We're all about practical buying advice here at What Hi-Fi? We want you to buy the best kit for your budget, so you get the most sound per pound from your investment.

Usually that doesn't mean spending £50,000 on a record player.

But every now and again, a special edition model comes along that makes us sit up and pay attention.

Maybe it's a collaboration with an iconic company or band, or it's just got a really cool theme – either way, fun is the name of the game.

And all of the below are a ton of fun.

No, they're not priced remotely within the means of most people. They might not even sound as good as the best turntable to grace our test rooms.

But man, do they catch the eye.

Here are five special edition record players that must be seen to be believed.

Pro-Ject AC/DC Turntable

This is most definitely one for those about to rock.

It's part of Pro-Ject's Artist Series of turntables – which includes a Metallica version, a cute Yellow Submarine model and various others; see also the Pink Floyd model below – and features a tonearm styled after the band's iconic lightning bolt logo.

That's not the only nod to the veteran Aussie rockers. The sub-platter's stainless steel axle is illuminated by red LED lighting to give the player a striking appearance, just like the highway to hell.

Technics SL-1200M7B

This is basically the Technics SL-1200MK7 with added Lamborghini.

Not only do you get a plinth pattern featuring the Y shape used across so many of Lamborghini’s designs, you get a choice of lurid colours too.

Yellow. When we get a Lamborghini, it's going to be a bright, highlighter yellow.

You get stickers too, and special edition slipmats. But the real fun happens when you play the bundled picture disc record featuring the V12-engine sounds of six Lamborghini super sports cars.

These include the 400GT 2+2, Miura SV, 25th Anniversary Countach, Diablo 6.0 SE, Murciélago LP 640, and Revuelto.

Otherwise, you get all the features of the non-Lamborghini MK7, including a coreless direct-drive motor, a sensitive-but-robust tonearm and two-layer structure platter for improving vibration damping.

But it's the Lamborghini styling that really sets it apart. Brrrm!

• Read our Technics SL-1200MK7 review

Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4000c Series Saint Laurent Rive Droit Edition

Quite a mouthful. But then there's a lot to say about this deck.

It's a modern spin on one of B&O's most established turntables, done in collaboration with a fashion house, of course (hence the long name).

The original Beogram 4000 Series turntable debuted in the 1970s. But this reimagining takes things up a notch.

Each new unit is housed in a ziricote wood case, and is individually numbered, accented with aluminium details and adorned with an etched logo.

Only 10 have been made. Editions don't come much more limited than this.

Pro-Ject The Dark Side Of The Moon Turntable

Pro-Ject is at it again, this time putting a Pink Floyd spin on one of its classic record players.

This one was created to celebrate 50 years since the band's groundbreaking album The Dark Side Of The Moon.

The pièce de résistance has to be the LED-backlit rainbow, which, as the vinyl spins, recreates the refracted light from the iconic album cover. Immense.

It even has a dimming function, while the deck's extended on/off lever doubles as the beam of white light.

The triangular 10mm glass plate mirrors the dispersive prism on the album cover. Talk about attention to detail.

Linn LP12-50

Jony Ive – the design guru responsible for most of Apple's most iconic products – collaborated with Linn on this turntable, and the results are just as sleek as you would imagine.

The LP12-50 is a 50th-anniversary edition of the Sondek LP12 record player.

Once Ive had spent some time with the original deck, he suggested some improvements, including precision-machined metal hinges for the dust cover, circular power switches machined from aluminium, a curved-edged top plate and arm board to mirror the new power switch’s curves, and a new lid badge.

But the improvements aren't purely aesthetic.

There's also a new plinth, made extra resistant to resonances by compressing layers of beech wood under extreme pressure.

Linn says this results in a new level of sonic performance.

If it sounds anywhere near as good as it looks, it'll be a treat for the ears.

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Happy Record Store Day!

We hope you're out and about at your local independent record store, shopping for some new vinyl, or simply enjoying spinning your record collection at home. With Record Store Day 2025 landing this Saturday 12th April, our editorial team (and a few special guests) have spent all week celebrating all things turntable and vinyl-related.

Our Vinyl Week special has been packed full of fascinating features and useful advice, from handy tips on collecting records, whether the weight of a vinyl record makes an impact on sound quality, why hunting for old vinyl can be more rewarding than buying new re-issues, and even a fresh perspective on how using a turntable differs from CD and streaming.

Some of the world's top turntable manufacturers have shared their favourite records with us, which included personal stories on how an album or track made an impact on their lives and how they design turntables.

We've published reviews on three very different turntables, including the unique Audio-Technica Sound Burger, while our editorial team has offered advice on how to set up a turntable correctly to get the best performance, and what to look for when choosing the right spinner for you.

We've also explored a more sustainable future for vinyl, brought real-life insights from independent record store owners on current buying habits, and run down the 20 best turntables we've reviewed in the past 50 years.

You can stay updated with all the latest features, advice and reviews by heading to the Vinyl Week hub, or simply check out all the links below. We're also posting exclusive videos and images on our social media (as we dig into our 50-year magazine archive), so head to Instagram and Facebook for some turntable treasures from the past.

As ever, thank you to our readers who have commented and shared their vinyl collection and turntable memories so far. Vinyl Week may be over soon, but we all know we'll be spinning records for the rest of the year...

Reviews

• Audio-Technica Sound Burger (AT-SB727): not just a novelty; this is a charming, fun concept with plenty of appeal
• Vertere SG-1/Xtrax high-end turntable: spectacular in appearance, engineering and sound quality
• Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT turntable: an easy-to-use record player that successfully balances performance, features and affordability

Features

• My most valuable record: What Hi-Fi? staff reveal their most precious vinyl possessions
• The 20 very best turntables of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime
• We asked 8 of the world's top turntable designers for their favourite records – here's what they said
• Is 180g vinyl worth it? We asked several hi-fi manufacturers if a record’s weight can impact sound quality
• Unsurprisingly, our readers own a lot of vinyl, but cost and quality are now big concerns
• 5 special edition record players that demand to be seen and heard
• I have listened to my favourite music on vinyl, CD and streaming – and the differences go far beyond sound
• We reveal 10 top music journalists’ most treasured vinyl records: Tom Petty, Motörhead, The Doors, plus some big surprises
• Old is gold: why I massively prefer buying old vinyl to new
• We asked three record store owners what young people are buying – and their answer wasn't Taylor Swift
• Now that vinyl record sales are on the rise, is there a more sustainable way to manufacture them?
• We pick 9 of the best Record Store Day 2025 releases – Sam Fender, De La Soul, Waxahatchee and more
• I interviewed three independent record store owners – and they have one big piece of advice for vinyl newbies
• From voice to vinyl: how records get their groove

Advice

• Best turntables 2025: top record players tested by our expert reviewers
• How to store records: 9 tips for keeping your vinyl tip-top
• Buying your first record player? Here are 8 questions you should ask yourself
• I’ve just planned my Record Store Day – here are 4 tips for shopping success tomorrow
• 9 tips for new or returning vinyl fans that will help you on your record-collecting journey
• How to spot fake records: 10 tips to avoiding counterfeit vinyl
• 13 of the best turntable accessories to elevate your vinyl experience
• How to set up a turntable correctly and get the best sound
• How to easily add a turntable to your music or TV system
• How to choose the right record player for you
• Best high-end record players: from Linn to Michell to Technics – ultimate premium turntables tested by our review team
• How to change the cartridge on your turntable
• Best Bluetooth turntables: top wireless record players tried and tested

Linn has announced the launch of its fifth-generation Majik DSM all-in-one music system. Replacing the five-star Linn Majik DSM we reviewed back in 2020, this model is a music streamer, power amplifier and preamplifier all in one box, with its own built-in DAC. The new premium Majik system is teased as the "accessible distillation of the best Linn can offer" which "sets the benchmark for all-in-one digital music players".

Crucial to the unit is a new DAC conversion stage which uses Linn's proprietary precision clocking and upsampling to provide a more accurate music signal before it is sent to the integrated amplifier stage.

The Majik DSM's twin 100-watt Class-D amplifiers seek to reduce noise and distortion, while Linn’s 'Space Optimisation' room-correction software strives to offer the best performance from the new system no matter the size or shape of the room in which it is housed.

The Majik DSM's power supply and circuit boards are designed in-house and mounted on an aluminium chassis, granting the unit "superb isolation for its sensitive internal components".

Linn has also added three solid-steel feet mounted on rubber pads to its latest do-it-all unit with the aim of reducing unwanted vibrations and increasing overall stability.

In terms of physical connections, the Majik DSM offers twin phono inputs (moving cartridge and moving magnet) alongside USB-C, Toslink and twin analogue inputs. There are also dual speaker outputs alongside subwoofer out, line out and even an HDMI eARC connection for hooking up your TV. If you want to do some private listening, a 6.3mm headphone port is mounted at the front.

Capable of handling hi-res audio files up to 24-bit/384kHz, the new Linn grants support for services such as Qobuz, Tidal, Deezer and Spotify, as well as access to AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth.

The front of the Majik houses a monochrome display which illuminates when providing track information and then fades back into invisibility when not in use. If you don't want to manage your music via the Linn App, there's also a top-mounted multi-function rotary dial for changing the volume, switching inputs and skipping tracks.

The Linn Majik DSM music system is available now, priced at £4300 (further prices pending).

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Linn has launched its first-ever plinth performance upgrade for the LP12 turntable.

The plinth of any LP12 turntable is paramount to the deck's overall performance. As all the components of an LP12 are mounted onto the plinth, it "affects everything" – so the resulting performance is dependent on the plinth's stability, mass and resonance characteristics.

The Bedrock plinth upgrade is made of orthogonal layers (orthogonal = at right angles) of beech wood placed under extreme heat and pressure to create a solid, ultra-dense material. This engineered wood has "negligible resonance and superior acoustic isolation", says Linn.

The Bedrock claims to be more than double the density of a standard LP12 plinth, is uniformly solid and its ultra-low resonance properties are beneficial to the turntable's overall performance. Linn says this plinth upgrade makes every aspect of an LP12 perform better, including "more pace, tighter bass, greater insight".

This Bedrock plinth was first used in Linn's 50th anniversary LP12-50 turntable in 2023 – a gorgeous deck which was designed in collaboration with Jony Ive and sold for an eye-popping £50,000. It was said to take the Sondek LP12 to “a new level of sonic performance”.

Now available for all LP12 models, the Bedrock plinth comes in a natural beech wood finish protected with an oil coat. Linn also notes that this natural wood is a scarce material and the manufacturing process is complex, so the Bedrock plinth will be available in limited quantities only.

The precious nature of this plinth upgrade is also reflected in the price. The Bedrock can be bought as a standalone plinth for £8750 (with top plate), or you can buy it as part of an LP12 mechanics set for £10,140/£10,135. Pricey, yes – but if you're a dedicated Linn owner with one of its iconic turntables that you never want to let go of, this is a meaningful way of upgrading your existing LP12 to – according to Linn – flagship Klimax levels of performance.

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Read our Linn Klimax LP12 review

We pick the 13 best Linn products of its 50-year history

Our guide to the best turntables we've tested and rated

Linn has launched two new loudspeakers and a new Selekt DSM digital music player. The 199 is a standmounter and the 150 a floorstander, while the Selekt DSM: Classic Hub has the same cartridge-based modularity and compatibility as its predecessor but promises better sound.

Linn claims its new speakers have a performance that belies their size, along with "peerless versatility" for building a system. Its aim was to make both speakers "fundamentally entertaining" but also refined, sophisticated and neutral to play nice with all sorts of source material.

The 119 and 150 take lessons learned from the development of Linn's flagship 360 loudspeakers, with drive units mounted at the front of the baffle with no grille to minimise occlusion and improve excursion. Their crossovers are designed for signal purity, while the magnet-mounted trim piece is also inspired by the 360, with its concentric grooves mimicking those of a vinyl record and electro-formed Linn logo which doubles as a tweeter guard.

The 119 is rear-ported to enhance the bass, but pair it with a Linn DSM network music player and you can bypass the port and digitally apply a bass augmentation filter for faster, tighter bass. The 150 has downwards-firing ports for a more omnidirectional bass performance and to minimise interaction with walls.

Both speakers are also compatible with Linn's Exakt configuration, which claims to offer perfect tome alignment to every part of every note for a more natural sound. They can be made Exakt-ready in just minutes.

Linn has a new digital music player too, the Selekt DSM: Classic Hub. This claims to offer the same modularity and compatibility as its predecessor but with better quality. New features include an integrated headphone amp with 1/4” jack output (perfect for private listening at home) and RCA outputs for hooking up a subwoofer. 

It also has a new design, with steel buttons, stainless steel feet and a large-format display that extends along the front fascia. The Linn logo is UV-printed on the chassis sleeve.

The integrated, analogue-to-digital conversion stage plays nice with turntables and CD players, while its digital connections allow it connect to video streaming devices, games consoles and Blu-ray players.

The 119 and 150 come in Satin Black, White, Walnut or Oak, with optional black or silver, mild-steel pedestal stands for mounting the 119. The Selekt DSM: Classic Hub comes in either a black or flat silver finish, both of which are subtly textured.

Pricing is as follows:

• 119: £2500 (per pair)
• 150: £5500 (per pair)
• 119 Stand: £300 (per pair)
• Selekt DSM: Classic Hub: £5650

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Best hi-fi systems: micro, vinyl and streaming music systems for the home

What Hi-Fi? covers a wide range of products. There are categories such as televisions, streamers, and wireless headphones and speakers where things move quickly and obviously. Each generation of products brings useful (and not so useful) new features, improves usability (mostly) and pushes performance standards ever higher (almost always). Then there are areas such as turntables, stereo amplifiers and conventional passive speakers, where things appear to move more glacially.

I want to focus on turntables here. Not just because I have a soft spot for them (which I do) but because, more than any other area What Hi-Fi? covers, it is a category that is packed full of products that tend to dominate, in many cases for decades at a time.

I’m thinking specifically of Rega’s evergreen Planar 1, 2 and 3 record players; but what I’ve said could equally apply to Linn’s LP12, pretty much all of SME’s turntable and tonearm ranges, as well as the Michell Gyro SE we currently have in our test room.

Having had a look through our 40+ year archives, I notice that the current Pro-Ject Debut doesn’t look too different from the original that was introduced way back in the late ’90s. The Debut has been developed and improved over the years, of course, but it just doesn’t look very different. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea.

Pretty much all these products would, in general terms, be considered among the class leaders at their respective price points. So the easy conclusion would be that the turntable market as a whole has stagnated and progress isn’t being made. That would be the easy conclusion – but not necessarily the correct one.

I’m not for one second going to suggest that record players are improving in leaps and bounds every single year, because that simply isn’t the case. It is a mature format that uses well-understood technologies, manufacturing techniques and materials. These are not the conditions that encourage huge strides forward. However, improved production processes, more sophisticated manufacturing equipment, and cleverer electronics do give room for improvement.

Take the Rega Planar 3 for example. The last round of significant improvements for the deck happened back in 2016, when the extra bracing was added between the main bearing and tonearm. The current production is all but identical, but the change of cartridge from the long-running Elys 2 to the new Nd3 has lifted the package’s performance notably. It is still a Planar 3 and, to anyone other than eagle-eyed enthusiasts, looks just the same, yet it has taken a proper step forward.

Then there is the Linn LP12. What started as a single model has been turned into a pick-and-mix special where almost every major part is available in a variety of options arranged in a broadly good, better, best manner. Aside from the obvious things such as the choice of cartridge, tonearm and plinth finish, it is possible to specify three different power-supply modules, three types of sub-chassis, two types of baseboard and three phono stages. The extremes of this approach take a standard LP12 package from something that starts below £4000 to a top-end variant that costs more than six times as much, with a performance increase to match. Once again, to an untrained observer, it remains just an LP12, much the same as the early ’70s original.

To a lesser or greater extent much the same applies to all the stalwart products I’ve mentioned. Over the years there have been various new power supplies for the likes of the SME 20 and Michell Gyro SE, and subtle design tweaks across the range of products to improve performance. Mostly these companies don’t really shout about these when they happen, so such improvements tend to pass the general hi-fi consciousness unnoticed.

Over the years (that is, over two decades in my reviewing career) I have been lucky enough to hear various generations of these decks – and I have no doubt that things are improving. That certainly doesn’t mean that the earliest versions should now be considered bad or anything like it – they all started as great products; but it is to all our benefit that the various manufacturers have worked hard to evolve each design to deliver even more musical pleasure.

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The past few months have been a real treat for me. Due to a serendipitous sequence of circumstances, much of my time has been spent in the company of some of the most interesting, exotic and, simply, best record players on the market.

The most modest was the new Rega Planar3/Nd3 combination (£799 / $1395 / AU$1699). Now, the Planar 3 deck is about as well known as specialist record players get, having been in production for almost 50 years. Over that time it has consistently remained one of our go-to recommendations at its price, and this latest package simply reinforces that. It remains as musically talented a turntable as we have heard at this level. That its price remains unchanged from the previous Planar 3/Elys 2 package is also laudable.

