Bristol HiFi Show 2026 Report Part 2

OSCAR AND KELLY BRING YOU THEIR REPORT FROM FLOORS 4 DOWN TO 1 AT THE BRISTOL HiFi SHOW 2026

Join us for floors 4 down to 1 in the HiFi PiG™ Bristol HiFi Show 2026 Report Part Two, with Oscar and Kelly.

By now, we hope you have read Part One of our Bristol HiFi Show 2026 Report, from Stu and Lin, covering the lower floors of the show, if not head here to read it.

hiFi PiG Bristol HiFi Show 2026 report part 2

BRISTOL HiFi SHOW 2026 REPORT PART TWO

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.

AUDIO NOTE UK

Starting off with Audio Note (UK), who have just announced their new Oto SE 35^th Anniversary integrated amplifier. Building on the original, it hosts a whole load of upgrades which really elevate its performance.

They had the Oto SE 35^th Anniversary paired with a pair of their AN-J/SPe speakers, using a TT3 with PSU4 and IO2 cartridge, and a CD3.1x/II CD player as the source.

The Audio Note UK rooms always sound excellent, and this year it was no exception. Realistic tonality, great depth, and impact to boot. I was treated to a listen to New Noise by Refused, a great track to wake you up on a cold Friday morning, what a blast.

KANTO

Next up we had Kanto Audio, they were using their ORA4, UKI, and REN in this room with a nice little SUB8 in the setup too. They have a neat little switch to change between the models easily, and Kanto offer an affordable entry into HiFi, making some great little speakers.

MITCHELL ACOUSTICS

Mitchell Acoustics had a range of active streaming speakers, which don’t use Wi-Fi. These are affordable ways into HiFi, and sounded engaging and dynamic.

AIR AUDIO / CONNECTED FIDELITY

Air Audio Distribution and Connected Fidelity shared a room, Connected Fidelity were showcasing their new UNITY mains cable, whilst Air Audio were showcasing the latest Hana Umami Black cartridge. Source components included new Connected Fidelity CF-1010 tonearm fitted to their TT Hub turntable, and they were using Coppice Audio speakers.

This is always a great room when it comes to low noise floor, and natural sounding playback, exceptionally clean audio from an analogue setup, and very faithful tonality.

LEEMA

Leema were showcasing two new products, the i85 and i150 integrated amplifiers – offering up 85wpc / 150wpc respectively. Both models come in two variants, an all-analogue one, and one with an integrated DAC (using an ESS9028Q2M) with two coaxial, two optical, and one USB input at a slight premium. These were paired with Scansonic M15.2 speakers, an affordable new speaker that retail at just under £1500, you can read our review of them here. These new amps are solid, with huge toroidal transformer, big capacitors, and high damping factor. We got to to listen to a techno track and this system handled it with control, composure, and huge scale.

CREEK AUDIO

Up next we have Creek Audio, who had a new pair of speakers on demo, the CYMATICS. These are designed with easy placement in mind, promising to offer controlled dispersion, coherent phase, and balanced low frequency integration in real world listening spaces. They were also running new prototype amplifiers behind the curtain. These speakers have plenty of clarity, and great scale when called for.

OPTOMA / SENNHEISER

Optoma / Sennheiser shared the first room, with a full A/V setup with a 4K projector and the AMBEO soundbars – the projector is Optoma’s new flagship model and the colour seemed very accurate, with excellent brightness and contrast.

SENNHEISER

In the second room Sennheiser had a range of headphones on demo, this was quite a busy room.

ORIGIN LIVE

Lastly on the 4^th floor we had Origin Live and their range of Turntables and vinyl accessories. On demo they had their Resolution Turntable, Enterprise tonearm, Lyra Atlas MC cartridge, Aesthetix Mimas integrated amp, DeVore Fidelity O/Baby speakers and Audience frontRow Reserve cabling. I’m quite a fan of the DeVore speakers, and they sounded great hooked up to this system, with a natural and full sound.

There was also a lovely little display of the Little Fwend tonearm lifter at the back of the room, a brilliant little device.

JBL

Down to the 3^rd floor and we had JBL with their new range of soundbars, and also the revival of the old Harman Kardon SoundSticks – with RGB lighting and even ARC support. These JBL soundbars look great, and the detachable surround speakers are very neat.

KLIPSCH / ONKYO

Next to this, we had the first of UK distributor, Henley Audio’s rooms, with Klipsch/Onkyo kit in it. On demo we had the Onkyo Icon P80, M80 and Klipsch RP-6000F II speakers. They also had the new Klipsch Sevens II on demo, switching between the two systems throughout the show.

