How much do you think you’ve spent on hi-fi equipment? A few hundred pounds? A few thousand? More? The average cost of a main audio system – the one typically located in the living room – is impossible to predict.
However, just as you can buy a basic Ford Focus or luxury Aston Martin, there really is no limit to how much you can spend on creating the perfect hi-fi system. But what do you get for your money, and can you actually hear the difference?
They look more like a Doctor Who villain than a traditional speaker
To understand more, I paid a visit to audio retailer KJ West One’s London showroom and listened to a system with a total value well in excess of £1,000,000. At the heart of this set-up were the Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX speakers. Towering over me at 6'4" and weighing 310kg each, they cost £395,000 per pair. Other things to note: they look more like a Doctor Who villain than a traditional speaker. And they sound like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
Each of the seven drivers are precisely positioned to ensure soundwaves of varying frequency coincide at the listener’s ears at exactly the right time. Sitting in the sweet spot and listening to Chopin’s Etudes in the highest definition using Qobuz and the Roon streaming platform, I was bowled over by the precision, scale and substance of the playback. Hearing the piano so viscerally, with the deftness of each keystroke and pause between notes, was simply breathtaking.
Sitting in the sweet spot and listening to Chopin’s Etudes, I was bowled over
Let’s be clear: if you’re spending £400,000 on speakers, you’re not popping down to Argos for the amplifier. Powering these speakers were, among other things, two darTZeel NHB-468 mono power amplifiers (£49,000), a Dan D’Agostino Momentum HD Preamplifier (£55,000), and dCS Vivaldi Apex DAC (£40,500) and upsampler/streamer (£27,500). There are simply no weak links here.
A million pounds is an unfeasible amount to pay for a hi-fi in the real world, but to return to my car analogy, there are plenty of luxurious Audi, BMW and Mercedes equivalents, including Bang & Olufsen, KEF and Bowers & Wilkins. And if you’ve only ever listened to a hi-fi costing hundreds, the jump in performance to £1,000, £5,000 or even £10,000 can be sensational.
But however much you budget, always listen first, because your own ears don’t always care how much you spend. Plus, the lessons in careful speaker positioning, and pairing similarly priced/spec’d equipment hold true, whatever the price.
Best high-end hi-fis 2025: we recommend
Goldmund Gaia
Price: £438,000
Made in collaboration with French designer Cécile Baraniby and the legendary Swiss audio brand Goldmund, Gaia is a 203cm tall, 379.2kg, aluminium-cased active wireless speaker. Each speaker is equipped with eight drivers and eight channels of Telos amplification and the result is 2,500 watts per channel of flawless power and clarity.
Buy from goldmund.com
Houchmand M1
Price: £78,990
Inspired by Bauhaus design principles, this lavish audio system is handmade in Germany and consists of the all-gold Monobloc streamer and a pair of stunning three-way active speakers that offer a wonderful sense of detail and clarity. But this system is almost as impressive when switched off thanks to the flawless build that uses your choice of 24ct gold, 18ct rosé gold, platinum, and ruthenium.
Linn Sondeck LP12
Price: £3,700 - £25,000+
While the look has barely changed since it launched in 1972, the LP12 turntable is impressively modular, enabling you to configure your own turntable from a flawless selection of components including a precision-engineered chassis, base, tonearms, phono stages and cartridges, with the top-of-the-range Ekstatik cartridge costing £6,050.
Buy from linn.co.uk
Chord Ultima Integrated amplifier
Price: £8,500
This 125-watt four-input integrated amp is precision-machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium. It offers high-class performance with the minimum of fuss due to its high-frequency power supply, punching well above its considerable weight.
Buy from chordelectronics.co.uk
Bang & Olufsen Beolab 90
Price: from £125,000
Bang & Olufsen has never been wholly accepted by audiophiles – too stylish, you see – but they’re experts at their craft, as demonstrated here. These 125cm tall, 137kg beauties feature 18 drivers, each with their own amplifier, advanced room compensation software and full hi-res streaming capabilities.
Buy from bang-olufsen.com
KEF LSX II
Price: £1,119
This all-in-one pair of stereo streaming bookshelf speakers does it all without sacrificing space or features. With 200W output, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a wide range of input sockets, this plays everything you’ve got. Great value too.
Buy from uk.kef.com