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

Top five • Brand new speaker range from France

Right said Fred • Fresh take on turntables courtesy of a suave sporting icon

Worth the wait

Regular fries

New ear revolutions

Start your engines

Nus for the world

Stream on!

What’s my Naim?

Magic numbers

Power play

Walk on the wild side

Lightning conductor • Now benefitting from the latest updates to Auralic’s superb streaming platform, the ‘starter’ Altair DAC also features a raft of mechanical and detailed design improvements

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

Let’s get physical • Shine worn off streaming? Vinyl collection denting the bank balance? It’s time to reconnect with the original digital format. David Vivian tries six potent enablers

Cyrus CDi-XR Phantom Black £2,200 • Cyrus has fine form here, but the latest XR DAC promises to elevate the CDi to the next level

Marantz SA-12SE £3,200 • Crammed with hi-tech goodness, this monster has bags of Eastern promise, but how does it sound?

Musical Fidelity M6scd £2,500 • Great MF players were a natural go-to in CD’s heyday and there seems little reason for that to change

Primare CD35 £2,700 • This flagship with space for a streaming module proves that excellence is more than just a state-of-the-art DAC

Rega Saturn MK3 £2,000 • The Saturn MK3 not only looks different to your common-or-garden CD player, it sounds different too

Roksan blak CD Player £2,950 • A silver disc spinner pure and simple, the Roksan has but one job and we wouldn’t bet against it doing it well

Group test verdict • Having walked miles from sofa to rack and back, David Vivian snaps shut the final jewel case convinced CD is here to stay and ready to reveal the results

Welcome to dreamland • For over 40 years this family-run speaker specialist has epitomised the best of Danish design. This newbie continues the tradition

Back in business • As Oppo makes its audio comeback with an affordable and impressive set of earbuds, Cliff Joseph welcomes it with open ears

Good vibrations • Mystic by name, but is it mystic by nature? Neville Roberts finds himself spellbound by Vertere’s moving-coil cartridge

Light fantastic • The first one-box streamer from iFi looks superficially normal, but Ed Selley discovers there’s rather more to it than meets the eye

Easy listening • Nick Tate is beguiled by this interesting new mini monitor that sports a little long-lost BBC DNA magic

A can for all seasons • T+A’s take on a wireless headphone commands a hefty price tag, but Ed Selley notes it’s actually three headphones in one

Elementary my dear... • Swiss brand Wattson Audio’s flagship streamer is small, beautifully formed and sounds sublime. David Vivian is impressed

Passif not aggressif • PSB celebrates its half century with a speaker that harks back to its early days. Ed Selley finds the results thoroughly modern

Master class • Nick Tate talks to the men behind a significant new series of MQA releases: The Montreux Years

Hi-fi choices

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Sticky business • What has choral music got to do with the invention of the Post-It Note? Actually, everything explains Neville Roberts after a chance meeting

Family...