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Italian Style and design is renowned around the world for its seemingly natural ability to cultivate products that employ luxury materials and place a high degree of emphasis on dashing good looks and superior levels of performance. This almost national obsession with all things easy on the eye is commonly seen in its cars, domestic appliances, furniture and, of course, fashion houses. Say something is designed or made in Italy, and it instantly conjures up such uber-cool brands as Ferrari, Smeg, Dolce & Gabbana or Prada – to name but a few – as marques that set the standard for their use of lavish materials and craftsmanship. And so it goes with high-end Italian hi-fi brand Sonus faber, which has a history of producing lavish speaker designs that are as much about creating elegant pieces of furniture with a luxury appeal as delivering high-end audio performance levels.

If you follow the mag on our Twitteror Facebooksocial media pages you will have undoubtedly taken part in our recent opinion polls asking about your favourite hi-fi sources and preferred music formats. The results have been extremely enlightening, and while physical formats are very much in demand for fellow audio fans, on-demand streaming services are also becoming increasingly popular as a way of instantaneously accessing millions of tracks and albums at the click of a touchscreen or keyboard. On-demand music streaming is a massive growth area, and with Apple Music and Google Play joining the ranks it’s rapidly becoming the preferred route for music fans to access their favorite material and artists – with each service offering its own brand of curated and exclusive content to appeal to its particular demographic of listeners. As many readers will know, it’s a continuously evolving area, with providers updating platform features and new services appearing all the time.

If you’re in any doubt that vinyl has returned to almost mainstream status, the latest turntable to join the format’s rapidly growing ranks should remove any uncertainty as to its popularity. The rather unassuming PS-HX500 deck is made by Sony, the company that jointly developed the compact disc and worked hard to commercialise the SACD format. The fact that the PS-HX500 exists at all is a fairly clear indicator that the Japanese giant sees which way the wind is blowing, and demonstrates the entertainment brand’s continued commitment to hi-fi. Of course, Sony has also been working hard to provide a cohesive range of audio products that demonstrate the advantages of high-resolution digital and in order for the new deck to fit into this brave new world, it’s equipped with the ability to rip vinyl to digital files via USB and some nifty software.

COMPETITION WINNERS Back in HFC 412 we gave you the chance to win KEF’s extraordinary LS50 loudspeakers, while runnersup would receive the EGG Wireless Digital Music System, MUO wireless speaker and M400headphones. We’re delighted to say that Angela Walker won the LS50, Jerry Hinds won the EGG,Ewan Bell won the MUO and Naomi Muggeridge the headphones. Congratulations to you all. .