Search results for focal

I've heard over 50 headphones this year, but I'm dreaming of only one pair this Christmas

By Harry McKerrell published

I love the Focal Bathys. If only someone loved me enough to fork out the pretty enormous price tag to get me some...

Rewind: the Sonos Arc Ultra appears, a top 'tip' for earbud makers and more

By Alastair Stevenson published

Plus our verdict on Apple’s latest AirPods 4 with ANC, Focal’s floorstanders – all in our latest news digest.

I've heard over 100 hi-fi products this year, but these five truly stand out

By Ketan Bharadia published

Hundreds of products have passed through our test rooms this year, and our technical editor has seen and heard every one. Here are his favourites...

B&W says the "centre is the key" for quality home cinema sound

By Lewis Empson published

It's British Hi-Fi Week, so we're taking the oppurtunity to catch up with B&W to talk about hi-fi and home cinema.

I just saw the fulldome presentation of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon – and was blown away

By Jez Ford last updated

The bad news: your home cinema ain’t gonna cut it. The good news: there’s more to fulldome than Floyd.

I wish it wasn’t true, but the small things matter when you're building a hi-fi system

By Ketan Bharadia published

The small things make a big difference when it comes to the performance of your hi-fi system.

We've built a great value CD player system that ticks all boxes and won't break the bank

By Jonathan Evans published

Despite streaming’s popularity, a CD-based arrangement offers key advantages as you'll find in this budget hi-fi system.

I spent a weekend with a five-star Panasonic OLED and it's changed how I feel about Micro Lens Array

By Lewis Empson published

Our Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2024 demo once again shows how next-gen OLED tech is taking strides in picture performance.

It might not have Dolby Atmos, but my local indie cinema is still my favourite place to watch movies

By Kashfia Kabir published

Cult films, community events, great pizza – Reading's independent cinema is a thriving, welcoming space that I love visiting more than the Dolby-equipped London theatres.

Dolby Atmos music just went to another level, and I’ve never heard anything like it

By Jez Ford published

Medieval music in a big cathedral is not generally my first go-to for an evening listening session. But wow, now it is.

Step inside the world's best home cinema – a 'church cloister' entrance, gold ceiling and 15,000W sound system

By Sound+Image published

'Surprise us!' was the minimalist brief from the owners. And Wavetrain Cinemas certainly did, building them an Australian home cinema judged to be the world's best in CEDIA's 2023 global awards.

What Hi-Fi? Pick of the Month October 2024

Pick of the month: KEF’s Q Concerto Meta delight, while Bose’s earbuds and Panasonic’s OLED TV earn top marks

By Alastair Stevenson published

A record-breaking 14 hi-fi and home cinema products earned perfect scores from our reviewers last month. Here’s what you need to know.

We built a classy streaming hi-fi system with two brand-new, five-star products and a recent Award-winner

By Jonathan Evans published

Three talented components combine to create a sound that is more than the considerable sum of their parts.

Panasonic has a plan to fix our biggest problem with small OLED TVs

By Alastair Stevenson last updated

Panasonic claims its latest OLED's Dynamic Theatre Surround sound system will deliver the home cinema audio experience we've been waiting for

I've heard over 150 products this year, and these are my 5 hi-fi highlights

By Ketan Bharadia published

What Hi-Fi?'s technical editor picks his favourite hi-fi products of the year...

8 of the best new speakers at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2024

By Harry McKerrell published

We've experienced plenty of exciting hi-fi highlights at Bristol 2024 – here's our pick of the best new speakers.

This high-end home cinema system of your dreams is packed with Award winners

By Jonathan Evans published

A top-grade AV set-up featuring medal-winning products from the recent What Hi-Fi? Awards.

I learned a depressing stat this week: HDR accounts for only around 5% of TV viewing

By Tom Parsons published

Figures from Philips suggest only a tiny portion of TV-watching is in HDR – even on flagship OLED and Mini LED models.

Ultra Short Throw projectors are getting seriously good, but there are still a few major flaws

By Lewis Empson published

Ultra short-throw projectors still have a few things to master before they can fully overthrow TVs, especially 98-inch models.

We built a budget big-screen TV system to maximise movies while minimising expense

By What Hi-Fi? published

Together, this triumvirate of terrific-value components creates a complete system of serious cinematic quality.

What I did on my holidays, or 6 lessons in checking hi-fi and TV systems for schoolboy errors

By Jez Ford published

I recently transformed two hi-fi and TV sound systems – one of them for almost nothing because of a hilarious installation error.

Apple Vision Pro is technically spectacular, but it has the same crucial flaw as 3D TV

By Alastair Stevenson published

However amazing the Apple Vision Pro is for home cinema viewing, movies are always best when shared with friends – here's why

The Mission 770 story takes in the BBC, Spendor and the drive to do better

By Ketan Bharadia published

We compare a pair of Mission 770 from 1980 with the current Award-winner to chart the progress of speaker design.

PSB Speakers: a brief history

By Jez Ford published

From a home-made violin – via Floyd Toole and Canada's National Research Council – to a a 50-year-strong speaker brand.

Your hi-fi system's sound is being ruined and you don't even know it

By Ketan Bharadia published

Equipment supports aren't headline news, but they are essential if your system is to perform at its best.

TCL says it has no plans to adopt Filmmaker mode on its TVs – here's why

By Lewis Empson published

TCL doesn't support Filmmaker mode on its TVs, and it looks like we now know why that is the case.

Sony’s OLED TVs nailed it this year – and rivals should learn from it in 2024

By Alastair Stevenson published

Sony’s had a great year with its OLED TVs and the reason’s pretty simple – it focused on getting the fundamentals right.

This superb projector system will give you a true cinema experience at home

By What Hi-Fi? published

These five Award-winning components combine to cover all cinematic bases.

Speaker systems are in danger of killing budget hi-fi separates, but they shouldn't

By Becky Roberts published

I hope the speaker systems exist beside separates rather than quash them, and for that to happen I feel there needs to be a budget-component resurgence.

We've built a brilliant vinyl and streaming hi-fi system powered by Mission and Wharfedale

By Jonathan Evans published

A relatively affordable system based around the Mission 778X amplifier, combining the best of modern streaming smarts with retro appeal and top-notch analogue performance.