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

Studio session • Eighties-inspired new Brit speaker

Jet-powered • Two new speakers from the UK

Lighten up • New in-ear imports

Monster magnet • New world-first UK cart

Tape that! • Smart new portable cassette player

NAD company • Streaming amp import upgrade

Hear & play • New cart and ‘phones from Japan

Lunar landing • Limited-edition in-ears from the USA

Pedigree chum • Classic high-end floorstander reborn

Double tops • New DAC and headphone amp

Power elite • Super expensive new Swiss amp

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

Cart attack! • The choice of affordable MM cartridges is wider than it has been in years. Ed Selley selects six to see where the smart money should go

Audio-Technica AT-VM95SH £190 • The most advanced stylus profile in the test endows the Audio-Technica with some interesting attributes

Gold Note Vasari Red £250 • Some aspects of the Gold Note’s design might look a little simple, but the performance is anything but

Goldring E4 £200 • Freshly arrived to complement the existing E Series, the E4 is something of a charmer

Grado Opus3 £265 • The Grado cuts a completely different aesthetic to anything else here and does things in its own way

Nagaoka JT-80LB £219 • The quirky JT-80’s curious design contains some innovative thinking on analogue replay

Sumiko Olympia £225 • The Olympia takes decent basic ingredients and turns them into a gold medal-winning performance

Group test verdict • In a closely fought test, it’s the details that matter. Thankfully, Ed Selley has been studying them intently to pick a winner

Mono masters • As the Norwegian brand’s heavyweight AW 800 M flagship is split in two to reveal the AW 300 M, we ask… are these ‘manageable monoblocks’ truly a chip off the, ahem, block?

Stage craft • Debuting AVID HIFI’s range of phono stages, the Pellar phono preamp is put through its paces by Neville Roberts

Darling buds • Sennheiser debuts a lightweight new design for its entry-level earbuds. Cliff Joseph gives them a whirl

Groovy baby! • Happy hipster Cliff Joseph can’t help but be mightily impressed with this celebratory new portable DAC upgrade

A kind of Magic • Meet the latest in a long-running family of Cambridge Audio streamers. Ed Selley investigates if it is still a top dog

Best buddies? • PSB’s new earbuds may lack the frills, but they certainly seem to get the sound quality right reckons Cliff Joseph

Back to the future • Marantz’s latest arrivals might have a retro tinge, but Ed Selley is convinced that what they offer is bang up to date

Testing testing • Neville Roberts finds out how the valves in his system are holding up with this updated valve checker from Orange

Four play • It’s been a while, but Beats has finally revived its popular Solo over-ears and the times they are a-changing says Cliff Joseph

Three tops • Klipsch’s updated compact speaker provides attractive sound and phono connectivity. Cliff Joseph takes it on…

Eastern promise • Nick Tate turns back the time machine to 1975 and the UK-designed, Japanese-made Eagle A2006 integrated amp

ODE TO Joy • Neville Roberts...