UK HiFi SHOW LIVE 2025 REPORT FROM ASCOT

Oscar and Kelly headed to Ascot Racecourse Grandstand for the UK HiFi Show Live 2025, now you can enjoy their tour of the show with loads of insights and photos of ths High End HiFi event.

UK HiFi Show Live is held at Ascot Racecourse, I’ve covered this show a couple of times before and it has some excellent demo spaces along with a wide range of exhibitors. Huge thanks to our UK HiFi Show Live 2025 coverage sponsors, Electrocompaniet.

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.

UK HiFi SHOW LIVE 2025 REPORT

Held across the 27/28th September this year, there were a few new brands alongside a couple of new product announcements so, let’s dive right in.

TEN BY HIFI LOUNGE

Starting on the 2nd floor, we have Ten by HiFi Lounge. Ten is a collection of artisan, High End HiFi brands, put together by Ricardo from Absolute Sounds. The exhibition of the Ten brands was with Paul and Wendy of the lovely HiFi Showroom, HiFi Lounge. In this room we had a demo setup comprised of the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/Bronze speakers, Trafomatic Glenn mono block amplifiers, Antipodes server, DCS Lina DAC X and Trafomatic Lara pre-amp.

I’m a big fan of the DeVore Fidelity speakers, and these sound fantastic out of good valve amps like the Glenn, loads of detail, space, and body.

There was also kit from Analog Relax, Antipodes, D’Agostino, dCS, Dohmann, HSE Swiss, Ikigai Audio, Robert Koda, and Wilson Audio around the room.

CAS AUDIO

CAS Audio distribute a range of brands, including Aurender, YG Acoustics, Bel Canto, Boulder, Cardas cables, QLN, and Avid.

They had a few systems on display, we had a listen to the new Aurender N50 three-box system which includes a controller, separate network processor, and PSU, which was running into the Bel Canto DAC/Pre stack, then into a pair of Bel Canto mono block amplifiers. They were running Cardas Clear Beyond speaker cable into a pair of YG Acoustics Haileys.

This system was superb, a clean, crisp, and powerful sound, these are speakers that can easily handle anything you throw at them and are incredibly dynamic and fun.

At the end you had the new Bel Canto streaming DAC / integrated separates stack, the integrated amp is fully analogue and pairs perfectly with the streaming DAC in terms of aesthetics. There is a phono stage planned for this series too.

DALI

Dali had their Epikore 7 speakers paired with a Hegel system consisting of the V10 phono stage, H600 streaming amp, and the Viking CD Player. Vinyl-wise wise they had an SL1210G TT with Nagaoka MP200 cartridge.

This was a brilliant pairing, great scale to the sound with a good blend of dynamics, refinement, and detail. The Hegel gives these Dali speakers a sense of drive and energy without tipping into harsh territory.

HENLEY AUDIO

Distributor Henley Audio always have a huge room, with kit from Wiim, Rotel, Klipsch, Musical Fidelity, EAT, HiFi Rose, Loewe, Onkyo, Ortofon, Piega, Pro-Ject, Austrian Audio, and Roon.

They had the new Onkyo range on display, alongside the new HiFi Rose RS451 streamer. Demo system wise, system 1 had the Pro-Ject Xtension 9, Evo 9 AS Premium HG tonearm, Ortofon MC X40, Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B phono stage, HiFi Rose RS451 streamer, Rotel DX-5 amplifier, and Klipsch Heresy speakers.

System 2 which was playing, consisted of the EAT F-Dur turntable, EAT Jo No.5 cartridge, Pro-Ject Phono Box RS2, Pro-Ject Power Box RS2, HiFi Rose RS151, Roon Nucleus Titan, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 600.2 amplifier, and Piega Coax 611. These Piega’s sound fantastic through this setup, it’s a system that will allow you to hear fine detail, revealing everything in the track, whilst having great body and impact to back it up.

New products included the Musical Fidelity B1xi, Loewe Leo headphones and 2 new turntables from Pro-Ject, the Classic Reference and Signature 12.2 – lovely bits of kit!

SIGNATURE SYSTEMS

Signature systems were showing off the new PS Audio Paul McGowan Signature range, and also had a PS Audio demo system with the Aspen FR20 speakers, Perfectwave BHK M600 mono block amplifiers, PMG Signature SACD player, PMG Signature 512 DAC, PMG Signature pre-amp, and PowerPlant 20 mains regenerator.

They also had Canor, Canton, VAC, Thorens, Sbooster, Ferrum, and Clarus cables around the room.

Elsewhere in the room they had an Audio Group Denmark setup, the Borresen C1s were sounding incredible in this room, the amount of sound these put out for such a “small” speaker is quite astonishing. (Stu will be reviewing the Borresen C1s very soon). They were paired with the Aavik U-188 streaming integrated amplifier, and they also had the Ansuz D3 network switch and C3 mains distribution block in this system too.  It’s always a pleasure to catch up with the guys from Audio Group Denmark, with Lars on hand to talk about the brands and products.

