What Hi-Fi? February 2022

It’s easy to think that, in order to get a good hi-fi system, all one needs to do is to look at What Hi-Fi?’s recent Award winners, choose the price appropriate product in each category, and bung them together. And you might well strike lucky. Regular readers, though, will know that it doesn’t necessarily work that way. It is imperative to match products carefully so that you can get the most out of them and allow them to benefit from a synergy that will make your music truly sublime. In this issue, then, we do that hard work for you, and present seven superb Stereo Systems (p32), that will bring you and your loved ones (please do share the joy…) many years of pleasure. Whether you want to enjoy your vinyl collection,…

EXPERIENCE. HERITAGE. We’ve been helping the world discover the best in hi-fi and home entertainment for more than 40 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. HOW WE SCORE All review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole – not an individual reviewer. Each product will be listened to and/or viewed by several members of the test team, who will then discuss the final verdict before it appears in the magazine or on the website. This…

View offers Soundbar | £849 | whf.cm/Smart900 “There’s a clean directness to the vocal and the upward drivers seem to add extra reverberance that, while not exactly authentic, has a pleasant broadening effect” Despite a long-standing reputation for audio excellence, including, for a long while, near-dominance within the realm of noise-cancelling headphones, in a world of over-sharing, Bose has managed to remain something of an enigmatic company. From changes of CEO going unannounced to its well-known reluctance to publish technical specifications, this privately owned and publicly reticent corporation has always preferred to let its products do the talking. It’s somewhat surprising that Bose, which released its first soundbar in 2011, has until now resisted the urge to throw its hat into the lucrative, if challenging, Dolby Atmos market. But with the launch of the…

View offers Stereo speakers | £999 | whf.cm/L52Classic JBL’s L52 Classic standmounters are the entry-level model in the company’s three-strong Classic series of speakers. This range is built on the foundations laid by the huge success of the retro-themed L100 Classic, with subsequent introductions echoing the appealing 1970s styling but packaging it in smaller, ever more affordable portions. The success of the L100 Classic isn’t just down to nostalgia though, as there’s real substance provided by thoroughly modern engineering that delivers the sound quality to match. It’s with this in mind that we unbox the L52 Classic. Small in stature These speakers are small, standing just 33cm tall. The walnut veneer-covered box is decently made, and solid with it, though it lacks the aesthetic class and outright quality of something such as KEF’s similarly priced…

View offers True wireless earbuds | £199 | whf.cm/EAH-AZ60 Whereas the first true wireless earbuds on the market were, out of necessity, relatively bulky compared with the wired earbuds we had been accustomed to, manufacturers’ latest efforts have managed to pack mics, chips and drivers into more discreet housings. Following this trend, having launched its first-ever pair in 2020, Technics has honed that debut design for its second and third models, the EAH-AZ60 we have here and lower-specced EAH-AZ40, to make them more slimline and comfortable. The AZ60’s oval-shaped, slim-profiled charging case is considerably smaller than that of the debut EAH-AZ70W, and the earbuds themselves have shed millimetres in thickness and are now more drop-shaped than spherical. That’s an ergonomic evolution, with the new buds’ smaller size (roughly 25mm deep) and lighter weight…

View offers DAC | £199 | whf.cm/iFiGoBlu UK outfit iFi has carved a niche for itself by fashioning mostly small, always likeable, sometimes hipflask-shaped aids for your in-transit or on-desk sound. The iFi Go Blu DAC/headphone amp offers a Bluetooth 5.1 connection to your source device (although not to your headphones, those still need to be wired into the unit) thus eliminating one wire from the potentially bulky, tangled equation of phone, to DAC, to headphones. With its £199 price-tag and novel wireless capabilities, there’s not a lot of competition for the iFi Go Blu. The What Hi-Fi? 2019 Award-winning Audiolab M-DAC Nano (£149) is one fine example, albeit sporting slightly older Bluetooth 4.2. The Go Blu is truly tiny; its footprint is barely bigger than two postage stamps placed side by side. It also…