What Hi-Fi (UK)

YOU CAN’T BEAT A GOOD BIG ’UN

Soundbars and soundbar systems are improving all the time, bringing true cinema sound closer and closer to the home environment. But, as the old rugby adage goes, “a good big ’un will always beat a good little ’un”; and so it is with home cinema. To...

BARGAIN BUDGET SPEAKERS

FROM £280-£500

NOISECANCELLERS

Sennheiser takes on Bose, B&W and Sony

NEW YEAR, NEW SUPERB SYSTEMS

I realise that this is the ‘February’ edition of What Hi-fi?, but it is actually our first issue out in the shops in 2026. You can blame the vagaries of old-school magazine publishing for the dating tradition of having your issue come out a month...

SPOTIFY LOSSLESS: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

I know I’m getting old, but this is verging on the ridiculous. I can’t help feeling a little Brenda from Bristol at this time of year: “You’re joking! What, another one?” If only there were a song from a classic British rock band that encapsulated the...

MARVELLOUS MINI LED TVS

Peak performance per pound: bargain 65in sets

A TOP TRIO OF TIGHT TUSSLES

It’s not often we have a competition as tight as our £649-£699 stereo speakers (p28) Group Test. Tight not only as far as price goes either; all five of these rivals are superb performers, each with its own strengths, and very few weaknesses. And there...

NOT THE PRICE – THE VALUE

Some things are well worth spending the money on – for the right person, of course. There are plenty of people for whom spending three or four thousand pounds on a turntable is insanity – and that’s fair enough. For those of us, though, who want to...

STREAM NG

21st century systems Streaming amplifiers are serious

Sharp's 43in TV: a £230 bargain

A NEWISH SPIN ON TURNTABLES

Amplifiers and loudspeakers have been the constants of hi-fi through the ages. But turntables? If you had asked What Hi-fi? 30 years ago if the record player should also be on that list, I doubt you would have received a favourable response. The...

AT BOTH ENDS OF THE SONIC SCALE

We have said it before and, sadly, we will without doubt say it again: modern TVS seem incapable of producing sound of a quality anywhere near approaching the brilliance of the images they provide. Which is a problem. Without great sound, you can never...

OUR TEAM'S ALL-TIME FAVOURITE TEST ALBUMS

BARGAIN STREAMERS SHOULD BE HI-FI TOO!

STREAMERS BARGAIN SHOULD BE HI-FI TOO!

SERIOUS HEADPHONES FOR THE TRUE HI-FI FAN

TEAMWORK TOPS THE INDIVIDUAL

It’s always fun, after our dizzyingly busy Awards-testing months, to take stock of the new equipment we rate most highly and to match them with like-minded products to produce stunning systems. Which is what we have done for this issue of What...

THE DUST HAS FINALLY SETTLED

Now that the lengthy Awards testing and announcing is done for another year, the path is clearer for us on What Hi-fi? to reassess the state of play in some of our most popular categories. New products will upset the apple cart quite often – but plenty...

AWARDS 2024

Stereo speakers CD players Turntables Televisions Amplifiers Wireless speakers Systems Headphones Projectors and more…

COMPETITION IS GETTING HOTTER

In the run-up to our annual Awards (it’s our next issue, out on 15th November!), we at What Hi-fi? always have a glut of excellent products put forward by manufacturers for consideration. It is, to put it mildly, a taxing time for our team – but it...

THE SYNERGY OF A SUPER SYSTEM

The What Hi-fi? systems issues are some of our most popular editions of the year. It is always interesting to know what products will blend together perfectly for the ideal stereo or home-cinema set-up. There was a time (in the last century,...

HOW WE SCORE

All review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole – not any individual reviewer. Each product will be listened to and/or viewed by several members of the test team, who will then discuss the final verdict before it appears in the magazine or...

PREMIUM HEADPHONES: APPLE vs BOSE, B&W and SONOS

PREMIUM HEADPHONES: APPLE vs BOSE, B&Wand SONOS