Next up the price ladder comes Linn’s ‘entry-level’ LP12 Majik partnered with the company’s Koil MC cartridge (£3935 / $5320 / AU$7395). This is a good starting point on the LP12 ladder and delivers a decent dose of the legendary deck’s magic. Our main comparison for the Linn was the Award-winning Vertere DG-1S/Magneto combination (£3950 / $4995 / AU$7000) but at the same time, we also had the mighty SME Model 20 Mk2/Series V arm/Ortofon Windfeld Ti MC (£30,349 / $35,619 / AU$58,000) package ready for review. As a team, we spent some entertaining days swapping between the Linn, Vertere and SME, as well as our reference Technics SL-1000R/Kiseki Purpleheart MC record player (£21,494 / $20,000), before forming our opinions on the review products.

Good as all these record players are, the highlight has got to be the all-too-short time I spent listening to a system fronted by Wilson Benesch’s new Prime Meridian Turntable. This comes partnered with the company’s Graviton Ti Arm and Tessellate Ti-S cartridge. At the time of writing, this package weighs in at a frankly astonishing £203,000. And it isn’t even Wilson Benesch’s range-topper… 

Add the prices of the two Regas, the Linn, Vertere, Technics and SME to the Wilson Benesch and it totals £264,326. I feel privileged to have spent time with this collection of record players, more for the musical enjoyment I got and the experience of their exceptional engineering than anything related to price. However, I couldn’t help but notice that, while they all do the same job, their routes to success are very different.

One of Rega’s core philosophies for its turntables has been combining low mass with high rigidity. The ultimate expression of this is the limited-edition Naiad model that features ‘an ultra-lightweight’ carbon-fibre plinth with a Rohacell foam core with ceramic braces between the main bearing and arm to further add to the rigidity. The more humble Planar 3 doesn’t go to such extremes, of course, but its lightweight acrylic laminated plinth and twin phenolic braces adhere to the same philosophy. 

Any regular reader knows just how highly we rate Rega’s turntables and they have garnered a huge amount of five-star reviews and awards over the years. So the low mass/high rigidity approach appears to be the right one for record players to follow. 

But life isn’t so straightforward. Such an approach certainly works for Rega; but then we listen to high-mass alternatives such as our reference Technics SL-1000R or the SME Model 20 Mk2 and find that they sound fabulous.

Similarly, while the Rega, Vertere, Linn and SME deliver excellent results using belt-based drivetrains, we get equally persuasive results using the direct drive (where the motor spindle is directly connected to the platter) found in the Technics and Wilson Benesch. 

Are there specific traits that can be assigned to each type of drive? It is tempting to say that the direct-drive decks tend to sound more secure and exhibit more in the way of stability at low frequencies. Tempting, but then we try Vertere’s DG-1S with its clever flexible motor mount (that equalises belt tension) and hear much the same positive result. 

Belt drives isolate the sensitive stylus/record interface from unwanted motor vibrations, and so should benefit all aspects of sound quality; but both the Technics and Wilson Benesch prove astonishingly capable, so there are obviously ways around the issues.

Elsewhere, the Linn and SME both have suspended sub-chassis to provide isolation from external vibrations. This does make them less sensitive to positioning and support quality than more ‘solid’ designs such as the Rega and Vertere, but regardless, all the decks (with the exception of the Wilson Benesch, which doesn’t lend itself to be used on third-party supports) sound better when placed in a rigid, low-resonance support positioned as far from the speakers as practical. Once again, no single engineering approach seems to yield the best overall result.

The other interesting thing I noticed was that you get what you pay for. This is as obvious in the quality of the build as it is in the sound. Each of the decks I tried is a fine performer at its price point, but as we step up in price from the Rega to the Linn and further, there are clear sonic and construction benefits in doing so. That continues even when we switch from something as expensive as the SME Model 20 Mk2 to the Wilson Benesch. The Law of Diminishing Returns does kick in to a degree, but once you hear genuine improvements it is hard to go back. All this (obviously) depends on the transparency of the partnering system and how important squeezing that final percentage point of sound quality is to you. It matters greatly to me.

The conclusion? As a consumer, don’t get caught up in the engineering philosophy behind the design of a record player. There are so many ways to skin this particular cat. What matters most is the skill of the designer in delivering optimum results for the ingredients and budget available.

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Linn’s LP12 is the stuff of hi-fi legend. Officially launched in 1973, it wasn’t the first belt-driven suspended sub-chassis turntable on the market. But, the combination of great sound, quality build, strong marketing and enthusiastic dealer network soon established it as a dominant force in the high-end record player market, particularly in the UK. 

While the current LP12 looks much like the original, just about every part has been refined repeatedly over the years to keep the deck competitive with newer rivals. We have the entry-level Linn Majik LP12 MC record player on test here. It is one of the pre-packaged combinations the company offers to make things easier for potential customers. However, it is possible to construct your perfect version of this deck by picking from the extensive and rather pricey options list. We tested the range-topping, best-of-everything Klimax LP12 a few years back and it sounded spectacular, but it also currently costs around six times as much as this starter combination.

Design & build

This Majik package includes the base LP12 turntable, Krane tonearm and the new Koil moving coil, though it is possible to swap the cartridge for the Adikt moving magnet and drop the price a little (£3700 / $5130 / AU$6995). The base LP12 uses essentially the same plinth, platter and main bearing as the models further up the range, but features more basic versions of the power supply, sub-chassis and baseboard. 

From a practical point of view, the simpler power supply means that speed change can no longer be done at the push of a button. The large rocker switch on the top panel only starts and stops the deck. If you want to play 45rpm records you will have to remove the platter (carefully) and fit an adapter over the motor spindle. It is even recommended that you have a second belt so that the original isn’t stretched over time. While the process isn’t hard, it is a bit of a faff. Entry-level or not, the speed change should be electronic at this level. That apart, the LP12 remains what it has always been, a relatively compact but well-made product that inspires confidence in use. It feels properly polished in a way that only products carefully honed over decades tend to.

The deck is available in five standard finishes (oak, cherry, black ash, walnut and rosenut), or for a small price premium you can have the plinth painted in pretty much any colour you like. Our review sample is painted in a green ‘Volkswagon’ colour, and pretty smart it looks too.

Setting up

The selling dealer has a huge part to play in the ultimate performance of the LP12 deck. Linn’s agreement with its dealers means that they assemble the deck before it gets to the customer. It is a time-consuming process that requires patience and skill to perfect. While not impossible for an enthusiastic amateur to do, you need the right tools and experience to set the deck up properly. If that’s not done it will never sound optimal. What we are really saying is that if you are interested in buying an LP12, do it from a dealer you trust.

The Krane tonearm is available with the Majik LP12 or separately for £1445 / $1790 / AU$2695. It feels slick in use with smooth movement and the minimum of play in its bearings. Adjustments, including arm height, are easy to make while the magnetic bias system is an unusual touch. The Koil moving coil cartridge (£880 / $1060 / AU$1695) is a fairly conventional design with a low-mass boron cantilever and a Nude Microlinear stylus. It has an output of 0.4mV, which should be fine for most partnering phono stages, and tracks securely at the recommended 2.0g tracking weight.

On the whole, the Majik LP12 MC is an easy deck to use, provided that you are not disturbed by the wobble of the sub-chassis when cueing the arm. This movement is well-damped, and calms quickly, but may disturb people more used to solid designs such as the Rega Planar 10 or the Vertere Acoustics DG-1 S. The advantage of Linn’s system is greater isolation from external disturbances, of course. Regardless, every turntable will still benefit from being placed on a low resonance support that is placed well away from the speakers.

We plumb the Majik LP12 MC into our reference system of Burmester 088/911 MkIII amplifier (with moving coil module fitted) and ATC SCM50 speakers. We also try it in a more price-compatible system of Vertere Phono-1 MkII L phono stage, Naim SuperNait 3 integrated and Epos ES14N speakers. Our main comparisons are the aforementioned award-winning Vertere DG-1 S/Magneto record player and our reference Technics SL-1000R.

Sound

Given that the Majik is merely the first step of the ladder, it comes as no surprise to find that it doesn’t deliver the last word in LP12 performance. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. This isn’t the most dynamic or rhythmically driven performer you will find for the money. The similarly-priced Vertere DG-1 S does notably better in both regards, even when partnered with the company’s budget Magneto moving magnet cartridge. Rega’s pricier Planar 10 is notably more insightful and better at reproducing subtleties such as instrumental textures and vocal nuances. Yet, we still find ourselves having fun when listening to the Linn.

It has a notably more laid-back attitude than the energetic Vertere, but still has a sound that holds our attention. Its presentation is fluid and wonderfully cohesive. We find ourselves focussing more on the music than analysing the recording, and that is never a bad thing. Sure, Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal could have been rendered with more excitement and better-defined bass, but the Linn flows along nicely, still capturing the energy and excitement in the music well. Jackson’s voice is easy to follow and packed with emotion, while the dense instrumental backdrop is organised with composure. Dynamic extremes are a little rounded, without the punch or rhythmic stability of the Vertere, but entry-level LP12 turntable remains talented enough to keep a firm hold of our attention.

The story remains music the same when we switch to Orff’s Carmina Burana. We are having fun and actively encouraged to take a holistic view of the music rather than focus on the details. This is the LP12 quality that sparks an almost obsessive allegiance among its fans, and we can understand why. The deck sounds involving and exciting without throwing the music at the listener. 

Stereo imaging is decently expansive, without setting new class standards and the tonality is generally nicely balanced. While it is easy to point to areas where the class leaders move ahead it is equally easy to accept exactly what the Majik LP12 does and move to the next record. The way this deck renders music isn’t necessarily wholly accurate but its version of the record remains compelling. 

Spend the extra for a Lingo power supply (£1765 / $2200 / AU$3395), the superior Kore sub-chassis (£976 / $1395 / AU$1895) and upgrade Arko arm (£3000 / $3900 / AU$5995) and we think that gets up into peak price/performance territory for the LP12. Unfortunately, then the price increases to a point where it gets close to the next LP12 package, the Selekt. Seems like the Linn marketing department knows exactly what it is doing.

Verdict

Having heard various versions of the LP12 turntable over the years it is fair to say that the Majik isn’t the sweet spot of the range. While its relatively modest spec means it can’t fully exploit the full potential of the LP12 design, it does at least give a decent taste of what makes the deck so special. That alone makes it worth serious investigation.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Features 3

MORE:

Read our review of the Vertere DG-1 S/Magneto

Also consider the Rega Planar 10

Best high-end record players: ultimate premium turntables tested by experts

2024 is rapidly turning into one of the most exciting years in recent memory for our review team. Why? Because there has been a tidal wave of great, Temptation-level hi-fi flooding into our listening rooms.

We’ve already revealed the six coolest high-end hi-fi products to earn five stars from our reviewers so far this year, but we weren’t kidding when we promised this was just the start. Though we may only be in August, our team of professional testers has already lined up a second wave of uber-expensive hi-fi products for review. 

These are the six most exciting high-end hi-fi our reviewers have coming in for testing this year.

Editor’s note: This list only includes items that we 100 per cent know, short of a Doomsday scenario, are being sent for review. Which is why it doesn't include every Temptation we plan to test this year. 

 1. SME Model 20 Mk2/Series V turntable

As the name would suggest the Mk2 is the second generation of SME’s premium Model 20 series of turntables. Despite costing a fair bit, the Model 20 Mk2 isn’t actually SME’s most premium option, with the Model 30 it’s “based” off costing twice as much in some configurations.

Pricing aside, we’re very excited to get it in for testing as SME has a strong track record in the premium space. The SME Model 60, which is the last Temptation level record player we tested from the brand, scored an easy five-star recommendation from our reviewers and remains an excellent high-end record player to this day.

We’re also incredibly interested in the Model 20 Mk2’s engineering. SME has designed the Model 20 Mk2 with a near-fanatical focus on eliminating the problems caused by extraneous vibrations and aims to deliver authentic, uncoloured audio, full of detail and resolution.

Key measures in this endeavour include a high-density construction, with extensive damping across all its major surfaces and a custom design drive system that SME claims lets it deliver better speed control, accuracy and stability than the original Model 20.

If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, the version we’re set to test comes paired with SME’s premium Series V tonearm, which is an incredible piece of engineering in its own right.

Though we’ve not given our final verdict yet, if even a smidgen of SME’s claims ring true, this should make the Model 20 Mk2 an incredibly compelling option for serious vinyl fans with cash to spare.

2. Linn Majik LP12 MC turntable

Scottish audio powerhouse Linn has been a strong player in the top end of the record player market for quite some time. In fact, if you jump over to our best high-end record player guide, you’ll find the Linn Klimax LP12 is the first entry in the list.

Which is why we’re happy to confirm we’re about to review the Linn Majik LP12 MC. While it’s far from the most expensive item on this list, the Majik LP12 MC remains a very compelling turntable that, if it performs well in our listening rooms, could be a fantastic entry point for newbies to the world of high-end hi-fi.

The LP12 MC comes with an iconic design and a variety of colour options – our hi-fi and audio editor is particularly fond of the yellow version. But it also has a lot of impressive hardware. 

Built of Linn-engineered components, it features the company's patented single-point Karousel main bearing and low-friction Krane tonearm. The version we’re set to review features a Koil MC cartridge, rather than the company's slightly more affordable Adikt MM cartridge.

 3. Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined speakers 

Our technical editor had an initial look and listen to the Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined speakers in April. A few months on, and we’ve finally managed to secure the premium speakers for What Hi-Fi?’s full review treatment.

In case you missed our previous hands-on with the Audiovector, the speakers are a reimagined version of an Audiovector classic that the Danish firm claims has been 40 years in the making.

Despite taking their name from the first generation Trapeze speakers, which launched all the way back in 1979, the Reimagined versions have completely new components and are packed with clever engineering. 

One highlight that caught our technical editor’s eye is the speakers’ three-way driver array. This combines a 30-cm high-power woofer with a 12.5-cm midrange and AMT-tweeter. Audiovector claims the latter is the only tweeter on the market that “stays true to the original design from audio genius Dr. Oscar Heil”.

Though we didn’t have enough time with the speakers during the launch demo to make any definitive judgments on audio quality, the speakers’ design and striking design piqued our interest, which is why we are so pleased to be getting them in for review.

4. YG Acoustics Carmel 3 speakers  

The YG Acoustics Carmel 3 floorstanders are the successor to the Carmel 2 speakers we reviewed and gave a five-star rating to all the way back in 2017.

At first glance they look similar to their predecessors, featuring the same slightly curved floorstanding design that’s made from high-grade aerospace aluminium. But, under the hood a lot of work has been done to try and bring some of the innovations seen on larger XV, Sonja and Hailey speakers down in size. 

For starters, they feature a custom hybrid lattice tweeter that’s been made by YG Acoustics using an unspecified “specially-selected aerospace alloy” – you’ll notice a theme here around the word “aerospace". The company claims this reduces distortion and offers listeners a much wider sweet spot.

Then there are the speakers’ third-generation Ultracoherent crossovers and Billet Core drivers which aim to further reduce distortion, improve audio quality and let the Carmel 3 deliver “the highest accuracy and musicality possible from a compact two-way loudspeaker.”

The wealth of custom engineering alone was enough to catch our reviewers' attention. Add to this YG Acoustics' strong track record and we couldn’t help but rush to get them into our listening rooms for proper testing and a full review.

 5. Audio Research I/50 amplifier 

Valve amplifiers normally at the very least look interesting. After all, who wouldn’t like to listen to music using something that looks like it could also help bring Frankenstein's monster back to life? 

Which is why we’re pleased to confirm we’ll be getting the Audio Research I/50 integrated amplifier into our listening rooms later this year. Featuring a striking design and choice of six colours, the integrated valve amp looks undeniably cool, but it also has some impressive hardware.

Each unit is hand-made in Minnesota and is individually tested and approved by designer Warren Gehl before being sent to a customer. The unit features 6922 tubes in the preamp stage that work with two matched pairs of 6550WE power tubes to deliver 50W per channel into either 4 or 8 ohms. 

This, plus the ability to add a phono stage and a DAC module to expand its functionality, makes it an interesting beast – and one we’re excited to test.

6. Michell Gyro SE turntable

If high-end, visually striking record players are of interest and you’ve got serious money in the bank, you’ll probably be drawn to the Michell Gyro SE turntable like a bee to flowers.

The Gyro SE has a singular focus to deliver the same core experience and features of the Michell Gyrodec SE we gave five stars to many moons ago, but in an updated package with upgraded components. Why is that a big deal? It’s a big deal because the iconic Gyrodec remains one of the best record players of all time, despite having originally released all the way back in 1982. 

That’s why we can’t help but be excited to get the opportunity to test the latest version of the Gyro SE (not to mention assemble the turntable from scratch), which Michell claims offers “almost identical performance”, later this year.

