Innehållsförteckning för Awards issue 2023 från What Hi-Fi?

Integrated amplifier | £749 | View offers whf.cm/ArcamA5 Amplification is at the very core of what Arcam has always done. The company’s first product, the hugely successful A60 integrated amplifier introduced in 1976, laid the foundations for the brand to grow into the diverse company it is today. It is also fair to say that in recent decades the company’s focus seemed to be concentrated on the home cinema side of things where it has become known for producing some of the most musical premium AV amplifiers on the market. Make no mistake, there have been some fine stereo products in that time – the Award-winning A19 integrated amplifier, the compact rPhono and numerous generations of rDAC come to mind – but Arcam’s once dominant presence in the affordable stereo…

55in 4K TV | £529 | View offers whf.cm/SamsungCU8000 Given that the CU8000 series sits towards the bottom of a huge Samsung TV range, we should start off with a list of things the CU8000 doesn’t have. Namely Mini LED lighting, Quantum Dot colours, direct LED lighting with local dimming, or any sort of OLED action. The 55in CU8000 is, though, built on a VA rather than IPS LCD panel, which experience suggests will help it produce relatively good contrast at the expense of potentially limited viewing angles. It lights its screen using LEDs mounted around its edges, rather than using LEDs placed directly behind the screen. Experience also shows that edge lighting can struggle to deliver as much contrast and light consistency as direct lighting, but Samsung has repeatedly…

View offers: whf.cm/BestPortableMusicPlayers2023 Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 £799 The A&norma SR35 might test the definition of ‘entry level’, but there’s no uncertainty over whether it performs to its price point. The SR35 has evolved both the features offering and performance of its 2022 Award-winning predecessor, the SR25 Mk II, with a bunch of technologies designed to reduce noise and maximise performance. Dual Band Wi-Fi (2.4/5GHz) is now supported to deliver bolstered network stability whether streaming or making use of its brand-new Roon Ready support. Two-way Bluetooth now supports the 5.0 standard, alongside the aptX HD and LDAC codecs. The 20-hour battery life remains, and all in all, the SR35 is a very well-specified player – and not too well-specified either. We have seen portable music players adopt a full…

View offers: whf.cm/BestRadios2023 Ruark Audio R2 Mk4 £479 So much of the Ruark R2’s appeal lies in its stylish, sleek modern-retro design. It would look at home anywhere in your home – you could even have it as the main audio system in your house. The R2 is powered by 18 watts of Class A/B amplification, with two 75mm full-range drivers for stereo sound. There are two small, downward-firing bass ports on the underside, with enough space to operate wherever you place the R2. There is built-in support for Spotify Connect, Amazon Music and Deezer, while Apple Music or Tidal users can use the Bluetooth input. FM and DAB/DAB+ tuners come as standard. There’s a 3.5mm aux line input for connecting external sources and a 3.5mm headphone jack. A USB-C…

View offers: whf.cm/BestCDplayers2023 Arcam CD5 £699 Going by its amplifier siblings’ Award-winning performances, the CD5 could be just what CD fans have been waiting for. Similar to the A5 and A15 amps, the CD5 sports a sleek, minimal design and is made to a high standard. The black aluminium body with yellow accents looks modern in an understated way, and the whole unit feels robust. The front display, with its simple text showing track information, is easy to read from afar. The disc loading tray operates smoothly and quickly, with a gentle but reassuring mechanical whirr. We find the CD5 easy and responsive to use, whether pressing the unit’s large buttons for playback or using the small remote. Connections are minimal, with just a single pair of RCA line level…

Ludovico Einaudi Night A two-hander between those distinctive Einaudi arpeggios and sequences underneath a more vibrant, violin accompaniment. See if you can still pick out what the piano is doing (and vice versa) when the two instruments combine, while checking for whether or not the music is giving you the intended emotional response. Elton John Rocket Man We could have opted for Billy Joel here instead, but as a British magazine, our loyalties lie with our very own Rocket Man. This stone-cold classic sees John at his theatrical best, veering into the realm of the dramatic without ever losing himself in a sea of melodrama. A fantastic track for any occasion, not just testing hi-fi. George Gershwin That Certain Feeling Classical, romantic influences collide wondrously with the loose inflections of early 20th…

