hi-fi+ Magazine      July 2026

  hi-fi+ is a magazine that is serious about hi-fi. Our articles are intended to help you get the best from your system, rather than simply telling you to buy another one. Our reviews only cover product that we think is worthwhile. You can read more about that by looking at our reviews policy, but lets just say that our attitude to equipment is rather different, and we hope, much more informative. We haven't forgotten that hi-fi is supposed to be fun!

High-End Vienna 2026: A Successful New Era For Europe's Premier Audio Show
From Eurovision delays to packed demo rooms, HIGH END Vienna's first event delivers a confident new chapter.
Editorial By Alan Sircom
Mid-way through the schedule of this issue, we had a true bellweather audio event. High-End Vienna, 2026 - the first show from the High-End Society at its new venue took place over the first weekend of June. While the Munich High-End show it replaces typically took place a couple of weeks earlier, the fledgling show suffered an unexpected delay because Austria won the Eurovision Song Contest and was hosting it in Vienna. That's one heck of a clash! This delay was the straw that broke the camel's back in the eyes of the naysayers. "It's doomed!" they said. "No one's going to go to Vienna... it's not a hub airport like Munich" was the grumble. "There aren't enough rooms!" and "The rooms are all wrong!" went the cries from the audio industry. Well... no! The show was a success. Far from the dramatic fall in attendance, numbers were up across the board. OK, so they weren't 'significantly' up compared to Munich 2025, but this comes after several years of at best stagnation and occasionally mild decline in attendance at Munich. The 'no one will show' fear was unfounded, especially on the trade days and Saturday. The Sunday was the Feast of Corpus Christi, which the Viennese evidently take quite seriously.
---> High-End Vienna 2026: A Successful New Era.

7 Incoming! 
Your views on all things audio

Equipment Reviews
10 Magico M9 
Floorstanding Loudspeaker

23 Thales Reference And Magnifier 
Turntable And Phono / Line Preamplifier

37 ATC EL50 Anniversary 
Floorstanding Loudspeaker

51 Vinnie Rossi 
Brama Integrated Amplifier

62 SPL Phonos Duo 
Phono Stage

68 Ultrafide Audio DIAS-U8 
Power Amplifier

74 Network Acoustics Muon2 
Network Switch

80 Kii Audio SEVEN 
Active Stand-Mount Loudspeakers

87 in-akustik NF-2405 AIR 
XLR Interconnect Cables

Tech Talk Features
20 Magico 
Alon Wolf On The M9

33 Thales / HiFiction AG 
Micha Huber On The Reference And Magnifier

45 ATC 
Ben Lilly And Richard Newman On The EL50 Anniversary

59 Vinnie Rossi 
Vinnie Rossi On The Brama System 

66 SPL 
Herman Gier On The Phonos Duo

72 Ultrafide Audio 
Mark Bailey On The DIAS-U8

78 Network Acoustics 
Rob Osbourn And Rich Trussell On The Muon2

84 Kii Audio 
Bruno Putzeys And Bart van der Laan On The SEVEN... ish!

91 in-akustik Holger Wachsmann on the NF-2405 AIR

Feature
94 Meet Your Maker 
We Travel To Japan To See Denon And Marantz

Music
103 Music Reviews 
Contemporary, Classical, And Jazz Music

Plus
100 Subscriptions 
Subscribe And Save! 

111 Advertiser Index

112 Next Month 
Don't Miss A Thing!

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2008
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