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 • www.hifichoice.com Issue No. 479 September 2021

May the fourth be with you • New iteration of an American classic speaker

Get the Blues • Limited edition radio from Ruark Audio

This much is True • Affordable new true wireless earphone from Sennheiser

All fired up!

Stonehenged! • First ever limited-edition turntable from Naim

Sweet streams

Over-ear at last • High-quality headphone imports from USA

Mini with the most

Stream of the crop • iFi Audio adds to its Zen range with a new ‘wi-fi audio transport’

Rack ‘em up!

Music in store • Upgraded Japanese entry-level digital music library

Sunny side up • A&K and Campfire collaborate on new high-end in-ear

Passion for fashion

Radio activity • Three new models from Boston, Mass

All hail the mighty Atom! • The ever-reliable Uniti Atom all-in-one platform, complete with custom streaming solution, is now adapted to service the demands of the most fastidious headphone users

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

Grand designs • Spending four figures on a cartridge is a serious undertaking. Ed Selley considers six designs that straddle the price point

EAT Jo No5 £1,098 • EAT’s jolly green giant might be the largest offering of the group, but it’s extremely musical with it

Grado Master3 £1,079 • Look after the specific requirements of the Grado and it will most assuredly look after you in return

Michell Cusis S £1,275 • Beneath the unassuming exterior of the Michell beats the heart of a natural-born champion

Rega Apheta 3 £1,250 • Taken out of its ecosystem, the latest version of Rega’s innovative Apheta still has some impressive attributes

Soundsmith Carmen mk II £999 • The Soundsmith is technically fascinating and possesses some potentially very useful attributes.

Sumiko Songbird Low £900 • The most affordable cartridge in the group is more than capable of keeping expensive rivals honest

Group test verdict • Six talented carts vying for your attention, but there can only be one winner. Pick-up artist Ed Selley breaks down the runners and riders

Let’s take the tube • A single-chassis alternative to its Signature stack, VAC’s Sigma 170i delivers both marvellous grace and hefty grunt

YOU’RE surrounded! • Spatial audio has been around for years, but Apple’s new interest in high-quality audio could finally bring it into the mainstream, reckons Cliff Joseph

HOW IT WORKS

SPATIAL AUDIO MUSIC

Going out with a bang • The German company goes back to basics with this in-ear and Cliff Joseph reckons that can only be a good thing

Flowering beauty • HiFi Rose has already shown it can make a fine digital source. Now, Ed Selley sees how it does with an all-in-one system

Back to basics • Kudos has updated its entry-level, long-running Cardea C10. Ed Selley finds out if the revisions are more than skin deep

BRING THE CONCERT HOME! • Dr Christian Heil, founder and president of L-Acoustics Creations, is set on bringing a ‘live’ experience into your living room. Daniel Sait explains all…

Big hitters • KEF has revised its innovative wireless active speaker system and Ed Selley gets to put it through its paces

A bit of what...