CADENCE

Cadence Distribution always bring a huge range of products and brands, they worked with other retailers too, to offer a space for a few headphone setups too. Reeling off the brands, they had SME, Spendor, Yamaha, Sphinx Audio, Garrard, Goldmund, Nagra, Quadraspire, Crystal cable, Audio-Technica, Meze, Shelter, Loricraft and Ortofon.

They had a few separate system setups in the room (each system in a “lounge” of its own). Lounge 1 had the Spendor Audio Classic 100 speakers, Yamaha A-S3200 integrated amp, SME Model 8 turntable in Midnight Blue, a Shelter Harmony cartridge and Crystal cable throughout.

Lounge 2 had the Goldmund Asteria active speakers with Mimesis 11 wireless hub, and Eidos streamer.

Lounge 3 had the new Sphinx Audio Element 3 speakers paired with a Sugden IA-4 integrated, PA-4 phonostage, SME Model 35 turntable, Audio Technica ART-1000X cartridge, and Siltech cabling.

Lounge 4 had the Focal Sopra No. 2 speakers, Naim NSS 333 streamer, NAC 332 preamp, NAP 350 mono block amplifier, NPX 300 Power Supply, Naim FRAIM, and Naim Cables throughout.

In the huge Reference system they had the Siltech Symphony speakers, Siltech SAGA System (C1, V1, P1), Nagra HD phono stage, SME Model 60 turntable, Garrard 301 Advanced turntable, Ortofon MC Verismo cartridge, Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge and Siltech Master Crown cabling.

EXPOSURE

Exposure Electronics had their new 5510 integrated on demo, with their new DAC in the system too, the rest of the system consisted of their TT360 turntable, VXN phono stage, VXN power supply and 3510 CD player. They were using a pair of ProAc D20R speakers and the new 5510 sounded fantastic with a natural yet composed, detailed, and open sound.

VINTAGE SHOWCASE

Some beautiful vintage B&O in this room, a blast from the past for many, and still sounding wonderful to this day.

DEVIALET

Devialet Astra + YG Acoustics Carmel 3, very sleek streaming amp that we have seen at a few shows, this was also a great paring sound wise. Full, fun, and engaging – along with looking fantastic. They also had their phantom speakers in this room, as well as a few other products on static display at the side of the room.

SOUND DESIGN DISTRIBUTION

Sound Design Distribution had a great range in their room, Halcro, Grimm Audio, Vivid Audio, Silent Angel, Lumin, Mola Mola, Takumi, Nagaoka, Onkk and Pantheone. I have just set up a Takumi TT Level 2.1 so look out for a review of that soon! I had a good chat with Rik who created the Takumi turntables, there’s a lot of interesting design behind them. They also make a range of cartridges at different price points.

The main system consisted of the Vivid Audio Giya G2 Series 2 speakers, Grimm Audio MU2 streaming DAC/pre-amp, Halcro Eclipse stereo power amp and Onkk turntable.

ATLAS

Atlas were showcasing new cables which have tech trickled down from the higher models. These are great looking cables and if you’ve heard Atlas cables before you will know they sound good too. They also have a new portable headphone cable that’s more flexible than the previous Zeno ones. The demo system was setup to allow for easy cable changes, demonstrating the differences between their product ranges.

Read more about the new Atlas cables here

ROGERS

Rogers were demonstrating their LS3/5a with the AB3a active bass stands, Audio Note UK CD4.1X CD Player and P2 SE Signature amplifier. The LS3/5a do benefit from these active bass stands in larger room, it helps fill out the sound whilst retaining their signature stereo imaging.

LONDON DECCA

Next to the main Rogers you had London Decca, they were using an Audio Note UK CD Zero, Rogers 22 valve amp and SOTA turntable with a pair of Rogers PM510 speakers, full range and excellent sound.

HERITAGE HIFI

Heritage were showing off a range of KLH products, on demo were the Model 5 loudspeakers which have a smooth, and organic sound. This is vintage looking kit that’s easy on the ear, a real pleasure to listen to with the right music. Source wise they had a Studer A810 reel-to-reel deck, Eversolo DMP-A10, and Luxmann L-507Z amplifier. They did have an Icon Audio Stereo 60 in the rack too, that wasn’t in use.

KENSINGTON (TALK ELECTRONICS)

Kensington have released a range of new MC cartridges, with the C-500 and C-600 using the same motor with an elliptical stylus (one with an aluminium cantilever, the other with Boron). Moving to the C-700, C-800 and C-900, these have an improved motor and a range of different styli and cantilever. Prices range from £599.95 all the way up to £2999.95. Elsewhere in the room you had Edwards audio and Kestrel products.