Around the room they had the Klipsch Fives II, Nines II, Onkyo GX-30ARC, Klipsch Pro Media Lumina, New Onkyo Muse Y40, and Y50 streaming amplifiers, and the Klipsch Detroit, Nashville, and One Plus – many of these were UK debuts at the show.

AV TECH SOLUTIONS

AV Tech Solutions had a full home cinema setup, with a ton of different brands in the system, and they used a Top Gun Maverick clip for the sound demo (always a great choice). Suffice to say, you could feel the bass, and the spatial effects were pinpoint accurate. A great demonstration on how a good AV setup can sound, it was very immersive.

PRO-JECT

Pro-Ject have recently announced their new Debut Reference 10, and this was on demo in this room from Henley Audio alongside the Phono Box S3 B, CD Box S3, Uni Box S3, and Speaker Box 12 E Carbon.

Around the room they had the Debut Carbon Evo, Stereo Box E, Speaker Box 3 E Carbon, Colourful Audio System 2, Debut Pro B, Phono Box DS3 B, and various other accessories. This system sounded great in this room, they were playing at sensible volumes and the sound was smooth, yet insightful.

ROTEL

Up next were Rotel, with their 15 series on demo including the RCD-1572 MKII, RC-1572 MKII, RC-1552 MKII, Pro-Ject Debut Reference 10, and Piega Premium 701 Gen2 speakers.

They also had the S14, CD14 MKII, A11 MKII, and CD11 MKII on display in this room.

I’ve always enjoyed Rotel, and they seemed to pair nicely with the Piega speakers, both distributed by Henley Audio, with plenty of power and control from this system.

MUSICAL FIDELITY

In the Henley Audio Musical Fidelity room, you had the UK debut of the new B1x CD, alongside the B1xi amp, Pro-Ject Debut EVO 2 with Phono Box S3 B, paired with Heco Direkt Premium speakers. There was also the M5xi and M6xi on static display in this room.

These are quite interesting speakers, and the Musical Fidelity kit does a great job at offering up plenty of control, detail, and power.

WIIM

WiiM are well known for their affordable kit, in here you had the UK debut of the new WiiM Sound and WiiM Sound Lite, with their distributor Henley – they also had the WiiM Sub Pro in the system.

They had their Amp Ultra, Ultra, Vibelink Amp, Amp, and Pro Plus on static display too.

This setup of a pair of small speakers with a sub really gives you impressive scale in a small package. This is a very lifestyle friendly setup, easy to use, and a lot better sound than its size might make you think.

ULTRAFIDE

Ultrafide had their new Enso integrated amplifier on demo, with a pair of Kudos 505 speakers – this was a jaw droppingly good system, effortless and bottomless bass, impeccable clarity, realistic tonality and deep soundstaging. They had a Vertere DG-X turntable, alongside a Silent Angel Bremen SL1 Plus streamer. This room won our coveted Golden PiG award, find out why at the end of our report.

MARCH AUDIO

March Audio had their Kuoro speakers on demo with a pair of their P801 power amps, and pre-amp, they also had a Rega turntable in the system, and were using an SMSL DAC. These speakers use the popular Purifi Ushindi drivers, and had plenty of groove to them.

D’VON AUDIO

D’Von Audio, a new HiFi brand from Devon, UK, had a range of their speakers on demo, including the SQ10, SQ20 and SQ40, paired with a Cyrus streamer and Rotel integrated amp. Punchy, energetic, and clear is how these came across (they had the floorstanding SQ40 model playing).

ERA ACOUSTICS

Era Acoustics had their XTL transmission line speakers, paired with a Naim amp, Cambridge streamer, Musical Fidelity CD player, and also an Audio Analogue integrated in the system too (they were running off the Audio Analogue amp when we visited). A great sounding speaker for their size, and the finish on these was really striking.

AUDIO RESERGENCE

In this room you had the Audio Resurgence Kraken AR6A amplifier (recently reviewed by Janine), powering a pair of Ophidion Ffion speakers, an excellent match sonically with great warmth, and depth, without taking away detail. Source wise they were running off an Aurender streamer.

You also had the HEX 3 open-baffle speakers from Paul at The Spinning Room, and a REL T9x which wasn’t on when we were in the room. Around the edges of the room, you also had a few other models from Audio Resurgence, including a new, toasty 30w class-A amp.

