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.

Welcome

Join the Q • New floorstanding addition to the Q Active range

X-cellent! • Upgraded headphone range from the USA

Block’n’ Roll

Austrian sounds

JOIN THE HIGH-END CLUB • hi-Fi starts with Emit

On Tour • Hours of playback promised by new over-ears

Fibre Starter • Upgrade kits from new UK company

True trans • New offering of Class 1 Bluetooth connection

Chord changes • New interface for streamer/server

Super storage • Upgraded music libraries at original price

More bang for our buck • B&O have been busy indoors and out.

New hybrid • Integrated import hits the UK

Heads you win! • New model of closed-back noise cancellers

Back to bass • IsoAcoustics introduces a way to appease the neighbours

The bigger brother • Top integrated in Rotel’s flagship Michi series leverages much of the P5 preamp and S5 power amp technology to realise a taller, heavier amp that aims to upstage the smaller X3

THE NAME CHANGERS

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

For your ears only • If serious sonics on the go are the goal, wired high-end earphones are the answer. David Vivian compares six red-hot contenders

ON TEST

Astell&Kern AK T9iE £1,100 • That A&K makes the best DAPs doesn’t guarantee mastery of IEMs, but it has Beyerdynamic on board!

Audeze LCDi3 £900 • It was unlikely that big hitter Audeze would produce a me-too IEM, but the LCDi3 is something else

Campfire Audio Dorado 2020 £1,100 • Could be the sweet spot in Campfire’s extensive range of high-end IEMs

Meze Rai Penta £1,000 • Meze laboured for three years over the Rai Penta, researching the ergonomic shape – how does it fare?

Oriveti O800 £800 • Oriveti made waves when its OH500 won our last earphone Group Test, so is the O800 better still?

Sennheiser IE 900 £1,100 • Sennheiser’s new flagship IEM, fresh from a five-star review in last month’s HFC, is a class act

Group test verdict • Having untangled all the cables and put the earphones back in their boxes, David Vivian is ready to deliver his verdict on a fascinating tussle

TRY WITH THESE

California screaming • This Californian premier speaker brand’s flagship A series model is its most advanced ‘entry-level’ floorstander yet

The bridge • Streaming takes many forms but one of the best high-quality options involves a digital network bridge. David Vivian rates this one

Brotherly love • David Price samples the smaller sibling in Merason’s range of DACs, the frérot

Three pointed star • Triangle’s affordable standmount has already impressed. What can the floorstander do? Ed Selley finds out…

A family affair • The Sonus faber Lumina I is an improbably talented small speaker. Now Ed Selley sees if the new Lumina II bottles the same magic

Modern Classical • A partnership between a legendary speaker designer and a company specialising in valves should sound sweet. Yes, but not how you might expect, says Ed Selley

Daring buds for play • The first pair of wireless earphones from Bowers & Wilkins is a technical tour de force. Ed Selley gets to grips with them

The Minidisc story

Mini Super • David Price remembers the world’s best ever...