Unknown Pleasures Joy Division It’s a scary thing, replacing an over-played record with a brand new press, but doing so with Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures worked a treat for us. The rolled-off treble offers so much warmth to Bernard Sumner’s often hauntingly sparse guitar lines and Ian Curtis’s affecting vocal, and it still comes with the same textured cardboard sleeve. Blue Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell’s Blue is an essential addition to any record collection. Its intimate production desires a physical medium spinning as close to you as Mitchell’s voice appears in the room. Given the number of times this truly beautiful album must have been re-cut, it stands to reason by now pressings are pretty much as good as they can be. Kid A Radiohead Don’t be unnerved by Kid…

View offers: BestAmplifiers2023 Arcam A5 £749 Arcam’s new entry-level amplifier is a fresh and modern-looking product. We like its simple yet elegant exterior. The yellow highlights around the large control dials, vents and sides give a sleek appearance, while the front-panel control dials are nicely weighted and spin smoothly. This amplifier is more than just a pretty face, though. The company has obviously thought long and hard about the features to include, and has come up with what is arguably the most comprehensively equipped stereo amplifier we have reviewed at this level. There are three line-level inputs and a moving-magnet phono stage, plus preamplifier outputs for those who feel the A5’s 50W per channel output won’t be enough. On the digital side is a pair of coaxial inputs and a…

View offers: whf.cm/BestStandmountSpeakers2023 Bowers & Wilkins 607 S3 £599 The smallest and most affordable of B&W’s 600 range, the 607 S3 replaces the previous Award-winning 607 S2 Anniversary Edition standmounters. We hesitate to call the new speakers truly ‘budget’, but these are still B&W’s entry-level pair and pack in more than enough punch to justify the outlay. B&W has stuck with the same compact footprint (30 x 16.5 x 20.7cm), keeping the 607 S3 a great option for smaller spaces. The build quality is excellent and for the price they look elegant and premium. First and foremost of many updates is the use of titanium in the 25mm decoupled double dome tweeter assembly. The tweeter’s two-part design uses a thin 25-micron main dome reinforced by a 30-micron ring – both…

View offers: BestMultiroomSystems2023 Sonos A steady stream of carefully chosen new products has meant that Sonos, which was there at the beginning of multi-room audio, is still calling the shots in this category. Despite more competition than ever, no multi-room offering is as complete or as pleasurable to live with as Sonos. As a system it has two big advantages – breadth of choice and simplicity of use. In the time its rivals took to play catch-up, Sonos consistently kept its nose in front by launching a whole family of products. It also got onside with a long list of streaming services, not to mention nailing the usability aspect of multi-room. The company continues to innovate, maintaining a presence in other sectors of the audio market with products such as…

View offers: whf.cm/BestSoundbars2023 Sony HT-A7000 £999 Sony’s flagship soundbar is a 7.1.2 slab of sound that packs two up-firing speakers, two beam tweeters, five front-facing drivers and a built-in dual subwoofer into a single chassis. If you want to add to the HT-A7000, you can almost double its already hefty price with a choice of subwoofers and surround speakers. At a hefty 8.7kg, the HT-A7000 is made up of a blend of materials and textures, from the fabric covering the upward drivers and a perforated metal front grille, to the polished glass top surface with capacitive function buttons. Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast are all present, and it integrates easily into a multi-room system, with Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Home all supported. Two HDMI 2.1 sockets…

View offers: whf.cm/BestVideoStreamers2023 Apple TV 4K (2022) £149 The Apple TV 4K has been an Award-winner since its release in 2021; this latest version comes with a more powerful chip and smaller casework, with plenty of subtle upgrades across the board, from general usability improvements to a blazing-fast new processor inside. The big news with the Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen is that significant processor upgrade. It now uses an A15 Bionic processor, the same one found in the iPhone 14. It’s joined by 4GB of RAM (up from 3GB). The usability gains are noticeable as the TV 4K flies through menus without a single stutter. The latest tvOS 16 brings multiple user profiles, personalised spatial audio for compatible AirPods, support for the Matter smart home standard, Apple Fitness+ compatibility…

