Klipsch has applied its long-established expertise to a thoroughly modern streaming system concept – and while The Sevens II might be a dog’s dinner of a model name, it’s attached to a product that’s very serious indeed.

Price & Availability

The Sevens II is on sale now. In the United Kingdom a pair is priced at £1799. The going rate in the United States is $1999. Australian customers, meanwhile, will have to part with something like AU$3999.

Features & What's New?

Take the magnetically attached grille off one of the Klipsch and you’re confronted by a quite assertive driver array.

At the top, recessed into Tractrix horn geometry that’s an integral part of the baffle, there’s a 25mm titanium tweeter of the company’s proprietary ‘linear travel suspension’ vented design.

Beneath this is a 165mm mid/bass driver – it’s one of Klipsch’s ‘Jet cerametallic’ designs, which means it’s made of aluminium that’s been anodised and electrochemically treated in order for a layer of ceramic to form on its outer surfaces.

This line-up is augmented by an unsurprisingly large bass reflex port that vents at the rear of the cabinet through a rather more strongly defined horn than the tweeter uses.

Between this port and the two-driver array, Klipsch is claiming a frequency response of 39Hz - 25kHz, which comes about thanks to a total of 200 watts of Class D power. Each mid/bass driver receives 80 watts of amplification, each tweeter gets 20 watts to drive it.

Naturally, there’s a primary speaker and a secondary speaker here. The secondary speaker features a connection for mains power, that bass reflex port, and an RJ45 socket for connection to the primary on its rear panel – the primary has a fair bit more going on back there.

Physical sockets consist of line-level and moving magnet phono inputs on stereo RCA sockets, digital coaxial and digital optical inputs, USB-A and USB-C slots, and two HDMI sockets.

Both the HDMI input and the eARC output are a 2.1 standard, and this means that not only are gaming features like ALLM and VRR catered for, but The Sevens II can also deal with Dolby Atmos audio and pass through HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR content too. The system offers virtualised height channels when spatial audio content is detected.

There’s a pre-out for a subwoofer, a 3.5mm input for use with the supplied calibration mic, an RJ45 for connection to the secondary speaker, and an Ethernet socket.

Those who prefer as much wirelessness as possible will be pleased to hear that dual-band Wi-Fi is on board, giving access to Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast and the ‘Connect’ versions of Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal.

The speakers can be also connected wirelessly, although this cuts the resolution from the system’s native 24bit/96kHz to 24bit/48kHz. There’s also Bluetooth 5.4 available, with SBC and AAC codec compatibility.

The streaming platform, incidentally, is supplied by Onkyo. Which goes quite a long way towards explaining the Klipsch’s facility with the more cutting-edge HDMI technologies and specifications.

Performance

Whether or not you’re intrigued by what I’m about to say about the way the Klipsch The Sevens II performance depends a fair bit on the sort of attitude you like in the way your music is delivered.

If you enjoy a vibrant, upfront, spirited account of music, The Sevens II have plenty that will appeal to you. That they sound big and bold and punchy is only to be expected – these are Klipsch speakers, after all, and not especially small ones.

The Sevens II summon considerable low-frequency presence and hit with the sort of merciless intent of a heavyweight boxer – but they have plenty of detail to go along with it, so there is appreciable variation in the way bass sounds are presented.

They are controlled with a fair amount of care too, so the presentation is confident and naturalistic where rhythms are concerned. It’s a similar story through the rest of the frequency range, despite the fact that the frequency response is tilted more than a little towards the bottom end.

The midrange is communicative and direct, and there’s a fair amount of attack at the top end too – and throughout, the same attention to detail and the same facility with tonal variation is apparent. The fundamental tonality is on the mildly toasty side, mind you.

The soundstage on offer here is broad and well-defined, the layout allowing even those recordings with numerous participants the sort of space required for each element to fully express itself.

There’s a fair amount of dynamic headroom available – the Klipsch system is capable of switching between ‘quite quiet’ and ‘absolutely thunderous’ without any appreciable stress or even effort.

Between this facility and the system’s ability to put transient detail into proper context, it’s almost possible to overlook the fact that the Klipsch is wont to gloss over the finest, most subtle details in a recording in favour of emphasising drive and attack.

In fact, this is basically The Sevens II attitude in its entirety. Its front-foot, energetic attitude and character is very welcome indeed when playing music that benefits from it – but switch to something quiet and/or understated and the system’s impatience is almost audible.

If it’s nuance and delicacy you’re after, if your favourite music can be described this way, then this Klipsch system is probably not the most sympathetic way to hear it.

Neither is its phono stage the most enjoyable of its inputs. Everything I’ve written up to this point can be applied to the sound through each of the other inputs, both wired and wireless – but the moving magnet phono input lacks some of the positivity of the other methods of playback, and sounds rather two-dimensional by comparison.

The HDMI loop proves very useful indeed for those who want to put a rocket up the sound of their TV but don’t have the inclination to use a dedicated soundbar (though the physical size of The Sevens II make it slightly tricky to accommodate as part of a home theatre set-up).

It’s true to say the ‘virtualised’ height channels served up when the system is in receipt of Dolby Atmos content are mild in their effect, but the overall attitude of the Klipsch suits a lot of movie soundtracks, and its ability to project the midrange with some force helps with dialogue intelligibility no end.

Design & Usability

Control of the system is available via some physical controls on the top of the primary speaker – or, at least, volume control is. There’s also a ‘multifunction’ button here, the purpose of which can be defined in the ‘Klipsch Connect’ app.

The app is a very thorough interface. In addition to volume and playback control, it features five EQ presets plus the ability to define a custom preset using a five-band equaliser, ‘movie’, ‘music’ and ‘direct’ audio adjustment settings, the chance to define the primary speaker as the left or the right channel, adjust latency for lip-sync and plenty more besides.

There’s also a small remote control handset that takes care of some of the headline functions. It has a touch of backlighting, which is a rarity and for which Klipsch is to be commended.

As far as design is concerned, it’s fundamentally Klipsch business as usual here – whether or not that’s a good thing is entirely a matter of taste.

The Sevens II are fairly big (381 x 206 x 318mm, HxWxD), fairly boxy speakers that, with the exception of the front baffle, consist of straight lines and pointy corners.

The main body of the cabinet is made of real wood veneer over MDF – the speakers in the pictures are in the most recent, ‘red oak’, finish – but if you prefer, there’s ‘ebony’ or ‘walnut’. No matter the colour you select, it arrives as part of a very high standard of construction and finish.

The rather more curvaceous front baffle is made of bulk moulding compound – Klipsch has specified this material because of its density and rigidity, and for the strong resonance rejection characteristics it offers.

Its curved radius helps extend the width of the soundstage and also improves the off-axis performance. Of course, if you don’t fancy the sight of the drivers and their surround, Klipsch supplies magnetically attached grilles that cover the entirety of the baffle.

Verdict

There’s a lot to be said for the excitement and energy the Klipsch The Sevens II bring to bear when reproducing music.

When you factor in the system’s facility with scale, dynamism and broad-strokes insight, it follows that, given the right stuff to work with, this can be a thrillingly involving listening experience.

But its relative lack of subtlety – or, more accurately, its relative lack of interest in the notion of subtlety – means these Klipsch speakers won't be the complete article for all musical tastes.

Also Consider

It’s rather longer in the tooth than The Sevens II, but nevertheless the KEF LS50 Wireless II system remains the product to beat – and thanks to its longevity it’s now down to more or less the same money as the Klipsch. Visually distinct, sonically exceptional and extremely easy to live with, it’s been the market leader for this long for good reason – but it doesn’t have the breadth of connectivity the Klipsch offers.

It hasn’t taken WiiM all that long to establish itself as a digital audio force to be reckoned with, and it doesn’t take much deductive power to work out why: compact, well-made, affordable products that perform to a standard in excess of the asking price, and a properly sorted ecosystem.

No wonder the company is feeling bold enough to expand into the spatial audio soundbar market. The Bar (and who wouldn’t have wanted to be at the marketing meeting when that model name was decided on?) is a first effort – but it wouldn’t be the only time WiiM has hit the bullseye at its first attempt...

Price & Availability

The WiiM Bar spatial audio soundbar is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it’s priced at £449, while in the United States it sells for $479, and Australia gets it for AU$769.

Sonos may have moved its Beam soundbar upmarket with the launch of the Ultra, but that still leaves the WiiM to face down some very credible alternatives...

Features & What's New?

The WiiM Bar is configured to deliver an impression of 3.0.2-channel spatial audio. Obviously it uses an element of digital signal processing to achieve this, but it also deploys physical drivers pointing in a number of directions to create this sonic character.

So there are three 110 x 52mm ‘racetrack’ mid/bass drivers and three 52mm tweeters deployed across the front surface of the Bar – these take care of the left, right and centre channel information within the soundtrack.

On the top of the soundbar, out near the ends and positioned behind a little perforated section, are a couple of 52mm full-range drivers that are angled up and out in an effort to bring the required ‘height’ to the soundstage.

In an effort to give the sound a little more heft there are four 110 x 50mm passive radiators serving up some low-frequency presence – two face forwards, two face backwards.

These eight powered drivers get an all-in total of 135 watts of Class D amplification to deal with.

Physical inputs are all arranged in a little recess at the back of the chassis. There’s an Ethernet socket and an HDMI eARC input, naturally, and WiiM also provides a USB slot, a 3.5mm analogue input and a digital optical socket.

Wireless connectivity is handled by Bluetooth 5.4 (with SBC, AAC and LC3 codec compatibility) and by triple-band Wi-Fi 6 – which means the ‘Connect’ version of every popular streaming service, Google Cast, internet radio and most other online goodies are easily accessible. Odd, however, is the lack of AirPlay compatibility.

Performance

There’s really only one place to start with a spatial audio soundbar, and that’s with some spatial audio content. And with some Dolby Atmos-soundtracked stuff streaming from one of the world’s more popular services, the WiiM Bar wastes very little time in letting you know what it’s all about.

Fundamentally, that turns out to be punchily robust, impressively dynamic and remarkably positive sound. It’s far from unsubtle, and it's more than happy to ramp up the tension when the going gets especially quiet and creepy – but you somehow know it’s itching to get to the jump-scare, so that it can showcase its remarkable dynamic headroom and low-frequency control.

At the bottom of the frequency range the WiiM is solid, square-edged and weighty. Bass sounds don’t enjoy the same level of detail and variation as information higher up the frequency range, but if it’s a sturdy foundation you want – as well as the outright wallop some many movie soundtracks rely on – you’ve come to the right place.

The midrange projects well, is a sight more detailed than the bottom end, and exists in a nice little pocket of space that the Bar’s soundstaging abilities always earmark for dialogue.

At the top of the frequency range the WiiM attacks with crisp determination – but its treble presence is substantial rather than flimsy, so even during the biggest dynamic upheavals the top end never edges towards ‘hard’ or ‘glassy’.

Oh, and given that 135 watts of power in total is not, on paper, the most encouraging number, WiiM is to be congratulated for making the Bar so vaultingly and effortlessly dynamic. It never sounds stressed when dealing with big chances in volume or intensity and never alters its fundamental sonic character.

The tonal balance is pretty neutral, despite the fact that the lack of variation at the bottom end can make things sound a little warmer than they otherwise would. The control factor of the low-end is good, though, so rhythms in soundtracks (or when streaming music in straight stereo) are realistically expressed.

In fact, the Bar is one of the best pound-for-pound soundbars out there when it comes to music playback. Some of this is to do with the fact that you can enjoy true stereo, produced by just two of the tweeters and two of the mid/bass drivers, if that’s your preference when listening to stereo recordings.

Most soundbars insist on using all their drivers no matter if they’re playing two-channel content, and it’s seldom a good policy. Mostly, though, the quality of music playback is to do with the fact that the WiiM’s balance and direct nature makes for a spirited and engaging account of your music.

When listening to music mixed in Dolby Atmos, though, or to a movie with a spatial audio soundtrack, the WiiM Bar can’t quite hit the literal and metaphorical heights. For all of the space and careful organisation of its soundstaging, it never really manages to position sound up much beyond the top of your TV – even if you really got to town in the ‘height audio’ section of the control app, where a boost of up to 12dB is available for the height channels.

It’s the one rather tentative aspect of the bar’s performance, and it’s unfortunate that it should concern the aspect of performance that many listeners are going to be most preoccupied with.

Design & Usability

WiiM has always kept things neat and tidy where the design of its products is concerned, and at a usefully compact 74 x 1060 x 105mm (HxWxD) the Bar doesn’t look overgrown even when accompanying a TV as titchy as my 48in Philips OLED.

The standard of build and finish is well up to par, the gentle curves at either end of the chassis keep the look nice and friendly, and the main choice of finishes (matte white or the matte black of my review sample) make a bit more sense than the super-refelective gloss black that’s available as a limited edition in some territories.

When it comes to using the Bar, WiiM has supplied more options than are probably necessary. There are four little touch-surfaces on the top of the chassis, for example, which take care of ‘play/pause’, ‘volume up/down’ and input selection.

However, as is key to the design, there's also a 53mm circular display, bursting gently through the top of the soundbar. Here you can also action the same controls as above, and plenty more besides, by using the touch-screen – it puts you in charge of everything from EQ settings to accessing favourites, as well as offering visual confirmation of your actions.

There’s also a little aluminium remote control handset that is a cut above the norm in both look and feel. It covers all the fundamentals of operation, and has a 'mic’ button that can put you in touch with your Amazon Alexa voice assistant if you so desire.

Best of all, though, is the ‘WiiM Home’ control app that’s free for iOS and Android. The stable, logical and extensive nature of its app has been one of the (many) reasons WiiM has achieved this level of credibility in double-quick time – and here it’s just as useful and just as thorough as it is in every other implementation.

The app lets you integrate your favourite music streaming service(s), internet radio providers and what-have-you. It lets you build, quickly and easily, multi-channel and/or multi-room systems using other WiiM products – if you want your Bar to be accompanied by rear speakers and a subwoofer, it’s the work of a moment once you’ve powered them up.

The app's got a whole lot of sonic adjustability options in the form of both EQ and PEQ interfaces, height channel adjustment and so on, too. There’s even a very effective room correction EQ that uses your smartphone’s mic to help the soundbar calibrate itself to your specific environment.

So if it’s wide-ranging and granular control of the performance of your soundbar/speaker you’re after, and you want it from an interface that’s intuitive and rock-solid, don’t look any further.

Big, bold sound from a usefully compact and relatively affordable spatial audio soundbar? Numerous options when it comes to incorporating the soundbar in question into a multi-room or multi-channel system? A real facility with music and one of the very best control interfaces in the business?

All the above applies to the WiiM Bar, and it serves to carry it most of the way – if it could be as assertive where the ‘spatial’ aspect of 'spatial audio' was concerned, it could become a default choice. As it stands, though, it needs to be judged as a fine first effort and the sort of thing that committed WiiM owners will love in a multi-room setup.

Also Consider

The is the opposite of the WiiM Bar, at least when it comes to the control app experience. But get beyond that and the Heston 60 has plenty to recommend it, quite apart from its chunky and expansive sound - it has that Marshall aesthetic, for instance, and it can be used in two different orientations. It’s no slouch when it comes to music, either. But it can’t lay a glove on the WiiM experience when it comes to multi-channel or multi-room usage…

I’ve reviewed plenty of TVs – and seldom do I get to the end of one without at some point having said something along the lines of “remember to budget for a soundbar – even an affordable model will improve the sound".

Sharp obviously wants to be the company I think of when I start banging on about “affordable soundbars’, as its new HT-SWB320 2.1-channel system is perhaps the least expensive soundbar/subwoofer combo I’ve ever heard.

So am I right? Is a soundbar that’s about as affordable as it gets an improvement on the sound of that TV you spent proper money on?

Price & Availability

The Sharp HT-SWB320 2.1-channel soundbar system launched at the end 2025, and in the United Kingdom the asking price has already fallen from £179 to £149.

It’s a model that’s intended specifically for sale in continental Europe, so a like-for-like equivalent in territories like the United States or Australia is not especially easy to come by.

What seems nailed on, though, is that any Sharp two-channel soundbar with wireless subwoofer that’s offered for sale outside Europe is going to be extremely competitively priced.

Features & What's New?

The HT-SWB320 is a 2.1-channel system that’s compatible with both Dolby Atmos and DTS Digital Surround.

Obviously any hint of spatial audio comes from signal processing rather than physical speaker drivers, though, as the soundbar features a pair of 32mm neodymium tweeters and a couple of 30 x 104mm racetrack drivers, all of which face forwards, while the subwoofer has a 133mm bass driver.

This line-up is driven by a total of 120 watts of Class D power. Incoming signals can be adapted by a suite of EQ presets – voice, movie, sport, music, game, night, and one user-defined custom setting – and spatial audio information is given the once-over either by Dolby Speaker Virtualiser or DTS Virtual:X processing depending on what type of signal it is.

As well as a selection of physical inputs – the USB-A slot can also be used to charge external equipment, as well as being available for audio playback, which is nice – the Sharp features Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC and AAC codec compatibility.

So there’s nothing new or remotely innovative about the HT-SWB320. But then no one’s really expecting that sort of thing at this part of the market, are they? And besides, the Sharp has one minor flourish where its features xare concerned: it’s Roku TV Ready, which means set-up should be super-simple when the system is paired with one of Sharp’s Roku TV models.

Performance

The Sharp HT-SWB320 is a punchier, more expansive, more dynamic listen than the vast majority of televisions I’ve heard in the last 18 months or so. The soundbar is a rather coarse-sounding system, though, and its ‘surround’ feature is of negligible use.

On the plus side, the HT-SWB320 creates respectably deep, nicely varied low frequencies that punch with fair determination – and don’t hang around or bog down everything that’s going on above them in the frequency range.

Low-end presence like this is basically unheard-of in the sound your average television makes, and it means the Sharp creates a far fuller, more robust sound than your TV has a hope of managing by itself. This alone could be reason enough to buy, for a bass upgrade.

The frequency range is quite nicely balanced from the bottom end upwards, and while the system sensibly projects the midrange just a little (the better to make voices and dialogue easy to follow) it doesn’t unduly impact on the low or high end.

The handover between subwoofer and soundbar is achieved smoothly, and the overall presentation sounds of a whole, rather than being too obviously the results of two different speakers working in tandem.

There’s a fair amount of dynamic headroom available, so when the on-screen action shifts from ‘whisper’ to ‘enormous explosion’ the Sharp breathes deeply enough to put meaningful distance between these two positions. And, again, it doesn’t hang around as it does so – there’s no slurring here.

Tonally, though, the system is on shakier ground. There’s a hint of edginess to the way the midrange is reproduced, and by the time you reach the top of the frequency range the Sharp has become undeniably coarse.

There’s a grittiness and graininess to the treble reproduction here that is noticeable at low volumes, obvious as an average level, and actively unpleasant if you decide to listen at high volume. ‘Abrasive’ is not too strong a word.

And while I’m dealing with shortcomings, the ‘surround’ setting that can be activated via the remote control handset is barely worth the effort of pushing the button. The sound gains a hint of extra width when it's engaged, but the trade-off is a reduction of focus and the introduction of a rather vague, hazy character that’s far from welcome.

Design & Usability

A product of this type, selling for this sort of money, can very seldom be said to have been ‘designed’. ‘Constructed’ tends to be what happens – and sure enough, the Sharp HT-SWB320 has managed to dodge the ‘design’ stage of product development almost entirely.

That’s not to say it’s in any way deficient when the standard of build or finish is concerned, you understand – in fact, in the context of the asking price the Sharp is put together very acceptably indeed.

The soundbar, which is a usefully compact 36 x 651 x 73mm (HxWxD) and an equally unburdensome 900g, is a fabric-covered little slice of robust plastic that can happily be positioned beneath all TVs but those that sit super-low on their feet.

The subwoofer, meanwhile, is a 258 x 105 x 370mm (HxWxD) MDF box that weighs 3.35kg. Like the soundbar, it must be plugged into the mains – but it connects wirelessly to the soundbar, which makes positioning it as simple as can be.

It does so automatically, too. The moment both elements of the system are powered up, they start looking for each other. In my experience the search doesn’t take long at all, and once a wireless connection is made it’s robust.

In a little recess on the rear of the soundbar there’s a socket for the mains adapter, an HDMI eARC socket, a digital optical input, a 3.5mm analogue input and a USB-A slot for software updates and audio playback.

The USB-A is compatible with WAV, FLAC and MP3 files, and is compatible with drives up to 64GB. Obviously anyone with a reasonably modern TV will make one connection via HDMI and that will take care of business.

Operating the system can be done using the physical controls on top of the soundbar – they cover power on/off, volume up/down, input selection and Bluetooth pairing. There’s also a little remote control handset – like the product it controls, it’s really nothing special in terms of ergonomics or build quality but is entirely fit for purpose.

As well as duplicating the functions available on the soundbar, it also offers play/pause, mute, a button to turn the ‘surround’ feature (such as it is) on or off, and independent ‘bass’ and ‘treble’ controls.

Confirmation of what the system is up to comes via a white LED alphanumeric segment display on the front of the ‘bar – it’s quite short, though, so virtually all information will scroll.

Sharp HT-SWB320 review: Verdict

As an affordable way of bringing a bit of scale, dynamism and low-frequency presence to your TV’s sound, the Sharp HT-SWB320 has plenty going for it. And if you can find it at a super-low price then the bass upgrade may make it a worthy addition.

But while it’s hardly fair to expect a product of this type costing this sort of money to be flawless in every way, its edgy treble tonality, and the vague presentation that results from selecting ‘surround’ mode, means that it’s not the complete budget-conscious solution to your TV’s terrible sound.

Also Consider

The Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus travels without an accompanying subwoofer, and it costs a little more than the Sharp – but it remains an affordable option and fairly compelling too.

Or if you don’t mind upping the box-count, have a listen to the Hisense AX5125H – soundbar, subwoofer, and rear surround speakers all at a price that’s typically Hisense in its aggressive nature.

For a short while, Bluesound was the only name in the ‘wireless hi-res audio streaming game’, but it’s safe to say those days are gone.

Like all the best innovators do, though, the company has remained at the forefront and generally is extremely competitive when compared to the raft of imitators it has inspired.

The Pulse Flex wants to be Bluesound’s latest demonstration that it’s nowhere near losing its mojo… so how does it fare?

Price & Availability

The Bluesound Pulse Flex went on sale at the very end of last year, and in the United Kingdom it’s priced at £279. It will cost you $349 in the United States, while it goes for AU$549 in Australia.

The world, I hardly need to tell you, is far from short of wireless speakers that sell for this sort of money – but then Bluesound has been a front-runner for quite some time now.

Features & What's New?

For a brief moment back there, Bluesound had a unique selling point: wireless streaming of genuinely high-resolution digital files. Others have caught up, of course, but the fact remains that a (relatively) affordable wireless speaker with 24bit/192kHz PCM and DSD256 streaming possibilities from multiple sources really should be a product to be reckoned with.

And getting that big hi-res content on board can be done in quite a few different ways. The BluOS control app will let you integrate literally dozens of different music streaming services – and its compatibility with (for instance) the ‘Connect’ versions of Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal makes accessing content as simple as can be.

In addition, the fact the Pulse Flex is Roon Ready, works with AirPlay 2, and offers plenty of options where internet radio is concerned too, only adds to its flexibility.

Using the app utilises the integrated dual-band Wi-Fi, of course – but there’s additional wireless functionality available in the shape of Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX HD codec compatibility. And on the rear of the speaker there’s an Ethernet socket, just in case ultimate network stability is a priority.

You’ll also find USB-A and USB-C slots here, as well as a hybrid 3.5mm socket that can either be an analogue or a digital audio input. If you favour the second option, Bluesound supplies a Toslink/3.5mm adapter in the packaging.

All incoming digital information is dealt with by a DAC that is, sure enough, good up to DSD256 and 24bit/192kHz PCM resolutions, before having a rocket put up it by 50 watts of Class D amplification.

Bluesound has finessed this power using its ‘Smart DSP’, and it serves 10 watts to a 21mm tweeter and 40 watts to a 102mm mid/bass driver. Bluesound is not exactly making with the details here – nothing about frequency response or even the material used in the construction of these drivers is forthcoming. At least it’s prepared to confirm that both drivers face forwards, though.

