Sofia Laurent
High-End & Statement Systems Editor
Based in Sydney, NSW
I'm Sofia, and I get to play with the silly stuff — the statement amplifiers, the reference loudspeakers, the cost-no-object systems that most of us will only ever hear at a show. Someone has to, and I take it seriously: at this level the price stops mapping to performance and starts mapping to engineering, craft and ego, and part of my job is telling you which is which. I love the extreme end of this hobby, but I'm not dazzled by a big number on a price tag.
21 published articles · most recent June 19, 2026
I'm Sofia, and I get to play with the silly stuff — the statement amplifiers, the reference loudspeakers, the cost-no-object systems most of us will only ever hear at a show.
Someone has to, and I take it seriously: at this level the price stops mapping to performance and starts mapping to engineering, craft and ego — and part of my job is telling you which is which.
I love the extreme end of this hobby, but I'm not dazzled by a big number on a price tag.
Articles by Sofia Laurent
Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5: the new $65,000 flagship that reinvents an audiophile iconB&W's fifth-generation 801 D5 debuts at $65,000/pair, unveiled at High End Vienna on 4 June 2026. Here's why it matters for serious Australian listeners.
JBL Summit Everest: a 237kg, $160,000 statement floorstander tops the Summit rangeJBL unveiled the 237kg, US$159,990 Summit Everest at High End Vienna 2026, completing its Summit Series on the brand's 80th anniversary.
D'Agostino's $125,000 Momentum Z monoblocks are built for the world's most demanding speakersDan D'Agostino unveils the Momentum Z monoblock — 500W into 8 ohms, Kinetic Drive Regulator technology, and a network port for real-time monitoring.
Bowers & Wilkins 805 D5: the iconic tweeter-on-top standmount gets a fifth-generation overhaulThe 805 D5 arrives as the entry point to B&W's new 800 Series Diamond D5 range, with a refined Diamond Dome tweeter, Continuum cone and a $15,000/pair AU price tag.
Antipodes spins out Oladra as a standalone brand with the $35K Sentia and $58K Presence music serversAntipodes Audio has established Oladra as its own super-premium digital brand, debuting the Sentia and Presence servers at AXPONA 2026.
Final's DX10000 CL puts a true-diamond diaphragm in a flagship closed-back headphoneFinal's DX10000 CL debuted at Winter Headphone Festival Mini 2026 with a 26mm CVD pure solid diamond dome — and a price to match its ambition.
Valerion VisionMaster Max Review: Tri-Laser DLP Brilliance, Aggressively Priced for AustraliaThe Valerion VisionMaster Max brings tri-laser DLP, Dolby Vision and 110% Rec.2020 to Australian lounge rooms for around AUD $3,896. Sofia Laurent investigates.
JVC's 8K e-shiftX D-ILA laser flagships stay the high-end benchmark into 2026JVC's BLU-Escent laser D-ILA range — from the compact NZ500 to the 8K e-shiftX NZ900 — continues to define premium projection heading into 2026.
Marantz expands its Cinema separates with the AV 30 processor and AMP 30 amplifierMarantz slots a new mid-tier separates pairing beneath its flagship AV 10 and AV 20, with an 11.4-channel processor and 6-channel Class D amplifier, both priced at US$4,000.
Arcam brings its Radia line into home cinema at ISE 2026 with confirmed AU pricingHARMAN expands Arcam's Radia family into home cinema with three AV receivers, a 16-channel processor and two power amps — all landing in Australia Q3 2026.
JBL Synthesis Expands Its Home-Cinema Ecosystem with the SDR-40 Receiver and SDP-60/SDP-70 Processors at ISE 2026JBL Synthesis unveiled two new processors and a flagship receiver at ISE 2026. Here's what the SDR-40, SDP-60 and SDP-70 mean for serious Australian home-cinema buyers.
ISE 2026 in Barcelona: LED-based luxury cinema steals the residential showISE 2026 confirmed what many of us have suspected: microLED and RGB laser are rewriting the rules of residential cinema. Here's what it means for Australian buyers.
HIGH END Vienna 2026: The World's Biggest Hi-Fi Show Sells Out Its DebutAfter 21 years in Munich, HIGH END moved to Vienna for 2026 — and its debut drew 23,109 visitors, sold out months ahead, and left the industry buzzing.
Arcam Turns 50: The A50 Signature and CD25 Are the Anniversary Statement British Hi-Fi DeservedArcam debuted the dual-mono A50 Signature integrated amp and the CD25 CD player at HIGH END Vienna 2026, marking 50 years with genuine engineering intent.
Astell&Kern brought four vacuum tubes to a portable player — and it changes what 'high-end portable' meansThe SP4000T debuts at HIGH END Vienna 2026 as the world's first DAP with a quad vacuum-tube layout. Sofia Laurent unpacks why it matters.
Chord Electronics teases two new Ultima power amps in Vienna, launching September 2026Chord Electronics previewed the Ultima 7 and Blade stereo power amplifiers at HIGH END Vienna 2026, with a full launch due September 2026.
Klipsch uses CES 2026 to tease an audiophile moonshot called Project ApolloKlipsch marked its 80th year at CES 2026 with Project Apollo, a flagship horn-loaded tower concept that hints at a serious push into high-end audio.
Audeze's LCD-5s borrows electrostatic airflow tech for a planar flagshipAt NAMM 2026, Audeze relaunched its reference open-back as the LCD-5s — the first planar magnetic headphone to use SLAM airflow-control tech born in the 2024 CRBN2 electrostatic.
Silicon speakers arrive: xMEMS Cypress and Sycamore explainedxMEMS hit two milestones around CES 2026: Cypress entered mass production as the first MEMS driver for ANC earbuds, and Sycamore became the world's first silicon full-range loudspeaker. We explain how
HiFiMan puts a planar flagship on Wi-Fi — not BluetoothHiFiMan debuted the HE1000 WiFi and Arya WiFi at CanJam NYC 2026 — open-back planars with onboard R2R DACs that use Wi-Fi as the primary wireless link. Here's why that matters.
Kiwi Ears Halcyon claims the world's first dynamic-plus-MEMS-plus-BA tribrid IEMKiwi Ears launched the Halcyon on Kickstarter on 2 May 2026, claiming it's the world's first 1DD + MEMS + 3BA tribrid IEM. We examine what that means and why MEMS matters.