Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2025 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £800 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SILENTANGEL.COM SOUNDDESIGNDISTRIBUTION.CO.UK SOUND DESIGN DISTRIBUTION Ltd. has announced the UK availability of Silent Angel’s Bremen SL1 Plus music player. Controlled from the VitOS Orbiter app and offering embedded MQA audio decoding, Qobuz, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, DLNA and AirPlay 2, as well as internet radio and Bluetooth, the SL1 Plus provides a digital and analogue platform supplying streaming (up to 24-bit/192kHz), supported by details such as bit-rate, sample rate, bit depth and format. Equipped with balanced XLR, RCA (single-ended), coaxial, optical and USB outputs, the Bremen SL1 Plus delivers system-building versatility through wired and wi-fi connections. The company says that minimal latency provides instant audio transmission, while wired connections offer superior resistance to interference, preserving lossless audio within the network. Board master The SL1 Plus…

PRICE: £278 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FIIO.COM FIIO HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of its M21 portable digital audio player, which it describes as pushing: “the boundaries of entry-level Android-based DAPs”. Featuring a compact 4.7in HD IPS screen, the M21 has a palm-sized interface powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset paired with Android 13, delivering what FiiO is claiming is a quick, responsive performance for native and streaming apps. The M21 also boasts 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage (52GB usable), expandable to 2TB via microSD. At the heart of the M21 are four Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC chips, arranged in a matrix configuration. This architecture is used to minimise crosstalk and noise, while two-stage amplification circuits provide voltage then current gain, creating what the company describes as a clean…

PRICE: £60 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MAJORITY.CO.UK UK-BASED COMPANY MAJORITY has launched its Naga 40 Bluetooth soundbar. Measuring 386mm wide and weighing 1.4kg, the Naga 40 is built to slot in beneath a monitor, TV or wall-mounted setup. According to Majority, the 2.0-channel speaker system with external subwoofer output has been engineered: “to project crisp mids, clear treble and warm, room-filling bass… for a cinematic, multi-dimensional sound experience – without the bulk of traditional systems”. The Naga 40 is built to connect with virtually any device. It features Bluetooth 5.0 for streaming from smartphones, tablets and laptops, alongside a suite of wired input options including HDMI ARC, optical, USB and AUX to ensure easy integration with TV screens, gaming consoles, projectors or desktop setups. Users can individually tailor their listening experience…

PRICE: £55,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BOWERSWILKINS.COM IF YOU’RE LOOKING for a statement purchase look no further than Bowers & Wilkins, which has announced the release of its 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition loudspeaker – a celebration of the 45-year relationship between the hi-fi company and iconic studio. The collab marks the occasion in 1980 when company founder John Bowers visited Abbey Road Studios to demonstrate his new design, the 801 – the first of what he described as: “a new generation of loudspeakers designed for both the professional and the exceptionally critical listener”. The engineers at Abbey Road took to it and adopted it as their monitor of choice, becoming the first recording studio in the world to use the 801. Since then, six successive generations of Bowers & Wilkins…

It’s probably about right to think of Monitor Audio’s extraordinary £70k Hyphn floorstander as the most potent symbol of the Essex-based company’s methodology. Every big-time speaker brand needs a statement product to get the adrenaline pumping – maybe all the better if it looks more like the striding pillars of the heroic TARS robot from the sci-fi film Interstellar than a conventional luxury high-end tower. And, as is usually the case, some of that exotic, unconstrained tech, will eventually, tier-by-tier, trickle down to more affordable fare – not just in terms of specific materials, but the company’s overarching Transparent Design Philosophy. Indeed, TDP applies all the way down to MA’s practical battle star of the past quarter century, the humble Bronze. Now in its 7th generation, the evolving entry-level lineup…

Two-channel audio is developing into something quite different to how it was at the start of the century. On the one hand, we have devices that do an astonishing amount of things; streamers that are fully functional system front-ends, integrated amps that are all-in-one systems in all but name and active speakers that are complete systems. These multifunction devices are complemented by more function specific products than intended. The Cambridge Audio MXW70 is a case in point. It’s a compact power amplifier that is designed to partner the company’s MXN10 (HFC 503) network streamer and DacMagic 200M (HFC 484) DAC, turning them into complete systems. There is a plethora of other devices that it could reasonably be partnered with, however, so it looks like a fairly savvy piece of development…

