LATEST ADDITIONS

Mark Craven  |  Nov 19, 2025  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2025

Having surveyed the variety of products, big and small, at the recent UK Hi-Fi Show Live at Ascot, Mark Craven is pleased to see that audio brands aren’t all trying to back the same winner

Jim Lesurf  |  Nov 19, 2025  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2025

Jim Lesurf on his love of Linux, the early days of Acorn Computers, adapting to the taps and swipes of tablet use and why he laments the demise of the old-fashioned user manual

Barry Willis  |  Nov 19, 2025  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2025
While audio engineers strive to improve sound quality through objective test and measurement, there’s work to be done into what gives music its ‘goosebump’ factor, says Barry Willis
Barry Fox  |  Nov 19, 2025  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2025
Barry Fox is ‘pleasantly astonished’ by an affordable, fuss-free black box that allows him to convert analogue music into digital streams for playback and archiving
Review: Mark Craven  |  Nov 14, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingLaunched upon the audio world a decade ago, the Phantom was, and remains, the ‘demonstrator’ of all Devialet’s technologies. Ten years on, its promise is finally realised

Although the Paris-based audio brand, Devialet, debuted with its groundbreaking D Premier integrated amplifier in 2010 [HFN Apr ’10], it’s arguable that its most well-known release has been the Phantom [HFN Feb ’15]. Launched in 2015, this almost spherical-shaped active, wireless speaker leveraged the brand’s electronics knowhow and eye for a smart aesthetic to shake up the compact hi-fi market. Upgraded models have appeared in the decade since, but only now does the manufacturer feel confident in launching a new ‘Ultimate’ edition.

Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Nov 11, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingThe Dutch specialist broke with its all-tube tradition when it launched the EVO 300 Hybrid integrated amp. Its success has now inspired a bridgeable power amp version

Three questions sprang to mind when discussing the PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid ‘poweramplifier’ with editor PM. The company has been merrily supplying all-valve products for 22 years, so the introduction of hybrid models seemed a non-sequitur, especially given that this particular amp’s £6498 price tag doesn’t preclude an all-tube design on the grounds of costs.

Review: Mark Craven,  |  Nov 11, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingThere’s more than a hint of retro styling to T+A’s slender all-in-one amplifier, but the feature set – including a custom DAC stage and Class D power – is thoroughly modern

With its latest integrated amplifier, German marque T+A says it is offering a ‘bold look to the future of audio’ as well as a nod to the company’s near 50-year past. And the Symphonia, yours for £7990 in silver or black finish, certainly has a styling that’s unusual, if not unique. The busy front fascia, with crisp monochrome OLED display and hand-built analogue VU meters, continues the kind of retro-modern aesthetic seen on other recent models from HiFi Rose [HFN Jul ’22] and Yamaha [HFN Jul ’23], plus T+A’s own series 200 separates [HFN May ’22 and Feb ’23].

Review: Andrew Everard,  |  Nov 11, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingThis new flagship network transport offers wholesale upgrades, from an isolated USB audio output and ‘milled from solid’ casework to – most obviously – an offboard PSU

Back in the day, when CD players started splitting into separate transports and DACs, the question was ‘does the transport really make a difference?’. After all, we all knew that different DACs had their own influence on the sound – despite the protestations of the ‘all properly designed digital gear should sound the same’ brigade – but transports? Their sole purpose was to deliver digital data from disc to DAC.

Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Nov 10, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingThis compact black alloy box, with colour display, is top dog in Bluesound’s series of multiroom music streamers, and standard bearer for its MQA-derived QRONO d2a tech.

Bluesound is less of a HFN regular than sister brand NAD, but many hi-fi buffs looking to add streaming to an (older) amp or active speakers will have encountered the brand’s Node streamer. According to the company the Node is its best-selling product, outshining its wireless speakers and soundbars. Earlier this year, the Node received a fourth major update, expanding the lineup with a cheaper Node Nano and an upmarket £899 Node Icon (N530). For the brand, founded to rival Sonos, it’s the first foray into what you could call a ‘real’ hi-fi territory.

Review: Andrew Everard,  |  Nov 10, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingIn time for its 99th anniversary, ELAC launches a new flagship speaker with room-friendly, ‘steerable’ sound

Only when I recently started driving a German-made car – a Mini built in Leipzig, actually – did I grasp the concept of that country’s approach to over-engineering: the thing has four ways of opening the boot, two of them remotely, for heaven’s sake, and three of putting it into its raciest engine/transmission/noise mode.

Pages

X