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 […]
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 […]
Fell Audio Disc CD player Years ago I recall hearing the naysayers proclaiming that the end of the CD format was nigh. Yet here we are, in 2025, reviewing an entry level CD player, and from a British manufacturer at that. Fell Audio made great waves towards the end of last year following the announcement […]
Laiv Harmony DAC Way back in the 20th century, Sony and Philips set the CD standard at the maximum for current technology. A bit depth of 16 bits was the limit of what could be achieved for recording, storing and decoding as an affordable commercial product and was deemed adequate for good sound quality, providing […]
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 […]