Opinion

Having surveyed the variety of products, big and small, at the recent UK Hi-Fi Show Live at Ascot, Mark Craven is pleased to see that audio brands aren’t all trying to back the same winner

While trotting my way around the Ascot Grandstand during September 2025’s UK Hi-Fi Show Live, I was reminded of the sheer diversity that exists in hi-fi. Compare the options available to consumers wanting to listen to music in decent quality to, say, the options available when it’s time to buy a new phone, and it’s clear we have it good.

This is not just about the variety of price points, although seeing amplifiers from WiiM practically rubbing shoulders with Trafomatic’s £58,000 Elysium monoblock certainly rammed that home. Moreover, it was about the differences in approach taken by manufacturers, all intended to appeal to the specific demands of us, the customers. Want to listen to music through headphones? No problem, and do you want to do that wired or wirelessly? Looking for small, elegant speakers for a discreet system, or are you hoping to fill a massive space with floor-to-ceiling sound? Again, step right this way.

Vive la difference

Perhaps, for those looking in from the outside, this all makes hi-fi appear a bit... esoteric. To go back to the idea of smartphones, no one has ever asked if you’re interested in a valve or solid-state handset. But it’s to the credit of the industry – and certainly something that manufacturers as a collective should be proud of – that notions of choice and difference haven’t been discarded in favour of a homogeneous approach. I am fairly confident in saying that I will never desire to own a reel-to-reel tape player, or – for that matter – be in a position to spend £58,000 on a mono amp. But I appreciate the fact these things exist.

At the UK Hi-Fi Show Live I witnessed floorstanding speakers being demonstrated alongside floorstanding subwoofers, and heard how the dispersion characteristics of ELAC’s flagship M 807 [HFN Nov ’25] can be tuned to suit personal taste and the room environment. I listened to British-built dipole floorstanders with full-range drivers in one room; compact, Danish-designed two-way bookshelf speakers in the next. Music was played from CD, vinyl, tape and over the network, spanning genres from drum ’n’ bass and hard rock to choral ensembles and big band jazz.

I even came face to face with a TV, as distributor Henley Audio brought models from Loewe. These sat in the corner of its suite – it’s a hi-fi show after all – but I saw people lingering for a look and a chat. I was told by Henley that it sees the German brand as a good fit for its retailers, as its focus on quality craftsmanship and customisation mirrors the philosophies of Pro-Ject, Musical Fidelity, Piega, et al. Henley also understands that hi-fi doesn’t exist in a bubble. People who like listening to music may also like watching television.

Not a soundbar...

Another brand getting that memo is Primare, which debuted its Allt-i-Ett system [pictured, left] at Ascot. From a brand known for its hi-fi separates, this desktop speaker/amp/player is quite the departure, but shows the manufacturer understands that we don’t all listen to music in the same way. Just don’t do what I did and call it a ‘soundbar’. That earned me a withering look...