The best audiophile gear (2025): headphones, speakers, Ampere, DACs

The best audiophile gear (2025): headphones, speakers, Ampere, DACs

I’m a pretty lazy listener why I love modern streaming amps. These amps have controls to Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and other streaming services that are built directly in user -friendly interfaces. Streaming Ampere has gotten really good in the last few years. It used to be that something with an internet connection sounded terrible, but that is not the case with the latest models. My high-end favorites right now are Cambridge Audio Evo 150 ($ 2,999) and Naim Uniti Atom ($ 3,799)Which has both beautiful color screens and some of the best allegiance (and most wonderful dials) I have ever experienced. Both work with any major streaming service you can imagine and you can connect to them over Bluetooth.

A good degradation is Yamaha’s R-N1000A ($ 1,800) Stereo network recipient. It is packed with advanced components such as a saber ES9090Q DAC for Digital Sound in High Resolution and NOK A/B-Amplification for almost any pair of speakers in your arsenal. Just as important, it provides rock-stable performance and plenty of connection options, from tons of streaming services and internet radio stations to a turntable input and HDMI arch to connect to your TV. Its retro design, which skips a color screen for a slimy digital display set below tactile buttons, Stokes nostalgia while delivering excellent sound quality.

For something further removed that holds the sound, Outlaw Audio’s RR2160 MK II ($ 999) is an exciting opportunity. MK II is based on the dangerous clarity and stroke that the original was loved with updates such as Hi-Res Wi-Fi streaming and Ethernet. This is not the choice if you want all the modern prisons -there is no HDMI bow port for simplified TV connection, and even streaming stalwarts like Bluetooth and AirPlay are omitted. Instead, this financial power plant rewards your investment with fabulous beliefs and lots of ways to connect, including a solid phono input for both moving magnet and moving spiral cartridges. You will know when you hear it, making this a good foundation for a streamlined system that sets the sound front and middle.

If you do not have that kind of money, I highly recommend checking the Canadian brand NAD. Its amplifiers, like NAD C 316 V2 ($ 399) Aren’t the flashest, but they sound amazing for the money. Like the above options, the C 316 even comes with a phono channel on board so you can connect a turntable-a nice touch, see how NADS model has not built-in streaming. If you want to stream, you can find the right dongle to connect your phone to it.

Pro-ProJes turntable is beautiful and they offer top-tier sound.

Photography: Pro-Project Sound

Vinyl is back! And the turntable is more fun and better sounding-end. If you are looking for a start -up tire with sound quality in audiophile quality I would check out options like Pro-Project T1 ($ 399) or Debut Carbon Evo ($ 599). At the higher end we like Rega Planar 2 ($ 775)which have a little more open and dynamic sound, and U-TURN’S ORBIT THEORY ($ 999)It sounds great thanks to extras such as a tailor -made magnesium tone arm, the part that puts the needle for the groove.

Get a Phono amplifier to connect that turntable.

Photography: Pro-Project Sound

If you have a vintage stereo, it probably has built in a phono amplifier, which means you can connect a turntable directly and come directly to listen. But if you have a modern stereo, you may need to buy a dedicated phono amplifier to play your items through your headphones or speakers. Check both your turntable and your stereo because setups are different and some turntables come with phono stamps inside them that you can activate by turning a switch. Although some built-in options like the one inside the course theory above work well, others may not sound as good as you would like.