Performance

Thanks to the BluOS control app, it’s a doddle to set up the Pulse Flex and get at the content you want, whether it’s internet radio, your favourite music streaming service(s) or stuff stored on a common network. And once you got it, there’s a whole lot to enjoy about the way the Bluesound serves it up

What’s probably most immediately striking is just, well, how immediate this speaker sounds. Its presentation is remarkably open when you consider what a small cabinet this is, and there’s a kind of direct and unequivocal character about the Pulse Flex’s delivery that’s very engaging.

Detail levels are high, which helps with the impression of positivity (which is especially noticeable when you’re listening to nice big 24bit/192kHz or DSD64 audio files), and the evenness of the frequency response from the bottom end to the top also allows the Bluesound to present music in a fairly naturalistic manner.

The tonal balance is nicely judged, and much more than many price-comparable rivals the Pulse Flex seems perfectly happy to get out of the way of a recording and express it without sticking its oar in too much. This kind of egoless attitude is not all that common in this area of the market – many alternative designs want to meddle with the sound of a recording, and it’s seldom a helpful attitude.

The neutrality of the Bluesound, combined with its relatively open and revealing nature, goes a long way to convincing you that you’re getting an uncorrupted account of the music.

It controls low-frequency information well, which allows for good momentum and a confident way with rhythmic expression. This speaker doesn’t over-egg bass sounds, which might initially seem less than exciting – but it doesn’t take all that long in the company of the Bluesound to realise it strikes a more convincing overall balance than is usual in a product of this type.

There’s a reasonable amount of dynamic headroom available, so big shifts in attack or intensity are more than alluded to – but where the Pulse Flex really scores in this regard is with the attention it pays to low-level dynamic variations. The ability to identify and confidently contextualise the harmonic fluctuations and transient occurrences in a recording adds no end to the impression of ‘the complete picture’.

Really, about the only meaningful way in which the Bluesound could up its game is when it comes to the sort of energy and excitement it rather seems to think is a bit beneath it. The speaker’s attitude of careful attention to detail and tonal neutrality is all well and good almost all the time – but when it comes up against the ‘wrong’ sort of music (music that values drive and posture over all else) the Pulse Flex can sound just a little undemonstrative and dispassionate.

Still, for most listeners a hint of the ‘matter of fact’ is going to be preferable to ‘eyes out on stalks’ – if that’s a choice that needs making then I know which side I’m on.

Design & Usability

Display screens or other design fripperies are not for Bluesound. The Pulse Flex is a discreet and quite unassuming speaker in visual terms, with only the softly cornered triangular prism of its shape offering the merest hint of ‘design’.

It’s an understated looker no matter which of the three finishes you choose – black-and-charcoal or white-and-grey are available as alternatives to the white-and-tan of my review sample – and its compact 196 x 131 x 111mm (HxWxD) dimensions mean it’s not difficult to position.

Bluesound offers a range of stands and wall-mounting accessories, but the integrated soft rubber foot on which the speaker rests means it’s equally secure on a shelf or desktop. The standard of build and finish is not up for question – though it’s probably fair to say that this is not the most tactile speaker around.

Operating the Pulse Flex as a standalone mono speaker can be done in a few different ways. Integrating it into Amazon Alexa Skills in order for a truly smart speaker to offer some voice control is not especially elegant, but it’s an option.

There are some control buttons on the plastic top plate: volume up/down, play/pause and skip forwards/backwards are all available here, along with three buttons offering shortcuts to favourite playlists, radio stations or what-have-you.

You can specify your shortcuts in the BluOS control app, and it’s a feature that goes some distance towards explaining Bluesound’s position in the market. For an app that offers such a granular level of control, it’s remarkably easy to navigate, and logical and stable in operation.

In the decade or so that BluOS has been a thing, increasing numbers of third-party manufacturers have come aboard – which means that if you want to use your Pulse Flex as part of a home cinema surround-sound system or a multiroom set-up, say, you’re by no means limited to other Bluesound products as partners.

The app makes setting up even quite complex and/or wide-ranging wireless set-ups simple, too – which is not something that can't be said for quite a number of competing systems. I really think this app is at the cutting edge.

Bluesound Pulse Flex review: Verdict

Bluesound’s status as a front-runner of hi-res streaming is only going to be enhanced by the Pulse Flex – it’s a great-sounding speaker with a brilliant control app, and the sort of wider-system flexibility that means it could be at the heart of your wireless set-up for the long haul.

Also Consider

The Audio Pro C10 mkII is bigger than the Pulse Flex, both physically and in terms of its power output – and it’s a little more expensive too. But its sound is clean and open, punchy and assertive – and it’s got a bit going on where ‘Scandi Design’ is concerned, too, as long as you like monochrome. The control app makes setting up a multiroom system to include the C10 mkII straightforward enough, but like every competitor it’s playing second fiddle to the BluOS alternative the Bluesound is running.

Jamo's latest multi-room connected speaker contains a full sound system in a compact form factor, and sports the sort of Scandinavian design synonymous with the company's homeland of Denmark.

The HYG 5 is the latest in the HYG family – which also includes bedside and outdoor speakers. It features dual 2.5-inch full-range drivers inside, along with a down-firing 4-inch subwoofer, and all without taking up too much space on your sideboard.

You get 30W of total power output – two times 5W for the drivers, 20W for the woofer. And there's plenty of different ways to feed it music.

The speaker system includes dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 on board, along with a stereo RCA line input.

It's compatible with Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, TuneIn (radio) and QPlay II. And it supports AirPlay 2 and Google Cast for both sending audio to the device, as well as linking it with other enabled speakers in a multi-room setup.

Audio playback is capable up to 24-bit / 96kHz.

The speaker is covered in fabric while a touch interface can be found on the top for local control. This dims in standby, so won't be distracting when you're not listening to music.

There's an ambient light ring underneath the HYG 5 too, which includes a sensor so it can respond and adjust to suit your room's lighting.

"We wanted music to be easier to enjoy at home. HYG 5 isn’t a system you have to tinker with – it wakes and plays whenever you want, capable and warm, without asking much of the room or of you," said Jamo's chief product officer, Guillaume Sirami.

The Jamo HYG 5 will be available from 20 October, priced at £349 / $399 / €399.

It's safe to say that the LG Sound Suite – the Korean brand's premier surround sound system and the first to support Dolby Atmos FlexConnect – split the crowd when it was first launched.

I enjoyed its offering – which comprises H7 soundbar, W7 subwoofer, and up to four W7 surround speakers – but my review sample didn't arrive quite as early as some, providing time behind the scenes to iron out various hiccups.

Now, however, LG has delivered a massive free upgrade to the Sound Suite, promising upgraded home cinema features and new audio compatibility too. Premier to which is the addition of DTS:X compatibility.

Sure, Dolby Atmos rules for the majority of releases these days, but some heritage discs (or, in rare cases, streaming sources) may have a DTS format instead – and now the Sound Suite, or standalone H7 soundbar, is compatible.

Some serious home cinema fans will be pleased to see that dual W7 subwoofer pairing has also been added, for larger room setups where there's the demand, while updated Wi-Fi 6GHz networks are also supported, favouring those with the latest Wi-Fi type.

It's not all just about home cinema, though, with Google Cast support finally added too. That'll be ideal for Android users, particularly with music playback, to easily cast content from phone or tablet or laptop to the soundbar or surround system.

This is great additional support to obtain free of charge, but it does beg the question as to why it wasn't part of the package on day one. The announcement was made on 14 October, with over-the-air updates due to roll out to customers thereafter.

I have been testing and writing about home cinema and audio products for more than two decades, so it's rare that I can be surprised by a new product. But that's exactly what happened with the new Naim Mu-so – the company's first all-in-one sound system to carry the Utopia branding.

I had no clue what to expect when I sat down in a listening room at Focal's headquarters in France, only that I was to listen to something new. And when the demo started, I thought I was experiencing new surround sound separates.

I was wrong.

It soon became apparent that the fully spatial audio bubble was being provided by a single-box solution, and I was blown away. The sides and rears were so pronounced that I was sure there was some kind of Wizard of Oz hoodwinkery going on. And the Dolby Atmos playback on multiple video clips had real height – as it should.

The least surprising part of the reveal was that Naim and Focal collaboration is the first to adopt "Utopia" – the latter's flagship audio labelling. The Mu-so Utopia is at the pinnacle of the range and offers safely the best soundbar-style performance I've experienced to date.

That's perhaps unsurprising considering it costs £4,500 / $5,500, but I actually think that's reasonable for what you get – both technically and in quality terms.

The Mu-so Utopia contains 15 speakers in total, with seven ranged along the front. There are two on each side, plus a further four on the top.

Each driver is powered by either class D or class A/B amplification, depending on the frequency ranges. And there is a total power output of 720W.

The two midrange speakers ranged left and right on the front are Focal's trademark W drivers, and they are joined by a tweeter apiece, featuring the audiophile brand's new PRISM technology. This is instead of the beryllium drivers that are usually synonymous with Focal products, but are no less precise.

There are three six-inch woofers too, which negate the need for a separate sub, and the speakers at the top and sides are full range.

I've had a lot of experience with the Yamaha YSP-1 in the past – one of the first soundbars to use beamforming technology to bounce audio off walls and the ceiling to create a surround sound effect, and the same philosophy is employed here. Only tenfold.

The directional effect is astounding. It depends on the room, of course, and I was told that it works best in a room up to 50 metres square. But considering I was in a 60-metre room, it sounded pretty darn impressive to me.

The demo consisted of some Dolby Atmos clips, including a scene from the 2014 war film Unbroken and the wildfire sequence from Game of Thrones. Both rocked me to my socks, with superb spacing and a grunt that punched in a truly cinematic way.

On top of this, I got to hear how capable the all-in-one is with spatially arranged music, such as Billie Eilish's Bittersuite in Dolby Atmos (via Apple Music).

As with last year's Mu-so Hekla, the Utopia supports both Atmos and Focal's own Sphere Music and Sphere Movie spatial audio platforms. These provide complete bubbles of sound that helps immerse you more into the experience – as if playing through ceiling and wall-mounted drivers.

It is also compatible with a wide array of wireless streaming services and standards, such as Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, Google Cast, and AirPlay 2. There's Bluetooth on board too, as well as internet radio support.

Hi-Res Audio is supported, of course, with playback up to 32bits/384kHz (via WAV). All manner of other formats can be decoded too.

It is a 7.1.2 channel system and features HDMI eARC on the rear. You feed the Mu-so from a TV or amplifier, rather than the other way around. And there's an optical audio input available for good measure. A sub/aux out is offered as well.

Wi-Fi 6 is on board for wireless connectivity, although you might be best using the 1-gig Ethernet port if you want the best connection to your home network. It certainly deserves it.

As with all of Naim's Mu-so collection, you can even use the Utopia as part of a multiroom setup and sync its playback with other speakers. But this is a real centrepiece statement device that deserves to be at the hub of your home.

Music sounds crisp and accurate, even at high volumes, while movie and even game soundtracks are emotive. Yes, you are paying for the pleasure, but pleasure is the operative word.

Even from just a 30 to 60 minute test, it's clear that this is an all-in-one for audiophiles – and could even convert those who would never dream of ditching their separates.

It's available through the Focal Powered by Naim network of shops, priced at £4,499 / $5,500 / €5,000. You should arrange to have a listen yourself, if you can.

Apple has announced its new Home line-up in one of the biggest non-streamed events of the year. Among the new products were a new HomeView hub, a new Apple TV 4K device and a second generation of Apple's cute HomePod mini speakers.

The second generation of HomePod mini, also known as HomePod mini 2, looks pretty similar on the outside but has had a significant bump internally.

The speakers are available in pink, green, blue, white and midnight colours and cost slightly more than their predecessors at £149 / $149.

These speakers are designed to provide room-filling 360-degree sound from just one unit, but can be paired for stereo sound, or used in different rooms to provide multi-room audio.

These new models can also be used in a combination of up to four speakers to deliver a full surround sound experience from your Apple TV 4K. This works with the new fourth generation Apple TV 4K only, but you can combine the larger HomePod second generation speakers with the new HomePod mini 2 devices.

The little speaker is now more powerful too, so it can run Apple's latest Siri AI assistant, giving you access to a range of commands, from controlling home activities to searching the web for answers to random questions, and even referencing your messages and emails to help you find a key piece of information in seconds.

Perhaps my favourite feature though, is what Apple is calling Sound Glow. It transforms the top of the speaker into a glowing, pulsing form that changes colour and can react to the music you're playing. It can be your own personal disco or soothing visual accompaniment to a soundscape.

The Apple HomePod mini 2 is available to pre-order now with availability from 30 October 2026.

I've seen some pretty unusual collaborations this year, but Beats teaming up with Pokémon to create a special-edition Bluetooth speaker certainly wasn't on my 2026 bingo card.

The Apple-owned audio brand has joined forces with The Pokémon Company International to give its popular Beats Pill a colourful makeover, featuring two of the franchise's most recognisable characters, Pikachu and Mimikyu.

The speaker's perforated grille features a striking illustration of both Pokémon, with Pikachu's signature electric yellow contrasting against a greyscale interpretation of Mimikyu, the mysterious Ghost/Fairy-type Pokémon famous for disguising itself as Pikachu.

Gotta collect 'em all

The collaboration goes beyond simply printing Pokémon characters onto an existing product.

For the first time, Beats is introducing collectable charms to the Pill, with bespoke accessories including a Poké Ball, the Beats 'b' logo and lightning bolts inspired by Pikachu.

Even the packaging has received special treatment, featuring an interactive design created specifically for the collaboration.

"Pokémon Trainers are some of the most passionate in the world, and we saw an opportunity to channel that energy into something fun, unexpected and created especially for fans," says Chris Thorne, Beats CMO.

"This collaboration unites two brands rooted in culture, giving fans a new way to express their love of Pokémon through sound."

Of course, the timing couldn't be better, with Pokémon celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026.

Familiar sound, electrifying design

The Pokémon x Beats Pill is a fully fledged portable Bluetooth speaker that uses the same bespoke acoustic system as the regular Pill.

There's also support for high-resolution lossless audio via USB-C, while two compatible Beats Pill speakers can be paired wirelessly in Amplify mode for increased output or Stereo mode for a wider soundstage.

Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours, and the IP67 dust and water-resistance rating means the speaker should be equally at home on a desk, beside a pool or accompanying you on outdoor adventures.

You can use its USB-C connection to charge a compatible smartphone, effectively turning the Pill into a portable power bank when needed.

The Pokémon x Beats Pill launches on 15 October, priced at $150 in the US, where it will be available through Apple US and Target. UK customers will be able to pick one up for £150 through Apple UK and Argos.

Nothing's more budget-friendly brand CMF was recently split from the main label and moved to India, and it's first product to arrive since the shift is in an all-new category.

The CMF Speaker S and Speaker M are portable Bluetooth party speakers that feature Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity, IP68 water and dust proofing, and extended battery life – up to 18 hours. They also support multi-speaker setups for listening across several devices at once.

And yes, they do look a bit like milk cartons.

However, as with most products from the Nothing or CMF brands, you're getting a lot of tech for not much cash, with some modern design twists, to boot. They have an IKEA sensibility, I feel, considering the sharp, angular designs and keen price points.

The CMF Speaker S is priced at just £49 / $59, while the larger Speaker M is £99 / $109.

Both speakers are available from the Nothing webstore in white, dark grey, orange and turquoise. The front panels and dials can be swapped with 3D-printed custom designs, if you have the will and the way to make them (or buy them from third-parties online).

The smaller of the two features a custom-tuned 45mm full-range driver and dual passive radiators. It delivers up to 10W across 70Hz - 20kHz.

The Larger has dual-drivers – a dedicated 25W woofer and 10W tweeter. It's capable of up to 35W output across 60Hz - 20kHz.

An adaptive tuning algorithm is used at hardware level on both speakers, which optimises playback dynamically, while ultra bass technology adds more oomph for low frequencies.

They can both be further tuned through the Nothing X app for Android or iOS.

As well as Bluetooth 6.0, the speakers support NFC tap-to-pair, Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. They can be linked to two sources simultaneously, in order to easily switch between devices, and the USB-C port can also be used for a wired connection.

The original Triangle Capella system launched just two years ago, but the company has seen an opportunity to upgrade the specification and the looks at the same time.

The aptly named Capella 2 is the result. It needs more than some fresh finishes to compete in this market, though – so does the second-gen Capella have what it takes?

Price & Availability

The Triangle Capella 2 active wireless standmount stereo speaker system is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it sells for £2299 – but it’s worth bearing in mind the dedicated S05 speaker stands will set you back another £279.

In the United States you’re looking at $2899, with stands coming in at $329 for a pair, while in Australia it's an AU$6000 buy in – with the stands set at AU$325.

Features & What's New?

The Capella has changed in order to become Capella 2, of course, but not everything has changed. Some aspects of the original system still have what it takes.

Take the driver array, for example. The same 25mm horn-loaded magnesium-aluminium alloy dome tweeter (with phasing piece at the horn outlet for optimal off-axis performance) is positioned above the same 165mm, 100% natural cellulose pulp, mid/bass driver as before.

The larger driver has a vented aluminium chassis and a half-roll suspension of rubber and foam, and each driver features an assertively textured rubber surround that, as with the curve of the cabinet, is designed to refine soundwave dispersion.

Triangle suggests this array delivers a frequency response of 42Hz - 22kHz – the downward-firing bass reflex port contributes to that low-end figure here, of course.

At 100 watts of Class D amplification per speaker, power is the same as before too. Triangle is also persevering with a streaming hub to take care of all wired and wireless connectivity, rather than follow the majority of its competitors and have one of the speakers deal with it.

The hub still uses WiSA technology to stream to the speakers at 24bit/192kHz and offer vanishingly low latency of less than 2.6m/s. Some aspects of the hub, though, have been updated and upgraded – that’s why it’s now called ‘Stereo Hub 2’.

A new Cortex A53 processor means its dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity allows it to support Spotify Lossless, Qobuz Connect and Tidal Connect, UPnP, be Roon Ready, and is compatible with AirPlay and Chromecast too.

Bluetooth 5.2 is available, with codec compatibility up to aptX HD. There’s now an Ethernet port and a pre-out for a subwoofer on the hub, which are obviously both very useful additions. Other physical inputs include a line-level analogue number on stereo RCAs, three digital optical sockets, a digital coaxial input, USB-A and USB-B, and that all-important HDMI eARC.

Performance

Obviously there’s a difference between streaming a 320kbps Spotify file of a tune via Bluetooth and listening to the same song as a 24bit/96kHz Flac file via Tidal Connect - but what’s profoundly gratifying about the Triangle Capella 2 is how unjudgemental it is.

Sure, the Tidal stream has more of everything – but the system does its level best with the Spotify alternative, rather than holding it up for ridicule as some price-comparable systems like to do.

Its fundamental character and attitude always shine through – and that’s a good thing. The Triangle is a direct, organised listen and is capable of generating a soundstage that’s spacious, open and quite carefully organised.

It’s slightly short of the outright scale of sound some rivals can summon, it’s true – but only slightly. Its sound escapes the physical dimensions of the cabinets quite significantly – and its ability with soundstage control means any and all elements in a recording get the breathing space necessary to express themselves.

This spacious character is not at the expense of unity, either, as the Capella 2 collates each element into a convincing whole. Overall tonality is nice and neutral, with the Triangle seemingly happy to let a recording dictate terms rather than sticking its oar in too overtly.

The top of the frequency range balances attack and brilliance against substance well, the transition into the midrange is uneventful, and despite a little drop-off in presence and substance at the bottom of the frequency range, bass sounds are punchy.

They’re also controlled enough to express rhythms with real confidence and, just as with the rest of the frequency range, there’s more than enough detail available to allow the light and shade, the variations in texture and harmonics, to be perfectly apparent.

It’s an impressive facility that extends as far as the harmonic discrepancies and variations in a voice or an instrument, with the under- and overtones that bracket the fundamental. And even though the midrange isn’t above getting just slightly gritty in extremis, it’s an articulate and actually unequivocal listen.

Dynamic headroom is, to understate it somewhat, adequate. The big up- or down-shifts in attack or intensity in a recording are described faithfully and in full. And that’s the case even if you listen to the quieter passages fairly loud – the Capella 2 just gets louder as the volume ramps up, and does so without sounding stressed or altering its overall character.

Design & Usability

Each Capella 2 speaker is an unremarkable 38 x 20 x 32cm (H x W x D), and the nicely built and finished cabinets are mildly curved at their vertical edges.

I’ve already mentioned the sonic benefits Triangle is claiming from this feature – but it also helps to make the speakers look a little less sharp-edged and a little more upmarket than they might otherwise.

The downward-firing bass reflex port at the bottom of each speaker is raised to an appropriate height by the slim little integrated stand/rail/thing the cabinet sits on – whether you used the dedicated S05 stands or not, the speaker will be at an ideal height in terms of a fixed boundary for the port to fire onto.

Mind you, the S05 stands have more going for them than the fact the speaker clips nicely into the top-plate. Triangle has expanded the finishes it’s offering – to the original system’s ‘Space’ white and ‘Astral’ blue there’s now the option of ‘Space’ black, oak or the ‘English’ green of my review sample (with stands are available to match).

The magnetically attached grilles are colour-coded to the finish you’ve selected, as is the Stereo Hub 2.

You can control the system’s headline functions via a redesigned remote control. It’s made mostly from aluminium, it’s rechargeable via USB-C, it’s RF rather than IR (quite helpful when it comes to having, or not having, line-of-sight), and its row of little LEDs ensure it’s easier to understand than the unlit alternatives offered by quite a few rivals.

You get far more input into the way the system performs via the Capella control app, though. It doesn’t allow you to integrate any streaming services, which means having at least two apps open at a time, and it’s hardly the most straightforward in its layout.

That said, it offers plenty of fine-tuning where speaker placement, frequency response, subwoofer integration and so on are concerned. Particularly good is the ability to run an automatic room calibration routine using just an iOS device (Android compatibility is apparently incoming).

Verdict

Extended functionality and some lively new finishes make the Triangle Capella 2 an even more compelling option that the model it replaces.

It’s not quite ready to claim top spot though, as some rivals are even more capable and a little less compromised.

But if you prefer the road less travelled, this Triangle wireless stereo system makes a strong (and, indeed, colourful) case for itself.

Also Consider

In its own way the Technics SC-CX700 system is just as striking and individualistic as the Triangle Capella 2, and in its own way it’s just as accomplished and just as flawed – one person’s ‘neutral’ sound is another’s ‘uninvolving’, after all.

If a neutral sound is the last thing you want, you’re invited to check out the KEF LS50 Wireless II system – it sounds just as assertive and uncompromising as it looks, and it’s been the market leader for quite a while now.

Having recently acquired the Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar as part of my audio-visual suite, I was fortunate enough to already have the brand's Sub to make for bigger bass.

But there was one key ingredient missing: true surround sound. Fortunately, by virtue of the Amazon Prime Day sale this October, I've just managed to upgrade that too!

Check out the Era 100 SL deal on Amazon

That's because the Sonos Era 100 SL just got its biggest price cut to date. Buy a pair and you, too, can pair them with your Sonos soundbar for true rear channels – and a surround sound upgrade that makes a huge difference!

While the new Beam Ultra did add a very cool feature, enabling you to use wireless speakers – namely the Move 2 or newer Play model – as part of a surround setup, those are much pricier speakers.

If you're looking for that Sonos soundbar upgrade on the cheap – or certainly cheaper – then my advice is to nab a pair of SL speakers instead. Two of them will cost you less than either of the portable products above!

What's particularly great about such a setup is that when you're not using the Era 100 SL pair as rear surrounds, you can use them as a stereo pair for music – if you don't fancy outputting tunes through a full soundbar in tandem (which you can also do, of course).

If this upgrade is your first stepping stone towards better TV audio then I'd also strongly suggest considering adding a Sonos Sub Mini if you don't have one. The Sonos Sub 4 is huge and expensive and likely overkill – unless you have a huge screen and room with a Sonos Arc Ultra.

Or if you can't have a subwoofer in your home setup, as it'd be too problematic for your neighbours or even your own family or cohabitants, then the SL upgrade is a really big step in changing TV and movie audio for the better. You won't regret it.