AUDIO3

Audio3 had some quite interesting little speakers, these standmounts use an AMT tweeter and have an external amplifier with crossover built in, so each driver has its own amp. This system is wired, but active, and uses very discreet wiring for a clean setup. This is the right kind of speaker for this size of room, there wasn’t any excess bloat, or boom, all that was left is controlled, detailed sound.

FIIO / IBASSO / HIFIMAN

Plenty of HeadFi kit in here, including a huge array of headphones and DAC/amps from HiFiMAN, Fiio, Verrum, and iBasso. Another busy room, and it’s always a pleasure to see Mark from HiFiMAN, and Mark from AMP3.

DEVIALET

Devialet had a few setups in their room, including the Astra with Sonus Faber speakers, and their various Phantom models, along with some of their smaller active speakers. We had a listen to the smaller Phantom model, which can hold their own in a smaller room.

SPENDOR

Spendor had their A7.2 speakers paired with a Rega Solis power amp, Mercury pre-amp, Aura phono stage, Isis CD player, and SME Model 8 turntable with Shelter 901 cartridge. Siltech cables were used throughout this setup. As always, the Spendors did a great job at filling the room with detailed, punchy sound.

SOUND FOWNDATIONS

In this room you had a pair of Kerr Acoustics K320 speakers, Eco Waves acoustic panels, Soulines turntable, DS Audio optical cartridge, Furutech cabling, Music First Baby Reference V2 pre-amp, and Gamut power amplifier. This was a great sounding system, with good energy, detail, and scale.

SOUND SERVICE UK

Sound Service had a range of Benchmark, Fostex, and Manley around the room, on demo they had the usual IsoAcoustics demo with two pairs of Focal speakers, one with Gaia II’s, the other without, allowing them to A/B between the two. A great demo, showcasing that isolation can greatly improve the tightness and clarity of the sound.

VOXATIV

Voxativ are an interesting company from Berlin, Germany, using bespoke drivers, they build all their models in house. They had their latest Alberich system playing, featuring a full-range speaker up top, and a bass module that these sit atop. Amplification wise they were using their own valve amp, with a Lumin streamer, and analogue high-pass filters.

An incredibly vivid sounding system, with exceptional dynamics, and depth.

MARTIN LOGAN / BLUESOUND

The main system in here consisted of the Motion XT B100 speakers, paired with a Bluesound Powernode Gen4 – a simple setup that sounds rather larger than it looks too. At a cost of £2800, it offers great value too, with a bold, and punchy sound.

PROAC

ProAC had their new Response DB1R speakers on demo, paired with a full Exposure stack, showcasing a full British HiFi setup that offers up scale, and detail. These speakers offer up a big, wide soundstage, very impressive sound from such a compact cabinet.

SUGDEN AUDIO, ART, SYSTEMDEK

In this room you had a full Sugden setup running into a pair of Art Audio Diamond 8 speakers, with a Systemdek Revolution turntable and Nagaoka MP110 cartridge. The Sugden amps impart a subtle warmth, that really gels with these, more detailed speakers. A great balance, and lovely sounding system.

HEGEL

Hegel / Amphion had two rooms this year, with their UK distributor, Auden Distribution. In the first they had the Hegel H150 streaming integrated paired with the Argon Argon 1 speakers, using Audiomica cabling throughout, and MusicWorks power and isolation products. I got to listen to Better Hell by Bilmuri on this system and it did a fantastic job at articulating the subtle, yet deep basslines, and bass drops in this track. They manage to do all this without sacrificing detail, a cracking combo of tight and fast amplification with deep, punchy speakers. Bill was accommodating as always, and it’s a pleasure to see Auden Distribution at the shows.

In the second room you had the Hegel H400 streaming integrated paired with the Amphion Argon 3X speakers, Audiomica cabling, and Musicworks power and isolation products. This was a slightly larger system, and it shows in terms of scale and depth, these speakers have beautiful clarity. A pure joy to listen to, and another excellent pairing of all the kit involved.

ROGERS

Rogers had their LS3/5a paired with the subwoofer base stands, running out of their E20a Deluxe amplifier, Audio Note UK CDT One/II, and DAC2.1X. The sub-stands are pretty much essential if you want to use the LS3/5a outside of a nearer field setup, and they add a huge amount of body and depth to the sound. They don’t simply add bass; they enhance the whole soundstage and presentation.

LOCKWOOD

Lockwood had their Universal Stanley 1 speakers on demo, paired with a Quad streaming integrated amplifier. These speakers use a point-source driver, and come in any pantone colour you want – they also sound fantastic, with a snappy, yet full presentation, and effortless dynamics. Their studio heritage is trickling down into these models, and they are realistic sounding, without being boring or dry. A very enjoyable system.

