KEF has enjoyed considerable success making active wireless stereo systems.

KEF’s LS50 Wireless II speaker system has become an exemplar of this success, becoming something of a modern-day legend in the process. The five-star system has scooped so many What Hi-Fi? Awards, and been on our list of the best hi-fi systems for such a long while, that it has truly earned its place among KEF’s pantheon of greats.

Now, KEF is kicking things up a notch with the arrival of the LS Luxe, once again integrating amplification and streaming into a compact, easy-to-use stereo speaker package. The LS Luxe is a step above the LS50 Wireless II in terms of price, but is it vastly superior regarding its all-around performance?

Let’s find out.

KEF LS Luxe vs KEF LSS50 Wireless II: price

The LS50 Wireless II came into the world at £2250 / $2499 / AU$4295, but as we know, prices are always liable to fluctuate over time.

Currently, you can find the LS50 Wireless II for £2199, a modest but not insubstantial drop from its original RRP. For US buyers, it’s not such good news: you will tend to see KEF’s established Award-winner sitting between $2500-$2999 at the time of writing.

Wherever you are and whatever prices are doing, the LS Luxe is going to cost a good deal more than its more established sibling. KEF’s new kid on the block arrived at £3500 / $4000 / AU$6375, and given it’s so fresh to the market, we don’t expect to see any major discounts any time soon.

For its more affordable asking price, this is one on the board for the LS50 Wireless II.

**Winner: KEF LS50 Wireless II**

KEF LS Luxe vs KEF LSS50 Wireless II: build and design

Let’s just be super clear about what we’re dealing with here.

Both the KEF LS50 Wireless II and LS Luxe are standmounted active wireless stereo speaker systems, meaning you are getting two separate speaker cabinets with built-in amplification, wireless streaming, and a DAC.

At the heart of each pair of speakers is the 12th-generation of KEF’s signature Uni-Q driver array, in which the tweeter sits in the centre of the mid/bass unit for more even sonic dispersion, improved integration, and better time alignment. With the LS Luxe, the Uni-Q driver assembly is mechanically decoupled from the cabinet to reduce panel vibrations.

KEF’s ‘Metamaterial Absorption Technology’ (MAT), which absorbs rearward sound from the back of the tweeter dome in pursuit of greater treble clarity, is also featured in both.

For the LS50 Wireless II, 100 watts of Class A/B amplification is powering the 25mm aluminium tweeter, while 280 watts of Class D power handles the 13cm aluminium mid/bass driver.

The power split in the LS Luxe is the same in terms of wattage and power class, but the driver sizes are a little different, as we are still dealing with a 25mm aluminium tweeter complemented by a larger 16.5cm mid/bass unit. That, as we shall see, helps the LS Luxe generate more lower-end depth and power.

Externally, our contenders’ cabinets look reasonably distinct from each other. That Uni-Q array aside, the LS50 Wireless II speakers are squatter and squarer, albeit with rounded-off edges and a convex front panel helping to give them a modern, stylish appeal.

The LS Luxe, by contrast, really doubles down on its curvy aesthetic, with a smooth, almost egg-like form that aims to improve performance by reducing the build-up of internal standing waves within the cabinet. They are taller and slimmer cabinets than the LS50 Wireless II, and though the look of the speakers won’t be for everyone, the standard of construction is, inarguably, very high.

That rounded design is thanks to a collaboration with Ross Lovegrove, the Welsh designer with whom KEF previously joined forces when creating the mighty Muon floorstanders, the Muo Bluetooth speaker, and the Mu headphones range.

Around the back, the LS50 Wireless II speakers feature a ridged aluminium heatsink and a flared reflex port. The LS Luxe also features a flared reflex port, with a distinctively curved, more deeply ridged aluminium heatsink designed to offer a greater surface area to more efficiently dissipate the heat generated by the active electronics within.

Both systems use ‘Bulk Moulded Compound’ (BMC) composite material in their cabinet construction; the LS50 Wireless II in just the front baffle, while the LS Luxe’s entire enclosure is made out of the material. BMC is an inert, high-mass material that is highly conducive for use in a speaker enclosure.

In terms of control, the LS50 Wireless II offers a touch-capacitive strip panel for adjusting volume, muting the speakers, selecting volume or turning the whole system on or off.

The LS Luxe doesn’t feature any on-unit buttons or controls, but you do get a nicely made aluminium remote, as well as access to the KEF Connect control app, for managing your listening experience. Do note that the LS50 Wireless II also comes with a remote control and app support.

The LS50 Wireless II houses threaded inserts in the corner of each speaker, allowing them to lock onto the top of KEF's S2 Floor Stands (£400 / $449 / AU$800 per pair).

The LS Luxe can also be fitted to their own dedicated ‘S-Luxe’ stands (£800 / $800 / AU$1230), which you will need to put together and screw into the base of each speaker yourself. Expensive they may be, but if you want to hear the LS Luxe at its best, we think a pair of S-Luxe stands is worth the cash.

One more thing: finishes. You get three options from which to choose with the LS Luxe: Eclipse Black, Dusk Titanium or Mineral White. There are four choices with the LS50 Wireless: Carbon Black, Titanium Grey, Moss Green or Sand Shell.

Not much to grumble about on either side, here. The LS50 Wireless II earns points for its on-unit controls and more compact design, whereas the LS Luxe feels a tad more premium and can draw on more-refined design aspects, such as that more-advanced heat sink design and larger mid/bass drive unit.

**Winner: KEF LS Luxe**

KEF LS Luxe vs KEF LSS50 Wireless II: features

Both of KEF’s five-star wireless speaker systems go big on features, offering a variety of ways to enjoy each.

Around the back of both systems’ primary speaker unit, you will find HDMI eARC, 3.5mm analogue, optical and coaxial inputs, as well as an ethernet port for hooking up physically to the internet. With both the LS Luxe and the LS50 Wireless II, each of the two speakers has a dedicated output for adding a single subwoofer or a pair if you really want to go big on bass.

On the streaming side, both use KEF’s W2 Wireless Platform, granting access to popular streaming services such as Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Qobuz Connect and Deezer, along with internet radio.

If you’re not keen on spending much time on the dedicated KEF app, there is also the further convenience of AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast and Bluetooth for both, with the LS50 Wireless supporting Bluetooth 5.0 and the LS Luxe bumping that up to the more efficient Bluetooth 5.3.

UPnP compatibility on both means you can stream hi-res music from a connected external NAS drive, and while Roon Ready support is already available for the LS50 Wireless II, it is slated to arrive in 2027 for the LS Luxe.

Hi-res file support depends on how you choose to listen. Either KEF system is able to accept PCM files up to 24-bit/384kHz, with the LS50 Wireless II supporting DSD256 and the LS Luxe maxing out at DSD128.

The LS Luxe also lacks MQA support, something you do still get with the LS50 Wireless II; but, as Tidal dropped MQA a few years ago and the format appears to be in decline, this won’t be a major loss for most would-be listeners.

If you are using a wireless connection between your LS50 Wireless II or LS Luxe speakers, higher resolution files will be internally downsampled to 24-bit/96kHz. Connecting the master and slave speakers using the included interconnect cable will bump playback up to 24-bit/192kHz.

As far as apps go, we’re rather keen on KEF’s ‘Connect’ platform, from which you can control and set up your wireless system. You can tweak the sound yourself using the on-board equaliser and use KEF’s ‘Room EQ’ digital signal processing to fine-tune your sound to your listening room – something we recommend to get the best sound possible for your given space.

While the LS50 Wireless II does enjoy the benefit of KEF’s Uni-Q array and innovative ‘MAT’ technology, the LS Luxe is packed with more recent technological advancements that see it outpace its established counterpart.

The LS Luxe, for instance, is the first KEF speaker product to feature the company’s ‘Velocity Control Technology’ (VECO), as seen in this year’s five-star XIO soundbar. VECO essentially measures the speed of the drivers’ cone movement, and any differences between that and the expected value are compensated for in real time, resulting in lower distortion levels.

Additionally, the newer, more premium LS Luxe gains the benefit of KEF’s ‘Music Integrity Engine’ tech, which uses digital signal processing algorithms to maintain accuracy and tonality no matter the volume at which the system is played.

Impressive feature sets and plenty of ways to enjoy KEF’s five-star contenders, but the LS Luxe’s more up-to-date technology suite sees it earn victory here.

**Winner: KEF LS Luxe**

KEF LS Luxe vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: sound quality

Even with the LS Luxe coming along and rather knocking it off its pretty perch, the LS50 Wireless II remains a devilishly talented wireless speaker system.

This is a product that has scooped a raft of What Hi-Fi? Awards since it arrived around six years ago, one we dubbed as being among the “most thrilling speaker systems we had heard” for around £2000 / $2500.

In fact, the LS50 Wireless II is still outstanding at its price. As a major step up at the time from the groundbreaking LS50 Wireless, the LS50 Wireless II remains an exemplary choice if you are seeking a system that offers you a clean, admirably precise sonic presentation.

The balanced, uncluttered signature of the LS50 Wireless II’s sound was, and remains, one of its strongest attributes. KEF’s Award-winning system was a serious step up from its predecessor, offering up a more intricate, open and precise soundstage than we had seen with the original LS50 Wireless.

As we wrote at the time: “mids are cleaner-cut and bass more defined, their extra refinement making the originals sound a touch crude. The whole presentation has been opened out, that extra room not only filled with subtler, more precise detail, but also allowing for greater instrument separation that makes its delivery sound much less congested in comparison.”

Clear, balanced and precise the LS50 Wireless II may be, but what has kept it atop the pantheon of great wireless speaker systems has been marrying those qualities with real verve and drama. Authority and poise are wedded to punch and grip, especially regarding the LS50 Wireless II’s meaty, agile bass reproduction and crisp – yet not overetched – treble response.

The LS Luxe may be a good deal more expensive than the established LS50 Wireless II, but, from what we have heard, it fully justifies that considerable price jump.

The LS Luxe does have a similarly balanced, authoritative character as many of its esteemed KEF stablemates, but have it playing at its best and you’ll soon realise it is a considerable improvement on pretty much any product of this type that KEF has yet made.

When really firing, the LS Luxe is a delight, piling on extra helpings of detail and precision to the confident, articulate presentation found with the LS50 Wireless II. When listened to side by side, the LS Luxe takes the LS50 Wireless II’s presentation and elevates it, sounding more precise, muscular and cinematic in a straight shootout.

Reasonably compact the speaker cabinets may be, but the authority, breadth and depth of the sound go far beyond what we would expect from a relatively compact standmounted speaker system.

The LS Luxe can really put on a show when it comes to delivering cinematic fare with authority and scale, with a taut, authoratative bass reproduction acting as its real party piece. That is partly down to the larger 16.5cm mid/bass unit found as part of the LS Luxe’s updated Uni-Q array.

In all honesty, KEF has struck a marvellous balance with its latest model. This is a system that makes rhythms sound expressive and nimble but rarely skittish or overdone, while dynamics are confidently expressed without seeming forced or artificial.

Few, if any, blind spots are to be found. As we wrote in our review, the LS Luxe knits music together “so expertly that even truly demanding tracks can’t catch it napping. Whether it’s the gale-force hurricane of Slipknot’s Before I Forget or the magisterial grandeur of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, the LS Luxe barely breaks a sweat.”

Sonically, the LS50 Wireless II remains a superb wireless choice, but the LS Luxe really does take everything we liked about that sound and kick it up a notch. In terms of pure audio quality, it’s an obvious – and deeply impressive – cut above.

**Winner: KEF LS Luxe**

KEF LS Luxe vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: verdict

The LS Luxe has not made the LS50 Wireless II redundant.

The more established system continues to excel thanks to its impressive host of streaming features and a sonic performance that, at its more affordable price, remains one of the best we have heard.

KEF has also made no indication that it will be phasing out the LS50 Wireless II, meaning it looks set to enjoy a bright future at its £2250 / $2499 / AU$4295 price point.

What the LS Luxe does is raise the sonic bar to another level. You’re getting most of the same streaming features and ways to listen as with the LS50 Wireless II, but a larger driver and new technologies – Veco and KEF’s ‘Music Integrity Engine’, for instance – see the LS Luxe pull well clear in terms of pure sonic ability.

If you are happy to spend the extra cash, and then fork out a bit more for some dedicated stands, the LS Luxe is the system to pick.

**Overall winner: KEF LS Luxe**

MORE:

We speak to KEF’s chief technology officer about the LS Luxe

Hi-fi in 2076? How engineers envisage the next 50 years of music listening

Best active speakers: our experts pick the top pairs with integrated amplifiers

Ah, the humble micro system. Yes, they’re not as swish-looking as a modern speaker system, such as the five-star KEF LSX II LT.

And yes, there is an argument that they peaked in the ’90s, when every household usually had at least one kicking around (sometimes with a MiniDisc as well as a CD drive, if you were from a bourgeois family).

But, there’s still undeniably something magical about them, especially for elder millennials like me, who grew up with one. A Panasonic SA-PM37MD powered many a listening session during my teenage years.

In fact, if you walked past my room between the ages of 13-16, there was a very good chance you'd hear one booming Faith No More, Ozzy Osbourne and Pearl Jam on repeat, while my mum optimistically repeated “it’s just a phase” in the lounge.

Ah, the times we had. I still owe whatever deity stopped her ever checking what was in my sock drawer or why my room always had that “funny smell” over those happy, angst-filled years…

Which is why, when Philips unveiled a new FA7 micro hi-fi system complete with modern Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, Spotify and Tidal Connect streaming smarts, I felt a familiar wave of nostalgia come over me.

The idea’s a simple one. Deliver a tiny, multifaceted stereo system that doesn’t require any knowledge of hi-fi or matching to work, that can play CDs and stream music in hi-res over wi-fi.

And while I’m slightly concerned about the FA7's €600 (roughly £520 / $695) price, the more I thought about it, the more I’m sold on the idea and feel micro systems are due for a proper resurgence. There are three main reasons why.

First, the What Hi-Fi? team has long called for more small, but great-sounding, affordable hi-fi, and micro systems fit that bill – especially the Award-winning Denon D-M41DAB, which is still on sale, floating around the £269 mark at most stores.

As we said in our Denon review, it’s a convenient hi-fi solution for people short on space, that delivers effortless versatility and “a character of performance that could hold its own against groups of separates at a greater cost”.

This brings me on to my second point. Micro systems, like Philips' and Denon's, have a key advantage over most wireless speaker systems: a CD player.

Now, we’ve been promised a CD revival, akin to vinyl’s for some time. In fact, one of my first interview pieces for What Hi-Fi?, three years ago, saw Cambridge Audio’s then CEO saying “it was coming”.

But, according to sales figures for 2025, there’s now some solid evidence to back that claim. Numerous stores, as reported by The Guardian, saw a huge increase in sales at the end of last year, to the tune of a 74 per cent spike in demand for players at John Lewis.

So there’s a demand. But the truth is, players are still quite expensive, at least the good ones. The budget pick in our best CD players guide, the Marantz CD6007, costs £349 at most stores, for example. That's a lot more than our recommended Denon micro system, even before you add the cost of an amp and speakers. So, cheaper micro systems staging a comeback to meet the new demand for CD players makes sense.

And that leads me to my third point. According to these stats, it’s not just oldies like me fuelling the revival. Like the recent spike in wired headphone sales, it’s Gen-fudging-Z pouring gasoline on the fire.

Yes, apparently the kids are getting back into spinning CDs.

To be fair, I shouldn’t be surprised by this. When I interviewed numerous record store owners a couple of years ago, they all said they’d seen a gradual increase in interest in CDs with younger shoppers.

Given the current price of vinyl, I can understand why. The last one I bought, Princess Mononoke Symphonic Suite by Joe Hisaishi, set me back nearly £50 (annoyingly, it seems to have gone down in price since then). Even now, that would get me at least two or three CDs, more if I bought second-hand.

So, to me, a resurgence in micro systems, an affordable, no fuss, convenient solution that will meet their interest in spinning shiny plastic discs, and let them stream as they’re used to, makes perfect sense.

Here’s hoping it happens.

MORE:

These are the best wireless speakers we’ve reviewed

We rank the best hi-fi systems

Our picks of the best Bluetooth speakers

Cambridge Audio is "ready for the fight." So it said when we asked it about going head to head with KEF in the wireless speaker system market.

As Cambridge's first all-in-one active speaker system, the L/R X is a direct challenger to the Award-winning KEF LS 50 Wireless II. Both products offer a pair of standmount speakers capable of amplification and streaming skills, doing away with the need for separates while also incorporating digital music listening.

Cambridge might be full of fighting talk, but is the flagship L/R X model up for the challenge?

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: price

The L/R series comes in three variants: the entry-level L/R S (which is a pair of powered speakers with Bluetooth streaming), mid-range L/R M and flagship L/R X. The latter is what we're dealing with here, and it will cost £1799 / $2299 (around AU$3600) when it goes on sale this summer.

That's cheaper than the KEF LS50 Wireless II's RRP £2199 / $2499 / AU$4295. Though the KEF system's price does vary – it often costs as little as £1799 in the UK depending on the finish and retailer, and has dropped as low as £1499 during the peak sales period. As the system gets older, more discounts are likely.

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: design & build

Like the LS50 Wireless II, the L/R X speakers have a clean, minimalist look that's designed to blend into your décor rather than leap out as a statement piece. Though maybe not if you opt for the bold orange finish. We weren't able to try out the LED underlighting during our hands-on, as it wasn't ready yet, but it should be a nice touch to elevate the L/R X above much of the competition in the design department.

Despite being the largest model in Cambridge's line-up, the L/R X aren't so big they'll take up all of the space in your room, and they can still go seriously loud if you crank the volume up to eleven.

A 28mm version of Cambridge's new Torus tweeter lurks inside – bigger than the usual 25mm size we see in the majority of speakers. This extra surface area should mean 25 per cent more air displacement, according to the manufacturer.

The L/R X also have twin 12.7cm woofers and a pair of side-mounted 15cm passive radiators, the latter of which aim to deliver deeper and louder bass from the modestly-sized cabinet.

The L/R X have a more angular look than the LS50 Wireless II, which are nigh-on identical to their LS50 forebears, but we're fans of their slightly more bulbous aesthetic, like they're bulging with sonic tech just waiting to delight.

There's also the contrasting Uni-Q driver array, a signature of almost all of KEF's speakers, consisting of a 25mm aluminium tweeter and a 13cm aluminium mid/bass. That's supported by KEF's 'Metamaterial Absorption Technology' (MAT) which, essentially, uses a maze-like disc to absorb sound waves that radiate from the rear of the tweeter dome for cleaner highs.

They've inspired a lot of imitators since they first launched, which is a sign of how significant the LS50 Wireless II have been and remain.

Their design is practical as well as good looking, with threaded inserts in the corners letting them lock onto KEF's S2 Floor Stands (which cost around £400 / $449 / AU$800 extra per pair).

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: features

Cambridge Audio wins the battle of power, with 400W per channel of Class D amplification, compared with the KEF LS50 Wireless II's 380W. But of course, there's a lot more to sound quality than sheer oomph.

The L/R X lets you connect the speakers together wired via USB-C, or wirelessly using WiSA HT tech. Both methods support 24-bit/96kHz resolution, which isn't quite as high as the KEF LS50 Wireless II's resolution of 24-bit/192kHz via an Ethernet cable.

In terms of connections, the L/R X boasts a separate USB-C port, RCA stereo and optical inputs, plus a moving magnet phono stage for plugging in a turntable and HDMI eARC for hooking up your TV. There's also a subwoofer output if you want to up the bass with a dedicated woofer.

The KEF system also has all these, minus the USB-C option.

That's physical connections, but what about streaming? The L/R X have Cambridge's StreamMagic Gen 4 platform, which includes UPnP streaming, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect and internet radio. There's also Bluetooth for local streaming and an Ethernet port for a more stable internet connection than wi-fi. Oh, and it's Roon Ready too, for music management using that platform. That's a lot of features.

KEF brings a similar suite of features via its KEF Connect app, including AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast and Bluetooth 5.0. So on paper at least, there really is very little to separate them.

We've used KEF's app extensively over the years, and have found it a breeze. As we wrote in our LS50 Wireless II review: "Loading dense service libraries, navigating its clean and logical interface and switching inputs proves a pleasant and reliable experience." If Cambridge wants to top it, it will have its work cut out.

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: sound

Of course, the million dollar question is: how do they compare in terms of sound?

We've only heard the Cambridge Audio L/R X in its maker's demo space, rather than our dedicated listening room, and what we heard might not be the finished product. The L/R range isn't due for release until the summer, during which time it could have changed significantly. Since we heard it in Cambridge Audio's London HQ, for example, the firm has fine tuned the audio to reduce some top-end harshness at higher volumes.

But our first impressions were of a clear, clean and rhythmically sound performer. That 400W per channel makes it go very loud for a system of its size, and it retains plenty of textural detail in the process. It displays a good level of musicality, with plenty of space around the distinct-sounding instruments.

The L/R X showed considerable dynamic headroom at loud volumes, and as we hopped between musical genres in our demo – from Alice In Chains to a techno cover of Come Together – a picture emerged of clarity, scale and snappiness regardless of the track chosen or volume it's played at.

We also detected a slightly hard, bright edge among higher frequencies from time to time, but we can't confirm this until we've carried out our own extensive testing in our own listening rooms, especially as this is something which Cambridge has vowed to look at.

Cambridge Audio was so sure of its system that it actually played it side by side with the KEF LS50 Wireless II, albeit very briefly. The L/R X seemed to go louder than KEF's system, although obviously we can't draw any concrete conclusions outside of our own test rooms. Let's be honest, there's a lot more to a system than pure volume.

The original KEF LS50 Wireless gained entry to the What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame, and the sequel has won an Award for a phenomenal six years running, so we know it sounds superb, but it's worth noting its many, many strengths to gauge exactly what Cambridge is up against.

KEF's Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT) helps achieve a clean treble, distinct mids and well-defined bass notes. There's more room within the presentation compared to its predecessor, with more detail and greater separation between instruments.

Listening to Adrienne Lenker's Symbol, the LS50 Wireless II "lay bare more intricacies in the guitar work, while disclosing the distinctive fragilities in her vocal," we wrote in our review. And these characteristics aren't unique to this track. "Similar sharpness and attention to detail is evident as we switch to Peter Broderick's Moment, the piano sequence aching with meticulously written melody as the LS50 Wireless II more deftly define the start and finish of notes."

They have a dose of extra punch too, and more agility, but these extra capabilities never come at the expense of subtlety. Cambridge Audio, the ball is in your court.

Cambridge Audio L/R X vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: early verdict

It's too early to say whether Cambridge Audio has managed to dethrone KEF. Trumping a six-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winner is no easy feat, but the L/R X certainly looks ready to give it a good go: it's a nicely designed, well thought out system that offers many of the same features as KEF's finest.

With similar premium price points, truly, Cambridge is bringing the fight.

But if any music system is up for it, it's the LS50 Wireless II. With multiple Awards to its name, a proven excellent sonic performance, and regular price drops, it's a very tough act to beat. We'll update this with our full verdict once we've reviewed the L/R X in due course.

MORE:

Read our Cambridge Audio L/R X hands-on review

And our KEF LS50 Wireless II review

KEF wireless speaker systems compared, from LSX II to LS60 – which one should you buy?

Cambridge Audio's entry into a new market sector is undeniably exciting. The new L/R range of wireless stereo speaker systems represents a brave new expansion for Cambridge, and while there's strong competition about from the likes of KEF and Triangle, the market for feature-laden, all-in-one speakers with streaming capabilities and built-in amplification is certainly ripe.

We've had the chance to listen to the new range's most premium model, the L/R X, at Cambridge's London headquarters in December, with a view to discovering whether the hi-fi brand's considerable pedigree and heritage can translate from amplifiers and music streamers to this versatile speaker system format.

The competition for the flagship Cambridge L/R X (priced at £1799 / $2299, out in summer 2026) comes predominantly from the Award-winning KEF LS50 Wireless II speaker system, whose price varies from £2199 to £1799 depending on the finish and retailer chosen.

With the appeal of do-it-all compact systems only set to grow, Cambridge's expansion therein could prove to be a savvy strategy for a whole new audience beyond traditional hi-fi. It just needs to make sure that the sound performance is up to scratch.

Build and design

The new speakers opt for a clean, minimalist design that, depending on your preferences, can be daubed in a choice of colours ranging from pristine white to a bold, arresting orange. The L/R X also features some rather nifty LED underlighting if you're keen to set the mood, though this feature wasn't available to witness during our demonstration.

These speakers are the largest in the lineup, yet they don't appear so vast that they'd look out of place in a relatively modest listening space. Their reasonably compact size belies their ability to go seriously loud when the time calls for it, thanks to their considerable 800 watts of total power (that's 400W per channel), courtesy of Class D amplification.

Unique to the X model, you can choose between a USB-C wired or a fully wireless (WiSA HT technology) interconnect between the two speaker units themselves. Both methods support playback up to 24-bit/96kHz resolution.

The L/R X features Cambridge’s patented Torus tweeter, which as the name suggests, uses a ring-shaped design with a tapered horn inside the rear chamber. The Torus tweeter uses a dual radius configuration, with a flatter top and steeper sides, and a generous rear chamber for better clarity and direction.

The L/R X uses a 28mm Torus tweeter, with Cambridge promising that this increased surface area results in 25 per cent more air displacement than the more traditional 25mm dome size we see in most speakers.

Alongside, you get twin 12.7cm woofers working with a pair of side-mounted 15cm passive radiators, the latter of which have been chosen in pursuit of deeper, louder bass from a relatively modest cabinet size.

Features

Around the back of the left speaker unit you’ll discover two USB-C ports – one for handling audio and the other for the wired speaker interconnect – as well as RCA stereo and optical inputs.

The L/R X also has a built-in moving magnet phono stage for plugging a turntable in directly, while a HDMI eARC input is available for connecting the speakers to your TV. If you want greater bass, there is also a subwoofer output.

For all your streaming needs, the L/R X features Cambridge’s current StreamMagic Gen 4 platform, which gives you access to UPnP streaming, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect and internet radio. We've generally found the StreamMagic platform and app easy to get along with in the past, so we're hoping for a similarly smooth experience when we get hold of our own test samples for a full review.

You'll naturally spend most of your time listening to the L/R X via wi-fi, but standard Bluetooth is on the menu for listeners who just need a quick and simple way to get their tunes firing. Along with wi-fi, there is also a wired Ethernet port available for a more stable connection.

Sound

During our launch preview at Cambridge's HQ in London, we managed to enjoy a decent amount of listening time with the L/R X, but we also need to make some important disclaimers at this point.

We listened to the L/R X in an unfamiliar demo space that is different to our dedicated What Hi-Fi? listening rooms, for a short period and without the comparative rivals against which we normally judge sound quality. Any concrete assessments, therefore, are reserved for when we can get a review sample of the L/R X into our own listening rooms and assess them under our own controlled conditions.

It's also worth noting that our initial experience may not be fully reflective of the finished product, either. Since our demo, Cambridge has made some audio tuning tweaks to the L/R X, including adding two filters in a bid to take a little top-end harshness out at higher volumes.

With that in mind, our demo ran the musical gamut, from peppy pop to ear-melting heavy metal (often with the volume cranked firmly towards the red zone), so we do have an initial idea of what the L/R X is capable of.

All songs during the demo were streamed using Spotify Lossless (24-bit/44.1kHz) from an Android smartphone.

Our first impressions are of a clear, clean and rhythmically sound performer, one which is capable of bringing out ample helpings of textural detail while going loud and proud in the process. The first track we’re served is Prince’s 1+1+1 is 3, and we note how the track’s funky underpinnings are well serviced by L/R X’s sharp and punchy sense of rhythm.

It’s always a nice surprise to hear Alice in Chains pulled out during a hi-fi demo, and an even nicer one when the grunge gods are given such a generally positive rendition. The L/R X seems to bring admirable detail and musicality to No Excuses, offering a great feeling of space and clear delineation around instruments and the track’s intertwining vocal strands.

To showcase how the L/R can handle large-scale dynamics, we are treated to Hans Zimmer’s Mountains from the Interstellar soundtrack.

There’s no question that, as the volume is cranked to eleven, the L/R X has considerable dynamic headroom – how naturally it shifts between more subtle dynamic fluctuations, however, requires further investigation on our end.

Not many stones are left unturned in the music department, and whether it’s Steely Dan’s Peg or a techno rendition of Come Together courtesy of Urbandawn and Tyson Kelly, our overall impressions don’t alter much – all of that clarity, scale and snappiness remain in evidence no matter the track chosen or the volume at which the system is played.

Certain quirks or potential limitations also remain consistent from tune to tune. It might be that this is an early sample we're listening to, or the loudness at which many of songs are demoed, but we do detect a slightly hard, bright edge that threatens to detract from our listening fun.

