Five products to look out for this month
INSIDER
1Loewe radio.frequency£199
Loewe is going back to its roots with a new DAB+ radio that is set to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the German brand. The radio.frequency (yes, that’s the name it has settled on) is a sleek and stylish radio with built-in streaming smarts and two full-range drivers powered by 28 watts of amplification. The radio.frequency is also built out of some seriously premium materials, including oak wood and a stylish acoustic fabric – if it sounds as good as it looks, Loewe should be on to a winner. It is also portable, with a claimed 14-hour battery life for when you want to take it on the go.
whf.cm/40QqrfD
2Ruark R810£3000
Another audio brand taking an introspective look for inspiration for a new product, Ruark is here to reinvent the radiogram. This sideboard/speaker combination device is a functional piece of furniture with 2.1 speaker arrangement and streaming connectivity built in. It’s a striking bit of kit that is certainly a sight to behold, but at three grand it is certainly not your standard smart speaker. Its retro appeal and streaming smarts come together to create a technically impressive-sounding speaker (on paper, that is) while it should be perceived as stylish enough to appeal to most interior design tastes.
whf.cm/47NYG9S
3Astell & Kern HB1£1599
Astell & Kern’s latest USB-C DAC could be the ideal audio upgrade for your phone, tablet or laptop, with native support for DSD256 and 32-bit/384kHz playback, as well as MQA support courtesy of a renderer function. Wireless connectivity is also well serviced thanks to LDAC (Sony’s high-quality codec), aptX HD, AAC and SBC codec support. Further to connectivity, the HB1 offers both 3.5mm (unbalanced) and 4.4mm (balanced)
