Simon Lucas

A tale in which Meze Audio, pace-setters where high-end headphones are concerned, decides to drop some of its talent on us mere mortals who exist in the mainstream...

The Gadhouse Duke & Roy turntable and powered speakers sound system struggles sonically, to the extent that all the kit still isn't really worth the affordable price.

KEF's mastery of the ‘all in two’ speaker system comes down to its keenest price so far.

The Noble FoKus Rex5 true wireless earbuds have detailed sound and great build quality but average noise-cancellation and low-end issues make them so expensive.

With its latest premium true wireless in-ear headphones, Technics is attempting to make the jump from ‘really good’ to ‘truly great’ – and the EAH-AZ100 achieves this.

Shanling HW600 wired over-ear planar magnetic headphones look to be even more disruptive than usual in a competitive market, and succeed up to a point...

If there’s a more cost-effective way of turning your smartphone into a viable source of high-resolution audio content, it hasn’t come our way yet…

Q Acoustics' new entry-level 3020c passive loudspeakers deliver an assertive, detailed and properly organized performance.

The Austrian Audio Hi-X20 continue the brand’s extraordinary strike-rate in the affordable wired over-ear headphone market

The FiiO FH19 go all out in specification, engineering and materials to create wired earbuds that sound the right notes.

FiiO fills in one of the few remaining gaps in its product line-up with its first pair of closed-back over-ear headphones.

Everyone’s idea of ‘mainstream’ is slightly different, of course, but in the case of the Dali IO-8 wireless noise-cancelling headphones it would seem to mean ‘really quite expensive’...

Meet Focal’s class-leading, bank-manager-bothering wireless streaming system – think more Utopia than Diva.

A tiny product with a tiny price-tag that wants to make a big difference to your listening experience – and to a degree, it succeeds.

The Final Audio D7000 planar magnetic over-ear headphones have more technical acronyms than most, but is that enough to produce a premium class-leader?

Bowers & Wilkins’ entry-level 607 S3 is the smallest and most affordable member of the 600 range, but more than that, they're an ideal gateway drug to a lifelong hi-fi habit.

Ease of use is a very good thing when it comes to turntables – but it still needs to be underpinned by a sense of sonic prowess.

With the Stax Spirit S5 wireless over-ear planar magnetic headphones, Edifier is attempting to sell you a taste of the truly high-end while only charging premium money.

FiiO has become so well-known for its great-value, high-performance players that the M23 is almost unremarkable. Almost.

Monitor Audio has deployed as much of its hard-earned elite knowledge as possible in a more affordable standmount speaker pair with a resonant model name.

The A&K HC4 can turn your smartphone into an open, detailed listen – but in a saturated market, it isn't always the perfect solution.

The Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000T is another seismic step forward to create the perfect portable music player

The Bose SoundLink Max is a robust Bluetooth speaker that creates punchy, assertive sound with a sturdy design to ensure your party goes off with a bang. It can attract marks, though.