What Hi-Fi?

At WHAT HI★FI? we spend a lot of time trying to get you the best value for your money; you know that. Long-time readers will also know that, for the very best sound, we have recommended the use of separates to make up a hi-fi system. That is, specialist pieces of kit to undertake each vital part of the music-recreation chain, from source, via amplification, to loudspeakers. Almost inevitably, though, there is a “but” in all of this – a number of them, in fact. First, many people have neither the space nor the inclination to take up a lot of volume in their living rooms with six or seven black boxes – no matter how great they may sound. And that’s without taking the expense into account. Equally important though, with…

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. 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.…

55in OLED TV | £1499 | whf.cm/55A80K View offers Sony’s A80K boasts a seriously premium specification sheet that includes one of the latest brightness-bolstered OLED panels backed up by a heat sink that unlocks even more brightness, along with the latest version of the company’s Cognitive XR processor. This is dedicated to delivering Sony’s vision of the most accurate and/or ‘realistic’ pictures possible, by subtly manipulating every element of picture quality to create a more natural image that resembles more closely the way your eyes perceive the real world. A variant of the A80K, the A84K, is available through a limited number of retailers, most notably Currys. While largely identical, the A84K boasts a few upgrades, including a metal (rather than plastic) remote control, a built-in far-field microphone for remote-free voice control, and…

Soundbar | £1299 | whf.cm/AmbeoPlus View offers Sennheiser’s original Ambeo soundbar, the Max, hit the scene a few short years ago and has, until now, been the only child in the company’s soundbar family. While it has remained in the spotlight since its launch in 2019 – thanks to its weighty, space-filling sound – it is also weighty and fills up a lot of space. So let’s say you want that signature Sennheiser pedigree in a soundbar that doesn’t weigh almost 19kg. Enter the Ambeo Plus, the Ambeo Max’s slightly less brash and bold cousin; it looks more like a traditional soundbar thanks to a slimmer profile and narrower build. But does this makeover sacrifice the Ambeo spirit? Well, yes, a little; but this is still a talented soundbar in its own right. Tough…

Over-ear headphones | £149 | whf.cm/NTH-100 Views offer Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of Røde – the company may be a big deal in the world of pro audio, but the NTH-100 are both its first pair of headphones and its first attempt to engage with the consumer audio market. So unless you have an interest in the world of recording studio mics and what-have-you, this Australian brand will be new to you. The pro audio world is competitive enough, of course, but the consumer-facing equivalent is absolutely cut-throat. And Røde doesn’t seem to have given itself the biggest chance of making waves by making its first product a pair of wired headphones – if there’s a consumer audio category that is currently less fashionable, we would like to hear about it.…

View offers Interconnect | £125/m | whf.cm/Clearway2022 There has been a trend of products not updating their name even though they have had significant revisions in the new model. The new 2022 generations of Focal Utopia and Apple AirPods Pro come to mind as the most recent examples, and Chord Company has followed suit with its new 2022 edition of the multiple award-winning Clearway Analogue RCA interconnect. Stepping up The Clearway’s cable design is based on the Award-winning and more budget-friendly C-Line interconnect, but it uses a heavier gauge oxygen-free copper and an improved version of Chord’s Tuned ARAY conductor geometry technology for the step up in performance. It is by no means the biggest or flashiest update we have come across: the formerly silver-plated plugs of the interconnect have been updated to a new…