There is a likely time limit to this deal, though, as Amazon's October sale is over at the end of today (Wednesday 7 October) and, as before, the price may jump back up to regular levels thereafter.

Amazon has swooped into action this week, likely because it wants its own slice of the pie compared to Black Friday, when every retailer in the world is competing to offer deals on tech. So, in early October, we now get Prime Big Deal Days, giving extremely impressive discounts to Prime members.

I'm trawling through the thousands of offers available, and with the event only a few hours old, the first big deal to jump out at me on Amazon should come as no surprise, given my recent reviews – it's a Sonos device.

I just reviewed the five-star Sonos Beam Ultra, a stunning new soundbar that pushes the price of the Beam line higher than it's ever been, but it's the older (and still fabulous) Beam Gen 2 that I think would be my personal purchase this week if I were in the market for something.

The main difference between the Beam Gen 2 and the newer Beam Ultra is that the latter has real upfiring drivers for overhead audio in surround-sound settings, but I really think the majority of users won't find fault with the older, substantially cheaper Beam's sound.

It's superb, after all, and I happily used it for years before the Ultra came along – and this deal makes the Beam Gen 2 literally half the price of the Ultra. When that's the arithmetic, I think there's no contest: almost anyone would be better off saving their cash and buying the cheaper soundbar.

After all, this might leave you with leftover budget to pick up some rear surrounds – and how lucky are you? The Sonos Era 100 SL is also discounted for this Prime event, so you could pick up a Beam Gen 2 with two Era 100 SLs, all for less than the cost of just the Beam Ultra.

Picking up a Beam Gen 2 and a couple of Era 100 SLs will basically get you the surround system that I've been using for the past couple of years – and that means I can vouch for how great it is.

Sound quality is crisp and powerful, but you also get nice amounts of subtlety, and Sonos' features like night mode and dialogue boost can be lifesavers if you're trying to watch something obnoxiously loud without making your neighbours hate you.

This sale only lasts for a couple of days, so expect these prices to bounce back up at the end of 7 October – don't hang around if you're thinking of pulling the trigger.

A full Dolby Atmos sound system for £169, you say? Including subwoofer and surround speakers? You cannot be serious?

But Cambridge-based Majority is very serious – as that’s just what it’s delivered with this bijou Bowfell box of tricks.

It’s one of the least expensive ways to experience object-based surround sound at home – but what you get might not be quite what you expect.

The Bowfell Halo Atmos package bundles together a compact soundbar, wireless subwoofer and diminutive rear speakers, which pair to create a genuine 5.1-channel system.

This isn't a rival to premium systems from Samsung, LG or Sonos, as you'll find among the best soundbars. It’s designed for those of who want bigger TV sound without spending a fortune.

Price & Availability

The Bowfell Halo Atmos is available now, and sells for £169.95 / €179.95. That's around $230 or AU$320 – not that it's launched in USA or Australian territories.

It sits above the standard Bowfell Halo 5.1 surround system, which omits Dolby Atmos support and sells for just £119.95. Buyers wanting just an Atmos-enabled soundbar can opt for the Bowfell Axis Atmos 2.1 package, at £129.95.

As you can tell, we’re very much in the cheap seats here.

Features & What's New?

Premium accoutrements are thin on the ground. There’s no automatic room calibration or microphone-based optimisation available. This is very much plug-and-play.

The single box package contains a compact soundbar, separate wireless subwoofer and a pair of rear surround speakers.

While these satellites communicate wirelessly with the front stage, you'll need sockets to power the lead (right) surround speaker and somewhere to hide the wire that connects the two rears together.

When it comes to codec support, the Bowfell Halo handles Dolby Atmos and all its subsidiaries – Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Surround. However, DTS is absent.

Majority also includes four listening presets, covering Music, Movie, News and Sport. Bass and treble adjustments allow a modest amount of tailoring.

Sound Quality

No-one should expect reference-quality Dolby Atmos at this price. Yet the Majority Halo delivers something that TV speakers and stereo soundbars simply cannot: wraparound sound that puts you in the middle of the action.

Installation takes only a few minutes. The soundbar, wireless sub and rear speakers pair without fuss. I moved from unboxing to watching films in a jiffy.

Spinning the Dolby Atmos Amaze demonstration clip on Blu-ray immediately reveals the system's strengths – but also its limitations.

Surround steering works well. Effects pan cleanly around my listening position. There's a satisfying sense of movement as sounds travel from front to rear.

What never truly materialises is convincing height effects. There’s no upfiring drivers to be had on the Halo. The soundbar faces forward.

The result is that the overhead canopy that for many defines the Dolby Atmos experience is missing.

This front soundstage is also fairly narrow, largely because the drivers are packed closely together inside the compact enclosure. On the plus side, dialogue stays anchored to the screen and remains intelligible.

Bass, meanwhile, is dominant.

The compact wireless subwoofer digs surprisingly deep. Majority quotes a reach down to 45Hz, but I measured lower. It certainly adds weight to blockbuster films. Explosions, rumbles and portentous soundtracks are delivered with plenty of grunt.

The opening bombing sequence of WWII drama Unbroken, with its exploding flak, demonstrates this trait well.

However, the crossover between the bar and the sub is set high, around 200Hz, so the sub is contributing to the front soundstage fairly consistently. It's important, therefore, that it’s not positioned too far from the soundbar itself.

Running the Dolby Atmos ‘Amaze’ demo jungle clip reveals a decent sense of surround and panning movement, even though there's really no height component to the mix. A consequence of that high crossover causes the soundbar to clip quite viciously when the big thunderclap comes.

Music exposes the system's compromises more readily.

Billie Eilish's Bad Guy overwhelms the room with bass energy. The ported subwoofer is wildly enthusiastic, and unless you reduce its output by one or two increments, it booms. Dial it back too far, though, and the relatively thin character of the soundbar becomes more apparent. It’s a delicate balancing act – and not one I think I mastered.

Ultimately, the Bowfell Halo Atmos sounds exactly as its asking price suggests. It’s rowdy, energetic and unapologetically entertaining. Even if refinement is left at the concession stand.

Design & Usability

This build is best described as functional, and the finish is neat enough, although I really don’t like the oversized Dolby Atmos branding.

The bar itself measures 40.5 x 9 x 6.2cm; the subwoofer, a ported design with a downward-firing 6-inch driver, is similarly compact, at just 18.5 x 15 x 32cm. The two surround speakers are circular pucks, measuring 9 x 6.2cm.

The unit ships with a simple remote control that covers all key functions and provides direct access to sound modes.

These dimensions make placement relatively straightforward. The soundbar should sit neatly beneath most TVs, while the rear speakers are small enough to perch on shelves or mount discreetly on walls.

Daily usability is a little more mixed. The soundbar communicates via a scrolling LED display, which isn’t particularly intuitive.

Connectivity comprises HDMI eARC for TV audio, while an optical digital input offers compatibility with older screens.

Bluetooth 5.3 enables wireless music streaming, while USB playback supports MP3, FLAC and WAV files.

There's also a 3.5mm AUX input for any legacy kit you might want to hook up.

Verdict

There’s very little that can match what Majority offers with the Bowfell Halo Atmos. It’ll surround you with sound for a price that’s undoubtedly generous.

Viewed purely as a Dolby Atmos system, it falls well short of what the format can ultimately achieve. Height effects are non-existent, the soundstage lacks width, and the subwoofer throws its weight around in a distinctly antisocial manner.

However, it still warrants a recommendation. Give it an action movie or a Netflix thriller and it rewards with aggression, clear dialogue and wraparound sound.

Teenage bedrooms, gaming rooms and smaller lounges are where the Bowfell Halo Atmos belongs. Movies, games, and sports all benefit in the right context – and without having to pay big for it.

Also Consider

If your budget stretches considerably further, the £899 Samsung HW-QS90H is a far more sophisticated Dolby Atmos soundbar. It offers a much larger soundstage, convincing height effects, advanced room calibration and Samsung's excellent Q-Symphony integration for compatible televisions.

Alternatively, check out the £179 TCL Q65HK 5.1 soundbar and sub. It lacks dedicated rear speakers, but includes support for DTS:X, has a 580W power plant, and uses proprietary Ray Danz side-firing drivers for a wider soundstage.

I attended a launch event in the heart of Paris earlier this week, where Loewe presented its newest brand ambassador, Esther Abrami, with a private violin concert showcasing her talents.

Much as that grabbed my interest, it was the brand's all-new speaker that then distracted me with different talents of its own. The Neo is a portable Bluetooth speaker quite unlike any other I've ever handled – and I've seen it all over the years.

Finished with an exposed aluminium chassis, complete with distinctive circular openings, the visual aesthetic balances industrial chic with a more delicate craftsmanship. That grille's openings are almost sharp to the touch, such is their precision.

While I didn't see this particular feature in action, the Loewe Neo's grilles are even interchangeable, should you wish to switch out for other options, and there are modular exterior components to really amp up the personalisation factor.

There's plenty more going on, too, with intelligent lighting part of the package too. As you can see from my hands-on shots, I the side panel was illuminating an eye-catching purple when I handled the unit; but there's also an additional light bar on the opposite side next to the physical controls.

These control buttons feature the ability to adjust bass and treble output, plus control the lighting function to suit your tastes. It's not like an out-of-control party speaker, mind, the lighting is far more subtle and eloquent – as you'd expect of a brand like Loewe.

The one major aspect that lacked in my preview session was to actually hear the speaker, because the concert room was so loud and that wasn't on the table. But with 50W of power and dual passive radiators, the spec sheet ticks the right boxes for a product of this scale.

It's even kitted out with IP67 dust- and water-proofing, ensuring the elements won't stop it – I'm impressed, considering that grille design – a battery to deliver 12 hours per charge, and it's all wrapped in an included carry case (not pictured).

One of my favourite Bluetooth speakers is Bang & Olufsen's A1 Gen 3, which is also a striking metal unit (albeit more circular), but in my brief time handling the Loewe Neo, I find it an even more striking prospect.

I was therefore holding my breath to find out the asking price, which I had assumed would be far beyond the reaches of most. However, at £400/$400, for a Loewe product, it's honestly not as outlandish as I was half expecting.

And for something that's as much objet d'art as it is a functional Bluetooth speaker, I can't wait to see – and, indeed, hear – more from the Neo. There's a little wait, however, as it's only available to pre-order from 20 November for a release later in the year.

The Sonos Beam Ultra is a big release in my household, as someone who's had one Sonos Beam or another beneath his TV since 2018 – quite an innings for Sonos' compact soundbar. The first-gen version graced my flat for a very, very long time, and I was thrilled to upgrade it to the Beam (Gen 2) last year, hearing the upgrade immediately.

When Sonos announced the Beam Ultra, I was eager to see how much more of a boost it could give, especially since my living room is arguably the exact sort of space that befits a soundbar of this size; that's a polite way of saying it's not huge.

Well, I've had the Beam Ultra for well over a week now, and I've used it for dozens of hours already, and in the course of that week I've done more A/B testing than you can shake a hat at. That's involved some slightly draining HDMI swapping marathons, but it's what we do for the love of the game.

So, how does the Beam Ultra fare? Is it worth the chunky uplift in price? Read on for a proper comparison of these two compact Sonos soundbars.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Pricing

The Beam Ultra comes in to fill a fairly obvious gap in Sonos' lineup of soundbars. The Ray already took care of entry-level buyers, and the Arc Ultra is there for those with huge budgets, but the Beam Ultra comes in below that mark at £699 / $699 / AU$1099 / €699.

That's a decent uplift over the standard Beam (Gen 2), which launched back in 2021 at £449/$449/AU$699. Dropping an extra £250 is nothing to sniff at, and the gap is actually bigger than that given the Beam (Gen 2) regularly goes on sale for a decent chunk less, especially during big events like Black Friday or Prime Day.

Of course, you do get plenty of upgrades for that price, as we'll cover next.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Design and features

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) didn't change the footprint of its older sibling, the first-gen Beam, but did ditch its fabric cover in favour of a perforated grille around the outside of the soundbar. It paired this with a smooth plastic top that gave away its secret – there were no upfiring drivers here.

That meant that, while its big upgrade over its predecessor was the addition of Dolby Atmos sound, much of that sound was virtualised. Of course, we agreed with everyone else at the time of its launch that this virtualisation was really impressive, and we stand by that.

Now, though, the Beam Ultra brings actual, honest-to-goodness upfiring drivers, and that means an obvious change to its design to stop them from being muffled. The top of the soundbar is now perforated, too, with its touch controls therefore moved into some sections around its edge, which also features a slightly raised bump that looks quite funky.

The Beam Ultra is also bigger – and this surprised me in person. When I read that it was 10cm wider (which is the only meaningful difference in its dimensions), I thought that would look like nothing, but it's quite noticeable. Don't get me wrong, the Beam Ultra remains a compact solution of a soundbar, but it's less compact than before, and that could matter in tight spaces.

On the features side, those upfiring drivers are the single biggest thing for Sonos to shout about on the Beam Ultra, and they make a difference, as I'll cover in the sound quality section down below. That said, there are now nine drivers to the older Beam's five, so it's a more comprehensive refit than just adding a couple of new bits and pieces.

The Beam Ultra also adds Bluetooth, which the Beam (Gen 2) lacks, and that makes it more welcoming to those who might be in your home and fancy taking control of the playlist without being attached to your whole Sonos system. It also gets an upgrade to its Speech Enhancement feature, which gets AI feeding into it for better clarity compared to the older system. Finally, Wi-Fi 6 is here instead of the older Wi-Fi 4.

The longer list, though, covers what the soundbars both do. They both have TruePlay for room tuning; Night Sound to dampen bass when needed; voice controls for smart assistant use; and TV Audio Swap with Sonos Ace or Ace Ultra headphones.

So, on the features side, you're basically choosing between a slightly more compact 5.1.2 soundbar, or an ever so slightly bigger 7.1.2 one in the newer Beam Ultra – at a chunkier cost, but with a deal more future-proofing to keep it in the running for longer.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Sound quality

So, the soundbars look pretty similar but have a gulf in price – is that something that's immediately explained away when you start listening to the Beam Ultra?

Well, frankly, yes. I've been hugely impressed with the Ultra, whether it's from the point of view of detail, power or (obviously) verticality. I tested the Beam Ultra against the Beam (Gen 2) with some pretty detailed swaps, watching the same material over and over to check the differences.

Samples included various scenes from Blade Runner 2049 on 4K disc, which has a superb Atmos mix with a lot of verticality to it; I also used Top Gun: Maverick, which similarly has a great mix, and a whole heap of channel testing videos to isolate channels where possible.

That testing made it clear that the Beam Ultra is indeed quite a big step up – even if you just start with raw power. I kept the two soundbars on the same volume setting in the Sonos app when swapping between them, and the Ultra was consistently a good chunk louder, which made it booming at times.

Impressively, though, that added volume didn't muddy things, and detail was actually quite a lot clearer on the Ultra. Sonos says the new soundbar has a redesigned centre channel for clearer dialogue, but I found that even other sound elements were easier to identify and less liable to get lost in the background.

Of course, those vertical channels are also exactly the upgrade I'd hoped for, and they did indeed work a treat in well-mixed scenes. The Beam (Gen 2) remains an impressive virtual performer, but the difference is obvious when you have the real thing to play with.

That said, the Beam (Gen 2) remains a brilliant performer, and there were plenty of occasions when, despite the Beam Ultra's advantage, I was reminded by how great the older bar can sound. I've happily used this for nearly a year in my setup, and I would have no real issue with continuing that way.

It's still got plenty of headroom in terms of power, and detail isn't a real issue, either. It only suffers by comparison to a newer bar that costs £250 more, and I'd say that's a really good result for a soundbar that's been on the market since 2021.

Sonos Beam Ultra vs Beam (Gen 2): Verdict

This is a complicated one – Sonos has made the buying journey a bit of a ladder now, since you can basically talk yourself into an upgrade all the way from the Ray up to the Arc Ultra. The Beam Ultra now looks like an obvious upsell from the Beam (Gen 2), and I do think you feel and hear the difference.

The simple fact is that I think the Beam (Gen 2) remains a superb choice for anyone looking to spend less than £500 on a soundbar that won't take up much space. Most of Sonos' new features work on it, and it's a looker, too.

However, if you do have a bigger budget, then the Beam Ultra clearly wins in terms of sound quality. It's an evolution of the Beam, and while I'd have loved to see it be the Gen 3, with a lower price, the world of tech pricing means that was always unlikely.

Whether that makes the Beam Ultra the overall winner might be in the eye of the beholder, but I think it confirms that Sonos' approach to its soundbar lineup is a sensible one. Filling in the gaps has, in this case, delivered a bit of a beauty.

Anyone who's sat in a proper racing simulator knows that there's quite a difference between a proper rig and the sort of setup that most of us could probably afford to build at home. I'm not knocking the sort of Logitech wheels and pedals that can instantly upgrade your home racing experience, but the sort of rig I drove last week is in a different category.

Over the course of nearly an hour in the rig at Sim Motorsport, a simulation centre at the ultra-historic Brands Hatch raceway in the UK's southeast, I got a sense for just how impressive modern sims have become, and how integral they are to the teaching process for aspiring racing drivers.

What took me by surprise, though, was how a recent upgrade in the sims' audio setup has helped those drivers (and, by a smaller margin, me) shave even more time off their laps.

It's now nearly a year since Sim Motorsport partnered with Innit Audio, a Swedish audio startup that's trying to get the word out about its new approach to spatial audio. Innit's founders have managed to effectively magic up an algorithm that can make two-channel audio sound drastically more realistic to the human ear.

The technical details of how its system works can get baffling quickly, but it basically comes down to more properly representing how sound actually travels to our ears when we hear it. Effectively, when you hear something on your right-hand side, you actually hear it through both your right and left ears, but when you listen to most audio in headphones, the right channel is exclusively in your right ear.

That makes headphones and gaming headsets often feel like bubbles that don't really represent real-world sound, for all that we're all really used to that feeling by now. Innit's system feeds the sound into both channels in marginal ways that mimic the real-world movement of sound waves around your head.

When you try it out, at times it can be like a magic trick – whether listening to music or in-game audio, turning it on can make for bafflingly fuller and more 360-degree sound, even though the audio input hasn't changed in any way.

In the context of a racing simulator, the benefits are marginal but crucial, as explained by a whole heap of testimonials that Innit has been gathering from pro drivers who train in sims constantly. The embedded clip below gives a taste of it if you have headphones on.

With the system turned off, you hear the game as you'd expect, and there's nothing clearly wrong with that. Turn it on, though, and you're suddenly hearing more detail with far clearer placement, including the audio of your tyres with more individual clarity.

That sort of audio is massive for natural and instinctive decision-making while racing, and means that you're basically even closer to the real experience of the race you're training for. Some drivers have told Innit that the audio upgrade gets them in the zone quicker, and others have said that it can shave an entire second off tight lap times.

In my time in the sim rig, I wasn't able to toggle Innit on and off, so I couldn't do any sort of scientific comparison – and I'm hardly an experienced driver in the first place. Still, there's no doubt that the audio coming from the neck-mounted gaming speaker being used was way more immersive than I expected, and did indeed, at times, let me make calls about my rear tyre positioning, in particular, with just a little less conscious thought than I'd have expected.

Innit's system was easier to get to grips with in a demo I tried later in the day, where I had the ability to toggle it on and off midway through audio – no matter where it was from. Playing music from Spotify or YouTube, the difference was stark each and every time I turned it on.

There were a couple of cases where I felt like it threw the mix of the music slightly off, but in most cases I heard fuller sound and got more of a sense of my own presence in the soundstage. That's pretty key to what Innit hopes to achieve – its team talks a lot about expanding the sound experience out so that it doesn't just seem like a bubble of audio around your head.

Bernt Böhmer, Innit's founder, told me that while sim racing is where they're currently showcasing Innit's potential to upgrade one's experience, it's far from limited to the track – and for him, the idea started with music: "It's kind of funny because having a background in music and music labs, and all of that, and creating that sort of equipment, I always approached this from a music point of view. So I wanted to recreate reality when music was playing back".

One huge challenge facing Innit is how it gets its audio renderer into people's ears. It could be included right on the chipset in earbuds and headphones, if it were licensed by a partner, but right now the only real route is to download its software to your PC and subscribe to use it there.

Innit's team is clearly hugely keen on the idea of getting the system onto smartphones, since that's where most of us consume the vast majority of our audio each day. That's a daunting process, though, with neither Apple nor Google making it easy to layer this sort of audio processing into their operating systems, for security reasons.

It's a little hard to know whether that means that in a few years I'll nod in recognition when I see Innit's logo attached to a big audio release from a brand like Sony or Sennheiser, swapping out more interventionist and obvious spatialisation tech for this lighter, potentially more accurate-feeling approach; or whether the tech will instead first end up in a phone, laptop, gaming handheld or some other device like it.

Either way, I came away from my demos and sim session feeling impressed by an audio solution that's clearly winning people over via word of mouth. If it can break out of the sim racing scene, it'll be fascinating to see where Innit ends up.

It's been almost half a decade since Sonos dropped the Beam (Gen 2) and made a lot of wishes come true by adding Dolby Atmos support for three-dimensional audio decoding.

That support relied on some impressive virtualisation, though, and ever since then we've been begging for a Beam with actual upfiring drivers to boost its verticality and immersiveness.

Well, here it is – and that's not the only upgrade Sonos has put on the table. The Beam Ultra isn't a Beam (Gen 3), obviously, and it's curious to consider why. It's certainly a contender for the best soundbar for most people, though, despite a notable price boost.

What I know for sure, though, is that after a week-and-a-half using it as my soundbar – and this is coming from a daily Beam (Gen 2) user – is that it's an incredibly interesting addition to Sonos' lineup, which might just make more sense than any other soundbar Sonos has ever made.

Price and Availability

The Beam Ultra was announced at the turn of September, and will actually go on sale at the end of the month – on 29 September, to be precise. You can pre-order it now, if you're eager and know you want it.

Pricing is straightforward, since the numbers are the same in a bunch of territories: £699 in the UK; $699 in the US; €699 in the EU; and, breaking the trend, AU$1099 in Australia.

That price makes the Beam Ultra a chunk more than the Beam (Gen 2), which remains on sale – and which it sounds like Sonos will continue making.

The Beam (Gen 2) came out back in 2021, so it's no longer a spring chicken, but that price gap is worth mulling over. I've written a comparison piece after A/B testing the two soundbars side-by-side, which should help on that front.

Design and Features

When Sonos first unveiled the Beam Ultra, I'll admit that I didn't initially read the fine print and assumed it would be almost identical to the Beam (Gen 2) but for the upgrades. In fact, Sonos has made more fundamental changes than the Beam label suggests.

The Ultra soundbar is a little bigger than both of the previous Beam generations, by around 10cm in overall width and by minuscule margins in a couple of other dimensions.

While that sounds like a minor difference, in person the Beam Ultra is indeed noticeably bigger. It remains compact despite this, but if you have a first or second-generation Beam that barely fits its space, you're going to need to measure to check if the Beam Ultra will work for you.

This change in dimensions also means that the Beam Ultra has a new mounting system for wall-mounting (which sees it 'float' when mounted, rather than sitting on a shelf-like design), as it won't work with the older Beam's mounts.

On the design front, it's not just bigger, the Beam Ultra also has a different look – emphasising the addition of upfiring drivers. The top of the soundbar now continues the perforations that run around its outside, to let that sound out upwards.

Touch controls persist, but they're now mounted around the edge of the soundbar's top, in a sort of raised ridge that runs around the outside. It's a neat solution, and while I barely use touch controls since the soundbar sits over by my TV, I've tried them out plenty for this review.

Underneath the bar, there are four raised feet to keep it stable, another subtle difference since previous Beams just sat completely flat.

On the back of the soundbar, a recess conceals the I/O on offer, which comprises a power port, an HDMI port for eARC connections, and a USB-C port that can take various adapters for optical or other connections (those adapters are optional extra purchases). Back there you'll also find a mute switch to turn off the microphones (which will disable various features, too).