Micro Lens Array (LG Display) If you haven’t already figured it out by now, we really like OLED TVs. The ability to create ‘true blacks’, punchy and vibrant colour reproduction and crisp 4K detail have all been staple features of nearly all of the OLED sets that we have tested over the years. So what more could we possibly ask for? Well, the level of brightness on offer could be better, but this has been a longstanding weakness with OLED that we had always chalked up to limitations with the hardware. Then, seemingly out of the blue, LG Display – the company that makes LG’s TV panels – defied the notion that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. It took the OLED panels it develops and imbued them with…

Cambridge Audio MXN10 You can debate the merits of competing services, file formats and bitrates until the cows come home, but it’s hard to argue that streaming has taken over the world. With many music lovers choosing streamers to replace CD players and turntables, it’s no surprise that the music streamers category has quickly become one of our most popular. The good news is the convenience and quality that the best machines offer can now be found at every price point. The Cambridge Audio MXN10 is as good an example as any, offering superb value for money in terms of features and sound quality, in an easy-to-use and compact package. We chose it as our best music streamer £300-£750 this year and readers of What Hi-Fi? also voted for it…

Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) £799 Cambridge Audio isn’t a stranger to winning trophies, but this is a first for both the British brand and What Hi-Fi? This marks the first time that a music streamer has been entered into our Hall of Fame. The Cambridge Audio CXN first burst onto the scene in 2015, but it’s the evolved CXN (V2) model (released in 2018 and still current) that gets the distinction of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, sharing space with our pick of the very best products from every decade since the 1970s. With yet another 2023 Award win under its belt in the music streamer category with the new MXN10, this marks the sixth consecutive time that the Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) has won a What Hi-Fi?…

EXPERIENCE. HERITAGE. We have been helping the world discover the best in hi-fi and home entertainment for more than 45 years, and have more than 100 years of reviewing experience under our collective belts – so you can count on our expert opinion. DEDICATED TEST FACILITIES We test every product against its peers in our extensive, bespoke reviewing facilities in London, Reading and Bath. We conduct all our tests as a team – our opinions and conclusions are always the result of collaboration.…

4K TV | £999 | View offers whf.cm/Sony_X85L For the past couple of years Sony’s X85 series has represented the cheapest part of the brand’s TV range where you could feel confident of still getting a seriously satisfying level of picture quality. This year’s X85Ls, though, as represented here by the 55in KD-55X85L, have taken a step forward by adding local dimming to their specification, opening up the possibility of a much better contrast and HDR performance. There are plenty of well specified 55in rivals around that cost less than the KD-55X85L, but the addition of local dimming to a direct LED lighting system, VA panel and Sony’s renowned video processing ensures that it doesn’t look expensive. If you want to step up to the 65in X85L you will need…

Integrated amplifier | £1099 | View offers whf.cm/Arcam_A15 Ask us to name our favourite stereo integrated amplifiers of recent years and you won’t find us mentioning any Arcams. Over much of the past decade, we have failed to be convinced by the company’s designs, despite them being invariably well-made and generously specified. We have generally found their sound overly safe, which is fine if you want an undemanding and comfortable listen, but not ideal if, like us, you want to be taken on an emotional joyride (with the appropriate music, of course). So it was with more than a bit of trepidation that we approached the company’s new Radia series of products. This consists of three stereo amplifiers: the A15 on test here, the entry-level A5 (£749) and range-topping Class…

Projector | £1150 | View offers whf.cm/EH_6250 Epson has a well deserved reputation for being pretty much the undisputed king of LCD projection for the home. Our annual Awards over the years are littered with Epson projector winners, selected for their consistently clean, sharp, cinematic picture quality across a wide range of price points. With such a pedigree behind it, we have high hopes for the brand’s latest 3LCD model, the EH-TW6250. Especially as for just £1150 it offers a combination of built-in Android TV smarts, simple setup and a big focus on everyone’s favourite video feature du jour, high dynamic range. At £1150, the TW6250 sits at the more affordable end of the 4K HDR projector market – and at the lower end of Epson’s own range. This signifies…

