Trusted Reviews was at the Paris AV Show (or PAVS for short) in October, to see the latest AV and hi-fi gear that could be making its way to your homes in the not too distant future.
Some products we’ve seen before at other shows such as Bristol Hi-Fi and Munich High End, such as the WiiM speakers. Some had already launched and we’ve reviewed already, like the McIntosh DS200 streaming DAC, Audio-Technica Sound Burger and Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max.
But the Paris AV Show also serves as a glimpse of what’s on the horizon, with newly announced products making their debut. We were there to give them a listen and a look and offer our brief but fresh impressions.
The show itself has a different vibe from other shows we’ve been to in 2025. It’s not as premium as Munich High-End or quite as large in scale, nor is it as packed as the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. It’s busy, throwing some spotlight on products that might get lost in the hustle and bustle of hi-fi and AV shows.
Held in the Palais des Congrès not far from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and with a different vibe to other shows (DJs playing sets in the morning); here are the products that caught our eye during our (brief) stay at the Paris AV Show 2025.
Devialet
It’s been a while since we saw a speaker from Devialet but after a quiet few years, the French hi-fi company is back with the Phantom Ultimate 108dB.
It has the same eye-catching design as previous speakers with its oval shape, front-firing tweeter and side-firing woofers that dramatically vibrate during use. It’s packed with Devialet’s SAM (Speaker Active Matching), AVL (Active Volume Level), HBI (Heart Bass Implosion) technology to improve sound from within its unusual-looking cabinet. Devialet does love an acronym.
We couldn’t quite get a handle on the sound as the speakers were set up as a stereo pair in a noisier part of the show. It is well connected (AirPlay, Tidal Connect, UPnP but seemingly no Qobuz Connect) and it does look fabulous
But from what we could hear, it sounded very much like the other Devialet speakers we’ve heard. Depending on how you feel about the brand, that might be a good or not so good revelation.
Elipson
Another French hi-fi brand in Elipson was showing off its wares but we were focused on the Legacy II loudspeakers in the 3230, 3220, 3210 models.
The Legacy II 3230 is a three-way floorstander, the most distinct aspect of its design is the resin sphere that sits on top of the cabinet that houses both a 6.5-inch ceramic midrange driver and wide dispersion AMT tweeter that gives the speaker something of a quiff or mohawk.
The Legacy II 3220 is a 2.5-way floorstanding speaker with bass and midrange drivers, plus a wide dispersion tweeter at the top. The Legacy II 3210 is similar but much smaller, a bookshelf speaker with 6.5-inch midrange woofer and wide dispersion tweeter on top.
Elipson say they’re aiming for fast, bright sound from all speakers, an “airy, realistic sound” built on a foundation of deep bass.
Audio-Technica
Audio-Technica had several old and new products on display at the Paris AV Show. We’ll briefly mention the distinctive AT-LPA2 turntable first announced at High End earlier in the year. It’s a turntable made from transparent acrylic with the controls and power supply in a separate box to reduce noise from the system.
A more recent launch was the ATH-ADX7000, an open-backed pair of over-ears that features the brand’s proprietary High-Concentricity X (Transfer) Dynamic Transducer (HXDT) technology.
It aims to “precisely” control the airflow through the open-back membrane, relying on the diaphragm movement to reproduce sound. The way it allows air to pass through is claimed to reduce internal pressure, making it easier to listen to over extended periods of time.
We gave it a listen in the noisy environment and did enjoy the warmth and solid bass reproduction from a Pink Floyd album, though it wasn’t the best environment to get a sense of the sound, especially with an open-backed pair.
Yamaha
Yamaha had its True X 90A Surround sound system at the show, which sounded impressively powerful and cinematic with some of the demo clips we saw (Ford vs Ferrari and Mission: Impossible – Fallout). We’re hoping to have a review in the not too distant future.
There was also the recently announced YH-C3000 and YH-4000 headphones. The former is a closed-back model while the latter is an open-backed over-ear that’s a less expensive version of the YH-5000SE that launched a few years back.
We gave both headphones a listen through Yamaha’s HA-L7A headphone amp and were struck by the differences in tuning between the two. We felt the C3000 sounded better: clear, lots of detailed and with a neutral presentation. The YH-4000 were warmer in tone, spacious and richer-sounding in terms of reproducing detail.
The YH-C3000 are on sale now while the YH-4000 are expected to go on sale in January 2026.
Focal
After launching earlier in the year, there was another sighting of the Focal Diva Mezza Utopia in the wild at PAVS.
