Shanling SCD3.3 review: tubes, R2R and a grin*
The Shanling SCD3.3 is a top-loading CD/SACD player that folds in some very basic USB driv…
Apple TV is finally getting hi-res audio…but there’s a catch
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Chord Alto review: a ‘studio’ amplifier for your headphones
It’s been an interesting month for ‘new’ old music. Placebo ‘Re-Created’ its 1996 indie-ro…
PSB spins up the iQ Series w/ BluOS, HDMI eARC, MM phono
PSB first showed the Alpha iQ – a streaming active loudspeaker built around the BluOS plat…
Tubular Belles: Part 1 (Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 Tube video review)
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Have we reached peak ‘R2R DAC’? Shanling’s EH90 says not
Shanling’s top-tier R2R conversion has so far only lived inside boxes that do other things…
Darko.Audio
Eversolo’s DMP-A8 Gen 2 will come in two versions
Eversolo isn’t one to let a winner sit still. The original DMP-A8 streaming DAC and pre-am…
Darko.Audio
This is a total banger! (Dunu Concept R video review)
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Rogers PM510 S3 arrives as a £17,999 flagship ‘monitor’
Rogers is chasing the high end again with a large standmount loudspeaker. The PM510 S3 is…
Darko.Audio
The half-width heavyweight: Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 Tube review
This is the second in a series of four – maybe five – CD player reviews for 2026. There’s…
Darko.Audio
Wharfedale refreshes its Elysian flagship loudspeaker range
Many people know modern Wharfedale for its heritage retreads: the Denton, the Linton, and…
Darko.Audio
Why I’d spend €1000 LESS than the Arcam SA45
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Hi-res Apple Music is coming to the Apple TV, but there’s a problem…
Apple will extend Apple Music’s hi-res lossless support to the Apple TV via tvOS 27, due l…
Darko.Audio
The CD player Braun never made: Dunu Concept R review
This is the first in a series of four – maybe five – CD player reviews for 2026. I bought…
Darko.Audio
Arcam turns 50 w/ A50 Signature integrated, CD25 CD player
ARCAM was founded as A&R Cambridge in 1976, where the “A” stood for amplification (and the…
Darko.Audio
8 more thoughts on the Arcam SA45
A few things didn’t make the final cut of my SA45 video. Almost all of them were editorial…
Darko.Audio
Cambridge’s Evo 300 is a more powerful streaming amplifier
Cambridge has announced the Evo 300, a full-width streaming integrated amplifier the Briti…
Darko.Audio
Eversolo announces T10 streaming transport
Eversolo has announced a new flagship streaming transport, the T10. Like the T8 before it,…
Darko.Audio
AudioQuest revives the DragonFly with a copper-clad sequel
AudioQuest has announced the DragonFly Copper, the fifth model in its long-running USB don…
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Is Class G the ultimate amplifier technology? (Arcam SA45 video review)
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Bowers & Wilkins’ new flagship floorstander is yours for €50,000/pair
Bowers & Wilkins has announced the fifth-generation 800 Series Diamond. The D5 range spans…
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JBL completes Summit Series with Everest and K2
JBL has announced two new flagship loudspeakers: the Summit Everest and Summit K2. They jo…
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Klipsch launches its first Heritage standmount: the Rebellion
Eighty years in, Klipsch has done something it has never done before: added a standmount t…
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The McIntosh MA2375 is an all-tube integrated amplifier
McIntosh (acquired by Bose in November 2024) hasn’t shipped an all-tube integrated amplifi…
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Acoustic Energy updates its AE1 Active for 2026
Acoustic Energy has announced the AE Active, an updated version of its AE1 Active that the…
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KLH Model Four: pseudo-standmount targets Super Linton territory
KLH has unveiled the Model Four, a semi-compact pseudo-standmount slotting between the exi…
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In Berlin for review: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 integrated amplifier
This isn’t a new product. Musical Fidelity launched the Nu-Vista 800.2 integrated amplifie…
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Gold Note’s DS-5.2 streaming DAC isn’t made in China
Italy’s Gold Note has a new streaming DAC on the books. The DS-5.2 is the digital source t…
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Raidho half-announces the X2.8 floorstander
Danish loudspeaker manufacturer Raidho Acoustics has announced the X2.8, a 3-way floorstan…
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Arcam SA45 review: Future-Fi for pragmatists & analogue purists
The Arcam SA45 (€4999/US$5499) is the Cambridge company’s flagship streaming integrated am…
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At $32K, the Piano Classic is a lower entry point into Tidal’s speaker range
Germany’s TIDAL (pronounced ‘Tea-darl’) has announced the Piano Classic, a passive floorst…
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Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless: what’s new (and what isn’t)?
