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. 488 May 2022

Super model • New integrated amp from Marantz

Horn of plenty • Phil Jones-designed speaker coming your way

Now ZEN, now ZEN • New range from iFi Audio with an eye on affordability

Omnia present • Home audio system from Italy

Recent Exposure • New top-of-the-range phono amp

Your room with a view • New upgraded soundbar from B&W

Up on the woof! • New bass addition to Home Speaker range

Pocket rocket • On-the-go DAC from EarMen

Pure and simple • Wireless earphones from Shoreham-By-Sea

Pronounced low-key • New compact subwoofer from Utah

Healthy hearing • Yamaha’s new earbuds feature Listening Care technology

Poles apart • New Polish imported desktop DAC/headphone amp

Voodoo chile • Floor-standing magic from the UK

RECORD STORE DAY • TUNES FOR JUNE

Tasty sounds to Sabre • Matrix Audio’s compact but comprehensively equipped digital front-ends are distinguished by superb chipsets and features. HFC steps into paradise with this flagship converter

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

Look, no wires! • Nick Tate ditches the cables as he puts six of the best premium wireless loudspeakers through their paces

Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo £4,000 • Since entering into the active realm in 2007, B&W has shown it’s got the goods when it comes to wireless

Cabasse Pearl Akoya £2,950 • If Gerry Anderson made loudspeakers, this would surely be his choice of in-spaceship entertainment

KEF LS50 Wireless II £2,500 • The original caused a sensation back in 2016, can this latest update continue the good work?

Klipsch The Fives McLaren Edition £1,350 • The original Fives were decent enough, if lacking a little glamour. Enter McLaren to change that…

Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation £1,450 • The soundbar on steroids returns in its mark two guise, but can it make the updates count where it matters?

Q Acoustics Q Active 200 £1,500 • Employing BMRs instead of conventional moving coils, the Q is the most technologically advanced here

Group test verdict • After countless hours of comparisons, Nick Tate thrashes out the final ranking order and finds a worthy wireless winner

Take it to the store • Melco has updated its high-end two-box flagship with enhancements debuted in the limited-edition N10 anniversary edition

Joy revision • It’s taken seven long years, but Chord has finally retired its phenomenal Mojo. David Vivian welcomes the sequel

Baffle stations • Rogers has done the unthinkable – taken a deep breath and improved the iconic LS⅗A. David Vivian checks out the Special Edition

Quiet riot • Grell might be a new arrival in the world of wireless audio, but the pedigree is impeccable notes Ed Selley

Go with the flow • A new Roksan turntable is a rare thing indeed and the Attessa pitches into a competitive area. Ed Selley sees if it holds its own

Space race • Less hefty on his wallet than the company’s previous Peacock offering, Cliff Joseph takes flight with Sendy Audio’s Apollo

To the Max • Can the AirPods Max become the apple of Jake Day Williams’ eye or will the US company’s shortcomings hold it back?

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