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Like many readers, I am lucky enough to have a well thought-out hi-fi system in my lounge that plays CDs, hi-res files and vinyl for any serious listening while sat in comfort on my sofa. But for background music in the office, kitchen or even the garden, I tend to use smaller music systems to give a musical backdrop to my daily routine. Let’s face it, as the most popular wireless streaming tech out there, several are Bluetooth speaker setups that enable me to play my favourite tunes from a paired device.

The short-range wireless transmission standard has long been derided by audiophiles for its poor audio quality, but continuous codec development has enabled significant improvements and many of the latest batch of Bluetooth speakers are capable of great sound. Of course it’s not all down to the latest generation of the wireless tech, brands have also been putting in some serious design development time to achieve a big performance that in many cases defies the physical size of the speaker. To see just how good these portable speaker systems can be, read this month’s Group Test.

As with music systems, audio lovers come in all shapes and sizes too, and high-end enthusiasts will be particularly keen to be able to share their passion at The Hi-Fi Show Live 2018 over the weekend of 10-11th November.

Click here for the latest ticket and show info and download the in-depth Show Guide and see the floor plan and explore details of every room. See you there!

Lee Dunkley, Editor

Inside the December issue: exclusive review of Rega’s new Planar 8 turntable, Astell&Kern’s SR15 hi-res portable music player, Bowers & Wilkins’ entry series 606 standmount, Mitchell & Johnson’s flagship 800 Series pre/power amp combo, ELAC’s Debut F5.2 three-way floorstanding loudspeaker and Sonus faber’s Sonetto II upmarket standmount. Plus, Music Legends celebrates the career of Sir Elton John and Destination visits Folkestone record store Hot Salvation. Group Test looks at six Bluetooth speakers from: Bang & Olufsen, Cambridge Audio, DALI, JBL, Klipsch and Tibo.