Romance is in the air, with everyone’s favourite (made-up by corporate America) holiday on the horizon.
And while I remain in abject panic about what I’m actually going to do this year to make my partner feel special, that hasn’t stopped the What Hi-Fi? reviews team from falling head over heels for a load of new hardware over the past month.
Which is why we have a healthy four new products to recommend in our latest instalment of Pick of the Month, our monthly column where we reveal the top hi-fi and home cinema hardware to impress us enough to earn five stars every four weeks.
Here’s what you need to know about our latest recommendations.
1. ProAc K3
Kicking us off, we have the ProAc K3, a premium set of floorstanding speakers that will set you back a tidy £12,360 ($15,700 / AU$30,900).
And while they may cost the same as a second-hand hatchback, after putting them through their paces in our listening rooms, we found they’re well worth the investment for those that can afford them – if you have a room big enough to accommodate them and appropriate hardware to pair them with.
At first glance, the speakers look a little basic, featuring a wood finish and standard 107cm height. But they’re packed with a wealth of premium features. These include the use of HDF (High Density Fibreboard) and bitumen panels to improve rigidity and control resonance in their construction, and clever dual 16.5cm Kevlar mid/bass drivers and ProAc ribbon tweeters.
Paired well, the units delivered an expressive, detailed and articulate performance full of sonic scale and authority. Hence their five-star rating and our reviewers’ glowing verdict: “ProAc’s terrific K3 floorstanders deliver a charming performance that puts the music front and centre.”
Score: 5/5
Read our full ProAc K3 review
2. Apple AirPods Pro 3
While undeniably more mainstream than the ProAc, the Apple AirPods 3 are a fantastic piece of hardware all the same, especially if you use an iPhone and Apple Music for the majority of your listening.
They’re a refinement on the firm’s existing formula. At a design level, these include small but important changes aiming to improve their seal and general comfort. And while this yielded mixed results with the team, with some finding them more comfortable than their predecessors, others complaining the fit is worse, there’s no denying they sound excellent and offer far better ANC (active noise cancellation).
Apple never gives much detail about the specific hardware in its products, but we do know the buds feature a completely revamped "multiport acoustic architecture", designed to offer more precise airflow control for better bass and a wider soundstage.
And during our checks, the work showed with the AirPods Pro 3 delivering a spacious, powerful, dynamic sound across every genre we threw at them. As we said in our review: “With improved sound and ANC, the AirPods Pro 3 are a well-balanced, enjoyable and intuitive pair of premium wireless earbuds – especially for iOS users.”
Score: 5/5
Read our full Apple AirPods Pro 3 review
3. Philips OLED760
Affordable OLEDs are a hot topic this year, with LG confirming it has a nifty new version of the panel tech in the oven, bespoke designed to drive prices down, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.
But if you can’t wait to see the new generation and want a top value OLED set right this second, then we’d thoroughly recommend considering the Philips OLED760. Though it’s not cheap, after reviewing it in January, it is one of the top performers available from a performance-per-pound/dollar perspective that’s on sale right now.
While it can’t match the performance of premium, flagship sets when it comes to peak brightness and motion handling, it’s still a solid performer that will meet most home cinema fans’ needs. Add to this the inclusion of Philips’ Ambilight bias lighting system, flawless gaming specifications and decent app support, and it becomes an easy recommendation. Hence, our verdict:
“While we’ve seen one or two previous OLED TVs venture down into the same sort of price territory the OLED760 occupies, no similarly affordable 65-inch OLED TV before it has delivered anything like the same level of features and performance that this Philips set does. As such, it’s a potential value-driven game changer, the likes of which we were starting to think the OLED TV world would never give us.”
Score: 5/5
Read our full Philips OLED760 review
4. Onkyo GX-30ARC
Onkyo took a sabbatical from hi-fi for a while, with the owners seeming more excited about making gin than noise-makers for many moons. Thankfully, in January, that changed when the Onkyo GX-30AR arrived in our listening rooms.
Affordable, tiny, and packed with decent features, including Bluetooth connectivity and a built-in phono stage, there’s a lot to like about the new Onkyo speakers; so much so that one of the reviews team is even considering them over the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3.
And in our listening rooms, they continued to impress. Results are mixed when streaming low-quality Spotify tracks via Bluetooth, but with a decent source connected, the speakers consistently delivered clear, well-organised and engaging sound.
We’d particularly recommend them to buyers looking for an affordable desktop set to pair with a price-appropriate turntable, as its phone stage was a particularly pleasant surprise during testing.
Hence our verdict: “Sonically, it’s hard to ask for more. These speakers won’t perform at their absolute best when playing via Bluetooth, but pair them with a quality source and the Onkyo GX-30ARC are more than capable of showcasing their considerable talents. As a compact, versatile and easy-to-use pair of affordable, powered speakers, this is a very fine effort indeed.”
Score: 5/5
Read our full Onkyo GX-30ARC review
MORE:
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We rate the best OLED TVs
Our reviewers' picks of the best floorstanding speakers
