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

Great Danes • PRICE: £450-£950 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: JAMO.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK

Eighty and out • PRICE: £2,000-£2,200 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: ELAC.COM HIFI-NETWORK.COM

Technical achievement • PRICE: £2,900 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: TECHNICS.COM

The M power strikes back • PRICE: £2,400-£12,800 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FALCONACOUSTICS.CO.UK

Big Mac • PRICE: £6,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MCINTOSHLABS.COM FINESOUNDS.UK

In at number one • PRICE: £75 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: IFI-AUDIO.COM

Rose-tinted • PRICE: £3,400 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: HIFIROSE.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK

Bathys time! • PRICE: £700 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FOCAL.COM

BOOM, shake the room! • PRICE: £330 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: APOGEEDIGITAL.COM SOUNDTECH.CO.UK

Block rocking beats • PRICE: £350 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AUDIOLAB.CO.UK

Head masters • PRICE: £600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BOWERSWILKINS.COM

Prime time • PRICE: £900 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SVSOUND.COM KARMA-AV.CO.UK

Back to the Seventies • PRICE: £1,800 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: NADELECTRONICS.COM

Pebble dash! • PRICE: £100 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: TANGENT-AUDIO.COM AVOKE.CO.UK

Hit the north • PRICE: £19,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: ELECTROCOMPANIET.COM ELITEAUDIOUK.COM

Retro revival • PRICE: £2,390-£4,490 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: REVIVALAUDIO.FR

Triode and tested • This Slovakian-built DAC retains the brand’s signature triode-tube analogue stage from the companion CD 2.10 disc player, but its digital engine beats to a very different tune indeed

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

Are you being server-ed? • Keeping a burgeoning digital musical collection in order is becoming a must. David Vivian checks out five network server/libraries and an uber-DAP

Astell&Kern A&ultima SP2000T £2,000 • A&K knows how to shoehorn cutting-edge tech into a small space and here’s the place to make it count

Bluesound Vault 2i £1,200 • This popular streaming, ripping and hard-drive storage package for sensible money still has plenty of appeal

Leema Acoustics Sirius £4,200 • This Constellation-class cruiser is big and heavy enough to anchor any digital music collection with substance

Melco N50-H60 £3,000 • It’s almost impossible to talk about music servers without thinking Melco, which is why its latest debuts here

Naim Audio Uniti Core £2,200 • No longer the new kid on the block, the Core isn’t in urgent need of a refresh – and is still one to beat

Novafidelity X45 £2,550 • No FOMO here, if you’re looking for a server that has every base covered, the X45 nails the brief and some

Group test verdict • With a DAP rattling the music server applecart, picking a winner poses unusual challenges for David Vivian but, after due deliberation, he has a decision

Big and beautiful • The largest standmount in AVID’s all-alloy Reference range is bigger and heavier than most floorstanders, but how does it fare?

Black magic • After six years, Focal’s flagship headphone receives some welcome upgrades. Ed Selley tries it on for size

Past perfect • Mission goes back to where it all began with an iconic standmount reborn. Ed Selley brushes up on his history

Keep it in the family • The latest Pro-Ject addition boasts the advantage of fully balanced...