MORE:

These are the best record players we’ve reviewed

We rate the best speakers for hi-fi aficionados

Our picks of the best stereo amplifiers – every model tried and tested 

The What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame is a very exclusive club. To pass muster, a product has to not only excel in its particular category, it must be a landmark in its field, setting a new standard to which its rivals can only aspire. We give quite a few products five-star reviews every year, but only let one into the hallowed environs of the Hall of Fame.

Of the 47 products admitted entry since What Hi-Fi? magazine first hit the shelves in 1976, 21 are British. That's an impressive rate of just under 45 per cent. But what's more impressive is the impact these products have had on hi-fi history, from the Rega Planar 3's dominance of the late ’70s turntable scene to KEF's mighty LS50 Wireless system in 2017, and plenty more besides.

We've listed these highlights below and the year in which they were inducted into our Hall of Fame. Join us as we celebrate some of the greatest hi-fi products these isles have ever produced.

Linn LP12 (1976)

If you were compiling a list of the most popular high-end turntables ever, the Linn LP12 would be near the top. Launched in 1972, it proved dominant for decades, and with a range of compatible arms and cartridges, it was like a blank canvas for your turntable aspirations.

Nearly every aspect of the design has been redeveloped over the years, from the suspension to the power supply, resulting in all sorts of performance gains. This also changed the nature of the deck – while early models had a rounded, rich balance that proved a lively listen, latter versions tended towards a more neutral sonic profile, providing greater insight.

A true British hi-fi classic.

• Read our Linn Majik LP12 review from 2009
• And check out 12 of the best Linn products of all time

Rega Planar 3 (1978)

This is another British-made turntable that exploded onto the scene in the late 1970s (1978, to be exact) and went on to dominate for years. It was more of a mid-market affair than the Linn above, but it too has had numerous improvements over the years, most notably gaining a revolutionary RB300 arm in 1983.

In its various iterations, it has won our sub-thousand pound turntable Award so many times we’ve lost count.

But despite its many re-workings over the years, it's remained at heart a simple, well-made design based on sensible engineering principles. It's always been a superb performer without making a fuss – and what's more British than that?

• Read our Rega Planar 3 review – one of the many Award-winning iterations
• Here are 12 of the best Rega turntables of all time

A&R Cambridge A60 (1979)

A&R Cambridge went on to become Arcam, but before then, it came out with the A60 amp, its first product. And what a splash it made.

Considered an upgrade on NAD's contemporaneous budget amps, it was very much the Harry Kane of its day – unassuming, dependable and solidly built. But this modest exterior belied a class-leading audio performance that excelled with a wide range of partnering kit.

• That Was Then... A&R Cambridge A60 (1976) vs. Arcam A19 (2013)

Wharfedale Diamond 1 (1982)

It's amazing how many of these products went on to dominate their respective categories for so long. 1982 saw the introduction of the Wharfedale Diamond, a budget speaker whose latest incarnation earned a five-star review, 41 years later.

Bass was chief among its strengths – despite standing just 24cm tall, the Diamond packed a lot of wallop that never overwhelmed the tonal balance. They undercut the competition too, costing £65 a pair when most rivals were closer to £100.

Better tweeters and more refined finishes are among the improvements over the years, and they still look very reasonable compared to a lot of the competition. Shine on, you crazy Diamond.

• That Was Then... Wharfedale Diamond review

Michell Gyrodec (1982)

The Gyrodec hasn't changed much since it first appeared, which is testament to the original design. And unlike some flash-in-the-pan rivals, it's not merely a looker – it's a piece of engineering art that feels better built than other-brand decks at double the money.

It's still available today, and still needs to be assembled, like a piece of flatpack furniture. But it's a breeze to put together thanks to the easy-to-follow instructions. 

Of course there's another reason it's endured: sound quality. With a detailed, expressive performance, the Gyrodec is that rarest of beasts: a product that sounds as good as it looks.

• Read our Michell Gyrodec SE review from 2008

Audiolab 8000A (1983)

In many ways, Audiolab owes it all to the 8000A. The amp came out of nowhere to knock industry favourite (and fellow Hall of Famer) the A&R Cambridge A60 off the top spot and set a new benchmark in the mid-range.

It did so thanks to a combination of great build quality, excellent feature set (including tone controls, a headphone output and a phono stage) and plenty of power. But the sound quality proved divisive – yes it had impressive dynamics, plenty of insight and a tonal evenness, but some bemoaned its lack of rhythmic subtlety.

This was the ’80s, though. For the time, the 8000A was a true fit-and-forget amplifier – a go-to recommendation that would serve most people just fine.

• Read our Audiolab 8200A review from 2011
• More great premieres: 9 debut stereo amplifiers from iconic hi-fi brands

Mission Cyrus One (1984)

Another debut product that qualified for the Hall of Fame, the Cyrus One was an amp built for purists. It was all about the resolution, and as long as you were on board with its somewhat lean 25W per channel output, it provided stunning agility and dynamic expression. Its insight and detail levels rivalled amps costing twice as much.

The first models included a plastic case to minimise distortion effects, but this was later upgraded to a metal version that was punching above its weight as a budget amp. And if you wanted more power? The Cyrus One had a more capable sibling, the Cyrus Two.

Cyrus began life as the electronics arm of speaker company Mission. But with products as accomplished as this, it soon spun off into a separate entity.

• Read our Cyrus One review from 2016
• And our Cyrus One HD review from 2018

Naim 32 preamplifier/SNAPS/250 power amplifier (1984)

Naim's classic high-end combo came in three parts: the 32 preamp, a high-grade dedicated power supply and the legendary 250 stereo power amp. Because Naim was closely affiliated with Linn at the time, the amp was often partnered with an LP12 turntable, to devastating effect.

Like a lot of fondly-remembered ’80s icons, it hasn't aged brilliantly. By today's standards, the audio could be more transparent and the soundstage more open, but at the time it made quite an impact, with plenty of punch, great organisation and a fantastic sense of rhythmic drive. 

• Read our Naim Nait 5si review from 2013

Acoustic Energy AE1 (1988)

The world of premium speakers had never seen anything like the original AE1s. Despite standing little bigger than a shoebox, they boasted incredible detail and dynamics – outperforming rivals that dwarfed them in terms of size. They were very much the David to the Goliaths of the high-end speaker market.

This was achieved thanks to their all-metal drive unit configuration – which was highly unusual at the time – and plaster-lined cabinet that improved damping. 

They weren't for everyone. To get the best out of them, you had to perch them on their dedicated stands, which cost half as much as the speakers themselves. And partner kit? Think high quality, with plenty of power. Anything less was like putting olive oil in a Ferrari. 

Treat them right though, and they still stand up today. Proof that a classic design really is timeless.

• Read our Acoustic Energy AE1 Classic review from 2011
• That Was Then... Acoustic Energy AE2 Signature – the AE1's successors

Mission 753 (1993)

Our first British entrant of the 1990s breathed new life into the market for sub-£1000 floorstanders. That wasn't exclusively thanks to their sound quality, though they did offer strong dynamics, a quick response time and plenty of detail. Their design also played a part.

At the time, Mission was accomplished at producing speakers with a hi-tech aesthetic. The 753 cemented its reputation, making the competition look positively old-fashioned. But they weren't too space age for a domestic setting, looking right at home in the home. It's a fine balance to strike, and a lesson some sections of the industry are still yet to learn.

• Mission 70 MkIIs: Old speakers vs. new speakers: How do they compare?

Arcam Alpha 7SE (1999)

In the ’90s, the affordable CD player market was dominated by Arcam, thanks to the brand's formidable sound quality and excellent build. This all culminated with the 7SE, a £350 player that shredded its similarly-priced rivals and lay down the gauntlet to more expensive players.

For its price, it sounded fantastic – refined, but without sacrificing dynamics. It unearthed lots of detail too, and was adept at organising it all into a wonderfully entertaining presentation.

The plastic front shows it was very much a product of its time. But then going through this list is a bit like flicking through an old photo album – you're as often warmed by fond memories as you are embarrassed by old haircuts. 

• Read our Arcam CDS27 CD player review from 2020
• Read our Arcam CD5 CD player review from 2023

KEF KHT2005 (2000)

Around the turn of the millennium, surround sound were the words on everyone's lips. As a prospect, it was thrilling, but in practice, much less so – who wants to be hemmed in by six massive speakers? Wouldn't it feel like you're about to be mugged?

Thankfully KEF came up with a workaround. The company put all of its technical expertise to good use with the innovative KHT2005 5.1 speaker package, aka ‘Eggs’.

Widely renowned as the first home theatre speakers that most people would be happy to have on show, they also delivered a thrilling performance that engrossed the viewer in whatever they were watching.

Often imitated, never bettered, they were a hit, and each subsequent iteration has only added to their legacy.

• Read our KEF Q350 AV 5.1 review from 2017

Bowers & Wilkins PV-1 (2004)

If you listen to B&W, this isn't just a subwoofer. No, the PV-1 is a 'pressure vessel', though it performs exactly the same function as a sub. That got our cobblers antennae going like the clappers, but it turns out there was something in it.

Because so dominant did the PV-1 become at the annual What Hi-Fi? Awards, we retired the subwoofer category altogether. It was either that or rename it the PV-1 Award.

Mostly this was due to its performance, which we described in our review as "stunning". We went on: "The B&W generates clean, uncoloured, amazingly deep bass: push the limits with some of Dr Dre's sillier low-end-licks, and you're left in no doubt about the sonic authority on show."

But the design was an integral part of its success. At the time, subs were so boring that manufacturers encouraged their customers to hide their products out of sight. But the PV-1 deserved pride of place. British design at its best.

• Read our B&W PV1D review from 2012

ATC SCM11 (2006)

These Gloucestershire-built speakers might look a bit homely, but don't let that fool you: they're among the best pound-for-pound speakers you can buy. Even by 2006's standards, they looked slightly retro, but that just makes their success all the more impressive.

They've been tweaked over the years, with better drivers and improved materials and cabinet finishes, helping them stay more relevant than ever. Homely? Underestimate them at your peril...

• Read our ATC SCM11 review from 2013

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin (2006)

The Zeppelin was unlike any iPod dock that had come before it. For a start, it cost £400, which was crazy money – so much so that we reviewed it in the Temptations section of the magazine, which is home to the highest of high-end kit. But it was the iconic design that really turned heads.

Back in 2006, most iPod docks were made by manufacturers of PC peripherals. With B&W's considerable sonic – and design – expertise behind it, the Zeppelin flew. The company had been honing its knowledge of amplification with its amp-powered subwoofers, and it put this, along with its developing interest in Digital Signal Processing, to good use.

The Zeppelin Mini followed in 2009, then B&W revived the product in 2019 with the Zeppelin Wireless. Gone was the 30-pin iPod connection, but the same winning design and focus on sound quality helped it earn a respectable four stars from us. Not quite the same breakthrough as its predecessor, but the mould had already been broken.

• Read our B&W Zeppelin Wireless review from 2019

Roksan Caspian M2 (2010)

Some Hall of Fame products come out of the blue, while others evolve over a long time. The Caspian M2 is the dictionary definition of a slow burn: Roksan's Caspian integrated stereo amp had been around in some form for the best part of 15 years before the M2 variant appeared. But what a difference it made: the build quality, ease of use and performance were all sublime for the price.

It won plenty of Awards, so many that Roksan pushed the price up. It's testament to its quality that it still remains a very good buy indeed, even all these years later, and at a higher price.

• Check out the best stereo amplifiers around

Chord Hugo (2014)

The Hugo is Chord through and through. The casework is delightfully tactile, the lights are different colours to show what the unit is doing, and the inputs are slightly too close together. But it's the performance that really sets the Hugo apart from the competition, British or otherwise.

Chord doesn't buy in DAC chipsets, preferring to design its own programmable circuits instead. This results in more nuance, and a great degree of dynamic subtlety than in rivals at the same price. It's more transparent than some, so will show up any sub-par recordings, but the timing and organisation are spot on. Hugo, you've done Britain proud.

• Read our Chord Hugo TT review from 2015
• And our Chord Hugo 2 review

Naim Mu-so (2014)

Before the Mu-so, wireless speakers were the poor relation of their wired counterparts. But Salisbury-based Naim elevated them to the level of 'proper' hi-fi, and in doing so, single-handedly created a market for £1000 wireless speakers.

It did so by refusing to compromise. The materials and components, the functionality and design aesthetic are all first-rate, and the sound has a power we could only describe as "astonishing" in our original review. We went on: "It drives all songs with a sure-footed sense of rhythm, rich detail and lashings of deep, rumbling bass we’ve never heard from a wireless speaker before."

The Mu-so 2 followed in 2019, with even better performance and a higher price, along with the Award-winning Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation, both of which are among the best wireless speakers around.

KEF LS50 Wireless (2017)

KEF wasn't the first company to bundle streaming support into a pair of active speakers. But it did it the best.

It helps that the LS50 were already Award-winning speakers. But with support for Tidal and Spotify, Bluetooth, a hi-res-capable DAC and preamp built-in, they became simply unstoppable. They're basically an excellent pair of hi-fi speakers with a lot more technology crammed inside, and KEF managed it without affecting the sound quality: the musicality and timing are as captivating as ever, the performance remaining clean and precise. Proof Britain is at the forefront of wireless speakers.

• Read our KEF LS50 Wireless review from 2017
• And the more recent KEF LS50 Wireless II review

B&W 606 (2019)

B&W's entry-level 600 Series was introduced in 1995, but it was the sixth-generation model that really hit the sweet spot. For the money, they delivered in spades, with a precise sonic balance serving up a crisp, clear treble, cavernous bass and class-leading detail and dynamics.

Like previous 600 Series speakers, they've aged very well. In fact, if it wasn't for the 606 S2 Anniversary Edition and 607 S3 (both Award-winners), we'd still be recommending the sixth-gen model.

Cambridge Audio CXN V2 (2023)

This was the first music streamer to qualify for our Hall of Fame, and it's something of a legend within the category. It won six What Hi-Fi? Awards in a row, and if you include the original CXN's gongs too, the model has been decorated every year since 2015. Staggering.

It's achieved this feat not only through its excellent performance, but by staying relevant with software updates. Both Chromecast and Tidal Connect have arrived on Cambridge Audio's StreamMagic platform over the years, breathing new life into an already formidable proposition.

Other streamers have come and gone, and while some have impressed, none has had the staying power of the CXN (V2).

• Read the full Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) review

MORE:

12 of the best songs by The Beatles to test your hi-fi system

9 of the most underrated British hi-fi products we've ever tested

What Hi-Fi?’s British Hi-Fi Week is reaching its end this weekend, and there are plenty of features, reviews and insights to sink your teeth into.

In the past week we've published reviews from Leema Acoustics, Neat and B&W, highlighted the most underrated gems in hi-fi from recent years, looked at five modern products celebrating British hi-fi heritage, asked hi-fi brands if such a thing as "British sound" exists and what it is, and asked top British hi-fi engineers for their favourite test tracks – there are some cracking selections there.

Our special British Hi-Fi Week event runs between Monday 4th March and Sunday 10th March. We've been highlighting the biggest players in British hi-fi (those that were founded and continue to operate in the UK) as well as retrospectives on some of the most iconic products to come from our native shores. We've also been picking our favourite songs from The Beatles, Kate Bush and David Bowie that we love listening to and testing out our hi-fi system with.

But it's not just about us – we also want to hear from you, our lovely readers, about your favourite British hi-fi products. Make sure to get involved in the conversation in the comments section, as well as on our forums and our social media accounts.

You will be able to keep tabs on all the latest features and reviews via our dedicated British Hi-Fi Week 2024 hub page or get the highlights below, where our team will drop links to all of our exclusive coverage.

British Hi-Fi Week is a staple event in the What Hi-Fi? calendar, with the brand having covered the manufacturers and products for most of our existence – our magazine, after all, was launched all the way back in 1976.

All our latest British Hi-Fi Week coverage

Reviews

• Leema Acoustics Neutron/Graviton review
• Neat Petite Classic review
• Bowers & Wilkins 603 S3 review

Interviews

• We asked top British hi-fi engineers for their favourite test tracks – this is what they said
• Made in Britain: the biggest UK brands talk manufacturing, distribution and the future of British hi-fi
• What is British sound? We asked five big names in hi-fi
• Bowes & Wilkins says the "centre is the key" for quality home cinema sound
• What systems do the people who make your hi-fi use at home? Time to find out

Retrospective features

• Musical Fidelity's LS3/5A and the enduring appeal of BBC-inspired small speakers
• 9 of the most underrated British hi-fi products we've ever tested
• Throwback Thursday: 5 British hi-fi products that celebrate their heritage
• 15 peculiar British adverts from the What Hi-Fi? magazine archives
• The British hi-fi Hall of Fame: every British entrant from the last 48 years

Playlists

• 65 great British albums to test your hi-fi system
• 12 of the best British indie and alternative tracks to test your hi-fi system
• 12 of the best David Bowie songs to test your hi-fi system
• 12 of the best Kate Bush songs to test your hi-fi system
• 12 of the best songs by The Beatles to test your hi-fi system

Best of

• The best home cinema kit made by British hi-fi brands
• 12 of the best British stereo amplifiers of all time
• 8 of the best British DACs of all time
• 13 of the best British CD players of all time
• 11 of the best Arcam products of all time
• 11 of the best Wharfedale speakers of all time
• 10 of the best Naim Audio products of all time
• 16 of the best Rega products of all time: turntables, amps and phono stages

Competition

• Competition alert! Win a Cambridge Audio CXN100, worth £899 this British Hi-Fi Week (ends Friday 8th March)

MORE: 

Check out our pick of the best stereo amplifiers

We detail the best floorstanding speakers we have tested

These are the best turntables money can buy

Linn has announced a new flagship mono power amplifier that it says can ‘drive any given speaker optimally… under any conditions’.