Whether it’s the lean snare on Peg or Prince’s vocals on 1+1+1 is 3, we’re left wondering if this excessive brightness could be a potential sticking point.

Again, further testing and running in – and possibly some tinkering with the speakers’ EQ settings – will reveal a more concrete answer, and this might well be something that Cambridge's subsequent tuning has rectified. The L/R X may also sound more forgiving when given a run out in our own test rooms, especially when they're granted more time to run in and warm up.

Most of the demonstration is performed in isolation, although there's a brief period during which the KEF LS50 Wireless II are wheeled out in order to demonstrate how much louder the L/R X can go when compared with their closest rivals, a head-to-head that's performed using Bleed from Within's headbanging In Place of Your Halo.

Yes, the Cambridge system wins out easily in the volume stakes, yet we'll need more dedicated time to gauge which speaker system wins out when it comes to the finer subtleties of rhythmic cohesion, dynamic prowess and overall emotional impact.

That’s a head-to-head we are looking forward to exploring in more depth when we get a full review sample in for testing. For now, the L/R X has left quite the impression, and it's always a good sign that, rather than having had our fill after an hour, we're curious to hear more.

Initial verdict

We can certainly see the appeal of all-in-one speaker systems such as this, and it's high time that more hi-fi brands joined this category. The likes of the KEF LS50 Wireless II and LSX II LT, and the cheaper but also Award-winning Triangle AIO Twin, demonstrate the appeal of proper hi-fi heritage housed in a modern, easy-to-integrate and lifestyle-friendly format.

Cambridge Audio's L/R X initial performance, ample feature set and compact design footprint, even in our limited demo time, has given us a solid impression of the new system's potential, but whether the L/R X has the full range of talents to topple the current class-leaders will require a good deal more investigating.

MORE:

Read our KEF LSX II LT review

And the KEF LS50 Wireless II review

Check out the best hi-fi systems we have tested and rated

Cambridge Audio is heading into unknown waters.

It's been a while since the British brand has made a pair of stereo speakers, but Cambridge is now breaking completely new ground with its L/R range of all-in-one wireless active speaker systems, the first in the company's history.

Akin to the likes of the Award-winning KEF LS50 Wireless II or KEF LSX II LT systems, which incorporate amplification and streaming capabilities within a pair of standmounts, the new Cambridge range consists of three distinct models: the entry-level L/R S, the middle child L/R M and the more premium L/R X, all of which tease "the maximum possible performance" from a "room-friendly" setup.

Leading the charge for the L/R X and M models is Cambridge's new 'Torus' tweeter which, as you'll have perhaps guessed at if you're keen on geometry, utilises a ring-shaped design with a tapered horn inside the rear chamber. The Torus employs a dual radius configuration, with a flatter top and steeper sides, alongside a large rear chamber for better clarity and direction.

• We've had a first listen! Read our Cambridge Audio L/R X hands-on review

The L/R X and L/R M both feature a 28mm tweeter, with Cambridge promising that this increased surface area results in 25 per cent more air displacement than the more traditional 25mm dome.

For the L/R X model, this tweeter is complemented by twin 12.7cm woofers working alongside a pair of side-mounted 15cm passive radiators, while the smaller M harnesses dual 10cm woofers working alongside twin 12cm passive radiators.

Both active speakers feature Class D amplification, with the L offering a total of 800 watts of power, while the M model delivers 300 watts.

The smaller L/R S version, meanwhile, doesn't have a Torus driver, instead using a 21mm aluminium tweeter working in tandem with a single 7.6cm woofer, both fed by 100 watts of power.

Cambridge Audio envisions this range to be flexible enough to work with a range of sources, from TV to CD player to turntable. All three models offer RCA line-level inputs, while the X and M models house twin USB-C ports – one for handling audio and the other for the speaker interconnect link – as well as digital optical inputs.

Both feature a built-in, moving magnet phono stage for connecting to a record player, as well as an HDMI eARC input for hooking your speakers up to your TV or home cinema setup. There’s also a subwoofer output if you want a three channel system boosted with more bass.

Being the most affordable member of the family, the L/R S doesn't offer HDMI eARC or a phono stage, but optical and USB-C inputs are still on the menu. All three models grant Bluetooth connectivity, and while there's no wi-fi streaming capabilities for the smallest S model, it is the only system capable of supporting the aptX HD Bluetooth codec.

Conversely, the more premium L/R X is the only system capable of supporting a wireless connection between both speaker units, although you can use a USB-C tether as you would across the entire range.

The L/R X and M models' streaming powers are driven by the fourth generation of Cambridge’s StreamMagic platform, offering support for the likes of AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer and Qobuz Connect. There is also support for UPnP, Roon Ready and internet radio.

The StreamMagic platform is one we've generally got on well with in the past (as evidenced in the CXN100, EXN100 and MXN10 streamers), so we're hoping for a similarly smooth experience with the new speaker systems.

There’s also a seven band equaliser for personalising your sound, while Cambridge’s ‘DynamEQ’ algorithm works to ensure that the speakers maintain their tonality and character at any volume.

The Cambridge Audio L/R speaker systems will be available in six colours: blue, green, orange, black, white, and a real walnut veneer.

They will be available from the following dates and at the following prices:

- L/R S: £399 / $549 / €499, from March 2026 (£449 / $599 / €549 for Real Walnut)
- L/R M: £1199 / $1599 / €1399, from July 2026 (£1299 / $1699 / €1499 for Real Walnut)
- L/R X: £1799 / $2299 / €1999, from June 2026 (£1899 / $2399 / €2099 for Real Walnut)

MORE:

KEF LSX II vs KEF LSX II LT: which speaker system is best for you?

Best active speakers: the best budget to high-end active speakers tested by our experts

Also consider the Triangle Twin AIO

Cyber Monday might have officially taken over from Black Friday, but there are still plenty of hi-fi deals to take advantage of if you're lucky enough to be in the market for an upgrade or a completely new setup.

Truth be told, if you were so inclined, you could build yourself a tidy system of separates from all the Cyber Monday deals still live, but what if you need your next hi-fi system to be a little bit more convenient?

I've seen two deals on all-in-one set-ups that tick the convenience box, but only one of them has the performance and sound quality that I can get behind.

The Technics SC-CX700 and KEF LS50 Wireless II both offer such a solution, and both look like great prospects on paper. I’ve tested both, though, and think only one of these is where my money would go this Cyber Monday.

Currently, the KEF LS50 wireless can be yours for £1499 at Peter Tyson and Smart Home Sounds, which is £700 off their usual £2199 asking price.

The Technics are available for £1499 at Peter Tyson and Sevenoaks S&V, which is a big £900 saving on their £2399 launch price.

Both systems have a streaming engine at their heart. If you’re looking to buy a system like these, you’re likely to be using Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz or Amazon Music as your main source of tunes, and both pairs of speakers accommodate all manner of streaming options.

However, having tested both side-by-side, I can’t really look past the KEF pair.

The Technics look good from a distance, especially with their fancy microfibre-clad side panels, but get closer and the plastics used look and feel cheaper. The back panels are a little untidy, and the touch controls are a little unclear.

Contrast this with the KEFs, which look and feel more premium, with neatly highlighted touch controls on their top panel and smooth, curved heat-sinks. To my eyes at least, the KEF Uni-Q driver looks more striking than the Technics’ similar coaxial arrangement, too.

The Technics pair offers auto-calibration to help you get set up quickly, but I actually found it made the speakers sound worse than going through the process manually. It’s manual all the way with the KEFs, but it’s pretty straightforward to add their positions.

Both pairs use a very similar-looking control app, but it's the KEF Connect app which feels slicker and less laggy – you need to take this into account as you could be interacting with it quite a bit.

I’m not completely down about the Technics, though. When I heard both pairs together, I was impressed with the quality and quantity of bass the Technics can produce. In my opinion, they sound more powerful and better defined when spitting out beats.

However, I also found they sounded a little rough around the edges and lacking dynamism, which takes the shine off what they do in other areas.

As we said in our Technics SC-CX700 review, “The combination of that troublesome coarseness, mixed with a lack of dynamic thrust and finesse means they don’t really encourage you to hang around and wait for the next track to play."

The KEFs, on the other hand, sound more refined, sophisticated, and they create a wonderfully expansive stereo image. In our KEF LS50 Wireless II review we said they sit among “the most thrilling speaker systems we’ve heard”.

High praise indeed, and with £700 off for Black Friday at Peter Tyson and Sevenoaks S&V,, I think anyone looking for a convenient, and ridiculously capable all-in-one hi-fi system should give the KEFs serious consideration.

MORE:

Technics SC-CX700 vs KEF LS50 Wireless II: which streaming system is better?

Our pick of the best Cyber Monday deals 2025

I’ve been waiting all year for Technics’ Award-winning earbuds to get a decent discount – and it’s finally happened

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

Hi-fi systems come in all shapes and sizes, and the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 has a spread of multi-talented options which will suit a wide range of demands.

As is traditionally the case, not all of our winners are new entries – there are a few familiar faces in there, but some stunning new all-in-ones have left their mark on the test team this year too.

Five winners return from 2024, but there’s a trio of new arrivals, all with one thing in common. They combine streaming and amplification in one box, so all you need to do is add speakers.

The first of those is the Ruark Audio R610 (above), a compact, beautifully made streaming amplifier which we said, in our review, “delivers a wonderfully modern hi-fi performance”. It does all the basics extremely well and performs superbly whether you’re using it for vinyl, streaming, CD or radio.

Next up on the price ladder is the NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module) (above). Another system that gives off strong retro vibes, the NAD impressed us with a charming performance across the board. It's a mighty fine amplifier, but the presence of the MDC2-BluOS-D’s streaming module catapults it to the top of the class.

Arcam continues its assault on the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 with the SA35 (below). The British hi-fi brand has won gongs this year for its A5+ and A15+ stereo amplifiers and its ST25 music streamer, so its ability to build an Award-winning streaming amplifier perhaps shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The Arcam is so good that it sees one of our previous winners, the Naim Uniti Atom, exit stage left.

Moving on from that trio of debutants, KEF continues to have a significant presence in the hi-fi systems category with two winners in the shape of the flexible, fun-sounding KEF LSX II LT speaker system, which returns for the second year in a row, while its pricier, more capable sibling, the LS50 Wireless II remains undefeated at its price point for yet another year.

Slotting in beneath the KEF LSX II LT is another pair of stereo streaming speakers, the Triangle AIO Twin (below), which deliver all the streaming skills you would want at its price point.

The Technics SA-C600 makes a return as our “Best hi-fi system £500-£1000” and slots just beneath the Ruark set-up. It too has streaming smarts and a CD drive built in for those of us who have stacks of the shiny discs at home.

Last, but by no means least, is arguably the great-grandfather of this category. The Denon D-M41DAB micro system has become part of the furniture over the years as our main entry-level recommendation.

For anyone who wants a more traditional CD-playing all-in-one with speakers and is happy with just Bluetooth streaming, you really can’t go wrong.

MORE:

See all our What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 winners

An influx of excellence from Acoustic Energy, Dali and PMC has shaken up the standmount speaker market

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025: Fyne Audio makes a splash in the floorstanding speakers category with two talented winners

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025: JBL is still the portable king, while Apple and Audio Pro cement their wireless speaker credentials

KEF is no stranger to stylish speaker systems – just take the excellent LS50 Wireless II and LS60 Wireless as two examples of the brand’s ability to create fantastic all-in-one solutions with streaming at their heart.

And don't forget the cheaper, more recent LSX II desktop system, which is another five-star favourite of ours.

Well, it now appears another KEF hi-fi system is set to arrive on the scene next week, with a focus on not just streaming but vinyl, too. LSX II TT, anyone?

Subscribers to KEF’s newsletter have been sent a teaser e-mail which includes an image showing the top of a new speaker, with a physical record lurking in the background. It’s not exactly subtle in its placement.

The e-mail also tells readers to mark their calendar for next Tuesday, the 21st of October.

And, if you click through to the preview page on KEF’s website, you’ll find more information on what we can expect from this new system…

“We are crafting something special. Imagine experiencing the profound depth of HiFi, a speaker designed for a direct, plug-and-play connection that brings your turntable to life with impeccable clarity. Then, shift seamlessly to the untethered freedom of wireless streaming.”

The “plug-and-play” reference points to a turntable – perhaps the system will include a moving magnet and/or moving coil phono stage built in.

The page continues, “It’s designed for those who cherish the authentic crackle of a record but also demand the seamless convenience to stream anything else, anytime. Prepare to hear your favourite songs – and your cherished vinyl collection – like never before.”

We are intrigued to see how he system looks in the flesh. We are big fans of the LS50 Wireless, LS60 Wireless and LSX II, although the teaser image shows perhaps a slight departure from the smooth front baffles of those setups.

Hopefully, all will be revealed next Tuesday, and needless to say, we’ll be covering any announcement here on whathifi.com.

MORE:

Read our KEF LS60 Wireless review

And our KEF LS50 Wireless II review

I don’t think the KEF LS60 Wireless floorstanding speakers get enough credit – here's why

Our pick of the best hi-fi systems you can buy

• We rank the best hi-fi systems money can buy

The high-end and the luxury heights of hi-fi are currently proving the most successful of sectors for those companies that dare to venture into such lofty realms. But one of the truisms of the luxury market is that you’ve gotta look good, as well as sound good. Many moons ago we recall interviewing Antony Michaelson, then owner of Musical Fidelity, who told us that his company’s high-end amps might be built significantly more cheaply, but then nobody would buy them, because they really have to look like they’re worth it, as well as sounding like it.

In this regard, we recently reviewed Meridian’s Ellipse wireless speaker at £1900 / $3000 / AU$4999; it sounded great, performing as we might expect a speaker at such a price to perform. But its design was so surprisingly minimalist and plain that it looked, well, perhaps smart enough, but not really your five grand’s worth.

Compare that with the Marantz Horizon here, a wireless speaker that we have to say really does go a long way towards looking its price. And feeling it too: it weighs 15kg in the box, and 12.5kg out of it, much of this contributed by a large base made of marble – yes marble! (see below). That circular corona of black’n’gold seems to float above the base, even as it glows softly from across the room. It’s very effective, genuinely stylish.

And in just one example of Marantz’s emphasis on luxury presentation, that marble is the real deal, sourced from either Italy or Spain depending on which of the three available Horizon finishes you choose: the ‘Moon Ray’ Horizon comes with Italian Carrara marble, the ‘Marantz Champagne’ model pictured below gets Beige Serpeggianto marble, while the ‘Midnight Sky’ (which we had for review) has dark but delicately inverse white-veined Nero Marquina marble from Spain. Each base will be unique in its natural marbling, while the material is more than mere decoration; its weight also keeps the tall circle safely anchored – you’d have to tilt it well past a full 45-degrees to have the Horizon tip over.

There’s also an optional arty tripod-style stand available (pictured in a lifestyle image below), attaching under the marble, though adding an extra £649 / $700 / A$1500 to the bill.

While the Horizon seems a sizeable feast, there is also a ‘Grand’ Horizon – Grand in having even more (or at least larger) bling than our common Horizon, perhaps also considered Grand in the Yorkshire sense (“Ee, that’s right grand, lad”), and certainly at its even higher price asking several Grand more of your hard-earned to take home – although given the Grand’s boxed weight of around 25kg, we might recommend you get the thing delivered. The Grand Horizon is just too heavy to go on the tripod stand for the smaller model.

Ring of gold

While the Grand is bigger as well as heavier, the standard Horizon is hardly dinky. Yet it managed to avoid being intrusive visually, particularly our ‘Midnight Sky’ review unit, with its outer black silhouette circle of 36cm diameter receding into the shadows while its illumination hovered above the top shelf of our equipment rack on that base of black marble. Its outer ring is wrapped in a cloth covering of “360° Seamless Ecofiber”, tucking behind the central circle.

Followers of the brand will have noted the ‘interference pattern’ motif introduced by Marantz on its recent amp and receiver releases; it appears here too, and highly effectively shines as a subtle pattern etched on the white curved ring which recedes behind the branded circular front plate. This plate covers the big central front driver, leaving about a centimetre of space around the edges for the driver’s sound to escape. A ring of light on the back of this front plate illuminates the soft circle with its interference pattern, while outside that is another ring, black most of the time but illuminating with up to 100 LED segments which form a touch-sensitive volume-control ring; this detail is lovely, with each volume gradation marked not by a line or a dot but by a tiny elongated rhombus.

This volume ring illuminates when you approach the Horizon (kinda, see below), inviting you to interact and change the volume using this illuminated ring. Which is nice, though we’d have appreciated a remote control as well. Not getting one is a glaring omission at this price, leaving you either to fire up your phone and proceed to the HEOS app each time you want to change volume, or to walk across the room and do the finger poking thing (see below). Where’s the luxury there?

Drivers & power

Nearly all our words so far have been focused on the Horizon’s looks, with not so many yet about the technologies.

And to be fair, that’s in keeping with Marantz’s current incarnation under Masimo Consumer, where it has been redefined as a luxury brand, thereby differentiating itself from sister products by Denon, which has now been defined as a ‘performance’ brand. In a recent Marantz presentation, company representatives repeated a mantra that now “Marantz is about putting beautiful objects into people’s homes.”

This is very different to the traditional Marantz brand epithet “Sound Matters”, but it is to be assumed that the modern mantra of beauty extends to both looks and sound. Circles and spheres are certainly excellent shapes in acoustic terms (there would be many more spherical speakers in the world if they weren’t so dastardly expensive to build compared with a six-walled box) and Marantz even attempts to claim that this circularity is a deliberate reimagining of the classic Marantz amplifier ‘porthole’ display “as the core element of each speaker’s unique circular form”.

Yeh sure, if you like – though the Horizon only partially leverages the true power of the circle: this is not like a Cabasse sphere with multiple drivers positioned concentrically within each other. Instead that dark fabric around the outer circle conceals five drivers (see below): three 5cm (2-inch) mid-cones bravely described as ‘wideband’, and a pair of one-inch tweeters for high frequencies.

Then in the centre is the large 16.5cm (6.5-inch) bass driver behind that frontplate, and since almost nothing in the Horizon gets away without a buzzword or neologism, this has been called a Marantz ‘Gravity’ driver, despite being vertical, and thereby fighting gravity rather than utilising it in any useful way.

The larger Grand Horizon has room for more and bigger drivers: it boasts an eight-inch central ‘Gravity’ driver, four 3-inch midrangers, and three tweeters.

We should also compliment the thick braided mains cable here for its quality, providing a long-life and safe pipe to provide power to the Horizon’s amplifiers.

Gallium-nitride power

One further buzzname goes to the amplification inside the Horizon, which is called ‘Rise’, a title which may be derived from the fast rise time of the gallium-nitride FETs (field effect transistors) used therein.

If you haven’t yet encountered GaN, you can expect to hear more of it in our hi-fi futures, as it provides an alternative to silicon in transistors. Gallium-nitride allows Class-D amplifiers to do their PWM switching at far higher frequencies (typically 800kHz for GaN, about double that possible with silicon Class-D); among advantages from this is that a simpler filter can be used, almost eliminating phase shifts in the audible band and up to 30kHz. Early examples of GaN designs have had their sound compared with low-wattage Class-A or even single-ended valve amplifiers.

One potential brake on GaN development may be that gallium mining is dominated by China and Russia – but happily we have some of the stuff here in Australia, too, with several local companies already feeding the GaN transistor market.

We note, however, that Marantz hasn’t leapt to GaN for its high-end amplifiers, and in a recent online briefing the team indicated that it considers the Purifi ‘Eigentakt’ circuits used in its recent Model 10 amplifier to be well superior to the Horizon’s power circuits.

But what if Purifi itself were to implement GaN?, we wondered. So in a slight digression from our review, we contacted our friends at Purifi in Denmark to ask them about that. Purifi’s Claus Neesgaard responded.

“While GaN FETs offer faster switching speeds – approximately twice as fast as traditional silicon devices at 150V – their impact on distortion reduction in typical home audio class D amplifiers is incremental, given the extensive refinements we already achieved in our Eigentakt designs”, replied Claus. “We believe that GaN’s true advantage lies in high-voltage, high-power applications (above 200V), where silicon FETs struggle, making GaN the practical choice for demanding scenarios such as 1kW+ amplifiers. Consequently, our approach is to adopt GaN technology judiciously, leveraging its strengths in areas where it truly enhances performance rather than relying on it as a mere buzzword. In any case, some truly exciting Purifi developments lie ahead.”

So now you know. Anyhoo, GaN debate aside, the resultant output power for the Marantz Horizon is a generous 310W, this quoted under specifications governed by the FTC (which is the US Federal Trade Commission, assuming it hasn’t been fired yet) which measure continuous power across the full 20-20kHz band allowing a figure of 1% THD. This figure of 310W is far higher than an equivalent hi-fi rating (measured with, say, a lower 0.01% limit on THD) would yield, but it is lower than European AV ratings, which can take place at 10% THD on items like soundbars.

It’s nigh impossible to compare between such numbers sensibly, so the only true comparison is with the Grand Horizon, whose power under the same regimen hits 370W. Other comparison points between the two include the quoted maximum SPL of 104dB continuous and 114.5dB peak for the Horizon, compared with a significantly higher 111dB/122dB for the Grand Horizon (remembering that 3dB is a doubling of effective acoustic or electrical power), and also the low frequency response, quoted to 30Hz at -3dB and 22Hz -10dB for the Horizon, but with a few extra notches from the Grand to drop to 28Hz at -3dB, and 18Hz at -10dB.

Inputs are available...

It is probable that many users will never connect a source to their Horizon, since streaming is the thing these days, and the Horizon is fully equipped with the Denon/Marantz HEOS streaming and multiroom platform, wrapping any number of streaming and networked options within its easy-to-use app: TuneIn internet radio, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, Deezer and more. There is both Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect native playback (Qobuz Connect was added after we had sent it back), so you don’t even need the HEOS app for those: just use the Spotify/Tidal apps as you normally would and select the waiting Horizon as the ‘speaker’.

You can also access network shares of files via HEOS and play them up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM and double-DSD (5.6MHz). Rather interestingly the specs say it can also play multi-channel PCM up to 7.1 channels – and indeed it can; this proved the first streaming unit we’ve ever had successfully stream a multichannel test file of Wish You Were Here with all its bits intact!

It even has Atmos decoding (primarily from its HDMI input (see below), though how it spreads these potential additional channels around its drivers is hard to guess; it seemed to treat the multichannel Floyd evenly and purely, with no attempt at fakery to throw stuff around.

There is also both Bluetooth here, and AirPlay 2 available. While the Bluetooth profile is a thoroughly up-to-date version 5.4, the actual music transmission is limited to the lowest-level SBC codec; AirPlay 2 streaming of Apple Music will also be limited (by Apple, presumably for robustness) to 256k AAC streaming. So we’d suggest you use these only for temporary convenience playback, because it’s easy to get tunes over from your device at much better quality.

Instead open up the HEOS app and find ‘My Device’ or the equivalent, and play tracks that way, because this path should use UPnP at full file quality.

You can, incidentally, use either the Horizon’s Wi-Fi for networking or attach an Ethernet cable to the rear, alongside the inputs, all of which are cable-managed behind a nice magnetic backplate. The rest of the inputs offer an analogue RCA pair, a USB-C socket for file storage devices (FAT32 NTFS-formatted sticks or drives), an optical input, and finally that HDMI-ARC socket.

So while either of the last two sockets could be used to play back audio from your TV, doing so via optical would be pretty frustrating, as you’ll have no remote control to adjust volume. Using the HDMI-ARC socket, however, you’ll have both the possibility of Atmos decoding and, if all works properly, easy control via your TV remote.

The idea of using the Horizon for TV sound prompts the obvious question of where you might put it – it’s too big to go with a benched TV, so would really suit only TVs that are wall-mounted quite high, where the Horizon could go in the middle underneath. You might buy two Horizons and use the HEOS app to create a stereo pair either side of your TV – but the manual does warn of possible sync delays when combining HEOS speakers, so perhaps not.

Unboxing & AuraControl

So as mentioned, Marantz has done a fine job on the perceived value front. There’s the initial proxy reassurance of weight. The unboxing itself is next-level, the container having TV-box-like release clips around the base so you simply raise the carton upward in a grand reveal (or a standard reveal, in our case), unveiling the Horizon there inside in a soft case with a handle that allows you to safely lift it out and position it where you will, without getting your fingers all over it.

Although you are soon encouraged to do so (put your fingers over it, that is), or at least around the control strip that surrounds the illuminated ring. This is called (incoming buzzword) Marantz AuraControl, and includes “unique” on-board proximity sensors which “magically” bring the speaker to life, activating 100 “carefully-concealed” (and yet remarkably visible) LEDs with ambient light sensors. You then touch the illuminated ring around the central subwoofer to indicate your preferred volume.

The sensor detects your approach and illuminates the control ring. Or at least it does so reasonably quickly if the ‘status light’ ring is already illuminated. Once it slips into its unilluminated standby mode, it is rather slower to react. We could walk up to it and wave our hands in front of it for two to three seconds before it would wake up.

In the settings you can change a ‘power saving’ setting to ‘quick start’ to avoid standby (“device will respond immediately… however it will consume more energy”) which then leaves the Horizon always more ready to detect, taking perhaps a second to react.

We found using that control strip rather disappointingly non-intuitive. We can pretty much guarantee that anyone meeting the Horizon for the first time will try to control it as follows: once the circle of LEDs illuminates, they will put their finger where indicated and drag the volume control to where they want it. It’s the natural thing to do. So why Marantz’s much-vaunted design team didn’t make it work in this obvious way is something of a mystery. You can’t drag the volume indicator – as you would a volume slider on, say, your phone, or indeed on any other volume slider we’ve ever yet come across. Instead Marantz wants you to ignore where the volume currently is, and just poke the control ring at the place you want it to go.

Got that? Poke, don’t drag.

There’s also an entirely invisible button below for Play/Pause (single tap), Skip Forward (double tap), and Skip Backward (triple). Making this control button entirely invisible at the bottom of the control ring is similarly dim thinking from the design team; we only found it quite late in the review when reading through the full manual.

Marantz’s local team made the fair point that this is all a ‘WYKYK’ thing (when you know, you know), but at the beginning you don’t know, so that the hidden buttons, the waiting thing and the poke-don’t-drag thing combine to let down the AuraControl system. The purpose of design is not just to make something beautiful, but also to make it functional and intuitive; it’s a disappointment when things don’t work as you might expect.

Listening sessions

When you’re streaming, however, you can initially use your phone to control the volume. This is the easy way to use the Horizon: just open the Spotify, Tidal or Qobuz app, assign the output to the Horizon, and you’re off.

The Horizon immediately revealed an ability to roll out some impressively phat bass as Tidal played Nardo Wick’s I Wonder; it’s rather unpleasant rap, distinguished only by big synth bass notes which go mighty low, and which the Marantz nevertheless rolled out with some impact, while keeping everything above clean and tight: a good start.

Acoustic instruments can sound fantastic: the saxophone lead through Eden Ahbez’s arrangement of Nature Boy (which he wrote) sounded full and nuanced; a recent solo cello piece sounded perfectly rosinous and scratchy, with even its small church acoustic evident through the Horizon’s tweeter complement.

We backed up in time to Aretha Franklin’s Respect; the Horizon gave this recording an edge and an almost surprising spaciousness, with a deep cut-through to Aretha’s vocal and the horns, while Donald Dunn’s bass felt full and funky right down its range.

Compare this with Marlena Shaw’s Davy (1974, Blue Note), which starts with her vocal and piano, well worth turning up through the Horizon, though only until verse three, when the band joins in and the level rises: behind this more complex arrangement the vocal began sounding recessed and processed, with only the drums and right-channel guitar really cutting through the slightly mushy whole, as if the complexity was preventing some elements being fully rendered.

We endeavoured to fix this with placement. We had already toyed with the ‘placement EQ’ options (under Settings in HEOS), which offer a choice of free space, single wall/shelf, or corner positioning: the latter settings drop the bass slightly to counter the wall reinforcement. We found the best response across material came from the free space setting, with the Horizon given at least a metre of space all round. If you can give the Horizon these conditions, it greatly clarifies the performance by prioritising its direct sound, and not pushing it to its volume extremes.

Alex The Astronaut’s earlier material can sound soft on some systems, but not here with the free space setting employed. The disturbing words of I Like To Dance were all too clear, no hint of sibilance, the simple backing perfectly posed and supportive, the emotion fully served by a front-and-forward vocal. It also managed a fairly powerful delivery of The Flaming Lips’ All We Have Is Now, this time without surrendering to its considerable complexity; it sounded suitably giant and unconstrained.

Good so far, then, but with some artefacts. At one point we were playing a classic 10CC track from an old network share (to test the ‘Server’ function in HEOS), and though the track sounded full and fairly pop-tastic, the balance was just a little edgy.

We looked for redress. We had been all through the HEOS settings, but noticed now a separate EQ button that appears only when you’re in the fullscreen ‘Now Playing’ mode. This accesses a ‘Sound Mode’ selector.

