Hi-Fi Choice

Hi-Fi Choice is the essential guide to audio excellence in the home. It is a no-nonsense guide to the finest products available, from vinyl and valves, to multi-channel digital audio and high-fidelity video. Hi-Fi Choice sorts the best from the rest with rigorous test processes and a highly experienced team of reviewers.

BADGES EXPLAINED

Welcome

Ace of bass • Piega delivers its new range of affordable speakers

Devil’s in the detail • iFi‘s ‘fiery red’ iDSD Diablo brings a touch of pizazz to the DAC

Taking Liberties • Mytek unveils new headphone amplifier

IE 300 wired in-ear

Heads you win! • JBL announces bounty of new headphone releases

Stands that deliver • Classy new equipment supports from Italian maestro

Mola Mola amps it up

Matrix revolutions • Forget the dystopian future of the movies, this Matrix offers a vision full of format-friendly functionality, where DACs, headphone amps and preamps live in perfect harmony

Unique group tests • Our Group Tests are supported by rigorous and exhaustive listening procedures carried out by experts

Floored genius • David Price takes on six of the best entry-level floorstanders to see which comes out on top

Acoustic Energy AE120 £800 • Looking for a floorstander that packs a mighty punch from a small cabinet? Your search could be over

Cambridge Audio SX-80 £400 • Can this cheerful new floorstander from an old British brand live up to its reputation?

DALI Spektor 6 £500 • This Danish designed budget floorstander promises a big bang for your buck, but can it deliver?

ELAC Debut F5.2 £600 • A new, silky smooth-sounding compact floorstander that belies its generous price tag

Monitor Audio Bronze 200 £570 • MA promises sonic sophistication at an affordable price, but is that enough to take the spoils of victory?

Q Acoustics 3050i £650 • This old favourite UK stalwart can still mix it with the big boys, but how does its entry-level floorstander fare?

Group test verdict • He’s spent a week in the company of our floorstanding contenders, but David Price is finally ready to share his findings with us

The second coming • Mark Levinson’s sophomore turntable matches refreshing simplicity with supreme sound. So much for that difficult follow up

Seventh heaven • The latest Cyrus integrated amplifier is described as featuring “cost no object” upgrades. Ed Selley shakes it down

Touch and go • As CA improves its affordable wireless earbuds with the Melomania Touch. Cliff Joseph gives them a go

Comforts of MAD-ness • David Price auditions My Audio Design’s diminutive BBC speaker tribute and is more than a little bit impressed

Roaring twenties • The smallest floorstander in the twenty5i range is very elegant looking, but Ed Selley finds it still packs one hell of a punch

Ear we go! • Available in any colour as long as it’s black, Grado debuts its true wireless earbuds. Cliff Joseph ditches the wires

Groovy baby • If he still had a pair David Vivian would dig out the flares to review this blast from the past that sounds anything but dated

Northern lights • This new entry-level integrated promises more fans for the iconic Norwegian brand. David Vivian counts himself among them

Orkestral manoeuvres • The latest Neat Acoustics floorstander builds on the recent design philosophy, but fills a slightly different role as Ed Selley discovers

Pole position • David Vivian has to move a few things around to accommodate this giant standmount, but it’s well worth the effort

Heavy metal • Forget the iPod, Astell&Kern’s new premium KANN Alpha is the digital audio player of choice now reckons...