Some products come out of a clear blue sky and have far more impact on their market segment than you might have expected. Eversolo’s DMP-A6 was one such release. Where previous Zidoo-branded products had been capable but relatively conventional media devices, the Eversolo arrived balancing a specification, construction and performance that made it devastating value for money. Some streamers we have seen arrive in the market since then have very clearly been shaped by how good the original DMP-A6 was. Nothing stands still in streaming, though, so Eversolo has given the DMP-A6 a going over and created the DMP-A6 Gen 2. As the name suggests it is not an all-new device, but an enhanced version of the original; small wonder given how good that was. At its core, the Eversolo…

If we’ve learnt anything about those chosen few who go on to launch hi-fi companies over the years, it’s that they have a passion for sound, but how many started out playing music themselves? Hegel’s story begins with Bent Holter, a young Norwegian whose love of music and technology would eventually put Norway on the global hi-fi map. As a teenager in Gjøvik he received an electric guitar from his father but, like so many budding musicians, he lacked money for proper gear so decided to build his own. His early creations included guitar amps and effects pedals, quickly followed by stage equipment and speakers for the bands he played in. Bent was not only a musician, but a tinkerer with an engineer’s mind. In the early Eighties and inspired…

HI-FI Choice Recommends ESSENTIAL HI-FI YOU’LL WANT TO OWN CD PLAYERS Cambridge Audio AXC35 PRICE: £300 REVIEWED: HFC 454 Something of a budget marvel, you’ll have to work extra hard to get the AXC35 to put a foot wrong. Bass is firm, detailed and blessed with excellent timing; the tonal palette is pleasingly broad and clean; and though the soundstage doesn’t extend much beyond the speakers, there’s great depth perspective. Marantz CD 50n PRICE: £1,600 REVIEWED: HFC 518 Equipped to not only get the most from your CD collection, but also for online streaming and dabbling in downloads, the CD 50n boasts a weighty, well-defined and technically accomplished performance that is enormous fun. Throw in a decent built-in headphone amplifier and you have a great silver disc pinner. Cyrus CDi-XR Phantom Black PRICE:…

1 WEIRD BEARDS Hippies rejoice! Netflix has announced an exclusive documentary about the legendary psychedelic folk group The Incredible String Band, set to premiere on 10 October. Titled Echoes of the Mystic: The Incredible String Band Story, the documentary will explore the band’s ground-breaking contributions to music, their unique fusion of folk and psychedelia, and their lasting cultural impact. The film, directed by Jonathan Parker, will feature never-before seen footage, rare interviews, and archival performances. It will also include conversations with surviving band members, music historians and artists inspired by The Incredible String Band, such as David Tibet (Current 93), Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom. 2 GLAD TO BE GREY DALI’s IO-12 headphones – the first to feature the company’s patented Soft Magnetic Compound (SMC) technology – and with a…

PRICE: £2,000-£57,000 AVAILABLE: LATER THIS YEAR WEB: UNITRA.COM/EN THEAUDIOBUSINESS.CO.UK SPECIALIST DISTRIBUTOR THE Audio Business is bringing Polish hi-fi brand Unitra – which produces a whole host of integrated amplifiers, direct-drive turntables, digital devices, loudspeakers and accessories – to market in the UK and Ireland. Headquartered in Warsaw, Unitra says its kit: “evokes memories of hi-fi’s golden era, while internally offering the most advanced audio engineering designed to take music lovers back to a time before technology hijacked the simple pleasure of listening to music! Combined with some wonderful unique design features, such as switches that actually operate on the front of the device when selected by the corresponding remote control, every detail has been thought out, all designed to give the user the ultimate engaging experience.” Meet the family The…

PRICE: £700 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: PROJECT-AUDIO.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK PRO-JECT AUDIO SYSTEMS has launched its Uni Box S3, an integrated amplifier with streaming technology powered by WiiM OS. According to the company: “Where many streaming amplifiers convert all signals to digital, the Uni Box S3 keeps analogue sources analogue. That means the user’s turntable, CD player or other line-level devices retain their original, lifelike sonic character.” Built around the same dual-mono architecture as Pro-Ject’s MaiA S3 (HFC 492), the Uni Box S3 delivers a claimed 40W per channel into 4ohm. The streaming, handled by WiiM OS, includes support for Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, TuneIn and more. A Cirrus Logic DAC chipset handles playback with resolutions up to 24-bit/192kHz. Control comes via the new Pro-Ject Home app, which facilitates setup, supports multi-room…

