The amplifier is the beating heart of your hi-fi. But, while the turntable (or streamer, or CD player) will take the usual plaudits, as well as the speakers, as far as the ‘front of house’ appeal is concerned, the amplifier often takes a back seat, while doing more than its fair share of real work.
Without a high-end amplifier, though, there’s no point spending big on anything else in your system. And what we have in our £1000-£1300 amplifiers Group Test this month are four really great amplifiers. And another serious winner. After that, we propose a wonderful hi-fi system using the winner as a starting point.
And in this issue we test freestanding soundbars and coffee table projectors that would make any home cinema proud.
Stereo amplifiers from £1000-£1300
Which amplifier you choose will have a big impact on your system’s overall performance, so you want a high-quality player that also provides the physical connectivity your sources need.
And that’s where we come in. We’ve been testing stereo amplifiers since 1976, and our team of in-house reviewers has experience with integrated amplifiers of all types and budgets.
Every amp we test is compared to the current class leader at its best, in our dedicated listening rooms. This thoroughness and extensive contextual knowledge allows us to judge the relative talents of each amplifier we test.
Here though, we’re putting together four of our current favorite amplifiers in a group test to help identify the amplifier we’d highly recommend in this £1000-£1300 price range.
This is a competitive market, with excellent models from hi-fi hard-hitters to choose from: up Rega, Cambridge Audio, Arcam and Quad.
Rest assured that all of these combinations will work well in most applications, and most of your decisions will come down to personal preference. However, there can only be one winner here. Find out more this month What is Hi-Fi?
Premium soundbars
Even the best sounding TVs have a lot of room for improvement by home-cinema standards.
However, not everyone has the space, budget or patience for a complete system that includes an AV receiver, a surround speaker package (or Atmos) and the cables needed to wire everything up.
In fact, even the most popular sound bar systems often include a bar, a wireless subwoofer and two wireless surrounds that are “too many boxes” for most people.
So what’s the solution for those who want a fancy, premium TV and want equally great sound without all the boxes and/or cable? A stand-alone premium sound bar, that’s what. In fact, that’s the very problem the sound bar was originally designed to solve.
These days, a premium soundbar is a very sophisticated piece of kit that often combines good style with efficient Dolby Atmos processing, as well as music streaming, simple functionality and the option to add additional speakers down the line. Here, we pit four such soundbars against each other, from LG, JBL, Sonos and Sony.
Which of these fancy bars is right for a spot under your beloved TV? The battle for Dolby Atmos begins, only this month!
Coffee table projectors
Today’s best ‘lifestyle’ projectors are designed to deliver big screen entertainment without requiring you to rearrange your home surroundings.
That makes them very attractive for large public events. With the World Cup starting soon, there’s an obvious appeal in pulling out the projector and placing it on your coffee table to get the big picture on match day, before packing it away and afterwards.
The same applies to movie nights, playtimes, and TV binge-watching marathons: you get the scale and spectacle that only a projector can offer, but with far less of the hassle associated with it.
We’ve rounded up four coffee table projectors – of different prices, styles and priorities – but all four prove that big doesn’t mean building a bat cave.
Learn more about the host, July What is Hi-Fi?
First with the updates
As always, our Preliminary Exams half is where you will find it What is Hi-Fi?Thoughtful choices in the latest hi-fi and AV gear.
This month’s review section is headed by Cambridge Audio’s first active speakers (yes, you’d think they’d made a pair by now) – the Cambridge L/RS. Compact, desk oriented and available in some smart colours, they are certainly an attractive proposition. But will they earn the five stars we desire? Find out this month What is Hi-Fi?
Elsewhere we have reviews of the Hisense UR9 Mini LED TV, Sonos’ latest portable speaker the Sonos Play, the new home cinema projector from Optoma, the UHZ78LV, and Sony’s new speaker package, the Bravia Theater Bar 7 + S.
But it doesn’t end there. Our team of expert reviewers also took their time with the Samsung HW-Q990H speaker package, the Merlin Tarantula speaker cable and the low-end A7.2 speakers from Spendor.
Get all these updates in July What is Hi-Fi? – get out now!
Trials of your choice
Ours Trials The magazine section is where you’ll find the very best in hi-fi and AV products.
First up is the new pre/power amplifier from the hi-fi kings, Naim, the NAC 552/NAP 500 DR. All in all, this is a fantastic piece of kit, and we had no hesitation in awarding the pairing five stars, noting its “well-engineered, uncompromising design from decades past that still manages to compete at the highest level”.
Then we have some solid speakers from JBL, the Summit Ama. With a high price to match their mountain-themed moniker, they “create a sense of solidity and authority that is rare among high-end representatives in our experience”, to quote our review.
Find out more this month What is Hi-Fi?
Finally, don’t forget to check out our Buyer’s Guidefeaturing the definitive and updated list of all the best home entertainment products to buy – including the 2025 winners What is Hi-Fi? Prizes. If you’re looking to buy anything from the best wireless headphones to a home theater speaker system, this section will tell you where to spend your money wisely.
Whatever you do, don’t miss the July 2026 release What is Hi-Fi? Grab a copy today, or simply download it to your tablet or smartphone. Enjoy!
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