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 • hifichoice.com Issue No. 511 February 2024

Road trip • Bluetooth speakers named after iconic US music cities

Less is more • Innovation to range of moving-magnet cartridges

Type set • FiiO hi-res keyboard with built-in headphone DAC/amplifier

Hey Nineteen! • New preamp from Canada

Happy cambers • New amps from Cambridge

Little brother • Bookshelf addition to French Heritage speaker range

Amator dramatics • Expansion of Lumina speaker range

Fresh Perspective • Cool new limited-edition turntable

Mini marvel • New mini-speaker system from Cambridgeshire

Height of luxury • Magnificent, costly floorstander from the US

Devilishly clever • Thorough upgrade of premium DAC/headphone amp

Power and precision • State of the art, mega-expensive mono amp

Four play • New DAC from South Korea

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

Personal stereo • Cans are back en vogue, and you’re spoilt for choice with the latest options. Cliff Joseph models half a dozen of the newest and most decently priced

ON TEST

Beats Studio Pro £350 • The Apple-owned company springs a surprise, refreshing its range with wired inputs and hi-res audio

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e £380 • Introducing the third-generation for B&W’s Px7, which offers some tweaks rather than a full update

FiiO FT3 £290 • Since its start in 2007, the Chinese company has gone large on digital, but here it does things differently

JBL Tour One M2 £280 • Best known for its affordable headphones and speakers, this is JBL’s most expensive headphone offering

Sennheiser Accentum £160 • Sennheiser’s latest over-ear model provides good sound quality and noise-cancelling at a bargain price

Yamaha YH-E700B £310 • Yamaha’s mid-range headphone comes across as a decent all-rounder at a competitive price

Group test verdict • The latest over-ear headphones provide strong sound and versatile features at very competitive prices. Cliff Joseph picks the cream of the sub-£500 crop

Beauty and the beats • The latest addition to Absolute Sounds’ boutique ‘Ten’ range, the Trafomatic Audio Rhapsody from Serbia is a lovely single-ended, 300B-based triode tube amp rated at a mighty 20W

Third degree • Nick Tate is suitably impressed as he auditions Bowers & Wilkins’ smart baby box, the 607 S3 standmount

Kind of Blu • Combining skill with digital and supreme software should make the Stream-XR a formidable offering says Ed Selley

Eighties throwback • Nick Tate feels the heat with this new version of a renowned Eighties Class A classic integrated amplifier

Elite force • Having successfully revisited its past with the Petite, Neat turns its attention to the Elite. Ed Selley sees if lightning strikes twice

Sound system • Neville Roberts was so impressed with this wireless music system at the UK Hi-Fi Show Live! that he decided to find out more

Chord progression • With the tabletop-sized TToby power amp retired, CE’s BerTTi replacement ushers in bold new tech. David Vivian is impressed

Field of streams • Two new streamers appear to combine an extraordinary specification at a rock-bottom price. Ed Selley looks for the...