Independent reviews
From everyday tech and home products to lifestyle and specialist gear, each review focuses on practical use, strengths, limitations, and who the product suits.
Hi-Fi Speakers
Alta Audio's entry-level standmount pairs a pure metal foil ribbon tweeter with a custom Morel mid-bass driver and hybrid XTL bass loading. Here is what that design delivers and what to weigh before buying.
Powered Speakers
A practical look at the Amazon Basics Powered Speaker: a handy remote and an optical input, held back by shouty upper mids, minimal bass, and erratic pricing.
Phono Preamps
A compact tube phono preamp with bass and treble controls, a headphone output, and a design-origin claim worth reading carefully.
Stereo Power Amplifiers
A compact 17 lb class D stereo amplifier rated at 400 W per channel into 8 ohms and 800 W into 4 ohms, with strong low-level noise performance and clear limits under sustained output.
Hi-Fi Speakers
A Finnish-made floor-standing speaker with neutral tonality, agile passive-radiator bass, and forgiving room placement, plus the trade-offs worth knowing before you buy.
Bookshelf Speakers
A two-way Finnish bookshelf speaker with a titanium dome tweeter, tight bass, and a remarkably neutral midrange. Here is what to know before buying.
Hi-Fi Preamplifiers
A compact, hand-built tube preamplifier that adds weight, punch, and dynamic contrast to a system, with three inputs and no remote to weigh against it.
Hi-Fi Amplifiers
A 17 watt per channel push-pull tube amplifier from a Southern California builder, tested with three speaker pairs and compared against two rival designs.
Room Correction
A practical look at Anthem's ARC Genesis beta, including phase-aware speaker calibration, all-pass subwoofer blending, and the settings worth adjusting.
AV Processors
A close look at the Anthem AVM 90 8K AV processor: measured performance, two-channel and immersive listening notes, bass control, and what to weigh before buying.
Home Theater
A close look at Anthem's flagship preamp processor, covering its dual ESS DAC architecture, 15.4-channel layout, ARC Genesis calibration and four independent subwoofer outputs.
Home Theater Processors
A practical look at the Anthem AVM 90 flagship surround processor, how it differs from the Anthem AVM 70, and which one makes more sense for your room.
AV Processors
A practical comparison of two flagship 15.4-channel AV processors, covering formats, streaming, video processing, room correction, converters, and everyday usability.
AV Receivers
A close look at Anthem's mid-tier MRX 740 8K receiver, covering its sound, ARC Genesis room correction, HDMI 2.1 features and the daily quirks worth knowing before you buy.
AV Receivers
A measured look at the Anthem MRX 740 and MRX 1140, covering preamp output performance, amplifier behaviour, bass management, and expansion headroom.
Integrated Amplifiers
A close look at the Anthem STR Integrated Amplifier, covering its power, room correction, DAC and phono stage, plus the trade-offs worth weighing before buying.
Desktop DACs and Headphone Amps
A $219 desktop DAC and headphone amplifier with a tube buffer, Bluetooth, a remote, and two headphone outputs. Here is what it does well and what to weigh first.
Powered Speakers
A compact two-way powered speaker with genuine low-end punch, excellent imaging, and a control scheme that depends entirely on its remote.
Home Audio
A close look at the Aperion Novus tower and center speakers, from their layered paint finish and punchy bass to the 4-ohm load and what the price actually buys.
Headphones
The Apos Audio Caspian is an easy-to-drive open-back headphone with standout bass and a warm, relaxed tuning, though mid-range and treble detail trail the competition.
Wireless Earbuds
A practical look at the AirPods Pro (2nd generation): noise cancelling that silences voices, immersive Dolby Atmos spatial audio, hearing-test EQ, and the trade-offs worth weighing before you buy.
Music Streaming
A practical comparison of Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Tidal covering plan structures, discovery quality, spatial audio support, and hardware compatibility.
Home Theater
An Apple TV 4K paired with AirPods over Bluetooth makes a compact home theater setup for movies, spatial music and late-night viewing, and it can be assembled for as little as $300.
Hi-Fi Audio
A close look at the Arcam A25, a 100W Class G integrated amplifier with a Sabre DAC and a built-in phono stage, plus the trade-offs to weigh before buying.
Home Theater Receivers
Three AV receivers and one surround processor share Arcam's house sound and a complete modern feature set. Here is how they differ and which one fits your room.
Home Theater
Four new Arcam home theater components share nine-channel amplification and Dirac Live, but differ in power, processing ceiling, and channel flexibility.
Stereo Integrated Amplifiers
A compact Class G stereo integrated amplifier with a high-resolution DAC, measured power above its rating, and two clear compromises to weigh before buying.
Hi-Fi Amplifiers
A practical guide to the Arcam Radia Plus integrated amplifiers, from the 50W A5 Plus to the Class G A25 Plus flagship, and how to choose between them.
Hi-Fi Audio
A close look at the Arcam Radia series, covering the A5, A15 and A25 integrated amplifiers, the CD5 CD player and the ST5 high-resolution streamer.
Hi-Fi Audio
A practical guide to Arcam's Radia streaming models, from the compact ST5 streamer to the powerful SA45 integrated amplifier, and how to pick the right one.