The Beam Ultra comes in black and white, as with all of Sonos' recent launches, and in the white colour I've been testing, as provided by Sonos, it's a pretty lovely soundbar to look at. It's simple and elegant enough, but understated such that it doesn't draw the eye, to distraction which is just what I want.

On the features side, Sonos has added some new smarts. Those two upfiring drivers aren't the only additions, since the number of overall drivers now stands at nine, compared to the Beam (Gen 2) with five total. It's a 7.1.2 arrangement, with a new central channel design that Sonos hopes will make for clearer dialogue.

The Beam Ultra is part of the launch of Sonos27, a big update to the Sonos app (pause for trauma flashbacks here), and that brings some other smarts – or will do in the next few months. Sonos is promising AI-powered voice controls, for instance, but they're not here yet, and the same goes for Alexa+ integration.

What is here, though, is a new portable surround setting that lets you use a pair of Play or Move 2 speakers as surrounds for your Beam Ultra without them needing permanent resting spots – or, indeed, even fixed spots, as you can position them where you like.

Once added as surrounds, you can simply place them to your left and right, and they'll be auto-detected as rear surrounds when you're using your soundbar. Pick them up and move away, though, and they'll behave as they would normally.

Crucially, this feature will also work on the Beam (Gen 2) and Arc Ultra, so it's not locked to the Beam Ultra, but it's a cool little idea.

What is unique to the Beam Ultra for now is an upgraded version of Sonos' Speech Enhancement, now powered by AI for better results. You can choose between four levels to tune how noticeable it'll be, too.

One curious but welcome addition is Bluetooth, which had been absent from previous Beams, which were Wi-Fi only. That makes the Beam Ultra arguably more adaptable and straightforward for playlist-happy guests to use.

So, that's a nice list of new features, but there are also a couple of continued absences. Having brought Dolby Atmos well into the fold at this point, and with DTS Digital Surround support, it's a shame that DTS:X remains frozen out and unsupported. There's also no HDMI passthrough here, which is something Sonos seems not to want to embrace.

Sound and Performance

Much of the justification behind the Beam Ultra in the first place revolves around how much it can upgrade the sound quality of the Beam, a soundbar that has proven itself for so many people.

The Beam Ultra delivers, though. Even before turning to the verticality that it brings to the party, I found that its general sound quality was a clear step up compared to the Beam (Gen 2) when I swapped back and forth. Even without the speech enhancement mode, that new centre channel does indeed make for clearer dialogue in many scenes, and clarity overall was much better.

Early on in Blade Runner 2049, there's a scene where Dave Bautista handles some maggots before a car flies overhead and then lands. It's a sequence that goes from very quiet to very loud in a flash, involving a lot of overhead noise, and the difference when I swapped to the Beam Ultra was significant.

The overhead audio was clearly upgraded, as you would expect given the absence of physical upfiring channels on the older Beam, but I wasn't expecting that earlier part – with the details of the gloop dripping from Bautista's gloves – to be so much more clearly rendered at the same volume.

This was an impression that repeated throughout my testing. Top Gun: Maverick's vertiginous action sequences were clear and powerful, again demonstrating how much that vertical sound can improve matters. Finishing off The Wire (at long last), though, and simple scenes of dialogue were never muddled or muddy – something that plenty of other soundbars sometimes mess up.

The Beam Ultra can also get quite a chunk louder than the Beam (Gen 2). In my testing between the two, I routinely had to turn down the Ultra when I swapped to it, despite starting on the same volume rating in the Sonos app, and the ceiling it can reach is impressively booming.

I also got the chance to test the new portable surround setting that Sonos has added, using two of the five-star Play portable speakers as surrounds. This system is pretty terrific – put your Play or Move 2 in positions to make them rear channels, and when the speakers are both there and the TV's on, they'll automatically get used (and calibrate for their positioning).

Move them, though, and they'll function as normal, so you lose nothing by having them there when you want. The fact that you need a pair of these pricey portable speakers, though, does make me think that most people would be better off with some Era 100 SLs set up as traditional rear surrounds for a much lower price.

Beyond the portable surrounds, quite a lot of the hype around the Sonos27 app seems distant to me. The AI voice control features aren't live yet, so it's hard to judge what they'll really add to the party, and in regular use I tend to turn microphones off in as much of my home tech as I can, regardless.

Still, even without those bells and whistles, the fact is that I'm really pleased with the sonic performance of the Beam Ultra. It's a clear upgrade on the Beam (Gen 2) from a clarity and power point of view, while the addition of better overhead audio is another big step up to make the difference obvious.

Verdict

The Beam Ultra is a terrific proposition if you're in the market for a one-bar solution at this price, with the capacity to easily expand into a bigger system over time. It sounds phenomenal, remains impressively compact, and provides a clear upgrade over the Beam (Gen 2) from a quality point of view.

Of course, its price also means the 'Ultra' in its name is fair enough, and the premium it demands does mean that the Beam (Gen 2) will likely remain the best choice for a huge proportion of people – especially for smaller rooms or those simply less fussed about vertical audio.

For those who do care, though, I actually think the Beam Ultra is the best soundbar Sonos makes, pound for pound, at this point. It has such huge advantages in terms of installation and footprint, but doesn't feel like much of a downgrade compared to bigger options, especially if you have surrounds to pair it with.

Also consider

It's obvious at this point, but the Beam (Gen 2) is the clear alternative that most buyers will likely be considering as they look at the Beam Ultra, and the simple fact is that it remains a brilliant soundbar. It's smaller, significantly cheaper (and that gap will only widen during sales), and still sounds absolutely superb, making it a great choice if your budget is lower.

For those who want something quite different, I think the Marshall Heston 60 is well worth a look. It's also compact, but cheaper than the Beam Ultra, and brings impressively punchy audio and a design that's far removed from the clinical simplicity of Sonos. That could mean it's right up some people's street – but not for everyone!

Ever reached for a portable speaker only to discover that you forgot to charge it? This is a pretty clever solution to that. The Battery-free Amplifying iSpeakers don't have a battery, Bluetooth or even a power cable, they simply make your phone louder using acoustics.

And that's it. No pairing, no app and no battery indicator to worry about. Just slot in your phone.

Designed by Ooi Masato and made in Japan, the iSpeakers use a precision-machined slot that holds your phone in place and channels the sound from its built-in speaker.

That means it works with virtually any phone, without worrying about compatibility or software updates. You simply put the phone into the slot and the acoustic chamber does the rest.

It's small enough to throw into a bag, too, so you could take it to a picnic, hotel room or even just keep it on your desk. There's no charging port because, obviously, there's nothing to charge.

The body is machined from Duralumin, a lightweight and vibration-resistant aluminium alloy, while the design follows the golden ratio. It certainly looks more like a piece of Japanese design than a conventional portable speaker.

There is an obvious trade-off here. Without an amplifier, battery or Bluetooth connection, this isn't going to compete with a proper portable Bluetooth speaker for sheer volume or bass.

That's not really what it's trying to do. The appeal is having something that can make your phone sound better without adding another electronic device to charge.

There are also optional +Bloom and +Jet attachments that change the direction of the sound, giving you more control over how it projects.

At $179, it's certainly not cheap for something that is essentially an acoustic amplifier. But unlike a Bluetooth speaker, there's no battery to degrade, no charging cable to lose and no wireless connection to set up.

In theory, it should sound exactly the same years from now as it does today.

Sony's getting in on the pre-IFA action by announcing a revamp of its biggest party speakers, confirming that its Ult branding is very much how it sees the path forward for its audio business outside of the very biggest hitters (namely the WF and WH-1000XM series of headphones and earbuds).

The new speakers are all pretty big, but the biggest of them is frankly massive, so these are launches aimed very much at those putting on proper parties, raves, and events.

• Check out my full impressions of the new Ult speakers here, from a recent hands-on demo

All three speakers also share the same design language, and it's one that brings impressive unity to the previously various designs used by Sony's largest speakers. Each is fronted with a pretty transparent metal grille, and ringed by LEDs that can sync to your music or play pre-arranged lighting medleys.

They're all really industrial and modern-looking, stripped of much of the ornamentation that can make speakers look a bit overdone. Each also has an Ult-branded dial to the top-left of its drivers, letting you adjust through different sound modes (largely to decide whether you want punchy bass or chest-shaking ultra bass).

Crucially, they also all have the same array of connectivity options – XLR, RCA and USB-C, along with Bluetooth. That means they should be reliable in a variety of setups.

The smallest of the three is the Ult Tower 5, and it'll come in at €400 when it launches this month. It's clearly the most approachable of the three, but still brings pretty powerful sound for its size. Carrying handles make it easier to use than you might expect, and it gets 20 hours of battery life for flexibility.

Next in the lineup is the Ult Tower 7, which is a good chunk bigger and increases the number of drivers for a big boost in power and sound output. It costs €600, and might be the most sensible choice for event planning, since it's super powerful but still not the craziest piece of kit to move around. It has 30 hours of battery life, meanwhile.

Finally, the Ult Tower Max is a genuine beast, with wheels on one side so that you can cart it around carefully. It has power that needs to be heard to be believed (and I have indeed heard it), and it's no surprise that it therefore comes in at €1,500, a big jump that makes it far more of a niche option. It's also exclusively mains-powered, which makes sense given its size.

Sony says all three will be available later this month, but also that this is part of a strategy to take previously diverse branding decisions and make far more of its speakers Ult-branded. That might indeed be a winning play over time, since Sony's naming conventions have long been a little arcane.

After Sony said it had new Ult speakers for me to check out at a hands-on event in late August, it was a bit of a surprise to walk into their event space and see speakers about ten times bigger than I was expecting.

I was faced with the new Ult Tower lineup – the Tower 5, Tower 7 and Tower Max, and from where I was seated, even the smallest was a little hard to imagine making sense in my admittedly compact living room.

These are party speakers that make absolutely no apology for their size or scale, not least because they're aimed squarely at those who want such power. Listening to each one in turn, it was pretty easy to see the appeal, too.

The "smallest", the Tower 5, was still hefty enough to need a sensible approach when you pick it up to move it, and had impressively full and rounded sound in its default "flat" mode, which still has more bass than many other speakers would tune for.

Swapping up to the Tower 5, which expands the size of its main driver and adds some more tweeters for precision, you indeed get a pretty significant boost in overall volume and depth. That middle size looks relatively modest in the lineup photo below, which is pretty hilarious – it would be the biggest speaker anyone you know owns, and only looks small because the Ult Tower Max is so absurdly massive.

The Tower Max was my favourite demo of the three, not least because I got to choose a track to listen to. Justice's Waters of Nazareth is a go-to for bass testing, and its crackly yet precise beats were fairly monstrous, in a good way. This sort of track can help sift out speakers that dial up the bass while losing any detail, and the Tower Max passed that test with flying colours.

That said, its chunky price and enormous size mean that it's really only going to make sense for professional use. That might mean DJs who bring their own kit to venues, touring companies, or party planners, but it does also ensure that any event with sound running through Tower Max speakers will be able to get ridiculously loud.

In a soundproof basement, each speaker tended to be running at around 60% of its maximum volume, and that was generally more than enough to be antisocial in the wrong setting. My downstairs neighbours wouldn't thank me for testing any of them, frankly.

I was also thoroughly impressed by the new design of the three speakers, unified with their metal front grilles and LED fringes. Party speakers can often be a little too poppy and unserious for my tastes, whereas these are among the more mature and industrial I can remember seeing.

That said, I'm always fascinated by the concept of party speakers in the first place, from a marketing and sales perspective – how many units will these Ult speakers sell? It's a question I probably won't get an answer to, but I'd love the insight. Speaker-makers clearly know something I don't, though, because they keep on making new ones.

From what I've seen, the Ult Towers will be impressive new competitors in the market when they arrive later this month.

Sonos is back with a major hardware announcement this September, revealing the all-new Beam Ultra soundbar.

Consider it the uprated version of the classic Beam original and follow-up Beam 2 soundbars, which have been a major success for Sonos over the years.

The key difference? The Sonos Beam Ultra adds upfiring channels to its audio arrangement, bringing more immersive audio for better Dolby Atmos experiences.

Small 'bar, big sound

The system is a 7.1.2 arrangement, so seven speakers for the front soundstage (including centre, left, right, and sides), one central sub/bass, and two upfiring outputs.

"Big sound. Not-so-big soundbar": That was Sonos' goal in the Beam Ultra. It occupies a similar footprint to the other Beam products, but has been redesigned internally.

Note, however, that it's not the same footprint. That's why a new wall-mount (sold separately) is also available, should you wish to have the Beam Ultra up on the wall.

The Ultra's internal arrangement features nine drivers in total – which is four more than in the previous Beam (Gen 2). So it's not just new upfiring speakers that complement the audio offering here, helping to deliver a bigger, broader sound stage.

The Beam Ultra offers an HDMI eARC, but there's no additional HDMI passthrough – long a dream request, but absent in all Sonos soundbars – for an easy TV connection.

A new app, too

Sonos has also revealed its latest app, Sonos27, which will take on an iterative format – similar to Apple with iPhones in iOS26, 27, etc – with updated annual future versions expected.

The app is the hub to control various features, including Sonos' new AI Speech Enhancement. This offers four customisable levels for dialogue enhancement, depending on environment and preference.

You can also use the Sonos Beam Ultra with other speakers. The new 'Portable Surrounds' feature, will mean that even Sonos' portable Wi-Fi speakers – i.e. the Move 2 and Play products – can be used as surround sound speakers.

If you have a Sonos Play, for example, that can be integrated as a rear speaker. Sonos' in-house software solution will measure the additional speakers' positions, similar to Dolby Atmos FlexConnect (but not using this specific system) for ideal output.

All in all, the Beam Ultra sounds like a huge new release for Sonos. It betters the good of the previous Beam 2 product, with true upfiring channels and beefier audio overall.

It will cost you a fair bit more than a 2nd Gen Beam, however, with pre-orders open now for an on-sale date of 29 September. Retail pricing is set at £699 / $699 / AU$1099 / €699 – so the UK gets the rawest deal in terms of value.

If you were in any doubt that Sonos is looked at by the rest of the audio industry with some envy, all you really have to do is watch what other brands launch. I've seen a fair few home speaker announcements in my day, and JBL's new Cove speakers are just about as direct in competing with Sonos as any I can remember.

JBL says that Cove is a new "whole-home Wi‑Fi audio system" and, to be fair, I'm a huge fan of Wi-Fi speakers in general. Their convenience is hard to match when you're at home, and their connectivity is superior to Bluetooth-only models in my experience.

Cove launches with three models – M1, P1 and X1. To start with M1, it's a fixed-in-place speaker that needs mains power and is very much the entry option to the range. That doesn't mean it's all that cheap, though, at $219.95 in the US, £199.99 in the UK and €229.99 in the EU. Think of it as JBL's equivalent to the Sonos Era 100 SL.

The most interesting speaker in the lineup is the JBL Cove P1, which is the competition for the five-star Sonos Play. Like the Play, the P1 is portable with a charging dock that you can put where you want. It's a bit more powerful than the M1, too, and has Dolby Atmos support thanks to an upfiring tweeter. It gets 14 hours of use on a charge, and has water and dust resistance at an IP56 rating.

That bump in specs and options also makes it quite pricey – at $399.95 in the US, £399.99 in the UK and €449.99 in the EU. That's significantly more than even Sonos' equivalent, which is punchy.

Finally, there's the biggest speaker of the lot, the Cove X1, which reverts to powered use and looks more like the Sonos Era 300 equivalent. It offers 3D sound, apparently, and therefore also has Dolby Atmos support, and comes in at $379.95, £429.99 or €499.99 depending on your region.

All of the speakers can be grouped in multi-room setups and controlled through JBL's app, and the two smaller speakers can also be used as surrounds with the JBL Bar Mk2 soundbar, which is welcome. They'll all be available from JBL in October this year, with a precise launch date likely to follow fairly soon.

They'll also all become smart speakers later this year with Alexa+ integration, which might be of interest to plenty of people. They actually launch with a wide range of connectivity options, too, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Qobuz Connect.

To be clear, too, it's probably a good thing that Sonos' reputation for multi-room audio is prompting this competition. While I use its speakers happily, I've thought for a long while that more Wi-Fi speakers need to flood the market to make it easier to get multi-room setups without breaking the bank.

For now, JBL's route isn't one that seems to prioritise affordability, but give it a couple of years, and it'll be fascinating to see where the Cove lineup ends up sitting in the market.

Every time I test a bit of Marshall kit, whether it's a new speaker or some headphones, I tend to say a similar thing at the start of my review – that few audio brands have anything like the defined visual identity of its lineup. That cursive Marshall logo, generally in brass or white, atop either a grille or some leatherette, makes for a genuinely iconic look.

It's one that's seen the brand carve out an impressive niche for itself among those who want punchy audio and a more old-school aesthetic, and that's getting a further twist with the release of three new parts of its ongoing tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

It's apparently 60 years this year since Hendrix used a Marshall amplifier to level up the sheer noise of his sound, and Marshall's already released a couple of tributes, but the newest ones include probably the most approachable and attractive designs yet.

They include new versions of the very solid Emberton III Bluetooth speaker, along with the ever-popular Major V headphones. In both cases, purple is the name of the game.

They've both been given new colours; in the case of the Emberton III, it's a more all-over job, with a new purple-hazed colour that Marshall calls "psychedelic graphics", along with a Hendrix-themed version of the brass control knob on top of the speaker. Even the status lights have been turned purple instead of red.

The Major V has the same purple accents, but it's a little more subtle, since it's only on the ear cushions of the headphones, rather than the outside. This might make it the most sleek of the lineup, since it's different but doesn't shout about it.

There's a third part of the tribute, but it'll ship in far smaller quantities – a hand-assembled JMH Studio amp, with that gorgeous purple design all over it. It's genuinely staggeringly cool to look at, but obviously will be a far more niche prospect aimed at real musicians.

To that end, the Emberton III and Major V versions can be ordered from Marshall today for £129.99 and £149.99 respectively, while the JMH Studio amp comes in at a cool £1749.99 and will be available from 9 September.

The Fidelio FA3 wireless active stereo speaker system and the Fidelio FT1 Bluetooth-equipped turntable with integrated CD player are available separately, but Philips is pretty sure they were made for each other – and if anyone should know, the company that builds them should.

In today's world of super-pricey separates, and with retro nostalgia seemingly at an all-time high, this mid-price system seems a smart move. Which is why I’ve reviewed these two products as if a complete system, to find out if putting your would-be cash into Philips’ pocket is money well spent or a rash investment.

Price & Availability

Both the Philips Fidelio FA3 wireless active stereo speaker system and the Fidelio FT1 Bluetooth-equipped turntable with integrated CD player are on sale now.

In the United Kingdom the Fidelio FA3 sells for £349, which translates to around $399 in the United States and AU$499 in Australia.

The Fidelio FT1, meanwhile, goes for £269 in the UK, something like $349 in the US, and around AU$469 in Australia.

For the sake of both brevity and sanity, for the rest of this review I’m going to refer to these products simply as ‘FA3’ and ‘FT1’. We all know what they are by now, right?

Features & What's New?

Philips Fidelio FA3 speakers

The FA3 are two-way speakers, each of which features a 25mm titanium dome tweeter above a 127mm glass-fibre mid/bass driver.

Each speaker is home to 50 watts of Class D amplification and, in partnership with a small reflex port at the rear of each cabinet, Philips reckons this layout is good for a frequency response of 40Hz to 40kHz.

Both speakers need to be connected to mains power – this is an active system, after all. And both speakers have an RCA socket on the rear which can be used to connect the two together – that’s how truly hi-res playback can be achieved, although the system will work just as happily (but at a lower resolution) with the speakers wirelessly paired.

One speaker does the heavy lifting where connectivity is concerned, though – the ‘primary’ speaker features a USB-C slot (available for both playback and servicing), a digital optical input, an HDMI ARC connection, and a line-level analogue input on stereo RCA sockets.

This primary speaker also takes care of wireless Bluetooth connectivity – the FA3 features Bluetooth 5.4 LE Audio and compatibility with SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC codecs. It’s also packing Auracast technology, so it can easily become part of a multi-speaker system if given appropriate speakers to partner with.

It’s worth noting the speakers can be connected using a length of coaxial cable with an RCA connector at each end, or wirelessly using a 2.4GHz wireless connection. Most unusually, there’s no trade-off in maximum resolution if you choose to go down the ‘wireless’ route – the FA3 operates at 24bit/96kHz natively, and anything that comes in via digital optical, USB-C or HDMI ARC of greater size is downscaled to this resolution.

Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable-CD system

The Fidelio FT1, meanwhile, is something that might have been called a ‘music centre’ back in the day. It’s a belt-driven turntable, a CD player, and a Bluetooth transmitter – with an integrated phono stage, Auracast connectivity, and a headphone socket thrown in for good measure.

It arrives with an Audio Technica AT3600L moving magnet cartridge pre-fitted to its straight aluminium tube tone-arm – all that needs to be done is to fit and adjust the supplied counterweight, slip the belt over the motor pulley, and your record player is ready to go. Or, at least, it is once you’ve positioned the aluminium platter and put the rubber slipmat on top.

The FT1 will convert an analogue signal from your vinyl to a digital equivalent and then send it to a pair of wireless headphones (or speakers, obviously) via Bluetooth 5.4 using the SBC, AAC or LC3 codec. And as it’s also Auracast-equipped, it’s able to transmit whatever it’s playing to as many appropriate speakers as you have access to.

There’s a compact disc drive built into the FT1, too, accessed via a drawer integrated into the front of the chassis. The door of the drawer is where you’ll find the system’s LED display – it can give confirmation of the selected input as well as the usual ‘track number, time elapsed, etc’ stuff when a CD is playing. All the usual CD player modes (‘shuffle’, ‘repeat’, ‘random’ and what-have-you) are here, and the drive itself is compatible with CD-R/RW and MP3-CD as well as your regular discs.

Performance

Obviously I’m testing the FA3 and FT1 components as an entire system, and that’s the way I’m going to discuss the sonic pros and cons.

In the course of this test, I spent some time listening to the FA3 speakers with other sources of music, just as I did the FT1 with different speakers (and with headphones too).

So I think I’m qualified to say that everything this system does, both good and bad, is a more-or-less equal result of the characteristics of each component. They’re both in this together, for better and for worse.

What’s most immediately impressive and engaging about this set-up is the sense of energy and animation it creates. There’s a forward and quite direct character to the system’s sonic presentation, a kind of positivity that makes every listen to any recording above the tempo of a dirge an invigorating event.

Not everyone will be enchanted by what I can quite easily describe as the relentless nature of the system’s attitude, but those who enjoy a vivid and quite forceful presentation will be very happy indeed.

No matter if you decide to listen to CD or to vinyl, there’s a fair amount of detail available in almost every respect, and an unarguable dynamism that allows the distance between the least and the most intense sections in a recording to be absolutely apparent.

Midrange resolution is accomplished too, and the way the system handles voices is very enjoyable as a result. The soundstage that’s available is quite wide and fairly well defined – and the midrange gets enough space in which to properly communicate.

Combine that with the amount of detail that’s revealed, and it follows that voices are both eloquent and direct, so it’s possible to discern plenty about their character and attitude – just as readily as about their technique and their texture – as a result.

At the bottom of the frequency range there’s a quite startling amount of substance given the size of the driver and the cabinet that’s producing it – but bass is not a blunt instrument here.

Confidence and presence are not in doubt (although a little more solidity around the edges of low-end sounds wouldn’t go amiss), but the attack is leavened by a fair amount of detail and variation.

Control is good too, and the Philips has no problem expressing rhythms with confidence and no little positivity. Leave the EQ settings in their most benign, ‘balanced’ setting and low-frequency wallop and momentum is the result.

Bass sounds have plenty in common with the midrange where tonality is concerned, and that’s also the case at the top of the frequency range. The 25mm titanium dome tweeter serves up shining, crunchy and detailed high frequencies that have the substance to balance out their latent bite.

Detail levels are high again, and though the tweeter is just as assertive as the mid/bass driver it sits above, it steers clear of glassiness and hardness right until the moment you start listening at ill-advised volumes.

Context is everything, though, and the FA3/FT1 system is never less than enjoyable and generally quite invigorating to listen to. Is it perfect, sonically speaking? No, and I get the strong impression that ‘outright fidelity’ was sacrificed in favour of ‘excitement’ quite early on in the voicing process. Does it offer plenty of sonic verve, as well as a stack of flexibility, for the money? Most certainly.