We had been, by accident rather than default, it seems, in ‘Sound Master’ mode, an EQ setting presumably tuned by Marantz’s current Sound Master. From this showing, he/she seems to like his/her sound slightly pumped, boxed and brightened, as changing the Sound Mode back to ‘Auto’ softened the excess on the 10CC track nicely, and went on to transform everything that followed.

So we went back to Marlena Shaw: the bass rolled out more deeply now, and the vocal – heavens, tranformed from boxy to pure, no longer lost, no longer confusion.

With ‘Auto’ EQ, Aretha suddenly sounded like Atlantic soul instead of something slightly processed. A strange thinness to Elton’s piano on Tower of Babel changed to a completely natural tone; his vocal was similarly purified. Pearl Jam’s Last Exit now positively thundered from the Horizon with masses of space in which to fly. In a word: transformative.

So that ‘Sound Master’ EQ seems to be like a ‘showroom mode’ on a TV: superficially impressive, perhaps, but don’t use it at home! Thankfully Marantz confirms that Horizons ship with the ‘Auto’ setting as the default EQ, not ‘Sound Master’.

You can also build your own EQ using a setting called ‘MyMirage’ – MirageDSP being the buzzname for the EQ in the Horizon, itself with three entertainingly-named adjustments: ‘Warmth’, ‘Spaciousness’ and ‘Clarity’, which we’re sure are entirely unrelated to bass, mid and treble, and probably took several meetings (it would have been lunches in the old days) to decide upon. We played with these, but in the end we just stuck with ‘Auto’; it’s great.

So with all this sorted, we were thoroughly enjoying the Horizon. Don’t get us wrong – there’s plenty that a proper hi-fi system would deliver over and above the Horizon’s circle-bound drivers. Stereo imaging is minimal from any distance, depth of soundstaging likewise; the performers are not truly summoned to life in your room in the way a good hi-fi system might achieve. But for the upper wireless speaker market where this unit sits, we doubt that anyone swayed by the Horizon’s visual charms will be less than satisfied by its aural ones.

It’s notably good with spoken voices as well, and we listened with great pleasure to many hours of podcasts and Audible books through the Horizon. Radio too – there’s no FM or DAB, but the HEOS app includes TuneIn internet radio for a world of varying bit-rate stations to which the Horizon is well suited for playback.

HEOS also allows easy multiroom operation and ‘whole-house playback’ with other HEOS units, should you have any, or plan to get them later – HEOS options run from small wireless speakers to class-leading multichannel AV receivers, so there are plenty of options for expansion.

We did plug it in via HDMI, and used it below a projection screen where there was room to fit its rising bulk. It did a great job with TV and movie dialogue (again, stick with ‘Auto’ sound mode; the ‘Sound Master’ setting slightly phases up dialogue), and stood ready to punch out some excellent music concerts. Don’t miss the magnificent 1975 Springsteen London gig on SBSOnDemand (in Australia) if you haven’t seen it: a two-hour recording of the E-Street Band just on fire at the Hammersmith Odeon, which the Horizon rolled out entirely enjoyably at a fair old level (one occasion of several when we found we were playing up at the Horizon’s maximum). There was full hair-raising and eye-welling at the entry of Born To Run, so it must be doing something right.

A few small operational glitches, almost inevitable on a product of this functionality: Tidal Connect worked from our laptop but not always from our iPhone (the Horizon was visible there, but unresponsive); the Horizon didn’t behave when playing via AirPlay from an AppleTV 4K media player, resisting volume control other than by manual poking, and dropping its AirPlay link after only a relatively short pause of playback. But this was an early (though full production) Horizon unit, and firmware updates will no doubt iron out some early creases like this.

Verdict

There are plenty of ‘wow’ moments with the Marantz Horizon – the weight, the marble, the ring of gold, and of course the cough-inducing price.

Those wedded to the merits of a traditional hi-fi system should not trade that idea for the Horizon: its sound is good, strong, powerful, even pure when in its ‘Auto’ EQ mode, suitable for medium-sized rooms. But of course it has the characteristics of a single-unit system: its sound lacks the width and soundstaging of real hi-fi.

Yet it is well-cast for its chosen role: the Horizon really does look the part. Its control system is seamless via a smart device running HEOS, Spotify or Tidal, and while we found the AuraControl ring to be non-intuitive upon first meeting, it’s fun enough once you’ve learned how it works.

We must assume that anyone shopping for a wireless speaker at this price has sufficient money to expend on Marantz’s now “luxury” line of “beautiful objects”, and we can reassure these well-heeled consumers that the Horizon also comes with a strong dose of the company’s formerly inherent focus on sound quality.

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The hi-fi system I use every day has had its price slashed, making it a solid option for any music fan on the market for a non-fussy, just add speakers system.

The Technics SA-C600 is available at Peter Tyson and Sevenoaks Sound and Vision for £759, a decent £140 saving on its regular price.

The system, which came out in 2022, is one of the best on the market. A repeat What Hi-Fi? Award-winner – it bagged our 2024 Product of the Year trophy in the Best Systems category – it also holds a place, not surprisingly, in our best hi-fi systems buying guide.

Highlights include a compact, unassuming design, with all the wireless connectivity you need for hi-res streaming, as well as an integrated CD player and solid moving-magnet phono stage that vinyl fans can use to add a turntable to the system.

Most importantly, it sounds excellent and is wonderfully unfussy when it comes to matching speakers.

I use the system every day connected to Q Acoustics 3030i standmount speakers, and can pay testament to the fact that its expressive, entertaining sound and punchy dynamics are among the best you’ll find at this price.

As we say, in our Technics SA-C600 review's verdict:

“Technics has hit a real sweet spot with the SA-C600. It is sensibly featured, easy to use, and sounds surprisingly musical.”

We have just two minor notes of caution when recommending this current deal. First, this is only the second-best price we have seen this year – the system briefly dropped to an even cheaper £699 at the start of the 2025.

With Amazon Prime Day coming up, while the current price is great, it's quite possible that it could drop even further in July, so those who can might be better off waiting a little longer before pulling the trigger.

Second, if money really is tight, there are a number of even more affordable options out there.

If you just want to stream music, for example, the WiiM Amp Pro is significantly cheaper, and worth considering – though it has far less physical connectivity and doesn’t sound quite as good, hence its four, not five, star rating.

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If you are looking for a fantastic value, just add speakers system to elevate your home audio experience, then we would strongly recommend checking out the Technics SA-C600.

The system, which is a multiple year What Hi-Fi? Award-winner, is still selling for its Black Friday price at Richer Sounds. That means VIP Club members can grab the Technics SA-C600 for £689 – a £210 discount on its regular price.

If you’re not a VIP Club member don’t worry, all you have to do is sign up for a free account to take advantage of the discount.

The SA-C600 is one of the products we recommend in our best hi-fi systems buying guide. It’s also our current Product of the Year winner for the best systems category.

If those two facts alone weren’t enough to catch your eye, the SA-C600 is the system our editor (me) uses in his lounge every day.

Despite its low cost the amp features solid specifications. For streaming, the unit supports all the usual suspects including Spotify Connect, Tidal, Deezer and Amazon Music. There’s also Bluetooth, Chromecast and AirPlay 2 functionality baked in.

Hi-res support up to 32-bit/384kHz is a welcome addition and its 30 watts per channel performance makes it surprisingly unfussy and means it will work well with most appropriately priced speakers.

But most importantly, the SA-C600 sounds great. During our checks the system uniformly offered an entertaining sound with expressive and punchy dynamics.

This, plus its increasingly stellar value, are the big reasons we continue to recommend it and stand by our reviewers’ conclusion:

“Usually, such systems are all about looks and features but Technics has shown that it is possible to add great sound into the mix. It is a really well-conceived product and fully deserves the What Hi-Fi? Awards wins that have followed. Highly recommended.”

If you want a stellar system that won’t break the bank we would wholeheartedly recommend the SA-C600 as a result, especially at its current price.

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“There can be only one.” “One Ring to rule them all.” “He is the One.” “I am the one and only.” Maybe we’re reading a little too much into it, but Cambridge Audio’s latest all-in-one music system makes a subtly bold claim. The cultural and literary canon is full of allusions to chosen figures who can alter the course of history as they forge their singular destinies, and such a seemingly small word can be interpreted in a few different ways; as ‘One’ box in which multiple functions and tasks can be performed or, perhaps, the ‘one’ and only all-in-one system that’s better than all the others.

Outperforming those others isn’t an easy task. While the world of all-in-one systems such as these isn’t as overstuffed as the land of Bluetooth speakers or wireless earbuds, there’s quality competition to be overcome. The Naim Mu-so 2 has been around for over five years yet continues to earn plaudits at its ever-reducing price, whereas the stunning Ruark Audio R410 is the bruiser to beat on this block. Some decent alternatives abound, but is the Evo the ‘One’ for you?

Price

Convenient as it may be, the Cambridge Audio Evo One doesn’t come particularly cheap. Clocking in at £1299 / $1499 / AU$2499, the Evo One is around what we’d expect for a product of this type. The Naim Mu-so 2 launched at £1299 / $1599 but has dropped to around £899 / $899 these days, since it debuted in the summer of 2019, whereas the new Ruark Audio R410 clocks in at £1299 / $1699 / AU$2599.

Build & design

Built like a sort of scaled-down Brutalist structure, the Evo One’s careful blending of a rectangular exterior with that dominant front grille makes for a pleasing fusion of hard and soft. It’s a classy system and, when put up against the retro-modern aesthetic of the Ruark Audio R410 or the industrial looks of the Naim Mu-so 2, demonstrates that there’s more than one way to skin this particular metaphorical cat. The Ruark’s crafted wooden grilles are arguably on another level of drop-dead gorgeous, while Naim’s metal finish and illuminated control dial has a touch more je ne sais quoi, but the Evo One is far from an ugly stepsister.

It is a bit of a beast, measuring 12.9 x 67.5 x 29cm (hwd) and weighing 14.5kg, so you’ll need to make sure you have a sturdy, robust and sufficiently capacious surface on which to house it. Beastly it may be in terms of dimensions, but there’s beauty to be found as we cast an eye, and indeed a hand, over the Cambridge’s particulars. The removable honeycomb grille sits tight to the main unit, whereas that smooth walnut top panel – very much the star of the show – lends a premium feel. Squat down and you’ll notice that the Evo One is mounted on a recessed base stand, allowing the speaker to stand above its surface without detracting from the frontage’s bold aesthetic – again, that’s a nice touch.

To keep you in the picture and grant you hands-on control of your chunky all-in-one unit, the Evo One furnishes you with a 17cm colour display screen sitting above a decent array of slightly cheap-feeling physical buttons. That display screen grants access to the likes of album artwork, track information or a pair of virtual VU meters, whereas the accompanying buttons handle playback, volume control, play/pause and information selection.

For access at a distance, Cambridge Audio has provided a utilitarian but decently furnished plastic remote control for managing the same range of functions as handled by the on-unit buttons. If that seems a bit too 20th-century, the StreamMagic app will perform the same range of functionalities while also granting access to the Evo One’s built-in array of streaming services, platforms and source inputs.

Features

Audio can be personalised in the StreamMagic app via a seven-band equaliser. We get on well with the StreamMagic platform, finding it to be reasonably intuitive and easy to use once you become accustomed to its particular layout. It’s worth taking some time to familiarise yourself with the app, too, as key functions and customisation options – such as picking which inputs can be accessed via the on-unit display – are there to be discovered amidst the more main-event settings and services.

Speaking of services, the StreamMagic platform allows for direct streaming via Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Deezer and Qobuz, with support for hi-res audio files up to 32-bit/192kHz over wi-fi or an ethernet connection. It's even Roon Ready, while connectivity options come courtesy of Bluetooth 5.1, AirPlay 2 and Google Cast – naturally, we’d recommend streaming over wi-fi for a sound that’s superior to the performance offered over Bluetooth.

If you want to go wired, an HDMI eARC means you can hook up to a TV and use the Evo One as a rather chunky soundbar, while a moving-magnet phono stage lets you hook up directly to your chosen turntable. A line input for analogue sources, an optical digital input and a USB-A port round things off nicely.

The Evo One houses a whopping 14 drive units, with four 25mm silk dome tweeters flanking the corners, accompanied by four 57mm aluminium cone midrange units and six 70mm woofers surrounding the entire system. That’s a lot of drivers, configured to produce an expansive, room-filling soundfield and provide a wide dispersion so that the sound balance doesn’t change appreciably regardless of where you are in the room. The Evo One has the power to match its substantial driver array via its 700 watts of amplification, all aided by digital signal processing technology, which Cambridge Audio claims helps to produce a deep, clear and controlled lower-end signature.

Sound

Those drivers unquestionably deliver that promise of an expansive soundfield. The Evo One is a burly unit, and it produces a sound that’s similarly bold and broad in terms of its size and scale, spreading music evenly and confidently across our test room. No matter where you stand, the sonic character you receive remains remarkably consistent, and while scurrying off to a corner of your test chamber doesn’t yield quite the same results as plonking yourself directly in front of the Evo One, the system’s general consistency makes it a fine candidate for accompanying evening soirees during which guests are scattered across your capacious front room.

The Evo One would probably fit in rather nicely at such a well-to-do event. This is a mature, considered performer, the sort of system that wouldn’t be out of place wearing a dinner jacket at a ’50s cocktail party with a Martini in one hand and a cigar in the other. Almost everything about its sonic character comes across as organised, controlled and considered, rounding off notes’ harsh edges and showing enough restraint to rein in any potential of screeching trebles or blobby bass. That said, the Evo One’s lower end can sometimes sound a little disconnected from the rest of the middle and upper frequencies, with the more compact, punchy Naim Mu-so 2 sounding more cohesive and contained when we assess it for comparison.

Rest assured that Cambridge Audio’s all-in-one contender has more to recommend it than just its spacious presentation. We load up a recording of Hans Zimmer’s Up Is Down from the third Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, noting how adeptly the Cambridge system takes a smooth, fluid approach to the track’s tricky dynamic shifts. Rises and swells in volume move as naturally as a ship rocking and riding on an undulating sea, giving the track a natural, unfussy character.

Sophisticated and easygoing the Evo One may be, but this smooth operator doesn’t seem the sort to loosen its bow tie and join in with the more raucous post-cocktail after-party. Up Is Down is certainly fluid and controlled, but we’re always aware of a speaker that’s not quite willing to let loose and really entertain. There’s a slight softness to the overall presentation, rendering Spacehog’s soaring rock anthem In The Meantime as lacking in punch and verve, especially when the crunchy guitars kick in and the chorus takes flight. We crave a little more punch and snap, further noting that the system’s slightly soft approach does rob the Evo One of the propulsive, front-footed assertiveness possessed by the similarly-priced Ruark R410.

Moving away from streaming our favourite Tidal test tracks, Cambridge Audio has been generous enough to provide its sturdy box with a host of connectivity features – this is a do-it-all system after all – so it’s up to us to see how well they perform. We use a Cyrus CDi CD player to test the Evo One’s built-in DAC and find that it is decent but lacks the clarity and transparency of the analogue auxiliary input. We also use the built-in phono stage to hook up a Rega Planar 3 RS Edition turntable, and while the resulting sound is perfectly acceptable, it again feels rather constrained and dynamically stunted. If vinyl playback is important to you, consider a dedicated phono stage such as the Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2.

Verdict

The Cambridge Audio Evo One is a good all-in-one system, if not quite a great one. If you seek the absolute pinnacle of what a unit such as this can sound like at this price, the Ruark Audio R410’s dynamism and punch make it our five-star pick at the top of the pile, while the Naim Mu-so 2 is a punchier, entertaining alternative made even more attractive thanks to its ever-dropping price.

That’s not to say that we can’t see a place for the Evo One in this area of the market. Its pleasing design, solid versatility and all-encompassing feature set give it broad appeal, while the Evo One’s ability to spread out its sound far and wide will appeal to anyone who needs their room filled with spacious, mature and well-balanced sonic goodness.

First reviewed: February 2025

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 4
• Features 5

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What should a modern hi-fi system look like? If you ask some members of our review team, they will describe a streaming speaker system just like the Technics SC-CX700.

Traditionally, it’s hi-fi separates that have been, and for many people still are, the building blocks of any system. But in a world that is becoming increasingly wrapped up in the convenience of wireless, an all-in-one system that shares similar features to this Technics set-up could be the natural, logical choice for a lot of people.

Everything you need for your listening journey is packed into the two boxes you see here. Driver units? Check. Amplification? Check. Streaming engine with access to multiple streaming services? Check. Enough connectivity options to cater for all your needs? Check. An app so you have all the controls at your fingertips? Check.

The convenience of a system like this is unquestionable. Still, it can be a tricky task to integrate all the various elements into something that produces a seamless and satisfying user experience, and that’s before you even touch on getting the all-important sound quality spot on. So, how does the Technics fare?

Price

The Technics SC-CX700 system is priced at a relatively punchy £2399 / $2999 which sees them a direct rival for the five-star and Award-winning KEF LS 50 Wireless II. The KEFs are the benchmark at this level and continue to impress. We originally tested them at £2250 / $2499 but they do have a slight advantage now because they are around four years old – shop around online you can find them for closer to £2000 / $2300.

Design & build

From the front, the Technics SC-CX700 look like a traditional pair of bookshelf speakers with a couple of eye-catching design elements. First is the two-way coaxial driver used in each cabinet, which sees a lightweight 1.9cm ring tweeter placed inside the throat of a 15cm woofer. Each speaker has a front-firing bass reflex port which helps with positioning.

The second attention-grabber is the colourful Dinamica™ microfiber material which adorns the sides of each cabinet. Technics describe it as a “microfiber material with a soft suede-like texture produced in part from high-quality recycled polyester”. If strokability was a thing and we star-rated it, the Technics would get full marks. In our opinion, it’s satisfyingly smooth to the touch and looks striking in the flesh, especially the Terracotta Brown finish of our review sample. The two other finishes available are Charcoal Black and Silky Gray.

Our attraction to this finish, its refinement and sophistication is in slightly stark contrast to the rest of the speaker, especially each cabinet’s top panel which feels like rather cheap plastic. Each of the rear panels are also dotted with bolts, which is a little unsightly in our view.

In terms of size, the Technics SC-CX700 are relatively compact considering what you’ve got going on inside each box and come in at just over 310mm tall and 200mm wide. Placed next to the KEF LS50 Wireless II, there really isn’t much in it.

The primary speaker hosts all the inputs and controls, and you’ll need to assign it as the right or left speaker before you start the set-up process. The remaining secondary speaker just has amplification built-in and an ethernet socket for when you want to run a wired connection between the speakers. This opens up the native file support to 24-bit/192kHz. Otherwise, the speaker system is limited to 24-bit/96kHz wirelessly, without the umbilical cable.

Inside each cabinet, Technics uses what it calls its Acoustic Solitude Construction. This structural design feature separates each electronic module from the speaker's internal volume to reduce the transmission of vibrations and so minimise their sound-degrading effects.

Each speaker is driven by a high-precision, fully digital amplifier, which Technics refers to as its JENO Engine. It claims one of the big benefits of this engine is that it helps minimise jitter or digital timing errors in the audio signals being processed by the speakers. The power output of the system is 100W per channel.

Features

Technics ticks most boxes when it comes to the features and connectivity options you'd want from a product like this.

There’s an HDMI input (including ARC support) for hooking up to a TV, an optical digital input, USB-C socket and an ethernet socket for wiring the speakers directly into a home network. Turntable owners can even make use of the built-in moving magnet phono stage.

AirPlay and GoogleCast are supported, as is Bluetooth – although there isn’t any provision for aptX or aptX HD. You can however set the Bluetooth connection to prioritise signal stability or sound quality (which is an option you get on some Bluetooth headphones now) and there is a Bluetooth Re-master setting which seems to try and boost low-quality audio files.

All the inputs and controls are on the one speaker. On the top panel, you have a mix of touch-sensitive and physical buttons. Each source gets a touch-sensitive button which is lined up along the top, together with a small LED light which glows when in use. The four physical buttons are for power, turning the volume up and down and muting the sound.

Of course, the primary music source for the SC-CX700 will be a music streaming service and the Technics offer support for Spotify Connect, Deezer, Amazon Music HD, Tidal Connect and Qobuz. No Apple Music is a shame, but in our experience this is still the rule rather than the exception when it comes to music streamers in general. You can also take your pick from an extensive supply of internet radio stations while the speakers are also Roon Ready should you have a digital music library that can take advantage of this functionality.

Although you do get a simple remote control in the box, all of the set-up for the speakers and the bulk of your music playback will be done through the Technics Audio Centre app.

Graphically it’s a little plain, but it is thorough, with the layout not too dissimilar to the KEF Connect app which you use with the LS50 Wireless II. The other thing we notice is that it’s laggier than the KEF equivalent and there’s more of a delay when skipping tracks, navigating playlists and jumping between the different menus. We soon got bored of seeing the ‘Reading…” loading icon and accompanying circle graphic that fills up as the app goes about loading the next screen.

The app is split into four pretty self-explanatory main areas: Source, Favourites, Room and Settings. Source is presented with a scrollable tile arrangement and gives you access to, you guessed it, all your sources, including your streaming services – you’ll need to log in to your service of choice so the app can piggyback your account and access all your music. Favourites gives you quick access to popular content such as your favourite tracks or internet radio stations. Room allows you to see what other devices you may or may not have connected to your local network. Settings is where you’ll need to head to get the speakers set up for your particular room layout.

Power up the SC-CX700 and the app hunts them down so you can put them on your wi-fi network. You’re up and running relatively quickly, but the set-up doesn’t stop there. Next, you need to tell the app how you have positioned the speakers using its Space Tune calibration feature. You have four presets built-in: Free, Wall, Corner and In a shelf. Then you have a custom option which lets you allocate different positions to individual speakers if you have a quirkier layout.

But that’s not all. You also have the option of ‘Auto’ and Measured’. You see, the Technics also have an auto-calibration system which uses either a test tone from the speakers on their own or in conjunction with readings taken using the mic on your iPhone or Android smartphone.

We flit between the different sound profiles and also move the speakers around our test room and settle on Free, with the SC-CX700 sat around 60cm from the rear wall.

We do experiment with the Auto and Measured settings during testing but find both detract from the overall sound. If anything, Measured sounds a bit forced, like the music has been artificially boosted to give greater scale and power, but the trade-off is that you lose a lot of the freedom and clarity that you get in the Free preset mode.

Sound

We kick off proceedings with the upbeat and rather funky Downtown by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and the Technics explode off the block.

From the first piano strike, there’s an intent and purpose about the Technics’ delivery. Then the bass drops and puts a huge smile on your face. The power and weight on display is extremely impressive for a pair of speakers this size. The track’s playful bassline is deployed tunefully and with laser-guided precision. Besides slamming hard (and harder than the KEF LS50 Wireless II), low frequencies are also wonderfully textured and controlled.

The speaker system also conjures up a large, expansive stereo image. It’s far-reaching across both a horizontal and vertical axis, with the cowbell and repetitive piano strikes coming from either side and the vocal from the chorus soaring high up in front of you. There’s a good level of detail on display too – the Technics are very consistent in this regard.

But something is going on in the frequency range that grates on us. It seems to be in the realm of the upper midrange and lower treble where there appears to be a coarseness and lack of refinement that jars when listening to the track. There’s an uncomfortable edginess up there that spoils the balance of the speakers. We make sure to give the Technics plenty of running in time to allow them to limber up – around 70 hours in total – but it doesn’t smooth this bump in the road.

We switch to an acoustic track – Nothing Arrived by Villagers – where the Technics just have an acoustic guitar and mellow vocal to contend with. It’s a spacious, detailed enough performance but instantly you can hear that lack of refinement which spoils the guitar play. What should be sweet, intimate strums sounds jarring and unnatural. By contrast, the KEF LS50 Wireless II immediately connect with you. The tonal quality is on a higher plane than the Technics, with the delicacy and refinement of the guitar and vocal drawing you in, in a way that the SC-CX700 just don’t.

The Technics also don’t have the dynamic dexterity of the KEFs. They deliver tracks with precision and solidity and they have more firepower in the lower frequencies, but compared to the KEFs they sound more one-dimensional, and this lack of dynamism hinders their ability to gel with us during testing.

Playing End Credits from the Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides soundtrack, the swashbuckling delivery and the sharp rise and fall of the strings lack impact when played through the Technics. The combination of that troublesome coarseness, mixed with a lack of dynamic thrust and finesse means they don’t really encourage you to hang around and wait for the next track to play.

We switch over to the phono stage and connect a Rega Planar 3/Nd3 to see how the speakers fare with vinyl and, to its credit, the phono stage proves to be a solid performer. It keeps the balance and tone of the speakers. It doesn’t extract a huge amount of detail in the grand scheme of things, but it does match the life and energy, speed and punch that the speakers provide when streaming.

Verdict

Given Technics’ form in other arenas such as turntables, wireless earbuds and CD-playing streaming systems, the fact that the SC-CX700 fall short leaves us feeling a little deflated.

Some of the ingredients are there and the speaker system actually does some impressive things, especially where sense of scale and bass performances are concerned, but issues higher up the frequency range are a big turn-off and spoil the listening experience. Add a slightly clunky app, and slightly disappointing build quality for the money, and you have a product that doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts.

First reviewed: January 2025

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Features 5
• Build 4

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Bowers & Wilkins and Abbey Road have been working together closely for more than four decades, and their latest venture is designed to give people more of a glimpse behind the scenes of this world-famous studio.

It comes through B&W’s automotive partnership with Volvo. The Swedish giant has a new electric SUV, the EX90, which just happens to feature a 25-speaker sound system that uses various design technologies from Bowers & Wilkins, including its trademark tweeter-on-top design and Continuum cone technology which you will find engineered into many of its stereo speakers.

The most intriguing thing about this new system isn’t in the specific hardware, but the software. This sees users able to access a new Abbey Road Studios Mode which, according to the press release, has been designed to “capture the unique characteristics of Abbey Road’s studio spaces, equipment and processes to create a new listening experience.” So, how has this been achieved?

I was invited to the iconic Abbey Road studio to learn more about the mode and go hands-on with it in the Volvo EX90.

On hand to give us some background on the mode and the project behind it was Mirek Stiles, Head of Audio Products at Abbey Road. Mirek explains the thought process was not so much altering the music that you want to play through the system, more the environment you want to play it in.

“For me personally, the car is interesting from a sound point of view. It's like the perfect blank canvas because it's a known entity and you know where everyone is going to be sitting. On the other hand, it can be quite a claustrophobic environment acoustically as well.

“You're sat very close to speakers, and there are many speakers around you. We were thinking if we took some of the tools I've created that are used in the professional world, and use them to influence how we could introduce this sound into the consumer world, how could we take the sound outside of the cabin – how can we influence the environment of that cabin?”

The tools Mirek is talking about are affectionately known as the ‘compounder’ and the ‘spreader’. Yes, we know they sound like two medieval instruments of torture, but they are in fact devices that were built specifically for use in the studios to help artists tweak the sound of their recordings.

The compounder is actually a Noise Reduction System which was originally patented by EMI in the early ’60s, “a good few years before Ray Dolby patented Dolby”, Mirek points out.

It was supposed to be used for classical recordings to reduce the perceived tape hiss.The pop engineers, on the other hand, discovered that if you just use the encode section and not the decode section, you got this lovely high end shimmery effect, like a high end EQ, but not an EQ.”

For this new sound mode, Abbey Road’s engineers have actually reverse-engineered the design for the Abbey Road Studios Mode so it can emphasize both high and low frequencies.

The ‘spreader’ is the second tool and is still used in the mastering rooms. It allows you to widen or narrow the stereo image. “We tried it in the car, and it just gave this lovely effect of being able to spread the speakers around.”

Mirek also mentions a couple of other ingredients used in the mode’s design. “We have also used original EMI EQ from the ’60s to give a base-level tuning of the overall car, and we've also created acoustic spaces based on the control rooms, the live rooms and the studios.”

Creating the acoustic spaces was done with the help of B&W’s acoustics development engineers such as Dominic Bowers (no relation to John Bowers). Dominic explains that this was a long and extremely thorough process that started back in 2020.

"During the pandemic, we came here and managed to capture over 60 measurements. Basically, the process involves using Bowers & Wilkins speakers and microphones in the different spaces, filling the room with acoustic energy, and capturing that energy with the microphones. What you get is an impulse response. And we use those impulse responses to map different spaces so you get information about size, how sound reflects off the different surfaces and so on. So we took that to the car.

“If you think how we actually captured the data to use to develop the app, we're actually using reverb content from the different spaces in Abbey Road as well. So it's not that we're taking it from any other spaces, it's actually mapped to the sonic fingerprint of this building.” Which sounds pretty cool to us.