PRICE: £2,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: ACOUSTIC-ENERGY.CO.UK ACOUSTIC ENERGY HAS released its AE320 2 floorstanding loudspeaker completing the recently launched, reimagined 300 Series lineup. With a larger form-factor based on the Corinium (HFC 513) driver array, the new AE320² is suitable for medium-to-large-sized rooms and comes with a new mid-driver crafted from a blend of paper and coconut husk, which AE says delivers: “a smooth, natural tonal balance with the dynamic punch of Acoustic Energy’s traditional aluminium cones”. This is paired with a newly developed soft-dome tweeter, derived directly from the Corinium and, for the first time at this price point, the AE320² incorporates Resonance Suppression Composite cabinet technology, which was originally developed for Acoustic Energy’s Reference series. The AE320² also debuts a new aesthetic, featuring a durable ‘silk-touch’ matte finish…

PRICE: £120-£2,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CAMBRIDGEAUDIO.COM CAMBRIDGE AUDIO IS pushing the boat out, launching its Melomania A100 true-wireless earbuds and Evo 150 SE enhanced special-edition streaming amp. The buds boast the same Class AB amplification found in the company’s CX and EX Series amplifiers alongside precision-tuned 10mm Neodymium drivers. They support top-quality LDAC, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive streaming and introduce Cambridge’s proprietary DynamEQ technology. The A100 provides up to 11 hours of continuous playback with ANC off or 6.5 hours with ANC on via a single charge – 10 minutes gives another three hours of playback and the ultra-compact charging case offers up to 28 more hours of use. A dual-core 240MHz Qualcomm Kalimba DSP is on hand for refined sound processing with reduced distortion and enhanced clarity. The A100…

PRICE: £600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: IFI-AUDIO.COM IFI AUDIO HAS unveiled the GO pod Max, the flagship DAC/headphone amplifier in the company’s range. Encased in precision-machined aluminium, the GO pod Max fuses lossless Bluetooth, K2HD Technology and built-in UV sterilisation – offering what the company claims is: “the most premium and technologically advanced wireless IEM experience yet”. Key features include four internal UV case lights, which work to sanitise connected earbuds, separate Bluetooth, DAC and amp stages, a balanced amp stage that self-adjusts output to match the IEM, built-in microphones and a claimed 35 hour playtime – seven hours playback, plus 28 more from the case. iFi reveals that: “each pod features a flagship Qualcomm QCC5181 chipset, capable of receiving CD-quality audio cable-free with zero data loss when using the aptX…

When it launched in 2006 Q Acoustics focussed on the affordable end of the speaker market, then came the flagship Concept 500 floorstanders (HFC 426) designed in conjunction with Karl-Heinz Fink. It’s the same story with its subs: the new Q SUB series offers three models priced between £600 and £800, and these are the brand’s most ‘premium’ options, slotting in beside the new 3060S Satin at £400. On test here is the middle unit, the Q SUB100, which uses a 254mm bass driver with quoted amplification of 250W (500W peak) from a customdesigned multi-stage power/DSP module. All three units share the same general features: front-firing drivers, sealed, cube-shaped MDF cabinets with double-thickness baffles and White or Black finishes. Q Acoustics says its subwoofer’s DSP engine enables it to ‘identify’…

Unison Research, the self-proclaimed “Italian leader in the production of tube amplifiers”, has an extensive portfolio with no fewer than 15 such units across pre, power and integrated categories. It also sells two CD players with tube-based outputs, plus solid-state amplifiers incorporating tubes in their input stages. In short, you might say it loves tubes. The Simply Italy Black Edition is its most wallet-friendly tube integrated, £2,300 standard iteration aside. This is a compact amplifier boasting a quartet of tubes – two Gold Lion KT77 power devices, operating in single-ended ultralinear mode and two Gold Lion ECC82s in the driver stage. All four are protected by a black metal grille. The tube complement is one area where Unison Research has revised its entry-level amp, switching from EL34s. The claimed Class…

French audio marque Devialet has been on quite the journey over the last 15 years. Its first product, in 2010, was the D-Premier, an innovative integrated amplifier that showcased the ADH (Analogue/Digital Hybrid) topology of designer/company founder Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel and his colleague Mathias Moronvalle. Eye-catchingly designed, thrillingly innovative and a sonic marvel, Devialet’s amplifier was a revelation and a much-needed shot in the arm for the hi-fi industry. The company followed it with a slew of successor models over the next eight years, all evolved from the original. Yet, buoyed by plenty of outside investment, Devialet also expanded into other areas, most notably its Phantom active loudspeakers alongside home theatre soundbars and in-ear headphones. As the 2010s rolled into the 2020s, some wondered if it had moved on from making…