Design & Usability

Each of the speakers is a fairly substantial 303 x 170 x 211mm (HxWxD), which means the FA3 is not exactly a candidate for desktop use – and besides, given that I’m considering this as a complete system along with the FT1, you’d have to have a very big desk indeed if it’s going to accommodate all three components.

It seems more likely the entire system will be used either on an equipment rack and some speaker stands, or on an appropriately deep shelf or piece of furniture. The only drawback here, though, might be the fact the speakers are designed to lean back a little and fire upwards rather than directly outwards.

If the surface they’re on is fairly low, this is a helpful little design feature – but if you have the speakers on stands or a slightly higher shelf, the FA3 will direct sound above your ears rather than towards them (unless you like to listen while standing up, that is).
For all their slightly strange orientation, though, the speaker cabinets are properly made and finished in that special high-gloss black that looks great but collects fingerprints like no one’s business. The plastic shell features 45% recycled material in its construction, and each one is supplied with a magnetically attached grille.

The primary speaker is doing further heavy lifting where control is concerned. As well as all the physical inputs, its rear panel features a volume dial (it takes a fair few rotations to elicit a proper response), a button to initiate wireless pairing between the speakers, a button to cycle through the available inputs, and a power on/off switch.

All of those functions can also be achieved using the small remote control that’s supplied – it also includes independent bass and treble controls, and a button to cycle through the six EQ presets (‘balanced’, ‘warm’, ‘bright’, ‘powerful’, ‘clear’ and ‘custom’). For some reason, though, it crams selection of the six different inputs (which includes Auracast) onto just three buttons.

Both the FA3 and the FT1 are compatible with the Philips ‘Entertainment’ control app that’s free for iOS and Android. It’s a thorough, if not especially intuitive, interface and as well as playback control, EQ presets, source selection and the usual stuff, it’s where you can check for software updates (in the case of the FT1) or pick from a selection of sonic soundscapes (‘generative’, ‘ambient’ or ‘nature’ are the categories) for a more soothing experience than, um, listening to music.

The FT1 also has a selection of physical controls on the surface of the plinth. There’s a fairly large ‘power on/off’ button, a control dial to select between 33 and 45rpm, and buttons to handle Bluetooth pairing, source selection, Auracast, play/pause, and the opening and closing of the CD drawer.

On the rear of the plinth there are a couple of analogue outputs – a 3.5mm socket for use with wired headphones and a pair of stereo RCA connections, in case you want to join the FT1 to a traditional amplifier. There’s also a switch for defeating the integrated phono stage, which makes the player even less fussy about the equipment it’s partnered with.

The FT1 is made mostly from the same shiny black plastic as its partnering speakers, and is supplied with a clear plastic dust cover that somehow contrives to be just as reflective and fingerprint-hungry as the black plastic it sits on top of. Build quality is perfectly fine, although an all-in weight of comfortably less than 4kg makes the player seem slightly insubstantial.

Verdict

The Fidelio FT1 and FT3 combined deliver an awful lot for your money – with more extensive functionality than this sort of money can buy anywhere else.

In the context of the asking price the standard of build and finish is very acceptable, and the general sense of vigour and dynamism to the overall sound is enjoyable and commendable, too.

That's as long as you’re happy with ‘a good time all of the time’ in terms of the system’s overall character, and you can position the speakers as they need to be, then there’s plenty to enjoy here.

Also Consider

I think it’s fair to say that like-for-like comparisons are pretty thin on the ground.

Something like the Ruark MR1 MkIII is a very good pair of wireless speakers and has the inputs to support both a turntable and a CD player. The Sony PS-LX310BT, meanwhile, is a turntable that can connect wirelessly to appropriate speakers or wireless headphones.

But as far as finding a Bluetooth turntable with an integrated CD player and matching speakers? It seems to me that Philips has basically cornered that market.

Sony has finally furnished us with more details on its PlayStation-branded wireless speakers, as revealed last September. That includes pre-order and full release dates, plus pricing.

The Pulse Elevate speakers were unveiled during a State of Play video feed in 2025, but with the understanding that they would release in 2026. We didn't expect it to take so long, though.

Coming in two colour options, black and white, the speakers will be available to pre-order from 1 September 2026 in the UK, US and several Central European countries. They'll be available on the PlayStation store online.

Pricing stands at £199.99 / $219.99 / €219.99 a pair and they come with a wireless dongle to attach to a PS5 for ultra-low latency. They will also come with Bluetooth support for connection to a smartphone, PC or Mac.

Why are the speakers called "Pulse Elevate"

The clue to one of the speakers' main features lies in their name. Each speaker is designed to sit straight on a desktop or tilt backwards to "elevate" the audio to a listening position.

This allows them to mimic height channels for a wider soundscape.

They can also be connected to power via a cable or, thanks to housing rechargeable batteries, can be moved around a desk or even room to room. That's much like a Sonos Move 2 speaker, so you aren't restricted to using each Pulse Elevate with gaming.

However, when you do, you can also make use of their built-in microphone for multiplayer online play. That way you won't need a separate headset with a boom mic.

Each speaker comes with a woofer built-in too, so they should work fine without a separate subwoofer.

We hope to test the Pulse Elvate speakers here on T3 soon, to let you know what we think.

You may have seen Sonos in the news a lot lately. It's because rumours have been circulating about a big new launch – and with the IFA technology show in Berlin just weeks away, the timing makes sense.

Initial rumours, however, suggested that this would be a launch around artificial intelligence. Whatever that means. Sonos is an audio company, not the next Google, so if you ask me, I think we can forget about the AI buzzwordery and focus on the real matters at hand.

Fortunately, said rumours have rapidly evolved – and it now looks as though more Sonos hardware could be on the near horizon. Now that's what I'm talking about. I also don't think it's a surprise, given the app debacle that saw a leadership shake-up and a refocus on what Sonos is particularly good at – i.e. making great products.

Show me the HDMI passthrough already

However much AI may (or may not) be integrated into forthcoming Sonos products is by the by in my view, as what really matters is getting the core hardware correct. And if there is to be a Sonos Beam (Gen 3) incoming then, well, there's one feature that I really want to see implemented – daresay 'fixed'.

Sonos has been rather stubborn in its approach to HDMI ports to date. All of its soundbars – the Beam and Arc and their derivatives anyway; the Ray only has an optical connection – feature one individual HDMI eARC to connect to a TV. There's no second HDMI for passthrough.

Now I, for one, would pay more to shun the AI and have a second HDMI added to future Sonos soundbar hardware. Such an addition effectively frees up one of the ports on the rear of your TV – which, if you're like me, are in excess demand anyway – and creates a better flow in usability.

The approach to HDMI ports has been getting slightly better, though. It was earlier this year that Samsung's 2026 flagship fixed my biggest bugbear with HDMI ports – namely the lack of them – by introducing an option for four additional ones, making eight total, on its S95H/S99H TVs.

HDMI 2.2 incoming – but does that even matter?

Most people looking to buy a Sonos Beam aren't going to need eight HDMI ports, fair enough, but many of them will want to connect up a 4K/120Hz games console and separate TV Box with best possible resolution and frame rate. Adding a passthrough on the next Sonos soundbar would solve that.

It could well be this is nothing more than wishful thinking on my part, of course. It could be that a future, higher-end Sonos product won't opt for an HDMI passthrough addition at all. Or, who knows, perhaps the brand is just waiting – after all, the HDMI 2.2 standard is imminent.

However, HDMI 2.2 is going to be seen in high-end gaming monitors first, as its 96Gbps bandwidth is largely there to support very high refresh rates at higher resolutions – the kind that movies, sport and TV shows don't require. You could, therefore, call it a niche format – certainly at its launch stages.

Really, at the core of it, Sonos products are about simplicity. Customers don't want to fret about "2.0 versus 2.1 or 2.2", they just want to plug and play, enjoy great sound and a quality experience. But I do think the addition of an HDMI passthrough would quietly enhance that, without making a song and dance of it.

Let's not forget about headphones...

Seeing as I'm spinning the rumour mill's outpourings of late, let's not forget that there might be no new Sonos soundbar at all. Indeed, other rumours point strongly to new headphones: the so-called Sonos Ace Ultra, expected to be a step above the original Ace model.

When Sonos made the big dip into headphones, it seemed like a genius idea. The product didn't please everyone – we loved it at T3 for the sheer comfort factor – and, as mentioned earlier, timing for the company turned out to be poor.

I think Sonos will be looking at this market sector and scratching its head, though, as there's clearly greater potential for the brand to win bigger here – especially with its integration between home cinema and personal audio.

And, just to be clear (as if not obvious enough), I most certainly don't want to see an HDMI port on any pair of headphones. But I'd keenly see a new pair of step-up Sonos over-ears to fill a gap in the brand's line-up.

All of which, in summary, suggets that Sonos is about to have a very busy 12 months or so. If any of these rumours are true, then we could be seeing new hardware, new innovations and, yes, new AI integrations.

But let's get the hardware nailed first and foremost, eh? That'll make me and many existing and prospective customers very happy indeed.

Sonos has finally brought Live Activity to the iOS app, meaning you'll get Sonos control from your lock screen and Dynamic Island on compatible devices.

Sonos says that the feature has been widely requested and after a slightly tumultuous couple of years, it's going to be welcomed by those using Sonos on an iOS device.

Live Activity will mean that you can glance at what's playing and get immediate controls without having to open the Sonos app.

The new additions come to the latest version of the Sonos app for iOS and the feature is turned off by default, so you'll need to switch it on to get it working. Head into Account > App Preferences > Live Activity.

Live Activity will appear from Sonos when you open the app and start playing music. At the moment there's no support for album art, although Sonos says that work is in progress to explore other ways to "enhance the lock screen".

Once you stop listening, the Live Activity will stay in place for 15 minutes before it disappears.

The Live Activity is also supported on Apple Watch and in Apple CarPlay, although currently the playback controls aren’t supported, so it's sort of pointless. A fix is expected in the future to change that.

Sonos, reporting on the changes on Reddit, also mentioned that there could be more coming with the arrival if iOS 27 later in the year. For those with the app already installed, make sure that you update it to get the latest feature.

Sonos is also thought to be working on an updated version of the Beam, potentially with more AI skills to support better voice control, while new Ace Ultra headphones are said to be in the works too, with the new hardware potentially appearing in September.

Sonos has been plagued by setbacks over recent years, from ending support for older speakers, an app update that broke everything and plenty of changes in the C suite, but it now looks like the company is getting back into its stride.

It's been a good few years since Marshall dropped the Stockwell II, but now it's coming back to the same territory to make a new version of its mid-sized Bluetooth speaker.

I've had the Stockwell III on review for well over a month, giving me loads of time to test it out, and see how it fares in everyday use.

Smaller than the Acton IV by a big chunk, but way more portable as a result, the Stockwell III might be the speaker in Marshall's lineup that makes the most sense to me.

Its tactility and design are as good as anything on the market, and if you're after a pure Bluetooth speaker with a different aesthetic, you won't find many finer.

Price and Availability

The Stockwell III is available directly from Marshall right now, with wider retail availability from 25 August, and it comes in both black and white versions.

The speaker costs £199.99 here in the UK, making it around £30 more expensive than the Stockwell II was at launch. It's $249.99 in the USA.

Given the Stockwell II came out all the way back in 2019, though, that's perhaps neither a surprise nor a great controversy, with inflation having been brutal in the tech industry in those 7 years since.

Design and Features

The Stockwell III is classic Marshall, from basically whatever angle you choose to approach it from. For one thing, it has that cursive Marshall logo on its front side, brassy and proud, but it also has a row of physical controls atop itself that really does stand out from the crowd.

Its size and shape are also relatively unusual, even for someone who tests as many portable speakers as I do. It's a sort of portrait-orientation speaker, so it stands much taller than its base.

Included in the box is a sturdy carrying handle that can be swivelled down to be less obvious, which feels like an essential part of the aesthetic proposition.

That handle matches the faux-leather finish of your white or black speaker, but its inside edge is in a red velvet that gives a really nice pop of colour to the speaker when viewed as a whole. The speaker's actual body is covered in a rubber shell with its outside in that leather-grain texture.

The front and back of the Stockwell III are grille-covered, while the bottom is rubberised for stability and to dampen vibrations.

At 1.29kg with the strap attached, it's light enough to be easily stowed in a bag and carried around, but I won't pretend it's insignificant – you will find lighter alternatives out there if that's a priority.

The top of the speaker is a brassy plate with a wide range of controls embedded in it. You get a power button and a pairing button, each nice and clicky, as well as three gorgeous knobs. One is your master volume, while the other two dial up bass and treble, respectively.

Finally, there's an M button that can be customised, but cycles through presets by default, and a clever little rocker button that controls play/pause as well as letting you skip tracks.

Marshall is the best in the game when it comes to tactile controls, and these are no different. You might not need bass and treble controls to hand like this, but when you do use them, you'll be thrilled by how smoothly they actuate, and by how cleverly the LED lighting makes it obvious what setting you're on.

On one of the speaker's edges you'll find its only ports – an AUX for wired audio, and a USB-C for power. Its battery is advertised as lasting 40 hours on a charge, twice as long as the Stockwell II.

Intriguingly, despite the fact that it looks like a speaker with a clear front and back, Marshall has built the Stockwell III to be a 360-degree speaker, so you should get good sound regardless of where you position it. That's worth knowing, since it does make it more adaptable.

Another big upgrade comes in terms of durability, with an IP55 rating making the Stockwell III more resistant to water and dust than before. That said, this makes it safe for rain showers, but not any form of immersion, so beware if it's intended for use by a pool.

In a similar vein, the Stockwell III also lets you pry off its rubber faux-leather skin entirely to access its replaceable battery (which will be sold separately by Marshall, should you need to swap it). You can open that compartment with just a Phillips-head screwdriver. That's a huge step (thanks to the EU) that could extend its usable life massively.

Sound and Performance

I'm a big fan of how the Stockwell III looks, then, but how does it sound?

Marshall's big marketing push in 2026 has been around "loud", centring its history of making amps for rock stars and rebels, and I think the Stockwell III is a fun little addition to that lineage, punching above its weight.

As a Bluetooth-only speaker (bar that AUX input), it's really simple to get connected, and once you're hooked up, its sound is as impressive as you'd hope for. I used a variety of genres to test the Stockwell III, and wasn't ever really tripped up by something sounding off-kilter.

Eric Clapton's lockdown-era cover of After Midnight is a great choice for testing the acoustic qualities of a speaker, and it sounds as warm and detailed as I'd want, with those first few guitar plucks resonant and deep. On Phoebe Bridgers' Garden Song, the elusive bassy backing vocals can be picked out far more easily than on some of the competition, too.

Alt-J's 3WW, meanwhile, has the urgency I look for, and an interesting balance between the treble twangs of its guitars and the pulsing bass of its undercarriage. The opening bars of Harry Styles' Undertow bring an impressive amount of precision and clarity, too.

That's all pretty great, and the reality is that I don't have any complaints to level at the Stockwell III's sound. For its size, it's simply excellent, and being able to dial up bass or treble song-by-song can be really enjoyable if you want the extra fun.

Marshall's claims of a 360-degree sound sphere bear some weight – turning the speaker around during listening, it is indeed far less directional than you'd assume from its design. That said, while being in line with its front or back sounds pretty identical, it's definitely a little less clear from the left or right sides, so true 360-degree coverage isn't quite there.

Another interesting little side note is that, despite the rubbery base of the speaker, there's quite a lot of vibration passed out of the Stockwell III while it plays at any decent volume – so unless it's on a really solid surface, expect some transference. I don't think that stacks as a major negative, though, and it does underline the amount of power squeezed into this relatively small speaker.

I found the battery life of the Stockwell III to be just as impressive as its quoted 40 hours indicated (without having timed it exactly). It lasts for days and days of regular use, which is a really good showing.

Verdict

The Stockwell III is probably my favourite Marshall portable speaker to date. It's a great size, has oodles of character, and some of the best physical controls in any speaker on the market. The fact that it pairs those attributes with excellent sound is foundational to its success, of course.

With its durability and battery life also provided welcome boosts for this generation, it's hard to see this as anything other than a massive success for Marshall. It's probably the pure-Bluetooth speaker that I'd recommend most strongly from its whole lineup, and looks like a banker for the next few years to come.

Also Consider

It's not a charge I'll level at the Stockwell III thanks to its smaller size, but if it were much pricier I'd start to gripe that the speaker should have Wi-Fi connectivity on board, too. If you want that added flexibility, you have to consider the Sonos Play, my favourite flexible home-and-away speaker right now, and for the extra money you do get clearer sound.

If you're more geared toward portability, though, and want something just a little more packable and portable than the Stockwell III, our top pick needs a mention. It's the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay A1 3rd Gen, and it's a stunning little slice of audio and design. That said, in pound-for-sound terms it's a more luxury choice than Marshall's.

As someone with a living room full of its speakers, if you asked me what device I'd most like Sonos to release next, it'd be a refresh of the Beam. Time flies, and it's now been ages since the second-generation Beam was released in 2021, after all.

While the compact soundbar has been basically my default pick as the best soundbar on the market for most people since then, it's still not completely flawless, and there's always room for improvement.

Now, a report from Bloomberg indicates that we might be getting a new Beam very soon, with Sonos gearing up to make some hardware reveals this September. Filings with the FCC in the US indicate that a device with dimensions that look nearly identical to previous Beam soundbars is on the way.

That would make for a five-year gap between generations for the Beam, and it's interesting to consider what might get upgraded in a new version. The big upgrade that came in the second generation was Dolby Atmos support, but a lack of upfiring drivers meant that it was virtualised.

If Sonos could squeeze in extra drivers, that could make for a big boost to vertical sound – although it would also raise the question of whether the price would bump accordingly. Given that the Beam sits as the deliberately mid-level option between the Ray and the Arc Ultra, Sonos probably won't want to push its price up much.

My second-gen Beam replaced a first-gen model, and both have been basically pretty beloved. The size of the soundbar is nearly ideal, in my view, since it gives a huge sound upgrade for almost any TV without taking up a huge slice of real estate.

Sonos is apparently going big on improved AI integration for this slate of new hardware, so it's possible that upgraded voice controls and integrations are on the cards, too. I'm unlikely to use that much, but I appreciate that people do want it.

The other big hardware rumour is that Sonos will also drop a new pair of headphones – Ace Ultra, upgrading the existing Ace. That's another bit of sound kit that we use most days in my flat, since its sound-sharing feature with the Beam makes it so convenient to get personal audio from the TV. That means movies can be watched as loud as you like, without anyone else needing to hear every detail.

Quite what the Ace Ultra will upgrade, beyond apparently improved integration with Sonos' non-soundbar speakers, isn't clear. With all of this likely to be unveiled in September, though, we won't have to wait too long to find out.

Justifiably encouraged by its domination of the ‘wireless stereo speaker system’ scene, KEF has decided to see what sort of damage it can do even further upmarket.

The LS Luxe system, on review here, wants to combine outstanding sound with unique aesthetics – and half of that battle is won before it’s even plugged in!

Price & Availability

The KEF LS Luxe wireless stereo speaker system is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it costs £3499.

It sells for $3999 in the United States, and in Australia the going rate is AU$6399.

Push the boat out yet further by opting for a pair of the bespoke S-Luxe stands and you will add another £799 / $799 / AU$1199 to the bill.

Features & What's New?

Everything about the LS Luxe is striking in one way or another – but perhaps it’s the 12th-gen Uni-Q driver array that’s the most visually dramatic thing about this system.

KEF has been perfecting this driver arrangement since the first Uni-Q made an appearance back in 1988 – and here this coincident-source layout features a 25mm aluminium tweeter in the centre of a 165mm mid/bass driver.

As with every Uni-Q array, the idea is to offer outstanding time-alignment and top-notch driver integration by having the tweeter and the mid/bass driver occupy the same point in space.

Of course, there are some rather newer technologies deployed here in order to get the best from this array. KEF has positioned its ‘metamaterial absorption technology’ behind the tweeter, where it can negate the energy travelling backwards from the tweeter and prevent it corrupting treble response.

‘Velocity Control Technology’, which was first deployed in 2025’s XIO soundbar, assesses the speed of movement of the mid/bass cone and compensates for differences between the actual and the expected values in real time.

The ‘Music Integrity Engine’, meanwhile, is in charge of maintaining tonal consistency at all volume levels.

The Uni-Q array is mechanically decoupled from the body of the cabinet, and a separate chassis within the driver assembly minimises any and all vibrations produced by the motor system – both of these measures are intended to keep vibration in the cabinet structure to a bare minimum. This way, goes the thinking, clarity can be maximised and distortion minimised.

The audio information that’s going to feel the benefit of this very thorough demonstration of engineering can be fed to the system in a few different ways.

Wireless connectivity is handled by the ‘primary’ speaker. It includes Bluetooth 5.3 and, more importantly, dual-band Wi-Fi on KEF’s ‘W2’ wireless platform – which means that Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, the ‘Connect’ versions of Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal, and internet radio are all available. In addition, the LS Luxe is UPnP-compatible and will be Roon Ready before very much longer.

The ‘primary’ speaker is also where all the physical connectivity lives. There’s an Ethernet socket, naturally enough, along with digital coaxial and optical inputs, an HDMI eARC socket and a 3.5mm analogue input at line level.

A USB-C slot looks like it might be another digital input, but in fact is a 5V charging slot. There’s also a pre-out for use with a subwoofer and an RJ45 socket for connection to the ‘secondary’ speaker. This ‘secondary’ speaker has a corresponding RJ45, of course, and also features a subwoofer pre-out of its own.

If you use the cable KEF provides to join the speakers together, they operate at 24bit/192kHz resolution. If you prefer a wireless connection, the resolution is cut to a still-healthy 24bit/96kHz. The LS Luxe can deal with resolutions of up to 24bit/384kHz and DSD128 through its network inputs, 24bit/192kHz via digital coaxial and HDMI, and 24bit/96kHz via digital optical.

Once the audio information is on board, decoded and ready to go, it’s amplified by two different types of power. Each mid/bass driver can call on 280 watts of Class D amplification, while each tweeter is driven by 100 watts of Class A/B power – an all-in total of 380 watts per channel really should be sufficient unless you’re trying to fill an aircraft hangar with sound.

Performance

Position the KEF LS Luxe as you would almost any other pair of stereo speakers – toed in so that a line drawn from each driver array would cross just in front of your seated position – and the sonic performance is not all you might be hoping for. In this orientation the sound is narrow and confined.

Get them to the point where they’re almost, but not quite, pointing straight ahead and they‘re much happier – and so, as a consequence, will you be.

The soundstage is still not the widest you ever heard, but it’s nevertheless appreciably taller and more confidently and convincingly laid out. The LS Luxe has a quite narrow ‘sweet spot’ where positioning is concerned, but it’s worth putting in the time to find it – because the rewards are significant.

It’s actually difficult to know where to start when discussing the things the KEF is good at. There’s detail retrieval, of course – this system is alert to even the finest, most minor details in a recording, and is more than capable of teasing them out and putting them into convincing context.

It’s analytical in this respect, sure, but it’s not in any way prissy, or uptight about it, and it never becomes the whole point of the LS Luxe’s performance. It simply reveals absolutely as much detail as possible, because it’s keen to give you as complete a sonic picture as possible.

And then there’s frequency response. At the bottom-end the KEF digs deep, hits with determination, and thanks to those sky-high detail levels it makes a stack of information regarding tonal and textural variation available too.

At the opposite end it attacks treble sounds with gusto – but it’s never hard or edgy, even at the considerable volumes the system is capable of achieving, and there’s plenty of substance to balance out the bite and shine of the top-end response.

In between, it communicates eloquently through the midrange, allowing voices to express the secrets of their technique and timbre just as readily as of their emotional state of overall character.

But the LS Luxe never underplays any area of the frequency range, just as it never seeks to push any area into the spotlight. It’s even, smooth and balanced from top to bottom, and back again.

Dynamic headroom is considerable – so even if you’re listening at quite big volumes to start with, the KEF is able to track upticks in intensity and attack in a completely unstressed manner. It’s equally adept with the more nuanced dynamics of tonal and harmonic variation – because that extraordinary attention to detail is apparent at every turn.

