ADDING A MUSIC STREAMER TO MY HI-FI SYSTEM HAS BEEN A REVELATION (AND A FRUSTRATION)

At the beginning of March 2020, just weeks before the first national lockdown in the UK, I shuffled around my hi-fi system to accommodate a music streamer.

I had been toying with the idea for some time – not least as, through reviewing for What Hi-Fi?, I was aware that the hi-fi streaming experience was only getting better. However, I had spent plenty of time and money on a decentsounding system and collection of music, and wasn’t in a rush to ‘downgrade’ my listening at home.

For me, streaming until then had been (and still is) excellent for listening to music on the move – if only because you can’t take your vinyl on the bus – but it seemed like the right time to give it a proper chance in my home hi-fi system.

As it turns out, and in retrospect, the