Best systems 2013 revealed: What Hi-Fi? Awards

Our best systems category brings together various types of systems, covering music systems at various price points, home-cinema-in-a-box packages and the best multiroom systems too.

MORE: Best systems: Awards 2013

Despite new competitors like Pure Jongo entering the multiroom streaming market this year, Sonos holds on to the Best multiroom streaming system gong, thanks to the pure breadth of its range, great ease of use and market-leading sound quality.

The new Sonos Play:1 missed our Awards judging by a few weeks but even without it, Sonos already offered so much - even moving into the home cinema market with the Sonos Playbar - that picking the winning system in this category was a no-brainer.

Second time's a charm

Elsewhere there were a few more repeat winners, with the excellent Denon D-M39DAB once again picking up the award for best music system up to £400, and Linn's pricey but superb Linn Kiko system nailing the best music system £1500+ category for the second year running.

The recently launched Naim UnitiQute 2 picked up the best music system £800-£1500 award, impressing us just as much as its predecessor did when it launched three years ago with its open, fast and superbly weighted character.

As for the best cinema system package, it had to go to the Sony BDV-N7100W thanks to its pairing of an exciting, detailed and precise speaker package with a truly excellent Blu-ray player that comes complete with wi-fi and streaming capabilities for its built-in smart apps, and support for CD and SACD discs too.

The Product of the Year goes to...

The Marantz Melody Media M-CR10 beat them all to be named Product of the Year though, a gorgeous-looking and versatile box of tricks that just needs to be paired with a suitably energetic pair of speakers to completely transform your music collection - whether it's stored digitally or on CDs.

To read more on each of the categories, be sure to head over to the Best Systems category on our dedicated Awards 2013 microsite.

MORE: Best headphones: Awards 2013

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Verity Burns

Verity is a freelance technology journalist and former Multimedia Editor at What Hi-Fi?. 


Having chalked up more than 15 years in the industry, she has covered the highs and lows across the breadth of consumer tech, sometimes travelling to the other side of the world to do so. With a specialism in audio and TV, however, it means she's managed to spend a lot of time watching films and listening to music in the name of "work".


You'll occasionally catch her on BBC Radio commenting on the latest tech news stories, and always find her in the living room, tweaking terrible TV settings at parties.