Network Audio Players/Servers

Although Wattson Audio has a relationship with fellow Swiss manufacturer CH Precision (more on which later), its products couldn't be further removed from the latter's monster-sized amplifiers [HFN Sep '25 & Mar '26]. Reviewed and tested here is the Madison Streamer, a network-attached DAC with fixed/variable output, priced at a not-inexpensive £4700 but measuring a positively bijou 175x52x185mm (whd).

Arriving in the wake of similar products from FiiO [HFN Jul '25] and Eversolo [HFN May '24], the DMP-A1 from Dorpo is a streaming DAC/preamp/headphone amp that's both rich in features and generously connected. It's also thoroughly modern, from its focus on app control to its compatibility with SSD storage and 'phones with balanced 4.4mm plugs. Such is the flexibility on offer that the £1799 price tag might surprise, if we hadn't already seen other Chinese-developed units offering similar value for money.

In only a few years Eversolo has captured the audio enthusiast’s attention, notably those hunting for well priced do-it-all boxes brimming with functionality. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine more features being shoe-horned into streaming DACs like its DMP-A8 [HFN May ’24] or DMP-A10 [HFN May ’25], all of which, and more, are separated into the two-box £1290 T8 streamer/music library and ‘purist’ £1940 DAC-Z10 reviewed here.

When does a Leak become a stream? Well, it’s when the revived British audio brand, with roots going back 90 years, takes a leap firmly into the 21st century with the landing of its first network player, the £999 TruStream. This is the latest arrival in what’s become, if not a torrent, then at least a solid trickle of products since the Stereo 130 amplifier appeared in 2020 under the ownership of IAG, the company now behind the likes of Audiolab, Quad and Wharfedale.

If Apple’s now-discontinued iPod is the spiritual forebear of all portable digital players, what’s available on the market in 2026 has progressed light years beyond Jony Ive’s original. This new flagship model from Korean brand Astell&Kern is also portable – but its size and 651g weight won’t see you casually sliding it into a coat pocket. The £3799 price tag might make you think twice about brandishing the SP4000 while commuting on the Tube, in any case...

The miniature hi-fi trend continues – those short of space or simply seeking an inconspicuous yet high-performance set-up can rejoice. The new arrivals here come in the form of the £4200 DSS 2 network transport and £4300 DSC mini DAC from French company Métronome, as part of its ‘Digital Sharing’ range that also includes the £4400 DST CD transport.

There’s an easy way to understand the hierarchy of amps in the Hegel catalogue, be they pre, power or integrated. The higher the number, the ‘better’ the specification (you might think this would be the only way to go about it, but some rival companies – I’m looking at you, HiFi Rose – beg to differ). And so it is that the Norwegian manufacturer’s new H150 integrated, priced £2750, takes up a middle-of-the-range position, above the entry-level H95 [HFN Oct ’20], and below the H190v, H400 [HFN Oct ’24] and H600 [HFN Oct ’23].