Is there a brand more synonymous with headphones than Sennheiser? Sure, names such as Bose, Sony, Grado, Stax and more have many corners of the headphone market sewn up, but none is more prevalent and renowned throughout the world – and across decades – than Sennheiser and its range of wired headphones. From the HD 414 on-ears with the distinctive yellow earpads from 1968 to its hugely accomplished HD 600 range, the German brand has staked its claim as a pioneer – and primary force – in headphone performance. What you might not know is that Ireland plays a huge part in the company’s well regarded audiophile headphones ranges. Since 1991, Sennheiser’s factory in Tullamore, Ireland (about an hour’s drive from Dublin) has been the main facility for manufacturing the…

View offers: whf.cm/BestTablets2023 Apple iPad (2022) £499 For the bulkier chunk of change required to pick up this year’s iPad (the previous model launched at £319), you get a processor upgrade to Apple’s A14 Bionic, which remains blisteringly fast despite being a couple of years old, plus 5G support on the cellular model and a camera boost from 8MP to 12MP. Design-wise, the iPad has now been thrust into the modern age, taking its cues from the iPad Air, with its smoothed-off flat edges, narrow bezels and “all-screen” design. The Silver, Yellow, Blue and Pink hues give a fun pop of colour. The screen size is up from 10.2in to 10.9in, which pairs well with the slicker design. Ditching Apple’s Lightning port brings a world of possibilities for connecting external…

View offers: whf.cm/BestWirelessSpeakers2023 Sonos Era 300 £449 The Era 300 is a wireless smart speaker that comes packing all the goodness and seamlessness of a Sonos system, with a key stand-out feature that Sonos believes is the next generation of sound: spatial audio. Spatial audio uses the Dolby Atmos format to create multiple channels of audio (beyond the standard two) to deliver a greater sense of immersion. For music, which has been in good ol’ stereo for many decades, that’s quite a big change. The 300’s divisive ‘cinched hourglass’ design is down to spatial audio playback needing a carefully considered but unusual arrangement of drivers that can fire out sound in all directions to deliver that ‘immersive’ audio experience – while still keeping a familial Sonos look. Four tweeters (one…

View offers: BestWirelessHeadphones2023 Sony WF-C700N £100 If you’re looking for a discreet pair of wireless earbuds that don’t look or feel bulky, these Sonys could be for you. Their dimensions are impressively small, making the more expensive WF-1000XM5 look like a couple of boulders by comparison. This could partly be explained by the fact they use a 5mm driver, where the WF-1000XM5 boasts a much larger 8.4mm ‘Dynamic Driver X’. We are big fans of the comfort levels provided by WF-C700N. The Sonys slide in and twist into place in the lower portion of your outer ear. They don’t dig in and instead just nestle in place, with the flexible silicone eartips finishing the job and providing an excellent seal. The net result is that they are easy to live…

View offers: whf.cm/BestStreamingServices2023 Disney Plus £7.99/month It was less than four years ago that this nascent streaming service set itself against the might of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and the like. Since then it has evolved at a breakneck pace and now offers access to nearly every Disney title ever committed to celluloid. The rich catalogue of content from Disney and its subsidiaries includes hundreds of films and TV series, from all-time classics to family favourites. It is the only place to see Star Wars and Marvel releases, and is the exclusive streaming hub for every Disney theatrical release from 2019 and beyond. It also includes material from Star, a channel that offers “grown up” content, as well as Hulu originals. Many titles are presented in the best video and…

View offers: BestDACs2023 Chord Mojo 2 £395 Few real-world (read: not ludicrously expensive) products can be considered real game changers in hi-fi. But in 2015 the Chord Mojo burst onto the then-fledgling portable DAC/headphone amplifier scene as one of them, flag in hand and ready to claim territory. The palm-sized device justified its elongated name (‘Mobile Joy’), pushing the parameters of what was possible for compact, on-the-go sound quality in the three-figure price domain. The fittingly named Mojo 2 is the long-anticipated, re-engineered replacement. And while the aesthetic hasn’t exactly been overhauled for the sequel, significant progress has been made elsewhere to protect its position at the pinnacle of the portable DAC world. The headline development lies inside the aluminium casework and is what Chord is calling the ‘UHD DSP’,…

