iFi iDSD Phantom DAC streamer headphone amp On a wet night in January iFi launched its most ambitious digital to analogue converter to date in one of the towers on London’s Tower Bridge, it was a novel location which will have helped get journalists out into the rain, fortunately the appearance of a recording industry […]
Primare Allt-i-Ett one box system Allt-i-Ett. No, not a secret keyboard shortcut to hack Elon Musk’s PIN number but, if you speak Swedish or Norwegian, simply ‘all-in-one’. After a 41 year run building some of the world’s sleekest Scandi-fi separates for both music and home cinema lovers, Allt-i-Ett is Primare’s long-awaited lifestyle concept album, the […]
Woodnote Solo streamer Woodnote is an example of a European hi-fi manufacturer that has grasped the nettle when it comes to shifting requirements in the market place. The brand is part of Lindemann, a company that started out making conventional 17 inch components in 1993 with the integrated Amp1, they made a CD player six […]
The Ear’s reviewers pick the best hi-fi of 2025 If you want to discover the best hi-fi of 2025, the audio products that really wowed our reviewers over the last 12 months, look no further. These components made a lasting impression, they are the ones reviewers would have held onto if they could and in […]
Heed Abacus S streaming DAC Hungarian hi-fi manufacturers are not two a penny, at least not among brands available in the UK. From what I have seen and heard from them over the years, Heed Audio like to do things a little differently. I purchased their Cannalot III, Class A headphone amplifier a couple of […]
Silent Angel Bremen SL1P In general, there are two types of streamer product: the Times Square light show and the moonless night no show. The Silent Angel Bremen SL1P is firmly in the latter camp, easily one of the most inscrutably understated yet. A display-less, button-less metal slab you wouldn’t even know was switched on […]
Euphony Summus 2c and 4c server/streamer How do you like your network player interface? Full fat or lean? It’s a decision that undoubtedly goes in Roon’s direction most of the time. Roon offers a blend of usability, stability, search and curation functionality that taken in the round is frankly unbeatable. Still, alternatives to Roon there […]
Audiolab 9000N streamer Audiolab has carved itself a firm niche in the market with affordable, value for money equipment, by designing in the UK and manufacturing in China. However, the 9000N is not a beer-budget model sitting, as it does, at the top end of their price range. The Audiolab engineers have lots of experience […]
Auralic Aries S1 streamer & S1 Purer Power Early this year Auralic announced their most ambitious component yet in the Aquila X3, a two box modular streamer, CD player, preamp and undoubtedly more with a price that starts just shy of £14k. We hope to see this beast at the High End show in a […]
Xact S1 Evo server/streamer Every now and then a component comes along that rearranges expectations to such an extent that its necessary to recalibrate the potential of that particular product category. The Xact S1 Evo has done just that for server/streamers, I now know that there is more, quite a lot more that can be […]
Cambridge Audio EXN100 streamer/DAC Sometimes a product arrives out of the blue with impeccable timing; so it was with the new network player from Cambridge Audio. The EXN100 is a complex beast, featuring a DAC to handle various digital inputs, comprehensive streaming abilities, internet radio and a preamplifier. Until Qobuz get their act together and […]
Electrocompaniet EC1M MkII streamer & DAC The ECM 1 MkII is not a new product but my attention was drawn to it by someone whose ears I have come to trust, namely Rich Trussel of Network Acoustics. Rich has a pretty fancy system with Vivid G2 speakers and a Soulution power amplifier, he must be […]