we’d thoroughly recommend checking out the new bundle from Richer Sounds – trust us, you won’t regret it.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

As an enthusiast publication for cinephiles and audiophiles, we know some people just want the best of the best, regardless of how much it costs.

And while we factor performance-per-pound into our buying advice, if you fall into that camp and want a new soundbar right now, I have some tailored words of wisdom.

Specifically, if you’re looking for the best possible audio from a Dolby Atmos soundbar and aren't interested in expanding to a system, let alone a full-fat multi-speaker 5.1.2 setup, just buy the KEF XIO.

Yep, if you have the cash and are willing to pay for it, that’s my advice. Stop reading, jump over to one of the specialist retailers stocking it (which include Richer Sounds, Peter Tyson, Sevenoaks Sound and Vision and KEF direct) and pay the standard £1999.

• Check out all of the Black Friday deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals
• Peter Tyson: Black Friday event

Trust me, if the best audio possible from a single box soundbar solution is top of your priority list, after months of testing, the What Hi-Fi? team and I are 100 per cent sure it’s the one to get, right now. Hence why we gave it a five-star rating, prime position in our best Dolby Atmos soundbars guide and a What Hi-Fi? Award.

And yes, that advice carries even if some rivals, including the Senheisser Ambeo Max, it dethroned earlier this year, have been discounted by £500, retailing for £1499 at Richer Sounds right now.

Why? Because the XIO is the best option from a pure performance perspective, making it the better option for its intended market (people like me) even right now, at full price. It’s the current benchmark for premium Atmos soundbars because it offers the best audio we’ve experienced.

Featuring innovative tech you won’t find anywhere else, it offers a tight, agile low-end performance and holistically detailed and precise sound that will get even the most discerning of cinephiles fully immersed in what’s playing out on screen. As we said in our review:

“KEF says that it wants the soundbar to effectively act as a hi-fi package wrapped up in one product, and it has achieved that. Put simply, it is one of the best soundbars we have heard.”

So if you want the best experience possible, just go for that. Or, if that’s a little over budget, but you insist on having the best, save your money and wait until you can afford it. That’s my advice, pure and simple, for serious enthusiasts.

My only word of warning is that this advice is for “enthusiasts”, not regular people. If you don’t fall into that camp, and still want a good, but not quite that good/expensive soundbar, don’t fret – there are other options.

As I said earlier, for newbies or cash-strapped buyers, the Hisense AX5125H is a game-changer, being the first affordable soundbar system that’s capable of delivering good audio. And it’s currently discounted to £189 on Amazon.

Or if you want something between the two, there’s the Sonos Arc Ultra. This is a great option and the 'bar one we recommend to most people as it offers solid, albeit not XIO-level, performance and costs a lot less – especially at its current discounted price of £799 on Amazon (save £200).

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

The Black Friday deals just keep coming in, and one that has caught our eye is for the KEF Q Concerto Meta, currently down to £899 at Richer Sounds, Sevenoaks, Peter Tyson and Smart Home Sounds.

That's a tasty £200 off the RRP and the cheapest we’ve seen them. Plus, these great-sounding, five-star standmount speakers even come with 3m of QED XT25 speaker cable thrown in.

They are not the only set of five-star KEF bookshelf speakers currently being sold for this price, however, as the formerly What Hi-Fi? Award-winning LS50 Meta are currently available for £899 at Peter Tyson.

If you’re looking for a mid-range set of standmount speakers to enhance your hi-fi setup, both are excellent options. They are different propositions, however, while in the case of the LS50 Meta, this is not the first time we’ve seen them at this price this year.

The Q Concerto Meta standmount speakers deploy a three-way design, sporting KEF's famous Uni-Q driver array comprising a 10cm aluminium midrange, a 19mm vented aluminium dome tweeter enhanced by the brand's own Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT) for more efficiently absorbing unwanted vibrations.

Across the board, their build quality is excellent. The enclosures are solid, the edges neatly finished, while their clean lines and lack of visual clutter gives them a stylish aesthetic.

The KEF Q Concerto Meta are superbly balanced performers, too, and pair well regardless of partnering electronics. During testing, we noted their “smooth tonality that still delivers enough bite to satisfy”, while more complex arrangements are well managed thanks to the speakers' impressive dynamic handling and overall cohesion.

By comparison, the KEF LS50’s Uni-Q driver array also makes use of that signature MAT tech, while a 25mm aluminium tweeter dome sits in a 13cm magnesium/aluminium mid/bass unit.

The cabinets feature a curved front panel made of Dough Moulding Compound for a stylish façade, all while providing a sturdy foundation for the driver unit. The rest of the speakers, meanwhile, are built from MDF that has been braced and damped to reduce unwanted resonance.