View offers: whf.cm/BestFloorstandingSpeakers2023 Q Acoustics 5040 £999 At just 97cm high and 18cm wide, these floorstanders can slip into most rooms without being obtrusive. A brand new mid/bass driver design uses what Q Acoustics calls a Continuous Curved Cone, with a new geometry that is claimed to marry the rigidity advantages of a standard conical cone profile with the high-frequency break-up characteristics of a more flared design. The cone material is the company’s favoured impregnated paper, and the diaphragm’s diameter is a pretty slim 125mm. The tweeter follows company traditions by being a 25mm soft dome that is decoupled from the front baffle to reduce any distortions caused by structural vibrations. The three drive units are linked by a relatively simple second-order crossover network that uses metallized polyester film capacitors,…

View offers: whf.cm/BestMusicSystems2023 Technics SA-C600 £899 The Technics SA-C600 is generously featured, nice to use and built well. Most importantly, it sounds good. While it is tempting to go through each source separately – built-in CD player, network streaming capabilities with up to 32-bit/384kHz file compatibility, DAB/FM radio, wirelessly via AirPlay 2, Chromecast or Bluetooth or its built-in moving-magnet phono stage – there is really no need to do so, as the SA-C600 proves an admirably consistent performer across the board. It produces musically compelling results regardless of how we are listening. We call it a system, but you still need to add a pair of speakers. Consider the likes of Dali’s Oberon 1 standmounters (£399) a good starting point, but the SA-C600 has enough ability to justify going as…

View offers: whf.cm/BestTelevisions2023 Sony A80L from £1600 The A80L combines the spectacular with cinematic subtlety in very rare fashion. It thrills, but not in a way that’s showy. Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR is the brain of this TV, and this year it gets a new XR Clear Image feature, which is intended to be a more intelligent form of upscaling that understands content type and quality and applies processing accordingly so that images look closer to native 4K. As well as the Dolby Atmos sound format, the A80L also supports Dolby Vision HDR alongside HDR10 and HLG. Disappointingly, the A80L still has just two HDMI 2.1 sockets, and one of those is also eARC for outputting audio to an AVR or soundbar. Those HDMI 2.1s do at least support all…

View offers: whf.cm/BestSetTopBoxes2023 Sky Q From £29/month It seems extraordinary to think that Sky Q has been around for nearly seven years, but it’s true. Given that passage of time, we do well to remind ourselves that the concept is, itself, extraordinary – even if you do have to fork out to enjoy its many pleasures (that £29 figure represents the most basic starting point). There are four Sky Q boxes, and the broadband hub. The main box is the Sky Q 1TB, which is the default box given to anyone taking out a new Sky Q subscription. There is also a Sky Q 2TB box, but this will add to the cost of your package. Both of these boxes handle 4K Ultra HD content. A non-4K Sky Q 1TB…

View offers: whf.cm/BestHomeCinemaAmplifiers2023 Sony TA-AN1000 £999 Sony has packed in the features here. Seven channels of amplification can be configured to either a 7.1 set-up or a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos. The Sony outputs a claimed 85W of power per channel with all channels driven. There are two HDMI outputs with eARC and six HDMI inputs, all claimed to be HDMI 2.1 ports. HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision HDR formats are on board, with further support for IMAX Enhanced. Audio format support is also excellent with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Sony 360 Audio, with its phantom speaker system creating simulated height channels and surrounds. Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Chromecast, AirPlay 2, and it even ‘Works with Sonos’ – allowing you to hook it up to your own multi-room Sonos…

View offers: whf.cm/BestProjectors2023 Sony VPL-XW5000ES £5990 This is the cheapest truly native 4K laser projector the home cinema world has yet seen. There are similarly priced DLP laser projectors that use ‘double flashing’ tech to achieve a 4K image, or pixel-shifting technology that achieves a 4K effect, but none carries a native 3840x2160 pixel count as this Sony does. To illustrate just how surprisingly cheap this projector is, stepping up to its mid-range XW7000ES native 4K sibling will set you back £14,990. Despite its price, it still benefits from Sony’s X1 Ultimate processing, previously available only on its flagship projector. The X1 Ultimate platform powers digital contrast optimisation, object-based HDR remastering, object-based resolution enhancement, enhanced upscaling, clarity-boosting Reality Creation and, perhaps the most important element of the projector’s processing system,…