So how does it work in practice? We were ushered downstairs and into a Volvo EX90 which was conveniently parked outside the studios for us to have a demonstration of the system and the sound mode in action.

To welcome you to the Abbey Road Studios Mode, owners will be greeted by a brand new user interface. Graphically, it puts you right at the heart of the mastering process. For those who don’t want to get too involved, you have access to four different presets offering different flavours of sound depending on your preferred listening style: Intimate, Open, Energised or Expansive.

Volvo wanted to invite the user to be part of the tuning process – and realises that this might differ depending on what you might like listening to.

If you switch to Producer Mode, you can create your own bespoke listening environment. It’s as though you are sitting in a control room at the studio, but instead of having multiple banks of controls to slide your fingers over, you can use just the tip of one finger with the Volvo’s touchscreen to change the system’s sonic presentation.

This gives you three degrees of freedom: you can slide up to change the room size, which adds more or less reverb, then slide left or right (think of it as the compounder) to shift the tonal balance from a vintage flavour to a more modern tone. Or you can work with the slider (think of it as the spreader) underneath the main interface, which alters the width and spread of sound.

If you slide your finger right up towards the edge, you will see a red zone appear on the interface. It’s not a no-go zone, it simply indicates that the effect this position has on the music might not be ideal.

During our demo of the system, we were played various genres of track, from intimate acoustic indie, to pounding techno, to lively jazz. And, in my opinion, the changes using the Abbey Road Studios Mode sounded less aggressive and more agreeable than just dialling the treble or bass up or down in a car’s traditional sound settings. I could certainly see this approach appealing to users who want a new, fun way to tinker with their car audio.

And the shift in width using the slider was very obvious – but not in a jarring way. I could hear it go from a slightly vaguer expanse of sound to a narrower and more focused image. Similarly, moving the setting from vintage to modern revealed a different emphasis on the recording, with the shift to vintage seeming to favour the texture of mids and highs. The closer you get to the modern area of the interface, the more the lower frequencies seem to be affected. And if you’re not a fan, you always have the option of listening to the music without all this extra processing happening in the background.

So, where could the Abbey Road Studios Mode go next? In the words of Dan Shepherd, VP of licensing and partnerships for Bowers & Wilkins, “this is just the beginning with this car and customer”. Because the system can be upgraded via OTA (over the air) updates, there could be a possibility that more rooms, more spatial controls, more ‘equipment’ to be added further down the line.

Volvo also offers a sound experience based on the Gothenburg Concert Hall – understandable given the company’s roots – but a lot of music genres in my opinion just don’t suit it. I’ll be interested to spend more time with EX90 and see if this mode is more suited to my listening preferences over a longer period of time.

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The fact that the more entry-level streaming system we built just before Christmas features a Cambridge Audio unit doing the digital music duties and our step-up system relies on a different streamer further up the brand’s chain should tell you all you really need to know about Cambridge’s excellence in the streaming field.

The British brand's new EX100N is the ideal foundation from which to build a modern mid-range system packed with contemporary convenience and benchmark performance, and here we have paired it with equally talented partnering equipment from Arcam and KEF.

Together, they form an utterly handsome and talented setup for anyone wishing to stream to their heart's content without sacrificing sound quality. Add a turntable, perhaps, at a later date and you have an all-round set-up that will do you proud for many years to come.

The system

• Music streamer: Cambridge Audio EXN100 (£1599 / $1799 / AU$2999)
• Amplifier: Arcam A15 (£1099 / $999 / AU$1995)
• Speakers: KEF Q Concerto Meta (£1099 / $1299 / AU$2000)
• Total price: £3797 / $4097 / AU$6994

Cambridge Audio EXN100

Part of that top performance is down to Cambridge’s proprietary streaming platform, StreamMagic. It is controlled via an easy-to-use app, and we don’t have any issues with playing tracks in many different formats from many different sources.

In terms of file formats supported, the Cambridge EXN100 can handle high-resolution audio files up to 32-bit/784kHz PCM and DSD512, and MQA files. All the relevant sampling rate and file format information can be seen on screen and in the app, for those curious about their music library.

One interesting and useful addition is the inclusion of an HDMI eARC input; this means, of course, that you can hook it up directly to a TV to use this set-up to relay your TV’s sound. Don’t discount that option: clearly you won’t be getting Dolby Atmos functionality from stereo speakers, but the improvement in the sound you will hear will be exponential.

The EXN100 impresses us with a sound that is clear, spacious and balanced. There is a controlled sense of rhythm, attack and drive, but also enough fluidity to the music to make this an easy listen. There is no flab and there’s ample punch, and enough body to the sound that music never comes across as thin but also not overly warm; it simply sounds well balanced.

As we say in the full review, “the streamer delivers spry, composed and room-filling sound. Voices are clearly defined with natural tones and nuances brought to the fore.

“Feed it high-quality tracks and it will perform at its best, but the streamer doesn’t penalise you for playing lower MP3-quality radio stations or Bluetooth streams in the slightest.”

The best praise we can really give the EXN100 is that, if you do want a greater dose of dynamic subtlety and verve, you have to pay a significant amount more for the genuine next step up in performance, the Naim ND5 XS 2 and Audiolab 9000N.

Arcam A15

However good the streamer might be, however, the system as a whole won’t sound good if the parts don’t complement each other. The choice of amplification, therefore, is vital. Which is why we have included the Arcam A15 in this set-up. A two-time Award winner now, the A15 is an absolute bull’s-eye, delivering great clarity, scale and precision while at the same time offering just about as much in the way of features as the modern hi-fi listener could wish for.

The A15 is a wonderfully commanding and controlled performer. It excels in terms of grip and composure, while allowing the drama in the music shine through.

As we say in the review, while listening to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture: “We are impressed by the scale of the sound and the way this still compact design deals with the music’s savage dynamics. There is no shortage of punch and power, but this is no muscle-bound thug. This Arcam is insightful, tracking the music’s multitude of instrumental strands with skill. Dynamic nuances are conveyed with finesse and we love the way it renders instrumental textures with such delicacy.”

Importantly for this system, in terms of dynamics and clarity the digital module matches some of the better affordable DACs that come our way – which is pretty high praise: a stand-alone unit is almost always more capable than a module included in another piece of equipment. Its Bluetooth abilities also are easily good enough for casual listening – pretty much all you can ask for from a medium that is never as good as a wired connection.

While we aren’t using them in this current set-up, it’s good to note that the A15’s phono stage and headphone output are really rather good. Both these circuits tend to be tick-box exercises for most manufacturers, but that’s not the case here. The phono circuit is decently quiet and has enough gain to work well with a wide range of moving magnet cartridges (and most high-output moving coils). Similarly, the headphone output retains the same informative and engaging character we hear from our speakers. So, as and when you want to upgrade your system, the Arcam A15 is ready and waiting for the call.

KEF Q Concerto Meta

The third part of this triumphant trio came in too late to be considered for an Award this year – so we shall have to wait a while to see if the KEF Q Concerto Meta take a gong in 2025. They are, though, certainly up for consideration as it stands.

The Q Concerto Meta is a true three-way design. Its Uni-Q driver array packs a 10cm aluminium midrange, a 19mm vented aluminium dome tweeter and KEF’s Metamaterial Absorption Technology. It is the first time the Q series has featured MAT. This technology takes the form of a highly complex maze-like structure that sits behind the tweeter dome and is made up of multiple channels that are each tuned to absorb a specific frequency. When the channels are combined, KEF claims that MAT absorbs 99 per cent of the unwanted high-frequency sound. Impressive.

And, from our experience of hearing Meta-equipped speakers across the KEF ranges, the technology works impressively well. So well, in fact, that MAT won What Hi-Fi?’s Innovation of the Year Award in 2020.

The in-house comparison with the Award-winning LS50 Meta is interesting. At £1000 / $1499 / AU$2495, the LS50 Meta are close enough to be considered direct rivals. Listen to them side by side and the right choice becomes a matter of taste.

Where the three-way Concerto takes the plaudits is when it comes to low-end muscle and definition. There is so much more authority, grip and scale to music than the smaller LS50 Meta can deliver. The Concerto Meta sounds more comfortable at higher volume levels too. The older model counters with greater insight, refinement and naturalness from the midrange upwards, so it would be worth trying the two to see which pair is more appropriate for your needs.

Whatever the comparison with its smaller sibling, by general class standards, the Q Concerto Meta is superbly balanced. As we say in our review, “these speakers have a smooth tonality that still delivers enough bite to satisfy. You could feed them a diet of White Stripes and Nirvana and never feel short-changed in terms of attitude. Yet, play a grand classical piece such as Tchaikovsky’s Marché Slave Op.31 and they deliver the swelling dynamic shifts and mass of instrumentation with enviable control and composure.”

That all-round ability and control make the Q Concerto Meta an ideal complement to the electronics in this system. For a thoroughly modern two-channel streaming system we struggle to think of a better option at the price.

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It’s always fun, after our dizzyingly busy Awards-testing months, to take stock of the new equipment we rate most highly and to match them with like-minded products to produce stunning systems.

Which is what we have done for this issue of What Hi-Fi?. In February's magazine you will find five brilliant stereo systems based on Award-winning kit. It is always tempting to put “Award-winning systems” as the coverline on these issues; but that would be misleading. What we have here are brilliant systems based on Award-winning products – but some of the components, while certainly excellent in their own right, may not be Award winners in 2024. Still, they all combine to create a synergy that we can’t beat for the price. 

Also in this issue, we have soundbar packages that come as close to a separates home cinema package as you can get; and standmount speakers at around £2000 that are absolutely amazing for the admittedly not inconsiderable layout.

Gold-standard stereo systems

New Year diets may have already bitten the dust, but as we look forward to what 2025 has in store, you may be hungry to upgrade your hi-fi system – or even start an entire set-up from scratch.

With all the terrific hi-fi products out there, though, you can be spoiled for choice. But you could do a lot worse than look to our most recent 2024 What Hi-Fi? Award-winners in the hi-fi category. Fresh from choosing our winners and dishing out our gongs, we’ve created five systems, all of which use one or more pieces of Award-winning kit, that could provide the perfect starter. 

Of course, it’s never as simple as just throwing a bunch of highly decorated kit together and assuming it will create the greatest set-up imaginable. A hi-fi system needs to work together to deliver a satisfying experience. This is why we have not only carefully curated our systems this month, but also thoroughly tested each one, and you can rest assured that the synergy that binds these selections will result in years of happy listening.

There are new-to-market propositions included in our serving suggestions alongside more evergreen products, those that have already served their audience well for a little while but remain among the very best of their type and level. From turntable set-ups catering for both larger and more regular spaces to a selection of streaming systems that suit different budgets, each element works beautifully with the other components it has been partnered with.

Our pick of mid-priced standmounters

When it comes to putting together a quality stereo system, there’s little point in having a fine source unit and amp if you don’t have great speakers to provide the final link in your sonic chain.

If you are in the market for a pair of standmounters around the £2000 mark, at this level manufacturers have the budget to include components and engineering know-how that is significantly more advanced than you would find in, say, a £1000 speaker – and often with tech taken from higher-end speakers too. They can also pay more attention to the quality of build and finish. And the proof of the improving is in the hearing.

So, allow us to introduce four of the top contenders in the mid-price standmounter market. Three of them offer their own differing interpretations of the classic two-way design, while the fourth – a rarity in this market – has three drive units. Oh, and one of them is the current What Hi-Fi? Award-winner. We feel sure that our round-up this month will give you all the information you need to make your choice.

Soundbar packages for immersive home cinema

Naturally, all of us movie fans adore the wonderfully immersive sonic experience of sitting in a cinema that has an A-grade sound system, and would love to be able to replicate that experience in our homes. But the fact is that few of us have listening rooms big enough to accommodate the domestic multi-box systems needed to do that. And even the best standalone soundbars fall well short of delivering either authentic surround sound or chest-rumbling bass (remember the crash scene in Super 8?).

Soundbar systems, on the other hand, include a pair of manageably sized, separate surround speakers and a subwoofer – itself usually of modest dimensions – along with the soundbar. Together, these elements provide the missing all-around-with-depth sonic effect without cramming your living room with five, seven or nine large boxes. What’s more, these systems are also wireless, so you don’t have to lay yards of cabling around your skirting boards.

Thankfully, the soundbar-systems market has matured nicely over the past few years, and there is now plenty of choice. Some brands offer complete packages, while others sell the soundbars, separates and subwoofers separately. In this month's mag we have gathered six of the best in a round-up that includes both types to help you find one that suits you.

First with reviews

Once more, our First Tests section is filled to the brim with in-depth, impartial and expert verdicts on the very latest hi-fi and AV gear. 

We kick off this month with a 55-inch flagship TV from Panasonic. We're big fans of the brand's drive for 'as the director intended' authenticity, but can this latest W90A model hold true to that, while using full-array local dimming that aims to compete with Mini LED? Find out in February's What Hi-Fi?

We continue our testing this month with Q Acoustics 3020c standmounters. The latest in Q Acoustics's entry level 3000 series of speakers, we found them taking a new direction sonically - but is that necessarily a bad thing? Find out what we thought of the 3020c in First Tests this month.

Then in another busy old month for our expert reviews team, our test benches groaned under the weight of plenty more new products. Mission's new 750 standmounters, TCL's affordably priced C655K TV, the Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, the latest 2024 iteration of Bluesound's Node streamer, Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, Apple iPad Air 13in and Earfun's Wave Pro headphones all underwent rigorous testing this month.

See what our review team thought of all these products in February's What Hi-Fi?

Highly covetable high-end kit

Our Temptations section of the magazine is where you'll find the highest of the high-end of hi-fi and AV products.

This month we take a look at the new Cyrus ST music streamer. Spoilers, it's a five-star cracker that, along with its other new 40 series products, should reignite the Cyrus brand's fortunes in 2025. It's not cheap, but we think it's worth every penny.

We also have a classy headphone amp from Austrian Audio, the Full Score One. Austrian Audio has impressed us in the last few years with its superb headphones, and here we have the perfect partner – though happily it's a great headphone amp with any decent headphones. Read more in February's What Hi-Fi?

Finally, don't forget to check out our Buyer’s Guide, featuring a definitive and freshly updated list of all the best home entertainment kit you can buy – including winners of 2024's What Hi-Fi? Awards. If you’re looking to purchase anything from a pair of wireless headphones to a home cinema speaker system, this section will tell you where to spend your money wisely.

Whatever you do, don't miss the February 2025 issue of What Hi-Fi?. Grab a copy today, or simply download it onto your tablet or smartphone. Enjoy!

You can subscribe or buy the latest issue here, or buy the digital edition on iPhone, iPad, Android devices or Kindle edition

Just when you thought that 2024 couldn't throw you any more surprises, Denon has decided to close out the year by launching a brand new SACD/CD player – the Reference series DCD-3000NE.

It's been no small secret that CDs and disc players have quietly but surely been having a bit of a revival recently, so a dedicated, high-performing SACD/CD player from a brand such as Denon is cause for celebration for fans of the physical format.

The new player has been meticulously tuned, says Denon, to "reveal unprecedented sonic detail in all of your favorite music."

The DCD-3000NE boasts wide playback support of a variety of digital audio, from CDs and SACDs to MP3 and FLAC files. It can also play CD-R/RWs and DVD-R/RWs, as well as DSD files (2.8MHz and 5.6MHz). Outputs include one pair of analogue RCA, one digital coaxial and one digital optical.

The DCD-3000NE features a 'high-performance' 32-bit/384kHz DAC in a quad configuration along with the brand's own Ultra AL32 Processing for upsampling audio signals, to deliver clean, detailed, spacious, dynamic sound and high-resolution output. Denon's patented vibration suppression drive mechanism ensures that discs load swiftly and spin with precision so that the data is read accurately by the player.

Additionally, high-quality internal components and an advanced master clock aim to deliver distortion-free sound, while a 'Pure Direct' mode turns off the display and digital outputs to prevent any interference from affecting the audio signal.

The Denon DCD-3000NE comes with a remote control, is available in black or silver finishes and can be yours for £2200 / $2999 / €2500.

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It has been an especially good Black Friday week for Sonos fans so far, as multiple speakers and soundbars from the brand have dropped to their lowest-ever prices. Those looking for an entry-level option can snag the Sonos Ray for just £135, or the step-up Beam (Gen 2) is also an absolute bargain at just £335.

However, if you're after the cream of the crop, then the Sonos Arc for £619 at Sevenoaks (a saving of £280) is the way to go. Yes, the Sonos Arc Ultra is now available (and it is a mighty fine soundbar), but it's unsurprisingly still at its full asking price of £999 on account of how new it is.

I've opted for Sevenoaks over Amazon in this instance as, while the Arc is a whole three pence cheaper for the white finish, the black Sonos Arc is currently being listed at £624 on Amazon.

I've paired the Arc with two more exceptional Sonos deals – the Era 300 which is also down to its lowest-ever price of £329 at Sevenoaks, though we'll need a pair for this surround sound setup, which can easily ordered as a pair for £658.

There is also Sonos Sub (Gen 3) which will add some much-needed low-end oomph. It's now only £559 at Sevenoaks (£240 off the launch price) – however, it's worth noting that Sevenoaks is only stocking the Sub in white, though Peter Tyson has the black finish for the same price if you don't mind shopping around.

This basically creates the Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc; a bundle Sonos used to feature on its site before it was replaced with the Arc Ultra version.

That bundle costs a staggering £2426 (down from £2696) at Sonos, whereas my version comes in at a much lower £1876. While you're not getting the absolute latest flagship 'bar and sub in this bundle, the existing Sonos Arc delivers a five-star, Award-winning sound that isn't far off the newer model, making this an excellent alternative that costs £550 less.

This trio of Sonos products culminates in a full surround sound setup without the messy wires, without compromising on stellar sound. While we haven't tested the full Immersive set quite yet, we plan to soon, and certainly approve of the Arc soundbar and Era 300 speakers in isolation.

The main benefit of this setup is the Era 300's upward-firing speakers, which will enhance the Dolby Atmos effect with overhead directional sound. The "dynamic, detailed and controlled" sound provided by the Arc is at the heart of the system though, with the support from the Sub (Gen 3) to fill in the low end.

We'd be remiss not to quickly mention the Sonos App; yes, we're well aware it isn't perfect – but the good news is that interacting with the app once you've sent the system up is purely optional as your TV remote can control a majority of the Arc's functions.

If you want a simple, clean and great-sounding solution to make your TV's audio more cinematic, then this Black Friday combo deal (with a combined saving of £760, no less) will be perfect for you.

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It would be easy to write off any new stereo disc player as anachronistic in this streaming-dominated age. However, that isn’t how we see things. We know many of our readers still have huge CD collections and want to get the best from them. And right now, we can’t think of a better way to do it than on Esoteric’s magnificent new K-05XD SACD/CD player. At £11,650 / $12,000 / AU$15,000, it comes in at the top-end of the market – but hey, such quality always costs. And this is the Temptation Award, after all. Tempted, then? You might well be after reading what this talented machine can do.

Rather than simply buy-in the mechanisms from OEM suppliers, as most other companies do, Esoteric has gone down the bespoke route for the K-05XD with its proprietary VRDS transports; the initials stand for Vibration-free Rigid Disc clamping System.

This has always been more than mere marketing guff. In essence, it involves clamping the entire top surface of the disc in a bid to eliminate any resonances and flatten any slight warping so that the laser and its servo mechanism have an easier time when reading the digital data. In theory, this should result in better sound.

This player’s digital-to-analogue section is rather tasty too. Rather than use off-the-shelf DAC chips, as the majority of the competition still do, Esoteric has designed its own circuit that works with FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array)-based algorithms to ensure compatibility with 32-bit/384kHz PCM hi-res files as well as DSD512 music streams. MQA is also on the menu.

The pay-off for such engineering speaks for itself as soon as we listen to the K-05XD. This player has a wonderfully clean and organic presentation that feels 'just right.' The presentation is as neutral as they come but also avoids charges of sounding sterile by communicating the warmth and emotion in recordings. There is no sense of harshness or over-emphasis on the leading edges of notes. It's very pleasant indeed.

The musical backdrop is beautifully defined and superbly organised, too, with every element distinct and precisely placed while still coming together as a convincing musical whole.

Our in-house reviews team particularly loved the CD player's spacious and neat soundstage, devoid of clutter. "Instruments are layered with care and locked into position even when the music becomes demanding," reads our Esoteric K-05XD review. It elaborates, referencing the playback of Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring on SACD: "The Esoteric’s impressive ability to dig up low-level details shines through in the convincing way it places the orchestra within the recording venue. There is nothing showy here, no attempt to make the recording sound more impressive than it is. Just a pleasingly accurate rendition of the original recording."

Whatever we played through the player was delivered with transparency and honesty and therefore was hugely enjoyable to listen to. We can ask no more from any hi-fi component than a good time, and this impressive Esoteric player certainly gave us that.

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Compact Disc’s star has faded, but I like it anyway

We're sure you're the same, but whenever we slip behind the wheel of one of our many supercars, we find ourselves thinking: if only it had a binaural headrest. Yes, an enveloping 3D sound landscape would really finish this trip to the tip nicely.

Well what do you know, KEF has just the thing. This is the KEF Binaural Audio Headrest, and it's to be found inside the Lotus Theory 1 concept car. Absolute Radio 90s will never sound the same again.

KEF claims the Binaural Audio Headrest creates an immersive 3D soundfield by firing sound directly at each occupant, which makes it sound a little terrifying. KEF's Uni-Q drivers play through the headrest's "acoustically transparent 3D lattice".

The flexible headrest cradles your head, and can detect its position to adapt the sound accordingly. So each occupant will get an individualised sound experience.

We're also promised "futuristic" sound effects that complement the car's performance, and a force-cancelling subwoofer that creates bass without shaking the cabin.

As it's just a concept for now, don't expect to see one anytime soon. But elements of the headrest could make their way into production cars, as is often the way with concepts.

KEF previously won the EISA In-Car OEM Premium Audio System award for 2024-2025 for the Lotus Eletre.

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• Our experts rate the best hi-fi systems

Using our years of testing expertise, we've created a cracking budget hi-fi system that adopts a ‘do-it-all’ philosophy and executes it with aplomb. If ever a system could be described as being more than the sum of its parts, it’s this one. First-time buyers; prick up your ears.

At the heart of the set-up is a current What Hi-Fi? Best System Under £500 Award-winner – the Denon D-M41DAB. This is a complete microsystem in its own right, comprising a DAB radio, CD player, analogue and digital optical inputs (for attaching external sources), an on-board amplifier and a pair of compact two-way speakers. It also offers Bluetooth, meaning you can play music from pretty much any source. And once you have done that a few times, you won’t want to stop, because this multi-tasking marvel seems not to have a weak link in any of its chains.

The system

• Micro system: Denon D-M41DAB (£349 / $461 approx / AU$678 approx)
• Phono stage: Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2 (£110 / $195 / AU$249 )
• Turntable: Pro-Ject Primary E (£199 / $299 / AU$475 )
• Total price: £658 / $955 approx / AU$1402 approx

Micro system: Denon D-M41DAB

We slide a copy of Hot Chip’s Made In The Dark into the CD tray. At once we are struck by the pleasingly forward presentation. The Denon revels in the urgent rhythms of tracks such as ShakeA Fist and Ready For The Floor, and there’s a surprisingly well defined soundstage along with a good level of detail. Dynamics, too, are far more insightful and expressive than we would expect at this sort of price. That forward presentation doesn’t mean a lack of depth; in fact, it’s a real achievement on the part of Denon to have supplied a sound with such heft and stability – and that’s regardless of whether you have the speakers against the wall or away from it.

Switching to a Spotify stream of Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker, we discover that the Denon can supply as much grace as it does energy. There’s a sweetly light touch to the fingerpicked acoustic guitars of Oh My Sweet Carolina that nevertheless allows plenty of space to communicate the weight and depth in Adams’ vocals.

It doesn’t take us long to conclude that the D-M41DAB can more than hold its own in terms of sound quality against separates costing much more. If you want, you can, for a reduced price, buy the unit without its supplied speakers (the SC-M41s) and connect an alternative pair, but you will struggle to find compatible boxes that work as well as the SC-M41s without leaving yourself significantly out of pocket.

Phono stage: Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2

Of course, the one thing you can’t do on the Denon is play records; but adding the Pro-Ject Primary E turntable and Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2 phono stage is a simple, relatively inexpensive business.

You might think it’s a shame that the Denon microsystem doesn’t have a built-in phono stage (it has just about everything else) but that apparent inconvenience is actually a blessing in disguise; it means you can hook-up the impressive Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2 – a phono stage of a quality that any Denon on-board alternative would never be able to match, given the D-M41DAB’s compact dimensions.

The turntable here is the Pro-Ject Primary E (more on this below). Not only do the Rega and Pro-Ject work well together as price-compatible models, they also both complement the Denon’s talents beautifully. 

If you are worried about having to accommodate another box alongside the Denon, the Fono Mini isn’t much bigger than a box of extra-long matches, yet it performs out of all proportion to its size.

The Mk2 has a slightly cleaner appearance than its predecessor but the audio circuitry is unchanged. And that is actually a good thing. The Rega’s 47kOhm/100pF input loading is a good match for the Pro-Ject Primary E’s Ortofon cartridge, and the digital output of the unit’s USB connection means you can connect it to your computer and turn the music signal from your records into a digital file. It is time-consuming to digitise vinyl in this way but the Rega makes it an easy thing to do.

Most users of this system, though, will simply be using it to boost the signal from the Pro-Ject so they can listen to their vinyl direct. And in that respect it is a treat. Like the other two elements here, the Fono Mini is decidedly a budget proposition but – like them – it concentrates on getting the important things right. And that means it does a good job of delivering dynamic contrasts, complementing the lively, forward presentation found in the Denon and Pro-Ject, and paying commendably close attention to detail. The really impressive thing here though, is the musically cohesive way in which the Rega organises the information it is given, resulting in a sonic presentation that, for this price bracket, is unusually musical.

Turntable: Pro-Ject Primary E

The fact that Pro-Ject produces deeply competitive decks costing many thousands means it is well placed to funnel all its knowledge and expertise into budget models – and few of those can hold a candle to the Primary E.

Our current Best Turntable Under £200, this deck is our favourite entry-level record player and does everything we would expect from a back-to-basics, budget deck. Equipped with an Ortofon moving-magnet cartridge (a big plus), the Pro-Ject’s priority is entertainment, making it the perfect companion for the Denon’s lively musical presentation. It confidently nails the basics of vinyl replay, from an even tonal balance to a clear, clean delivery, and its sound is spacious enough to give a decent sense of three-dimensionality to multiple strands of music, while organising all the information in a musically coherent way. Add in a spirited sense of drive with rhythms and the Pro-Ject is already looking like great value for money.

On The National’s Trouble Will Find Me it shows its sensitive side, communicating the dreamy instrumental warmth and plaintive vocal of Fireproof nicely. In fact, we are struggling to think what more we could want from a sub-£200 deck – particularly one that is so easy to set up.

Verdict

For anyone looking to step onto the first rung of the stereo-systems ladder, this trio has it all. Not only can you play music from virtually any source you care to mention, that music will sound far better than it has any right to at this price.

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These days, you may know Ruark Audio best for its excellent range of smart, compact radios and music systems. But the Essex-based brand originally started on a more traditional path with passive loudspeakers, launching its very first speaker – Sabre – in 1985, a year after the company was founded. After well-regarded Talisman, Equinox and Solstice models, it wound down the speaker-making side in 2004 to concentrate on its new niche in DAB radios – or 'small audio', as co-founder and managing director Alan O'Rourke called them in an interview with us last year.

Two decades later, Ruark has now returned to its roots with the launch of the Sabre-R bookshelf speakers. Reviving the name from 40 years ago but embracing a modern outlook, the Sabre-R is a two-way design with a 26mm silk dome tweeter and 15cm treated natural fibre cone mid/bass driver. It quotes a sensitivity of 86dB/W/m and can be used with most modern amplifiers outputting 25-100W of power.

The MDF cabinet is braced and damped and features the same slatted wood design detail as seen on its latest range of five-star R1S and R2 Mk4 radios. The Sabre-R are designed both as a celebration of the Ruark's heritage and to "enthral new generations of music lovers", aiming to deliver a "stunning, natural, musical experience" – no pressure, then! The speakers are built and finished to the high calibre we have come to expect from Ruark, who always manages to create products that look good in any home environment.

Also launched in conjunction with the Sabre-R is the matching R610. Ruark calls it a 'music console', and it is essentially a new addition to the R100 line, which includes all-in-one music systems such as the five-star R410 and the larger R810 radiogram. The R610 just doesn't include any speakers built in.

This combination "allows music lovers to build an entire system that looks every bit as beautiful as it sounds,” says O’Rourke, who founded Ruark Audio with his father Brian O'Rourke.

