What Hi-Fi?

at last – some next-gen joy!

We’ve got some seriously impressive pieces of hi-fi kit in this month’s edition of the magazine. Not only do we bring you a roundup of some of our favourite standmount speakers (p28) priced between £1000 and £2000, but we also have first reviews of the next generation of Marantz’s multi-Award winning 6000 series (p6) of CD players and amplifiers. The arrival of the new Marantz duo is particularly exciting; we have never been let down by these superb pairings, and I’m happy to say that, in this particular instance (and for once…), 2020 doesn’t disappoint. To go along with the speakers in this issue, we also have some all-in-one systems (p40) to which you need add only a pair of price-appropriate speakers for a true 21st Century hi-fi. And hi-fi it most…

how we test

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 brand-new, bespoke reviewing facilities in London 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 avoids…

marantz cd6007 and pm6007

View offers CD player | £399 | whf.cm/CD6007 View offers Amplifier | £499 | whf.cm/PM6007 With not just one, but two highly anticipated products launching together, Marantz are spoiling us. An affordable CD player to replace the Award-winning CD6006 UK Edition, plus a budget amplifier that aims to improve on the current Award-winning PM6006 UK Edition amplifier, would seem like perfect companions. So can the latest additions to Marantz’s 6000-Series improve upon their predecessors? Marantz CD6007 We couldn’t help but have a feeling of déjà vu when taking Marantz’s new CD6007 out of its box. Cover the model number and it’s impossible to differentiate this unit from the CD6006 model it replaces. Did someone at Marantz’s styling department just copy and paste the previous design? If so, they’ve been doing it for years. You’d need to go…

marantz pm6007

Marantz PM6007 The path to self-improvement is never-ending: no matter how successful or saintly we are, there is always a way to better ourselves. The same applies to hi-fi; regardless of how good a piece of kit is and how many accolades it has won, there is always room for improvement. Marantz is many steps along the journey towards making the best budget stereo amplifier possible, most recently with this new PM6007, which sets out to improve upon the 2018-launched Marantz PM6006 UK Edition, the current What Hi-Fi? Award-winner in its respective price bracket. Enhanced performance In our review of the PM6006 UK Edition, we said our only wish was that its vast connectivity had included Bluetooth and a USB input. However, that’s not where Marantz has sought to improve its 6000 Series line.…

sony wh-1000xm4

View offers Wireless headphones | £350 | whf.cm/WH-1000XM4 The arrival of the Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless noise-cancelling headphones could be the biggest headphone launch of 2020. They replace the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning WH-1000XM3s, one of the most popular pairs of headphones on the planet. So, they’re quite a big deal. Instead of just rebadging the old model, Sony claims the WH-1000XM4s deliver a more comfortable design, better noise-cancelling, better audio, better call quality and more useful features compared with their predecessors. Priced £350, the Sony WH-1000XM4s are in the same bracket as rivals such as the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 (£350) and Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless (£350). Subtle changes Sony hasn’t exactly gone back to the drawing board for the WH-1000XM4s, but there are a few subtle differences. The plastics used around the earcups and sliders…

roberts rt200

View offers Turntable | £349 | whf.cm/RT200 Roberts describes its own RT200 turntable as an “intuitive set-up for easy listening”; really, we couldn’t have put it better ourselves. If that sounds a little scathing, it isn’t meant to be. The three-star rating reflects a sonic performance that is quite some distance away from par for hi-fi at this price, but as an easy listening, plug-in-and-play deck, the RT200 could be a lot worse. It has everything you could ask from a first-time turntable, including a built-in phono stage that means you can plug it into one of Roberts’ Award-winning radios. Though that would never be something we would recommend, being hi-fi purists, it is a reality that could suit this deck quite well. Unintimidating tech The RT200 is direct drive, so no need to worry about…