Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: €1,300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: LOEWE.TV GERMAN BRAND LOEWE has introduced leo, its first ever over-ear headphones – which are being marketed by footballer Kylian Mbappé and DJ/producer David Guetta. Loewe reveals that the new’phones integrate a top-quality DAC, powerful amplification, precision 50mm drivers and full hi-res codec support into a fold-flat design made for mobility and longevity. The driver features a diaphragm crafted from OCE (Olefin Composite Elastomer) – a lightweight and durable material it says delivers: “clear vocals, detailed highs and smooth, controlled bass, ensuring a balanced and immersive listening experience”. With adaptive noise cancellation, transparency mode and support for Hi-Res Audio Wireless, Spatial Audio, Dolby Atmos and Bluetooth LE Audio, leo also boasts LC3+ at 24-bit/96kHz. Loewe’s exclusive Mimi Sound Personalisation, accessible through the Loewe app, tailors…

PRICE: £4,350-£10,600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: PROJECT-AUDIO.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK HENLEY AUDIO, THE UK distributor for Pro-Ject Audio Systems, has announced the UK availability of two new turntables: the Signature 12.2 (above right), Pro-Ject’s new flagship and the Classic Reference (below). Both debuted at The UK Hi-Fi Show Live. The Signature 12.2 is assembled from more than 100 individually CNC-machined parts – all made inhouse – with all metal parts hand-polished before final assembly. Its hand-painted MDF chassis is finished with ten layers of Piano Black lacquer, rounded at the edges to reduce standing waves, and it sits on newly designed conical-tipped spring-loaded feet adjustable from the top of the chassis for levelling. At its heart lies a 10.5kg aluminium platter, precision CNC-machined as a base before recycled vinyl records are glued on…

PRICE: £60-£300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CAMPFIREAUDIO.COM US COMPANY CAMPFIRE Audio has announced two new accessories: its Portable DAC Wallet and Time Link cable. The DAC Wallet is made of leather, magnetically attaches to a smartphone and features a custom USB-C cable, which the company explains aligns connection points for a lower-profile, reduced-tension fit – minimising the risk of port-wear on either the owner’s phone or portable DAC device. For phones or other portable devices without built-in magnetic support, an optional adhesive magnetic ring is supplied. The DAC Wallet costs £60. The Time Link cable, meanwhile, employs six conductors of high-purity copper and silver-plated copper to channel a signal into the swappable termination of the user’s choice via a 3.5mm single-ended; 4.4mm balanced USB-C DAC. Available now, it’s priced at £300.…

Testing a brand new turntable in 2025 is not that uncommon; indeed far more common than testing a device for playing a 70-year-old format ought to be. Testing a turntable where the only component shared with anything else on the market is a cartridge is rather rarer, however. It’s given an even more unicorn-like quality when the turntable in question could be described as reasonably affordable with a straight face. The Unitra GSH-630 Fryderyk is all of these things (and, as we shall discover, more besides). It’s the more affordable of two models designed and built in house by Unitra. The company is relatively new, having been founded in the last few years. It takes its name from the brand that acted as an umbrella of firms building audio equipment…

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Our old friend the vinyl record is more popular than ever, but according to recent research there appears to be a growing appetite for CDs. What’s really interesting is that much of this interest is fuelled by younger listeners who think physical media offers something digital formats can’t supply: authenticity, ownership and emotional connection. A 2025 survey that explored music listening and buying behaviour has revealed that interest in physical music is extending beyond Generation Z (17-28-year-olds), with Generation Alpha (1-16-year-olds) also embracing physical music by listening to vinyl, CDs and cassettes. The survey was conducted by Key Production, which works with the music industry to ensure best practices for sustainability within physical music production are met throughout the whole supply chain. The survey of over 2,000 respondents across the…

Wednesday Bleeds CD Columbia Records THIS GUY, GARY, 33 years old, goes for a drink at his local bar, steps outside for a smoke and gets cracked in the face with a baseball bat by some bloke in a fisherman’s hat. Gary goes down, the bloke stands over him, takes a long hard look at the damage, then laughs and says: “I never seen you in my God-given life!” He’s looking for some dude who’s slept with his wife and he’s whacked the wrong guy. He chucks the bat down and turns to walk off. Gary stands, spits out his teeth, grabs the bat and takes out the bast*rd’s kneecaps. Later the dentist reckons there’s nothing he can do to replace Gary’s missing gnashers so Gary says to take the rest out…