The R610 has a much smaller footprint than its bigger siblings but shares much of their design language, high-quality materials and components, and tactile controls: handcrafted slatted wood grilles, a five-inch, full-colour touchscreen display, and the signature RotoDial control dial on the unit's top (and as a separate remote). Inside the R610 are two Class D amplifiers delivering 75W of power per channel, Burr Brown DACs and a switch mode power supply. 

The R610 can play just about any music from any source, offering immense versatility from a compact music system. It features full wireless streaming with AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect integrated, and is compatible with UPnP network media servers, supporting hi-res files up to 32-bit/384kHz. Bluetooth (aptX HD), DAB/FM and internet radio are supported as well – you'll never be short of music to listen to.

There is even a moving magnet phono stage inside this compact wonder, so you can directly plug in a turntable. You can connect your TV directly too, thanks to HDMI eARC and optical inputs, while a USB port is available for connecting a dedicated CD Drive that Ruark will launch later this year. The disc drive will also be compatible with the R410 and R810.

The Ruark R610 system costs £1200 / $1599 / AU$2299, while the Sabre-R speakers are £699 / $899 / $1499 per pair. Both are available now in two finishes: fused walnut and satin charcoal lacquer. They can be bought together – they are, after all, designed to partner one another both sonically and aesthetically – but there is no package deal price and Ruark says the individual components can work with other brands' products just as well.

Interestingly, the bigger R410 system with built-in speakers, which we awarded five stars to, costs only a little bit more at £1299 / $1699 / AU$2599. We will therefore be curious to find out just how the newer, smaller R610 (with external speakers) will differ in performance to the R410.

The Sabre-R speakers, meanwhile, enter a very crowded and competitive market that is not short of talent, with the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning B&W 607 S3 and 606 S3 (around £549 to £749) their main rivals at this price point. We can't wait to find out how the new Ruark speakers perform.

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Trying to get into vinyl can be intimidating. Not only is the 12-inch disc a fairly fragile piece of brittle PVC, but the record deck itself is a delicate instrument; it simply can’t be treated with a heavy hand. Which means that, for many people keen in principle to enter this particular world of analogue music, even the act of getting their vinyl playing can be a daunting prospect. 

There’s not much to be done about the relative fragility of the vinyl disc itself. Those simply need to be handled and stored with care to get the very best out of them for many years; that is perfectly possible, though – clearly – so we would urge you not to be put off by that. 

Where manufacturers can help the nervous newbie, however, is with the record player itself. If the vinyl-disc debutante can place the record on the spindle and then simply push a button to get things to play (and then stop again), pretty much all the potential pitfalls of playing a record disappear.

The system

• Turntable: Rekkord Audio F110 (£399 / $449 / AU$849)
• Stereo amplifier: Rega io (£420 / $725 / AU$949)
• Music streamer: WiiM Pro Plus (£219 / $219 / AU$339)
• Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 (£249 / $399 / AU$699)
• Total price: £1287 / $1792 / AU$2836

Turntable: Rekkord Audio F110

Enter the Rekkord Audio F110 fully automatic record deck. The F110 will cue the pre-fitted Audio-Technica AT3600L moving-magnet cartridge to the start of the record and lift it up once the side has been played, returning the arm to its original position and stopping the motor. This is pretty much the ultimate in fuss-free record replay, and it is easy to override the mechanism if, say, you want to skip from track to track, or start and stop in a different place.

There are, naturally, some inevitable compromises that need to be made with the purchase of an automatic turntable; you are, after all, paying for the extra tech that goes into making it automatic, so there will be other, more hands-on, decks that will give you better sound for the same money. But this Rekkord is one of the few fully automatic decks we have reviewed over the years that is musically satisfying. It is a precise, controlled, balanced performer that digs up a good amount of detail for the price. It’s an enjoyable listen that fully justifies the outlay with the ease of use it brings.

Stereo amplifier: Rega io

We marry the Rekkord deck with the io, a Rega amplifier that we would normally suggest is used with a stablemate turntable. Rega’s decks, however, are very much old-school, hands-on affairs, and so of no realistic value in this ease-of-use set-up.

What the io brings, whichever source you use with it, is a terrific sense of rhythm, and an agile, punchy sound that is sheer fun to listen to. It does, therefore, match up rather nicely with the Rekkord turntable. While you can buy the F110 turntable with a built-in phono stage for around a 10 per cent premium, that won’t be necessary here, as the Rega io amp has a talented moving-magnet stage that would trump the Rekkord offering. 

As well as the turntable inputs, there are also two more analogue inputs, to which you could add, say, a CD player and a streamer (as we have in this system). So, while the io is fairly limited in connections compared with some rival amplifiers, for most users’ purposes it will more than suffice – and its performance makes it well worth considering over many competitors with what is, on the face of it, a broader specification. 

Music streamer: WiiM Pro Plus

There are no issues with connecting the WiiM Pro Plus to the Rega io amplifier – this, after all, is supposed to be an easy-to-use system. Connecting it is one thing; the fact that, for the outlay, it is such a fine performer, though, is the main reason it is on this page. As we say in the verdict of our review of the streamer: “As a first, affordable introduction to the many and various charms of music streaming, the WiiM Pro Plus is hard to lay a glove on at the price.”

There is nothing special about the looks or construction of this paperback-book sized plastic-bound box – but it’s perfectly acceptable for just over £200.

There is a supplied remote control, but the accompanying app is impressive, and most likely to be your main port of call for controlling your music. The little box is powered via a USB-C port; then there is an ethernet socket, a digital optical input and output, a digital coaxial output and stereo RCA line-level in and out. It’s a line-up that really should be more than adequate for most users most of the time – and certainly it is more than adequate in this system, hooking up to the Rega amplifier via RCA line-level. 

Most importantly for a streamer, wireless connectivity is all you could really want of the WiiM. Pretty much every base is covered, with Chromecast, Apple AirPlay, Spotify and Tidal Connect and more on board; it can also access files on a local network thanks to its DLNA connectivity. 

Feed it a lovely big hi-res audio file to do its thing with, and the WiiM Pro Plus will perform admirably; but what impresses us even more, possibly, is its competence with lesser files. Even very compressed files are given a fair crack of the whip, and come across surprisingly clean and detailed.

The midrange (where the vocals generally hang out, of course) is particularly well catered for, and comes across full of conviction and poise. As we say in the review, “the unity of the WiiM’s presentation is impressive, and its powers of integration are always apparent.”

Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1

The final part of this easy to use quartet is the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 speakers. There is a reason we fall back on these compact standmounters for many of our less expensive system suggestions; they are superb value for money. They have a surprisingly bold and full-bodied presentation, sounding confident and composed in a way that evades most budget rivals. They top that composure off with a good degree of refinement, being smooth and forgiving while managing to remain nicely balanced, with enough in the way of bite to entertain. As we say in the review, “they have a strong punch and deliver rhythms with a surefooted sense of drive”.

Which makes them perfect to do justice to the excellence of the rest of this simple-to-use, affordable system.

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The new issue of What Hi-Fi?, our November 2024 issue (yes, I know, we’re only half way into September; it’s one of the vagaries of the magazine publishing world I’m afraid – especially when you print 13 issues each year), is out now in the shops. And it is one of our popular “Systems specials” where our expert reviewing team curates a number of set-ups from individual units that will blend together with other like-minded sorts to create a system that makes the very most of the sum of its parts. 

It bears repeating that this really isn’t as simple a process as picking a load of five-star products and bunging them together without a further care in the world. Life, and certainly the world of hi-fi equipment, just isn’t like that. Which is where we come in. 

Sixteen systems of carefully judged brilliance is the result: ten stereo; six home cinema. You should take a look; it’s in all good newsagents (and, no doubt, a few less reputable ones as well) now.

And it got me reminiscing about a time when a magazine was all What Hi-Fi? was. Now, of course, it’s very much a global brand that stands proud as the most trusted hi-fi and home cinema reviewing site on the planet. Just over a quarter of a century ago, however, the magazine was the sole medium for getting our hard work out into the universe. Times have changed.

Manufacturers’ suggestions

Our core ethos hasn’t, though. So I was glad to find, when trawling through the What Hi-Fi? archives the other day, a systems special edition from January 1997. The more things change, the more they stay the same, and so on… More than 27 years ago, however, we got hi-fi manufacturers to do some of the hard work for us. 

Back in ’97, we asked the big brands to suggest which of their products would work wonders together and come up with a system to do them proud. If there were any blank spots in their product manufacturing (if they didn’t make speakers, say) they were to come up with suggestions they felt would work best. 

Some familiar, and reassuring, names

And then we put those suggestions to the test. There are interesting systems from the likes of Linn, Naim, Sony, Arcam, Kenwood and plenty more, and – as I hope you would expect – the What Hi-Fi? team pulled no punches in evaluating the suggestions put forward, with three and four-star verdicts aplenty, alongside a couple of excellent five-star efforts. 

These days, though, it’s down to us to put together systems that we feel work together brilliantly – and that’s what you will find in our magazine this month.

The readers got involved as well

 Also of interest to me in the magazine from 27 and a half years ago was the regular reader-led piece On The Couch. This time, we were investigating the relatively new phenomenon of rear-channel (surround) speakers, and asking if it was worth investing in expensive options. The answer appeared to be a qualified yes. These days, with the great technical improvements in surround sound, and the excellence of Dolby Atmos, I would suggest that those qualifications are less pronounced; the rear (and height) speakers in a system need to match their front three siblings as much as possible to enjoy the best possible home cinema performance.

A great buy is still a great buy

Also in the January 1997 issue was a test of micro systems that turned my mind to an excellent multiple Award-winner from Denon that we are still recommending, and that can hold its head high in today’s world of Bluetooth speakers and streaming. As we say in this recently published feature, it could be the perfect product for the student returning to university this autumn. 

So, on your return to education, don’t discount the old-school just yet in this brave new world of wireless wizardry.   

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If you’re heading off to university this year or returning to your student house for a second, third or fourth year, then you’re probably looking to put together a survival kit.

Besides t-shirts, socks and underwear, if you’re into music, you might be looking for something capable of scratching your sonic itch. Perhaps a five-star Bluetooth speaker with a chunky discount to help you power through those late nights of studying, writing or partying?

That’s a very sensible and simple route to go down and one which I applaud – partnering your wireless speaker with your smartphone and a Spotify or Tidal subscription is a quick and easy way for you or any of your flat/housemates to get the studying/partying started.

But allow me to point you in a slightly different direction, where you will be able to enjoy your favourite music in higher quality, and at higher volume, through a product that will give you greater pride of ownership than a pair of wireless headphones.

Now, I know a full-blown hi-fi system with multiple separates is the dream, and I would love for music-loving students across the world to cram their accommodation with all manner of musical boxes. But I understand that space is at a premium. There is also a distinct lack of what I would classify as affordable, entry-level electronics to help students get on the first rung of the hi-fi ladder. This means that proper system building can get very expensive very quickly.

This is why I’m attempting to spark your interest in an old hi-fi classic. Since the proliferation of wireless speakers and streaming services, the micro hi-fi system has faded so far into the background that some people are forgetting they even existed…

But every so often, a mention or sighting of the Denon D-M41DAB micro system reminds me of the glory days, when these units were a regular sight in our test rooms. And I personally think this system would be the perfect addition to any uni accommodation. This five-star all-in-one has been ticking over in the background for a number of years now and the fact that it is still around is a testament to its impressive ability.

The Denon will be just as happy in your bedroom or living room and you can crank it up to 11 without fear of sound quality taking a hit.

Sure, I’ll be first to admit that systems like this aren’t as fashionable as they once were; but, for the money, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t entertain something like this whether you’re a student or anyone else looking for an affordable, sweet-sounding all-in-one.

Obviously, you will need a solid CD collection to feed it but even if you have succumbed to streaming, I expect your parents will have a collection ready to be raided (with their permission of course). And then you can head over to the likes of eBay where you can pick entire collections for relative peanuts.

In the same way vinyl has come back into fashion, surely it’s only a matter of time before a CD revival comes around, and going for the Denon now allows you to get ahead of the curve. And I know building a CD collection is a cheaper option than starting a vinyl one!

If you still want to stream music, the Denon has Bluetooth connectivity (which you can switch off to preserve audio quality when using the CD player), but the beauty of this set-up is that it truly is a potent all-in-one package. The main unit can be bought complete with Denon’s own SC-M41 bookshelf speakers (including speaker cable). There are also the multitude of stations offered by the inclusion of DAB radio, a headphone jack for private listening, and both optical and analogue inputs should you want to connect any external kit.

The speakers use a 12cm driver/25mm soft-dome tweeter configuration and when we tested them, they were a great complement to Denon’s electronics, treating the listener to a large soundstage and loads of detail. Dynamics are large-scale and expressive too, with the speakers delivering whether tucked up against or set slightly further away from a rear wall.

Now you could just buy the main unit separately and add budget speakers of your choice. And yes, you might get a bit more detail and extra dynamics; but the Denon speakers were tuned specifically for that system's amplifier and I think you would be better off sticking with the complete Denon ensemble.

Last time we tested the D-M41DAB, the system cost £379, and over time the official price has risen up to £399. Should the urge take you, however, you can now buy the system for £349 at Amazon and John Lewis, a decent saving when you consider how long the Denon system is likely to last, which should be through university and well beyond!

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What does a modern hi-fi system look like? From the products themselves to the various ways we can listen to music these days, it has all evolved to such a degree that we now live in a world where everything is connected and integrated, and you can play music wirelessly at the tap of a button. Alongside that, what a music system looks like has gone beyond the shackles of a traditional separates set-up, which is good news for many of us short on space and cash but still wishing for proper good audio.

A blend of modern and retro aesthetics seems to be de rigueur and has wide appeal across generations too, and that’s reflected in our rather stylish, versatile and compact system here. 

Ruark Audio may be famed for its lifestyle-friendly radios, but the top-of-the-range R2 Mk4 is also bestowed with popular internet streaming powers, making it more akin to a premium wireless speaker imbued with hi-fi heritage. Similarly, Grado’s decidedly retro headphones styling both contrasts and complements the sleek Apple iPad for controlling all your music – put together, you have a trendy-looking, modern music system that sounds as good as it looks. 

The system

• Internet radio/streaming system: Ruark Audio R2 Mk4 - £479 / $540 approx / AU$949
• Wired headphones: Grado SR80x - £99 / $125 / AU$179
• Tablet: Apple iPad 10th Gen - £349 / $449 / AU$749 
• Total price: £927 / $1114 approx / AU$1877

Radio/streaming system: Ruark Audio R2 Mk4

The Ruark R2 Mk4 is the centrepiece of this system and fully functions as a music system in its own right. It’s a beautifully made cabinet, with slatted wood grilles and a large bonded-glass full-colour display for at-a-glance track information (and the time, date, station name and more). The elegant unit is larger than most bedside clock radios, but it can sit proudly on a bookshelf, kitchen counter or table, as long as it’s connected to the mains. 

It is a radio at heart, with FM, DAB/DAB+ tuners and internet radio offering thousands of stations across the globe. But it also boasts support for popular music streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music and Deezer once connected to your wi-fi network, giving you access to millions of songs from these online catalogues. You can connect any mobile or laptop device to the Ruark using Bluetooth too, meaning you can play music from Tidal, Apple Music, YouTube and many more. An aux input allows you to plug in wired sources, while the USB-C port handily charges up your smartphone or tablet as well. 

Sonically, the Ruark R2 is a delight. In our R2 Mk4 review, our in-house team of expert reviewers said: “For what is a fairly compact unit, the sound that emanates from the R2 Mk4 is surprisingly big and spacious, and it can reach decently loud volumes without getting too strained or losing composure. Even more importantly, the musical cohesion of a song remains intact and a compelling listen even at lower volumes.” 

It’s a full-bodied, expressive presentation with pleasing clarity, detail and natural warmth to voices, the latter being particularly well-suited to playing talk radio, live sports commentary, podcasts and vocal-heavy tracks. Basslines have texture, drive and convincing weight, while there’s ample headroom for high notes to soar. 

Rhythmically, it’s spot-on and hugely entertaining. Whether you’re listening to Absolute Radio’s pop hits, a bit of Classic FM, sludgy grunge tracks or Agnes Obel’s pristine vocals, the Ruark delivers subtlety, dynamic punch and textural depth in spades. It’s a wonderfully satisfying wireless speaker/radio system that can compete with the likes of Apple, Bose, Sonos and more, and while it’s on the pricey side, we find it is absolutely worth it. 

Tablet: Apple iPad (10th Generation)

The Ruark comes with an integrated “RotoDial” controller – a tactile, physical control on top of the unit with buttons and a dial for selecting menus, stations, sources, changing volume and many more options. It’s intuitive to use, but you can also download a third-party app (Undok or Oktiv) to make browsing radio stations, saving presets and playing from any music source much easier. 

You can use any smart device for this, including your existing smartphone, but we’ve picked the Award-winning Apple iPad here, especially if you use multiple music streaming sources and want a richer, streamlined experience for controlling the Ruark and your music. 

The 10th-generation iPad offers Apple's best tablet experience without breaking the bank. The screen quality is sharp, detailed and punchy, it is uber-slick and powerful in use, and it remains a great-sounding source for playing music. Every popular music streaming and podcast service, from Apple Music to SoundCloud to BBC Sounds, can be downloaded, not to mention various video streaming and game apps, should you wish to give all entertainment options an audio boost by beaming the sound to the Ruark R2. 

Wired headphones: Grado SR80x

The Ruark R2 also sports a 3.5mm headphone jack, and we have an excellent pair of wired headphones to complete this mini system. Headphones are a must if you like listening to music late into the night and/or don’t want to disturb your housemates or neighbours with Billie Eilish or MFDoom on repeat. 

Don’t let the Grados’ industrial looks fool you: these are lightweight, open-back headphones whose airy, transparent nature is ideal for long listening sessions. Rather unusually for these days, the SR80x is an on-ear model with foam cushions that might feel odd at first, but years of using Grado headphones have proven that they remain durable, breathable and cover our ears fully. Their open-back design means that they will leak a fair amount of sound and let outside sound in, but for home use we find this combination to be perfectly fine. 

This SR80 model has evolved over three decades and the current ‘x’ version features improved 44mm drivers and is easier to drive when plugged into smartphones, hi-res music players, wireless speakers and more. What hasn’t changed is their wonderfully dynamic, open and clearly detailed performance. We noted in our SR80x review: “Everything we like about their predecessors – their nimble-footedness, expressive, rolling dynamics, and insight across well-defined frequencies – has been inherited,” along with punch and a terrific sense of timing and agility. They have a wonderful sense of space and clarity, and while they’re a touch on the forward side (though without being clinical), that authentic, forensic approach works well with the Ruark’s smoother balance. 

Verdict

This combination gives you the best of both worlds: retro charm and cutting-edge streaming technologies, all culminating in incredible audio performance with true hi-fi heritage forming the backbone of this compact system. 

With this trio of products, you have got a bona fide music system that’s modern, accessible and sounds fantastic. 

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Naim and Ruark might have some competition. Cambridge Audio has announced the launch of its Evo One wireless music system solution that could be about to give the superb Naim Mu-so 2 and the exceptional Ruark R410 a run for their money. 

A premium all-in-one music system aimed at listeners who want hi-fi sound without the need for multiple separates and components, the Evo One aims to bring that signature Cambridge Audio sound, plus a fair few features and connectivity options, together into a single handsome unit. 

The Evo One houses a total of 14 drivers, with four 25mm silk down tweeters, four 5.7cm aluminium cone midrange units and six 7cm woofers configured to produce "a truly expansive soundstage" that will fill a room no matter where you, or your system, are positioned. Power is delivered via 700W of amplification, enhanced by Digital Signal Processing which Cambridge Audio says helps to produce a clear, deep and controlled bass signature. 

Operation and control of the Evo One are handled by the StreamMagic app, through which audio can be personalised via a seven-band equaliser. The StreamMagic platform allows for direct streaming via Tidal, Spotify Connect, Deezer and Qobuz, with support for hi-res audio files up to 32-bit/192kHz over wi-fi or an ethernet connection. It's even Roon Ready, while connectivity options come courtesy of Bluetooth, AirPlay 2 and Google Cast. 

If you want to go wired, an HDMI eARC means you can hook up to a TV and use the Evo One as an impromptu soundbar, while a moving-magnet phono stage lets you connect a turntable directly. Classic inputs, including a line input for analogue sources, an optical digital input and a USB-A port, round things off nicely. 

The Evo One has been designed to slot into any home set-up thanks to its natural yet elegant aesthetic. The grille's honeycomb construction protects the drivers while placing less mass in front to avoid obstructing the sound, while a 17cm colour display screen provides either a clock display, the album artwork and information about the current track being played or a pair of virtual VU meters for that old-school hi-fi touch.

The Cambridge Audio Evo One is available now, priced at £1299 / $1499 / €1499.

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dCS has unveiled its most advanced music system to date, promising a level of performance that it says goes beyond anything it has ever created.

The Varèse sits at the top of the brand’s existing product platforms and is the result of a series of projects that began a few years ago, says the British brand. 

While exploring how to improve the sonic and measured performance of its DACs, its engineers also considered whether they could develop a unified system to transport audio, timing and control signals, while improving clocking arrangements between audio components.

However, it also wanted to make it even easier for listeners to discover music and manage playback, and carried out a range of interviews with dCS owners worldwide to understand what the future of music interfaces might look like.

Bringing these two strands of research together, dCS decided to create a complete playback system that it says “reimagines how we interact and listen to music” and “reinterprets the dCS experience for a new era”.

Big upgrades come at a cost

The Varèse music system comprises five components, including the Core streaming and processing unit (£75,000), two mono DACs (one for each audio channel, £90,000 for the pair), a separate user interface unit (£20,000) and the optional master clock (£32,500), for a total eyewatering price of £217,500. A dedicated CD/SACD transport will be added to the lineup in 2025.

A suite of new technologies developed in-house at the Cambridge-based hi-fi manufacturer is at the heart of making this ambitious music system possible, including the biggest upgrade to dCS’s respected Ring DAC architecture in a decade.

This joins a new patented clocking technology called dCS Tomix, and a bespoke interface for carrying audio, control and timing signals between components called Actus, all helping to reduce jitter while increasing linearity, lowering the noise floor and eliminating crosstalk.

The result for the listener is, dCS says, an improved sense of realism across the board, with a more expansive soundstage and an increased sense of musicality and rhythmic flow, all helping to create a closer emotional connection with the music at hand. 

The dCS Varèse will be unveiled for the first time at the Hong Kong AV Show on 9th August, before it travels to other events worldwide. Demos will be available in the UK and US from September, with shipping beginning later in the year. 

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Building a hi-fi system? Here's the secret to matching the right components

The city of Sheffield in the north of England was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. As I get off at the city’s train station, there are reminders everywhere of the heavy industry that was once based there. It seems fitting that this is home to an engineering-focused company such as Wilson Benesch.

The brand was founded in 1989 and its first products were a high-end turntable called, quite simply, The Wilson Benesch Turntable, and the A.C.T. One tonearm. The initials A.C.T. stand for Advanced Composite Technology, and indicate the pioneering use of carbon fibre in the turntable’s sub-chassis and the arm’s tapered arm tube. 

At the time, only four companies in the UK were capable of producing carbon fibre: Lotus Racing, two suppliers connected to the Ministry of Defence, and Wilson Benesch. It is impressive that a start-up could be numbered among that group, but it also showed the adventurous nature of the brand when it comes to new technology. That drive continues to this day, with the company’s extensive use of 3D printing and the inclusion of innovative biocomposite materials in its speakers such as the Wilson Benesch Discovery 3Zero we have just tested.

The company is a family business, co-owned by Craig Milnes (design director) and Christina Milnes (managing director) and supported by their son Luke Milnes (sales & marketing director). It is based in a charming art deco building occupying a space of around 25,000 sq feet, and currently has 18 staff members. 

As I walk through the front entrance, it becomes clear that this is a place that makes things rather than simply assembles parts. For context, most small companies I visit tend to buy parts, such as drive units or speaker cabinets, from specialist suppliers rather than make them.

Wilson Benesch works differently. It has invested heavily in production equipment, from multiple CNC machines and carbon fibre tools to industrial 3D printers, and as a result can make a large portion of the parts used in its products. I see the billets of aluminium that go into making various items from speaker-stand bases to parts of the innovative motor system on the company’s recent direct-drive turntables, the GMT One and Prime Meridian.

As I am shown around the factory, it is hard not to marvel at the range of parts the company makes on-site, from tweeters and the larger Tactic 3.0 drivers to the carbon fibre innards and top panels that go into its extensive loudspeaker range. Wilson Benesch even veneers the metal corner pieces that go on the front of some of its speakers. These are all specialist tasks that most hi-fi manufacturers would outsource, but WB prides itself on making all these things in-house; it gives absolute control of quality and allows the brand to make refinements quickly and easily. Outside suppliers are used when it comes to applying the finish on parts or when extrusions are needed, but the company remains demanding in its quality requirements.

The Tactic 3.0 drive unit is a great example of where this bears fruit. This 17cm driver is used in some form in all the company’s speakers, but it is slightly tweaked for each application to optimise performance. These are not obvious changes, but they help to make the driver better suited for its specific task. If the Tactic 3.0 were bought in from an outside supplier, such flexibility would not be practical.

I witness the iGx infrasonic generator (subwoofer) being built and several of the larger standmount Endeavour 3Zero being assembled in another part of the factory. This is normally done by one or two skilled people, depending on the job – and the emphasis is always on quality.

After I look around the factory I go into the company’s new demonstration room, a large space with around 6 x 11m of floor area. I settle on the comfy sofa for a quick listen to some of the company’s top-end products. The system is made up of Wilson Benesch’s Prime Meridian Turntable, Graviton Ti Arm and Tessellate Ti-S cartridge (£203,000) feeding a CH Precision P1 dual-mono phono stage (£23,500) and a Trilogy 914/2 x 995R pre/power combination (£50,000). The speakers are WB’s range-topping Eminence floorstanders (£148,000). These towers stand over 1.9m tall and pack a driver array that includes four Tactic 3.0 bass drivers in addition to a quartet of isobaric units (each a pair of Tactic 3.0) per side. Ignoring cables – but not the £18,000 worth of in-house equipment racks – that little lot ends up at a grand total of £442,500.

I also noticed a sample of the company’s original turntable on one of the equipment racks and am surprised at just how modern it still looks. There wasn’t time for a listen, unfortunately.

Before I get to listening impressions, the usual disclaimers apply here. The room and every component in the system are unfamiliar, as was most of the music played. This makes it hard to make any definitive statements or judgements. What follows should be seen as a first impression, nothing more. Time was short too, giving me the chance to play just three tracks. One was from Laura Marling’s Live from York Minister set, another from Talvin Singh’s 1998 OK album; the track I did know was Spinning the Wheel by George Michael.

That system price is stunning, but then again so is its sound. Probably, though, not in the way that you might expect, given such powerful mono amplifiers (200 watts in Class A/B mode) driving such huge floorstanders. Of course, there is plenty of volume, scale and deep bass, but the thing I notice first is the naturalness of the system. 

It sounds convincing and, if anything, a little understated despite delivering dynamics with unusual freedom. While the system was obviously capable of thunder when the music demanded, it was the delicacy and unforced nature of the presentation that stood out. Detail resolution is exceptional, just as you would hope, and I could not find anything to criticise in the way the system assembled all that information. It sounded musical and entertaining. The high level of transparency was clear as I shifted between recordings, and rhythmic drive was good without dominating.

The system’s tonal balance was nicely balanced and stereo imaging, such as it could be judged by the recordings I heard, was expansive and nicely layered. All in all, the Wilson Benesch system was a real treat to hear and I would have loved to stay longer and tried a more varied array of music.

And then it is over all too soon. I haven’t got much time to get to the station before the train leaves and London beckons. As I collect my thoughts on the way back, it is fair to say I’m impressed by Wilson Benesch. While I knew it had always pushed material technology boundaries and wasn’t afraid to challenge industry norms with its products, I didn’t expect it to have so much engineering capability. It seems Sheffield’s rich industrial DNA continues to shine.

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Genelec 8381A hands-on review: our first impressions of the £60k active studio monitors

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Genelec is a Finnish company, based in the picturesque town of Lisalmi. Founded in 1978, it specialises in active monitoring systems for studios and has a huge product catalogue that covers a wide range of use cases. It isn’t a brand that comes up very often in our discussions of home high-end speakers, because its primary focus is on the recording industry. With hindsight, maybe it should be, given the £59,995 / $64,000 Genelec 8381A studio monitors’ impressively engineered hardware and sophisticated software package. 

While the company makes numerous relatively affordable active speakers, things get really ambitious as the price points rise. We were offered the chance to listen to the new 8381A active system and we couldn’t resist finding out just how good a high-end five-way, fully active monitor system could sound, particularly when calibrated by the company’s flexible room equalisation software.