Control and balance are apparent everywhere – but no more so than when it comes to rhythmic expression. The LS Luxe does great work when controlling the decay and, especially, the attack of low-end information – and because every note or hit at the bottom of the frequency range is straight-edged at the point of attack, rhythms are handled with a confident, naturalistic attitude that makes for a fluent account of rhythm-centric recordings.

Overall, the KEF LS Luxe is a decently energetic, impressively insightful and, ultimately, endlessly entertaining listen. Once its speakers are pointing in the correct direction anyway.

Design & Usability

Between the Uni-Q driver array and the edgeless, seamless, slippery look of the LS Luxe cabinets, it seems fair to say that some designing has gone on here. Which is more than you can say about most of the more functional-looking alternatives to this KEF system.

KEF has again collaborated with Ross Lovegrove for the design of the LS Luxe, and the curvily organic shape of the speakers is easily recognisable as his work. It’s the use of BMC (‘bulk moulding compound’) in their construction that allows for this fairly elaborate shape – and it has advantages to its malleability beyond its willingness to form distinctive shapes.

The cabinet shape here is less susceptible to the build-up of internal standing waves than the more usual ‘box’ shape. The rigidity of the material means that less internal bracing is required than is the norm, which liberates greater internal volume than would be the case in a straight-edged cabinet of similar dimensions.

The rear of the cabinet has a degree of visual drama, too, as you can see from the images scattered throughout this review.

Each speaker features a heat-sink to help disperse the heat generated by the internal electronics – and here it’s chanelled and swoopily curved, which increases its surface area as well as making it look mildly unusual.

Each speaker’s bass reflex port divides its heat-sink - it’s a relatively large port and it features KEF’s ‘Flexible Port Technology’. This is another way of saying the walls of the port are less than rigid, and this configuration intends to keep internal resonance down to a minimum.

Three finishes are available: as well as the Eclipse Black of my review sample, Mineral White and Dusk Titanium are also available.

This isn’t the first pair of speakers I’ve encountered that look better in some finishes than in others, of course – but it might well be the pair that is most affected by the colour they’re finished in.

For my money, at least, Eclipse Black makes the speakers look bulkier and chunkier than either of the other two alternatives. You are, of course, very welcome to disagree – and might want to get to a KEF showroom to check out the whole range with your own eyes.

Verdict

There’s more than a normal amount of legwork to be done when setting up the LS Luxe, but don’t be discouraged – putting in the required effort to position the system correctly allows it to perform in the most engaging and impressive way possible.

Yes, this is one of the more expensive products of its type around (as long as you discount some couture outliers), but it’s also one of the very best.

Also Consider

In its own way the Sonus Faber Duetto is just as distinctive as the LS Luxe – more readily identifiable as speakers, sure, but elegantly shaped and beautifully made, and with almost as much credibility as furniture as it has as an audio system. The sound is more easy-going than the KEF equivalent, but some listeners are sure to count that as a positive.

By way of contrast, the JBL 4329P couldn’t look any more like a purposeful, functional pair of loudspeakers if it tried. But while its potential as decorative items hovers around ‘zero’, it has an awful lot going for it where sheer sound quality is concerned. If you’re all about the listening and unconcerned about the looks, this system deserves serious consideration.

More than just a Bluetooth speaker, and with the talents and chutzpah of a soundbar, the Music Studio 7 (officially the HW-LS70H if you enjoy a codename) smart speaker sits at the top of Samsung’s new Music Studio family.

Its stablemate is the related but less well-endowed Music Studio 5. Both models share a similar aesthetic, but the flagship boasts a far more ambitious acoustic architecture, with Dolby Atmos support, HDMI eARC connectivity and Q-Symphony compliance.

The brief may be a little confusing, but there’s no doubt this is one of the more intriguing premium wireless speakers to find its way onto the T3 test bench in 2026.

Price & Availability

You can pick up a Samsung Music Studio 7 in the UK right now, priced at £499 in the UK. It sells for $499 in the United States, and is AU$599 in Australia.

These tickets place it firmly in the premium wireless speaker category, which could be considered a little rich, until you factor in its Dolby Atmos and HDMI functionality.

Features & What's New?

There’s quite a party going on inside the Music Studio 7.

Samsung has crowbarred in a five-driver array for 3.1.1 Dolby Atmos playback.

Samsung kettles these front, side and upward-firing drivers with proprietary Pattern Control Technology, designed to minimise acoustic interference between drivers and improve directional accuracy.

A dedicated Super Tweeter extends frequency response to 35kHz, allowing support for 24-bit/96kHz Hi-Res Audio, if you have the source material. Power comes from a 150W Class D amplifier.

Alongside the Dolby Atmos there’s support for Eclipsa Audio, making this one of the first standalone wireless speakers ready for Samsung and Google's emerging immersive audio format. This may or may not prove significant, but time will tell.

Artificial intelligence (AI) also features prominently, selectable from the Samsung Sound app.

SpaceFit Sound Pro employs an onboard microphone to calibrate the speaker automatically to its surroundings. This happens in the background, optimising playback without requiring manual intervention. I’m not too convinced of its impact either way, but left it on for the bulk of this audition.

Active Voice Amplifier Pro uses AI processing to improve dialogue intelligibility when background noise rises. Not an issue in my case, so not routinely used.

Sound Quality

The Music Studio 7 has been voiced with entertainment in mind.

As a music speaker it produces an impressively large soundstage for its size. Those side-firing and upward-firing drivers extend well beyond the cabinet.

Samsung has always been good at needling out fine detail, and has produced an impressive line of low-cost, high-performance super tweeters over the years. That lineage continues here.

Bass is plentiful. Sometimes very plentiful. This low frequency bloom is more noticeable on some content than others. On piano recordings, low frequencies can become more dominant than ideal. Jon Batiste's meditative Always Know is robbed of its delicacy, sounding heavier and thicker than intended.

Modern pop and rock are much more natural companions. My Chemical Romance's pacey anthem Na Na Na arrives with tremendous energy, the speaker maintaining composure even at enthusiastic listening levels.

Film scores also play to its strengths. Hans Zimmer's Stay, from the movie Interstellar, benefits from the Music Studio 7's generous low-frequency extension. The ominous bass foundation and swelling organ notes create a genuinely cinematic sense of atmosphere.

Switching from streams to HDMI transforms the speaker's character again. With a Dolby Atmos bitstream, bass becomes noticeably tighter and more disciplined. Channel steering snaps into focus. Effects spread wide, while the up-firing driver introduces a tangible sense of height.

Is the Music Studio 7 a realistic alternative to a soundbar? I’d say conclusively it is. Helpfully, the speaker has a very wide sweet spot. That patented Wave Guide does a great job filling the room, making it ideal for a family audience.

The opening introduction to Stranger Things (season 1), on Netflix, is particularly immersive. The soundtrack's unsettling groans, distant rumbles and pulsing score are not squandered.

Dolby Atmos-encoded music proves equally rewarding. The spatial mix of Elton John’s Rocket Man, streaming from Amazon Music over HDMI, is fresh and airy, while Pink Floyd's Time alarm clocks are distinct and separate, before the track digs into David Gilmour’s opening vocal.

Design & Usability

The Music Studio 7’s distinctive Dot Design is the work of Erwan Bouroullec. He’s one half of the Paris-based Bouroullec brothers, who were also responsible for the look of Samsung’s The Frame and Serif lifestyle TVs.

Available in either black or white, the cabinet combines gently curved surfaces with perforated metal grilles. I like it, but can see it might prove divisive with bookshelf speaker traditionalists.

Build quality is reassuringly solid: at 5.6kg, the speaker feels substantial. A recessed carry handle at the rear helps to manoeuvre it around. The footprint is a tidy 185 x 269 x 190.5mm.

Controls line up across the top, including volume adjustment, microphone muting and a programmable shortcut button. Spotify Tap support allows users to launch personalised playlists with a simple double press.

Placement obviously deserves some consideration, and is a key part of the soundbar replacement debate, since much of the speaker's spacious presentation depends upon its side-firing and upward-firing drivers. These therefore need to remain unobstructed for the soundstage to work.

Connectivity is comprehensive. HDMI eARC allows direct TV integration, with optical digital audio as a legacy set backup. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 6.0 provide flexibility for music streaming. HDMI eARC is particularly welcome, not least because it allows volume adjustment via a TV remote.

Owners of compatible Samsung televisions also gain access to Q-Symphony, allowing the Music Studio 7 to work alongside compatible Samsung soundbars and TV speakers as part of a larger sound system. Great for additional height to the front soundstage.

Software setup involves Samsung's Sound app alongside SmartThings, and feels slightly less streamlined than it should be. Once configured, daily operation is relatively straightforward though.

Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Roon Ready certification all get Hall Passes, as does Alexa, which is built in. Samsung's own smart assistant, Bixby, is notably absent (he’s been playing truant quite a lot lately).

Samsung Music Studio 7 review: Verdict

The Music Studio 7 is an excellent wireless music speaker. Bouroullec's industrial design is nothing if not elegant.

It’s also a capable TV sound upgrade and a foundation for Samsung's wider Q-Symphony ecosystem. Few rivals can multi-task so convincingly.

Its sonic personality isn’t without foibles, though. Bass can dominate more delicate recordings, yet this same authority becomes an advantage when watching a movie, or grooving with your mates.

If your listening habits span albums, streaming services and blockbuster movies in equal measure, the Music Studio 7 is well worthy of consideration. Just don’t park it on a crowded bookshelf.

Also Consider

If you like the idea of a versatile all-in-one, the Denon Home 400 is a strong alternative. It also looks great and supports Dolby Atmos. There's no HDMI though.

Another contender is the Sonos Era 300. This also delivers excellent spatial audio, and has top-notch multiroom capabilities, but once again it lacks HDMI eARC.

Happen to be looking for some desktop speakers – or even smaller-scale bookshelf speakers – but have been struggling to find anything on the reasonable side of affordable?

Well, look no further. Creative has just announced the XF1, a pair of desktop speakers that could complement a mini PC arrangement, personal workstation, or even be used as a dedicated sound system if you prefer.

Price is a key factor in the appeal, of course, with the £139 / $179 on-sale figure considerably lower than many of the larger and, inevitably, more expensive options on the market.

Perhaps you have a monitor with no built-in speakers and are looking to upgrade your audio output. This stereo pair certainly looks preened for the job, coming in either black or white finishes.

Audio dips down to 55Hz for relatively deep bass delivery, but the XF1 are expandable too. You can add a subwoofer at a later stage, while 3.5mm AUX connections extend to adding a turntable or other such input – it's not all workstation-only stuff!

The XF1 are also Hi-Res Audio certified, meaning you'll be able to extract the utmost quality from your file types. Or there's Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity as part of the package, whatever the quality of source.

Each speaker measures 19cm high, 15.5cm long and 10cm deep, ensuring they're on the smaller scale – and ideal for positioning with ease. The two pair via an interconnect cable.

Inside each are two 3-inch woofers and two 3/4-inch tweeters, which can extend right through to 40,000Hz at the top end. Only the right speaker has the physical control knob solution, though.

Good things come in small packages, as the saying goes, and this Creative XF1 pair look like a dreamy affordable desktop speaker arrangement.

Sonos is planning a "product launch event" for September the company has revealed via its third quarter results. While Sonos CEO Tom Conrad didn't reveal exactly what that would be, he then went on to talk about "conversational computing and predictive intelligence".

That's right, it looks like Sonos is going to be moving its platform in the direction of AI, with Conrad going on to address the debate about which is the "best" AI model and how Sonos might put AI to best use in the home environment.

"The lasting value is going to be in what surrounds the model in a real home: the hardware that can converse with quality across every room, the system that already knows the shape of a home and the way a family lives in it, the connectivity to reach the speakers, services, and devices that turn a request into coordinated action."

Sonos shot to fame more than a decade ago, thanks to enabling multi-room audio. With a central controller, multiple Sonos speakers could be grouped and controlled, making streaming a much better experience across the home.

That was followed by a deliberate focus on quality, looking to appeal to more aspiring customers, while devices like the Amazon Echo offered rival connected streaming skills at much lower prices. Sonos' audio devices are still highly prised however, with a reinforcement of its soundbar offering over recent years.

Amazon's latest move for its Echo devices was to boost Alexa's performance using AI - called Alexa+ - although Sonos' own Voice Control system is rather basic by comparison, focusing mostly on music control.

Sonos has, in the past, supported other brands' voice control systems, but with the rapid acceleration of AI, the sort of voice models that Amazon and Google have offered over the last decade are probably easier to develop.

Exactly what Sonos will offer and how it will implemented remains to be seen. However the company is no stranger to riling its user base with changes, having struggled to put a new app in place and facing criticism for dropping support for a number of legacy devices.

Whether Sonos' current line-up have the processing power to handle AI functions is unknown, although the company might hand it off to the cloud for processing, so that older devices remain supported.

With September just around the corner, it won't be long until Sonos' plans are revealed in full.

When you've spent as much time as I have testing speakers, you also tend to collect a range of experience checking out audio brands' home turf. Whether it's a factory or HQ visit, or a peek behind the curtain at what they're working on, brands are often interested in letting you have a nose around at their storied histories.

While these previews often offer a great big chunk of context on a new speaker or about a brand's priorities moving forward, they can also be interesting for the older tech that you get to glimpse. I've found it consistently intriguing to note that audio teams are always eager to refer back to the work that preceded them.

Sometimes this involves direct generational moves – like when I visited Bowers & Wilkins' "secret" R&D base in the UK to check out its newest 800 Series Diamond D5 speakers. Bowers was confident enough in the changes to let me compare their audio directly against the previous generation (D4), and that obviously meant it needed one of each of those older speakers to be wheeled in.

Elsewhere in the building, though, I could see far older speakers, including some that have lasted decades. I asked Bowers what its oldest piece was, and was told: "We have a pair of the very first Bowers & Wilkins speakers, the P2H. We started making this model in 1966. The pair we have in our archive were made in 1968".

Its team even found a scan of the original brochure for the speakers, an impressively technical breakdown of their strengths that really does underline how things haven't changed as much as you might think. After all, Bowers still largely makes speakers where "cost is secondary to performance", even all these years later.

When I asked why Bowers goes to such lengths to maintain an archive of older speakers, rather than simply keeping them in storage, the response was clear, too: "It’s a reference and visual reminder for all of our team of the great heritage and consistent, excellent engineering work from the first days of the brand all the way up to today's range".

Andy Kerr, B&W's director of product marketing and communications, went on: "You can draw a direct link from some of the ideas we had back in the mid-1970s to the way Bowers & Wilkins works today".

Of course, Bowers can perhaps more easily prove this more than some others, since it quickly adopted the separate tweeter that made its speakers iconic, and has never abandoned that design note. It's not the only one that can draw a direct line, though.

Visual identities maintained

A few months ago, I was at Marshall's office in Sweden, where I was checking out the Milton ANC headphones before they were officially announced. As a bit of a cultural extra after some presentations and hands-on time, though, we headed up into a testing space in the loft to find a raft of vintage Marshall amps from down the years.

With metal band Opeth's Fredrik Åkesson on hand to run us through them with some guitar solos, we got an amazing showcase of the sonic differences between older amps, a sonic journey through time that made it surprisingly easy to see how artists' demands and sensibilities changed how amps were tuned over the years.

You only have to look at Marshall's recently announced Billie Joe Armstrong limited edition amp to see that its core design ideas have stayed true to those old amps in the decades since the first ones were built in West London.

Marshall told me at the time that reacquiring some of the older models and keeping them working was not a simple task (nor a cheap one), but it's clearly considered worth it.

More than just speakers

It's not just speakers that audio brands hold onto, either. In late 2024, I visited Technics in Kyoto for a thoroughly interesting showcase of its then-new earbuds, the supreme EAH-AZ100. While Technics is now getting more well-known for such earbuds, for a long time it has been associated far more tightly with turntables.

On that trip I got to see a lineup of Technics' turntables going back down the years, and when I reached out to Technics to ask about those samples, two years later, it was happy to explain them.

Per Tadayoshi Okuda, Technics chief engineer: "The oldest turntable in the Technics collection is the SP-10, released in 1970. Released as the world's first direct-drive turntable, it was widely adopted by broadcasters and professional users.

"Its technology became the foundation of future Technics turntables and continues to influence our products today."

Technics debuted the direct-drive system in the SP-10, and that system can indeed be traced all the way to its most recent turntables, so the continuity is hard to argue with.

I didn't see them in Kyoto, but Okuda also explained that Technics has plenty of old speakers of its own in its archive, too: "One of the oldest speakers in the Technics collection is the Technics 1, released in 1965." When I asked him why these devices are useful, he was effusive.

"These products are more than historical exhibits. They serve as valuable references that allow us to compare today's products with decades of Technics engineering and sound design.

"They also help pass on our brand heritage and development philosophy to the next generation of engineers, ensuring that the Technics identity continues into the future."

That last point is the one that interests me most – new engineers learning from tech that has technically been superseded and rendered obsolete. Those lessons might be technical, but they can also be almost philosophical.

A maintenance puzzle

Get any amount of tech from the 1960s and 1970s out for testing, though, and you're likely to hit challenges in maintaining them. When I asked Bowers & Wilkins if it's hard to keep its older speakers working, Kerr stressed that it's an ongoing system: "We keep a good selection of spares for all of our products and have kept the engineering schematics for every product all the way back to the start. We also have a team of dedicated engineers who can refurbish any of our products".

Being able to call on those schematics is doubtless key, but you have to assume that the challenge of retaining spares (or making them) will only escalate over time.

Technics' explanation saw Okuda return to the theme of generational lessons: "Like all electronic and mechanical products, the components used in these systems inevitably age over time, making it challenging to preserve exactly the same performance they delivered when first released. For that reason, we carefully preserve these products as important historical and technical assets, treating them with great respect so that their value can be passed on to future generations."

Hybrid theory

That last quote from Technics opens up a fascinating possibility. When Okuda says that it's "challenging to preserve exactly the same performance they delivered when first released", he acknowledges the possibility that these vintage speakers and turntables don't sound the same as they did when first made.

If you square that with the fact that these speakers nonetheless continue to influence designs being made now, then it could be that this takes us into entirely new territory. We could be getting speakers influenced by the interesting new characteristics of old speakers, worked on by engineers who only know those older versions from what they can now test on-site.

That's not a bad thing, to be clear; in fact, I think it's really exciting. It's intangible, too, in the way that all the best audiophile theories often are – we might not know exactly how a Bowers speaker from the late 1960s "should sound" in a totally perfect scenario, just as we might not be able to totally quantify how a Technics one from 1970 ought to either.

Instead, we can work with how they sound now – to come up with new acoustics that meet the needs of our times, while using what came before to ensure a continuity and continuation of important history-making.

London is home to some of the best listening rooms in the UK, with every type of music and experience pretty much catered for.

The idea of a listening room is a simple one: it’s the optimum space to have a shared listening experience of music. The ideal place to do this is one that’s been sonically supercharged for such an event. It doesn’t have to be an intimate room, it can be a bar or a venue but what has to be right is the sound system playing back the music.

It’s sometimes an unnerving thing, sitting still in a room with other people all focused on one record. But it’s an experience that, when done right, offers immeasurable joy for the thing you are listening to.

These spaces are not new, far from it – Japan has had them for 100 years now. They all take a leaf out of the popularity of those listening bars, where a culture of music aficionados was born out of shared gramophone listening in the ‘20s, when classical music was popular. This eventually shifted to the Jazz kissa era, cafes where music fans could get to listen to their favourite music on high-end kit with maybe a whisky or two in hand.

While custom tube amplifiers may have made way for custom Atmos set-ups, the spirit of shared listening is not just still there, it’s thriving.

If you are ever in the Big Smoke, then here are three listening rooms we recommend – and below this, we go behind the scenes, exploring the tech and logistics involved in creating a premium listening space…

1. Spiritland

• Located in: Kings Cross, London

In an interview with The Guardian, Paul Noble record producer and creator of Spiritland said he was inspired to set up Spiritland thanks to Japan’s love of the listening bar and its “deep, beautiful, reverential approach to listening to music”. This can also be found in Spiritland – which is a café, bar and radio studio that all take advantage of an entirely bespoke audio setup, created and built by high-end audio manufacturer Living Voice.

According to Spiritland, their setup also includes “a two Isonoe-modified Technics 1200 turntables with a variety of cartridges including Audio-Technica AT-XP7 Dual Moving Magnet Stereo Cartridges, a Tascam DA-3000 Hi-Res Recorder, Revox B77 Tape Recorder, two Pioneer CDJ-2000NXS2 CD players, a Studer A730 CD Player and more”. Oof.

For more information, head to: https://spiritland.com

2. Brilliant Corners

• Located in: Dalston, London

Brilliant Corners wears its ode to Japan on its sleeve, with a Japanese inspired menu and an audio set up that would surely get the nod of approval.

While at time of going to print it was closed for a refurb, when normal service resumes, sometime in mid-August, expect an intimate restaurant setting with some superb music that’s played back on some modified Technics turntables, controlled by an Isonoe Electronics built custom valve mixer. Also in the setup are two Mcintosh tube amps power, some 1970s Klipschorn speakers. If you are waiting impatiently for the venue to re-open, then there’s always “Mu” just around the corner – another aural delight that’s been created by the team behind Brilliant Corners.

For more information, head to: https://brilliantcornerslondon.co.uk

Jazu

• Located in: Deptford, London

Jazu is a fantastic listening bar, with the emphasis on both those words. The setup there is superb, with a bespoke sound system created by South London audio engineer Bosco Taylor. There’s a 3,000-strong collection of vinyl to gawp at, while the food is a Mexican-based treat. Interestingly, even though the name riffs off of the aforementioned Japanese Jazz kissa scene, this bar was inspired, like the food, by the listening bars of Mexico.

For more information, head to: https://www.jazudrinks.com.

Behind the scenes of a listening room

The KEF Music Gallery in London is an incredible place for music fans. Situated slap bang in the hustle and bustle of Great Portland Street, its TARDIS like in its size. From the street it looks initially like a KEF product showcase but inside it’s an audiophile's dream – with some 5,000sq feet of area, over two floors, to play some serious sounds.

This experience centre opened in 2024 and serves as a multifunctional space for events, training, and product demonstrations. The reason for T3’s visit, however, is because it hosts a multitude of audio goodies, including DJ nights, album launches, and immersive sound experiences.

On the day I was there, they were preparing for an intimate listening-room experience exploring Lauryn Hill’s two fantastic albums: ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ and ‘MTV Unplugged No. 2.0’, all played back through KEF’s LS60 Wireless speaker range.

A lot goes on in the Kef Music Gallery and that’s because the space is flexible in its design. It includes a cafe and podcast studio, and there’s even a table made of 900-year-old Kentish oak hidden underground in The Hub – one of the many beautifully specced out rooms on the lower ground floor.

“There are not too many cafes with a Dolby Atmos 10.8.8 immersive system that I'm aware of,” says Geoff Loveday, KEF’s technical sales director, pointing out the huge sound system that’s situated on the first floor of the gallery. It’s here that many a DJ night has taken place, each with their own sound requirements.

Having that much audio power in one place is jaw-dropping but not all of it is needed at once, it depends on the type of show they are running. Thankfully Loveday notes that they have tried to make everything as simple as possible to run.

“The whole building runs on a Crestron smart home system. That system is great because it gives us complete flexibility and control of not just the audiovisual but aircon, the network, lighting, CCTV – it's all on there,” he explains.

While upstairs there are a number of listening areas, where you can test some of the speakers on show, it’s the main system I am really interested in.

“We’ve got our uber house system, which includes our LS50s that are dotted around the ceiling, in conjunction with a bunch of our architectural in-ceiling speakers, and some subwoofers, which aren't just decorative or on display, they're part of that system,” notes Loveday, pointing to an array of them on the floor.

“This makes up one big immersive 10.8.8 Atmos system that's driven by a very sophisticated Trinnov Altitude 32 processor. So we can orientate in various different ways.”

Loveday continues: “For example, if we're doing an event where we might need something centered in a certain part of the room, we can configure the system by just selecting one preset where three speakers become our left, centre, and right speakers, and then all the others accordingly surround left, surround right… And that's done simply by selecting a preset on that processor, which makes life infinitely easier.”