OFFICIAL STREAMING PARTNER WELCOME TO THE second HFC Playlist in collaboration with Qobuz, our digital partner in providing over 100-million tracks via the highest-quality 24-bit downloads and streaming Every month we’ll be creating a fresh playlist of 20-or-so songs reflecting what’s most happening musically at the moment – newly released tracks, songs to commemorate artists who’ve recently passed away, anniversary releases, seasonally fitting classics, that sort of thing… Our lists will do their utmost to swerve the obvious, avoid the ubiquitous and instead strive to turn you on to some relevant but thrillingly different sounds to feed your hi-fi setup. You can sample the list and play along as you read by visiting the HFC website, plus look out for great trial and subscription offers and competitions in the future.…

Hi-Fi Choice Recommends ESSENTIAL HI-FI YOU’LL WANT TO OWN CD PLAYERS Cambridge Audio AXC35 PRICE: £300 REVIEWED: HFC 454 Something of a budget marvel, you’ll have to work extra hard to get the AXC35 to put a foot wrong. Bass is firm, detailed and blessed with excellent timing; the tonal palette is pleasingly broad and clean; and though the soundstage doesn’t extend much beyond the speakers, there’s great depth perspective. Marantz CD 50n PRICE: £1,600 REVIEWED: HFC 518 Equipped to not only get the most from your CD collection, but also for online streaming and dabbling in downloads, the CD 50n boasts a weighty, well-defined and technically accomplished performance that is enormous fun. Throw in a decent built-in headphone amplifier and you have a great silver disc pinner. Cyrus CDi-XR…

PRICE: £30-£400 AVAILABLE: NOW/2026 WEB: TPVISION.COM PHILIPS AUDIO IS 100 years old and the first of the brand’s planned Century celebration campaign comes this month comprising the launch of its five-product Retro range, which includes two turntable-based all-in-one systems, a new DAB/FM portable radio and a brace of new headphones. Philips describes The Tina (Philips V9000, above right) as the world’s most powerful, all-in-one integrated turntable system, offering a claimed 120W RMS power into a 2.1 configuration featuring two 25mm tweeters, two 65mm midrange drivers and a dedicated 115mm bass reflex subwoofer. It also includes a DAB+/FM tuner, USB Playback and RCA Aux audio-input. Components include a two-speed precision belt-drive, solid aluminium diecast platter, extruded aluminium straight arm – with an adjustable counterweight – and a replaceable Audio-Technica MM cartridge.…

PRICE: £370 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: TRIANGLEHIFI.COM STRANGE TIMING, BUT still… French hi-fi specialist Triangle has announced the release of its GARDEN 7, a weatherproof speaker specially designed for outdoor use on a patio, near a swimming pool or on a terrace. Featuring UV-treated polypropylene casing so it can withstand all kinds of weather and stay outside all year round, it provides 360° sound diffusion and comes in a choice of two colours – Green and Grey – with built-in LED lighting. It’s a passive loudspeaker featuring a two-way coaxial driver fitted with a 25mm poly-etherimide (PEI) dome tweeter on a 160mm polypropylene cone, all specially designed for outdoor use. Triangle says that the speakers cover a wide frequency range from 63Hz to 20,000Hz, offering 60W of power handling and a…

PRICE: £35,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: DCSAUDIO.COM ABSOLUTESOUNDS.COM DCS’ VARÈSE MUSIC System now includes a dedicated CD/SACD transport. The system launched with five components – Core, User Interface, Dual Mono DACs, the aforementioned CD/SACD transport and Master Clock – plus the Varèse Remote and Mosaic ACTUS app. The new dedicated transport features what dCS says is its quietest, lowest vibration disc spinner to date, benefitting from a new chassis design and use of a bespoke ACTUS interface. The transport plays Redbook CDs in their native 44.1kS/s format and SACDs in their native DSD format. It connects to the Varèse Core via dCS ACTUS, with a single cable running from the Core to the Transport. dCS claims this allows for bit-perfect transmission of audio signals and enables simpler setup and enhanced control.…

PRICE: £2,700 AVAILABLE: NOVEMBER 2025 WEB: PRIMARE.NET FIRST PREVIEWED AT The UK Hi-Fi Show Live, Scandinavian brand Primare has announced that its Allt-i-Ett (“all-inone” in Norwegian and Swedish) will be available in November. A spokesperson told HFC that it delivers: “a complete high-performance sound system in a single elegant cabinet – ideal for those who may not have the space, budget or desire for separate components, as well as for experienced enthusiasts seeking uncompromised sound in additional rooms around the home. “Whether analogue or digital, streamed or stored media, wired or wireless, the system offers effortless connection and intuitive control via remote, mobile or its built-in touchscreen,” a spokesperson said. At its core, the Allt-i-Ett combines a streamer, amplifier and speaker array, powered by 300W peak amplification and enhanced by…

