The Bristol Hi-Fi Show is in full swing and I, and the wider What Hi-Fi? team have spent the past 24 hours trawling the expo floor in an attempt to find the coolest products you need to know about.
And in that endeavour I've found 11 stand out items, including everything from freshly announced devices from established hi-fi heavyweights to products the team and I’ve never seen, or heard, in the wild before.
Here’s what you need to know about them.
Wharfedale Super Linton speakers
The Wharfedale Linton are excellent speakers. That’s why we not only gave them a five-star rating when we reviewed them, we’re also using them in our 2025 Bristol Hi-Fi Show tech demo.
It’s also why myself and the team were excited to see them get the super treatment at this year’s show. The Super Linton are larger than the basic Linton and come with a few key upgrades including a completely redesigned tweeter, midrange driver and woofer which all aim to refine the speakers sonic performance.
Quad ESL-2912X electrostatic speakers
If you say the electrostatic speakers to any hi-fi fan Quad is one of the first names to come to mind. Which is why we were super excited to get our first “in the flesh” look at the firm’s new ESL-2912X speakers at the show.
Quad promised huge upgrades to the speakers’ internals but has kept quiet about the specifics. Sadly this remained the case at the show, but we did get an opening listen, with the speakers being demoed, paired with the firm’s Quad 33/303 pre/power combination at Bristol.
Acoustic Energy AE300 speaker range
The AE300 is the latest refresh of the audio brand’s mid-range series of speakers, which last got a dab of new paint all the way back in 2018.
It consists of AE300² standmounts, AE309² and AE320² floorstanders and an AE307² centre channel. Every item attempts to improve audio performance by borrowing elements and learnings from the brand’s Corinium project.
This includes the firm’s RSC (Resonance Suppression Composite) technology, which aims to reduce cabinet radiation for less interference between the cabinet and drivers.
Chord Electronics Alto headphone amplifier
The Chord Electronics Alto is an interesting beast. The £3000 unit was originally designed for recording and mastering studios and is already endorsed by some big name musicians.
It’s built around Chord's flagship Ultima amplification technology, which uses a dual feed-forward error correction circuit.
This is a clever bit of tech bespoke made to monitor and correct distortion before it reaches the output stage, thus improving audio quality.
It’s also very flexible and can be used to drive four devices simultaneously through its generous selection of front-panel outputs. Which is why we were very excited to see it in the wild at this year’s Bristol Hi-Fi Show.
Ruark Audio Sabre-R bookshelf speakers
The Sabre R are the latest bookshelf speakers from UK hi-fi house Ruark. Under the hood they offer decent specifications considering their £699 / $899 / $1499 price.
Highlights include a two-way design with a 26mm silk dome tweeter and 15cm treated natural fibre cone mid/bass driver.
Ruark also quotes them as offering a sensitivity of 86dB/W/m which means they should play nice with most modern amplifiers outputting 25-100W of power. If that wasn’t enough to excite you, having seen them in the flesh I can confirm they look lovely.
Neat Iota II
The £1095 Neat Iota II are ultra-tiny speakers with big ambitions. Specifically, Neat claims the dinky speakers will “defy the laws of physics” ideal for small spaces.
Featuring a similarly small size to the original Iota, under their tiny frame the second generation houses some big upgrades.
These include an updated mid/bass driver that promises "even better bass extension and bigger scale" than before and a revised crossover. Neat claims these will let them offer much better scale than you’d expect from a speaker their size.
Rega Brio MK7
Rega Research unveiled its latest Brio Mk7 stereo amplifier at Bristol. Set to retail for £799 you may at first glance think it’s fairly similar to its five-star predecessor, featuring the same 50-watt per channel rating and moving magnet phono stage. But it has a few big upgrades, including the inclusion of a DAC, which is a first for the Brio range making it a seriously interesting product on show at this year's expo.
Devialet Astra streaming amplifier
It has been a while since myself and the team have heard from French audio house Devlialet, which is why I was super excited to get an opening look at its new Devialet Astra streaming amp at this year’s show.
Set to retail for $20,000 the amp offers 600 watts of power alongside support for Google Cast, AirPlay, Bluetooth 5.3, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and is Roon Ready. Devialet’s also making some big boasts about its audio promising it will offer "bar-raising" quality for serious listeners. Here's hoping that's true when/if the we get it in for testing.
Pro-Ject Colourful Audio System 2
The Colourful Audio System 2 is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a simple setup that gives you a full hi-fi package combining a turntable, amplifier, stereo speakers, cartridge and cables – all the stuff any budding hi-fi or vinyl fan needs to get going. The System 2 package I looked at includes a five-star Debut Evo 2 turntable, a MaiA S3 amplifier and two Speaker Box 5 S2 bookshelf speakers and will set you back £1799. That's pretty competitive considering the hardware included.
WiiM Vibelink Amp
The Vibelink Amp is the first integrated amp from WiiM with no streaming smarts. Despite that it comes with some impressive features and hardware considering its £319 price. The unit offers 100W-per-channel of power and WiiM claims, this plus its "solid circuitry" will let the Vibelink offer a "rich, pure audio experience." Considering its strong record creating solid value audio products recently, I’ll be curious to see if lightning will strike again with the WiiM Vibelink Amp.
Michell Apollo phono stage
Michell is a brand mainly known for its Gyro turntables. But at Bristol it launched its new Apollo phono stage and Muse power supply. The compact units are made of solid aluminium billet and have a specifically designed cable link. The units are set to launch in March costing £3500.
MORE:
These are the best speakers we’ve reviewed
We rate the best headphone amps
Our picks of the best turntables