This would be impressive on its own, but a level below this KEF has created a number of areas for intimate audio demos, including a space affectionately called The Living Room and the absolutely without hyperbole, The Ultimate Experience Room.

I head downstairs, admire the oak table and am taken to a room that hasn’t been given the same sound-proofing treatment as the others – the echo reminds me just how much work has gone into making this place an, er, sound investment.

A tour of the living room setup shows a place packed with speakers from KEF’s sprawling range.

“We get everything from seasoned audiophiles that know all their stuff and really want to quiz you, right through to people that are taking their first steps into good hi-fi and don't really know how to achieve this or what they'd like," explains Loveday.

"There’s a bit of handholding through the whole experience, but we can adapt to whatever kind of person's here. And what's nice with the way we've got things is: we can control that experience.”

Speaking of experience, it’s the Ultimate Experience Room that is a must visit. The room is a stunning audio showcase, packed with some of the most impressive audio tech in the capital, including a pair speakers that stand tall like an art installation.

“They were conceived in 2007 as a a very special audio project,” says Loveday pointing at the KEF MUON speaker setup.

“The designer is a well-known sculptural artist called Ross Lovegrove. He's famous for his hourglass, spherical, no straight edges kind of design.

"He's actually designed a couple of other products for us as well, but there are only 100 pairs of these that are ever going to be built. We're on pair 90 something, so you need to be quick if you want to reserve a pair. There are not many places in the world where you can see those, let alone hear them,” Loveday notes.

A quick Google shows that the speakers are worth £190,000. I decide not to phone my bank manager on this occassion.

“This is very much our flag waving exercise,” says Loveday about the room. “It is the best of everything we do.”

In the room there is a two-channel setup using the incredible MUON speakers plus a 9.14 configuration. That’s not a typo, there’s actually 14 subs in the space.

“There’s a reason for 14, it's not just a sort of random number that we just happened upon or figured out we could squeeze 14 subs in here," says Loveday.

"The Trinnov processor I mentioned that's running upstairs, well we have a second one running this room. It's a 32 channel Atmos processor, and we're showcasing their new wave-forming technology, which is bass management technology, which, in very very simple terms, works with two identical arrays of subwoofers. So you have an array at the front and an array at the back.”

The idea is this setup eliminates the need for a sweet spot in the room, so theoretically you can sit anywhere and enjoy an incredible sound.

A demo of Elton John’s Rocketman, mastered in Dolby Atmos, proves this – I’ve never heard the song in this way before, soaring through the speakers and searing itself on to my ears. I found new in the old again and it was a life-affirming experience.

As I walk out of the KEF Music Gallery the sound of the street hits me, as the dampening used in the gallery gives way to the outside world. It got me thinking: to create a truly unique listening room and, in turn, listening experience takes huge dedication.

You can see that with what KEF is doing, with what Spiritland's Paul Noble is doing and what every other listening room across the country is also trying to do.

The key ingredient, other than the music, though, is you. You being there, you experiencing music with others and maybe, just maybe, you hearing something new in something old again.

Head to KEF's official site to book yourself a demo at the KEF Music Gallery. Or just drop in for a coffee.

• "The Brits do it best": How KEF's new LS Luxe speakers reinforce a changing hi-fi trend for the better

If you've ever looked at a friend's fancy extension and wished you had hidden ceiling speakers, then this could be the answer. Flexson - known for its Sonos accessories - has an in-ceiling mount for Sonos speakers, so you can do it yourself.

The mounts support the Sonos Era 100 / SL, Era 100 Pro or older Sonos One models, allowing you to install those like a professional, hidden from sight.

The advantage of using existing Sonos speakers is, firstly, you don't have to buy ceiling speakers, you can just use the units you already have. Secondly, you don't need an amp or to run cables to power these speakers, because they are self contained.

That's a great starting point from a simplicity point of view, allowing you to continue to use the Sonos app that you already have.

From a DIY point of view you will need a degree of competence. Firstly, you'll have to cut a hole in your ceiling and secure the mount in place, which is fairly straightforward. The second stage, however, could be the stumbling block.

You'll have to power the speaker using a standard plug like you normally would, so you'll have to get a socket into the ceiling space. That's not impossible, but depends on the construction of your house. If you can lift floorboards it's easy, but if you're looking for a dedicated mains extension you might need an electrician.

What happens when something goes wrong and you need to restart the Sonos speaker? Well, you might consider a remote switch to power cycle the speaker so you're not scrabbling around in the ceiling trying to get to it.

But once that's done, you just clip the Sonos speaker into the cradle and clip it into the mount. There are round and square grilles to suit the design of the room, and the grille can be painted.

The price for the mount is £150 / $170 / €170 but you'll have to provide the speaker yourself.

If you've been thinking about investing in a pair of floorstanding speakers but have often baulked at the sheer cost of such setups, then Q Acoustics' latest ought to catch your eye.

The British audio stalwart has just revealed its new Compact 3040c mid-priced floorstanding speakers, available in four finishes – Pin Oak, Satin White, Claro Walnut or Satin Black, as pictured above.

The 3040c marks a step up from bookshelf speakers – although the brand will happily provide you with myriad options of those if preferred – designed for moderately sized living spaces.

The price is also moderately sized, being a big part of the 3040c's appeal. You can pick up a pair for £599 / $1,099 / AU$TBC in any of those four finishes right now.

Do keep in mind that you'll need to factor in a separate amplifier, of course, with a minimum 25W and maximum 120W recommended by Q Acoustics.

That's less this particular brand's forte, mind, but if you want to keep it affordable and also British, then Cambridge Audio makes a bunch of budget options that'll fit the bill.

That'll drive each speaker's dual 4.75in "C³" mid/bass cones and single 0.9in tweeter, delivering across a large portion of the frequency range, from 43Hz to 30kHz. That's plenty of low-end without the need to add a subwoofer.

The 3040c is inspired by the brand's flagship range, with a "floating" design on distinctive aluminium feet – the rears with "wings" – and no visible screws on the cabinets, for a finessed finish.

Wondering if a pair will fit perfectly into your living space? Each speaker is 94.2cm tall (and around 28cm wide/deep), so will certainly have a presence. That's around 11-inches across, so not far off your treasured vinyl collection.

Speaking of which, wouldn't a pair of Compact C3040c look lovely with a nice record player setup alongside? Well, quit waiting – these speakers are available to purchase right now.

Just a few weeks ago, in the middle of July and amid an ongoing UK summer heatwave, I visited KEF's London-based headquarters to sink into not only delightful air-conditioning, but a world of delightful sound beneath the capital's busy streets.

Ahead of its official reveal, I was treated to a private listening experience of the storied British brand's latest powered speaker, the LS Luxe, which is designed to fill a gap in the current line-up. As the product name asserts: a luxury gap.

Earlier this year, I had written about 2026's biggest hi-fi trend being powered bookshelf speakers, which are captivating buyers to move away from traditional separates purchases. KEF has been ahead of that curve to date, however, with its LSX II speakers released just over four years ago – and to critical acclaim.

Brits do it the best

While many other brands are only just presenting their latest equivalents – from Cambridge Audio to Yamaha – KEF is upping the ante in its LS Luxe. These speakers, designed in collaboration with British designer Ross Lovegrove, aren't mere boring boxes, but rather contemporary design – as much objects for the eyes as a sound system to please the ears.

I spoke in detail with KEF representatives, learning of the brand's now 65-year history, and how it remains based in a town in Kent – the very same town in which I was born, by happenstance – where some of the highest-end products, such as the Blade freestanding speakers, are still hand-crafted, one by one.

The LS Luxe are designed and engineered in the UK, showing that the Brits still do it the best when it comes to audio mastery. KEF isn't the only brand, though: Bowers & Wilkins is also based in the country's south – and a colleague recently visited a top-secret audio lab for the first time, to get a sneak peek behind the curtain.

Industrial design

Before I even get to how the LS Luxe actually sound, though, the most immediate feature is the way these speakers appear. Their rounded sculptural form is all curves, no visible breaks to the cabinet's smooth surface.

Lovegrove designed the speakers wanting that pure, unbroken appearance – paramount to his design language. No screw holes are visible. You'd never know that the enclosure is made of two BMC halves, compressed together with a resin that's then sanded and finished to aesthetic perfection.

Even the principal LS Luxe's rear marries form and function: the die-cast aluminium heat-sync on its rear has playful swirls, an opening for the flared port needed for low-turbulence bass output, with each of those flanges maximising heat dissipation. The second speaker of the pair – which can be connected by wire or wirelessly – has a simpler, pared-back visual.

Each is finished in a choice of Eclipse Black, Dusk Titanium, or Mineral White. The S-Luxe stands are sold separately, while an optional KW1 wireless subwoofer can complement the package – but I tested without this as part of the setup, for isolated testing.

Sensational sound

Last year, KEF began to deploy some of its newest technologies. The XIO soundbar – pronounced as "zee-oh" or even "shee-oh", not as a three-letter acronym – was the first to utilise the brand's patent-pending Velocity Control (VECO) technology, which uses a motion sensor to measure distortion and counter it in an instant as part of a feedback loop.

The LS Luxe deploys 100W Class AB and 280W Class D current-drive amplification, meaning a high output without fluctuations, providing direct control in how the 6.5-inch aluminium cone driver moves. Which is all well and good – except for the direct distortion that such a system can create.

This is where VECO technology comes to the fore, measuring coil motion and offsetting that measurement in a feedback loop. As there's no differential voltage, the sound is therefore consistent, controlled and clean throughout its considerable 35Hz to 47kHz frequency response.

Worth the cash?

The result is every bit as wonderful as it sounds. If wired, then a 192kHz/24bit output is possible, with the KEF Connect app handling sending your output to the LS Luxe. The sound is big, rounded and able to fill large spaces eloquently.

There's an abundance of connections, too, should you want to use HDMI or optical for a TV connection, AUX or COAX for a CD player or turntable input, Ethernet network connection for a NAS or other cloud source, or simply use Bluetooth/Wi-Fi. There's AirPlay, Chromecast, or direct Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connection options.

Think of the LS Luxe as positioned a step up from the LS50 Wireless II, but a notch down from the floorstanding LS60 Wireless II. The price fits in between those two products too, with a pair set at £3,500 / $4,000 / AU$6375. Availability is from right now for MyKEF users, while general release is from 13 August.

It's not every day that Bowers & Wilkins refreshes its most storied and sought-after speaker lineup, and it's also not every day that you get to hear it in the best possible setting. When Bowers announced the 800 Series Diamond D5, we knew that it was likely to sound fairly phenomenal.

I got the chance to verify that, though, when I visited the British audio brand's secluded R&D base near Horsham in early July – a visit that very (very) few audio journalists have ever been treated to before. I've already written this week about the sheer engineering scale of the listening room that I had my session in, but that piece might have left readers wondering about the actual sound of these new high-end speakers.

If you're going to spend £250,000 on building a listening room suspended within an existing room, it follows that you're not going to fill it with subpar components. When I totted up the audio equipment backing up the speakers I listened to (and there were many speakers), online retail links suggested that it was comfortably another £250,000 worth of kit.

That was comprised of a pair of Gryphon Apex mono power amps (just under £200,000), a Gryphon Commander preamp (another £65,000) and a lovely Denon DP-S1 CD transport (a totally reasonable £3,000 used).

Added to this were, of course, the actual new speakers, in a carefully calibrated ladder. Over the course of a couple of hours, I got to go through a host of comparisons. First, Bowers would give me some samples from the old version of the 800 series – so, the 805 D4, for instance. Then they'd swap it out for the newer version: the 805 D5.

After that we'd go back to the D4 range for the next step up: the 804 D4. Then to the newer equivalent, the 804 D5, and so on, until by the end we finished with the top-of-the-line 801 D5, the latest and greatest. At a cool £43,000 for a pair, they bring the total setup to eye-watering levels, but it's easy to throw stones until you step into the glass house and actually listen to them.

A new world of sound

I heard the same three tracks through ten different sets of speakers, each one picked to showcase a different characteristic. There was Phoebe Bridgers' DVD Menu into Garden Song, for its weird spatial elements and underrated bass; then Agnes Obel's The Curse, even more precise and pinpoint in its arrangement; and finally, Harry Belafonte's A Fool For You, the perfect way to check the warmth and tonality, all acoustic and live.

I'll be honest – even the very first speaker, the last-gen 805 D4s, had me immediately remembering how jealous I am of those who can afford this sort of setup or anything like it. The amount of detail, and the degree of separation, was just astonishing – and at that point I'd have told you I doubted that spending five times the money for the 801 D5s could possibly be sensible.

That's still a complicated topic, but as we stepped up through that ladder of sound, it was fascinating to be able to pick out differences and hear near-perfect sound get a little better. The biggest changes, I'd say, came in Belafonte's song, where the amount of warmth really did bump up on the newer speakers, the richness of his curiously-octaved voice getting all the more present in the room.

As you'll see in the images above, changing from one speaker to the next was no small job, especially once the bigger ones were on the agenda, and that weight served as a decent reminder that these are super-premium products for those who really do want professional-level sound at home.

A subtle evolution

It's hard for me to visualise ever having a space that could actually house them, let alone being able to crank them up to the volumes I enjoyed at Bowers' HQ – my neighbours would rightly have thoughts on that. Still, seeing the new speakers up close was a great way to appreciate some of the design changes.

Side by side, the D4 and D5 series are obviously from a shared template, but the tweaks that have been made are noticeable. That iconic turbine head always had a separate tweeter atop it, but the separation is even more intense now – it practically wobbles if you touch it. The grille on that tweeter's front is also redesigned for more airflow, and is quite beautiful in its lattice-work.

Behind the scenes, new designs for the acoustic chamber are tweaked in ways that you'd have to see a breakdown to fully appreciate, but help to give that extra warmth that I've spotlit. Bowers admitted that it now thinks it might have gone a little too analytical last time out (though some will have appreciated that), so this is a clear course-correction.

Part of what's so mad about high-end audio, though, is that you do quite quickly get into the realms of taste. Bowers & Wilkins is far from the only brand making very expensive speakers that sound terrific, after all, but its sound signature is clearly popular in mixing studios and with artists.

Having now had the opportunity to luxuriate in it myself, I can see why – if I had £50,000 to lob on a couple of floor-standing speakers, I'd have them high up my list moving forward. That said, I'd be curious to hear them without the enormous additional setup behind them, or at least with a more deliberately realistic one. At this grade of audiophilia, part of the fun is in trying to work out which components are having an impact on which elements of your sound, after all.

The cadence of Bowers & Wilkins' speaker updates means that the D5 range should now set its standard for a good few years, and it'll be fascinating to see how its arrival is greeted once people get their hands on them for more long-term testing. Having had my own session, I'll be grabbing any further opportunities to listen again.

The world's biggest audio brands might love to shout about their newest speakers, but they're rarely keen to let people into their research and development hubs to see how those speakers were actually made.

It's not that they're ashamed of the work (far from it), but more that there are a heap of risks attached, not least that journalists could get peeks at still long-distant projects that aren't yet ready for the limelight.

So, when Bowers & Wilkins, one of the UK's most lauded audio houses (and a T3 Award winner for Best Headphones in 2026), invited T3 to check out its R&D facility near Horsham, in West Sussex, we leapt at the chance.

This sort of tour is a proper first – Bowers & Wilkins was at pains to underline that it had never before let the media into this facility.

Inside, I got to spend a good few hours embedded in a couple of Bowers' custom-built listening rooms, and while the new 800 Series Diamond D5 speakers I heard blew me away, the intricacy of those rooms took me by surprise and really stuck in my mind.

Behind the curtain

When you hear "listening room", it's easy to imagine a normal room with some sound-proofing panels, and then an extremely expensive setup of audio gear.

In truth, that's probably what many wealthy individuals get in their homes when they commission audio rooms, since the results are acoustically impressive while concentrating the cost on that audio gear.

Bowers, though, is swimming in different waters; it doesn't want great sound – it wants perfect sound. Rather than outfitting a room with soundproofing, this means literally building a soundproof room within a room. Bowers has a few of these in its R&D facility, and we used the biggest of them for the afternoon.

You immediately get a sense of the room's scale when you step in, because it has two doors. Between the outer and inner doors there's about a foot of space, effectively a sound-dampening vacuum, and it illustrates how the room is built. I was told about spring systems underneath it to keep it elevated above the original floor, and an estimate that the room itself weighs 12 tonnes.

The photo below is of the window in the room (something Bowers' engineers reportedly requested for their own wellbeing when it was being built). It shows you the air gap and the thickness of the walls.

A pretty penny

When I asked Bowers & Wilkins about how much this might cost to build, I was told: "When we built that room – around £250,000. That’s the room, not the components inside the room." Anyone who's following tech knows that inflation is a real thing, though, so it's no surprise that a follow-up clarified: "Today, probably more like £300,000."

Those responses came from Andy Kerr, the brand's director of product marketing and communications, and he was effusive about what that sizeable investment has brought to Bowers. Its previous R&D facility was storied but cramped, and when Bowers moved to its new location a few years ago, getting more listening rooms was one of its main priorities.

Neutrality at its purest

Needless to say, these rooms aren't for pleasure listening (although I'm sure they get their share of after-hours use). The idea is that this sort of pristine environment gives B&W's engineers total neutrality in which to assess their in-progress speakers' sound, and to hear the results of their tuning changes.

When I asked how often each room was in use, Kerr told me that the location "is an engineering facility, and the main listening room has been created with a specific function in mind, which leads to the room being pretty much in continuous use."

With a couple of other, smaller listening rooms also available, that spells out just how important these pristine environments are for audio development.

That's before you start to even discuss the equipment within these rooms. Some quick maths on the setup I was listening to by the end of the afternoon has its value sitting at around £300,000.

God-tier audio

The acoustics are, indeed, completely mad. Bowers staff had to come in to swap out heavy speakers every few minutes, and it was crazy how easily you could tell when the inner door was closing – the ambient noise of the world just sort of sucked away into nothing.

Once the music started, it didn't take long to realise just how impactful such a perfect environment can be. I remember as a teenager visiting an ancient Greek amphitheatre, at Epidauros, and being blown away by how its design carried sound around a huge open space. This was like the reverse – a space that felt like there was no sound, until it was completely filled by whichever speaker we had turned to.

To be clear, though, I'm not done writing up my visit to Bowers & Wilkins – I've concentrated here on the practical side of its listening room setup, but the sound is something I'm saving for another write-up this week. In that, you'll get to hear what I thought of Bowers & Wilkins' newest generation 800 series, the Diamond D5.

Cambridge Audio has announced that its L/R X bookshelf speakers are now on sale, marking the availability of one cool retro-infused speaker set up.

T3 has been (im)patiently waiting for these to launch – and for good reason. When we reviewed its smaller bedfellow Cambridge Audio L/R S range back in March of this year, we gave them five stars, earning a coveted Platinum Award. We said at the time that it’s a speaker range that “absolutely demands your attention.”

The S range also won a coveted T3 Award this year.

But while we've yet to get this larger variant into our testing lab, there’s no reason why the X line can’t join that range in the top spot. Beneath the retro looks – this could easily have been a model that took pride and place in a conversation pit in the ‘60s – there’s a lot of modern tech packed in.

Stream dream

For those who prefer their music streamed, the Cambridge Audio L/R X offers access to your poison of choice – Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Amazon Music, AirPlay, Cast… you name it.

There’s also multi-room support, 64-bit audio processing and a number of ports, including: HDMI eARC for TV, moving magnet phono stage for vinyl and Bluetooth.

Cambridge graduate, with hons

As for the audio, this is pumped out through 800W of total system power. Dual 5-inch woofers. 28mm torus-chambered tweeters and dual 6-inch force-cancelling passive radiators are on board, which negate the need for a subwoofer and make sure the sound is wider than Spain’s collective grin this World Cup.

There’s a choice of six colours and finishes, complete with LED underlighting and this all comes at a price of £1799 / $2299 / €1999 (add another £100 if you fancy the walnut finishing).

Head to Cambridge Audio now for more details.

Samsung has built an enviable reputation among the best soundbars, with its increasingly impressive Q-Series models, complete with wireless subwoofers and optional rears. For many, they’ve completely replaced separate amp-and-speakers setups.

The HW-QS90 cuts the clutter even more. It’s an all-in-one design, engineered to deliver a convincing Dolby Atmos from a single enclosure. Typically, the province of entry-level soundbars, here Samsung has packed the QS90H with high-end drivers in a 7.1.2-channel configuration, driven by top-notch processing.

Is it really possible to deliver uncompromising home cinema audio from a single slab? Let’s find out...

Price & Availability

The HW-QS90H is priced at £899 in the UK – a tag that places it firmly in premium territory. That'll drop over time, though, if you're prepared to wait.

Given that you can currently pick up 2025’s HW-Q930F, a more ambitious 9.1.4 package with wireless sub and wireless rears for just £699, this looks a tad toppy.

There again, it’s a positive steal if you compare it to Samsung’s latest HW-Q990H flagship, an 11.2.4 offering, which comes with all the trimmings, including a hefty £1,599 price tag.

The QS90H sells for $999.99 in the United States. It’s also supposedly heading for Australia, although its price is still yet to be confirmed.

This soundbar is also available in Germany, as the differently-named HW‑QS95GH (€949), where it comes with a ‘Made for Germany’ designation.

Features & What's New?

The feature attraction here has to be the space-saving, all-in-one, 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos configuration.

Samsung has managed to cram in three front firing drivers in a left / centre / right orientation, two upfiring drivers for atmospheric height effects, plus two side/wide firing drivers positioned at either end, plus four integrated woofers tasked with lower-frequency duties.

You’re well covered for audio formats too. The bar supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and the new Eclipsa 3D audio standard (IAMF decoding), as developed between Samsung and Google (for YouTube).

For Samsung TV owners, there’s also Q-Symphony support, a nifty wheeze that allows the soundbar to work in tandem with compatible TV speakers, effectively creating a wall of sound.

Samsung’s familiar AI suite is present and correct. Active Voice Amplifier Pro enhances dialogue clarity by reacting to ambient noise – useful if you have a noisy living room – while AI Dynamic Bass Control is a DSP (digital signal processing) mode to bolster low-end impact. There’s also Auto Volume control, which goes some way to smoothing out level jumps between sources.

Connectivity comprises two HDMI inputs (obviously one with eARC), as well as an optical digital audio input, plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Unfortunately, HDMI video passthrough is limited to 60Hz, not 120Hz, which will be a bit of a negative for gamers who want to preserve high-framerate sources (they’ll have to connect consoles directly to their TV, and bitstream audio out).

Sound Quality

I was expecting the HW-QS90H to be good. But it actually sounds great.

This is a bold, expansive performer with a wide soundstage that pushes well beyond the physical confines of the 'bar itself. There’s real scale here, a sonic illusion created by that combination of forward, side and upfiring drivers – and it’s quickly evident that Samsung’s LA-based audio lab has done a great job with the tuning.

Height effects are particularly convincing. With spatial content, there’s a noticeable lift to the presentation, adding air and dimensionality. Watching Brad Pitt’s F1 on Apple TV, the roar of engines and the mechanical snarl of gear changes create a genuinely exciting sense of motion.

Clarity is another strong point. Dialogue sits cleanly in the mix, aided by the soundbar’s detailed midrange and the clever post-processing. Even in busy scenes, voices remain intelligible without sounding artificially pushed forward.

Bass performance is where the QS90H seals the deal. This is where the wheels could fall off Sonny Haye’s F1 racing car – thankfully, they don’t. The integrated woofers deliver a low-frequency response which I measured down to around 50Hz, but psycho-acoustically they sound like they drop even lower.

Sure, the bass has a slightly processed character. It’s not quite as tactile or visceral as a dedicated subwoofer might provide, but for a single chassis design it’s remarkably convincing. Rich and full, action movies land with authority, while music carries a pleasing beat.

In terms of presentation, I noticed a subtle change when the soundbar receives Dolby Atmos information compared to stereo or 5.1 channel sources. There’s maybe a touch more finesse and detail.