The Klimax Solo 800 is the Scottish company’s first large, passively cooled mono model, taking the reigns as the amplifier range-topper from the much more compact Klimax Solo 500 which has been in Linn’s lineup since the late 90s. But whereas that relative veteran can offer 500 watts of power into four ohms, the new Klimax Solo 800 is capable of delivering 800 watts (or 400W at eight ohms, or 1.2kW into two ohms).   

Linn is confident that the Solo 800 ‘measurably outperforms its larger rivals’, with CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun claiming that its “distortion and noise measurements are lower than anything the industry has seen”.

Tiefenbrun says the goal was to set a new standard in audio amplification, and to that end the Solo 800 benefits from the company’s analogue and digital expertise.

The Class A/B amplifier utilises Linn’s Adaptive Bias Control technology, which debuted in the 360 speaker system announced last year. It essentially works to optimise, dynamically and in real-time, the ideal bias current for each of the Solo 800’s sixteen output transistors by measuring, sampling and digitising the current fed to them, to eliminate distortion and ensure optimum performance.

Linn says it has chosen only the best transistors available, with the quality of the array allowing for the Solo 800’s output impedance to be divided by eight, thus allowing it to drive even the largest speakers that present difficult loads, and without any tail-off at high volumes.

Linn has stuck with its favoured switch-mode power supply, though it is implemented here in progressed form. Utopik, as it’s called, minimises switching noise and improves efficiency by implementing a circuit that ensures voltage across the power supply switch falls to zero before the switch is thrown.    

It would be remiss of us to overlook the Solo 800’s aesthetic, not least because of how much it differs from that of previous Linn amplifiers. Compact this 27kg mono amp is not, nor is it quite as minimalist-looking. 

As seen on later Linn components such as the Klimax DSM streamer, a jewel-like dial adorns the faceplate (available in either black-anodised or natural silver anodised finishes) to display the amp’s status. It’s back-lit by an array of one hundred LEDs, the brightness of which can be altered in three levels by a switch on the rear panel. As you’d expect, that panel also accommodates RCA and XLR inputs and outputs plus a set of binding posts.

The Linn Klimax Solo 800 is available now, sold and shipped as pairs costing £75,000.

MORE:

Our expert pick of the best stereo amplifiers you can buy

As Linn turns 50, we pick the 13 best products of its history

Linn and Jony Ive designed a special LP12-50 – and I’d love to see more hi-fi collabs like it

The best 19 stereo amplifiers of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime

Naim is just one of the handful of venerated audio brands celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. Along with Rega, QED and Linn, Naim Audio has been a fixture in the British hi-fi landscape ever since Julian Vereker founded the company in 1973.

Of the many amplifiers that Naim has manufactured since, the original Naim NAIT (retroactively called the Nait 1) holds a special place in hi-fi history. The Naim Nait integrated amplifier didn’t come about until 1983, and despite its now iconic status, it was a bit of an oddity when it launched. Along with a low power rating that befuddled many, it was Naim’s first-ever integrated stereo amplifier (combining power and preamp into one unit), which was a departure from its usual separates approach. 

The Naim Nait 50 we have here is a limited edition product, paying homage to 1983’s original Nait 1 and released in conjunction with Naim’s 50th anniversary. How limited? Only 1973 units are being made (in honour of Naim’s founding year) and the amp is yours for a cool £2699. If only it had been priced at £1973 as well – the symmetry would have been neat. 

Price

That price tag might raise your eyebrows (it did ours, both of them) as the original Nait 1 cost between £179 and £199 in 1984, according to our What Hi-Fi? archives. In today’s money, that would be equivalent to roughly £600 – a price point occupied by today’s Arcam A5 and Cambridge Audio CXA61 amplifiers. 

The original Nait was one of the six contenders for the ‘Best amplifier under £250’ gong in the 1985 What Hi-Fi? Awards (Nov 1984 issue, which cost just 95p), and we noted that: “The Naim NAIT is a little upmarket from the NAD and Creek. Used in conjunction with a rather famous turntable, the NAIT has deserved its reputation as a smooth, powerful and expensive amplifier. Selling for £199 it’s a truly good-quality, sub-£200 model.”

That £2699 price tag is indicative of the Nait 50 amp’s special, limited edition status (it isn’t alone in pricing up limited edition models, and there are genuine reasons to justify that additional outlay), but if we were to give this Naim amp the full What Hi-Fi? review treatment, it would be going head-to-head against its Nait XS 3 (£2499) sibling, a current and excellent Award-winning integrated that can also draw its lineage straight through from the original Nait. We don’t give a star-rated review to limited edition products, however, with the Nait 50 instead getting a more extensive hands-on treatment and deep dive here as we explore its history and give it a thorough listen.

Unlike Musical Fidelity, who delivered a mostly faithful reimagining of its iconic A1 Class A amplifier this year (and made it available as a full production model), Naim has gone in a different direction. The Nait 50 may be a limited edition model, but it’s infused with more new engineering than you’d think at first glance. It’s actually a modern amplifier designed as a tribute to the original; it mirrors the original's appearance and replicates its sonic flavour, but there is an entirely new amplifier design inside. 

Yes, £2699 is quite a lot to pay even for a limited edition amplifier, and there are strong rivals today that can compete with it on a sound-per-pound value. But that’s not the point of this Nait 50. It’s a chance to own an homage to Naim’s history, and that kind of sentimentality has its own charm and is, for many, priceless… 

Design & build quality

We know the retro-modern design trend is popular at the moment, but there is something utterly charming and timeless about the Nait 50. 

Yes, it looks exactly like the old Nait 1. It features the same compact “shoebox” chassis with a chrome bumper design as the original. The half-width design is rare to see in mainstream hi-fi, but it is favourably viewed by many members of the What Hi-Fi? review team. Cyrus Audio and Rega have form in manufacturing half-width amps, for instance, while brands like Cambridge Audio and Eversolo are increasingly making new products with a small footprint (but no less mighty performance).

Even if you’re a fan of the ‘olive’ Naim amplifiers, prefer a full-width design or would rather have something more shiny and sleek, we think you’ll still find there is just something so appealing about the Nait 50. We had it living on our listening room’s racks for a good few weeks and it looked absolutely at home with products both old and new. It is a lovely little thing. The build quality is solid: it’s well made and finished, and Naim has stayed faithful to the aesthetics, even down to the non-centred old Naim logo on the front panel. 

There are plenty of products that look “of their time” and fall out of fashion once they enter the next decade, but for the sheer simplicity of this design, the Nait 50 looks – there’s no other way to put it – cool. It isn’t just nostalgia speaking, either. 

In our sister title New Hi-Fi Sound’s June 1984 review, they grumbled about the original Nait’s “rather poorly fitting front fascia” – you’ll be pleased to know that the front and rear panels of this Nait 50 model are now made of high-quality anodised aluminium and there’s no issue with the fit and finish. The balance control spindle of the original has been replaced by a 6.3mm headphone socket (more on this later), and the row of buttons to select the three inputs are now labelled accordingly: phono, stream and aux (updated from phono, tuner and tape). The once-grey volume dial (still rather unusually situated on the left-hand side) is now machined from solid aluminium and is finished in black to match the rest of the amp.

It’s even simpler around the back: a pair of phono inputs with ground, two analogue DIN-connector inputs, and one pair of speaker terminals. And that’s it.

The Nait’s simplicity was praised in the September 1984 issue of What Hi-Fi?: “The Naim Nait epitomises the ‘straight-through’ approach… a British speciality where there is an absolute minimum of switches and extra circuitry in the way of the signal, and facilities are few as a result. All the emphasis is on sound quality.”

It’s not all rose-tinted...

We do have some quibbles with the Nait 50 while using it, however. To start with, there’s no remote control. Even the new Musical Fidelity A1 threw us modern hi-fi listeners a bone by adding a small remote control when the original one didn’t. We like using the Naim unit’s volume dial, but found it’s harder to make subtle changes in volume than it should be. It goes from quiet to loud too quickly; we’d have liked more travel in between to allow us to fine-tune the volume level we want. 

Secondly, the mains button is identical to the input buttons and, rather confusingly, the corresponding power status LED emits light (albeit less strongly) even in standby mode. It’s not always obvious to see at a glance if the amp is turned on or not by that semi-glowing LED, so if you’re not hearing music playing when you’ve plugged in your sources and speakers, just press the mains button to see if it’s actually fully powered on. If the LED glows brighter, that means it’s now on and music will flow. The Nait 50 has an auto standby mode by default, which activates at exactly 19 minutes – you can deactivate this by ensuring the “Instant On” switch at the back is on. 

And finally, Naim uses DIN connectors for the line-level analogue inputs; there are no standard RCA connectors to be seen. So if you have a source that uses connections other than DIN and you don’t already have the right cable, then you’ll have to buy one for yourself. Does Naim include a DIN cable in the box with the Nait 50? It does not, which feels rather mean for a limited edition product and the relatively high asking price. However, you can easily buy the right DIN-to-RCA (or your connection of choice) cable from Naim and various other cable manufacturers. We used both a Naim-supplied cable as well as a higher-end Vertere Acoustics Redline DIN-to-RCA cable during our listening period.

Internally, an entirely modern amplifier design

Naim could easily have left it at that, but the brand has actually given a full overhaul of the amplifier’s insides. 

Let’s talk power first. The original Nait 1 was met with derision at first launch because of its low power rating. Early reports weren’t firm about the exact power rating (some claiming as low 'about 8 watts') but we can confirm that the original was rated at 15W per channel into 8 ohms (thanks to Jason Gould of Naim for confirming this at the High-End Munich Show 2023).

In the new Nait 50, that’s gone up to 25W per channel into 8 ohms. That’s a decent step up, but even if it still won’t shake your floorboards, don’t be deceived into thinking that means the Nait 50 is some feeble performer. More power isn’t always the solution, we find. Some of our favourite amplifiers quote a low power rating, from the current Rega io (rated at 30W into 8 ohms) to the Pathos InpolRemix (a Class A design rated at just 10W!)

The Nait 50’s moving magnet phono stage is “all new”, says Naim, while the power amplifier design is based on the latest incarnation of the excellent NAP 250 (another 2023 launch, now in its sixth generation). The headphone amplifier section is entirely new, too – there wasn’t one in the original Nait at all – and this circuit has borrowed from another 2023 launch, the five-star NSC 222 streaming preamp. We tip our hats to Naim for offering a way to plug in our trusty wired headphones to listen to music more privately, especially as headphones have increasingly become a more common way of listening, and not just in the middle of the night. Additionally, the input switching is now done electrically, rather than mechanically, which results in shorter signal paths. 

In practice, the Class A/B design of the Naim Nait amp (both the original and this limited edition 2023 version) has more than ample grunt to drive a wide variety of speakers. Back in the Jan 1984 issue of New Hi-Fi Sound (pictured above), in answer to a reader’s query that “...the low power rating of the Nait leads me to consider speakers of a medium or high efficiency”, the magazine replied: “First and foremost, the Naim Nait, in spite of its seemingly poor theoretical performance, is capable of driving far more difficult speaker loads than amplifiers with much higher outputs. Consequently, do not feel that the Nait is a limiting factor in your choice of loudspeakers.” We happily echo that statement here. Sure, the Nait 50 may struggle to drive grossly inefficient speakers or deliver concert hall scales of sound, but for your average-sized listening room with typical speakers, the Nait 50 is more than capable.

During our time with the Nait 50, we plugged the amp into a variety of speakers we had at hand in our listening rooms. From our reference ATC SCM50 and Epos ES14N speakers to the more modest Bowers & Wilkins 607 S3 and 606 S3 standmounts, along with the PMC Prodigy 5 towers to the similarly retro Musical Fidelity LS3/5A speakers – we found that the power or sensitivity handling wasn’t an issue at all when finding the right speaker pair to suit the Nait 50’s talents. It’s far more about compatibility; about matching the sonic signatures between products to get the best results.

Sound quality

So how does this limited edition Nait 50 amp actually sound? Incredibly fun. While it has been redesigned to modern standards, Naim’s engineers have done a great job of ensuring that this Nait 50 retains the enthusiastic sonic character of the original Nait 1 that was so liked. During listening, our technical editor Ketan Bharadia kept referring it to as having a “puppy dog-like” character – it’s zippy, energetic and inherently likeable. 

There’s ample detail and clarity, with bags of punch. The amount of energy and drive that keeps a song’s momentum going – whether it’s Eminem’s The Way I Am, Alt-J’s Breezeblocks, Circling by Four Tet or Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa/En Vogue – is what stands out most with the Nait 50.

Regardless of genre, songs are handled with terrific agility and dynamic expression, with an innate understanding of the rhythmic interplay between instruments to make it musically enjoyable. There’s a good amount of weight and power to the proceedings too, keeping us satisfied as the brooding basslines in Massive Attack’s Angel and Paradise Circus hit with impact.

In New Hi-Fi Sound’s June 1984 review (you can read the full review, pictured below), David Präkel states that “the NAIT has an immediately distinctive sound” which is “coloured” – the same can be said about the Nait 50 and as a result, you are always aware of the amp itself. But Prakel also says, “the NAIT is an exceptional communicator of the ‘message’ of music, namely the pitch, shapes and independence of the notes.” We agree. Despite the Nait 50’s obvious flavour, it doesn’t take away from how precise the edges of notes are, how cleanly the vocals come through or how there’s a richness to the instruments when listening to Agnes Obel’s beautiful Aventine album. 

We used various sources during our time listening to the amp, including our reference Naim ND555/555 PS DR music streamer, a Cyrus CDi CD player and our reference Technics SL-1000R turntable. The amp’s general character is consistent across all inputs. When listening through the analogue DIN inputs (connected to the Naim streamer), the amp’s energetic character is applied to every song. While this means it doesn’t make a meal out of any poor recordings, it is clear that the Nait 50 isn’t quite as transparent when relaying the differences in recording qualities as the best of the competition at this price.

Moving on to playing albums on the Technics turntable, and the Nait 50 remains an enthusiastic performer, but still manages to convey the lo-fi and intimate feel of Elliott Smith’s Either/Or.

The headphone amplifier, on the other hand, is decent but not the Nait 50’s strongest point. We listened with the Grado SR325x open-backs plugged in, and there’s a pleasing immediacy to the delivery. But it’s not quite as clear or detailed compared with the other inputs.

Other amplifiers at this level today – such as Rega’s Elicit Mk5 and Naim’s own Nait XS 3 – are able to deliver a larger-scale performance with more detail and lower-end heft. But the Nait 50 is such a likeable performer that we can’t stop grinning when we listen to it.

Nait 50 vs Nait XS 3: sibling rivalry

The comparison with the current Nait XS 3 proves to be fascinating, as it’s a completely different proposition and sonic character. To our surprise, it’s not quite as punchy, clean, precise or as lively as the limited edition Nait 50. Bass performance isn’t as impactful, with the very same Massive Attack basslines sounding a touch hazy. But the Nait XS 3 is subtler, with more layers of texture unearthed around instruments and voices. 

It’s a more relaxed and transparent performer compared to the Nait 50’s endless enthusiasm. The Nait XS 3 is more attuned to the differences in recording qualities and era, being able to communicate the feel and mood of a song more deftly and with more nuance. One thing we always look out for when testing hi-fi kit is “Does this sad song make us feel sad?”, and the regular XS 3 amp fits this brief better. Nick Cave sounds appropriately bittersweet and contemplative in Into My Arms.

The Nait 50 certainly offers more punch and crisper edges, and the sense of lively, fun attack is infectious – if not always necessarily authentic. It’s not a laidback performer at all, and we even find the phono stage performance sounds better here than on the XS 3. But the Nait XS 3 does offer a more mature balance that many will prefer.

Compatibility: matching products is key 

Whichever balance you prefer, what’s of most importance is what you pair the amplifier with. In the Nait 50’s case, as it’s capable of dealing with a wide range of sources, it’s the speaker combination that proves to be the trickier match. The key takeaway is to avoid pairing the amp with any speakers that sound too bright or lively, as you’ll need something to counterbalance the Nait 50’s energy without losing any of that infectiously likeable charm. 

