Hi-Fi Choice

Does it matter who makes your hi-fi? Of course it does, for so many reasons and in so many ways that we’ve created Company Confidential, a new feature series where we discover the achievements and goals of the many brands whose products grace our pages month after month. Do they make all their own components or do they partner with other reputable brands to bring their kit to market? How did they get started in the first place and where do they see their business excelling in the future? Are they determined to specialise or are they branching out into new sectors they’ve not ventured into before? Is their aim high-end or affordable? And, most exciting of all, what do they have planned for release in the next 12 months…

PRICE: £500-£2,000 AVAILABLE: Q2, 2025 WEB: WHARFEDALE.CO.UK WHARFEDALE HAS RELEASED details about its latest loudspeaker – the Aston – a limited-edition, UK-made signature model created by Peter Comeau – one of Britain’s best-known speaker designers – to join the company’s Heritage Series. While several of Wharfedale’s Heritage Series models are three-way designs – the Linton, Super Linton, Super Denton and Dovedale – the Aston is a classic two-way ported cabinet. The treble and mid/bass drivers are both new units, designed specifically for the Aston and made inhouse. The mid/bass driver features a rigid die-cast chassis and 150mm carbon fibre cone, tuned with the cabinet and twin rear-firing reflex ports in an effort to deliver cleanly extended bass to well below 50Hz in-room. A profiled, gold-coloured phase plug is positioned in…

PRICE: FROM £2,340 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: ORIGINLIVE.COM BRITISH COMPANY ORIGIN Live has announced the arrival of its MkV Tonearm range, which features trickle-down tech from its more high-end designs. Starting with the Illustrious arm (£2,340) upwards, a refined Multi-Layer Counterweight (MLC) is now included as standard. Origin Live stresses that a counterweight is not merely a way to adjust tracking force, but an integral part of controlling the stability of the pivot and the resonance of the tube. The MLC’s multiple layers have been designed to absorb and diffuse vibration travelling along the arm tube and part of its weight is placed on an outrigger that positions mass underneath the pivot. OL claims this gives more stability in busy/dynamic vinyl passages that put more strain on the pivot. As one…

PRICE: £4,400 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BANG-OLUFSEN.COM BANG & OLUFSEN has introduced Atelier, a unique proposition that offers buyers the opportunity to create custom-made products for the first time in collaboration with its master artisans in Struer, Denmark. The company explains that Atelier is being launched in response to a significant increase in requests for customisation and bespoke projects. “A customer who commissions custom or bespoke Bang & Olufsen product creates not just a set of speakers, but an extension of their personality and style,” says B&O. “We aim to create an experience and a product that resonates with them.” The Atelier customisation opportunities are as follows: Atelier Bespoke: Collaborating directly with an Atelier artisan, clients can create custom product incorporating materials or specific colours for a one-off creation. Atelier Catalogue:…

PRICE: £8,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MUSICALFIDELITY.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK HENLEY AUDIO HAS announced the UK availability of the Nu-Vista 600.2 amplifier from Musical Fidelity. A more affordable follow-on from the Nu-Vista 800.2, the 600.2 is a fully analogue, discrete integrated that represents a significant upgrade over the old Nu-Vista 600. Available in Black or Silver, the Nu-Vista 600.2 features four 6S51N nuvistor valves in a discrete Class A amplifier buffer. These tubes are installed on a newly designed PCB, alongside the preamplifier stage, on a self-screening tray mounted above the main amplifier circuitry in a bid to achieve better isolation and reduced noise. The preamplifier, nuvistor stage and input circuits are all fully dual mono, with separate power supplies for each channel. Musical Fidelity explains that the benefit of this new top-layer…

PRICE: £140-£345 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BLACKRHODIUM.CO.UK BRITISH CABLE SPECIALIST Black Rhodium has announced the launch of XTRA For Your First Upgrade, a new collection designed to offer customers a cost-effective way to improve the performance of their ‘separates’ music systems. The new line comprises three new products: XTRA Loudspeaker Cable, XTRA RCA Stereo Interconnect and XTRA XLR Stereo Interconnects. The line also includes products previously known as INTRO by Black Rhodium, featuring three tonearm cables with DIN, RCA and XLR connectors, a mains power cable for both power conditioners and audio units, and two cables for portables. Moving on up The collection is designed with acoustic-damping braid to minimise distortion from small vibrations in the cable, braided metal screen to reduce distortion from external magnetic and electric fields and large…