Build & Design

The 8381A package is made up of two enclosures. The top one carries a coaxial tweeter/midrange array surrounded by a quartet of lower midrange drivers and a front-firing woofer. The lower enclosure is home to a pair of opposing side-firing 38cm woofers. The total package is huge at 145cm tall, 50cm wide and 69.4cm deep, about the size of a big fridge/freezer. With the included preamp controller, it weighs in at just short of 350kg. Your listening room floor had better be solid. Finish options are limited to either black or white. Either way, these are not speakers that just blend into the room unobtrusively.

The 8381A package comes with dedicated Class D power amplifiers that are specifically calibrated at the factory to match their intended enclosure. Power output? A total of 5926 watts allows the system to reach a maximum sound output level of 129dB per pair. That’s well into the realms of permanent ear damage, even over very short exposure. We didn’t feel the need to try that out.

There is a lot more here than just muscle, though. The tweeter is a 25mm compression design that sits deep in the throat of the midrange unit, much like the dual concentric designs that Tannoy specialises in. The advantage of such an arrangement is that dispersion is even in all directions and the acoustic centres of both drive units (the place where the sound appears to come from) are matched. This configuration helps integration too.

Where the 8381A differs from any other design we’ve seen is that it adds a quartet of dome midrange drivers around the coaxial unit. These are 12.7cm in diameter and generate a wavefront that in effect extends that of the main array to lower frequencies where the front-facing 38cm bass unit takes over. Factor in the effect of the carefully contoured horned-loading front panel and the result is a very wide listening sweet spot that retains a remarkable degree of focus and tonal balance as we move away from the prime listening position. This is a valuable trait in recording studios where engineers may be working at either end of a large mixing desk but also has benefits in the home when you don’t want to be tied into just one spot for the best results. Alternatively, assuming you are social, more than one person at a time can enjoy optimal sound.

There is another element to the 8381A package that separates it from pretty much any high-end domestic stereo speaker we’ve heard, and that’s the GLM (Genelec Loudspeaker Manager) calibration software. This is a wonderfully flexible way of controlling the sound from the speakers, allowing the user to tweak the presentation to taste as well as compensate for a multitude of room issues. The idea isn’t that GLM makes the acoustic quality of the room irrelevant, more that it is most useful for optimising an already decently balanced space. If you buy a pair of the 8381A, the company will install and optimise the results for you.

The package is fronted by the 9320A controller/preamp. It is a neat compact unit with USB-C, AES/EBU digital and balanced 6.3mm analogue inputs, as well as a 6.3mm headphone, AES/EBU digital and 6.3mm balanced analogue outputs. In our demo, we find the 9320A is nice to use and simple to operate.

Sound

So how does the full 8381A package sound? It is always hard to make definitive statements when we’re listening to new kit in an unfamiliar environment we’ve never heard before, in this case a slightly acoustically-treated demo room in White City. But our initial impressions are massively positive.

Given the size of the speakers and the huge power reserves of the amplification, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the Genelec to play loud without issue. That certainly proves the case. They stay remarkably clean and unstressed even when pushed very hard. There is no hint of harshness or edge up to the point where we give up and turn the volume down.

Next, with six woofers, each 38cm in diameter, it is no surprise that the 8381A digs to subterranean levels with ease. However, we were not expecting this level of bass quality; even the deepest notes are delivered in a wonderfully crisp and clean manner. Lows are astonishingly fast and articulate, stopping and starting with the agility we usually only hear at higher frequencies. As we listen to Beyonce’s Partition from Tidal, it is hard not to be entranced by the 8381A’s low-frequency ability and wonder why more domestic high-end speakers can’t match its talents in this region.

We follow with Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy, Massive Attack’s Paradise Circus and Kanye West’s Black Skinhead, each highlighting the Genelec’s high level of resolution and ability to organise all that information cohesively. There is plenty of punch, but also precision in the sound. At times, this package is breathtaking in how it can unravel a dense mix. It is highly revealing in general, particularly of dynamics and the way compression is applied to those recordings.

Tonality? That’s not an absolute here in the way it would be with conventional speakers, as the GLM software allows an extensive degree of adjustment. Find the 8381A too bright or lacking a bit of richness? Within sensible limits you can adjust either to taste. Regardless, there is no criticising the seamless way the five drive units integrate. It is exceptional.

So far with the music we’ve chosen during our demo time with the speakers, it all sounds a bit intense, so we opt to drop down a gear to Loom from Olafur Arnalds. We’re glad to report that the Genelec package conveys this calmer recording with skill, moving from an in-your-face presentation to something more soothing. While it is hard to be definitive from this demo, we have question marks over absolute refinement and the system’s ability to render the subtler textures of instruments and voices, but it still produces stirring results. This package is analytical in the extreme, and none the worse for it.

Stereo imaging seems beautifully stable over a wide range of listening positions. It sounds crisply defined but maybe doesn’t quite exhibit the sense of space and depth that we would hope for. Once again, it is hard to make definitive judgements on this without spending more time with recordings we know well.

Early Verdict

If the holy grail of high-end hi-fi is to recreate the sound heard in the studio then the Genelec 8381A package is a home run. It is hardly elegant or luxurious, but the heavyweight engineering coupled with sophisticated room equalisation software results in a terrifically capable yet flexible performer. We leave the audition convinced that Genelec offers a strong and credible alternative to traditional high-end offerings.

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McIntosh has launched a Bluetooth hi-fi device positioned as the choice for audiophiles.

The McIntosh MB25 "Bluetooth Transceiver" costs £850 / $600 / AU$TBC, so it certainly has an audiophile-grade price tag. It promises to add Bluetooth to "virtually any high-end audio system from any era", thanks to its versatile range of physical connections. These include balanced and unbalanced stereo inputs and outputs, and digital coaxial and optical inputs and outputs.

That means you can stream your vinyl and CDs to your classic speakers positioned throughout the home, and play music wirelessly from a phone or tablet over Bluetooth. 

It follows the MB20 from 2021, and adds an illuminated front glass panel, the ability to select the desired input in transmit mode, and power controls so it can turn on or off with the rest of a McIntosh audio system.

The Bluetooth 5.0 onboard isn't the latest version of the technology, but it does support high-fidelity codecs like AAC and aptX HD. And it's equipped with a high-performance 32-bit DAC for receiver mode and a premium Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) for transmitter mode.

There's no getting around that price. Just last week, FiiO launched a similar device (with added full wireless streaming) for under £100 / $100. Though if you have a classic system, and McIntosh's sound quality is as good as it promises, you might find the MB25 Bluetooth transmitter/receiver worth the extra outlay.

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British brand Orange, best known for its eye-catching series of guitar amplifiers, continues its expansion into hi-fi and consumer audio with its new Pyramid audio system, a compact design which Orange claims delivers "powerful sound" alongside "exceptional connectivity".

The Orange Pyramid system consists of a pyramid-shaped amplifier with a pair of bookshelf speakers, all delivering 40 watts per channel (into 4 ohms). According to Orange, the unit has been tuned to offer a "warm, clean sound" and avoid the fatiguing effects of brasher, more in-your-face systems.

Its Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity gives you access to wireless music streaming from smartphones, tablets and laptops, while RCA and 3.5mm aux inputs let you connect to physical sources such as turntables, CD players and portable music players. If you're seeking an eye-catching soundbar alternative, Orange says the Pyramid system can also be connected to a TV to boost your cinematic sonic experience – although it doesn't sport HDMI or optical connections.

It's not all about the amplifier with Orange's rather out-there system. The Pyramid includes a pair of "Voice of the World" bookshelf speakers which have similarly been engineered to offer that same clean, warm sound as pursued by the amplifier. The speakers' 25mm soft silk dome tweeters and mid-range drivers strive for smoothness and balance at the top end, whereas refined reflex ports and specially designed speaker cone excursions aim for further smoothness from the lower-end frequencies.

The Orange Pyramid system has, as you might expect, been designed to evoke the grand structures of Ancient Egypt, hence Orange adorning the unit with its signature hieroglyphs around the base. Sporting an eco-friendly wooden cabinet with a white piano finish, the unit features a top-mounted prism which glows to indicate the current mode of operation. Just like in ancient times... 

The Orange Pyramid system is available now for £795 (further prices pending). 

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It’s not often that we at What Hi-Fi? get to test a turntable from a new brand. The vinyl disc, after all, was clearly facing a rapid demise in the early 1980s with the stunning arrival of digital media in the form of the compact disc; or so the hi-fi industry (What Hi-Fi? included) thought. As it turned out, though, not so much. 

It is common knowledge that the turntable is enjoying a great revival, and sales of vinyl records have been on the up for a couple of decades now. Still, a new brand to extol the virtues of the old analogue medium is something of a turn up for the books.

So please join us in welcoming Rekkord Audio (and forgiving its spelling of its name), whose excellent fully automatic turntable is paired here with equally excellent Marantz and WiiM electronics and Wharfedale speakers for one of the most versatile and affordable systems we could build.

The system

• Turntable: Rekkord Audio F110 (£399 / $449 / AU$849 )
• Streamer: WiiM Pro Plus (£219 / $219 / AU$339)
• Integrated amplifier: Marantz PM6007 (£449 / $699 / AU$1100)
• Standmount speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 (£249 / $399 / AU$699)
• Total price: £1316 / $2215 / AU$2987

Turntable: Rekkord Audio F110

The joy of this deck, as a glimpse at our Rekkord Audio F110 review will tell you, is that not only is it a very fine performer in its own right, but it is also one of those relatively rare beasts, a fully automatic turntable. So all you have to do to enjoy all that your vinyl collection has to offer is to place a record on the platter and hit play. The deck will do all the hard, and potentially stressful, work of lifting the tonearm, moving it into position above the spinning groove, and gently lowering the cartridge into place for the needle then to spiral its way towards the middle of the disc and the music’s end; finally, as a departing party trick, the F110 will pick the arm up again and put it back in place to rest. It’s all rather reassuring – especially for those with less experience of playing records. 

It makes sense, then, to use this new deck as the starting point for an effective, and relatively low-cost, hi-fi system that suits this, the final year of the first quarter of the 21st century, rather nicely. 

Integrated amplifier: Marantz PM6007

We marry the Rekkord deck with a perennial favourite budget amplifier – Marantz’s oft-decorated PM6007. Its sonic character is as familiar as its casework: smooth, full-bodied and balanced, with a pleasing spaciousness. As we say in our Marantz PM6007 review, this is about as agreeable a performer as you could ask for at this price. Particularly useful for our purposes here though – to go with the class-leading sound, of course – is that the PM6007 has the phono stage that the base-level Rekkord F110 lacks. And it’s a decent example of the breed. 

Standmount speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1

The third part of our four-piece puzzle here arrives in the form of a fine pair of standmount speakers. The Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 gave us a pleasant surprise when we first reviewed them. At their modest price, these little boxes are fighting against some really very good and nimble standmount rivals. As we say in the review: “Speakers at this level have to achieve a difficult balancing act. They have to be forgiving enough to work with microsystems, but still have the transparency to make the most of dedicated separates components. The Diamond 12.1s manage this task well.”

These speakers have a surprisingly bold and full-bodied presentation. They sound confident and composed in a way that evades most budget rivals, and top that with a good degree of refinement.

Tonally they are smooth and forgiving but remain nicely balanced, with enough in the way of bite. Feed these Wharfedales a poor signal and they will certainly tell you all about it, but they also refuse to over-egg things and that’s an important quality at this level.

We like the reassuring way the Diamonds handle larger-scale dynamics, delivering more in the way of authority and scale than their modest price and size suggest. Low frequencies come through with confidence and more fullness than expected. Impressive stuff for 250 quid.

Streamer: WiiM Pro Plus

The system above wouldn’t look out of place back in the early ’80s, however. So, to bring things properly up to date, we complete this hi-fi with the little streaming wonder that is the WiiM Pro Plus. This remarkable piece of kit caused a fair bit of consternation when we tested it – it delivers a performance that can’t be matched for getting on for twice the price. 

Wireless functionality is where it’s at for a music streamer, of course, and the WiiM Pro Plus has plenty going on in this respect. As well as dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth 5.1 (with SBC and AAC codec compatibility), Chromecast is built in, AirPlay 2 is available too, and the Home control app has support for Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Deezer, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn and plenty more slightly less high-profile alternatives too. The app can also access any music stored on a common network thanks to DLNA compatibility.

“The WiiM Pro Plus does its best work when given a big, information-rich high-resolution audio file to work its magic on,” we say in the full review. “But one of the most satisfying things about the entire Pro Plus experience is just how forgiving it is of inferior sources. No matter how compressed or otherwise poverty-stricken the audio information you give it to deal with, the Pro Plus is a clear, detailed and even quite dynamically adept listen.”

And, when used in conjunction with the other members of this set-up, and the addition of some other WiiM products, you could quite easily have your vinyl playing through many rooms in the house at the same time, using the Pro Plus to send the music out from the system. It’s very neat; and, as we say in our conclusion to the review: “It sounds poised and accomplished, it has a surprisingly well-executed control app, and it’s ready to form the basis of a multi-room system too. If you want to do better than this, it’s going to cost you quite a lot more money.”

It rounds out this system really nicely then, as a quartet that does its main job with great enthusiasm and ability, but that has upgrade and multi-room potential at the same time. And all for the price of a decent television; this set-up, though, should provide sterling service for a good deal longer than a TV before it becomes obsolete. 

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For anyone with deep enough pockets for a £450,000 / $600,000 Lamborghini Revuelto, we could understand if the only audio they are interested in is the monster V12 engine screaming and spitting flames behind their head.

Sonus Faber hopes to change those opinions by offering an exclusive sound system for one of 2024’s hottest supercars.

“Working on the Revuelto has been exhilarating yet challenging given the cabin’s restrictions and the sound of the incredible V12 behind the seats” said Fiore Cappelletto, Vice President and General Manager Automotive at McIntosh Group.

Those cabin restrictions are presumably part of the reason why the system is a relatively modest affair by modern standards. It features just seven speakers in total: one tweeter and mid/bass driver in each door, one full-range centre channel in the dashboard and two full-range surround speakers, one behind the driver, the other behind the passenger.

Sonus Faber claims it delivers a “natural, clear and detailed sound” using a natural fibre composite material developed specifically for the Revuelto. The centre speaker has been designed “to provide a distinctive sound experience directly in front of the pilot and co-pilot.”

The system is powered by a new Class D amplifier with 750 watts of total power. It works in tandem with a powerful DSP (Digital Signal Processing) unit which “ensures smooth transitions between electrical signals and acoustical tones.”

Should your bank balance be buoyant enough to afford one, you can pre-order your Sonus Faber-equipped Revuelto this month – but you could be in for quite a wait. The car is now sold out until late 2026. Lamborghini will confirm pricing later this month.

Lamborghini has teamed up with Bang & Olufsen in the past and we have been lucky enough to experience its system in the Urus SUV, so we’re interested to hear what type of sound Sonus Faber brings to the party.

Also, it’s not the first time Sonic Faber has joined forces with a luxury Italian car manufacturer. A collaboration with Maserati has seen optional systems roll out across its current range; adding another Italian partnership to its portfolio makes perfect sense.

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When Burmester said it had something special lined up at the start of its demo at High End Munich 2024, it wasn’t kidding. Little did I know, but a legend was about to be brought back from the dead before my eyes.

But first, a bit of scene-setting. For those who haven’t been to Munich High End, it’s an audiophile’s dream. One of the best parts of the show is walking around and every so often taking a few minutes to listen to one of the systems being demoed at the show.

There must be hundreds of different set-ups on display – virtually every room you stumble into has music playing either on headphones or speakers – and before you know it, you’re in your listening groove and the whole day has flown by.

And there really is a system for everyone at the show from relatively affordable set-ups (at least by the standards of some of the brands there) to absolutely mind-blowing combinations that can cost a million or two.

Burmester brought the goods

In 2024, my personal highlight came courtesy of Burmester and its demo room. The German high-end hi-fi giant always has a significant presence at the show, and this year was no exception, with the company showcasing its brand new BX100 floorstanding speakers.

In the flesh, they look stunning, whether you’re lucky enough to be able to opt for one of the standard finishes (such as white, matte black or gloss black) at €75,700 per pair, or you can stretch that budget to €80,000 and one of the special paint options.

They are four-way speakers with a front-facing midrange driver, woofer, and two side-mounted woofers. An AMT (Air-Motion-Transformer) tweeter is mounted within its own dedicated, isolated section, which looks like an ‘X’.

The BX100 were driven by quite a collection of Burmester electronics and sources. The system comprised the 111 Music Centre (£14,500 / $55,000), which was ably assisted by the company’s 218 power amplifiers (£34,6000 / $50,000 each). The other source on display was Burmester’s 175 (approx €40,000 / $60,000) reference turntable.

I sat down and was introduced to the set-up by a Burmester representative who played five tracks to give the small audience a flavour of what it was capable of. It was a textbook demonstration with each one aimed at highlighting the strengths of the speakers. So far, so Munich.

Long live the King

But it was the sixth and final track that blew me away. Our Burmester host switched playback duties from the 111 Music Centre to the 175 turntable and announced he had something special to play for us.

It was a record, but not just any old record – a direct-cut disc, created using a master tape of a recording of Fever by the King himself, Elvis Presley. 

And wow. From the first bass note and finger snap, I was captivated. The system oozed class and sophistication out of every polished pore. The sense of immersion was next-level and closing my eyes it felt like the King was giving us a private performance in his blue suede shoes.

The recording was very simple, but this just highlighted how good the system and speakers were at painting a believable picture. There was no room for error and Burmester didn’t miss a beat. The set-up created a fantastic atmosphere. The lack of background noise in the track helped give an unbelievable amount of space around the different elements. In turn, this gave the track a next-level feeling of intimacy and it felt like you were right there in the recording studio.

It peeled back the layers of detail in Elvis' voice and the finger clicks with impressive precision. The track’s swaggering bassline bounced along keeping the rhythm flowing. My fingers and feet couldn’t help but tap along in time.

Okay, so the stereo imaging was slightly trickier to get a feel for because I was sat behind several bodies that disrupted the sound waves on their way to my ears. However, I spent about 25 minutes in the demo, which left me wanting another 25 minutes. In fact, I could have stayed there all day listening to tracks from my own personal playlist. And that’s all you can ask for from any hi-fi system at any level, right?

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Arcam created a bit of a stir when its new-look Radia Series of hi-fi separates launched in October last year. The range brought a fresh new design language for the brand and it got off to an absolute flyer with the A5 and A15 amplifiers and CD5 CD player all getting five stars at the hands of our review team.

And now at High End Munich 2024, the British company has taken the wraps of not one but three new additions to the range.

First up we have a pair of premium all-in-one music streaming systems set to give Naim’s Uniti range a run for its money. Both the Arcam SA45 (pictured above, £4499 / €4999) and SA35 (£2999 / €3499) feature Class G amplification, high-res audio support and run off Arcam’s latest streaming platform. They also include a switchable MC/MM phono stage for connecting a turntable and an HDMI ARC socket for hooking up a compatible TV.

You can even take advantage of a two-way aptX Adaptive Bluetooth module which allows you to stream music directly to the system or from the system to compatible wireless headphones.

The SA45 is the more powerful of the two streamers (180 watts vs 120 watts per channel into 8 ohms) and has a larger 8.8in high-resolution display versus the 6.5in display found on the SA35 (above). Both models support Bluetooth 5.2 and Dirac Live Room Correction; you get a mic and remote in the box to help with room calibration.

Not content with two new launches, the third new product to surface at High End Munich is the company’s flagship standalone music streamer, the ST25 (£1499 / €1799). Arcam claims it builds on the success of its ST60 model (which we gave five stars) and adds a new platform for digital audio and streaming, a redesigned power supply and an upgraded user interface.

The ST25 (above) features a 6.5in high-resolution display and connects to your home network via Arcam’s Radia set-up app. And you can take your pick from streaming options that include Apple Airplay, Google Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Roon.

Interested? Well, the only bad news is that you’ve got a slight wait ahead as the Arcam SA45, SA35 and ST25 only go on sale in September. The plus side, of course, is it gives you more time to start saving!

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You might associate Sennheiser more with headphones than in-car audio, but the brand is starting to make its presence felt on four wheels. Its latest venture is with Spanish car brand Cupra (which is owned by VAG, the Volkswagen Group).

Cupra has just announced a 2024 refresh for its Formentor and Leon models and for the first time, you will be able to specify your car with an optional Sennheiser Mobility sound system.

Think of Sennheiser Mobility as the company’s automotive audio arm. Which, in its own words, “creates immersive audio solutions for the best possible in-car entertainment and communication experience.”

The 425-watt 12-speaker system is available for both car models and uses Sennheiser’s Ambeo Concerto software to process the sound and provide a more immersive listening experience.

It does this by taking a stereo signal and using its algorithm to take the different elements of the music and redistribute them to create a more three-dimensional sound.

For 2024, both Formentor and Leon also get an overhauled infotainment set-up, including a new 12.9in display and operating system. The main display also features an illuminated volume and climate slider, while the system supports both wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.

Wireless fast-charging (15W) for your smartphone is there too, including “refrigerated technology” which we presume is designed to keep your smartphone cool while charging.

This isn’t the first time Sennheiser has dipped its toe in car audio. Back at CES 2020 the company announced it was partnering with Continental to build a speakerless car audio system, and we had our first real hands-on experience at the end of 2020 when we listened to an Ambeo Mobility demo car.

Since then, Sennheiser has designed a lightweight audio set-up for the Morgan Plus 4 and also features in the Morgan Plus 6. Sennheiser Mobility is also part of the offering for Cupra’s upcoming Tavascan all-electric SUV.

For those unfamiliar with the automotive brand, Cupra was previously a performance offshoot of Seat. It was only as recently as February 2018 that Cupra became its own separate sports brand.

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I have always been intrigued about this thing called 'system matching'. I understand it from an electrical and mechanical viewpoint: I know to partner a low-compliance cartridge with a high-mass tonearm so that the overall resonance moves to the right place, and why it makes sense to use high-sensitivity speakers with a modestly powered amplifier to get enough volume level. These things can be easily understood if you know basic physics and a few simple formulas such as Ohm's Law.

However, it is harder to understand why some components work better together than others, even if the basic engineering compatibility requirements have been satisfied. Some people believe it is all about complementary frequency responses; as long as you partner a bright amplifier with a smooth pair of speakers, everything will be fine. That makes a degree of sense, but I can’t help thinking that it goes much deeper than that.

Tonal balance is important, of course, but over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to match the way components deliver detail, speed, dynamics, stereo imaging and rhythmic drive matters even more. Getting it right is the difference between a system making a decent sound and a great one. Of all the systems I've heard, the most cohesive-sounding ones are those where all the constituent parts operate at similar levels across all these parameters.

In my experience, having listened to and matched more components than I care to remember, you need every part of a system to pull in the same direction and have complementary characteristics if it is to shine. For that to happen you need a good feel for the sonic signature of each component and you must ensure that any negative qualities aren’t emphasised. A forward-sounding amplifier with a slightly bright-sounding set of speakers? No, thank you. Careful listening is the only real way of knowing whether components match well or not, and it helps if you can find a good, experienced dealer that has already done that leg work for you.

One of the most common questions I’m asked is how to split a budget between components. The safest answer – the one conventional wisdom supports, and the one we at What Hi-Fi? have promoted over the years – is that each main part of a system should cost roughly the same. For example, if you're in the UK and have £1000 to spend on a new system, it is generally considered sensible to spend around £300 each on the source, amplifier and speakers, putting the remaining amount towards the cables. (Some people doubt the value of having decent cables; I’m not one of them.)

Put it all together, taking care to match component characteristics, and you are guaranteed a well-balanced system with class-leading performance, right?  Well, if you have put in the work, the chances of the system being balanced and sonically capable are high; but class leading? Maybe not.

While such budget-splitting logic seems to make superficial sense, such a way of thinking presumes that it costs the same amount of money to make every part of the audio chain equally good. Think about it: some of these components are mostly electrical (streamers and amplifiers) while others are more mechanical (record players and speakers). Given production costs, methods and materials used, it is highly unlikely that a £500 record player and a similarly priced amplifier are on the same rung of sonic ability in their respective categories. That would suppose some direct equivalence in the price of sound-critical parts such as a turntable's bearing and an amplifier's mains transformer. That doesn't exist. 

What kind of price ratio should we be looking at between different sorts of products then? It would be lovely to offer you a hard and fast rule, but I don't think one exists.

So how should you split your budget? Despite everything I have just said, as a general rule the balanced way isn’t a terrible starting point. I just certainly wouldn’t be bound by it. In recent months I’ve heard the £6500 Fyne Audio Vintage Classic X floorstanders sound lovely with Arcam’s A5 integrated amp (£749), and PMC’s excellent Prodigy 1 standmounters (£1250) deliver sweet results with Naim’s Super Nait 3 amplifier (£4299). Neither of these pairings is particularly obvious and you might well raise an eyebrow if your local dealer recommended them. But musically, they work for me.

The answer seems to be to trust your ears. Build a system by starting with a list of basics: the sources you want, the features you need, and the space you need to fill with sound. Then think about the types of music you listen to and how you would like it to sound. Once you get that far, read our reviews, go to a reputable dealer and listen with an open mind. Don't stick with a rigid formula when the evidence of your ears takes you elsewhere. Be brave with your choices.

If you asked me whether system matching is an art or a science, I'd have no choice but to say 'both'.

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While many of us probably left our appetite for renovation projects back in 2020, Bang & Olufsen has seemingly run with the newfound hobby.

Having that year recreated 95 of its Beogram 4000c turntables from the 1970s, it has now revived another classic from the past for limited-edition sale: the Beosound 9000 CD player. Only this time it isn’t just a CD player (probably sensible), it's a fully fledged music system.

While the fully restored and reimagined six-disc CD changer from the 1990s lies at its nostalgic heart, the Beosystem 9000c also comprises the company’s 2021-released Beolab 28 active wireless speakers and a Beoremote One control. Today, 200 systems become available, priced at £45,000 / $55,000 each.

The second project in the brand’s recreated classics series came from a desire to “demonstrate that a second-life product can be just as attractive as a new product and that a high-quality item such as the Beosound 9000 doesn’t need to have an end-date,” says the company’s Mads Kogsgaard Hansen.

You can read more about the super-slim and ultra-smart Beolab 28 speakers here, but in a nutshell they have amplification built-in, offer wireless streaming via AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Bluetooth 5.0, and, in true B&O fashion, sport some unique mechanical wizardry: when the system is switched on, the speakers slide aside into either ‘narrow’ (focused stereo image) or ‘wide’ (wider dispersion) mode.

As for the resurrected Beosound 9000 CD player, B&O managed to source 200 of them to bring back to its factory in Struer, Denmark – the very place where they were first created in 1996. Closing another satisfying circle, some of the technicians who worked on the original have played a hand in inspecting, repairing, cleaning and tuning the players for this project, too.

Presumably so that the CD player and speaker pairing would get the nod of appreciation from even the most meticulous interior designer, Bang & Olufsen inverted the deep black and natural aluminium finishes of the original colourway of Beosound 9000 to match the Beolab 28’s aluminium lamellas and black aluminium base. Every aluminium element of the CD player is a re-machined and re-anodised original part – hairline brushed, etched and pearl-blasted.

According to Bang & Olufsen, the industrial designer of the original Beosound 9000, David Lewis, advocated designs that allowed owners to see – and be ‘in touch with’ their music, hence the visibility of all six CDs through a glass lid. The idea apparently came to him while walking past a record store in London where six CDs were laid out in a row in the window. To complement that visual flare, the CD-changer mechanism moves from the first CD to the sixth, and momentarily holds it so that owners can read the text on the disc, before registering the information and playing it back.

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Here we have a hi-fi system that beautifully marries the best of modern streaming smarts with some top-notch analogue performance, all while looking reassuringly on-trend and old-school in appearance. That somewhat retro look is brought about not only by the obvious inclusion of a turntable, but also by the ’80s look of the relatively affordable Mission amplifier around which this system is built. And even then, in all other respects, the thoroughly up-to-date Cambridge Audio music streamer wouldn’t look hugely out of place in a system from before the turn of the century.

The system

• Integrated amplifier: Mission 778X (£549 / $549)
• Turntable: Rega Planar 2 (£499 / $775)
• Music streamer: Cambridge Audio MXN10 (£449 / $499)
• Floorstanding speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.3 (£499 / $998)
• Total price: £1996 / $2821

Turntable: Rega Planar 2

Rega’s Planar 2 can sometimes fall a little between the cracks when it comes to the systems that we create here at What Hi-Fi? It suffers from having excellent siblings both lower down and a rung up the performance ladder; which is a real shame, because this turntable is a sterling performer in its own right, and deserves its place in the limelight. And its merited spot as the centre of attention comes right here, perfectly placed as it is in this £2000/$3000 system.

A proper and appropriate step up in performance from the excellent, and Award-winning, Planar 1, the Planar 2 is an energetic player that's able to punch out bass notes with enthusiasm while being nimble and precise enough to deal with complex rhythms and the nuance of technical pieces. It is able to cope with everything thrown at it with apparent ease – and makes listening to any type of music properly entertaining.