Sound-wise, we find the LS50 "generate an expansive and tightly focused soundstage where the instruments are layered convincingly". They sound surprisingly full-bodied and have a "good amount of muscle" for such compact speakers, while they handle large-scale dynamics well.

Looking at the Q Concerto Meta and the LS50 Meta side by side, however, the right choice becomes a matter of taste.

During our in-house comparison, we found the three-way Concerto offer more when it comes to low-end muscle and definition, and sound more comfortable at higher volumes. The LS50, however, “counters with greater insight, refinement and naturalness from the midrange upwards”. That’s not to say the Concerto are lacking in this regard because they offer plenty of sonic sophistication in their own right.

In terms of size, the LS50 Meta are the more compact option (30cm tall opposed to the 41cm Concerto), so they may be better suited to listening rooms where space is at a premium.

Regardless of which of these two pairs of standout standmount speakers better suits your needs, you’ll be getting a fantastic product. The Concerto are a little newer, but the established LS50 Meta started life at a higher price, potentially making their larger discount a bit more enticing.

So, if you’re looking for your first set of speakers or an upgrade to your existing hi-fi set up, check out the KEF Q Concerto Meta for £899 at Richer Sounds, or the LS50 Meta for £899 at Peter Tyson.

MORE:

Check out our list of the best KEF speakers

Black Friday 2025 hi-fi deals live: our audio experts picks of the top savings on speakers, headphones, vinyl and more

How to avoid bad hi-fi and home cinema deals this Black Friday – top tips and tricks from our review team

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

Fake Black Friday is here. And by that I mean the penultimate Friday to the actual Black Friday.

For those who have somehow avoided the event until now, proper Black Friday always happens on the final Friday of November – even if Amazon and company insist it’s now a week-long event.

But, timings aside, I can confirm there are many good deals around right now, especially if you’re looking for a soundbar.

The most enticing of these is on the five-star Sonos Arc Ultra, which is currently the bar we recommend to most people in our best Dolby Atmos soundbars guide.

And, to be clear, with Amazon currently offering it for £799 (save £200), that is a very compelling offer. One that I, along with the wider What Hi-Fi? team, wholeheartedly recommend to most shoppers.

But the Sonos Arc is not the soundbar I would buy, even at this excellent price.

No, as the owner of a perfectly serviceable JBL Bar 1300 system, I’d only part with my money and be tempted to change soundbars for our current money-is-no-object recommendation.

Said soundbar is the five-star KEF XIO, which is belligerently refusing discounts, so is still priced £1999 at Richer Sounds (and everywhere else, for that matter).

Why this bar when it’s over twice the price of the Sonos Arc Ultra? The answer is simple: I have the burden of knowledge.

Every year, the What Hi-Fi? team holds a hardware battle royale during Awards season, running every contender for a trophy against its rivals to find which is the absolute best of the best.

We did exactly this in our viewing and listening rooms, picking What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 winners. It meant that I got to hear the XIO and Arc Ultra directly against one another for a prolonged period as we deliberated on which products deserved a trophy.

And while I stand by our team verdict that the Arc Ultra is a more appropriate option for most people, there's no getting past the fact that the XIO’s sonic profile is more in line with my tastes.

The word I’d use to describe the XIO is precise. During all the movies we threw at it, which ranged from the bombastic Jurassic World and action-packed John Wick 2 to the wonderfully musical Dolby Atmos-remastered version of Labyrinth, the XIO’s sound just clicked with me.

Even during demanding scenes, every part of the frequency range was even handedly represented, with no part eating into the other. Rain falling on the streets had a precise, audible impact, despite the presence of a booming synth background music part.

The conflicting directions of gunfire screaming through the night sky held a distinct place from the car engine noise below during a demanding test scene in Civil War.

And that’s all before I start ranting about how wonderfully musical and dynamic David Bowie’s Magic Dance sounded watching Labyrinth.

Yes, the Arc Ultra still puts in a five-star worthy performance and has a definite edge from a performance-per-pound perspective, but it sounds a smidgeon less musical than the XIO. I know this as when I rewatched the iconic Labyrinth scene, it lost some of the magic I experienced hearing it on the XIO. And after that, I just can't think of upgrading to anything else.

Put simply, I just prefer the XIO to anything else on the market right now, and I can’t see myself bothering to upgrade to anything else, even if rivals are discounted over Black Friday.

Trust me, sometimes it's worth just getting the thing you actually want.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals

It's not Black Friday until next week – though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

Retailers kicked off their Black Friday sales earlier than ever, with Amazon officially kicking off proceedings on Thursday.

This does, however, mean we've had bucketloads of genuinely great deals already, with more surely on the way.