The new B&W 607 S3 (£599), for instance, is too excitable – combined with the Nait 50, the top end is too aggressive to our ears and the overall effect doesn’t let you relax. The bigger, spacious-sounding B&W 606 S3 (£749) is a nicer combination thanks to its more deliberate, slightly more relaxed presentation. The Nait 50 in turn adds a bit of zest to the 606 S3’s mature sound, and you end up with a performance that’s open, composed, solid and detailed.

Go up the chain to something more price-appropriate, and we have the equally special Musical Fidelity LS3/5A speakers (£2349), which are designed to BBC RD1976/29 specifications. Visually, the two retro products look absolutely fabulous together. Sonically, it’s not quite as good a match as it is aesthetically – the Musical Fidelity’s smaller-scaled sound and lack of bass authority don’t quite gel with the Nait 50’s punchy nature. But they flow and glide through music in a lovely way when it comes to voices and piano (anything in the midrange, essentially). These speakers don’t have the required punch and timing talents to match the demands of the Nait 50 amp, though. Our reference Epos ES14N speakers (£3750) deliver a more measured performance but are a little too out of the Nait’s league.

Verdict

Overall, while not perfect, this is a hugely entertaining and musical amp to listen to. It’s an obviously flavoured sound, but that’s the point of this amplifier: to capture the spirit of the original, iconic Nait 1 integrated amplifier. 

Even months after our time with the Nait 50, we still can’t forget just how fun this amp was to listen to. Would we pick it over the Nait XS 3? We’re in two minds; if we could have both powering two different systems, we’d be very happy indeed. 

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It’s easy – instinctive, even – to think that music streaming, something so instrumental in the world’s consumption of music today, kicked off when Spotify gained global traction around 15 years ago. Streaming certainly kicked on as the pioneering green giant found its way into over 15 million homes in its formative years through its free (around 75 per cent) and paying (the rest) users, as if Lionel Messi had given the technology his biggest welly. But wireless streaming in a home audio environment had indeed been around for some time by then, albeit in a form largely unfamiliar today.

The formative years

Hints of a forthcoming streaming revolution were writ large in the early noughties. As early as 2003, Roku had released its first SoundBridge music streamers, the miniature M1000 (pictured top) and larger M2000, capable of transmitting music stored on your computer, as well as internet radio, to a system in any room of your house that had a network connection. Direct playback from iTunes and Windows Media Connect was supported, as were online music services Rhapsody and Napster. 

In a 2005 What Hi-Fi? Group Test of such fledgling wireless devices – headlined ‘MP3 your hi-fi’ (not today, thank you!) – we called the then-£180 (about £350 today) SoundBridge M1000 “a class-leading network player”. “Streaming internet radio is an exciting feature,” we said, “sound quality is excellent and we found little, if anything, to complain about”. The pricier Sonneteer Bard USB – a two-piece transmitter and receiver – was an early sign of a wireless world simplified.

In 2004, Apple released the AirPort Express wi-fi station, which could be used as an audio streaming device thanks to its line-level and optical outputs and the debut of AirPlay (then ’AirTunes’). And by the time Spotify launched a few years later, Sonos had won three consecutive What Hi-Fi? Awards for its BU130 'Digital Music System’, with us labelling it ‘the hottest thing to hit hi-fi in years'. The Zone Player at the system’s core was an amplifier and wireless connector that plugged into a computer and pair of speakers to make up one full system, with the ability to beam music wirelessly to another (this time receiving-only) Zone Player in the bundle to make up a second system. Soon came Napster integration, eradicating the need for a PC.

High-end hi-fi brand Linn in 2007 launched the Klimax DS music player (‘DS’ stood for ‘Digital Streaming’), the (self-described) ‘first authentic hi-fi product to stream digital music over a standard home network'. Indeed it could play back 24-bit/192kHz studio master-quality recordings as a digital stream over a home network, with the company’s Linn Records website offering such 24-bit Studio Master downloads for online purchase. By 2009, Linn had four DS streamers, the sales of which by then had "dramatically surpassed" those of its CD players, which it would consequently soon cease production of. And by 2012, just as Spotify hit 20 million users globally, Linn had ten streamers in its arsenal… and even a streaming sideboard.

In 2009, Naim – another early adopter in the hi-fi realm – won the first What Hi-Fi? Award given to an audio streaming product, for its Naim Uniti – a 'CD receiver with DAC, iPod-connectivity, internet/DAB/FM radio and wireless music streamer thingy' as we initially called it… before deciding on ‘CD/Wi-Fi receiver’.

Logitech's new Squeezebox Radio from that same year became the first internet-only radio we'd class as a serious rival to same-priced DAB alternatives, with access to Deezer, Last.fm and Napster too. 

All milestones for the wireless streaming era; milestones that now seem to belong to a bygone era.

Feature progression – and subsequent parity

In those days, before the heyday of the streaming service apps we use today, streamed music predominantly came from a connected (physically or wi-fi’d) computer, from servers like Apple’s iTunes, a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, or a plug-in built into the streamer (the early Linns, for example, offered radio plug-ins from the BBC and others). Of course, fast forward 15 or so years, and today’s music streamers offer direct access to umpteen music service apps, from Spotify to Soundcloud, Apple Music to Amazon Music, Tidal to TuneIn, and everything in between. Often via one control app that is heaps more intuitive and reliable than what you got back then, at the convenient touch of your phone screen. 

There are a lot of boxes to tick, and with in-app control options courtesy of technologies like Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect, plus voice control integration everywhere, it’s hard to imagine how much more convenient music streaming could get. Unless the ecosystem was boiled to one single service and platform that all streaming hardware played ball with, no Big Tech politics involved – but let’s be realistic!

It’s actually reached a point now whereby there is more or less feature parity across the price spectrum of budget streamers, with all these boxes being increasingly ticked by hardware. There are discrepancies, of course – mostly when it comes to hit-or-miss support of MQA, Chromecast, Bluetooth and DSD, we find – but you’re almost always getting UPnP playback, access to The Big 4 (Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal and Qobuz), hi-res audio support up to at least 24-bit/192kHz, compatibility with AirPlay, Spotify Connect and internet radio platforms, and perhaps most universally the choice between Ethernet and wi-fi.

Performance growth in both directions

Streaming performance has evolved with features (and user experience, at that), and arguably not as much as it has in the past few years. I remember some years ago when the What Hi-Fi? reviews team sat around a particular budget music streamer when the category had become more established, feeling disappointed at the seeming quality ceiling at that end of the market. Bluesound and Cambridge Audio had the best early stabs, but the better budget CD players sounded superior.

Recently, there have been more than a few examples of great headway being made where sound quality is concerned – and at both ends of the market. It isn’t surprising that Linn is behind one at the higher end, considering its unprecedented streaming heritage in hi-fi; nor is it particularly shocking that Cambridge Audio is one at the other, given its commitment to, and consistency of, streaming performance over the past decade in particular.

Cambridge Audio’s new MXN10 represents the biggest leap in performance at the budget end of the market in years, while the even newer Wiim Pro Plus (pictured below) is the first streamer as affordable as £219 / $219 / AU$339 that we’ve felt we can wholeheartedly recommend.

At the other end, Linn’s Klimax DSM (now iterations on from the 2007 original!) “sets new standards for high-end streamers” with “second to none” insight, clarity and dynamic expression, while the dCS Lina network DAC is another benchmark product that flies the flag for streamers being a choice modern-day source. In both respects, streaming chips and platforms, and the effectiveness with which hi-fi manufacturers can implement them in their designs, have come on leaps and bounds in recent years.

In the blink of an eye in the hi-fi world, streaming has evolved from majoring mainly in convenience to having the potential to be the highest-quality music solution in history. Where will it go next? Some say AI will improve user experiences and influence music creation, others say immersive 3D audio will get a stranglehold on music consumption. Whatever streaming’s future, it’s hard to imagine it’ll progress as much in the next 20 years as it has in the last, because it’s been one heck of a ride.

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The answer to ‘What’s more legendary: Sir Jony Ive or Linn’s Sondek LP12?’ would probably be different depending on whether it came out of the mouth of a hi-fi enthusiast or a technology nut. Both have made a huge mark in their respective fields 

Ive for being the chief design lead at Apple for over 20 years, and consequently behind some of the most landmark devices in consumer technology. The LP12 for being the most iconic turntable of all time and an inspiration not only for future Linn products but also those from other hi-fi manufacturers.

And now their worlds have, somewhat unlikely I suppose, collided. Linn and Ive have collaborated for the new 50th-anniversary edition of the Sondek LP12 record player, fittingly called the LP12-50. Priced at £50,000/$60,000 the turntable is set to ship between August and March in a limited batch of 250 units. It marks Ive’s first non-Apple hardware project and Linn’s first LP12 redesign of this kind.

The opportunity could well have slipped through the net. In a blog post about the collaboration, Linn CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun writes how he initially dismissed a LinkedIn invitation to meet with Ive as spam, before getting the niggling feeling that it could be authentic and he should follow up. Alas, the message wasn’t junk worthy. Ive wanted to purchase a couple of Linn products, and the conversation over FaceTime led to his new design firm, LoveFrom, expressing a desire to get involved with the LP12-50 project.

Tiefenbrun goes on to say in his post that after getting to know the Sondek LP12, Ive and the LoveFrom team suggested design improvements, focusing first on enhancements to the plastic hinges and the speed control/power switch.

“If you’ve ever had a real estate agent look around your house, you’ll be familiar with how I felt,” writes Tiefenbrun. “At Linn, we care about sound quality above all else and so, whilst we are aware that there is indeed room for improvement in these areas, we haven’t found the time in recent years to make them a priority over our long list of potential sonic improvements.”

That led to new precision-machined metal hinges that Tiefenbrun said would make the dust cover ultra-responsive to the user; new, circular, machined-from-solid aluminium power switches; a curved-edged top plate and arm board to mirror the new power switch’s curves’ and finally a new lid badge. As it happened, that aligned with Linn engineers’ work on a new “Bedrok” plinth, which is machined from a single block of an incredibly dense new type of wood, created by compressing layers of beech under extreme pressure, and has, Linn says taken the LP12 to “a new level of sonic performance”.

“The result is our best-sounding, best-looking and most usable Sondek LP12 ever,” concludes Tiefenbrun.

Now, Linn has never appeared to me like a hi-fi brand that struggles with design. Everything Linn I’ve reviewed or seen is visually attractive, seemingly well built and intuitive to use, as the products’ high-end price point quite rightly demands. And the contemporary redesign for its streamers that it introduced in 2018 shows how it has moved with the times all on its own. I’m yet to see the LP12-50 in the flesh, though it’s obvious from looking at the images that it stands apart from previous LP12s with a few new flourishings – and Linn is clearly happy with the refinements they bring.

I’m not suggesting such collaborations as this one are easy, or even financially or practically feasible for many hi-fi brands. Ive – or indeed other notable designers – probably aren’t lining up to get involved in a ton of hi-fi projects, at that. But there are hi-fi products at the top of the game from a sound performance point of view that I could see benefitting from the touch – and I mean touch; nothing more – of a mainstream technology brand or designer. Products that could be complemented by the first-rate user experiences and design cues of today’s gadgetry. Not because they’re bad or substandard particularly (though some are), but because they could be better. More in line with the best and most innovative usability features we now see on mainstream consumer electronics. Perhaps that would even help secure the future of hi-fi for the next generation.

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Which component do you think makes the most difference in your system? The conventional wisdom on that question has varied over time. In the early days of hi-fi, it was thought to be the speakers. And that’s totally understandable.

After all, they are the things that actually turn the electronic music signal into the sound waves we hear, and so must be the most important part of a system, right? Well, not if you asked the exact same question in the 1980s and 1990s. 

At that point in time, the 'source first' dogma dominated. This is the idea that the rest of the system can’t reproduce anything that the source misses out in the first place, which led to the recommendation of some pretty lopsided systems. 

Typically, that tended to include a high-end turntable partnered with budget amplifiers and speakers. The classic system of this type was a fully specced Linn LP12 (taking up around 75 per cent of the total budget) feeding a NAD 3020 amplifier with perhaps Acoustic Research AR18 speakers. Such a combination still managed to sound good, but it only really made sense if you viewed it as a stepping stone to better things.

So what *is* the most important aspect?

The arrival of the compact disc changed things yet again, bringing with it the idea that all parts of the system are equally important and the balance between the source, amplification and speakers should be broadly even. That’s probably where we still are today to a large extent, but I’m not sure that’s totally the right approach either.

I think the most important part of any system – the one component that sets the ceiling for the rest of the set-up – isn’t the source, speakers or amplification; it's the room the system is placed in. Get this right and the system, whatever its calibre, has more chance of performing optimally. Get it wrong and even the very best high-end products will fail to shine.

While this is something I’ve believed for a while, it was the building of What Hi-Fi?’s latest two-channel test room that made me think more about it again. During my decades on the brand, I’ve been involved with the design and development of around a dozen or so test rooms. And each time we work on a new one it is a chance to learn more. Over the years we’ve worked with various acoustics experts and it has become clear to me that each one prioritises different aspects of the sound, and so the types of acoustic treatments have varied.

But in the end, whether it is for What Hi-Fi? or a typical hi-fi consumer, we all just want a balanced-sounding room that doesn’t emphasise any particular part of the frequency range but instead strikes a natural balance between liveliness and being damped enough to avoid any unwanted reverb. Get a room like that and the system just sounds better, and even more important than that for What Hi-Fi?, the judging of individual products becomes easier.

My ideal hi-fi test room

So what would my ideal hi-fi listening room be like? It would be a decent size – large enough to fit the likes of our reference ATC SCM50 speakers without issue – and the dimensions of the room wouldn’t be direct multiples of each other. By the way, our main hi-fi test room (pictured top) now measures 3m x 7m x 5m (hwd), which is pretty close to my ideal.

After that, we enter the realm of construction. The floor should be solid, as should the walls, but in the real world such things don’t tend to be within our powers, do they? Our houses are built the way they are and we can’t do much about that. You can, however, set up your speakers with care. We have penned plenty of advice articles offering deep-dives into how to best position your speakers and set up your turntable and stereo amp, but in short...

Unless the speakers are designed to specifically go there, avoid putting them close to walls or – even worse – in a room corner. Start with the manufacturer’s recommendations and adjust from there. You’re looking for balanced tonality, a good amount of bass and a broad, layered stereo image. Standmounters should go on dedicated supports, and use spikes to make sure your speakers are stable.

Make the immediate area around the speakers as symmetrical as possible between the left and right channels. This will help with stereo imaging, as will positioning the speakers so that they and you (sitting at the listening position) are at the points on an equilateral triangle. If you can't manage this, try to still sit equidistant to each speaker.

Avoid putting anything in between the speakers too. I see lots of photos where the system electronics (or, even worse, a flatscreen TV) are placed there. This looks neat and is undeniably practical, but doing this is another thing that will cause havoc with the stereo soundstage.

Beyond that, a dedicated rack for the system will maximise performance while good-quality cables will also ensure your system delivers its full potential. Provided your system has been chosen with care, all you have to do then is make sure you have a nice comfy place to sit and lots of great music to tap away to.

MORE:

The very best speakers and best stereo amplifiers you can buy

How to build the perfect hi-fi system

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How to add a music streamer to your hi-fi system

In its 50th-anniversary year, Linn has lifted the lid on a new flagship speaker which it says produces the lowest-ever levels of audible distortion of any Linn speaker past and present. Say hello to the Linn 360 (and look, not a quirky 'k' in the product name in sight!)

“It is without a doubt the finest loudspeaker we have ever made,” says Linn CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun, “streets ahead of our previous benchmark.” 

This, the Scottish company says, has been achieved by developing new “everything”, from a new cabinet to new drive units.

The latter sees a 19mm Beryllium dome tweeter married with a woven carbon fibre midrange cone, both of which Linn says have been manipulated so that the distortion they inherently produce is pushed above what is audible by the human ear. Bass frequencies are delivered by both upper and lower aluminium-magnesium alloy bass drive units, with the pair of lower bass drivers able to produce greater range as well as more than double the excursion than Linn’s previous maximum.

Linn says that bass reproduction has been further improved thanks to its built-from-the-ground-up Power DAC technology, which combines digital-to-analogue conversion and amplification in one stage, consequently extending the digital path and reducing loss.

In addition to implementing Linn’s digital wizard Exakt system and Space Optimisation room correction technology too, the 360 speakers also introduce the company’s latest amplifier technology, Adaptive Bias Control, which works in real-time to eliminate distortion from the amps to ensure optimum performance.

The curvaceousness of the front baffle alongside the flushed placement of the drive units and a concentric arc, waveguide-incorporating surround trim have been chosen for optimum dispersion in every direction – perhaps hence the speakers' name.

The shapely cabinet, which is built up from “scrupulously folded” 3D laminates and accommodates a front baffle that reaches right around either side of the speaker, can be finished in one of five colours – Clyde Built (matte grey), Single Malt (amber) or Linn Heritage (gloss black) from The Glasgow Collection, or Piano Black or Alpine White from The Classic Collection.

