A preview of The Bristol Show, now in its 30th year

The Bristol Show is now in its 31st year. Here’s what to look out for at the UK’S biggest hi-fi extravaganza

Forget CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin, or the High End Show in Munich – the most important showcase of hi-fi and AV technology that the UK has is on its way.

Manufacturers on every continent are gearing up to bring their best products to the Sound & Vision show in Bristol, brought to you in association with Audio-t.

Now in its 31st year, the Bristol Sound & Vision Show is your best opportunity to see – and, more importantly, listen to – many of our five-star Award-winning products for yourselves. No fewer than 183 brands have already comfirmed their attendance.

The entire What Hi-fi? team will be on hand throughout the weekend too, complete with a demo room that we believe will dazzle you with some of the best kit you can buy right now.

We’re also running our famous Bristol Show competition, giving everyone who comes to the show the chance to win a piece of kit from more than £11,000-worth of hi-fi products. For more info, visit www.bristolshow.co.uk

Here are just a few of the highlights lined up for this year’s showcase:

Following up on the 100 Series,

Acoustic Energy is launching its 300 Series of loudspeakers. The company says it’s raising the bar, with bespoke new drive units and an aluminium dome tweeter – we look forward to hearing it in action.

Arcam will be showing off its new line-up: the CDS50 network streamer/ CD player, and SA10 and SA20 integrated amplifiers. You’ll also get to see some Revel loudspeakers, including the Award-winning M16 standmounters, and a new turntable from the Mark Levinson brand. Premium speaker manufacturer ATC is bringing its CDA2 Mk2 CD/DAC preamplifier to the show this year. The unit apparently improves on the original with an upgraded CD transport and DAC board, expanded input choices and redesigned analogue circuits to provide a flat frequency response.

Dynaudio will be showing off its Special Forty standmounters, alongside its upcoming Music range of smart wireless speakers. It will also be demonstrating a new piece of kit, which is apparently an “incredible update of a much-vaunted product”. We await its appearance with baited breath.

Following the recent launch of the Prestige Facet loudspeakers, Elipson will be showing off its new bookshelf Prestige Facet 6BT and floorstanding Facet 14BT speakers. These will both come with Chromecast Audio dongles

in the box for wireless streaming, as well as aptx HD Bluetooth.

Fyne Audio will enjoy its first public showing at Bristol and has chosen to put its new loudspeaker ranges on display. The F300 entry-level range, the mid-price F500 line-up, and the £20,000 F1 10 speakers for serious high-end enthusiasts will all feature.

Harbeth Audio will be showing some limitededition products, including the P3ESR speaker and its M40.2 brand flagship. Each speaker has the ‘Harbeth 40th Anniversary limited edition’ front and rear badges, as well as a metallic black-and-gold anniversary grille badge.

The Pro IDSD from ifi, due on sale in February, will be on display at Bristol. While the company is keeping its cards close to its chest, it’s promising a product “packed full of ifi wizardry”

What would Batman’s favourite subwoofer be? That’s easy – the Gotham v2 from JL Audio. The company says it’s a “devastating” piece of kit, delivering 4500W of power to twin 4in drivers. We look forward to the devastation. Fresh from its recent induction to the

What Hi-fi? Hall of Fame, KEF will be demonstrating its LS50 Wireless speakers – complete with Spotify Connect, Roon and Tidal integration.

Musical Fidelity will be taking the M6 SDAC to Bristol this year. It’s a DAC that’s able to handle hi-res audio files up to 32-bit/768khz resolution. Accompanying it is the M8 Encore 500, which features an integrated CD player, 2TB of storage and 500W of power per channel.

Optoma will be showing off its new 4K UHD laser projector – the UHZ65. A 4K UHD piece of kit with HDR support and a claimed 3000 lumens to show off the latest Blu-rays, it’s the next step up from the Award-winning UHD65.

A new “all-in-one” turntable from

Pro-ject, called Juke Box E, will be making its UK debut in Bristol this year. It contains a moving-magnet phono stage, Bluetooth receiver, pre-amplifier and power amp all in one box, so all you need is a pair of speakers to turn it into a complete hi-fi set-up.

Sennheiser is coming to the show armed with its HDV 820 headphone amplifier. Need something to listen to those files with? Well, the company is also demonstrating its IE 800 S in-ear and HD 660 S over-ear headphones.

Sonoro will be presenting three all-in-one systems this year: the Stream, the Relax, and its Meisterstück flagship model, all of which support internet radio and have Bluetooth and wi-fi built in, with the added bonus of Spotify Connect. This is the first time the range will be hitting UK shores.

Making their first appearance at a British exhibition, the Wilson

Benesch Resolution floorstanders are made from a carbon-fibre composite and metal alloy. The British speaker manufacturer says that the Resolution “exhibits one of the stiffest, highly damped and advanced enclosures in the industry.”