They also had their new Universal Stanley 2 speakers on display at the side of the room.

HARBETH

Harbeth had 3 rooms, in the first you could find their P3ESR speakers, paired with the Nelson bass extender stands. This is another compact monitor speaker, with bass reinforcement in the stands, and it works well to flesh out the sound and add some heft in larger rooms.

In the next Harbeth room we had a new speaker from them, the SHL5plus XD2, these have a new 200mm RADIAL4 bass/mid driver, and were being run off a Hegel integrated amplifier which ran these with ease. These sounded very natural, and effortless, due to their design and driver choice, a cracking new speaker from Harbeth.

In the final Harbeth room you had the NLE3, a three-way speaker with DSP control and built in Hypex nCORE amplifiers. Harbeth have been doing some interesting things with DSP and active speakers in the last few years, and these were engaging, and punchy speakers. Even with a big bass driver they still didn’t overwhelm the room, showing that DSP can do wonders in terms of controlling the sound of the speakers. They were also using a pair of rear speakers in this room, with a pseudo-rear channel coming from them, once again all DSP controlled.

KII

Kii had their Sevens in a new Titanium finish, with their latest firmware that has a few tweaks – Wim played us Gasoline by I Prevail and what a blast it was. Big impact, hard hitting bass, gritty vocals, and plenty of control and clarity. The bass drops are so fun on these, they are a fantastic active speaker that handle any genre you can throw at them. This is a speaker that is extremely flexible, it has a ton of features, and doesn’t cost the earth, what’s not to love. This room was definitely a runner up for our Golden PiG award.

Stu was really impressed when he had the Kii Sevens in for review, read what he thought here.

RUARK

Ruark had their little R-610 system playing, with the Sabre-R speakers, however they did have something new in the room too – the Talisman-R compact floorstanding speakers. These haven’t been released yet, but should come in around/under £1500, and from the short listen we had, they are sure to cause a stir.

NEAT ACOUSTICS

Neat were demoing their new Iota Alpha II – these are tiny little speakers, yet close your eyes and they sound a hell of a lot bigger than they look. These give a spacious presentation, with deep and controlled bass – and that typical Neat energy. These handle multiple genres with ease, and fill the room with ease, even though they are tiny, there is some impressive engineering behind these. They were running them off an Atoll SDA-200 integrated streaming amp. An excellent sounding room, and another contender for the Golden PiG award.

ATC

ATC unveiled their new EL50 at the show, these are an active model, with a full three-way design and 350w of amplification per side. These are pretty big speakers, and need some space, and they have that signature ATC clarity, whilst giving a bigger, more rounded sound than their smaller models. These are a bit of a beast, and sounded controlled, and detailed. Source wise they had an ATC pre-amp, with a DCS streamer.

REGA

Rega released their Planar 6 RS edition at the show, this was paired with their ELEX MK4, FONO MM, and AYA speakers – a great setup that sounded big, bold, and engaging.

The Planar 6 RS comes with a nice little bundle of upgrades, and saves you around £700 from taking a normal one and upgrading it. It comes with the Planar 8 motor, pulley, and dual belt system, RB880 tonearm, and new ND9 cartridge, along with their external power supply / speed controller.

They also have a new MC phono stage called the AOS MC, more details to follow on this one.

LYNGDORF

Lyngdorf had their new TDAI-2210 streaming integrated amp with RoomPerfect technology, this was paired with their FR-2 speakers which sit right against the wall and use the amps room-calibration to tie everything together. This is always an interesting system, and it sounds great, capable of handling multiple genres of music with ease, and the bass impact and depth are truly impressive.

DALI

Dali had their new Sonik 7 on demo, paired with the new Lyngdorf TDAI-2210, along with a Lyngdorf CD-2 as the source. They also had a static display of the rest of the Sonik range at the side of the room, along with their Kupid’s. The Sonik 7 sounded great in this room, nice and articulate with good detail and control, these look to offer a lot of sound for the money.

THE GOLDEN PIG AWARDS (Oscar & Kelly)

As Lin and Stu have mentioned, this award is not based purely on sound, but on the room and experience as a whole. This award goes to those who really go the extra mile, and it came down to three rooms for us; Neat acoustics, Kii Audio, and Ultrafide.

In the end, it had to go to Ultrafide, not only was it a fantastic sounding room, but Mark and the team were attentive to visitors. The room setup was cosy, and homely, giving you a relaxed and comfortable demo space, congratulations to the whole team!