Jonathan Evans, editor
WELCOME
It is a huge privilege to be able to work on What Hi-Fi?. So much so, that quite a few on our team have been with the brand for comfortably more than a decade. It’s not all plain sailing, though, of course – as I am reminded each year, when the team embarks on our annual attempt at the Everest of reviewing: our Awards.
Remarkably, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the What Hi-Fi? Awards – which were launched six years after the magazine first appeared in the newsagents of the UK.
We take our responsibility extremely seriously to find you, the reader, the best hi-fi and home entertainment equipment you can buy. That means whittling down hundreds of products in 26 categories to those very best examples you will find in these pages. It’s a process that involves many hours in test rooms, plenty of ‘robust discussions’, and, dare I say it, sleepless nights.
In the end, it is all worth it. This magazine is the fruit of our labour, and each and every product we celebrate here has earned its place as a Best Buy, and is well worthy of your consideration.
HOW WE TEST
EXPERIENCE. HERITAGE. We’ve been helping the world discover the best in hi-fi and home entertainment for more than 45 years, and have more than 100 years of reviewing experience under our collective belts – so you can count on our expert opinion.
DEDICATED TEST FACILITIES We test every product against its peers in our extensive, bespoke reviewing facilities in London, Reading and Bath. We conduct all our tests as a team – our opinions and conclusions are always the result of collaboration.
HOW WE SCORE
All review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole – not an individual reviewer. Each product will be listened to and/or viewed by several members of the test team, who will then discuss the final verdict before it appears in the magazine or on the
