I saw some of the best stereo speakers while wearing my boots down at Bristol Hi-Fi Show between February 20-22, and I wrote a whole listicle on some of the premium audio gadgets which will absolutely shatter your bank account.
But at the annual show, I also saw a decent amount of kit that wasn’t so wallet-shredding. I enjoyed listening to plenty of headphones and speakers which you and I could even end up buying — I mean, if my landlady decided I could be exempt from rent for a month or two.
None of the following gadgets will be eligible for our best cheap headphones or speakers lists; they’re all still far from the ‘budget’ border which we patrol for those round-ups. But they’re still within the budgets of some audiophiles, as long as they’re OK with saving for a little while — and I think that means something.
1. Dali Sonik series
I wandered into the Dali suite as Kraftwerk was blasting out of the Sonik 9, though for this ‘budget’ list, I’ll refrain from mentioning that £2,199, $4,500, AU$4,099 model again.
Sonik is the new flagship series for Danish audio brand Dali, and while the 9 is the top-end model, there’s also a 1, 3, 5 and 7, as well as On-Wall and Cinema. We covered these models, and their differences, when they were announced.
I was most drawn in by the smaller Sonik 1 (pictured above), for £449, $900, AU$849, and the Cinema model, for the exact same price. The latter is a pseudo-soundbar that can also be used as one part of a multi-device suite, though it wasn’t being tested when I was poking my head around.
The Sonik 1, though, seem to offer all the audio chops of the pricey models, but for a lesser fee. These stereo speakers have the same 29mm soft dome tweeter along with a 5 1/4 woofer, and maintain the versatile placement of previous Dali speakers. Sure, this model is the weakest of the bunch, but it’s not exactly a crime to fall short of a floor-standing monolith like the Sonik 9. (Oops: I mentioned it again!)
2. Sennheiser HDB 630
Bristol Hi-Fi isn’t as much a show for headphones as it is for home Hi-Fi kit, but Sennheiser reminded me that wireless cans can keep up, if they’re done right. I was ready to wax lyrical about their prowess until I realized that TechRadar published a Sennheiser HDB 630 review at the tail end of 2025.
Oh well; I tested them at the show, and I liked them. I’d even go so far as to call them the best headphones I listened to at the big event, though they’re also among the only headphones I listened to (other than pairs for testing DAPs). They offer fantastically-detailed, spacious, and nuanced sound, and the iPad Sennheiser had paired with the cans was full of music — the brand was clearly confident that I’d get great audio, whatever genre or song I picked.
Beyond audio, the feature list looks better than I’d expect for audiophile headphones, with a long-lasting battery and range of connection options. Our reviewer praised the ANC and companion app too, so they’re clearly great all-rounders. All that for $499 / £399 / AU$999: they’re not exactly cheap as headphones go, but a far cry from the four-figure premium options you can find.
3. Mitchell uStream 2025 family
The Mitchell Acoustics room was bedecked in so many speakers it was hard to tell where the music was coming from — or where it wasn’t coming from. This is from its range of uStream speakers, coming in a variety of models and were all refreshed in 2025.
There’s the uStream Cube for £349 (around $470, AU$670), uStream One for £499 (roughly $670, AU$950), Ustream Two for £799 (about $1,080 AU$1,500) and Ustream Three for £1,199 ($1,600, AU$2,300), all bumping up the specs and power the more you pay. Obviously those don’t all count as budget picks, but the Cube and One in particular seem to offer great value for money.
These devices seemed designed to act as jack of all trade models, delivering high-quality wireless audio to your home, and working with TVs as much as your music player. They can apparently be positioned independently, with their own power outlet (so they don’t need to be placed too close to one another), and can sync up with Alexa or Google Assistant to run multiple rooms’ sound at once. It seems like a large bevy of features for some solid-sounding speakers.
Also catching my eye was the uStream Groove, which you can see at the top of this article. It combines the brand’s TT1 turntable with two uStream Cube speakers, all for £499 (about $670, AU$950), which seems a good deal as an all-in-one package for new vinyl converts.
4. FiiO M33 R2R
FiiO had a healthy roster of new gadgets on display at Bristol Hi-Fi, including the top-end M27 audio player, DM15 R2R CD player and EH11 headphones, but a busy room and certain technical limitations meant I only managed to test out one device. This is the M33 R2R, a successor to the FiiO M23 which costs £449 / $600 (around AU$900).
As a regular phones reviewer, I recognize plenty of the M33’s specs from budget phones a few years ago: a Snapdragon 680 chip, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, Android 13, 5.5-inch screen, 14-hour battery life. But obviously it’s a music player, so let’s ignore those specs. The M33 offers hi-res music up to 24-bit/384kHz, with an R2R DAC, built-in amplifier, 2200mW power output and two headphone ports. It doesn’t look too different from the previous model, and it’s under the hood that some improvements have been made.
5. WiiM Sound
Well, here’s another product I liked at Bristol, only to discover that we’d already written a WiiM Sound review (and heard it soon after its release, at the Paris Audio Show). So not brand-new, per se, but only a few months old. This smart speaker sells for £299 (around $400, AU$570), though there’s a slightly cheaper version in the Sound Lite for £229 (about $310, AU$440).
The WiiM Sound units come with double tweeters and woofers, outputting at 100W. They have 2-way architecture so can be placed in the center of rooms, with an open design to ensure spacious sound – they also have a room analyzer feature to tune your music for the space. The difference between the models is that the Sound has a 1.8-inch screen while the Lite doesn’t.
When I stepped into the WiiM room (or the RooM, as I’m sure they’d like to call it), I heard one of each playing together, using a feature which lets you double up the speakers to fill a larger space, and they really did conquer the room in away that smaller speakers often don’t. There was also a WiiM Sub Pro thrown into the mix, which actually costs more than either speaker.
Our tester really liked them too, especially the sound quality and how handy the Sound’s touch screen was, though wasn’t a fan of the lack of Apple AirPlay. As I’m not an Apple user, that’s no problem for me.
6. Kanto UKI
Kanto had a few speakers on show at Bristol. When I visited the test room a harried employee was frantically switching around inputs so move the music between them, all at the behest of a demanding (presumed) potential customer who wanted to hear the difference. The one that caught my eye (and ear) was the smallest of the bunch: the UKI, which was announced a year ago and put on sale towards the end of 2025.
These cute little desktop speakers, which were displayed in green but also come in five different hues, are compact but secretly pretty powerful. The ¾-inch silk dome tweeter and 3-inch paper cone woofer output at 100W, more than you’d expect for creatures their size, with a sound quality I’d definitely enjoy for my home PC. There’s a pretty solid range of inputs (Bluetooth, USB-C, RCA) and outputs (sub-out, 3.5mm) compared to some alternatives I’ve heard.
The Kanto UKI is entry-level Hi-Fi kit – a brochure I picked up says they’re good for “those new to Hi-Fi”, and the price matches. They go for £199 / $269.99 / AU$379, and seem just as appropriate as bookshelf speakers as desktop ones.
The best stereo speakers all budgets
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tom.bedford@hotmail.co.uk (Tom Bedford)
