Sony SRS-X88

When we were children, this is probably what we thought things would look like in the future: robotic chrome, straight lines, blinking lights. That we also thought those things would be able to fly is rather beside the point.

Regardless, the Sony SRS-X88 has plenty of other features that would have boggled our infant minds. Essentially, this is a pretty clued-up piece of wireless kit, heavily focused on delivering highresolution audio. For that, Sony has its own Big Three: the S-Master HX amplifier, which it claims will reduce distortion and noise; its Digital Sound Enhancement Engine, which upscales compressed files to nearer high-resolution quality (the SRS-X88 is happy to play AAC, WMA, AIFF, ALAC, DSD, WAV, MP3 and FLAC); and ClearAudio+, which Sony says optimises audio for clarity and separation.

Cambridge TVB2

Over the past few years, Cambridge has found a comfort zone in soundbases. Its TV2, TV5 and Minx TV have all achieved five-star fame, collecting two Awards between them. So it’s not surprising the British company has the confidence to have a crack at a soundbar. Say hello to the TVB2.

Our only criticisms of the company’s soundbases have centred on their basic remote controls and the absence of HDMI connections (although the latter is becoming a trend in TV audio solutions).

Yamaha RX-A550

In previous years Yamaha has preserved its high-end Aventage range for its more high-end models, saving the very best of its components, fine-tuning and engineering for receivers costing £800 or more.

This year it has decided to show the popular £500 price point some love, and included it in the Aventage line up for the first time. The aim? To offer superior design and performance without focusing on specification-pleasing. The only question is, why can’t we have a bit of both?

View Quest Blighty

For such a tiny portable radio, available at this budget-friendly price, the little Blighty (made by radio specialist View Quest) is rather well-featured. It has FM and DAB tuners on board (and DAB+ for the countries that support it), 10 presets to save your favourite stations, and a battery life of up to 10 hours.

Sony Xperia Z5

If you’re now thinking ‘what about the Z4?’ don’t worry – you didn’t sleep through it. While most of the world got the Z3+ in the summer to replace the Z3, in Sony’s native Japan it was officially called the Z4. Head-scratching, yes, but technically Sony is conforming to the sequential running order with the arrival of its new flagship smartphone: the Z5.

Sony h.ear in NCs

‘People who plug their keyboards into their hi-fi aren't idiots, that would be stereotyping'. ‘The latest iPhone is a huge 6s.’ Everyone loves a good pun – or even a couple of mediocre ones – including Sony, by sound of its latest buds. Pronounced ‘hear’ (their less puntastic model name is MDR-EX750NA), the h.ear in NCs have been released alongside the h.ear ons (on-ears) and two Walkman music players.

HRT dSp Headphone Digital Sound Processor

The hairy, spiky Rambutan fruit hardly screams ‘come hither’ to food shoppers, but give it a chance and from that moment onwards, no other exotic fruit will do. The same goes for the HRT dSp. An uninviting plastic design that looks nothing more than your average throwaway USB key casing, it is actually a wonderful thing. Once you’ve tried it, you won’t want to be without. High Resolution Technologies (HRT) calls it a digital sound processor. To you and us though, it’s a DAC. HRT has a handful of small portable DACs in its portfolio. Its microStreamer won an Award in 2013, taking the gong from the Audioquest Dragonfly before the rival’s mk2 version (v1.2) nabbed it back last year.