Yamaha YH-5000SE £4799 These Yamahas justify their mighty price with a depth of ability that we haven’t come across at this level before. The YH-5000SE uses an orthodynamic driver, an older term for planar magnetic, where the diaphragm is etched with a voice coil and sits between opposing magnets. This has advantages over a conventional moving-coil driver in terms of the potential for lower distortion, as the diaphragm is driven over more of its surface area, and greater responsiveness thanks to its lower weight. The YH-5000SE are an open-back design. Dutch weave stainless steel filters carefully manage the pressure around the drive units and directivity is controlled by special shaping inside the earcup. The earcup housing is made of lightweight magnesium, while the rest of the structure uses a mix…

From 75in 4K TVs to turntables, and from portable Bluetooth speakers to Dolby Atmos surround sound packages, here’s where you will find the perfect hi-fi and AV product, fast. NEW ENTRIES THIS MONTH Ruark’s smartly dressed (and sweet-sounding) M2 Mk 4 radio-streaming system joins the party (p118) – and entertains us all royally – while B&W makes the grade twice over with improved versions of its 606 and 607 standmounters (p119). If it’s a floorstander you are after, consider Q Acoustics’ 5040 (p121), which employs new cone technology to great effect.…

Whether you’re a Prime professional or just thinking of signing up, you’ll want to get the most out of the service. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to do exactly that. Setting up a ‘Household’ account Amazon Prime Video will recommend content based on your viewing history - but what if you’re really into crime thrillers, your other half loves romantic comedies and the kids love cartoons? The answer is by linking together two Amazon accounts that will both have access to Prime Video. Go to Your Account > Shopping Programmes > Amazon Household. There you can add another adult or profiles for children, and then click ‘Create Household’. Parental Controls You can set up a four-digit PIN on the web by going into the ‘Settings’ of…

UST projector | £1999 | View offers whf.cm/HisensePL1 Ultra short-throw projectors (USTs) are becoming much more common within the projector market at large – and for good reason. Designed as a TV alternative that can reach up to 100 inches without costing nearly as much as a super-large TV would – and having the benefit of being practically plug-and-play (with some fiddling required) – a UST projector strikes a nice balance between practicality and theatricality. At the forefront of this UST revolution is Hisense, which has been developing ultra short-throw models for more than six years now. The PL1 we have before us today is the latest model in Hisense’s line of Ultra Short-Throw Laser Cinema Projectors (not to be confused with its separate line of Laser TVs, which act…

View offers: whf.cm/BestWiredHeadphones2023 Røde NTH-100 £115 There’s a lot of choice in over-ear headphones at this sort of money, but wired headphones are harder to come by – and wired headphones that claim to be equally at home in the studio as in the living room are rarer still. The NTH-100 use a combination of plastic and metal, with Alcantara fabric at the contact points. A lot of attention has been paid to the headband and hanger, and the clamping force is very nicely judged – so the NTH-100 don’t really feel their 350g weight and stay comfortable for long sessions. A little ‘twist/lock’ control on either side of the headband locks the position once you are happy with the fit. ‘Purity of purpose’ is probably the most charitable way…

View offers: whf.cm/BestSmartphones2023 Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max £1199 Apple has done it again: subtle tweaks to picture and sound quality have added dynamism and refinement to a delivery that was already superb. If you care about movie and music quality, there is simply no better phone out there than the 15 Pro Max. Powering everything is the new A17 Pro processor, a claimed 10 per cent faster CPU, and a GPU that is claimed to be 20 per cent faster. Wi-Fi 6E is also supported. Battery life is unchanged and exemplary: 25 hours of constant streamed video and 95 hours of audio playback. Identically to its predecessor, the 15 Pro Max has a 6.7in, 2796 x 1290, 460ppi OLED display. For reference, a 55in 4K TV has a pixel…

