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There are many reasons why valve amplifiers are widely regarded as the ultimate audiophile separate. To be honest, you have to be a particularly keen audiophile to put up with their inefficiency, their need for maintanance and their expense. But for all of that fuss, you get something truly wonderful: pure class A amplification. A warm, lush, inimitable sound which - once you've heard it - cannot be substituted.

And, quite frankly, valve amps ain't what they used to be.

... they're better. Much

Just a little while ago, Audiolab announced a new series, designed exclusively to replace the universally acclaimed 8200 series (which still proves to be one of our most popular separates series to date). So far, that series is composed of the M-DAC+, an exceptional audiophile-grade DAC, the 8300A, an integrated amp (with an inbuilt phonostage) that has absolutely blown us away... and now we bring you something truly special.

The 8300 CD.

So, what do we know so far? It's a CD player based on

First, there was the Blade. A revolutionary pair of KEF speakers that took the hi-fi world by storm. Likened as the 'super cars of loudspeakers', the Blades were the world's first single apparent source loudspeaker with impressive sonic capabilities. Now... world firsts tend to come at a bit of a price. The Blades were indeed revolutionary and wholly impressive, much like super cars. But also, like super cars, scarcely anyone could actually afford them.

Well, now the Blade 2 has landed, that's

Hands up, who liked Audiolab's 8200 series? If feedback is to be believed (and it always is!) the 8200 series was incredibly popular, so the odds are it's quite a lot of you!  Well, the bad news is: the 8200 series and all of its wonderful separates are being discontinued. But the good news is, it's all being replaced by something that moves everything up a scale: the 8300 series! we've already talked about the rather amazing new M-DAC+ (a continuation of the rather legendary M-DAC) so now it's

The future is very much upon us. Hi-fi is no longer the complex, inaccessible beast it once was. Wires, being confined to a single space and bulky, unattractive systems with great sound but low functionality are slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past. As technology improves, so do the possibilities that you can have your hi-fi cake, and eat it to!

I'm talking, quite specifically, about having a system which can stream seamless wireless in multiple rooms, without any sacrifice required on

It's always exciting when a new product is announced. And a new pair of headphones (especially a new incarnation of something that has already achieved legendary status) always causes a bit of a stir in the showroom. So you can only imagine how excited we get when a whole new range based on one particularly remarkable set comes along?

Well, there was a party at Audio Affair when we received the very first shipment of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0s. Especially when we discovered there were eight of them,

2015 has been a good year for hi-fi. A very good year. Such a statement has been strengthened with the fact that the fantastic Audiolab have recently unveiled a new trio of separates, including an amplifier, a CD player and the thing we are most excited about (well, we are audiophiles after all!) the DAC. More specifically, the newest version of the mindblowing M-DAC... the M-DAC+!

But what's it all about and why are we so excited in the first place?

 ... well, it's pretty much down to the new

We've been talking a great deal about sources this month, from streamers through to CD players. Heck, we even touched upon cassette tapes at one point! But no 'source' appreciation month is complete without touching upon what many believe to be the ultimate hi-fi source (yes, that might just include us!) the turntable!

This is where hi-fi as we know it began and thanks to the great vinyl revival of this rather spectacular decade, we have seen an enormous influx of new technologies, all of which have

High-resolution audio, or HRA. It's a term that's banded around a lot, even more frequently of late thanks to more and more technology adopting its practice (2015 is the year it hit the mainstream it would seem!) But have you ever wondered... what exactly is high-resolution audio? And, more importantly, why should you care?

Well, quite frankly, if you're into your audio (and I think it's fair to assume you are since you're reading a hi-fi blog) then high resolution is something you should definitely

Bluetooth speakers are a pretty must have item these days, and not just for the hi-fi crowd! Working in the industry we do, we can spot a trend a mile away, and Bluetooth speakers are destined to stick around for a very long time. A favourite amongst students, professionals, lifestyle-musos and audiophiles alike, this is a handy gadget which has displayed tremendous staying power, and is only getting better as time goes on (and technology improves!) The arrival of Bluetooth AptX (lossless Bluetooth)