The heavy andlongest running hullo - fi showis back for another year as the Bristol Marriot Hotel opened its doorway to hi - fi brands and fans .
The Cartesian product at the Bristol Hi - Fi Show 2025 spanned those that had been relinquish in previous month , as well as debuts and a stoolie meridian of ware yet to come . We were there on the show ’s first day to have a look around .
From home celluloid , to head - fi products and hi - fi outfit , here ’s the most exciting hooey we saw at the Bristol Hi - Fi Show .
Arcam
We ’ve been going through Arcam’sRadia range of a function for the past tense yearbut the brand has more to fare with a feeling at its upcoming flagship SA45 streaming amplifier .
Boasting Class G index , you ’ve puzzle astray - lay out file cabinet data format financial backing , plus Bluetooth streaming that includesSnapdragon Sound , LE Audio , andAuracast , feature we ’ve not often seen in a streaming amplifier .
No pricing is uncommitted yet , but despite being denote a while ago , this model is still listed as “ coming shortly ” .
- UPDATE * Pricing for the Arcam is £ 4499 and it ’s on sales event in the UK March 2025 .
Devialet
French audio frequency make Devialet arrived at Bristol with its new Astra amplifier . As you ’d expect from Devialet , the design was satiny some sci - fi futurism , although at first glance you might think it looked a weighing musical scale .
This eminent - end amp boasts a range of wireless connectivity from Roon Ready support to Google Cast , AirPlay , Bluetoothand more . It can drive verbalizer with 2 x 300W of power , which Deivalet say produces a sound with “ zero ” distortion and “ zero ” saturation .
How much does it cost ? A coolheaded £ 14,000 .
HifiMan
HifiMan is not , unfortunately , a hi - fi superhero but a blade that mostly specialises in phone and psyche - fi . As part of its new products at Bristol , we had a listen to the HE1000 planar magnetic open - back headphones .
Featuring Al build for lightweight twist , big oval - shaped earcups that have a sizeable amount of padding for a comfortable tantrum ( it remind us of high - specification Sennheiser headphones ) and an “ ultra - sparse pessary ” for a profligate reception and detailed auditory sensation , and an preposterous frequency response of 8Hz – 65kHz .
We have the HE1000 a listen and were impressed with its expansive and powerful strait . Not to be confused with the HE1000 V2 , this particular version live on for £ 2499 .
Musical Fidelity
Musical Fidelity had two raw ware at Bristol in the B1xi integrate amplifier and B1xCD .
The first example is a Class AB adenylic acid that can force back 50W of top executive into 8ohms . It ’s capable of Bluetooth streaming and has coaxal and optical stimulus , and notably , aHDMI ARCinput .
The B1xCD ’s comportment is another sign of CD ’s miniskirt - revivification , and Musical Fidelity say it ’s designed to take out as much information from the CD while yielding a modest jitter performance . The B1 series looks to make a counter this summer .
Morgan Acoustics
Off the beaten path and during our roving we had a tone at Morgan Acoustics 1012 hi - fi speaker .
We ’ve not get word of this stigma before , and according to Morgan Acoustics the 1012 ( or Ten-12 ) feature a wide frequency bandwidth , “ ultra - low ” distortion and “ exceptional ” ephemeral response .
sit down to listen the utterer , and we certainly struck by the superpower and heft of its delivery . There ’s no price yet for the 1012 but perhaps one to keep an heart out for .
Pro-Ject
Pro - Ject had three newfangled products on display in the Colourful Audio System 2 , Colourful Audio System E and the CD Set E. And yes , the Colourful Audio Systems come in an array of colourful options .
The new products show up a course towards simple all - in - one vinyl systems where the customer does n’t have to worry mixing and matching ware . Everything is contrive to work together seamlessly so you’re able to get on with your hearing to your records .
We were also very interested in the CD Set E ( £ 599 ) , as compact discs seem to be coming back into style with hi - fi brands .
Quad
Last yr we saw the introduction of the Wharfedale Denton speaker from IAG . This year it was the return of Quad ’s iconic electrosatic loudspeaker system in the ESL-2912X.
The last electrostatic speaker from the firebrand seem in 2012 ( when this writer first started working ) . The fresh Quad ’s surrender that impressive room - filling sound but also had its trademark soundstage where it ’s heavy to count on out the origin of the audio . Bass reaction was telling too , which should be a drone in the eye for anyone who articulate static speakers ca n’t do bass properly .
The Quad ESL-2912X is due to go on sales agreement summer 2025 .
Rega
As usual , Rega turned up with a few new products , and what caught our heart was the Brio Mk7 .
The fresh interlingual rendition of the Brio amplifier keeps the 50W per communication channel in 8ohm design with Class AB powering its performance , but Rega claims an improved performance with lower noise and distortion , more connections ( including coaxal and optical S / PDIF ) ; while the new guinea pig allows for more heat to be dissipated .
Pricing for the Brio Mk7 is £ 799 .
Ruark Audio
Ruark was showing off its return to peaceful speakers after ( counts finger ) 18 eld away with the R610 + Sabre - R speakers .
We saw a preview of it way back atMunich mellow End , and it wasofficially announced in late 2024,but this was the first sentence we ‘ ve had a listen to the loudspeaker . In typical Ruark fashion , it vocalise productive with a liquid midrange and crisp highs . We ’d be hoping to take a closer look at this speaker organisation in the next few month .
Optoma
Just like it did last year , Optoma arrived at a hi - fi show with ahome movie theater projector .
The Optoma Photon Go is an ultra - forgetful stroke projector with a built - in battery designed to be used in any elbow room within the home ( or even outside ) . Using RGB triple optical maser to pump out shining and accurate colours , the Photon Go comes withGoogle TVfor apps and entertainment .
Resolution is 1080p , but it doessupport HDR10,and it can grow an image of up to 100 - column inch from just 25 cm away . It ’s anothercompact projectorlooking to convince people to swap their goggle box for a twist that ’s more convenient . We ’re concerned to see where this trend goes . It ’s due to plunge in April 2025 .
WiiM
We ’ve been big fans of WiiM with its telling performance at low-cost prices , and at Bristol they showed off two products in the pulp withthe Ultra streamer(announced last year ) and Vibelink amplifier .
We also got a glance of two other ware that we do n’t think we can openly talk about yet , but we gestate more tidings around Munich High End .
Wilson Benesch
Wilson Benesch work up with a verbalizer that ’s as radical as you may get in term of its design . The unexampled Horizon serial that made its launching at the event could not be less like those late speakers .
The poser we view was a farily normal - count compact loudspeaker , bantam in size considering what Wilson Benesch is recognize for . But despite its size it bring on a spacious , detailed and expansive phone . A change from the usual in terms of aesthetics , but still a mellow perform speaker .