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Welcome to the April 2015 issue of Hi-Fi Choice – the essential guide to getting the best possible sound from your hi-fi, whether you're buying, tuning or tweaking...

It‘s probably true to say that many of us have enjoyed building up our music collections on various physical media formats over the years, and I’m sure the majority will continue adding to their library in this way for as long as possible. But there is an increasing number of new-fangled ways to access music, with millions of tracks instantaneously available.

With this in mind this month’s Group Test looks at the most popular subscription-based music streaming services to see if they are good enough for hi-fi ears. Streaming is a real growth area, with nearly 15 billion songs accessed last year alone from the ever-growing choice of digital services like Deezer and Spotify, to name just two. It accounts for a significant proportion of music consumed in the UK, with many listeners now opting to hear their favourite tracks on demand rather than on CD or as a download. All six services on test offer vast catalogues and multi-platform access, but to see if any are good enough to replace a CD collection and be music to our ears, find out what our blind-listening panelists had to say.

Also in the April issue we go In-depth with Roksan's K3 Series CD player and integrated amplifier, plus we listen to Musical Fidelity's spellbinding Merlin 1 vinyl system and visit Bristol in our Show Report.

What's more we visit the UK's smallest record store and have three fantastic headphone setups in Dealer Systems. Plus our five-page Letters section answers your cries for hi-fi help. To get involved write to us at: [email protected]