Intelligence Squared Grown-up conversations and deep dives into, well, pretty much anything. Steven Pinker on ‘Optimism’; a discussion regarding the International Criminal Court and Vladimir Putin; a history of the handshake; Willem Dafoe on acting; interviews with former President Jimmy Carter alongside Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu. It’s all here. No Such Thing As A Fish For those of us who just can’t get enough facts and trivia, this is one of the most informative and entertaining pods. With QI stalwarts such as Cariad Lloyd and Sara Pascoe, each episode dives deep into practically any subject or intellectual side alley you can think of, be it moss or Doctor Who, WB Yeats or Guinness World Records. Kermode & Mayo’s Take With Simon Mayo acting as beast master to film critic…

View offers: whf.cm/BestMusicStreamers2023 Cambridge Audio MXN10 £449 Cambridge’s latest network music streamer is something of a tiddler. Neat, compact and easy to pop onto your hi-fi rack, the MXN10 is one of the most unobtrusive units you will find, not to mention one of the least expensive. It’s finished in smooth, inoffensive lunar grey; clean, clear and simple are the watchwords here. The MXN10 is fitted with an RCA line-level analogue output, one coaxial and one optical on the digital side, as well as an ethernet port if you are planning on plugging the unit directly into your router as opposed to relying on wi-fi. It’s not exactly a party round the back, but there’s enough here to satisfy the essential requirements. Having a broad array of streaming choices is,…

View offers: whf.cm/BestTurntables2023 Pro-Ject Debut Pro £699 Pro-Ject’s original Debut was introduced at the tail end of the 1990s. It was a terrific budget turntable that married affordability with performance, and despite a gradual move upmarket, that balance remained so. This isn’t just a mild tweak of the Debut formula, though; Pro-Ject’s engineers have carefully developed almost every design aspect, from adding adjustable metal feet to producing a new dedicated cartridge – the Pro-Ject Pick It Pro moving-magnet cartridge. This is a development of Ortofon’s 2M Red, with the main changes focused on the suspension to produce a more lively and punchier sound. The tonearm is impressive too, using an armtube that combines an outer skin of carbon fibre reinforced by an aluminium inner layer. The result is a smooth…

The Who Baba O’Riley Baba O’Riley is one of those tracks that is meant to be felt as much as analysed or enjoyed, so you’ll need some kit that gets to the heart of those smashing cymbals and punchy power chords. If it doesn’t have you jumping on your sofa and seeking out ice cream straight from the tub, there might be something amiss with your set-up. It’s certainly not the song’s fault. Arctic Monkeys R U Mine Fuzz guitars, grooving bass and huge-sounding rock drums make this a great test of your system’s sense of fun, specifically its ability to keep you hooked on the tune’s playfulness. The band sound like they’re having a blast playing off each other, the guitar-and-bass riff inviting the drums to a little call…

Money Money is such a fun track to listen to. Your hi-fi should track its ⅞ time bassline with precision, as well as the jazzy drums. If your system’s timing is up to the challenge, the lolloping bassline will punch out smartly and keep all the elements sounding apiece. Particularly if you’re in the “high-fidelity first-class travelling set”, and can afford the best hi-fi kit! Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2 There’s choppy guitar, deep, deep funky bass and four-to-the-floor kick drum and hi-hat ‘chicks’ typical of disco tunes of the decade, plus Dave Gilmour’s bluesy solo – all of which should test your system’s dynamics. The track’s disco nature means your system should dance here, too, and handle those meaty lows with aplomb. Shine On You Crazy Diamond…

View offers: whf.cm/BestAccessories2023 Rega Fono MM Mk5 £220 Rega’s Fono MM has been our go-to recommendation for an affordable phono stage for more years than we care to remember. It is pretty minimalist, being a moving-magnet-only design with just the basic input and output connections. Rega clearly doesn’t want to spoil a winning recipe, so the revisions for this new Mk5 are minimal. The internals have remained unchanged from the last generation, with the main changes being to the casework cosmetics – but since the Fono MM was already a clear class leader, maybe that is not such a bad thing. Connectivity is as simple as before, and that works a treat with the likes of Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run, the Rega conveying the hard-charging energy of the music…