Two versions of the 360 are available, too. The first is the Exakt Integrated variant (£87,500), which as you might guess houses all the crossover, DAC and amplification circuitry within the speaker, and is designed for use with a Linn DSM network player. The second, meanwhile, is the Passive with Aktiv Bass (£55,000), designed for use with a non-Linn amplifier or an all-external Linn Exakt system using Exaktbox.

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Read our Linn Selekt DSM: Edition Hub review

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Vinyl is the music format that just won't go away. In fact, did you know that in 2022 vinyl sales beat CD sales for the first time since 1987?

We're thrilled by the vinyl revival, but what good is loving vinyl if you don't have a decent turntable to play it on?

As we celebrate British Hi-Fi Week, we've taken a trip down memory lane to admire some of the best record players from British audio companies that have passed through our test rooms. 

We've been reviewing audio equipment for the last 44 years, so while some companies are still going strong, others are sadly no longer with us. Regardless, all of these record players are brilliant examples of British audio engineering that well and truly stand the test of time.

And if you like this, check out our feature on why the 1970s were the perfect time to start a British hi-fi company.

Linn LP12 (1973)

And we're starting with one of the best, bar none. Linn's LP12 turntable was first introduced in 1972 and immediately proved popular with audiophiles. The range of compatible arms and cartridges the company made meant keeping this vinyl player up-to-date was satisfyingly easy.

Almost every aspect of the design has been revised over the years, and while the early breed of the LP12s had a round and rich balance, modern incarnations have moved towards a more neutral, even-handed sound. All of them have been firm What Hi-Fi? favourites.

Rega Planar 3 (1978)

Since its introduction in 1978, the Rega Planar 3 has been a go-to turntable (and its latest incarnation stalked off with What Hi-Fi? awards in 2019, 2020 and 2021). A respectable mid-market record player, the Planar 3 remains an easy-going, low-cost piece of kit that continues to keep our vinyl spinning – and since the company keeps refining the product, we imagine it'll stay that way for a while yet.

Check out our feature on the making of the Rega Planar 3

Michell Gyrodec (1982)

In 1982 the Gyrodec was a combination of great sound quality and artistic design. Bring the clock up to date and this player is still available – it's a testament to its quality that it's essentially the same machine. 

When it's up and running it sounds detailed, expressive and graceful, ready to put down other products costing plenty more. It's not plug-and-play – some assembly is required – but the instructions are clear, and there's a logic to its design that means it'll be spinning your discs in no time. And when it's spinning, there's nothing that looks quite like it.

Ariston Q-Deck (1990)

Ariston perhaps became best known for the patent case, Ariston vs. Linn, over the thorny issue of the similarities between the Linn LP12 and the Ariston RD11. The patent was opposed but it led to the two companies striking out anew on their own. Both turned out a succession of excellent record players, with Linn of course still going strong to this day. We were fans of the Ariston RD40, RD80 and this, the affordable Q-Deck, as featured in this April 1990 round-up.

Systemdek IIX (1990)

The Systemdek IIX became our Product of the Year in 1990, and it held that position for the next two years. It is rightly regarded by many as one of the finest turntables ever produced – and surely the finest to come out of Troon, Scotland.

The record player's sound quality rose well above that of its closest rivals – timing was confident and music sounded tuneful and easy-flowing – thanks to a series of innovative design features, such as a three-point sprung chassis. 

Pink Triangle Tarantella (1997)

The first time we heard this turntable, we awarded it a dismal two stars. We were unable to get vinyl turning steadily at 33rpm which, we're sure you'll agree, is a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to playing LPs. But Pink Triangle brought the deck back to us with all problems solved – and we were thrilled to hear the Tarantella's open sound and refreshingly clear dynamics. Although the Pink Triangle company closed in 2003, there's no doubt the London manufacturer's legacy lives on.

Wilson Benesch Full Circle (2001)

Wilson Benesch was founded in 1989 in Sheffield and set itself apart from the crowd by using carbon fibre. The Full Circle was the "pinnacle of the company's art", as we referred to it in this 2001 piece, and used the company's carbon fibre suspension technique. The sonic result was a precise, spacious sound complete with a smooth treble and full bass.

Read the full Wilson Benesch Full Circle review

Roksan Xerxes 20 (2006)

You should never judge a book by its cover, and the same can be said for turntables. The Roksan Xerxes 20 looks to be your conventional, run-of-the-mill wooden-box turntable, but it is packed with clever engineering. 

A motor that turns on its axis to compensate for torque fluctuations, a bearing designed to minimise noise, and rubber suspension tuned to dampen specific frequencies are just some of the little tricks Roksan's engineers built into this player. And they worked. The Xerxes 20 got all the essentials right – this is a player with first-class dynamics, and exceptional timing and rhythm.

Read the full Roksan Xerxes review

Vertere DG-1 Dynamic Groove (2019)

This £2750 'plug and play' deck got its debut at the High End 2019 show in Munich. Prior to that, the company’s turntable range had typically focused on the high-end of the market, with flagship deck/arm combinations retailing for premium car money.

The significantly lower price point here meant that the company couldn’t just re-use the engineering solutions in its existing products and find the cost savings where needed. Instead, Vertere took a fresh ground-up design approach to achieve what it thought were the best solutions for the price.

Despite the DG-1's extrovert design, it’s the arm that really grabbed our attention. Rather than using a conventional cylindrical arm tube (which gives rigidity but is also prone to resonances) the DG-1’s arm is made of a flat, triple-layered, aluminium alloy/polymer sandwich. Its bearings are unusual too, discarding traditional metal designs for twisted nylon threads. Even the wiring is unconventional, using a gold-plated flexible PCB rather than standard cables.

Did it work out? You could say that. Upon handing the DG-1 a What Hi-Fi? 2020 award, we concluded, "This Vertere is now the one to beat at this level". It took home another What Hi-Fi? award in 2021 but was finally beaten in 2022 – by the upgraded Vertere DG-1 S.

Read the full Vertere DG-1 Dynamic Groove review

Rega Planar 8 (2019)

Our list wouldn't be complete without another excellent Rega Research turntable. The Essex specialist has been delivering five-star products since its inception in 1973, and it helped a few other brands with tonearms and record players along the way. Updated versions of its classic Planar 1, 2, 3 (see above), 6... we could go on... have continued an arguably unmatched dynasty of great decks. 

But we love the latest Rega Planar 8 for doing something a little different and still delivering top-quality performance. There's a new main bearing assembly, a new three-piece platter, a new tonearm, and a new look that is like nothing else around. The sound? Stunning and unrivalled at launch, which is why we made it a What Hi-Fi? award-winner in 2019.

Read the full Rega Planar 8 review

SME Synergy (2020)

Take a look at any of SME's turntables or arms and its obsession for quality is impossible to miss. This measured approach means that SME doesn’t introduce new products often, so when the company decided to launch a complete record-playing package called the Synergy, we couldn't help but take note.

The Synergy package is made up of the SME 12 turntable with a dedicated arm that’s essentially a rewired version of the highly regarded SME IV, an Ortofon MC Windfeld Ti cartridge, and a built-in phono stage from Swiss high-end hi-fi royalty Nagra. Considering many of Nagra’s products tend to cost way more than the complete Synergy package that’s quite some coup.

In sound terms, the Synergy is every bit the sum of its awesome parts. SME’s products tend to excel in detail resolution and control, and the Synergy is no different. Everything we played in our thrilling review session proved brilliantly detailed and flawlessly organised. It's tonally balanced, authentic and dynamic, too, with bags of grin-inducing energy. In short, this is a modern classic of a turntable.

Read the full SME Synergy review

MORE:

Check out all of our British Hi-Fi week reviews, features and news

Here are the best record players you can buy right now

What do Linn, Naim and Rega all have in common? Well, they are all British hi-fi brands. And they have all manufactured a turntable and amplifier. Indeed, there are plenty of answers to this question given the huge swathes of overlapping products the companies produced over the years. But no, I’m getting at something more specific, and that’s the year all three of these venerable manufacturers were founded – 1973. 50 years ago this very year.

Allow a little latitude and expand that a few years on either side and you can include Arcam (1976, when it was called A&R Cambridge), NAD (1972) and Monitor Audio (1972) in that group. QED is another with a 1973 birthdate. And those are just the British brands! I’m sure that list would grow exponentially were we to start looking beyond the UK’s shores.

This got me thinking, was there something special about that time which encouraged people to start hi-fi companies, or was it all just a happy coincidence? For What Hi-Fi?'s British Hi-Fi Week, I asked some of the wiser and more mature members of the industry and received a surprisingly wide range of answers that considered all aspects of life at that time...

Quite fittingly, it starts with music. Do a quick Google search of the best albums of the 1970s and you’ll probably be as shocked as I was at the number of them that are considered musical landmarks. The list includes Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, and David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, to name just a few. The availability of such brilliant music must have been a strong driving force for the success of the audio industry with music fans wanting to hear every last detail of their favourite recording.

Let's not forget that stereo was only recently established then, and artists were still learning to make the most of this new format. Music production was becoming more sophisticated and many were experimenting with the new musical experiences two channels of sound could bring. The three-dimensional nature of a proper stereo system must have seemed light-years ahead of the mono radiograms people were used to when listening to such recordings. It is no wonder that the demand for hi-fi boomed during this period.

The move from old-fashioned radiograms to stereo systems also gave new manufacturers an easier route into the market. They could now specialise in just one part of the audio chain, which over time gave rise to the separates market we all know and love. 

No longer did a start-up company need expertise in multiple disciplines, something which made it easier to enter the market with a dedicated product. It allowed the likes of Naim and Arcam (then known as A&R Cambridge) to come to the market with just a single amplifier initially. In Arcam's case that was the A60 integrated and for Naim, the NAP160 power. In both instances, these standalone products were successful enough to establish the companies as serious contenders in the market.

Splitting the system into its component parts opened the door to easy upgrading. You could now improve the system's sound by changing just one part at a time, making it more affordable and practical to do. Naturally, this was ideal for audio manufacturers who could now make a range of components at different price levels designed to offer logical steps up the performance ladder. We know, of course, that the more expensive products didn't always end up sounding better – but the idea was sensible enough.

A little less specifically, it seems there was a general drive for higher sound quality at the time that was inspired by the BBC. The corporation had a revered engineering department and there was a great deal of emphasis put on improving the audio quality of broadcasts and productions. 

That engineering department did a great deal of research into speaker design through the 70s and some of the engineers involved went on to form their own speaker companies. The most well-known examples are probably Spencer Hughes, who with his wife Dorothy started Spendor, and Dudley Harwood, the founder of Harbeth. On a side note, Harwood's wife was called Elizabeth. He, just like Spencer Hughes had done earlier, combined part of his own name with his wife's to come up with the name of the company. Sweet.

The likes of Spendor, Harbeth and Rogers still make products that are heavily inspired by the BBC’s thinking. We've reviewed a number of the Spendor Classic products, such as the Classic 2/3 and Classic 1/2, and can still hear plenty of merit in the engineering philosophy.

Rapidly changing technology also played a huge part in the growth of the audio industry. The move from valves to transistors in electronic circuits made for smaller, cooler running amplifiers that had more power. They could also be manufactured more cheaply, and that made products more accessible. The 70s was also when big Japanese brands such as Sony, Panasonic, Sansui and Akai took advantage of improved trade and made a massive impact on how hi-fi was perceived and sold.

These companies had a huge influence in driving the market at the time, to the extent that it was widely accepted that buying a hi-fi ranked as high as third on people’s priority list following the acquisition of a house and a car. In a world where smartphones, computers and game consoles didn’t exist, and holidays abroad were seen as exotic things only the wealthy could do, it seems a fair conclusion.

Lastly, we need to consider the music formats available. For decades the main source of music for the masses was radio. The mass adoption of cassettes gave people greater freedom to choose the music they heard, particularly in situations where records were impractical to use. Cassettes were also so much cheaper and less fiddly than the large reel-to-reel tape machines that existed at the time.

It is true that sound quality wasn't a patch on the reel-to-reel players of the time. After all, the cassette was originally developed by Philips to record voices for dictation purposes. But things did improve with extra development and the introduction of the Dolby B noise reduction system lifting performance to decent levels. Though anyone old enough to have used one will remember the frustration when the tape inside the cassette got tangled up in the player's transport mechanism.

The sales of vinyl records were huge during the 70s, too. Between them, cassettes and records covered almost every domestic use case from portable audio to newly emerging cutting-edge high-end stereo systems. This clear and logical set of circumstances made it easy for buyers to get exactly the right sound equipment for their needs and avoided the confusion arising from the various format wars we've had since then. Sales in all areas of hi-fi and audio boomed, predictably. 

This huge demand meant there were more manufacturers and more shops selling the products. During the 70s there were streets devoted to selling sound equipment in London, and we have no doubt the same is true for every major city in the world. For a time London's Tottenham Court Road and Edgware Road were packed full of such shops. Huge audio chains such as Laskys existed on many high streets, meaning that good hi-fi was easily accessible to all. Nowadays, customers have to travel far and wide to find such access and the range of products stocked by most dealers is limited in comparison.

Put all these disparate points together and it is abundantly clear that during the 70s the conditions for ambitious hi-fi start-ups to succeed were hugely favourable. Given the longevity and brilliance of many of the brands that were founded back then, it is clear that the solid foundations laid down at the time have proved sturdy enough to last the decades.

MORE:

Read our features for British Hi-Fi Week 2023, a celebration of audio tech past and present

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Linn's reference Organik DAC, which debuted last year in the latest Klimax DSM as the first-ever all-Linn digital-to-analogue converter manufactured entirely in-house, is now being offered as an optional upgrade for every generation of its Klimax DS and Klimax DSM music streamers.

This latest offering means that every component in the company's flagship Klimax range, including the Klimax 350 integrated speakers and Klimax Exaktbox crossover/DAC, is now eligible for the Organik upgrade. Linn prides itself on being able to retrofit every generation of its products with its latest innovations if a customer so chooses, so this welcome compliance comes as no surprise.

Organik offers improved digital-to-analogue (and vice versa) conversion circuitry, provides support for DSD256 and 24-bit/384kHz streaming, and supports the latest version of Linn's software that also debuted in the 2021-released Klimax DSM. Considering the Klimax DSM is one of the very best music streamers we've ever heard (it "sets new standards for high-end streamers", we said in our five-star review), we're confident the Organik upgrade will make a significant sonic difference to legacy components.

You'd hope so for the £5400 cost of the upgrade, of course. That figure is the same to update a Klimax Exaktbox, while the Klimax 350 speakers demand a £10,800 fee.

Linn says Organik is the culmination of decades of digital design. It uses an 8-layer circuit board, the geometry of which Linn has taken great care to get right. Power for the conversion stage is generated by a discrete regulator and facilitated using multiple internal power planes for optimal delivery, while the clock traces are supposedly matched to within fractions of a millimetre for peak accuracy.

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If you are serious about both your hi-fi system and your love of vinyl, getting the ultimate performance from your priceless record collection is the ultimate aim. What you need is a high-end turntable.

What Hi-Fi? has been testing turntables ever since our inception in 1976, so our experienced team of reviewers know just how much of a difference an exquisitely engineered and exceptional sounding turntable can make when bringing every drop of detail and information from the vinyl record groove to life. Of course, the rest of your system components have to be of a similarly high level to get the best out of your new high-end turntable, too.

You might have perused our best turntables guide and decided that you are after something far more high-performing (and can afford the higher price tags) – which is why we have curated this list for audiophiles who are interested in the finest, most impressive high-end record players that have passed through our test rooms in recent years.

There are a few things to consider with high-end turntables, as they aren't 'plug-and-play' models like budget decks. You'll need to visit a specialist retailer and choose your own cartridge and sometimes even the tonearm, which is why you won't see our usual price widgets on the products below, as the customisation and pricing options will vary.

We would also recommend listening to your new turntable before making such a huge purchase and getting tailored advice from your dedicated dealer.

Whether you have the deep pockets to fund this esoteric interest or you are just perusing and dreaming about your dream deck, read on to discover the stunning high-end record players we've reviewed and recommend.

The best high-end record players

Originally introduced back in 1973, the LP12 is still a massively capable and neatly configured deck that puts many a young gun to shame. It's been updated and modernised over the years, but the quality and performance have remained impeccable.

Even when you factor in the five-figure price tag, the Klimax LP12 represents value for money and is one of the best high-end record players we've ever had the pleasure of testing.

This configuration sees the basic deck (called Sondek LP12) partnered with an Ekos SE tonearm and Kandid moving-coil cartridge. There's also an Urika phono stage, Radikal power supply and Keel sub-chassis, all of which combine to make this a truly high-end turntable. We tested it originally at £18,670 (around $22,180 / AU$32,925) but as of 2026, the deck has risen in price to £32,500 (around $31,000 / AU$48,655).