Sennheiser has announced the Momentum 5 Wireless. Four years on from the Momentum 4 Wirele…
Darko.Audio
Is your hi-fi system hiding 20% of your music?
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Luxman readies D-100 CENTENNIAL SACD player
A century in the hi-fi business is no small thing. Luxman was founded in 1925. The D-100 C…
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Chord Electronics’ £25,000 Quartet upscaler lands with 4 million taps
Rob Watts has been working on this one for a while. At Munich’s High End show in 2024, Cho…
Darko.Audio
So, Plex wants $750 now
A Patreon supporter gifted me a Lifetime Plex Pass back in 2019. At the time, Plexamp, the…
Darko.Audio
Does your dongle dangle?
A dongle DAC is a DAC with a built-in headphone amplifier. Easy to forget because the mark…
Darko.Audio
Are you ready for active loudspeakers?
Fyne Audio’s Cubitt 5 – the Scottish company’s first active loudspeaker – gives me an excu…
Darko.Audio
Campfire Audio’s Chimera IEM costs US$7500
Campfire Audio has announced Chimera: a nine-driver flagship IEM priced at – and I hope yo…
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Wharfedale’s Denton 1S revives a 1974 space-saving oddity
Wharfedale has been mining its Heritage catalogue for over a decade, with the Linton and s…
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I love the $14k Thorens TD 124 DD. Buy this one instead
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Hi-Fi YouTube is a show without walls
Every May, the hi-fi industry would pack itself into the MOC Event Centre in Munich for Hi…
Darko.Audio
Serious buyers only
Paul Sinclair of Super Deluxe Edition just met the thick end of the Berliner Schnauze. His…
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Three slimline subwoofers that won’t take over your room
The typical hi-fi subwoofer spends most of its life on the floor, wedged wherever there’s…
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Shanling’s EC Play is its most affordable portable CD player to date
Shanling has announced the EC Play, the most compact and most affordable portable CD playe…
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Sivga M260: $45 wired IEMs w/ inline USB-C DAC
Chinese audio manufacturer Sivga has announced the M260, a super-affordable wired IEM buil…
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The curious double standard in online hi-fi communities 🌶️
[Editor’s note: This is the fifteenth in a series of fifteen observations from fifteen yea…
Darko.Audio
Podcast #68 – Another use for your WiiM, HiFiMAN Unveiled & FangSound
In episode #68 of the Darko.Audio podcast, John opens with a practical fix for a problem t…
Darko.Audio
A tale of two Thorens turntables: TD 124 DD 140th vs. TD 404 DD
The direct-drive motor sealed it. That, and the copper-topped platter. And the high-gloss…
Darko.Audio
FiiO teases K17 R2R Pro with no price & mid-2026 ship date
FiiO has begun teasing the K17 R2R Pro, a new version of its flagship streaming DAC and he…
Darko.Audio
Global feedback: how many hi-fi shows have you been to? (2026)
I have run this poll twice in the last three years. The results are remarkably consistent.…
Darko.Audio
Musical Fidelity introduces M5xi integrated amplifier
We wrote about the Musical Fidelity M6xi when it was announced a few weeks ago. Now the Br…
Darko.Audio
Schiit announces Buf: a $99 tube buffer
Not everyone wants a technically perfect hi-fi (or head-fi) system. Some listeners would r…
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Future-Fi Now! Pro-Ject’s new Wireless Box E kills the speaker cable
Most streaming amplifiers promise simplicity and then promptly hand you a loudspeaker cabl…
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The truth about subwoofers: 9,000 audiophiles have spoken
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HiFiMAN HE600 review: it’s what’s on the inside that counts
The original HiFiMAN HE6 was one of audio’s great cautionary tales: an audibly extraordina…
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Bowers & Wilkins adds new finishes to the Px8 S2 lineup
My favourite Bluetooth headphone of 2025, the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, edged out the Sennh…
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NAD loads its C 589 CD player with MQA tech
NAD has announced the C 589, a dedicated CD player that joins its Classic Series. The tran…
Darko.Audio
In Berlin for review: Arcam’s SA45 streaming amplifier
The SA45 (€4999/US$4999) is Arcam’s flagship streaming integrated amplifier, built around…
Darko.Audio
Global feedback: How many subwoofers do you run in your main hi-fi system?
