What a year for hifi, from digital products that meet our modern lifestyles to no compromise analogue heaven, with delightful accessories thrown in.
Here are our stand out products that made the audio grade for us in 2023.
Categories
Best integrated amplifier
Best pre/power amplifiers
Best high-end turntable
Best mid-level turntable
Best cartridge
Best phono stage
Best network player
Best high-end floorstanding loudspeaker
Best mid-level floorstanding loudspeaker
Best standmount loudspeaker
Best subwoofer
Best over-ear headphones
Best value wireless earbuds
Best audio cables
Best mains product
Best upgrade
Best room treatment
Best classic hifi
Best integrated amplifier
Roksan Attessa Streaming Amplifier
With its dynamic sound, decent build and feature rich internals, the Attessa is great value and the integrated to beat. Few come close at the price.
Best pre/power amplifiers
Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista PRE/PAS
MF’s flagship amps are simply sublime. Oodles of power, imaging and separation to die for, with a delicious layer of valvey sweetness that makes their premium price a comparative bargain. A welcome return from an iconic brand.
Best high-end turntable
Vertere DG-1S Sabre
Not steeped in nostalgia like many vinyl spinners, Vertere’s Sabre package is how a turnable should look and perform in 2023. It’s loaded with modern materials and innovation to show why vinyl’s enduring appeal is still thriving in high-end audio.
Best mid-level turntable
MoFi StudioDeck +
It might not be as well known as the usual suspects, but the MoFi’s purposeful build and lush sonics make this the best deck under £1.5k by some way. With a flawless performance, its high-mass arm and cartridge are also a perfectly voiced combination.
Best cartridge
MoFi StudioTracker
At the heart of any turntable beats its cartridge and MoFi’s StudioTracker impressed us to much we put it through its paces on a range of decks from SME to VPI, where it’s musicality shone through. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a re-bodied and re-badged Audio-Technica, as it’s so much more. A bargain at the price.
Best phono stage
iFi ZEN Phono
A decent phono stage needs to cost a packet right? Wrong. As iFi has shown time and again, good value need not mean compromise, and its ZEN Phono is almost offensively inexpensive for the performance it delivers.
Best network player
Cambridge Audio AXN10
A great value streamer, thanks to CA’s decades of knowhow. Put simply the AXN10 is a full-width player at half-width prices, with one of the best apps in the game.
Best high-end floorstanding loudspeaker
Perlisten R5t
Perlisten has made quite an impact since finding its way into the UK, and rightly so. The R5t sets the standard at its price and is sized just right for most homes, with a more than impressive driver array and build.
Best mid-level floorstanding loudspeaker
Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3
Trickle down tech from Bowers’ flagship models and relentless focus on improvements keeps the brand at the top of its game, and the 703 S3 bats above its level as a result, with clarity and scale in abundance. What else would you expect from Worthing’s finest?
Best standmount loudspeaker
PMC prodigy1
Not the poison, but the remedy. PMC has packed the very essence of its transmission line tech into its new Prodigy range, and the standmount model reaps the rewards as a result, combining studio-like focus with exceptional bass control for the money.
Best subwoofer
REL S/510
It’s another winner from REL, and with what’s gone into the its S/510 it’s easy to see why. From any other brand this would cost twice the price, making it worthy of the crown.
Best over-ear headphones
Bowers & Wilkins Px8
Bowers & Wilkins flagship Px8 is a cut above the headphone crowd thanks to its luxury materials, carbon drivers and custom DSP.
Best value wireless earbuds
Final ZE3000
Hifi isn’t all about hi-end, as enjoying our music takes many forms. Costing less that a bag of shopping, Final’s ZE3000 are loaded with tech to elevate them above the budget competition.
Best audio cables
In-akustik Micro Air
German engineering where you need it most on a cable, In-akustik’s Micro Air might just offer the finesse your system has been waiting for. Less blingy than many rivals, these cables are all about making sure the music flows at its uninterrupted best.
Best mains product
Russ Andrews X8 Block and Evolution-300 PowerKord
You’re hifi’s performance starts right from when the electrical signal leaves the wall, so not compromising on the power supply goods is vital. Thankfully Russ’s X8 offers a quality connection with plenty of options. If you’ve yet to explore the benefits of dedicated mains products, this is an ideal place to start.
Best upgrade
Funk Firm Isolation Bubble
With its rich history, The Funk Firm is all about innovation and thinking outside the analogue box. This package combines to take even a vintage player of some years into the modern age. Judge with your ears to feel the funk.
Best room treatment
Advanced Acoustics Wedge Pro
Your system is only as good as your room, it really is that simple. So spending a few hundred quid plus some time and effort finessing its sonics means you’ll hear your system at its best. A genuine no-brainer.
Best classic hifi
Avalon Avatar
Exploring products past gives us a window into the brands and stories that make hifi what it is, while reminding us it’s not just about the latest gear. These long forgotten ‘baby’ Avalons more than gave their modern rivals a run for their money, and show why some hifi is just timeless.