Music streamer: Cambridge Audio MXN10

The Rega deck shares source duties in this system with Cambridge Audio’s equally impressive MXN10. This little box of tricks fits in rather well here, in a small way because of one of our minor criticisms of the music streamer: that there is no display on the front of the machine showing you what is playing. It’s not a major issue in use, of course, because most of us use our smartphone or tablet to drive a streamer – and indeed it means that the bijou box is remarkably unobtrusive in a system. This is no “look at me!” digital diva.

Yet the performance it provides suggests that it would be well within its rights to blow its own trumpet far more than it does. For this is without doubt one of the finest sub-£500 streamers on the market.

It comes equipped with the ESS Sabre ES9033Q DAC, which allows it to stream hi-res files of up to 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512 resolution from a variety of sources – an impressive specification for a unit in this price range. And, of course, it sounds terrific for the money, effectively delivering a slice of its big brother CXN (V2)'s performance on a smaller scale – there’s authority, musical cohesion and rhythmic and dynamic prowess in spades. It treads an impressively well-chosen path between the detailed, spacious sound of the Audiolab 6000N Play and the more characterful energetic balance of the Bluesound Node (2021), but offers up more dynamism and expression. And it's that easy-going combination of strengths that makes this Cambridge streamer such a winning proposition. In this set-up, it’s a bit of a no-brainer.

Integrated amplifier: Mission 778X

The amplifier in this system is the latest in an increasingly long line of hi-fi products that hark back to the ‘glory days’ of the 1970s and early ’80s. Nothing wrong with that of course – as long as it’s the essence of those veterans that is aimed for, rather than precisely the same performance. And Mission has hit the sonic sweet spot here in a unit that would (thankfully, given the company’s intention in marketing the 778X) look completely at home in a system from Bowie’s heyday.

As we say in our review of the Mission amp, it digs up plenty of detail and is composed enough to arrange all that information into a cohesive and musical whole. This is a nice, open, balanced sound and it has a particular strength with voices – there is a lovely blend of bite, sweetness and insight at mid-to-high frequencies.

“Dvořák’s New World Symphony is a demanding classical piece,” we say in the review, “but the Mission delivers enough in the way of scale and authority to satisfy. It is composed with demanding music such as this, and does well at capturing the grandeur and emotion of the music.”

And what is particularly impressive in a product such as this is that the sound from this Mission 778X amp remains consistent through its various inputs – including, importantly for our purposes here, its moving-magnet phono stage.

Floorstanding speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.3

The final component of this competitively priced all-round hi-fi system comes in the form of some of our favourite floorstanding loudspeakers. As we say in our review verdict: “It’s tough to make a truly talented affordable floorstander, but Wharfedale has cracked it with the 12.3. They are terrifically accomplished for the money.”

They come in the choice of four finishes and aren’t huge by floorstanding standards, so should fit nicely into most listening environments. We find they work well if positioned at least 50cm from the rear wall; when we reviewed them, we settled on placing them 90cm out into our test room. Similarly, keep them at least 70cm away from the side walls if you want to maximise stereo imaging, sonic balance and clarity. Having said all that, don’t worry too much about positioning these speakers; you don’t need to be perfect to get great results from them.

We wax lyrical in our review, saying that the Diamond 12.3 “deliver a lovely layered sound that is brimming with detail and dynamic nuance. They have a pleasingly sure-footed manner and don’t get tripped up when things get complex.

“They resolve a large amount of information, but also present it in an organised and controlled way. We appreciate the articulate and expressive midrange and the seamless integration between the drive units, and like how Wharfedale has avoided excess; there’s enough bass weight to satisfy but not so much that it spoils the balance of the presentation. The lows are agile, satisfyingly rich and textured with it.”

Sounds like the perfect complement, then, for the impressive electronics that we have grouped them with here. This is an absolutely stunning winning stereo combination for around two grand. Brilliant.

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The new breed of just-add-speakers streaming systems is slowly but surely gaining popularity, but Audiolab has a trick up its sleeve with its Omnia version: it can play CDs.

While the likes of Naim, Cambridge Audio and NAD combine the old and the new by offering physical inputs and a phono stage alongside the latest hi-res streaming facilities, Audiolab Omnia has all of those but also remembers that not everyone got rid of their CD collection when streaming took the world by storm.

We’ve seen the 2022 Award-winning Technics SA-C600 take the same approach with the addition of CD replay to its one-box streaming abilities, but Audiolab technically got there first: the Omnia made its official debut back in November 2021.

The price of the Audiolab Omnia is £1599 / $2299 / AU$2999, nearly double that of the Technics SA-C600 (£899 / $999 / AU$1749), but competitive with Cambridge’s Audio Evo 75 (£1999 / $2499 / AU$3299). 

You’ll have to go double the price for the next step up to the Naim Uniti Atom (£2499 / $3799 / AU$4800), which makes the Omnia seem pretty good value considering the wealth of features you get with the one box.

Features

The Audiolab Omnia wins the prize for being the most well-specced and features-laden streaming product of its kind we’ve seen yet. Whether you like your music streamed or still favour physical formats, the Omnia can play it. 

Let’s start on the streaming side: you get wired ethernet and dual-band wi-fi, as well as Bluetooth. Yes, the three antennae attached at the back can look a tad busy, but the trade-off is greater stability – which is always preferable if you’ll be streaming wirelessly regularly.

The Omnia’s network streaming section is powered by DTS Play-Fi technology, similarly used by Audiolab’s 6000A Play and Award-winning 6000N Play. It’s through this software and the Play-Fi app that you also get access to a wealth of music services, including Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz and various internet radio stations.

The Play-Fi app (available for iOS and Android) also serves as a kind of music butler, making connection with and playing music from your audio library stored on a DLNA-compatible NAS drive or media server. You can even group together any other Play-Fi-supported products you have into a multi-room system within the app. 

The third-party app is stable and works just fine, although at times we miss the personal touch given by the dedicated apps used by Audiolab’s rivals, which serve to streamline the user experience further. 

If you’re playing hi-res streams, make sure you toggle the “Critical Listening Mode” on in the app, as this will ensure music is played at 24-bit/192kHz quality over wi-fi or ethernet, without any downsampling. The standard mode tops out at just 16-bit/48kHz as it is optimised more for multi-room bandwidths.

Sticking with the Omnia’s streaming talents: Spotify Connect is also on board, while Bluetooth 5 is accompanied by support for aptX, aptX LL, AAC and SBC codes. It can fully decode MQA files from Tidal and also has Roon Ready certification.

On the physical connections side, there are two inputs apiece for optical and coaxial (and a single output for each), USB type B for connection to laptops and a USB type A port for hard drives. It’s through this PC USB type B input that you can achieve the Omnia’s maximum resolution file support, which is up to 32-bit/786kHz PCM and DSD512. 

There are four analogue line-level inputs and vinyl fans are further served by the inclusion of a moving-magnet phono stage. You can even split the Omnia’s amp stages to hook up an external preamp or power amp. Quite the multi-tasker.

And finally, there is a dedicated headphone amplifier stage that feeds into the 6.3mm jack in the front panel.

Rival systems from Cambridge Audio, Naim and NAD vary in the connections and integrated sources they offer, with CD replay being the main exception. The NAD M10 adds in an HDMI input, which is a useful addition.

There is plenty of well-designed circuitry and advanced technology brimming under the hood that informs all the connections. Inside the Omnia lies a class A/B amplifier, made up of high quality components that are reportedly equivalent to the Audiolab 6000 series’ separate pre and power amps. That’s high acclaim, and the Omnia’s own preamp and power amp stages use short, direct signal paths to ensure as pure a signal as possible.

Meanwhile, the 50W per channel into 8 ohms power output should be more than enough to drive a wide variety of speakers. We use KEF’s LS50 Meta standmounters as well as our reference ATC SCM50 without issue.

The Omnia uses a 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC, and Audiolab’s design team has paid great attention in particular to the post-DAC active filter. This uses op-amps specifically selected for their “synergy” with the ESS Sabre DAC.

Build

The Omnia has a sturdy, well-built casework that feels every inch of its price tag. Its aluminium enclosure comes in black or silver finishes, and it looks smart, too.

Our only complaint is with the CD disc tray, which feels flimsy to the touch compared to the rock-solid build of the rest of the Omnia. Audiolab says that the disc-reading mechanism is based on the one used in the 6000CDT transport, and uses a high-precision optical system and an electronic data buffer that should minimise any disc-reading errors. We’re happy to report that the flimsiness of the tray doesn’t affect playback performance – just our impression of the product’s quality. 

Compared to the more lifestyle-leaning designs of the Technics, Cambridge Audio Evo and Naim Uniti systems, the Omnia’s appearance is decidedly reserved. The front panel keeps things simple with the slim CD tray slot and a handful of small, responsive buttons for power, source selection, playback and volume control. 

That’s because the spotlight is given over to the glorious 4.3-inch full-colour IPS LCD screen that dominates the front panel. It’s clear Audiolab’s designers have taken special care with this display: it’s large, easy to read from a distance, displays album artwork and plenty of useful track information without ever looking busy. 

You can even pick different displays: select either analogue or digital VU meters that show real-time decibel levels for the left and right channels. It adds a lovely touch of the old school to a modern hi-fi device and a sense of levity to the Omnia.

While we wish there was a physical volume dial to go with that display, the included remote control does the job well enough. It’s a solidly made handset that feels nice to hold and we found it intuitive in use and a better alternative to the Play-Fi app for adjusting the Omnia’s playback, source and volume.

Sound

The Omnia is a weighty and easy listen from the second we press play. The sound is rooted with authority, is clear and defined, with a decent handle on rhythm and timing.

We play A Perfect Circle’s Thirteenth Step album on CD, and the Omnia shows off its power. It’s a big and bold performance, with ample grunt and texture to the heavy guitars and ferocious drums. Vocals are focused and forthright. 

While we could do with more outright attack and punch, we like how open and spacious it all sounds. There’s good dynamic contrast, with the Audiolab able to reach the charging intensity of the heavier chorus with as much skill as the quieter, more sombre moments of Pet.

Switch to Chilly Gonzales’ piano compositions (played on CD and streaming via Tidal), and you can clearly hear the deep textures and resonances around each piano note being struck, as well as the higher tinkling notes that are crystal clear (but never bright). It’s a skilled and smooth approach, with a balance that we could listen to for hours without tiring. 

This easy-going character is replicated across all of the Audiolab’s many sources and inputs, including the headphones port (which we tested using Focal’s excellent Clear Mg over-ears). However, we found that songs through Bluetooth sounded the weakest; the Omnia has so many ways of playing music, we’d use any of them instead of Bluetooth.

It may be nearly half the price, but the talented Technics SA-C600 system shares more features in common with the Omnia than other rivals, especially the CD player. The Technics may not be as big-scaled, open or reveal as much detail as the Omnia, but it’s more adept at conveying enthusiasm, rhythmic precision and dynamic punch – all qualities that the Omnia could do with a healthy dose of. 

The rapid-fire keys – which time with stunning precision – and rousing sense of momentum in Gonzales’ Blizzard in B Flat Minor are more immediate and captivating through the Technics. The interplay of notes and precise edges in songs like Four Tet’s Circling or Massive Attack’s Teardrop is more tangible, too. While Omnia is more capable in hi-fi terms, we simply want a bit more punch and drive to the proceedings. 

Verdict

As it stands, though, the Omnia is extremely easy to listen to, and we can imagine many being more than content with its smooth, authoritative presentation. If you’re after a high-performing streaming system with all the bells and whistles you can think of, this Audiolab is well worth considering. 

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Features 5
• Build 4

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Are you looking for a neat, good-sounding but affordable hi-fi system? If so, Elac’s Debut ConneX DCB41 might just be perfect for you. It is a powered set-up where one speaker contains all the electronics, including the 2 x 50 watts of amplification, while the other is a conventional passive design. 

Build & features

The two speakers are linked with a standard, supplied speaker cable. Unlike with pricer alternatives such as Triangle’s AIO Twin or the KEF LSX II, there aren’t any network streaming smarts included here, so you need to supply the source. This can be an aptX Bluetooth signal from your phone, or anything digital that directly connects through the USB (Type B), optical or HDMI inputs. That addition of HDMI ARC is a smart touch and opens up the ConneX to be used with TVs.

Analogue users haven’t been ignored either. There’s a single set of stereo RCAs that can be switched between being a line-level or a moving magnet phono input. In an ideal world, we would have liked a coax (digital) and maybe another analogue line-level input, but it is fair to say that Elac has covered most bases well.

We have a few complaints, though. The volume knob, which toggles through the inputs when pressed, is awkwardly positioned on the back panel. You could just use the supplied remote of course, but that’s not always conveniently to hand. Elsewhere, it would be nice to have some indication of volume level. At the moment there isn’t anything, which could lead to unpleasant surprises when swapping sources.

The Debut Connex DCB41 doesn’t take up much space. The individual units stand around a hand-span high, fitting into most places with ease. Build quality is pleasing, good and solid. These speakers would be right at home on a desktop, but can also work in a decently-sized room provided you don’t require party levels.

As befits a product of this type, the ConneX speakers don’t prove overly fussy about placement, though they do work best when given a little space to breathe and situated on a solid, low resonance support. Proper speaker stands would be ideal, of course, but we understand that such supports aren’t a practical solution for some.

Sound

These Elac are equipped with a small 10cm mid/bass unit and a 19mm soft dome tweeter. The low frequencies are tuned by a rear-firing slot reflex port, and stay pretty controlled even when placed relatively close to a rear wall and, just as commendably, when we boost the bass by using the XBass setting from the remote. This setting adds a welcome dose of weight to the sound, but can easily sound a little too obvious, so we end up leaving it off.

If you want to hear this system at its best use the digital inputs. Used this way it is a clear, balanced and insightful performer. There’s a good level of detail here and the ability to organise that information into a cohesive and musical whole. As we listen to a range of music from Sorrows Away by folk group The Unthanks to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, it becomes clear that this is a surprisingly capable performer. 

The overall presentation is controlled and even-handed in the manner of Elac’s award-winning Debut 2.0 series of passive speakers. It isn’t the most thrilling of presentations – Triangle’s more expensive AIO Twin is a more energetic performer – but the understated way this system goes about its job is eminently likeable. This is a product that fades into the background, leaving the music to take the limelight.

This can only be done if there are no obvious areas of weakness, and that’s the case here. Nothing jars or distracts from the music being played. The Elacs’ presentation is nicely judged in the sense that it’s a little rounded to keep the system unfussy about recording quality, but not so much that better signals suffer. We happily switch between Bluetooth and the other digital inputs without issue, despite it being clear that the wireless link is the most limited sonically. 

Try the line-level analogue input and there is a small loss in transparency and openness, but the Elacs’ strengths are preserved. It remains informative and enjoyable. It is only when we come to the phono stage that we’re left a little disappointed. This phono stage is fine for occasional use, but sounds a little too opaque and lacking in dynamic expression to keep our interest for long. If vinyl replay is a priority, we would suggest budgeting for an outboard phono stage such as the Rega Fono Mini A2D.

Verdict

We’re big fans of systems such as this. They’re neat, well-featured and the best of the breed represents excellent value. Given the Elac Debut ConneX DCB41’s aggressive pricing (£529 / $595 / AU$900), it earns a rich recommendation from us.

First reviewed: December 2022. Updated review: November 2024.

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 4
• Features 4

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The smart stuff in Denon’s amplifier here comes primarily from the inclusion of the HEOS wireless and multiroom streaming platform, which was one of the first to appear, along with Bluesound, as part of the post-Sonos streaming revolution.

The HEOS platform is no surprise – it has appeared in a good many previous Denon and Marantz products, as well as those which were initially branded to HEOS itself. 

The surprise here, then, is that Denon is saying that this is the first time HEOS has been incorporated into something it considers to be a ‘pure hi-fi amplifier. So Denon’s goal for the PMA-900HNE is clearly defined – it’s an upper mid-range hi-fi integrated amplifier that is network connected, streaming as easily as it plays from conventional sources.

Denon's 900 Series

That differentiation of ‘pure hi-fi’ is an interesting one, and an important stepping-off point for the design of the PMA-900HNE.

This 900 Series ranks right in the middle of Denon’s hi-fi solutions, below the range-topping premium PMA-A110 introduced to mark Denon’s recent 110th anniversary, and below the PMA-1700NE.

Both those higher amplifiers have (or will have) a matching level of CD player available – both of them SACD players indeed, in the DVD-A110 and the DCD-1600NW. (“We appreciate the CD format and will always continue to support it,” said Denon's team during a recent presentation to EISA editors.)

The 900 Series also has an associated CD player, the DCD-900NE, which is less substantial than the higher models and not compatible with SACD discs, but which has a USB-A slot from which it can play FLAC up to 24-bit/192kHz or DSD to 5.6 MHz. 

The 900 Series CD player also features Denon’s Alpha processing in its 32-bit Advanced AL32 Processing form. Denon’s Alpha processing operates during the digital-to-analogue conversion, and to smooth the final analogue waveform beyond the ‘steps’ of a digitally-derived waveform into something more truly analogue.

The amplifiers below the 900 Series in Denon’s hi-fi range are the PMA-600NE, with a headline 45W power per channel into 8 ohms (20Hz-20kHz, T.H.D. 0.07 per cent) compared to this 900 Series’ 50W, but no HEOS.

There’s also the older DRA-800H, worth mentioning, as on paper it appears impressive for its price of £599 / $699 / AU$1449, offering 100W into 8 ohms (20Hz-20kHz, T.H.D. 0.08 per cent) and also having HEOS inside, while its inputs extend to HDMI switching, with no fewer than five HDMI inputs. At least a single HDMI ARC input for playing from a TV does seem a directional trend for modern stereo amplifiers, and we did ask during Denon’s presentation to EISA why this new PMA-900HNE doesn’t have one.

Denon’s answer was doubly revealing: firstly the DRA-800H is not a pure hi-fi product, they said; it is derived from Denon’s AV platforms (as its appearance also suggests) and it includes compromises on its amplification and its power supply quality. 

As for why there’s no HDMI ARC on this new model, it’s simply the cost of licensing, we were told – including it would add an estimated €200 to €300 (approx £230 / $250 / AU$450) to the final retail price.

So having established the ‘pure hi-fi’ credentials of the PMA-900HNE amplifier, what does it offer?

Build & facilities

Out of the carton, the 900HNE certainly feels solid and substantial; its ventilated top is a durable plastic with embossed lines for strength, but all other sides are metal. The bottom section is shaped for improved rigidity and the sturdy front panel is made of aluminium. 

Everything is good and solid around the back, with sturdy sockets and speaker terminals, while the front is traditional hi-fi rather than anything 21st century. There’s a very small text display restricted to a square “low-noise OLED display” that is all of 4cm across. This looks a bit last century compared with the large colour displays of some streaming amplifiers, and we have to wonder if this is to allow design convergence with sister brand Marantz, given that the same small display might also fit neatly within the Marantz signature ‘porthole’ circle. 

Still, it does its job indicating the current volume, controlled by the big left knob, and source selection, made using the smaller right knob, which is continuously tapered so that we found it relatively hard to grasp, also requiring a firm but pleasing turn to clunk it through its various input selections.

There are two sets of speaker outputs (note that ‘Speakers A’ is unusually the bottom set of the two), and these can be used for bi-wiring if you select ‘Speakers A+B’ from the front-panel switch. The rear panel also offers fixed line-level ‘Record outs’ and a single variable subwoofer output filtered at 150Hz. The subwoofer output operates only in conjunction with ‘Speakers A’; it is turned off when you select ‘Speakers B’.  

The PMA-900HNE is fairly well provisioned for physical inputs, even without any HDMI. There are three line-level analogue inputs plus a phono input for a turntable with an internal phono stage which is switchable between moving-magnet and moving-coil, using the press button on the front panel. There are a generous three optical digital inputs and one coaxial digital input, plus a USB-A slot which can play from sticks and drives, handling MP3, AAC and WMA, plus FLAC, WAV and Apple Lossless to 24-bit/192kHz, or DSD to 5.6MHz. Note there is no USB-B socket here to allow direct playback from a computer.  

There are two little screw-in antennas which allow both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection, but there’s also an Ethernet socket on the rear panel if you’re able to give it the benefits of a wired network connection.

The Bluetooth spec is SBC only and doesn’t include aptX, not even stretching to AAC, so Apple users will be best to use the included AirPlay 2 for direct streaming, while Android users should head straight to the HEOS app. 

HEOS streaming & multiroom

Once networked the whole HEOS offering becomes available, with app-controlled access to streaming services. For paid services HEOS links directly to Spotify (free and paid), Amazon Music, Deezer and Tidal, plus free services TuneIn and iHeart internet radio, and also SoundCloud. (We should note and applaud that the HEOS app is properly regionalised for Australia, so we don’t see services like Pandora and XM Music which HEOS may support in other markets but which aren’t available here. Some rival platforms don’t do this; HEOS is perhaps advantaged in this by much of its software development taking place in Sydney.)

Other services, of course, can be sent point-to-point from a smart device using AirPlay 2 or Bluetooth, though bear in mind the very limited quality of the latter. The AirPlay 2 would also allow Roon to stream to the Denon, which has been labelled as ‘Roon Tested’.

There’s also DLNA network streaming available in HEOS, selected under the ‘Music Server’ tab, though you may need to enter paths to your music to get that working, which can be a little longwinded.  

Finally, there’s voice control available, up to a point and with varying degrees of utility, from Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or, via your iPhone, Siri.

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Setting up

We had no problems setting up the PMA-900HNE; only those twin speaker outputs confused us, as we connected to ‘Speakers B’ initially and wondered why we could only hear the subwoofer mumbling away to itself. That corrected, we gave the amp an Ethernet cable and turned to the HEOS app; once signed in the amp was quickly ‘discovered’ and able to be controlled from the app, including source selection, music selection and volume. 

There is, however, a full-size remote control, as every product requiring volume control should have (too many these days leave you with only app control!). This is nicely laid out, the volume and mute buttons clear, and with buttons for direct access to each input, so you don’t need to clunk away on that second knob. 

The only possible confusion is that some buttons don’t control the amp at all: for example, there is a ‘Source Direct’ button which clarifies the sound by removing unnecessary processing, but there is also a ‘Pure Direct’ remote key which we thought might be even better, but which didn’t do anything. The web manual explains this is a function for the matching CD player only, as are other buttons, including transport controls and dual power keys. So this is a 900 Series system remote, ready to run the CD player too, should you invest in that legacy format.  

You can fashion your own little ‘Source Direct’ action by individually turning off functions you don’t use if you feel they might add noise to the system. We were using Ethernet networking, so we could turn off the Wi-Fi altogether. After trying Bluetooth, we turned that off too. You can turn off networking and USB-A operation if you’re not using them, but we were, so we didn’t. 

You can adjust some settings through the menus in the HEOS app, but not, it seemed, all of them. For turning off those bits, you’ll need to use the tiny front panel display, as you will in order to adjust auto-standby, which was one of our first stops, as it seemed the amp was turning off every time we left the room. Do check HEOS menus as well though (‘settings’ appears only on the HEOS home screen, then go to ‘My Devices’/PMA-900HNE). The amp came to us with its EQ maxed up on both treble and bass, so we re-centred those. 

There is a ‘Quality’ option which was set to ‘Normal’ so we changed it to ‘High’, though we later found this affects only the signal shared from this HEOS module to other HEOS speakers around the home. (During this test we didn’t have any other HEOS in the home, so didn’t experience the multiroom sharing abilities of this amplifier – a significant bonus if that’s what you’re planning.)

Another bonus we came across in the HEOS menus – the PMA-900HNE can learn IR controls from any old remote you have lying around, at least for volume up/down and power toggling. Not only is this handy should you ever lose or break your remote control, but it also allows you to teach the Denon amp your TV remote commands, which may allow easier control for TV sound through one of those optical inputs (one of which is labelled ‘TV’, and has input sensing so it should come on automatically when receiving a signal). On the other hand, using a TV remote may simultaneously control your TV speakers or leave you in power toggle desynchronisation, which can be more annoying than not doing this in the first place. But the option is there.

Sound performance

All set up, we just started playing music, initially digitally, from our music computer, via a high-quality DAC into one of the analogue inputs. 

The sound instantly revealed that crucial differentiation which Denon made between its AV platform level of sound and the sound of one of its ‘pure hi-fi’ products. Through our reference speakers it opened wide a classic mix like The Temptations’ Just My Imagination, each track clear in its panning, with several interweaving string parts, lead and harmony vocals, harp and drums kept hard left, and the combination of it all dripping with smooth musicality. 

One extraordinary bit of soundstaging came when playing a live Michelle Shocked track from the bonus disc with the 2003 re-release of ‘Short Sharp Shocked’. This is a camp-fire recording that sounds like a simple two-channel recording, and it blows out with plosive pops every now and then, but what impressed us when we listened through the Denon was the soundfield created from the atmosphere and audience around her, so wide and deep that we almost huddled ourselves closer towards the fire pit.

It even managed to cut through the dense layers of Alex The Astronaut’s Haircut to fully follow the climbing curve to its cathartic chorus, and it made bouncy and well-separated fun of the bubbly electronica through her watery single Octopus. 

The amp’s ability to entertain can be judged by us losing well over an hour of productive review time when our Apple Music subscription led us to a series of Wet Leg videos. Their track Chaise Longue also gave more than an inkling of the high-quality power here; this is no streamer running a token power circuit. Even with the track up and cranking, the gear shift to the chorus was all growth, no compression. 

Given the shots and cracks of Jim Keltner’s track on ‘The Sheffield Drum & Track Disc’, there was no doubting the Denon’s ability to let forth a crack-whip of intense power at full transient speed and with an impressive weight. 

Even a recording like John Lennon’s (Just Like) Starting Over, which can emerge thinly from less discerning equipment, here was given a real solidity of thwack to the kick drum of Andy Newmark, amid a sound mix that was accurately delivered as lean, but never mean.

For what do we thank this strong hi-fi performance? Some solid hi-fi engineering, we think. The PMA-900HNE may not get the full suite of Denon technologies, given its midranking position, but it gets a good lot. 

It has a high-current main transformer on a 1.6mm-thick metal base, with separate windings for audio and control circuits, and customised block capacitors including an ‘Elna For Audio’ main capacitor. 

The overall design takes the top-down approach from the flagship PMA-A110 along with selected audio components from the PMA-1700NE, including electrical volume and tone controls which allow shorter signal paths – the whole construction is also divided by signal-level – to help achieve up to 7dB better signal-to-noise up to the preamp gain control and into the AHC (advanced high current) transistors which Denon says handle two to three times the electrical current capacity of conventional audio power transistors. Denon uses these in a single push-pull circuit; it doesn’t use the MOS power transistors of the higher-level amps. But it does have a solid extruded aluminium heatsink for cooling.  

The digital section, meanwhile, is extensively shielded and uses Denon’s DAC Master Clock design and an ESS 9018K2M DAC (replacing a TI PCM1795 because of parts shortages) with that AL32 processing to smooth the way.

All this supports the HEOS sources available here, as the HEOS module delivers a digital output which can benefit from the superior digital and analogue circuits here compared with, say, a lesser HEOS unit. 

Open the HEOS app and choose a service, or just open Spotify if you prefer, and select the Denon as the ‘speaker’. We were doing this with Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al, thinking it sounded good enough for a free Spotify stream, but realised we could improve the file quality by streaming from Apple Music losslessly and throwing it to the Denon via AirPlay. This sound was far more solid, bright and expansive in every way. It’s worth considering the different paths you may have to playback and picking the optimum one to enjoy the best possible quality. With its combination of services, internet radio and network file playback, HEOS offers no shortage of options, and most people will be able to carry on using whatever source and apps they currently prefer, simply using the Denon as the output, instead of headphones. 

We closed with a listen to the phono stage, or more accurately to the music which the Denon sent through, whether the smooth sound of Miles Davis bringing in the melody of Autumn Flowers to ground the expansive version on Cannonball Adderley’s ‘Somethin’ Else’, or the rocky prog of the late Vangelis under side two of Aphrodite’s Child’s legendary ‘666’ on Dean-labelled Vertigo vinyl, where wide-panned drums spanned some fizzy bass synth on Aegian Sea and the subsequent Seven Bowls rather freaked us out. 

We could select Source Direct for the phono input (and doing so nicely sharpened the timing and clarified the edges of the frenetic piano on The Marching Beast); in this mode the tone controls become inaccessible, but we really don’t think you’ll be needing them. 

Verdict

This Denon smart amp makes an interesting comparison with other approaches. It’s clearly more traditional hi-fi than a product like the Bluesound Powernode, and with more traditional inputs so that those of the older school may find it easier to use. NAD’s smart amplifiers – the C 700 for example – take a different approach again, putting the smart stuff at the front with an amp behind it. Denon, however, has taken its hi-fi amplifier expertise and added streaming to the front of it – and that might be the better way to ensure sound quality at the heart of your hi-fi. 