It is an even higher-fidelity version of the Diva Utopia we gave five-stars to in 2024. It sports a bigger design, a re-engineered electronics packaging inside the speaker from Naim, with 500W of power (the Diva Utopia had a mere 400W). Connectivity is the same, though the price has gone up considerably to £55,000 / €65,000.
We also spotted a Focal Bathys Black wireless headphones but we weren’t sure if this was a new version of the Bathys or just a different colour. Annoyingly, we forgot to take a snap of advertising board we saw.
WiiM
We first saw the Sub Pro Active hidden away in the corner of a hotel room all the way back in February at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. WiiM’s first ever subwoofer is on sale now for £429.
The WiiM Sound wireless speaker we first saw at Munich High End was shown off Paris AV Show and after several months of waiting, it finally has a price of £299 / €349, making it a direct challenger to the Apple HomePod 2 and more expensive than the new Amazon Echo Studio.
Is it any better than those speakers? We’ll look to have a review later this year.
Koss
Koss is a headphone brand that’s been around for donkeys years – if your parents are into head-fi, odds are they might have had a pair of Koss headphone back in the day.
We’ve not heard much from Koss, at least not from our UK perspective, but we’d like to get better acquainted with the Porta Pro (far left), its latest wireless headphone with 20 hours of battery life. It’s a simple pair of on-ears, price at £78 but with a very nostalgic look. On-ears aren’t for everyone in terms of comfort but we’d like to give the Porta Pro a closer examination.
Argon Audio
PAVS marked the first time we’ve come across the Argon Audio, another Danish audio brand that specialises in turntables and speakers.
None of what we saw is technically new – the Forte A55 Mk2 and Fenris A4 launched a few years ago – but if you’re looking for active speakers that are both compact and multi-purpose (HDMI ARC is supported). Argon Audio’s selection is worth a look in light of their relative affordability and plug and play connectivity.
Hisense
The Paris AV Show isn’t just about hi-fi, there’s AV products and one that was hard to ignore was the Hisense 116UX, currently the world’s biggest commercially available TV (by one whole inch). We’ll be looking to publish a hands-on with that TV before the end of the year.
Also at the show was the C2 Ultra compact projector that comes with support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and IMAX Enhanced for film fans, while Hisense’s TriChroma picture technology is married with 3000 lumens of brightness which should make this a portable projector that’s good for both indoor and outdoor use.
The L9Q Laser TV projector was also on show, but due to some technical difficulties (a missing remote) we didn’t get a chance to see it in its full glory. It is coming to the UK though we’re not sure of prices yet. We do know that it’ll come with Freely, much like the rest of Hisense’s new projectors launching in the UK.
On another note, the L9Q was partnered with Devialet wireless speakers as part of Hisense’s home cinema set-up. The Hisense and Devialet collaboration will deepen in 2026 with much more tighter integration across its home cinema products, in particular its surround sound systems.
Advance Paris
Another brand we’re not on familiar terms with. Advance Paris has been around for thirty years, and marked its anniversary with the launch of its APEX range of premium amplifiers and audio components at the show.
Revealed at the show were the 8 APEX, A10 APEX, A12 APEX integrated amplifiers, along with the ACD APEX compact disc player (there’s still life in the silver disc yet).
All support HDMI ARC for connection to a TV, giving the sound a boost through any stereo speakers you have in your home.
The ACD is the least expensive model in the range (£890), with a staggered rollout that sees the A8 (£1975) and A10 (£2450) amplifiers launch in the UK from November 2025, followed by the A12 (£3400) in December, and the ACD in January 2026.
Sonus faber
We had a look at the new Amati Supreme 4.5-way floorstander from Sonus faber, partnered with a McIntosh MT10 turntable and amplification. Featuring “Voice of Sonus faber” technology, you can spy the diamond-shaped tweeter/mid-driver module through a transparent window at the top of the speaker.
Its levels of power handling are mighty, reaching up to 600W. The Amati Supreme sounded phenomenal, though its excellence comes at a price – £75,000 / $78,000 / €78,000.
Meze Audio
We’ll end our look at the Paris AV Show with the 99 Classics 2nd Gen over-ear headphones.
Trusted Reviews didn’t reviewed the original model, mainly because we gave it a listen and came away disappointed with the bright, unbalanced and bass-lite sound.
Meze Audio have gone back to redress those issues with 10 changes (signifying the 10 years since the original 99 Classics launched). These cover design, sound and cable and from what we heard it’s still a bright-sounding pair of over-ears but more balanced in its approach to sound.
It could still benefit from upping the levels of detail and improving the bass response for a more natural performance but from our brief listen, it’s a step in the right direction.
Also on show from Meze were the Empyrean II, which we have reviewed, and alongside that pair were the new 105 SILVA, a review of which is due in November.
