Pro-ject CD Box RS2 Tube CD player While unboxing the CD Box RS2 Tube, I discovered a watch battery and an Allen key for the super-sleek remote control. I immediately set about installing said battery, which required the dexterity of a Swiss horologist: five very small screws, two expletives, and one dropped screw later, I […]
Hegel D50 DAC I was encouraged to do something unusual when reviewing Hegel’s latest digital to analogue converter the D50, that was to listen to the system without it then plug it in and listen to the same system and see if anything changed. The D50 has a device on board that should improve the […]
Dela S5 network switch It is incredible to think how far network streaming has come in just a few years. When I purchased my first serious streaming DAC some eight years ago, the notion of spending more than double figures on a network switch would have been akin to heresy. Yet here I am, reviewing […]
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 […]
Rotel Michi Q5 CD transport and DAC Receiving any CD player for review in 2025 is a relatively unusual experience. Even though the death of CD is rather overstated, it might be fair to say that the format is enjoying a graceful decline. When I think about the players that I have received in recent […]
Topping D900 DAC Does it really need to be said that the time is long past when made-in-China audio kit was almost always a copy of western designs? Today, not only do a very large number of the west’s audio companies rely on China for high-quality, low-cost manufacturing, but China’s universities are churning out bright […]
Bonawatt Triton integrated amplifier There is often talk of technologies becoming obsolete and even in the world of audio it occasionally happens, but more often than not older tech carries alongside the new. Vinyl was written off as dead in 25 years ago yet appears to have the upper hand on its enemy CD today, […]
Atoll CD400 Evolution CD player and DAC We’ve all been lost in an internet rabbit hole, gone down a Youtube tunnel and found ourselves in no-man’s-land. Can you remember the last time you got lost in your own CD collection? The Atoll CD400 Evo sent me on such a journey. It took me so far […]
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 […]
Network Acoustics Origin Streaming Power Supply Once you have been around audio engineers for a while it becomes clear that they consider the power supply to be one of the most critical components in any piece of audio electronics. Electricity is the lifeblood of every audio device except loudspeakers, there are passive preamps of course […]
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 […]