THE UK’S BEST high-end hi-fi show returned to the elegant grandstand at Ascot racecourse over the weekend of 27 and 28 September where premium kit from around the globe was on display and demo for thousands of hi-fi nuts eager to experience, buy or just gawp in amazement at the fine array of goods within eye and earshot. There was so much to see and do that it was near impossible to get around to visiting all the rooms and stands, but our intrepid team did its very best to cover as many brands as we could. This, then, is a distillation of some of the very best gear we came across – by no means a fully comprehensive coverage of the entire event – that would fill a whole…

Founded by bass guitarmad musician Phil Jones back in 1985, Acoustic Energy’s first product was the AE1. Launched in 1987, it followed the trend for increasingly small, minimalist two-way bookshelf designs, epitomised by the hugely popular Wharfedale Diamond. Unlike the latter, the AE1 was mid-priced and conceived at least in part for near-field monitoring in studios. Now the AE1 is back. This time in 40th Anniversary Edition guise. Designer Mat Spandl says: “we had to examine where we could improve upon the original while retaining the character which made it such a hit”. It’s been painstakingly voiced to sound like the first-gen AE1, although he added that he aimed the voicing more closely at the Mk2 version, which he believes was superior. The new design sports an aluminium dome tweeter…

Creating the inaugural HFC Qobuz playlist which appeared in last month’s issue got me thinking about how we all love compiling tracks and the different reasons, occasions and motives behind them that prompt us to do so. Many of a certain age will remember taping with reel-to-reels, the mic pressed up to the built-in speaker on an ancient mono record player. Then, pre-CD, it was the beloved cassette comp, made for mates and prospective love interests and to show off what exquisite taste we had. One compilation I gifted to someone is a particularly dear memory to me as that someone was David Bowie. Back when I was working for the weekly music press, I would occasionally compile a playlist of happening new music and send it to him, at…

PRICE: £750-£1,700 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: ARCAM.CO.UK BRITISH COMPANY ARCAM has added to its Radia Series with the release of the A5+, A15+ and A25+, a trio of integrated amplifiers built on the DNA of the outgoing A5, A15 and A25 with upgraded circuitry, refined components and intelligent power management. Each amp incorporates Arcam’s latest Bluetooth 5.4 platform, featuring Snapdragon Sound (aptX Lossless), LE Audio and Auracast, allowing one-tomany wireless playback without pairing. Both the A15+ and A25+ now include HDMI eARC. The Class G-powered A25+ also boasts a precision-cut glass front panel that complements the company’s ST25 streamer (HFC 529), a new transformer with dedicated winding for the digital and DAC circuitry, double linear regulation in the analogue power supplies and further power and mains filtering refinements to lower impedance…

PRICE: £280 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FIIO.COM FIIO HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of the K13 R2R, its desktop DAC/amp featuring the latest discrete resistor ladder decoding technology, an ultra-low noise architecture and desktop-class driving power. The K13 R2R’s resistor network is paired with FiiO’s proprietary error correction algorithm in an effort to ensure precise matching, linearity and ultra-low distortion. It integrates an FPGA + DSP system that manages digital signal processing, clocking and oversampling, and the unit supports PCM up to 1536kHz and DSD1024. Boasting 2,400mW of power, selectable gain levels allow users to fine-tune the output for different headphones and connectivity includes balanced XLR and 4.4mm headphone outputs, a single-ended 6.35mm headphone jack and balanced and single-ended line outs for active monitors or external amps. The company explains: “Equipped with…

PRICE: £720-£1,970 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: RUSSANDREWS.COM RUSS ANDREWS IS bringing Kimber Kable’s new Fenix In-Ear Monitor cable to the UK. Fenix (pronounced Phoenix) is based on the Kimber Axios headphone cables and can be fitted with MMCX, A2DC and two-pin connectors to suit the majority of IEMs. For hook up to the headphone amp, termination is possible with a comprehensive variety of connectors including: 3.5mm and 6.3mm TRS; 4.4mm TRRS Balanced, four-pin XLR Balanced and 2x three-pin XLR Balanced. Kimber has made Fenix in three variants, the first being CU (pure copper) with 8x 24AWG conductors in a braided arrangement. A hybrid model – the Fenix HB – utilises 4x 24AWG pure silver conductors and 4x 24AWG pure copper. For the ultimate in performance, the AG (silver) version features 8x…

