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

Cutting edge • Two new Diamond Series models from Japan

Reference section

Democratise!

Horns of plenty

(Anglo) French connection

Pure magic

All on deck

Fyne and dandy

Match of the day

Top 50!

Ribbon and on...

Circling the lobe

It’s oh so quiet

THE UK hi-fi SHOW Live • Last hosted at the prestigious Ascot Grandstand in 2019, the UK’s dedicated high-end audio show returns with the ‘who’s who’ of world-class hi-fi

Smooth operator • Now in MkII guise, Lindemann’s network-attached DAC and analogue preamp sees a raft of internal updates and the promise of “production secured for upcoming years”

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

Clash of the titans • The affordable amplifier market is as keenly contested as ever, but which fares best: proven classic or new upstart? Ed Selleyshakes down three from both camps

Cambridge Audio AXA35 £350 • A very capable amplifier from a long-standing master of the concept, the AXA35 gets a great deal right

NAD D 3020 V2 £400 • Named after a classic, this is an intriguingly specified, compact and technically clever all-rounder

Pro-Ject MaiA S3 £550 • The latest version of the MaiA still isn’t very big, but it is very clever indeed

Rega io £420 • The io takes Rega’s ideals and shrinks them to their irreducible minimum and the results are fantastic

Tangent Ampster BT II £180 • The flexible Ampster BT II is something of a bargain and more than holds its own in more expensive company

Yamaha R-S202D £230 • The only receiver in the test brings some traditional brand virtues to its performance as well

Group test verdict • Six very different takes on the affordable amplifier concept, but there can only be one winner. Ed Selley breaks things down

Groove’s in the heart • Based on Vertere’s flagship RG-1 Reference Groove turntable, there’s a host of innovation in the brand’s new SG-1 Super Groove

Gaining Momentum • It’s smaller and cheaper than previous Sennheiser buds, but CliffJoseph reckons the TW3 is a step in the right direction

Stop, look and listen • Zidoo arrives in network audio from a different angle to most. EdSelley finds the Neo Alpha springs a few surprises

Going cheap • CliffJoseph is impressed with this low-cost wired headphone from a company that’s popular on Amazon

Hero status • Goldring augments its cartridge range with a keenly priced high-output moving coil. Ed Selley takes it for a spin

Break with tradition • If you think that all Italian speakers have a certain look and sound, Rosso might make you think again reckons David Vivian

Energy squared • Acoustic Energy’s smallest floorstander has received a full reworking and EdSelley has been giving it a shake down

DESTINATION: HACKNEY • Man about town Simon Berkovitch heads to East London in search of vinyl bliss and finds that heaven is a place on Mare Street

Hi-fi choices

Healthy earworms • A catchy tune that runs continually through your mind, known as an earworm, can be very annoying, but Neville Roberts has found they can also have beneficial effects

That’s not alright mama • The launch of a new biopic about The King sees Nigel Williamsoncontend that Elvis Presley is long...