How many subwoofers are Darko.Audio’s YouTube viewers actually running? The answer, it tur…
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Why the hi-fi purists are wrong about subwoofers
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5 reasons why you need a subwoofer
Many hi-fi purists think they don’t need a subwoofer. And to be blunt, I think those hi-fi…
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Shanling blends R2R DAC and touchscreen for SM1.3R
Shanling has announced the SM1.3R, an R2R-powered sibling to the SM1.3 streaming DAC that…
Darko.Audio
Vicoustic’s VicShape 3D is an acoustic panel you can actually look at
The most persistent objection to acoustic treatment isn’t cost. It’s aesthetics. Very few…
Darko.Audio
Digital inputs, more power: Musical Fidelity’s M6xi integrated amplifier
Musical Fidelity has announced the M6xi, a new integrated amplifier that builds on the ana…
Darko.Audio
$12 to stream Apple Music like an audiophile (and from the couch)
Apple Music’s hi-res audio problem hasn’t gone away. Four years after the company switched…
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Global feedback: The two faces of snake oil
Ask a hundred audiophiles whether power cables make a difference, and you’ll start a fight…
Darko.Audio
Three products from AXPONA 2026 that cut through the noise
AXPONA 2026 has wrapped its three-day run at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Centre.…
Darko.Audio
Ø Audio announces Ymir flagship loudspeaker
Norwegian manufacturer Ø Audio (pronounced “ur”) has pulled the wraps off the Ymir, its ne…
Darko.Audio
AGD Productions half-announces Allegro super-integrated
California-based AGD Productions wants to tell us about the Allegro, a super-integrated am…
Darko.Audio
No, you don’t need a new DAC (not yet)
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SVS announces the 3000 Micro R|Evolution compact subwoofer
SVS has announced the 3000 Micro R|Evolution, a sealed compact subwoofer that replaces the…
Darko.Audio
Five electronic dub albums to run across your subwoofer
My love of techno is no secret. Electronic dub is the less obvious of the two obsessions,…
Darko.Audio
Darko.Audio now reaches 700,000 unique visitors per month
Four posts a week. That’s the cadence I’ve maintained on this website since 2016, and it s…
Darko.Audio
8 things beginner audiophiles can safely ignore 🌶️
[Editor’s note: This is the fourteenth in a series of fifteen observations from fifteen ye…
Darko.Audio
Revel launches Performa4 loudspeaker series
Two new acronyms, one new waveguide, seven products built around thirty years of psychoaco…
Darko.Audio
Shanling SM90: touchscreen streaming DAC takes aim at Eversolo
Shanling has announced the SM90, a compact Android-based streaming DAC pitched squarely in…
Darko.Audio
LEAK adds compact Sandwich 100 to its revived loudspeaker range
LEAK has added a third model to its revived Sandwich loudspeaker range. The Sandwich 100 i…
Darko.Audio
Campfire Audio Andromeda 10 ‘Black Launch Edition’ review
The original 2016 Andromeda put Campfire Audio on the map. Five balanced armature drivers…
Darko.Audio
Your next music server, streamer & reclocker could cost you $58K
New Zealand-based Antipodes Audio has established Oladra as a standalone sub-brand, built…
Darko.Audio
Building the ultimate hi-fi desk setup (mistakes were made)
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Audirvana Studio 3.0 arrives with new UI, DSP suite
Audirvana Studio has been updated to version 3.0, bringing a completely overhauled interfa…
Darko.Audio
The great DAC distraction
[Editor’s note: This is the thirteenth in a series of fifteen observations from fifteen ye…
Darko.Audio
Tubes vs. transparency: why the FiiO K13 R2R wins!
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Fosi Audio enters the streaming age with the S3
Fosi Audio has announced the S3, a combined streamer, DAC and pre-amplifier aimed at the b…
Darko.Audio
Schiit’s Eitr 2 is a $149 digital-to-digital converter with a twist
Schiit Audio has announced the Eitr 2, a digital-to-digital converter (DDC). It accepts a…
Darko.Audio
From storage to desktop: giving the Wilson TuneTot the stage they deserve
Wilson Audio TuneTots on a desk. I know. But we’ll get to that. What follows summarises a…
Darko.Audio
Tubes vs. solid-state: FiiO K13 R2R review (vs. Warmer R2R)
The FiiO Warmer R2R arrived with a lot going for it on paper. Linear PSU. Tubes. VU meters…