Hi-Fi Choice

Hi-Fi Choice is the essential guide to audio excellence in the home. It is a no-nonsense guide to the finest products available, from vinyl and valves, to multi-channel digital audio and high-fidelity video. Hi-Fi Choice sorts the best from the rest with rigorous test processes and a highly experienced team of reviewers.

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Welcome • hifichoice.com Issue No. 534 December 2025

Ton up! • Plenty of new celebratory releases from Philips Audio

Assets plus • A trio of British integrated amp updates

Star struck • Celeb-endorsed German headphones

Music makers • UK newbie’s “musicianassembled” MC carts

New convert • Desktop DAC/amp from China

Spin doctors • A brace of new turntables

The great outdoors • Late addition for enjoying music in the open air

Wired for sound • New cable imports for IEMs

Stay connected • Neat new American audio accessories

Public transport • Pricey new CD transport

Saving Grace • Swish earpiece imports from Denmark

Rocky power show • Canadian network amp

Prime time • Ascot-debuted sound system import

Get black! • New flagship integrated amp

How low can you go? • Serious new subwoofer from Denmark

The UK Hi-Fi Show Live • For two special days in September, Royal Ascot was packed with the heavyweights from the hi-fi world. Here are some of the highlights

Shine on you crazy diamond • Neville Roberts gives Nagaoka’s new flagship moving permalloy cartridge a workout in his system

The joy of six • Indiana Line is new to the UK, but if its Diva 6 floorstander is anything to go by its future is a rosy one says David Vivian

Life begins at forty… • Nick Tate busts out the champers as he listens to Acoustic Energy’s ‘reimagined’ version of its classic mini-monitor

Studio sound • This headphone amp/DAC contains clever calibration to provide a speaker-like experience. Neville Roberts checks it out

Pole star • All new turntables are different. All new turntables from Poland are more unusual still. Ed Selley learns all about Unitra

A sound apart • This long-awaited update delivers better sound and noise cancelling, but it’s still for Apple users only says Cliff Joseph

Theory of EVOlution • The flagship of Wharfedale’s new Evolution range looks like a lot of speaker for the money. Ed Selley puts it to the test

Maximum joy • iFi’s latest DACs bring state-of-the-art Bluetooth to your IEMs of choice. Cliff Joseph tries them on for size

The more the merrier • In time for its 99th anniversary, ELAC launches a new flagship speaker with room-friendly, ‘steerable’ sound

Showdown • Which sounds better, ‘the world’s best in-car sound system’ or a hi-fi reviewer’s reference system? David Vivian prepares his for battle

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“Everything we make should preserve and deliver the musical purity of the signals they are transmitting” • In business for 40 years, Chord Company enjoys a reputation for audiophile interconnects, cables and accessories

“An era where noise management is as critical as signal transmission” • Alan Gibb, Managing Director, Chord Company

Let’s get physical! • In an age dominated by streaming, it seems the younger generations are continuing to drive the demand for physical music. Neville Roberts looks into some recent research

In praise of the playlist • Steve Sutherland takes a look at the different ways that pulling together a compilation of tracks can make life – and death – so much more enjoyable

Letters • YOUR LETTERS & QUESTIONS ANSWERED

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