You can read more about the new Kensington cartridges here

TECHNICS

Technics had their SL-1300G playing with an Ortofon MC Quintet Blue cartridge – as always, Technics were playing great music, thanks to Kev, and we heard some drum and bass through this setup. Great control, tons of impact, whilst remaining refined, and engaging. This is a system that puts a smile on your face, pure fun.

They were using the SB-G90M2 speakers, paired with their SU-R1000 integrated amp when we visited the room.

They also had their SC-CX700 active wireless speakers on demo, although they were not playing when we were in there. Also on display was their new SL-40CBT, a new entry-level turntable with Bluetooth.

HARMONY HIFI

Harmony HiFi had the Marten Parker Trio Diamond speakers paired with the Gryphon Diablo 333 integrated amplifier, AMG Viella Forte turntable, Fezz Gratia Prestige MKII phono stage and Pink Faun Scion streamer.

Deep, controlled bass, crisp transients, and big sound even in this smaller room.

They also had a Pathos amp on static display as well as a smaller Fezz setup on display at the back of the room.

ELITE AUDIO

Elite Audio had two rooms, in the first they had a Lindemann Woodnote Combo Streamer/Power/DAC running into a pair of Revival Audio Sprint 3 speakers. A minimalist combo with big sound, great for smaller to medium living spaces.

In the second room they had the brand new Electrocompaniet EC5 pre-amp, ECM1 MKII streamer, and a pair of the AW 300 M mono block amplifiers, running into a pair of Revival Audio Atalante Grande Reserve speakers. The speakers are a limited run of 300 pairs and sound incredibly natural and clear, a special sounding pair of speakers. They were using an Aqua La Scala MKIII DAC in this setup too, and had a pair of AudioSolution Figaro M2 on demo too (although the Revival’s were playing when we visited).

The new EC5 pre-amp is a masterpiece in analogue pre-amplification, with a dual mono class-a topology, the volume knob is back and bigger than ever too! The volume is electronically controlled and has no relays or moving parts in the signal path, and has over 900-steps of adjustment in 0.1dB increments – what a bit of kit!

MARANTZ/BOWERS & WILKINS

In this room you had the Bowers & Wilkins 803 D4 speakers, being run off the Marantz Model 10 integrated amplifier with LINK 10n streaming pre-amp and SACD10 disc player. This is a great pairing, the Marantz tames the 803 D4 with ease, delivering pure, unforced sound that easily filled this room. Around the room they had some static displays of other products, including the new PX8 S2 and some Denon kit.

KOG

In the first KOG room you had the T&A Symphonia all-in-one streaming amplifier paired with T&A Talis R300 speakers, hooked up with Tellurium Q cabling. A brilliant, simplistic system that both looks and sounds fantastic.

In their second room you had the Epos ES-28N speakers, Soul Note A-2 integrated amp, D-2 DAC, TransRotor JR turntable, and Soul Note E-2 phono stage. Once again Tellurium Q cabling was used all-round and this was a brilliant sounding setup.

HARMAN LUXURY

In the Harman Luxury room you had the new Summit series from JBL, they had the Ama stand mounts playing, paired with the full Mark Levinson setup (No 632 amp, 626 pre-amp, 519 streamer). The sound had good body and depth, with excellent sound staging and air.

JBL HEADPHONES

In this room you had a couple of pairs of JBL Tour One M3 headphones, with the additional dongle for high-res wireless streaming. The dongle can pair with digital or analogue sources and has so many different use cases – plug it into the onboard entertainment on a flight and listen wirelessly, or a TV, PC, smartphone etc… You can setup spatial audio with headtracking, and due to the low latency of the dongle/headphone pairing, it’s even suitable for occasional gaming sessions.

They also had their earbuds, the Tour Pro 3, on demo too. JBL really are doing great stuff with their wireless headphones.

KRAKEN

Kraken used to be called Alchemist. Their electronics have a small form factor with an integrated (AR6A) or pre/power combo, the integrated on demo was doing a fine job and sounded great with the Chario Academy 2 speakers in this room.

RADIANT ACOUSTICS

Radiant Acoustics had both the Clarity 4.2 and 6.2 in this room – brilliant speakers with Purify drivers. Super snappy, clean, and punchy. They were running both models off a Cambridge Audio EXN / EXA stack, and the 4.2 were playing when we went in this room. For such a small speaker, they kick out some impressive bass whilst retaining a clean presentation.

KARMA AV

In the first room they had a range of System Audio speakers, which are active and support streaming via a hub. I’ve heard these a few times are they sound great, especially as you don’t need a stack system.