And it's all worth every penny because this deck is impressively precise and smooth, beautifully made (the arm tube is made of titanium) and sounds wonderfully musical. Detail resolution, agility and transparency have improved over the years, resulting in a high-end record player that never loses its composure.

If you want scale, power, passion and all manner of sonic fireworks, the Klimax LP12 is the money-no-object choice.

Read our full Linn Klimax LP12 review

• For a more (relatively) affordable alternative, read our Linn Majik LP12 MC review

Rega has picked up plenty of awards for its more modest offerings, but the Planar 10/Apheta 3 combination sets sky-high standards for the money and serves up plenty of insight and detail.

As the company's mainstream range-topper, the Planar 10 is well-made and visually striking. You could buy one without a cartridge but Rega’s Apheta 3 makes the ideal partner. We tested the package at £4499 / $6695 / AU$9499, but current prices have the Planar 10 set at £5400 ($7895 / AU$11,499) with the Apheta 3 cartridge and £7395 ($10,995 / AU$15,999) with the Aphelion 2.

There's plenty of elegant engineering to admire, including a single-piece machined aluminium sub-platter with a hardened tool steel spindle running inside a custom brass housing. As for the belt, Rega spent three years developing the material used.

When it comes to sound, there is transparency, resolution and dynamic expression in spades. It's a natural and measured performance that is mature and authoritative, with plenty of weight to bass frequencies.

All in all, this high-end record player is as good as it gets for the money. And if you like that it resembles a work of art, this is the deck for you.

Read our full Rega Planar 10/Apheta review

• Prefer a less costly alternative? Consider the Rega Planar 8/Apheta 2
• Want a more high-end, more refined alternative? See the Rega Naia below

At the top of Technics' range of turntables sits the SL-1000R. It won't suit everyone's budget and weighing in at 40kg, you'll probably need another pair of hands to shift it. But from the magnesium S-shaped tonearm to the adjustable feet, build quality and finish are as precise as a Japanese bullet train.

Unusually for a high-end turntable, Technics has opted for a direct drive motor rather than a belt drive, but great care has been taken to reduce vibration. Technics pioneered the direct drive turntable design in the 1970s, and the SL-1000R delivers excellent speed stability at 33.3, 45 and 78rpm.

It also features a 7.9kg triple-layered platter and comes with an external power supply. As with most options at this price (£18,999 / $24,699 / AU$34,999), you'll need to supply your own cartridge.

The SL1000R's sound quality is seriously punchy and tuneful. We're impressed with its delivery of tight, beautifully defined bass and deeply impressive levels of scale and authority.

It might seem expensive, but the SL-1000R will go toe-to-toe with any rival in this price bracket. Truly a fantastic beast.

Read our full Technics SL-1000R review

• To get some of the SL-1000R's performance in a more affordable package, consider the five-star Technics SL-1300G

With a layered design that’s built mostly from high-grade acrylic, you can see exactly where all your money has gone with the Vertere SG-1 – and there’s a lot to account for.

Our review package included the turntable with the Imperium motor drive (£25,305 / $34,395 / AU$51,890), the Pathfinder tonearm (£13,500 / $17,999 / AU$27,995), the XtraX moving coil cartridge (£5800 / $6499 / AU$12,995), and to top it off Vertere supplied us with its top-end HB mains cable (£2950 / around $3835 / AU$4795).

The SG-1 is a serious feat of engineering though, particularly the main bearing inside. The acrylic layers are isolated from each other by rubber supports that minimise vibration, with a beautifully machined aluminium platter placed on top. The motor that drives it is mounted in such a way that it can move to remove any unwanted tension in the drive belt, which helps maintain a consistent speed.

The result is a turntable that excels when it comes to transparency and allows each record to decide how it should sound. As long as you partner it with a suitably capable amplifier and speakers the SG-1 delivers class-leading resolution, thrilling dynamics, and tremendous rhythmic drive.

As we said in our effusive five-star review, the SG-1 displays a level of talent that should be cherished, and while not many will be able to afford one, if you can it won’t disappoint.

Read our full Vertere SG-1/XtraX review

• Too rich for your budget? Opt for the Vertere MG-1 MkII/Mystic instead

The current VPI Prime 21+ builds on one of our favourite turntables with an upgraded design that improves performance and ease of use.

Just to be clear, there are actually two versions of this deck. The ‘21+’ (or '21 Plus') model now costs £7700 ($7700) and includes the brand-new VPI Shyla moving coil cartridge and the company’s Weisline tonearm. Meanwhile, the base '21' model misses out on these two options but costs much less – around £5500 ($5500). In Australia, you're looking at around AU$10,590 with the other cartridge and tonearm options available as extra.

If you can stretch to the 21+, you won't be disappointed. It's engineered to sing and, like previous VPI's Prime turntables, dishes up plenty of clarity and precision. Sound is big and bold without overstepping the mark, delivering punch and insight that put it among the class leaders in this category.

It doesn't quite have the drive of the Vetere MG-1 or the rhythmic snap of the superb Rega Planar 10 (both listed above), but the VPI Prime 21+ does combine its impressive sense of power with easy set-up and a generous supply of accessories in the box.

And for those reasons, this one has to be on your shortlist.

Read our full VPI Prime 21+ review

• If you want a step-up model, consider the VPI Prime Signature

The Clearaudio Ovation is the Clark Kent of high-end record players: its superpowers are neatly hidden under conventional looks. It's a terrific all-rounder brimming with clever engineering solutions.

There's plenty of choice when it comes to picking a cartridge – Clearaudio makes a varied and impressive range, so you can take things up a notch should your budget allow. The Ovation deck currently retails at £6800 (around $9500 / AU$10,500), but the package with Talismann v2 Gold moving coil cartridge and Clarify tonearm we tested will cost you north of £10,000. In the US, you get different tonearm and cartridge combinations that start at $12,500.

Build quality is pretty much bulletproof. The Ovation’s plinth boasts a sandwich construction made up of two plates of aluminium encapsulating a layer of Panzerholz (a dense, heavily processed wood that’s said to be bulletproof). It's also an effective damping agent.

How does it sound? Refined, enthusiastic and blessed with a level of bite and verve that belies its classy styling. A fuss-free deck that serves up a full-bodied performance. On a tighter budget?

Read our full Clearaudio Ovation review

• You might also consider the four-star Clearaudio Active MM, which performs brilliantly for around half the price of the Ovation

SME doesn’t launch many new products, but when it does they’re obsessively engineered and usually stay in production for decades. This SME 60 is an immaculate evolution of a 30-year flagship, but takes advantage of modern production techniques and materials where needed. Those are evidenced in the 5A tonearm, machined from a block of high-tech polymer resin, whose well-damped property helps reduce armtube resonances.

SME doesn't make its own cartridges, so we tested this package (which cost £49,950 / $50,519 / AU$72,484 originally during our review, but can be northwards of £50,000 / $66,000 / AU$88,000 these days) with a highly-regarded Ortofon Windfeld Ti moving coil model. Yes, it's a pricey package, but the build quality is exceptional and you'll need to treat it to appropriate partnering kit to get the best out of it.

While the SME 60 may be a precision instrument, it still has the aura of something that's intended to be passed down between generations even with heavy use.

Sonically, we hear an immense scale of sound and a breathtaking combination of muscle and authority that allows a song's dramatic nature to shine through. The Model 60 is almost brutal in the way it renders Beethoven's Fifth Symphony’s savage dynamic swings, yet at no point does it sound anything less than in total control of the situation.

It digs up every last bit of information from the record groove, doing a convincing job of transporting us in time and space to the point that the music was recorded. While it does err more on the insightful, analytical side (and will show up any shortcomings in a pressing or recording), the 60 still has plenty of verve to keep us entertained and listening.

Read our full SME Model 60 review

• Prefer a less expensive alternative? Read our SME Model 20 Mk 2/Series V review

The Naiad was an R&D exercise for Rega engineers to create a no-expense-spared turntable using the brand's long-held core beliefs of low mass and high rigidity, but pushed to the highest limits. Such was the demand for that conceptual model, that only 50 hand-made units were made – each for £30,000.

The Naia, then is the production-ready, 'mass-market' version of the Naiad. It has the skeletal plinth frame seen in the Planar 10 model (above), but there are new technologies throughout. First is that skeletal plinth, which now uses graphene-infused carbon fibre to sandwich the foam core.

Then there's the delicate and shaped ceramic platter, which concentrated most of its mass around the perimeter to help the flywheel effect and improve speed stability. A new titanium tonearm offers a lighter and stiffer design, but it's the precision and low friction movement of the titanium main bearings that impress the most. A triple belt design, outboard power supply and the fitted Aphelion 2 MC cartridge complete the set.

Altogether, with the cartridge, the Naia costs £13,125 / $16,995 / AU$27,499.

And it is a magnificent achievement. It's an incredibly insightful and natural-sounding deck. The Naia sounds clean and crisp, delivering class-leading levels of information without ever edging into sterility. It delivers agility and articulation in spaces, while also offering plenty of scale and authority when the music demands it.

Some might want a bit more in the way of rhythmic drive; don’t get us wrong, this package is certainly surefooted and confident when delivering rhythm tracks, but compared to a rival like the Vertere Acoustics MG-1 MkII/Mystic (above) it does sound a bit polite in comparison.

However, this Rega is the result of truly ambitious, single-minded engineering and a must-listen for anyone interested in knowing just how good vinyl can sound.

Read our full Rega Naia review

• The Rega Planar 10 is a great alternative to the Naia (and costs less)

The first iteration of the Michell Gyro appeared on the turntable scene back in the 1980s, but over four decades later this latest SE version, which includes a smaller three-point plinth, still hasn’t lost any of its power to impress both visually or sonically.

Almost every element has been overhauled since then but the fundamentals remain the same: a suspended sub-chassis with brass weights attached to the platter, which is driven by a belt attached to an isolated motor.

It’s possible to buy the Gyro SE without a tonearm or cartridge (for £3500 / approx. $5299 / AU$8100), but the model we reviewed came with Michell’s T8 tonearm and Cusis S MC cartridge, plus the optional HR Power Supply (£800 / $999 / AU$1850). The total package with tonearm and cartridge costs £6800 (approx. $8498 / AU$13,200).

On arrival, the whole thing takes some assembly, but we’d argue that it’s all part of the Michell ownership experience. It’s not a quick process, but the instructions are clear and putting the Gyro SE together gives you a better appreciation of its meticulous engineering and construction.

In operation the Gyro SE sounds impressively natural, with a particular talent for unearthing subtle detail, and a spacious delivery that has no problem filling our test room. It’s perhaps a touch lightweight by default, but opting for the HR Power Supply adds more drive and weight to the sound.

It’s still perhaps not as exciting to listen to as some rivals, but the level of insight here really is quite something.

Read our full Michell Gyro SE review

• Want further refinement and authority? Consider the flagship Michell Orbe

How to choose the best high-end turntable for you

Budget and suitable system partners
First things first: if you're already considering a high-end turntable and looking at this page, then you know your budget already stretches anywhere from four figures to a hefty five figures. So while it may be high, the budget still matters as the turntable should match – or dictate – the rest of your hi-fi system.

Performance expectations
There are a few key things to look for when buying a high-end turntable. Generally speaking, the higher the price, the higher quality of the materials used. And when it comes to performance, you can expect a sense of realism, detail and instrumental authenticity that more affordable models just can't match.

Choose your tonearm and cartridge
Many models at this level might not come with a tonearm or a cartridge, which means you'll have to factor in the added (and possibly quite significant) costs for these essential additionals. We've noted the cartridge and tonearm that came included in each turntable package that we reviewed, but there are other options the manufacturer might recommend. Some manufacturers like Rega will recommend their own tonearm and cartridge pairings for the high-end Naia, but many other manufacturers don't make their own cartridges, for instance, so they will recommend other reputable brands. Don't forget to head over to our list of the best cartridges for some alternative inspiration, though, not to mention finding the perfect match when it comes to phono stages.

Demo before buying
You might notice that pricing is complex when you start looking into buying a high-end turntable. Products as esoteric as these are quite often only available through a select few outlets and dealers that specialise in high-end hi-fi. In this case, we would always highly recommend visiting a dealer, who will be well-versed in recommending the accessories (tonearm, cartridge, phono stage) for each turntable you choose. We would always recommend demoing a deck at these prices too, and again the dealer will be able to demo the different combinations of cartridge and tonearm to help you find the sound you like. It's quite a big purchase, after all. Some dealers might even let you take the turntable home for a short trial (they will likely take a deposit in this case), but you won't know if you don't ask.

Set up care for ultimate performance
Once you've made a decision and you've bought your new turntable, you'll want to know how to set up your turntable perfectly to get the ultimate performance from your vinyl setup. Again, for high-end turntables of this calibre, you'll want the expert dealer to set the turntable up for you. Most dealers do this for an additional fee (or this might come as part of the package, depending on the brand) – but this final step is worth getting the experienced care and time your new turntable deserves to ensure it's all set up correctly.

How we test high-end record players

What Hi-Fi? has been reviewing turntables for 50 years, ever since our first magazine issue was published in 1976. Our editorial team has over 100 years of collective experience in reviewing, testing and writing about consumer electronics, from speakers to headphones to TVs, and that includes plenty of high-end record players.

We test high-end turntables the same way we test all turntables: in our dedicated state-of-the-art testing facilities in London and Reading, where the rooms are acoustically treated and we have a tried-and-tested reference hi-fi system as well as a stockroom full of Award-winning products and five-star rivals for every price band and product category.

We ensure we set up each turntable correctly according to each manufacturer's instructions, with the tonearm and cartridge provided (or we use a recommended, price-compatible cartridge where applicable). We make sure we place each deck on a level surface and plug it into price-appropriate electronics and speakers (usually our reference system) and we spend as much time as needed with each turntable, to make sure we listen to its qualities in full, play various records and genres. We also use different amps and speakers to make sure we're getting the best out of them and are able to deliver complete advice to our readers.

All new high-end turntables are tested in comparison with rival turntables at the same price where possible, and fitted with either the supplied cartridge or a premium price equivalent.

We always review as a team, too. All our reviewers are conducted by our in-house review team, and each turntable is listened to by more than one reviewer. All final verdicts are decided upon as a team as well, to eliminate any personal subjectivity and ensure we remain thorough and consistent in our testing and judgements.

There is never any input from manufacturers, PRs or commercial teams on any of our reviews, with What Hi-Fi? delivering independent, honest and unbiased reviews for nearly five decades. So if you decide to take the plunge and buy one of the recommended turntables on this page, you can rest assured you're getting a What Hi-Fi?-approved product.

You can read more about how we test and review products on What Hi-Fi? here.

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The flagship iteration of Linn's iconic Sondek LP12 turntable has received a smattering of upgrades. The Klimax LP12, which will make its public debut at the Dutch Audio Event, Eindhoven on Saturday 30th October, sports Linn's all-new reference Ekstatik cartridge and Radikal motor design and power supply. It's the latest of over forty upgrades that have blessed the LP12 over its forty-eight-year lifespan.

Linn's quest to develop its best-ever moving coil cartridge in the Ekstatik led it to look further afield to new materials and methods, and the result is the implementation of aluminium-bronze inserts. A custom honeycomb cut into the cartridge body reduces mass to close to 7g, while a micro-ridge stylus on a sapphire cantilever has been chosen for its greater stiffness over boron or aluminium, and consequential ability to deliver less loss between the styles and generator.

Naturally, Linn says the new Ekstatik forms a "harmonious synergy" with the Ekos SE tonearm it's attached to.

Linn has also improved speed accuracy through enhanced motor control, claiming the LP12 can produce uniform rotation closer to 33 1/3rpm than any other turntable. The British brand says it's "accurate to five times tighter tolerance than its predecessor", courtesy of the improved digitally (FPGA) managed and auto-calibrated motor design which features smaller, lower-noise components in an all-new acoustic housing that decouples the motor from the deck more effectively.

The power supply's new board design also features smaller components and shorter signal paths, supposedly yielding the all-time lowest noise floor in a Sondek LP12, and features quieter power supply rails. Radikal has migrated to a precision reference voltage, served up by a new DAC derived from technology found in Linn’s network streamer range.

The new Linn Klimax LP12 is now available for £21,795 (about AU$44,000), and existing LP12 owners can upgrade their deck with Radikal and Ekstatik from £1750 (about AU$3500) and £5500 (about AU$1100) respectively.

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Having spent more quality time with the Cambridge Audio Evo 75 in recent weeks than our colleagues in the past year, one thing sticks in our minds: this just-add-speakers streaming system is very good company. It doesn’t talk to us like many products do these days, and it doesn’t make us laugh (unless we’re playing “Weird Al” Yankovich through it). But it is pleasant to be around, and that’s because its design has been so well thought out.

The first evidence of this lies in its name. ‘Evo’ is a fitting one for a product that sits within a hi-fi category as progressive as this one, while the ‘75’ denotes its wattage-per-channel output. The Evo 75 is one half of Cambridge’s new two-strong Evo system offering, which includes a more extensively featured, 150W-per-channel model called – you guessed it – Evo 150.

