What Hi-Fi?

For many of us, a music streamer is a very modern piece of kit. But (such is the nature of things for us old-timers) things move quickly in every aspect of life – and certainly in hi-fi. While they may seem new, streamers have been around for many years; consumers are using the likes of Tidal and Spotify much of the time, and the compact disc is becoming a dying medium. Which is why the music streamer is becoming a fundamental part of every hi-fi system. And, if you are yet to embark on the voyage to serious hi-fi streaming, you should seriously think about it. Our round-up of affordable music streamers (p28) highlights six of the best that will bring real hi-fi to your downloads or the digital files…

EXPERIENCE. HERITAGE. We have been helping the world discover the best in hi-fi and home entertainment for more than 45 years, and have more than 100 years of reviewing experience under our collective belts – so you can count on our expert opinion. DEDICATED TEST FACILITIES We test every product against its peers in our extensive, bespoke reviewing facilities in London and Reading. We conduct all our tests as a team – our opinions and conclusions are always the result of collaboration. HOW WE SCORE All review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole – not any individual reviewer. Each product will be listened to and/or viewed by several members of the test team, who will then discuss the final verdict before it appears in the magazine…

“There can be only one.” “One Ring to rule them all.” “He is the One.” “I am the one and only.” Maybe we’re reading a little too much into it, but Cambridge Audio’s latest all-in-one music system makes a subtly bold claim. The cultural and literary canon is full of allusions to chosen figures who can alter the course of history as they forge their singular destinies, and such a seemingly small word can be interpreted in a few different ways; as ‘One’ box in which multiple functions and tasks can be performed or, perhaps, the ‘one’ and only all-in-one system that’s better than all the others. Outperforming those others isn’t an easy task. While the world of all-in-one systems such as these isn’t as overstuffed as the land of…

While LG’s OLEDs have been beloved of AV fans for more than a decade now, its LCD screens haven’t fared so well. That is partly, in our opinion, because it has stuck with IPS screen tech rather than the rival VA option. The problem with IPS panels is that, while they deliver wider effective viewing angles than VA, they also struggle to control how much light is passed through their LCDs as effectively as VA panels, which means they traditionally struggle to show dark scenes effectively. The LG 65QNED91, however, uses a VA panel; so let’s find out if this proves as transformative to LG’s LCDs as we hope. The set is robustly built, weighing way more than most modern 65in LCD TVs. It’s a bit chunky around the back,…

Astell & Kern is one of the brands to have dominated the portable music player market, with numerous five-star players that sound fantastic, bringing out more detail, dynamics and power than even the best-sounding smartphone. A&K’s players tend to be rather pricey, however; so the Activo sub-brand was created to cater to a younger, more ‘active’ audience whose budgets can’t quite stretch to four figures. At £399, the Activo P1 a considerably cheaper entry point into the world of hi-res music players. Around the P1’s price we have the Sony Walkman NW-A306, a compact and likeable if sometimes clunky player that is a smidge cheaper at £349. The same team behind our favourite portable digital audio player, A&K’s SR35, conceived and designed the P1, so we aren’t surprised to find…

Technics has started its 60th year with a bang, kicking off its diamond anniversary with a new flagship pair of wireless earbuds. The EAH-AZ100 sit above the previous flagships, the EAH-AZ80, and are peppered with improvements, from a new driver and improved noise-cancelling to longer battery life and a new design. The EAH-AZ100 are smaller, lighter and overall more comfortable to wear over long hours than their predecessors. The earbuds’ body has a more rounded shape that sits even more snugly in our ears, and weighs 5.9g per bud compared with the AZ80’s 7g. That’s the same weight as the Sony XM5’s buds, but we think the weight of the AZ100 is better distributed along the earbud as they sit in your concha compared with the denser-feeling XM5. You get…