Forth Wanderers The Longer This Goes On CD Sub Pop “I’M NOT SURE there are many things more humiliating than standing front and centre on stage, looking out at a crowd of expecting faces, and not being able to perform your own songs”. This was Ava Trilling writing in 2019, explaining how and why her recently diagnosed panic disorder, agoraphobia and OCD had pretty much put an end to the promising career of her band. Forth Wanderers had just been signed and great things were expected of them. Their debut LP for Sub Pop was being lauded by critics and a major tour was about to connect them to an enthusiastic fanbase. Then it all came crashing down. The next few years were filled with guilt, recriminations and therapy, but gradually…

I’ve been chasing him for nigh-on two years, religiously ringing Virgin his record company every fortnight to be told: “David’s here, David’s there, we don’t know where David is”, or: “David doesn’t feel he’s got anything to talk about at the moment” so often it’s become a standing joke. Since Japan split, he’s scarcely broken cover. It’s even rumoured he’d grown a beard, but now there’s a new single, a new album and then this meeting at the Portobello Hotel. He’s clean-shaven again and I tell him he reminds me of one of those natives fighting shy of the camera for fear a photo will diminish his soul. He nods his approval: “Yes, it’s a good observation. It’s something I wasn’t consciously aware of, something that I must have pushed…

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PRICE: £1,250 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: QUAD-HIFI.CO.UK QUAD HAS LAUNCHED its QUAD 3 integrated amp, designed in the same style as its recently released 33/303 (HFC 524) two-box pre/power amp by David McNeill. Taking cues from the original 33 preamp of 1967 and the 22 – which launched eight years earlier – the look echoes the 22’s fascia layout and contours, and the 33’s two-tone grey. The company explains: “Flush-mounted rotary controls were a feature of both the 22 and 33, and the use of orange as an ‘accent’ colour was a key part of the 33’s iconic Sixties design. Because of these design echoes and rich infusion of classic QUAD DNA, we decided to designate the new integrated amplifier with the numeral ‘3’ – a clear association with the 33/303.”…

PRICE: £125 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AUDIO-TECHNICA.COM AUDIO-TECHNICA HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of its latest true-wireless earbuds, the ATH-CKS50TW2. Boasting up to 65 hours of total playback, A-T says the buds offer: “best-in-class battery life”. Users can enjoy a claimed 25 hours of continuous playback from the fully charged earbuds, with an additional 40 hours available via the charging case. Even with noise cancelling enabled, the buds deliver a claimed 15 hours of use, plus another 25 from the case. For users on the go, a five-minute charge provides up to 90 minutes listening. A new feature is Audio-Technica’s exclusive Magnetic Switch, which allows users to power the earbuds on or off simply by joining or separating their built-in magnets – which the company says is ideal for conserving power when…

PRICE: £500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: ORANGEAMPS.COM ORANGE AMPLIFIERS HAS just launched its O Turntable, which comes in a White Gloss finish with the deck emblazoned with the Orange, ‘Voice Of The World’ crest. Oh yeah! The key features of the belt-driven turntable are that it employs a 24V low-noise synchronous motor, with a custom PCB and aluminium pulley system to minimise vibration and deliver steady platter speed. It boasts a 23mm, high-mass phenolic platter with flywheel effect in an effort to ensure smoother rotation and tighter speed stability, an integrated moving-magnet phono-stage preamplifier and MM cartridge with a replaceable carbon stylus. Additional highlights include an auto-bias tonearm with ultra-low friction bearings, preset bias, push-fit counter-weight and an underside on/off power switch. The Orange branding features on the plinth, tonearm and…

PRICE: £10,250-£12,750 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SEISMION.COM HIFIDOCTOR.CO.UK DISTRIBUTOR HI-FI DOCTOR is bringing German company Seismion’s Reactio 2 to the UK. Seismion focuses on designing, developing and constructing solutions for precise vibration control to meet the challenges presented by powerful audio systems, which often comprise vulnerable signal-carrying equipment. Turntables are one such component being particularly susceptible, as vibrations can be indistinguishable from the musical information itself. Many other components, including valves, are also microphonic, meaning vibrations can directly influence the output signal. Seismion’s Reactio 2 is a high-performance active isolation system designed to mitigate the unwanted vibrations detrimental to music playback. Initially developed for industrial applications requiring precise vibration control, the Reactio 2’s active system incorporates highly sensitive piezoelectric sensors that detect even the most minute vibrations. An all-analogue electronic control…