As for Eclipsa spatial audio, there’s not actually a great deal that I could find on YouTube to sample, but the official demo clip, with a variety of outdoor sports sequences, does play with impressive separation. The future-proofing is welcome – but we'll have to see how far Eclipsa adoption is driven yet.

There are limitations, though. Without rear speakers, there’s no genuine front-to-back movement. Audio effects don’t travel behind you in the way a full surround system would allow. The Q990H can deliver this, but you need to spend more and then position additional speakers in your room – which not everyone wants or can even accommodate.

Just after Tom Hardy stomps the two-headed lizard during the opening sequence of Mad Max Fury Road, the pursuing War Boys don't crash the soundstage from rear to the front, as originally designed, rather they parachute in from on high. I suspect for many, that’s probably an easy compromise to live with.

With music, the soundbar is less about fidelity and more about presence. The 'bar plays loud, soundstage spread wide. Stereo tracks like Shaggy’s Boombastic bounce along, while more intricate recordings reveal good spatial detail, if not audiophile subtlety. The presentation is confrontational, in a good way. As for multichannel music, K-Pop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Dolby Atmos), sounds, well, golden.

Design & Usability

Let’s not mince words. This is a big beast. If your TV is smaller than 65-inches, this 'bar is going to look silly in your lounge. Measuring over 1.3 metres and weighing close to 9kg, it’s best partnered with lots of glass and some robust furniture.

The design is sterotypically ‘Samsung soundbar’ – that’s to say, it’s a minimalist black slab wrapped in a perforated metal grille. There’s no fabric to soften the look. Functional rather than decorative, fashionistas might want to swipe left.

However, usability is fine. If you need them, on-body controls include Volume, Microphone and a Multi button, which handles power and source switching.

Most will probably rely on the supplied remote control, or the Samsung SmartThings app, which allows you to manage volume, select sound modes and adjust EQ.

The HW-QS90H can sit either flat, or on edge, depending on how you want to install it. A built-in gyroscope detects whether the bar is wall-mounted or placed on furniture, and adjusts its output accordingly.

Room calibration comes via SpaceFit, which uses onboard microphones to tailor sound to your viewing environment. You can run the system with or without SpaceFit engaged, and frankly I don’t think it makes much difference.

On the 'bar, there’s no text display, instead feedback is provided via LED indicators and voice prompts.

The included zapper is straightforward, but notably not solar-powered like some of Samsung’s similar-looking TV handsets. In the dark, it’s easily confused with a Fire TV remote. Or maybe that’s just me.

Verdict

Soundbars are easy to love, but partnering wireless subwoofers less so, particularly when floor space is at a premium. If this rings true for you, but you don’t want to compromise on spatial performance, the HW-QS90 is a compelling proposition.

It may be a single enclosure, but this soundbar offers an expansive soundstage with satisfying levels of subtlety and slam. It may be on the pricey side, but it’s definitely one to audition – and easily one of the best soundbars for Samsung TVs (65-inch+) if you don't want multiple speakers cluttering your setup.

Also Consider

If the form factor is right, but the price is wrong, take a look at the Sony HT-S2000, which is about a third of the price. It's a single box that offers 3.1 Dolby Atmos audio, powered by proprietary S-Force Pro Front Surround digital processing. Front facing X-Balanced speakers are helped by dual woofers – and you can always upgrade to wireless rears and a subwoofer at a later date.

Alternatively, take a gander at the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), which, at about half of the Samsung's price, is a popular Dolby Atmos 'bar with five internal speakers. It can be paired with other wireless Sonos speakers, which may further appeal. And it's far smaller, so a better match for those 55- and 50-inch TVs.

If you're a fan of hi-fi audio equipment, you're probably also used to seeing extortionate price tags. It's not uncommon for speakers and other gear to run into several thousands, and going down the route of separates can see you spend four- or five-figure sums on pieces of kit which don't even have a direct effect on sound.

Fortunately, it's not all expensive. While the shiny end of the spectrum is packed with pricey gear, there's also a range of more affordable kit which will make enjoying killer audio easier on the wallet.

Here are three I've tested which I cannot live without.

1. Audio Technica AT-LP70XBT

I've collected records for years now, and I love nothing more than sitting down to spin a disc and relax into the lovely, analogue warmth. When my old turntable bit the dust earlier this year, I opted to snag this Audio Technica model, and I've loved every second of using it.

The automatic, belt-driven operation might not win favour with cork sniffers, but it's more than enough for my needs and makes the process totally simple. Not only that, it looks great, and gives me the opportunity to switch out the cartridge further down the line, which means I can upgrade without switching out the whole unit.

2. Majority Audio D70X

Of course, a great turntable needs to be paired with a pair of great speakers. Those can quickly mount up in terms of cost, and while there's a lot to be said for spending here – they are the rubber meets road component, after all – I was convinced that there was a more cost-conscious option.

The Majority Audio D70X offers exactly that, costing just £70 (approx. €82 / US$95 / AU$135) for the pair. Audio quality is better than I'd anticipated too, offering more than enough fidelity to make the most of an untreated room.

3. Activo Scoop IEMs

Arguably saving the best for last, meet the IEMs which have replaced all of my other earbuds and headphones. Sure, anything wireless is more convenient, but I just love the fidelity offered by these. Sonically, they blow earbuds worth two or three times as much out of the water.

What's also handy is the design, which allows the user to switch out the connection in under a minute. That makes them perfect for using with multiple devices – I routinely swap between the 3.5mm and USB-C jacks for trading between my phone and my Gadhouse Miko cassette player, and always have the option of 4.4mm for other devices when the need calls.

It's also hard to ignore just how stylish and on-trend you look with a pair of wired headphones, too. If it's good enough for Harry Styles and Zendaya, it's good enough for me.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again – Marshall makes the best physical controls in the mainstream audio world. Even when it comes to the best soundbars, thanks to its Heston 120.

It's proving that once again with the release of its newest home speakers. I've had the Acton IV with me for a couple of weeks to see how it stacks up in daily use, with all of its brassy buttons and knobs.

Tactility isn't enough to make a speaker worth it on its own, though, so the latest Acton has plenty of proving itself to do. This is a speaker that asks you to put up a fair whack of cash, after all, so I've been interested to see if it can make that price feel worthy.

Price and Availability

Having just been launched by Marshall this July, the Acton IV is available to order right now. It's priced at the exact same point as its predecessor here in the UK. That means it comes in at £259.99, while in the US it's $299.99 and Australia asks AU$499.

All of that means that the Acton IV falls into an interesting part of the market – at this price point, many of its competitors also offer Wi-Fi connectivity to enable the likes of Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect, so it's quite a punchy ask in 2026.

That said, to go four years between speaker versions without a price rise is also fairly rare, and therefore worth mentioning.

Design and Features

The Acton IV is anything but a revolution when it comes to the design language that has made Marshall such a cult choice in the audio world. It brings a look and feel that's really similar to its predecessor in most meaningful ways, but there are tweaks if you look really closely.

This speaker is simple and rectangular in shape, with a clear and obvious front and back, thanks to the brassy Marshall logo on the front side. That front is covered in a durable mesh, which is edged with more brass. The rest of the speaker is covered in a faux-leather textured finish.

On top of the Acton IV there's a cutout within that surface, hiding all of the speaker's physical controls. You get a 3.5mm jack for wired audio, next to a button to swap between sources (with indicator lights to tell you which is selected). Then there are three dials – a master volume, a bass tuner, and a treble adjuster.

On the right of these there are two buttons – a rocker-style one for play/pause and track skipping, and a multi-function Marshall button that can be held down for speaker pairing using Auracast.

Finally, the far right-hand side has the MVP of it all – the most satisfying power switch you'll ever interact with. Seriously, after unboxing the Acton IV I spent about 10 minutes just flicking it back and forth.

The speaker sits on four rubber feet for stability, and underneath it you'll see a woofer but also the ports for the speaker's power cable and a pair of RCA cable ports for wired audio if you need it.

This all adds up to a really gorgeous-looking speaker in my opinion – one that has the rare distinction of fitting in with either an eclectic old-school rock aesthetic, or a cleaner modern one, depending on what you pair it with.

On the features side, the main addition here is Auracast, which signals that we're on a newer version of Bluetooth compared to the last product – though Marshall isn't saying exactly which version. This keeps it really simple from a connectivity point of view, since you can basically choose between Bluetooth or wired audio.

That said, I'm also always a fan of speakers that give you flexibility, so including Wi-Fi would have been a clear win in my opinion. Given that this is a powered speaker designed to stay in your home, it would simply open up more options for connections, and feels like a miss in my use – much as I can understand its absence from a cost implication perspective.

The Marshall app has some customisation options for the Acton IV if you don't want to use the physical knobs, too. It's slick and easy to use, and being able to tweak how the "M" button works is a great little option for those who have something more specific in mind.

Sound and Performance

If you're going to stick to Bluetooth only, then, you'd better make that Bluetooth rock solid. True to expectations, I never had any issues using the Acton IV during my couple of weeks of use. Its connectivity has been decent.

I spent most review time getting to grips with this speaker's sound. Marshall says the biggest benefit of the new version is a wider soundstage – and the Acton IV does indeed punch above its weight class given its size. It's a surprisingly powerful speaker and really can act as a one-stop solution for a small or medium-sized room that you'd like to fill with music.

Listening to acoustic material like Django Django's new song Cameos, I was impressed by the warmth and clarity that the speaker could get across. That remained just as true when diving into some older Ultimate Painting material.

However, Marshall has long prided itself on loudness and the way it can bring more brash material to life, so my old standbys of Queens of the Stone Age and Justice came out to play really impressively, too. In both cases, the rawness and dirtiness of some of their grittier production style was great.

I'm not always the type to play with EQ (equaliser) settings, either, but the way Marshall integrates them into its physical controls makes it really quite fun to sit and dial the treble up or the bass down while listening. The glide of those knobs really is superbly built, and their impact on sound immediately obvious.

There are other small details to appreciate, too. The volume dial has way more gradations than the treble and bass ones, for example. Each of its lights has multiple states of brightness, so that as you crank it up or down you actually have a huge amount of control over exactly where it lands.

This all means that the Acton IV fulfils its brief impressively, for all that it also limits its brief quite carefully. You get Bluetooth that really does sound impressively wide-ranging and powerful. Nonetheless, in part I do wish it were a little more ambitious.

Verdict

The Acton IV is another great speaker release from Marshall, which really is in a great place in terms of consistency right now. The brand has figured out a great formula for its speakers' sound profiles, while the design of its hardware is always a delight.

The only downside to the Acton IV is that it doesn't aim slightly higher – as Wi-Fi connectivity would be a great new direction to start off in, for my money.

Nonetheless, I really like the Acton IV, as it makes a great Bluetooth speaker, but in a world where some others permit you to rove around your home more easily, or offer different ways to connect, it's a blast of simplicity that you'll either respect or resent.

Also Consider

The Sonos Play is more expensive, but not by much. This is my pick for a home speaker that offers more of the flexibility I've discussed above. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a built-in battery, and while its sound isn't as powerful as the bigger Acton, I think it's more adaptable.

If you want something more permanent in terms of its placement, then the Denon Home 400 is an interesting upgrade. Again, it brings Wi-Fi and multi-room potential to the table, but crucially it's a very different flavour aesthetically, which could make it work better for you.

Marshall has announced updates to its Acton and Stanmore speakers bringing improvements to the sound quality and the design to make a better all-round home speaker.

While Marshall's Bluetooth speakers are popular, like the Kilburn III I recently reviewed, the company has a range of home speakers too. These don't include a battery, so that space is given over to boosting the audio performance.

We were impressed with the Acton III and Stanmore III when we reviewed them, but the updated Acton IV and Stanmore IV have a little more sound to offer.

Key to these updates is the boost in sound quality, with wider tweeters and waveguides, while there's a new bass port too. That not only widens the soundstage, but delivers cleaner bass while doing so.

At the same time, Dynamic Loudness ensures that the balance of the music remains regardless of the volume.

As these are home speakers, they are equipped with a cable and plug which attaches on the bottom of the cabinet, so the speaker can be pushed right up against the wall without having to deal with a cable sticking out of the back. This adds convenience when placing these speakers.

The Acton IV is the smaller of the pair, but the main difference (apart from size) between these speakers is that the Stanmore has a 5-inch woofer, expanding the frequency range slightly and offering increased volume.

But both offer a 60W Class D woofer combined with two 25W Class D tweeter amplifiers. And each sport a pair of 0.75-inch tweeters, while the Acton IV has a 4-inch woofer.

Both exhibit distinctive Marshall design with a faux leather wrapped body and a brass top plate housing the controls. That also houses the M button that can be customised to switch EQs, or to activate Spotify Tap. Customisation for the M button can be found in the companion Marshall app on your smartphone.

There are RCA connections for those wanting to hook up a turntable, as well as AUX, while they support Bluetooth including Auracast to sync across multiple speakers.

The Marshall Acton IV will retail at £259.99 in the UK and the Stanmore IV will be £349.99. Both will be available in black and cream colours.

Crafted from aluminium by the artisans at Bang & Olufsen’s legendary Factory 5 metalworks in Struer, Denmark, the Beosound Premiere is a premium Dolby Atmos sound system that combines serious sonic intent with striking style.

The good news is that beauty isn’t skin deep. A 10-driver array coupled to Wide Stage beam-forming technology hints at a (literally) elevated listening experience in an undeniably luxury package. So does the Premiere have it all, or is there any compromise?

Price & Availability

Positioned somewhere between the more affordable Beosound Stage (a snip at £/$1800 / AU$3850) and the flagship Beosound Theatre (a more reassuring £5590 / $6890 / AU$11,860), the Premiere is available now for £3100 / $5800 / AU$9400.

While it’s tempting to label the Premiere as a soundbar, the term is really a misnomer. What we have here is a (adopts a pretentious tone) high-end home entertainment solution. Okay, so it’s a soundbar... with bells on.

Features & What’s New?

The headline innovation here is Bang & Olufsen’s Wide Stage technology, which employs a combination of beam-forming and careful driver steering to create a soundstage that appears larger than the relatively compact dimensions of the Premiere might suggest.

The enclosure accommodates four 3-inch racetrack drivers, two 2-inch forward facing left/right cones, and a fascinating central assemblage comprising a pair of side-angled 2-inch drivers, one tweeter and a full-range upfirer. A bit of an Easter Egg, the latter has 1925 holes milled into its surface, as homage to B&O’s founding year.

Powered up, there’s no menu display, either on the device or via the screen. Instead the Premiere communicates via lighting effects and a few beeps – but you do have support for Beolink Surround, which enables compatible B&O speakers to integrate into a larger whole home wireless surround system.

Format support covers Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, PCM 7.1 and MPEG audio, but doesn’t extend bitstream DTS:X (although fewer titles seem to be using this these days anyway).

Sound Quality

From the first few moments of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, it’s clear this is an enclosure engineered with cinematic scale in mind. The Hans Zimmer score starts slowly, the Premiere ratcheting up tension with pinpoint placement as the Joker and his goons set about their bank robbery.

The dynamics of the system are evidenced by the shotgun retort of the bank manager as he takes on the clowns; the transient is sharp and dramatic, but precisely controlled.

Dialogue clarity is exceptional. Even during chaotic action scenes, voices remain clean and focused. And then there’s the bass. When Batman’s Tumbler roars into action, to confront the Scarecrow, the system digs impressively deep.

Similarly, Ghostbusters Frozen Empire opens with a couple of almighty thundercracks. These are delivered with scary intent, with next to no overhang.

But it’s not just the big noises that impress. When the firefighters arrive at the Manhattan Adventurers Club, and break into the frozen room, the crunch of their boots in the frost is crisp and clean.

There’s plenty of power on tap too. Under the hood, 10 power amplifiers are locked and loaded, with four 70 watt amps assigned to the woofers, 50W reserved for the tweeter, and five more 50W power modules for the remaining left/right/up firing/side firing cones.

The Beosound app offers a number of sound modes. These comprise Night, Game, Music, Movies and Speech. Movies and Game modes are cut from much the same cloth, and contribute a full-bodied sound stage, while Music has a lighter touch.

Speech is primarily useful for those who need greater clarity when it comes to following dialogue. The Night mode is compressed and should be avoided when possible.

What the Premiere doesn’t provide, at least on its own, is rear surround immersion. Dolby Atmos height effects are appreciable, but sound never fully wraps around the listening position.

Bang & Olufsen’s solution is straightforward: add compatible rear speakers using Beolink Surround. Pairing the Premiere with Beolab 8 or Beosound Emerge speakers would undoubtedly create a formidable system – but also seriously jack up the price. And I’m not sure I’d pay up.

Musical Clarity

Beethoven or box set? I’m not sure which best shows off this system’s talents. Normally, soundbars need to compromise when it comes to musical playback, but that’s certainly not the case here.

Indeed, music playback – no rear speakers required – could actually be the Premiere’s strongest suit.

Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy arrives with thunderous low-frequency energy. Bass feels deep, dense and almost tactile – and that tune’s big drop sounds phenomenal. The system’s claimed 34Hz low-end extension seems entirely believable.

Electronic music in particular benefits from the Premiere’s brawny presentation. I soon found myself down an EDM rabbit hole, just to see how low the Premiere goes. The more I played, the deeper it dug.

Yet the bar is equally adept with delicate instrumentation. ODESZA’s A Moment Apart sounds expansive and filmic, while the finger-picked textures within Taalbi Brothers’ Freestyle dance with remarkable clarity.

Perhaps the most impressive takeaway is the system’s transparency. The piano notes that open Kanye West’s Runaway ring out with striking realism and decay, while Singing Bones by The Handsome Family demonstrates astonishing spatial depth.

Design & Usability

As an example of industrial design, the Beosound Premiere is remarkable. Available in Natural Aluminium, Gold Tone and Anthracite Black finishes, the system oozes luxury.

My review sample came in Natural Aluminium, and looked spectacular. Not only is the profile unlike anything else in its class, the small touches, like the subtle illumination emanating around the stand and through the B&O logo, are a constant delight.

Adjust volume, and there’s a sliding light of confirmation. It's very clever.

Optional slatted covers in Oak, Grey Melange or Dark Oak can further tailor the appearance, but with one of these the system price rises yet again.

At 932mm wide and weighing 8.5kg, the Premiere will match TVs 55-inches or larger. It can be wall-mounted or positioned on its supplied pedestal stand.

Usability is fairly straightforward. Setup involves a brief automatic room calibration sweep, while subsequent functionality is controlled through Bang & Olufsen’s companion app, which offers access sound modes, source selection and multiroom features.

There’s no supplied remote control, although television remotes handle basic volume duties via HDMI eARC. The system is also compatible with the brand’s optional Beoremote One BT.

Connectivity reflects the system’s custom installation aspirations. Behind a removable rear cover sit three Ethernet ports, a single HDMI eARC connection and USB. There’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.4, alongside Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Deezer and QPlay 2.0 compatibility.

The solitary HDMI input is a little disappointing, not least because it removes a good deal of system expandability. All HDMI source devices have to connect directly to your TV, so that audio can then be routed back over eARC. The provision of three Ethernet ports would seem to be indicative of the Premiere’s aspirations as part of a broader AV ecosystem, rather than an all-in-one switching hub.

Beosound Premiere review: Verdict

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Premiere is one of the most visually distinctive TV sound systems currently available - and more importantly, has the sonic chops to justify its outré appearance.

With movies, it delivers scale, precision and drama in abundance. Dolby Atmos movie content is wide and engaging, while dialogue clarityshines. Music fans may love it even more. There’s nothing in this class able to combine muscular low-end authority, with this degree of finesse and transparency.

Any limitations are largely practical. The single HDMI connection restricts system building, and buyers seeking truly enveloping surround sound will eventually want additional speakers - and the price is already pretty rich.

Yet the Premiere is a triumph regardless. It’s technically ambitious, beautiful to look at, and an absolute thrill to listen to.

Also Consider

If the Beosound Premiere isn’t quite your style, consider the Samsung Q990H soundbar, a more conventional design with 300W wireless subwoofer and multi-directional rear speakers. This 11.1.4 sound system, compatible with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, features 23 drivers for a fully immersive listening experience.

Alternatively, Sony may tempt with the Bravia Theatre Trio. This three-part system comprises a centre enclosure plus a left/right array. Proprietary 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology then generates up to 24 phantom speakers, to create a cinematic soundfield.

If you're in the market for high-end hi-fi speakers, a respected brand like Focal is always worth considering. With decades of experience, you know you're buying into something trustworthy and quality.

Now, the brand has unveiled a new set of luxurious floorstanding speakers. Called the Scala Utopia Evo M, these units are delectably designed with more than a hint of seventies charm.

The new model takes the foundations provided by the original Scala Utopia, including a three-way architecture. However, these new units adopt the M-profile midrange from the Utopia Main range of pro-grade speakers, offering a midrange response which is much more transparent and natural sounding.

It's not the only tech which is borrowed in the new design. It also takes the PRISM tweeter from the recent Diva Alta Utopia model, which uses a multi-material design.

The result offers a higher level of rigidity than beryllium, and maintains a healthy balance between being lightweight and offering suitable damping. That means you can expect incredible purity in the high-end of your sound.

All of that is added to a platform with improvements to the phase crossover system, which allows users to precisely adjust the bass and treble response to suit the listening environment. Additional Gamma and Focus Time technologies ensure consistency and stability in the operation, too.

Now, if you're thinking that all of that tech can't come cheap... you're exactly right. Priced at €40,000 / US$46,000 (approx. £34,400 / AU$66,000) per pair, these aren't even in the same postcode as cheap.

This end of the luxury speaker market is hotly contested, with many major brands offering premium, stylish floor standing speakers at similarly eye-watering prices. You could probably make a case for any one of them, but if you're in a position to buy, these new Focal units should definitely have a spot on your "must try" list.

Most speakers disappear into the background. The SonicGlass A1 does the opposite. Created by audio startup MorningBlues, the hi-fi speaker combines a transparent acoustic driver with a 21.5-inch transparent display, turning every song into a visual experience.

The speaker's glass front panel has more than 90% light transmission, allowing you to see both the display and the hardware behind it.

MoodLyric is a really fun feature. As music plays, song lyrics are animated on-screen in styles designed to match the rhythm and mood of each track. MorningBlues says the system has been trained using data from hundreds of millions of music playbacks, while lyrics are licenced through LyricFind.

There's also an AI-powered SceneSync mode that generates genre-specific visuals in real time, creating different effects for pop, rock, hip-hop and R&B tracks.

Using the MorningBlues app, you can upload a photo and have AI place you inside a music video that plays on the speaker's screen. It can also display your own photos and videos when music isn't playing, effectively doubling as a digital display.

Other features include a karaoke mode with synchronised lyrics, ambient display modes, clock faces and an ASMR sleep mode. A dedicated Music Hub controller can also be used for phone-free playback control.

The SonicGlass A1 is currently available through Kickstarter, down from $999 to $649, where MorningBlues is pitching it as the world's first transparent lyric speaker. Whether the concept catches on remains to be seen, but it's certainly one of the most unusual audio products we've seen this year.

When it comes to the best Bluetooth speakers there are many to choose from, but this waterproof little gem caught my eye as part of the current Amazon Prime Day sales.

I've long enjoyed Ultimate Ears' portable speakers, with the original UE Boom a legend in its own right. That model spawned many more products in different shapes and sizes, with this Miniroll being the smallest and most portable of them all.

Check out the UE Miniroll deal on Amazon

It's also the cheapest of the lot by quite a margin – and even more so on Amazon thanks to a discount price bringing it back down to its lowest-ever asking price. So if you can't afford that Bang & Olufsen dream, this UE option will surely appeal.

Note, however, this is not part of an official Amazon sale, and it's not badged as such – and it has been a quid or so cheaper in the past. Right now, however, it's the cheapest way to obtain the Miniroll – in its pink colourway anyway.

Other colours are available, you'll just have to pay a mite more. The 'Gentle Black' is yours for an extra two quid. The 'Revive Grey' is quite a jump more, though, at over £50 – which may be a deciding factor in your purchase.

So if you're in the market for a small, portable Bluetooth speaker that's rugged and waterproof, then UE's Miniroll is an excellent option at this price.

You can even pair two together for a great stereo setup – which I think makes all the difference for indoor setups. If you can bare staying indoors right now.