NODE AUDIO

In the first Node room you had their HYLIXA signature speakers playing, with Valvet A4.5 mono block amplifiers, Valvet Soulshine Mk.2 pre-amp, Aurender A10 streamer, iFi Pro iDSD DAC, iFi power block and cables, ZenSati interconnect and speaker cables alongside Node Support System One isolation products. Here they do a demo where they gradually add the supports to the system to demonstrate the differences between isolation and no isolation.

In their second room they had their new Atom speakers, running off SPL M1000 amplifiers, Elector pre-amp, and Diamond DAC, they were using a Melco streamer/server.

The new Node Atom speakers use a 3-way, helicoil transmission line design, they have a secondary opening which dampens the resonant peak of the transmission line too. They feature a porous lattice behind the midrange which helps damp the rearward sound, whilst being solid enough to be structural. There are two models in the range, a 525 standmount and 650 floorstander.

We listened to the 525 with dedicated stand, they have deep, controlled bass from a compact cabinet due to the transmission line, the front firing mid and tweeter drivers give the sound great clarity. The overall impression is that these dig deep when called for whilst still bringing out plenty of detail and nuance in the music.

KARMA AV ROOM 2

In the second Karma AV room we had the new Primare ALLT-I-ETT, an all-in-one streaming speaker which does room EQ, has digital and analogue inputs + phono stage, eARC, sub out with full bass management, FM radio, DAB+, bi-directional Bluetooth, and all your usual streaming services.

This is a multi-use speaker, and I see more of this kind of speaking coming out from other brands in the future. It’s versatile in terms of placement, and the sound coming from this speaker was bold and energetic.

KARMA AV THIRD ROOM

In the third room we had the Perlisten S7t Black Edition, paired with 2 D8is subs and full Primare setup – this was a system that could pressurise a big room at moderate volumes, it’s mad. The D8is subs are overkill for most, they are fun though.

Around the room you had other models of Perlisten subs and static displays of some of their install speakers.

KARMA AV FOURTH ROOM

In the fourth Karma AV room you had a combination of Unison Research and SVS., The main demo system consisted of the Ultra Evolution Pinnacle speakers by SVS, running off a Unison Research S6 Black Edition amplifier with CD Uno as the source. However, we got to hear the standmount Opera Prima V2 speakers (from the sister brand of Unison Research), as they were being demoed for a customer while we were in the room.

There was a static display of some more Unison Research product at the edge of the room alongside more SVS products.

KARMA AV FIFTH ROOM

In the last Karma AV room, we had Mofi paired BAT electronics. The Mofi room is usually excellent and this was no different. Totally effortless and enjoyable sounds coming from these 888 speakers.

AUDEN DISTRIBUTION

In the first Auden room you had the Hegel H600 + D50 dac running into a pair of the brand new Amphion argon 3x (this was their UK debut). Audiomica cables were used throughout and these are fantastic little speakers from Amphion. Their rear passive radiator helps fill out the sound and makes them a little easier to place in smaller rooms too.

AUDEN SECOND ROOM

In the second room they had Anders from Hegel showing their new H150 streaming amplifier, paired with a pair of Amphion Argon 1 and a Luphonic turntable. Once again, huge sound from such small speakers, and we listened to streaming vs local file on a USB harddrive. Local music sounded better, with more substance to it, which is intriguing to say the least. That’s twice this week where playing back local or physical files has sounded better than streaming.

EJ JORDAN

New speakers in this room from EJ Jordan – an interesting setup and the soundstage was what grabbed me in this room. These speakers paint a wide sonic image, very intriguing, whilst also sounding smooth, and natural.

HIFI NETWORK

In this room you had the new-ish Elac Concentro M807 speakers which we saw in Munich. They were paired with AVM electronics and a Clearaudio turntable in this system. There were some other models of turntable around the room on static display.

REVOX

The B77 MKIII reel-to-reel recorder was the focus in this room, this was running into their little StudioMaster 500 streaming amplifier and running a pair of their Prestige G140 floorstanding speakers. As you can expect, this was a very effortless sounding system, reel-to-reel as a format has its fans and I can see why for certain genres. They also have a neat little speaker out too, the StudioMaster A200, a flexible multi-room speaker that supports certain streaming services alongside AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth.

MAIN CONCOURSE

Lastly, we managed to quickly run through the main concourse with Diverse Vinyl, Purita Audio mains conditioners and Technics, alongside a Richer Sounds stand.

HEADPHONE ZONE

This is also where the Headphone Zone was, and you could find DCS, Abyss and Fezz Audio, Focal, Hifonix (with a huge range of models on demo), HifiMAN, HEA distribution with Campfire Audio (new Andromeda 10, Grand Luna and Portable DAC wallet) and Astell & Kern.

That’s it for another year folks, a big thank you to the organisers, visitors, and brands/distributors who make this show what it is.

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.

Oscar Stewart

Additional photography by Kelly Bowden and Milo Vince