PRICE: £540-£900 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CLEARAUDIO.DE GERMAN COMPANY CLEARAUDIO has introduced three new power solutions, designed to significantly improve the sound quality of turntables and hi-fi setups. The Professional Power 12V and Professional Power 24V are a pair of turntable power supply upgrades, while the Terra Grounding Box is designed to eliminate ground loops and electromagnetic interference in systems. The products are available as standalone upgrades or as part of added-value turntable packages. The company explains that: “Often, the source of annoying hums lies in faulty or missing grounding within your hi-fi setup. This is where the new Clearaudio Terra Grounding Box comes into play, acting as a central connection point that reliably eliminates ground loops.” Terra’s anodised aluminium casing is filled with a special type of sand that dampens…

As one of the ‘core’ British brands, Cyrus cemented its reputation with amplifiers before adding digital sources to its quite considerable proficiencies. Phono stages were something that the company offered but that never attracted much attention until the Phono Signature was released in 2016 and reviewed in HFC 408. It combined an astonishingly low noise circuit with a level of flexibility both in connectivity and setup that very little else anywhere near the price could match. It proved sufficiently compelling that I bought one on the spot. Since then, Cyrus has brought the Phono Signature into the Classic range as the Classic PHONO (HFC 520)and done some detail tweaks but largely left a winning formula be. The release of the 40 Series in its all-new casework has seen Cyrus update…

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For most of us, a drinking song was something heard at the pub after the clientele had consumed rather too much of the local brew. Well, it now seems as though a beer manufacturer in the US has gone one stage further and produced a fully playable record pressed with a sample of its beer inside. The concept of the novelty record is certainly nothing new. Manufacturers and recording artists are constantly thinking up gimmicks to help promote their products. Though coloured vinyl has been around for decades, what now seems to be all the rage is liquid-filled LPs. These are usually made using two separate sides of an LP, one for Side A and the other for Side B. These two discs are then glued together with a plastic…

MANY DECADES AGO, I bought an Audio-Technica AT-637 stylus cleaner, which uses a vibrating pad to do the business. I’ve used it ever since and often put a drop of stylus cleaning fluid on the pad. It’s a wonderful gadget and I wouldn’t be without it. Sadly, Audio-Technica discontinued the AT-637 over 20 years ago when, so the story goes, the original tooling broke and, given the rising popularity of CDs at the time, the company decided to cease production. I’ve often lent it to friends when their styli are in need of a good clean! German company Flux HiFi has started producing the Flux-Sonic Electronic Stylus Cleaner, which works in exactly the same way. Available from Analogue Seduction in the UK, the device uses sonic vibrations of a little…

BACK IN HFC 511, we reviewed the Oyaide NRF-005T noise reduction tape, which is designed to dial down the noise floor of interconnecting cables without adversely affecting the original sound signals. I was very impressed with the tape, so am pleased to report that Oyaide has recently produced an NRF-005L Noise Suppression Sheet as an A4-size version of the aforementioned tape. Each sheet is made from a non-woven fabric material called PULSHUT, which was developed by Asahi Kasei Corporation and does not contain any magnetic material. While NRF-005T tape is suitable for wrapping around cables, the sheet is better suited to attaching to large areas such as the in or outside of equipment enclosures. According to Oyaide, the material effectively suppresses any electromagnetic and radiation noise generated by AV equipment…

Our reviewer says: “Beautifully built and finished, it’s hard to think of a smallish two-way that outclasses it in any meaningful way, at any price. An essential audition then, if your listening room is a little more constricted than your wallet!” Read more plaudits and details on this standmount loudspeaker in the October issue ALSO: REVIEWS Cambridge Audio Melomania A100 True Wireless earphones, Eversolo Play streaming amplifier, JBL Tour One M3 Bluetooth/wired headphones, Ortofon SPU GTX E MC cartridge, Audiolab D7 DAC, Fosi Audio ZP3 preamplifier and much more… FEATURES Music Reviews, Reasons To Be Cheerful, our comprehensive Buyer’s Guide and sharp-as-nails Opinions pieces, Company Confidential, the Flashback interview, Audiofile news on all the latest product launches and all your hi-fi queries answered by our experts. OCTOBER ISSUE ON SALE…