If you're looking for up-to-the-minute deals, be sure to check out our Black Friday 2025 deals live hub, while our Black Friday survival guide has tips and tricks from our veteran staff members to get you through the deals madness.

For now though, here are some truly brilliant deals we've seen this week.

MORE:

How to avoid bad hi-fi and home cinema deals this Black Friday – top tips and tricks from our review team

Black Friday hi-fi and home cinema deals live: our experts’ picks of the best savings

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals

There's a lot to consider when buying a soundbar: price, features such as Dolby Atmos, whether you go for a solo bar or one with a subwoofer and surround speakers…

But one of the most important factors is its physical dimensions. Just how big is each soundbar?

Get it right and you'll have a sound system that not only sounds great, but looks in keeping with your home AV setup. Get it wrong, and it'll be like giving your TV wings. Or worse, like sitting behind a man in a top hat at the cinema.

That's why we put together this quick guide. All of these soundbars sound excellent – they are all Award winners, after all. And for each, we have suggested a TV that will not only sit around the same area of the market as the soundbar (budget, mid-range or high-end), but will also be a perfect fit in terms of dimensions.

That way, you can be sure that your setup looks as good as it performs.

The whole system: Samsung HW-Q990F

Pair it with... Samsung QE65QN90F

This soundbar's 123cm width works nicely with the 65-inch QN90F's width of 145cm, and with the TV on its stand, it shouldn't block the bottom of the screen. But there's another reason to pair the stablemate devices: extra features.

Because they are both from the same brand, the soundbar's settings appear within the TV's menus (and Samsung's SmartThings mobile app), making them easier to tweak. There's also the Samsung Q Symphony feature, which makes the soundbar and TV speakers work in concert for a more expansive sound (though this can be a little hit and miss).

Brand-matching aside, the QN90F is a mighty fine TV, earning five stars from us. That's thanks to its outstanding backlight control, punchy colours and four HDMI 2.1 ports. True, it didn't win any Awards, due to seriously fierce competition and its relatively high price, but it's still a great TV. Paired with the Q990F soundbar system, it's a compelling proposition.

Read our Samsung HW-Q990F review

And our Samsung QN90F review

The small option: Sonos Beam (Gen 2)

Pair it with… Sony XR-42A90K

Not everyone wants, needs or can accommodate a larger soundbar/TV setup, of course. And if that's you, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a great shout. It has won a What Hi-Fi? Award every year since 2021 – and, in 2020, its predecessor picked up the gong!

It's just 65cm wide, so will sit nicely under the Sony XR-42A90K (which is 93cm wide). And if you're thinking that the Sony TV looks very close to the cabinet on which it sits, that's because it's not pictured on its stilts. These raise the TV by about 7cm – which is exactly the height of the Beam (Gen 2).

The A90K is getting on a bit now, but it's still a fantastic small TV. Its picture is sharp and detailed, its motion handling is typically excellent for the brand, and it's even great for gamers.

The only downer is the price – it's currently about £350 pricier than the Award-winning 42-inch LG C5. But if it's a seamless fit with the Beam (Gen 2) you're after, the A90K could be worth the extra.

Read our Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review

And our Sony A90K review

For bigger TVs: KEF XIO

Pair it with… Sony Bravia 8 II

Despite its monstrous width of 121cm, the KEF XIO is relatively low – its height of 7cm is the same as the dinky little Sonos Beam (Gen 2) above.

In their higher position, the Sony Bravia 8 II's feet will add about 7.5cm to the TV, allowing the XIO to tuck in nicely below – though don't push it too far under, as that will affect the sound from the up-firing speakers.

While the soundbar won't quite fit between the feet of the 55-inch model, there's plenty of space for it with the 65 incher.

You are pretty much guaranteed a good time. The KEF XIO won an Award not only as the best soundbar over £1000, but also for its Velocity Control Technology, which won our coveted Innovation of the Year gong.

In our review, we praise the XIO's sound, which manages to be detailed and precise without losing any excitement. Bass is tight and agile – and the soundbar fares equally well with music as it does with movies.

The Bravia 8 II is every inch its equal. Another Award winner, it manages to improve on the Sony A95L, which is quite a feat, considering that was one of the best TVs of recent years.

It is an exceptionally bright TV (though not quite as bright as the LG G5) and vibrant, with a real three-dimensionality to its picture. Black levels are perfect, with excellent shadow detail, and it delivers an authentic picture straight out of the box.

Like the XIO, it's certainly not cheap, but this level of performance rarely is.

Read our KEF XIO review

And our Sony Bravia 8 II review

MORE:

The best soundbar deals

And best TV deals

Or go big with the best projector deals