Another comparison can be made with Denon’s stablemate Marantz, which has recently released the Model 40n, a more expensive smart amplifier with more power reserves to draw on, and a prettier design perhaps, though otherwise doing pretty much the same thing. For all but difficult speaker loads and the biggest dynamics, the Denon PMA-900HNE goes a long way towards that amp’s performance – and at a fraction of its price.  

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Denon didn’t necessarily need to release a new micro system with the D-M41DAB. The multi-Award-winning D-M40DAB hung around our most-read reviews list like an Adele record that simply refuses to drop out of the charts.

Logically, then, there are two explanations for this latest model. Either it’s a subliminal reminder that Denon remains at the top of this tree or, in the near-two-year wait for the product’s emergence, the company has once again managed to significantly better itself.

The lengths to which Denon has gone with this updated system would suggest the latter. And the multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards it continues to receive confirms it.

Features

Even if the rest of the package had remained the same, the inclusion of Bluetooth for the first time in this range (which can be turned on or off to avoid affecting the D-M41DAB’s overall performance while not in use), is our first cause for celebration.

The lack of wireless capability didn't stop us giving Denon Awards, but it had been the only blot on the M-series’ otherwise-pristine copybook.

Given the merits of the D-M40DAB, it might have been risky for the company’s engineers to tinker so much with the insides of its flagship micro system.

Denon claims its brand new analogue amplifier circuit offers greater clarity and purity, with shortened signal paths and further measures to avoid sources of interference built in.

This is part of what Denon dubs its Triple Noise Reduction Design which, while sounding like something off a gastro-pub menu, also encompasses careful separation of analogue and digital circuits plus precision signal grounding.

It also claims distortion from the input selector, volume control and power amplifier has been better suppressed for the purest possible sound.

Build

But if Denon has redesigned the interior of its micro system, the same cannot be said of the façade. At a glance, the only way to tell the D-M41DAB apart from its predecessor is the CD drive and display screen have swapped places, so that the former sits above the latter – as it did prior to the D-M39.

On closer inspection, however, you’ll notice the screen is flatter than before, meaning less reflection. It isn’t immediately obvious, but placing the pair side-by-side reveals a significant improvement.

You’ll also notice Denon has removed the USB input. There are still analogue and digital optical inputs for playing music from an external source without Bluetooth, such as an old iPod, but it means no more memory sticks.

As with previous models, the D-M41DAB is available with or without matching Denon speakers. Without, the system is called RCD-M41DAB. The speakers are dubbed SC-M41. Put the two together and you have the D-M41DAB we're testing here.

Last time we tested a Denon micro system, we preferred its designated speakers to any price-comparable alternative.

Though they look the same as before, Denon says it has fine-tuned this 12cm driver/25mm soft-dome tweeter configuration to make the partnership even more harmonious. If you buy the complete system, you’ll also take receipt of upgraded, heftier speaker cable.

Sound

So the design has undergone more than just a tweak, and the rewards are reaped in the performance. The D-M40DAB improved on its predecessor in just about every department, but it wasn’t as clear a leap forward as this. Here, the whole character of the system has been bettered.

We play Hot Chip’s Made In The Dark on CD and immediately notice the spacious gains in the soundstage as well as greater detail. Dynamics, too, are more insightful and expressive – and this is only in the album’s opening build with the intro of Out At The Pictures.

By the time it gets properly going, it’s as if the Denon has been on a mindfulness retreat for the past two years and rediscovered itself.

To say the presentation is more forward is not a slight. The balance here is still pleasantly even, but it really throws itself into the changing rhythms and does so with sprightly confidence.

We play around with speaker positioning and end up with the SC-M41s further away from our back wall than a bookshelf would really allow – but the tonal character isn’t compromised if it’s a tight fit. Really, it’s another feather in Denon’s cap to have retained worthwhile heft and stability without the assistance of a rear wall.

We’ve hinted long enough in our reviews that Denon should add Bluetooth connectivity to these systems, and it has been integrated very well indeed. The drop in sound quality from CD to Spotify stream has no effect on the D-M41DAB’s sonic mastery.

We change pace with Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker and it’s clear the energy with which the Denon rendered Hot Chip can be easily traded for gracefulness when playing the more delicate passages of this album.

While its touch is light across the fingerpicked acoustic guitars in tracks such as Oh My Sweet Carolina, it gives away no weight in Adams’ vocal performance.

The combination of low-end stability and dynamic sensibilities leaves us with a remarkably human performance for a hi-fi system at this price.

Verdict

Denon could have simply added Bluetooth to its system and struck the only item from our “against” column. But we’re pleased it didn't.

If the D-M41DAB – which we'd again recommend pairing with the company’s designated speakers – doesn’t quite put its predecessor to shame, it certainly puts it in the shade.

It sees multiple marked improvements across the board, combining to offer a character of performance that could hold its own against groups of separates at a greater cost.

We suspected it would be good. We just didn’t realise it’d be this much better.

Review published: 2017. Review updated: November 2024.

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The Yamaha R-N303D stereo receiver takes me ‘way, ‘way back. Back to when I was a poor student with a love of stereo, but with limited finances to indulge it. Everything was analogue back then, but the analogous cash-strapped student of today would surely want a mix of analogue and digital. The Yamaha R-N303D stereo receiver does both very nicely.

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Equipment

I think about the Yamaha R-N303D in this way: take a modern, networked home theatre receiver and eliminate anything and everything beyond what’s required for stereo music. I know audiophiles are not keen on home theatre receivers but in practice they provide lot of performance for the money. In this case, the things dropped are anything to do with video, all the extra power amplifiers, and all the digital processing.

What the Yamaha R-N303D offers is analogue stereo power output of 100-watts per channel into 8Ω, four line-level analogue inputs, coaxial and optical digital audio inputs, Ethernet and Wi-Fi for network streaming, and Bluetooth, plus an FM/DAB+ tuner, all in a clean, if somewhat boxy, design.

My review unit had a brushed aluminium face, but black is also available. The front panel is also adorned with a display to show information such as current input selection, plus a menu for setting things up. A neat infrared remote control lets you control things from a distance.

At its low recommended retail price and with a wide feature set, you could expect some compromises, of which the Yamaha R-N303D stereo receiver has several. The power rating, for example, is for the frequency range from 40Hz to 20kHz, not from the more traditional 20Hz. And the power is referenced with a THD limit of 0.2%, rather than the more typical sub-0.1% rating. 

Furthermore – and this may be a real limitation – Yamaha cautions that the nominal impedance of connected speakers should be at least 8Ω. And if you’re planning to have both the A and B speaker outputs running at the same time, the speakers should be 16Ω. Since there’s virtually nothing on the market with such a high impedance, it would probably have been better for the receiver to have had a switch that selects between the two, rather than two buttons it does have, which can be engaged simultaneously.

There are two possibly significant omissions. The first is that the analogue inputs are all line-level. Which is to say, to play vinyl you will need to buy an external phono preamplifier, or use a turntable with a built-in phono preamp. The latter are increasingly common, along with those with USB outputs, so perhaps it was worth the cost savings.

The second is that there is no line-level subwoofer output. That won’t bother many, but one route to good-quality sound at a low price is to couple a pair of high-quality compact speakers with a subwoofer.

Network and Bluetooth

A single antenna on the back is provided for both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Wi-Fi supports standards up to 802.11n and runs on the 2.4GHz band only. If you have an Ethernet cable point handy, it could be worth connecting that way if only to reduce the crowding on the 2.4GHz channels. 

The Bluetooth is fairly basic, running version 2.1+EDR. These days Bluetooth is up to version 5.1. For stereo music, the two codecs on offer are SBC – which is supported by everything that can do stereo – and AAC, which is generally supported by Apple devices, along with a smaller number of Android phones.

On the network front, the receiver works with Yamaha’s MusicCast multi-room system. The main way that you’ll send music to it is using the MusicCast app (on Android and iOS). You can use the app effectively as a remote control, selecting inputs, tuning radio stations and choosing from amongst the network audio offerings supported by the app. 

These include Pandora (which isn’t available in Australia), Deezer, Spotify, TIDAL and Internet radio. For Spotify and TIDAL and (I think) Deezer, you need a subscription. The MusicCast app invokes the Spotify app when you choose that service, and it directly interfaces with TIDAL music.

With Spotify, you change the speaker once you’re in the app to the Yamaha receiver. TIDAL’s own app could not see the Yamaha receiver, which is a pity. The MusicCast app playing back TIDAL music was not gapless. Indeed, there were gaps several seconds long between what should have been the run-on tracks in Marillion’s ‘Misplaced Childhood’. 

One workaround I used was to use the TIDAL app on an iPhone and then use AirPlay to send the music to the Yamaha R-N303D. But doing that results in lower quality than regular TIDAL. And that album is a “Master” on TIDAL, decoding to a lossless 96kHz sampling. The Yamaha R-N303D receiver can’t do the necessary unpacking.

The receiver also supports digital audio streamed from local network sources. It worked with my FLAC content at up to 192kHz as well as double-rate DSD (ie. DSD128). The handling by the MusiCast app was quite elegant, with a clean screen layout.

Listening sessions

I did almost all my listening with three sources, only one of them external to the Yamaha R-N303D receiver. The two internal sources were its DAB+ tuner and its network playback capabilities. For the latter, I mostly used TIDAL as the source, except when there were lots of run-on tracks. The insertion of gaps made listening to those too frustrating. The firmware on my review sample was Version 1.18. It may be that this issue can be rectified by a firmware update.

The other source was a turntable. But which turntable? Somehow my Rega Planar 3/Moon 110LP v2 phono preamplifier combo seemed a little too much for a receiver like the Yamaha R-N303D. A better match was the new Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB turntable. Forget about the BT and USB stuff. It still has an analogue output, with a switchable phono pre-amp. With the AT-VM95E cartridge, it’s priced identically to the Yamaha R-N303D receiver. The speakers I used were a pair of KEF R300 three-ways. They’re large bookshelf-size models, and good down to 40Hz.

The network audio performance was excellent – aside from that irritating TIDAL gap– on just about everything. Streaming the Prelude to Delibes’ ‘Lakmé’ (Mesplé, Burles on EMI), the opening brass and percussive blast was solid and powerful, carrying through to the point where the bass drum entered the mix. The strings were smooth over to the left side of the stage while there remained plenty of air surrounding the instruments.

Streaming Indiscipline from the 24/96 2011 remaster of King Crimson’s ‘Discipline’ resulted in a powerful, controlled and very engaging delivery. Bruford’s drums danced over the top of the mix. The sound of Levin’s Chapman Stick was solid and extended and decent control over proceedings was maintained by the receiver.

I found myself almost unreasonably enjoying the performance of the receiver when playing vinyl. For example, the ridiculous insertion of harpsichord into the rock rendition of Dance of the Little Fairies on the 1980 album ‘Sky 2’ simply worked, and seemed not at all out of place with a drum performance that seemed to have bypassed the engineering suite’s limiters. 

The bass kick was a touch soft, but given the solid bass performance with the digital material, I suspect that’s due to the common vinyl bass reductions (got to fit that 18 to 25 minutes on a side, after all!) The thing about harpsichords and drum kits both is the importance of transients to their delivery. The Yamaha R-N303D was up to the task. Easily.

Background detail was there in abundance, along with a decent amount of space.
The reverberant air around – again – the drum kit in Sahara, on the same side of the same album, was very satisfying. That was an early pressing – made in Sydney in or soon after 1980 – that I bought new back in the day. Hey, AU$9.99 for a double album from a now long-defunct record shop! 

Moving into this millennium, Laura Marling’s ‘Once I Was an Eagle’ is a fine acoustic work, released in 2013. The analogue version has the 63 minutes split over four sides on heavy vinyl and this was pressed in the EU. I am more used to the CD version. Played analogue on this combo, the upper bass of the tom-tom – hand-struck I’d guess – was fuller and more reverberant. But her close-miked voice had the same slightly in-your-face impact. Stereo imaging of the various elements was precise, with modest depth.

There wasn’t quite the magic delivered by my main system. But there was a decent representation of the music. Best of all, there was plenty of good clean fun.

Final verdict

If I were once again a student in a room in Glebe, I would have given just about anything for a system based around this Yamaha R-N303D stereo receiver, especially if it were coupled with some half-way decent 8Ω speakers. Thanks to the network audio and DAB+/FM being built in, all you need to add are those speakers and you’ll have a vey good-sounding, cost-effective hi-fi system.

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Lab test results

So, does the Yamaha R-N303D actually deliver 100-watts of power per channel?
I test power output at three frequencies – 100Hz, 1kHz and 10kHz – and push up sine wave levels until just before there’s any visible flattening or instability shown on the oscilloscope. 

At 100Hz the Yamaha R-N303D receiver pushed out 107-watts into 8Ω. At 1kHz it increased slightly to 110-watts, while at 10kHz it fell back to 94-watts. Of course, no consumer audio amplifier is ever called upon to deliver even one watt at 10kHz, so in terms of power, the amplifier is well and truly satisfactory.

I had not studied the manual before I ran these measurements, so I blithely connected the receiver up to 4Ω test loads and re-ran the power output tests. At 100Hz, 1kHz and 10kHz, the receiver delivered 132-watts, 136-watts and 146-watts respectively. Why the increase at 10kHz? No idea… but it may be concerned with Yamaha’s admonition to use 8Ω rather than 4Ω speakers.

We must remember not to get too hung up about what appear to be marked differences in power measurements, of course. Remember, all six of those figures are between 19.7dB and 21.7dB above one watt, so there’s less than 2dB difference between them.

I did not have high hopes for the performance of the headphone output and was consequently not surprised by its results. Clearly, the headphone output is supplied by the main amplifier with an in-line resistor of around 460Ω. That was not a problem as far as power output goes. Into a 16Ω load, the receiver could deliver more than 80mW, and into a 300Ω load, that went up to a massive 640mW. These output levels are, respectively, 19dB and 28dB above the usual 1mW sensitivity rating of headphones.

The problem isn’t power, it’s that the in-line resistance makes the output voltage level vary according to load impedance. Some headphones – planar magnetic designs for one – have a more-or-less even impedance across their frequency range, but the impedance of many headphones varies widely. The latter will have a frequency balance that mirrors the impedance curve, which makes performance quite unpredictable.

I ran the usual suite of noise, distortion and frequency response tests… twice. The first time I measured at the line level outputs. Note, these are not pre-amp outputs as such. They are fixed in level, more akin to the tape outputs of amplifiers of old. You could use these to feed some other device, but you’d need to have a volume control on that device. As we will see, I wish Yamaha had seen fit to include preamplifier outputs on this unit. It would make for a nice upgrade path with the addition of a higher quality power amplifier.

The second set of measurements was at the speaker outputs, each driving a 8Ω resistive load with the output level set for one watt of output with a 1kHz signal peaking at 0dBFS.

So, let’s start with noise performance at line level. Over the years, I have found that many digital devices are unfortunately susceptible to noise coming over the Ethernet connection, so I measured with Ethernet connected, and without, using Wi-Fi instead for feeding the test signals. 

The unit delivered a respectable –104dB, A-weighted, noise level with 24-bit signals when using Ethernet. 

The improvement via Wi-Fi was only slight: –105dB. The Ethernet added a bit more deep bass noise, up to 10dB at 20Hz, and a few midrange, treble and ultrasonic spikes. But none of those spikes made even –110dB, and most were close to –130dB. That is, absolutely inaudible. 

The main reason the noise level was –104dB rather than –114dB was breakthrough of 50Hz mains noise, along with its harmonics. None of these reached beyond –100dB. For all practical purposes, they also were inaudible. (When you look at the graphs, ignore the hump above 50kHz. That seems to be due to the ADC’s oversampling and noise-shaping operations.)

This is all shown in Graph 1, along with the equivalent measurement at the speaker terminals. The noise level in that measurement was –82dB(A). I certainly couldn’t hear any noise on program material, so I suspect that also is below the level of perception. (A system turned up to one watt peak output is actually surprisingly loud.)

Graph 2 repeats the same test, but with 16-bit audio. There was still a difference between line and speaker outputs. The line level managed an impressive –97.1dB, pretty much in the top tier of performers. At the speaker outputs, this fell away to –81.9dB.

At the line output, THD was less than 0.002%, although it was 0.036% at the speaker outputs. IMD was around 0.0035% at the line outputs, but substantially higher at 0.12% at the speaker outputs.

The frequency response was quite interesting. Let’s consider the response when the receiver is fed 192kHz-sampled signals, as shown in Graph 3. All DACs exhibit a high frequency roll-off to some extent. With this receiver, it comes a bit earlier and more steeply than usual. At 20kHz the output is down by 0.2dB – a trivial amount. But it’s down by 1dB at 30kHz, 3dB at 42kHz and 6dB at 55kHz. 

I am inclined to think that it matters not a whit, but if you’re after an extended ultra high-frequency response, you may be disappointed. With 16-bit and 44.1kHz sampling (Graph 4), the response is the same up to a hard cut-off shortly before the Nyquist frequency in both cases.

(I must confess at this point, I do love living in a time when I’m slightly criticising an affordable stereo receiver for being down by a likely inaudible 0.2dB at 20kHz!)

The graphed response at the bass end seems to validate Yamaha’s relatively restricted power output claims. Via the line output, its level was down by 0.5dB at 30Hz, and 1dB down at 20Hz. Via the speaker outputs, the bass was down a little further at 20Hz, but only by an extra 0.5dB.

• Best speakers: budget to premium stereo speakers

Having focused on wireless speakers for the past few years, Sonos has returned to its roots with its latest product: the Sonos Amp.

Like the ZonePlayer 100 and Connect:Amp (previously known as the ZP120) before it, the new Sonos Amp is designed to offer all of Sonos’s streaming smarts in a unit you can add any hi-fi speakers to.

In fact, the Sonos Amp goes further, offering a number of features from the Sonos Beam, making it surprisingly well suited to movie as well as music use. Certainly, if you want the best-sounding and most feature-laden Sonos available, this is it; but the Sonos Amp also has a different set of expectations and rivals to its siblings, and that makes things a little more complicated.

Build quality

Sonos’s Patrick ‘PG’ Gall describes the new Amp as “the Connect:Amp on steroids”, but he’s talking about its under-the-skin muscle rather than outward appearance, because the new amp is arguably the more svelte of the two. In fact, by volume, the Amp is marginally smaller than the older model.

Its dimensions are markedly different, though, as this is a shorter, deeper and slightly wider device. The new shape is the result of conversations Sonos has had with custom installers, who have long used the Connect:Amp in customer set-ups despite that never having been its intended use. This time, Sonos has set out to make a product that will better serve custom installers’ needs.

These new dimensions make the Amp better suited to placement in a hi-fi rack and easier to hide out of sight. It’s also stackable: Amps can be placed on top of one another in a central location, with speaker cables running to various rooms in the house. That’s the kind of thing that can work really well in custom installations.

Even by Sonos's standards, this is an understated device. It's only available in black and has only three touch-sensitive ‘buttons’ on the front: one for play/pause and two that change use with context but are mainly for increasing or decreasing the volume.

The insides of the new Amp are densely packed, with no dead space. That, of course, creates a cooling problem, but the Amp is designed to bring in air from underneath and expel it from the top, all without the use of a fan.

Features

Around the back of the Amp you’ll find all of the connections of the Connect:Amp – two pairs of speaker terminals, a subwoofer output, two ethernet sockets, and a stereo analogue input. But there’s one important addition: an HDMI socket.

That HDMI socket gives the Amp all of the TV-partnering features of the Sonos Beam, including automatic switching to TV audio when required and volume control via your TV’s original remote. As with the Beam, the Amp is intended for use in simple systems with few video sources, all of which are plugged directly into the TV and have their audio piped back out to the sound system via ARC. That might make it restrictive for serious home cinema users, but for the intended audience it makes for a simple, seamless setup. We had everything up and running perfectly in minutes.

As with the Beam, Playbar and Playbase, two Sonos speakers (such as Ones) can be used as surround channels with the Amp, or you can instead add a second Amp connected to any two extra speakers you like to create a 4.0 system – or even 4.1 if you add a wired subwoofer or the wireless Sonos Sub.

There’s no way to create a 5.1 system, though, as there’s no output for a centre channel. Sonos says that isn't an issue as it creates a phantom centre channel through careful, precise processing.

The Amp can alternatively be set to output in dual-mono so that it sends the same sound to both speakers, which can be useful if you’re using ceiling or even outdoor speakers with which you’re not intending to create a stereo image.

Sonos has partnered with Sonance to create the Sonos Architectural by Sonance range of speakers, which includes an in-wall speaker, in-ceiling speaker and an outdoor speaker. These are not Sonos speakers in the usual sense, but passive speakers designed to complement Sonos products in terms of finish and sonic character.

If you connect the Amp to a pair of Sonance speakers, you can use the Trueplay feature to tune the sound to your room. With other speakers this isn’t possible.

Otherwise, though, the Amp is designed to be more flexible than the Connect:Amp when it comes to powering third-party speakers, most notably in the increase in power from 55W to 125W. This makes it far more capable of powering bigger, more demanding speakers.

Of course, the Amp also has all of the music streaming skills of every other Sonos device, so gives you access to music from practically every service under the Sun, and allows you to combine it with your own digitally stored tunes in on-the-go queues.

If, though, you’d hoped that this refreshed embracing of hi-fi might bring with it support for hi-res music, you’re going to be disappointed: Sonos is sticking to its established stance on hi-res, which essentially boils down to it being more trouble than it’s worth. CD-quality continues to be the upper limit for Sonos, at least for now.

Of course, this may well change when the somewhat controversial Sonos S2 platform launches in May 2020. Sonos has heavily hinted at hi-res being part of that update, which the Amp will get but the ZonePlayer 100 and most Connect:Amps will not.

The Sonos app remains vastly superior to that of any of its rivals and an excellent way to control products, including the Amp, but the company is also taking strides towards making the system increasingly hands-free. The Amp doesn’t have an in-built microphone, but it will respond to voice commands issued to Amazon Alexa- and Siri-powered devices, including, naturally, the Sonos One and Beam. AirPlay 2 is on board, too.

Sonos has also introduced the option to switch wi-fi off across all of the company’s devices, including the Amp. For many people there’s no reason to do this, but for those who favour a faster, more robust wired connection and would like to eliminate a potential source of wi-fi interference, this should be quite exciting.

Sound quality

Sonos’s claim that the new Amp is capable of driving a greater variety of speakers largely holds true as we switch between a selection of our favourites, from the budget Elac B5.2 standmounters to the Monitor Audio Silver 200 floorstanders. Even the combination of the amp and our £7k reference ATC SCM50s doesn’t sound like an extreme sonic mismatch.

That said, you will obviously get more out of a premium pair of speakers by powering them using a more premium amp, and the Sonos Amp makes the most sense with quality speakers more toward the  budget end of the spectrum. The aforementioned Elac B5.2s are a good choice, or, if you can stretch the budget a bit, the diminutive B&W 607 standmounters or Fyne Audio F302 floostanders.

Once you’ve connected your chosen speakers to the Amp, it’s worth delving into the EQ menu in the settings and experimenting with the Loudness feature, which is switched on by default.

It makes a far less pronounced difference here than it does on Sonos’s wireless speakers, but we do find that with Loudness switched off the Amp has just a little more organic roundedness to its delivery, particularly in vocals. You may find, though, that in your room or with your specific speakers, Loudness produces the preferable performance.

Kicking off with Prefab Sprout’s The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, we discover a soundstage with a lovely blend of width and focus. All of the intended fun is conveyed thanks to the precise placement of the seemingly incongruous effects – the plane whooshes from far-left to right, the vocal has that lovely, airy, disembodied quality to it and is flanked by those silly, trumpet-like parps from the keyboard.

It’s an impressive presentation, spatially speaking, and it’s this quality more than anything else that makes it well suited to home cinema use. Play Star Trek: Discovery on Netflix and the broad, three-dimensional soundstage fills the room with atmosphere while individual sound effects have exciting focus.

The ‘phantom centre channel’ works well, with dialogue proving clearer and more direct than in a typical stereo system. A dedicated centre speaker is predictably better in this regard, but Sonos has done an admirable job of creating the impression of one without the extra hassle or expense.

The ability to add surround speakers to the Amp is very appealing, but it is worth mentioning that it’s highly unlikely your chosen front speakers will blend seamlessly with the surrounds, and that can make for a slightly disjointed surround field.

Better would be to add a second Amp and a second pair of the speakers you’re using at the front, but that would be an extravagant outlay for a home cinema system with limited inputs and surround format support (Dolby Digital 5.1 is the Amp’s limit).

Back to music and we play Alt-J’s Every Other Freckle, yet again enjoying the spaciousness on offer and revelling in the expertly painted tonal picture, which balances substantial bass with textured mids and glistening treble that refuses to brighten.

It’s an immediate, upfront delivery that’s instantly engaging and exciting. There’s oodles of punch here, but the Amp skilfully avoids ever veering into jarring hardness or irritating harshness, and there’s decent detail behind the initial hit of each note.

But the Amp does, when compared to streaming components of a similar price (and non-streaming amps at lower prices), lack the real hi-fi-like subtlety that comes from low-level dynamic delicacy. It’s a bold, attention-grabbing delivery, but one that struggles a little to peel back the layers towards the centre of a track and get to its emotional core.

Combined with a less than regimental sense of timing, it equates to a performance that, while not entirely bereft of rhythm, doesn’t quite capture impetus or certain tracks’ ebb and flow.

Organisation can become a slight issue, too, with the relatively complex arrangements in the choruses of both Every Other Freckle and SBTRKT’s Trials of the Past proving a challenge too far, with specific instruments getting a little lost in the melange.

Again, the broad strokes are there and the Amp provides an enjoyable listen, but it doesn’t quite offer the kind of expressiveness or insight that rewards really attentive, contemplative listening.

Verdict

If you’re already eyeing up a Playbar or Playbase, we urge you to consider spending the extra on the Amp and a capable pair of speakers. As mentioned, we’d suggest the B&W 607s if you’re going small or the Fyne F302s if you’re going big, either of which will take your total system cost to £1000.

That might seem extravagant compared to one of Sonos’ £699 dedicated TV speakers, but not only will you have a far more hi-fi like sound system, it will actually perform better with your TV, in terms of both sound and useability.

And let’s remember that Sonos as a whole is still way ahead of the pack when it comes to streaming features. No rival supports more streaming services, is easier to use or has a more polished app, and these things matter when you’re living with a product, potentially in every room of your house.

But the serious sonic ambitions of the Amp provoke serious sonic comparisons, and it’s impossible to deny that while this just-add-speakers streaming system delivers room-filling, party-rocking fun, it also lacks just a little subtlety and sophistication, particularly when compared to the (admittedly more expensive) Bluesound Powernode 2i.

That said, there are lots of reasons you might choose Sonos over Bluesound as a system, and if you’re firmly in the Sonos camp and you like the sound of what the Amp does, you will almost certainly like the Amp in your lounge.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Features 5
• Build 5

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It's been two years since we first heard – and gave five stars to – the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom budget Bluetooth speaker, so the arrival of its sequel today is well-timed.

The Wonderboom 2 is the result of a notable upgrade in terms of specs and features. Put the two side by side, as we've been able to do, and you'll notice it’s smidgeons taller and wider than the original. More fundamental is what's inside that slightly larger casing, though...

It contains a new chipset promising a crisper sound and 10 per cent more bass. There’s also a brand-new fir tree-shaped, light-up button on the bottom of the unit, which, while nothing to do with recycling or using music to encourage tree growth (although that is a thing), "boosts" sound during outdoor use.

You get 30 per cent more music listening for your money too, with 13 hours of battery life compared to the 10 offered by the original Wonderboom. Charging still takes just under three hours. 

With a new IP67 rating, it’s still just as waterproof as the first version (and it still floats), but the wraparound material covering your 360 degrees of sound has changed slightly, making it sand- and dust-proof – a strong option for the beach, then. 

The design on the top of the speaker has been tweaked too. A central circular button where the branding used to be allows you to pair two Wonderboom 2s. This was a feature of the original Wonderboom, but the upgrade here is that long-pressing said buttons on two of the new speakers will pair them in stereo mode. You can pair the Wonderboom 2 with a Wonderboom - but only in mono.

The chord loop on the top of the Wonderboom 2 is now flat and slightly stretchier, too, with a little rubber slider in the middle which takes care of branding. That unmistakable yellow charger is sadly gone, in favour of a white cable, but it's still of the micro-USB variety.

The Wonderboom 2 retails at £89 and is available online and in stores today. It currently comes in five block colours, all slightly more refined than the tie-dye and patterned colourways of the original Wonderboom.

We've had the pleasure of the Wonderboom 2's company of late, so watch this space for our imminent review... 

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