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny Cave scene This chapter includes some underwater action that should fill your room with burbling effects, as well as a brief gunfight that involves bullets that whizz around and behind the listening position. Between these are plenty of quieter moments with soft dialogue and great little audio details for an accomplished system to pick out. Angel Has Fallen Drone attack A pretty terrific sounding film, particularly in a scene near the beginning that features a huge swarm of kamikaze drones that are sent to blow up the President while he tries to enjoy a fishing trip. Thrumming military VTOL aircraft overhead, drones zipping across your room in every direction and more sofa-shaking explosions than you’ll hear on bonfire night. Avatar: The Way Of…

View offers: whf.cm/BestBlurayPlayers2023 Panasonic DP-UB820EB £299 If 4K Blu-ray is one of your preferred formats within your home movie set-up, you need a dedicated player that can deliver on multiple fronts. The Panasonic DP-UB820 supports all major HDR formats, delivering a hugely immersive and impactful picture, backed up by a strong audio performance. While it borrows much of its picture-processing tech from the company’s flagship 4K machine, the DP-UB9000, DP-UB820 costs less than half the price. The full range of surround-sound codecs on 4K Blu-ray and streaming services are handled, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. It also covers all the bases for HDR, with HDR10, HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision support. All the key catch-up and on-demand video-streaming services are here, including BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video –…

View offers: whf.cm/BestSpeakerPackages2023 Bowers & Wilkins 606 and 607 S3 speaker package £2496 Since this speaker package comprises two pairs of five-star speakers, you probably won’t be surprised to find out that it sounds good. Really good. Starting with the main players in this system we have the B&W 606 S3 stereo speakers. At 34 x 19 x 30cm, the 606 S3 are much more compact and less likely to dominate your room than some rivals, although you will have to factor in space for stands. Inside the 606 S3 you will find a two-way vented design with a 25mm dome tweeter and 16.5cm cone driver. There’s a new titanium-dome tweeter accompanying the mid and bass driver comprising B&W’s Continuum cone material. B&W has switched to titanium from aluminium to…

Prey A fresh spin on the usually macho Predator, with a determined young warrior using all her skills to take down the more technically advanced alien. The sparse dialogue and soundtrack are wonderfully atmospheric. With the best system, you will be on tenterhooks with every snap of twigs in the forest, while the vivid green Predator blood looks stunning against the natural landscape. Top Gun Maverick As you would expect, the cinematography is out of this world, with breathtaking on-screen action sequences, which look stunning in 4K resolution, backed up with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that will leave even the most capable surround sound set-up tapping out in submission. The only thing you are missing is the smell of jet fuel. An absolute feast for the senses. The Batman This…

John Dawson John Dawson co-founded Arcam (Amplification & Recording Cambridge) in 1976. Both he and business partner Chris Evans had been students at Cambridge University, and worked together to produce the company’s first product, the legendary A60 integrated amplifier. This slim, understated amp was well made, sensibly featured and delivered a musical sound that proved satisfying well beyond its relatively modest price. It set a template that the company has followed ever since: to produce good quality, well-equipped products that will slot into a wide range of systems without issue. The company’s products, even at their best, tend to be unassuming and quietly capable, much like the man himself. John’s forward-looking nature and ability to tackle huge technical challenges meant Arcam, despite its relatively modest size, had a leading role…

Turntables might not be cutting-edge tech, but for their look and feel – not to mention thrillingly articulate analogue sound – you can’t beat them. The only thing your record collection lacks is portability, but there is a way to take those LPs with you What do you need? The basic building blocks are: a turntable, a phono stage, an analogue-to-digital converter with USB output, and a computer with suitable recording software. There are turntables that come with a phono stage, analogue-to-digital converter and USB output built in. But most are at the budget end and focus on getting the job done rather than doing it particularly well. Your recordings won’t necessarily reflect the quality of sound possible from your records, though Audio Technica’s AT-LP5 and Sony PS-HX500 vinyl-ripping decks…