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After a visit to a showroom that left him bitten by the ‘hi-fi bug’, Barry Fox was soon shopping for amplifier kits, designing his own loudspeakers and writing for HFN under a pseudonym

While the upgrades that Unison Research made to its Triode 25 integrated amp were sufficient to warrant a ‘Black Edition’ suffix [HFN Jul ’25], the Italian brand’s decision to label its new pre/power amplifiers as merely ‘v2’ is to underestimate the uptick in performance. The Pre v2 (£5500) and DM v2 (£7750) are not only the flagship separates of its Unico range but are markedly different from what has come before, both outside and in.

All things are relative, I guess, but in the realm of high-end audio, the Børresen X3 looks like a lot of loudspeaker for the money. Moreover, a recent price cut – just about unheard of in the modern hi-fi market – has brought the speaker down from £10,000 to £8000 a pair. Described as an ‘entry-level into the Børresen universe’, the X3 draws on technology created for the Danish company’s higher-end models [HFN Sep ’25], from the drivers to the enclosures.

It was only a decade ago that greys and whites were all the rage in interior design, which consequently led to a surge in minimalist, monochrome speaker finishes. However, just as avocado bathroom suites are apparently mounting a comeback, so too are loudspeakers in dark wood colourways. And Bowers & Wilkins knows this, choosing to dress its new 707 S3 Prestige standmount model in a luxurious-looking Santos Gloss.