PRICE: £1,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BANG-OLUFSEN.COM DANISH COMPANY BANG & Olufsen has announced the arrival of its Beo Grace earpieces, which the company describes as: “a study in wearable sculpture, inspired by the elegance of fine jewellery”. Its aluminium stems reimagine Bang & Olufsen’s A8 earphones with their distinctive metal stem design. Each earpiece is hewn from polished aluminium and rests in a pearl-blasted aluminium case. B&O adds that the eartips have been updated with an oval profile to improve fit and sealing, and are dust and waterproof resistant with an IP57 rating. The Beo Grace claims up to 4.5 hours of playtime with ANC and up to 17 hours using the charging case. The eartips feature an integrated nylon mesh that safeguards the driver from dust and debris. There’s a…

PRICE: £4,600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: EXPOSUREHIFI.COM AS EXCLUSIVELY REVEALED in last month’s Company Confidential feature, Exposure Electronics has launched its flagship 5510 integrated amplifier offering a claimed 120W per channel, “deep, controlled bass, detailed mids and sparkling highs”. It features six line inputs so users can opt to upgrade the amplifier with a selection of phono boards (MM, MC or DS) to suit any turntable or a plug-in DAC board for digital playback. Utilising a custom toroidal transformer with hum shield and an engineered low-noise design, the company claims that music: “emerges from a pitch-black background, letting every detail shine without unwanted interference.” The 5510 comes in a high-grade aluminium chassis designed to control resonance and boasts a white OLED display offering five brightness settings and an auto-off mode. It…

Launched at the Munich High End show, the MP-700 is Nagaoka’s new top-of-the-range movingpermalloy cartridge. For the uninitiated, permalloys are similar to moving-iron carts, where both the coil and the magnet are fixed in the body and a tiny sliver of ferromagnetic metal – such as iron – is attached to the cantilever. This makes the moving mass of the cantilever assembly less than that of MC or MM options. The MP-700 has a boron cantilever fitted with a new micro-ridge nude diamond stylus measuring 0.12 x 0.3mm. The cantilever is supported with a soft damper and has a newly integrated suspension wire in the pivot system to provide stability, enhanced stereo separation and clarity across the frequency range. Nagaoka has added an induction plate inside the cartridge to improve…

This handy device has been produced to correct tonal imbalance and spatial disconnection for headphone listening, and is compatible with a very wide range of dynamic headphones. The ARC ON-EAR is designed to offer a consistently accurate, speaker-like reference experience without requiring any plug in, software host, or DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) setup. Essentially, it aims to provide the same listening experience on headphones that you would get from speakers in a good listening room. The ARC ON-EAR contains a 200mW low-distortion headphone amp with digitally controlled analogue volume and studio-quality DAC. It has dedicated push buttons for bypassing calibration and studio simulation, five storable presets and a user-assignable button for common actions. A companion software app is used to manage these presets and all settings. The analogue input is…

It’s right here in black and white. From Bentley’s website: “The Naim for Bentley system offers the power and refinement of a premium home audio setup, with an accurate and wide frequency response, low distortion and a vast dynamic range”. As fate would have it, an NfB-equipped 2025 Bentley Continental GTC Mulliner soft top is parked on my drive and what I would like to think is a ‘premium home audio setup’ resides in my listening room a flight of stairs away. What do you think should happen next? The search for a deserted airfield to exercise the twin-turbo V8/electric hybrid powertrain’s 771 horse power and 738lb/ft of torque, capable of delivering 0-100mph in seven seconds? Tempting. An all but silent EV top-down waft along Whitstable High Street to swivel…

1 BIG RON Triangle has unveiled a new exclusive Burgundy finish for its BR02 Connect & BR03 Connect speakers. The company reveals: “The subtle balance between the satin wood grain and the soft sheen of the Burgundy gives the speakers a warm, modern look that fits seamlessly into both minimalist interiors and more expressive spaces to create a visually harmonious setup, while a new version of the Lunar 1 turntable shares the same tones as the speaker fronts, creating a refined and cohesive ensemble.” 2 SLACKER Rumours Of My Demise: A Memoir is the autobiography of Lemonheads main man Evan Dando The press release says: “After Kurt Cobain’s passing in 1994, everyone expected Evan Dando to be next. The Lemonheads frontman, songwriter and actor started in the Eighties hardcore scene and…