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Italian maestro Sonus faber has announced a new loudspeaker collection. Like all its models, the Sonetto range is handcraftedin Vicenza, and the new lineup sits between the company’s existing Venere and Olympica loudspeaker collections. With five models sold as stereo pairs, it includes two standmount and three floorstander designs, plus two home cinema centre speakers and an on-wall model for multi-channel installations. Starting with the Sonetto I (£1,450), the smallest standmount is a two-way configuration ported cabinet measuring 219 x 359 x 305mm (WxHxD) fitted withthe company’s 29mm DAD (Damped Apex Dome) tweeter and a 150mm mid/bass driver that claims 87dB sensitivity and 4ohm nominal impedance.

Having played a big part in the low-cost DAC revolution with the likes of its acclaimed xDSD portable DAC/headphone amplifier (HFC 439), iFi Audio has turned its attention to the home and studio market with its latest addition to its flagship audio component series. The Pro iDSD DAC/headphone amp/preamp brings together tried-and-tested techniques combined with cutting-edge, 21st-century technology. A hi-res DAC/preamp, wi-fi streamer and headphone amplifier, it claims an array of sonic tailoring facilities including DSD remastering, which upsamples PCM and DSD files to DSD512 or DSD1024, and a switchable valve/solid-state output stage. Input decoding is handled by an XMOS XU216 X-Core 200 Series processor and the chassis has a comprehensive range of galvanically isolated digital inputs, including USB (Types A and B), S/PDIF (optical/coaxial) and AES-EBU, plus Ethernet and microSDHC card support.

Following the introduction of its MA Series of Bluetooth wireless in-ear headphones last year, Glasgow-based RHA has announced an all-new wireless in-ear model called TrueConnect. Priced at £150, the low-profile design does away with the MA’s neckband and uses a stem on the earpiece to house the antenna. Supporting Bluetooth v5. 0 from a playback device, the stem also contains a microphone to enable smartphone calls.

Loudspeaker maker KEF has unveiled its redesigned R Series that employs trickle-down design and tech developments usually found on the Kent-based company’s flagship Reference Series. With 1,043 individual changes to the revamped series, highlights include the latest generation of the company’s Uni-Q driver array – now in its 12th iteration – featuring Shadow Flare trimring design for more transparent sound, smaller bass drivers with greater excursion and a sophisticated internal bracing system, all aimed at bringing higher levels of performance to the series. Focusing on the stereo models, all are three-way ported designs and the £1,300 R3 standmount has a 165mm bass driver partnered to a Uni-Q array with 125mm midrange and 25mm aluminium dome tweeter with sensitivity of 87dB at 8ohm. All three floorstanders use the same Uni-Q array, but the £2,000 R5 has 2x 130mm bass drivers to the same electrical specification, while the £2,600 R7 has2x 165mm and the £4,000 R11 employs 4x 165mm bass drivers and claim 88dB and 90dB into 8ohm respectively.

Ultimate Stream based in Farnham in Surrey is running a series of listening events called ‘An Evening With’ to allow visitors to experience the latest products from their brand portfolio including: Auralic, Kii Audio, Innuos, Dutch&Dutch, CAAS Audio, Amphion, Hegel and T+A. There’s also the opportunity to join a weekend workshop focussing on ‘Streaming For Beginners’. For more information and tickets call 01252 759285 or visit the website:www. ultimate-stream.

Network music streaming continues to be a convenient way for many of us to listen to music at home, and its appeal is clear to see. With access to millions of digital files at the tap of a touchscreen and CD-quality sound or better on offer from hi-res subscription services like Qobuz Sublime or Tidal Master, streaming is a remarkably slick way of playing music and this month’s Group Testlooks at six low-cost network audio navigators to get you started. Despite streaming being a thoroughly modern way to listen to music, physical formats continue to play on in many systems, with vinyl being by far the most popular for readers to get their music listening kicks, judging by the number of votes that it received in our recent twitter poll asking: “What is your favourite music format?”. It seems that we’re a diverse bunch when it comes to ways to listen, but for those looking for something that combines both worlds, check out Yamaha’s MusicCast Vinyl 500.

Expectations ARE HIGH for the next generation of Denon’s CEOL network music systems, but any doubts are short lived asthe latest N10 iteration has already received an award for best compact music system by EISA members, including our sister titles Hi-Fi News and Home Cinema Choice magazines. Priced at £449, the new one-box music system adds Amazon Alexa voice compatibility and HEOS multi-room technology, allowing seamless playback to connected devices throughout the home.