Together, they mark Cambridge’s entrance into a burgeoning market of premium amplified streaming boxes that only require a set of speakers to form a complete system. It isn’t exactly a late debut, but it does come after those already made by the likes of Arcam, Linn, NAD and Naim.

Of course, Cambridge has a rich history in stereo amplification, as well as an established streaming platform on which its successful line of music streamers are based, so do the stars align when the two come together in one machine?

Features

Today’s streamers are expected to be as extensively furnished as an IKEA showroom, and the Evo 75 is determined not to be out-featured at this level. Cambridge’s StreamMagic platform is an inviting gateway into streaming from Tidal, Qobuz and, via DLNA, any network-stored music drives.

Spotify Connect and the new Tidal Connect (complete with MQA support for streaming hi-res Tidal Masters) are onboard to allow subscribers to play and control those services’ libraries from the native apps, while Google Chromecast offers native app playback for the likes of Deezer, YouTube Music, Apple Music and TuneIn Radio, too. AirPlay 2 allows one-touch casting from Apple devices, aptX HD Bluetooth offers an ‘offline’ streaming method, while support for Roon Ready completes a comprehensive streaming connectivity list.

The numerous ways in which you can stream music from your phone or tablet these days may seem daunting, but whichever route you decide to go down, the Cambridge won’t discriminate. There is also the opportunity to add external sources to the set-up, whether that’s a TV, CD player (Cambridge plans to launch an Evo CD transport later in the year) or storage drive, via the Evo 75’s RCA, USB, coaxial, optical and HDMI ARC sockets.

Turntable owners will notice no mention of a built-in phono stage – sadly, that’s not an oversight on our part. As well as delivering double the power output and featuring a different ESS Sabre DAC chip, the step-up Evo 150’s selling point is the inclusion of phono, asynchronous USB and balanced XLR inputs, a second optical input, plus two sets of speaker terminals for running two pairs of speakers simultaneously. Vinyl-loving Evo 75 owners will have to connect a deck with a phono stage to the RCA input, or buy a separate phono stage.

Build

The one-box convenience of systems such as this has encouraged a more contemporary ‘lifestyle’ design ethos, and Cambridge has made the Evo 75 (and its aesthetically similar sibling) a beauty to behold.

Of course, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, so Cambridge has found a way to appeal to more than one taste and living room decor. The black anodised aluminium chassis – somewhere between half and full-width chassis, measuring 31.7cm wide and about as deep – features magnetically attached side panels that can be swapped out at the owner’s discretion. The included panels are walnut wooden (a nod to Cambridge's first product, the P40 amplifier released in 1968) and an attractively corrugated material made primarily from a recycled paper called Richlite.

Whether your taste veers towards classic traditionalism or sleek modernity, the Evo deserves to be seen and not just heard. We’re particularly fond of the 6.8in LCD panel and dual-concentric rotary dial on the facade – these design elements are reminiscent of the company’s flagship Edge products.

The colourful panel prioritises album artwork and, providing you are close to the box, it’s easy to read the accompanying playback info (which includes file size and type) and menu settings. The dial comprises two parts: an outer wheel for browsing and navigating menus, which has a mechanical click, making it easy for you to be exact with your selections, and a more fluid inner volume wheel that’s smooth and responsive. 

We’d like the dial to have a ‘select’ function when pressed, mind – it would feel more intuitive than reaching for the play/pause button or simply leaving it to automatically select.

Those playback buttons on the right-hand side of the screen (for power, play/pause, track skip, changing the display format and switching between speaker and headphone output) are thin ‘strip’ keys that, while discreet, aren’t particularly nice to use. That’s not much of an issue, considering our everyday use of on-unit controls is limited, but note that they do also feature on the remote control.

That remote is a substantial tool – not the tiny credit-card style we sometimes see boxed with modern components – with a finger ridge on the rear that shows Cambridge values the small things. Its buttons mirrors the on-unit ones, also adding extra for display brightness adjustment and presets, however its angle of operation is quite narrow, so it doesn’t operate reliably if we’re too far off-centre from the Evo 75’s front panel.

Presets offer an easy way to access some of your favourite music sources, such as a particular internet radio station, and these can be allocated and selected either through the remote and within Cambridge’s StreamMagic app. However, note that not all music can be allocated; we couldn’t ‘preset’ an album from Tidal, for example.

As well as being useful during set-up and for accessing settings, the dedicated app is also on hand to navigate your local, USB or NAS libraries (it proves reliable and speedy for browsing multi-thousand-track libraries, albeit just in list format) and Tidal and Qobuz. You can also choose which sources to show and hide, and that will be helpfully mirrored on the Evo 75’s display menu to save you scrolling through the ones you don’t need. 

If you are mostly streaming from native music streaming apps (via Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect or AirPlay 2) or a Roon user, you may not need the StreamMagic app – but it’s there, and reliable to use, if you do.

Sound

Cambridge’s efforts to tick boxes and create a satisfying user experience haven’t gone to waste. The Evo 75 is the sonic success its spec sheet deserves. It’s powered by third-party Hypex NCore Class D amplifiers, as opposed to the architecture Cambridge develops for its standalone amps, but, no doubt due to exhaustive tuning, it sounds no less ‘Cambridge’ for it – insightful, open and musical.

The clarity and breadth of the Evo’s soundstage are instantly apparent. We ease our way in with Penguin Cafe's At The Top Of The Hill, They Stood instrumental, and the Evo’s rendition is graceful at every turn. It's here we get our first hint of the Cambridge’s midrange articulacy, with a lovely fluidity and warmth to the melodious piano and melancholic strings. 

There’s no shortage of room or attentiveness preventing either instrument from expressing itself dynamically – key in keeping you interested and involved in the piece – and as the soaring melodica comes in, no limitations in scale on the Evo’s part get in its way.

There's a rousing drive to Anderson .Paak's Come Home (feat André 3000) that’s complemented by a solid sense of rhythm, the Evo punctual and dynamic in its handling of the track’s buoyantly bluesy instrumental. And detail resolution is generous and spread evenly across the frequency range, too. André 3000’s rap cuts through tuneful bass notes and cutting cymbals with the fluidity the tempo demands, his cadence well communicated. While the Evo’s vocal delivery isn’t the last word in naturalness, it has a lush and solid character that’s hard not to like.

Similarly with Kate Bush's Babooshka, the Evo 75’s rendition has the punch and dynamic scrutiny to communicate the production’s jauntiness, as well as the transparency to get under both the delicate and dramatic moments of her eclectic delivery.

We plug the Grado SR325e and Meze Audio 99 Classics into the Evo’s front-panel 3.5mm output, which prompts the volume to automatically reduce (it returns to the previous speakers’ output level when they’re unplugged), and while it’s a cruder listen – there’s a slight loss of clarity and refinement – it’s still informative and entertainingly forthcoming.

Having started our listening with our reference ATC SCM50 speakers, we turn to the more price comparable, Award-winning KEF LS50 Meta and find they too play to the Evo’s strengths. Together their outlay isn’t insignificant – we’re talking around £2800 ($3750, AU$5500) – but for a system of this price, footprint and convenience, the level of performance they deliver is impressive. Even a partnership with the more affordable Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 pleases: the presentation is more confined and bereft of the resolution and dynamic insight the KEFs can muster, but it’s still snappy, upbeat and ultimately likeable.

The multi-Award-winning Naim Uniti Atom demands a fairly sizeable premium over the Evo 75, and that price gap is indeed justified by its extra punch and rhythmic precision, as well as its ability to dig up a little more detail and present it in a soundstage that’s a touch clearer.

Verdict

There are now many streaming hi-fi products that sound great, look superb or are pleasant to use, but not many manage to nail all three as convincingly as the Cambridge Audio Evo 75. In the premium one-box streaming system market, nothing has before come this close to Naim’s Uniti range in offering the complete package.

If you’re looking for the ultimate convenience in a superb-sounding, well-featured parcel, and can’t stretch your budget to the Uniti Atom, the Evo 75 is simply the best system of its kind to spend quality time with.

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Features 5
• Build 5

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Perhaps only the vegetables on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s dinner plate have as much right to be labelled ‘homegrown’ as Linn’s hi-fi products do. Since 1973, the Scottish company has designed, made and assembled a catalogue of products – from turntables to active speakers to music streamers – in its factory located on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Back then, 45 years ago, founder Ivor Tiefenbrun (now the company’s Chairman of the Board) paved the way for Linn’s ‘source-centric’ focus and created the brand’s first product: the now-legendary Sondek LP12 turntable.

A living legend

Arguably the most popular high-end turntable of all time in the UK, the LP12 has a reputation for being one of the finest (and priciest) turntables around, just one of the reasons for its inclusion in the What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame.

While the early breed of the LP12s sported a round and rich balance, modern incarnations have moved towards a more neutral balance. In April 2017, we commended the effortless musicality of the latest incarnation, the Linn Klimax LP12, noting that, “the old-timer’s still got it”.

• How to get the best sound from your turntable

The fact that the Linn LP12 is still alive and kicking today probably has something to do with the fact the company has, over the last four decades, never stopped developing it.

While Linn has dabbled with other (more affordable) belt-driven turntables in the past – the Axis (in 1985) and Basik (in 1989) – the Sondek LP12 has stood the test of time. That’s partly because it was designed to be modular, upgradeable and retro-fittable from the very beginning.

The complete flagship Klimax LP12 (which sits above the entry-level Majik LP12 and middle-sitting Akurate LP12 versions), for example, comprises the Sondek deck, Ekos tonearm, 45rpm adapter, Kandid MC cartridge, Urika phono stage and Keel sub-chassis.

Just about every aspect of the LP12’s design, from the bearing housing to the tonearm cable, the suspension to the power supply, has been constantly revised – to the point where there are almost too many changes to list. That’s mostly down to Linn’s continuous improvement… though it’s also partly because the LP12 has outlived some of the component suppliers.

While recent sales of new turntables have been between 300 and 700 per year, Linn tells us the higher proportion of sales is attributed to upgrades. Owners can send their decades-old LP12 to the Linn factory to be upgraded to current day specification – yes, even those purchased over 40 years ago.

• How to set up a turntable

Evolution, not revolution

While physical upgrades aren’t turned around every year, Linn says it is on a constant mission to improve the build and sound quality of the Sondek LP12.

The decision to create a new upgrade often comes from the design engineers looking to improve a specific aspect of the turntable – but can also be driven by the needs and desires of its customers too.

For example, the idea behind Linn’s top-grade cartridge, Kandid, arose from some LP12 owners using their Akiva cartridge without the body – hence the idea to make a lighter, housing-free cartridge, designed to reduce resonance.

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But it’s not just the components that have moved on; the manufacturing process has too. Ivor’s son Gilad Tiefenbrun, who now runs day-to-day operations, takes What Hi-Fi? for a guided tour around Linn’s factory, highlighting the company’s £1.1m investment in upgraded machinery across all aspects of production.

As Linn’s flagship Klimax product range is produced from solid raw aluminium billets, a new five-axis metalwork machine has been brought in to more precisely manufacture the machined-from-solid Klimax casing to isolate power and analogue and digital electronics.

Linn says new component placement machines also allow the use of smaller components on circuit boards than before, minimising the audio signal path between individual components, while new vapour-phase ovens have been installed to improve circuit board soldering accuracy.

• 9 affordable ways to upgrade your turntable

But the Sondek has the human touch, too – and three people are employed at Linn’s factory to carry out the tone arm testing. The process requires the patience of a saint, involving counting the number of lateral and vertical swings to ensure the tone arm is working properly.

Once the components have been machined, Linn chooses to assemble the Sondek LP12 by hand, which takes just over an hour per deck and includes a series of tests taking place during each step, including checking the platter level and suspension, running a speed test, and testing the earth bond to ensure it can handle the current.

But the coup de grace is saved for last, as the assembler signs their name on the finished deck. Once packaged, it’s sent upstairs to be shipped, leaving the factory by a door located around the corner from where the process began. Like the records it spins, the life of the Linn LP12 has just gone full circle.

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Since 2011, French company Audirvana has promised Mac users a better-sounding music player alternative to iTunes. It’s marketed itself as a ‘HiFi player’, a platform similar to Roon, where all of your music – from local and networked files to Tidal and Qobuz streaming services – can be integrated and, Audirvana claims, played in better audio quality.

To make good on the latter, the software supposedly shortens the audio signal path to reduce noise, and performs digital processing before its conversion to analogue.

Soon, however, the player will no longer be exclusive to Appleites. Audirvana has announced that from next month its Audirvana Plus player will also be available on PCs running Windows 10.

Like the Mac version, the Windows variant (available in both a desktop and mobile app versions) will be able to support playback of FLAC, WAV and AIFF hi-res files, as well those packaged in MQA and DSD.

It also introduces some of Audirvana’s latest interface and usability developments, including viewing by artists (in addition to tracks and albums), a direct selection of the device on the main interface, a redesigned search engine and a new mini-player.

Available in June, the Audirvana Plus for Windows 10 costs £67 (following a 15-day free trial), and includes a three-month subscription to Tidal and a one-month subscription to Qobuz.

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The Akurate DS and Akurate DSM network streamers, and both the 6-channel and 10-channel variants of the Akurate Exaktbox (digital crossover and DAC upgrades for Linn speakers), are now available with Katalyst DAC technology.

True to Linn’s dedication to legacy upgrades, existing Akurate component owners can also upgrade their products with Katalyst.

Already available in Linn’s Klimax range and Akubarik and Akudorik speakers, Katalyst (which certainly proved its worth in the Linn Klimax DS 3 streamer) claims lower distortion thanks to its independent, isolated power supplies and a new analogue output driver, as well as greater accuracy in the DAC process due to a new data optimisation stage, and high precision clock with its own independent power supply.

The Akurate DS or Akurate DSM with Katalyst costs £6300 or £7500 respectively, while the damage for upgrading an existing model is £1800.

The Akurate Exactbox 6-channel costs £4950 (or £1200 for the upgrade), while the 10-channel variant costs £6550 (or £1600 for the upgrade).

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Linn's Akurate DS media streamer is one of two streaming solutions in the company's Akurate range, which itself sits between the entry-level Sekrit, Sneaky and Majik ranges, and the flagship Klimax models.

In all but the Sneaky line, you get a choice of two models: the straight DS player, ready to be connected to an integrated amp or preamp, or the DSM version complete with analogue and digital inputs, and designed to be used straight into a power amp.

You can even use mutiple DS units to deliver whole-house music, with a Songcast feature allowing them all to be synchronised to play the same content in all rooms.

Those ten players are an indication of Linn's growing commitment to streaming music since it famously announced it was discontinuing CD player production, and it's something the company backs up across the board.

In-house hi-res recordings

Its in-house Linn Records label, for example, offers a range of high-resolution recordings for download at resolutions up to 192kHz/24-bit, and as well as its own excellent Studio Master offerings is now acting as a hub for downloads from other labels. It's recently started offering titles from the Universal Music catalogue, including classic Decca releases.

The story continues with three-320kbps Internet radio stations that showcase Linn’s mostly jazz and classical catalogue, and which of course can be played, along with all those hi-res downloads, by the Akurate DS.

This unit is compatible with most file types, including WAV, FLAC and ALAC (otherwise known as Apple Lossless) up to 24Bit/192kHz, and can stream them from any UPnP storage device.

But unlike most rivals, the DS won't let you plug in USB storage devices, which is a shame, and neither does it have connectivity for iPods, iPhones and the like.

Oh, and Linn doesn't do wireless, believing a wired Ethernet connection is the route to the most stable music streaming. So as a minimum you're going to need a NAS device and a router to 'feed' the Akurate DS, or preferably a 'closed' system for music, using a NAS device and an network switch device.

On the upside, though, you get Internet radio – all the better to enjoy Linn’s radio stations – and the ability to control volume via the media player’s XLR or single-ended outputs.

So you could build a minimalist system around the Akurate DS, directly feeding a power amp such as the Akurate 2200, and then on to a pair of matching Akurate speakers. We tested the Akurate DS with the Akurate Kontrol preamp, that power amp, and a pair of Akurate 242 speakers.

Clean, precise sound

The sound here is very clean and precise, not always resulting in the most relaxed listen, but giving the overall presentation an impressively stable structure.

Taking advantage of Linn’s high-res downloads – we used Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5, played by Artur Pizzaro and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras, in 192kHz/24-bit – the Akurate DS has all the delicacy and refinement even the most critical of listeners could demand.

And it combines that with a mass of harmonic detail conventional 16bit/44.1kHz recordings could never capture: this power, precision and composure is deeply impressive, as is the sense of space around instrumental threads.

Move on to a 44.1kHz/16-bit - ie CD-quality – recordings and there’s an expected drop in overall resolution and refinement, but the sonic signature doesn’t change. There's punch and a tight grip on the bass, with high levels of insight coupled to exceptional control and authority.

This is an impressive streaming player, trading features for a confident, involving sound, and really showing the advantages of those hi-res recordings Linn champions so well.

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