Back in 2016 the Venerable Bede of Hi-Fi reviewers, John Darko, coined the term “Future-Fi™”… 7 years on, where are we now? And what are the options? Traditionalists and hardcore audiophiles, look away now... This blog may not be for you!

Broadly speaking, traditional Hi-Fi consists of a source → amplifier → loudspeakers. The source may include a Turntable, CD Player and/or Streamer; The amplifier may be split into a preamp and a power amp – sometimes with associated power supply units for those modules and not forgetting the tagliatelle of cabling and interconnects. Every unit has its own unique job to do and this uncompromising approach, by its modular nature will deliver the highest audio quality and is robust. Any future improvements in DACS, preamp options or a better source can be easily plumbed into this Hi-Fi arrangement with the associated benefits easily appreciated.

However, unless you have a large space, dedicated listening room or have a penchant for a living space to resemble a recording studio, this approach may be visually intrusive. Also, there is the all important PAFF (Partner And Family Factor) - we are not all fans of black monolith obelisks, rack fulls of equipment and prefer our tagliatelle squid inked with mussels, calamari crackling and mozzarella purée, not laid out on the living room floor.

“Beam me up Scotty” - Marching onwards, let’s breakdown Future-Fi™ into back end integrations; Super Integrated amps, JAS and All-in-ones and front end integrations; active and streaming speakers…

The Super Integrated Amp

An integrated amp will have the pre and power stages in one box and usually includes a headphone output, phono stage and a pre out, which enables the connection of a power amp to upgrade the performance, bypassing the power stage of the integrated - just using the pre of the integrated.

Now, the Super Integrated has a DAC. This is normally in the form of a optical and/or COAX input. This allows you to connect a TV, streamer or CD directly to the amp. Invariably the DAC in the integrated is tuned to the amplifier, thus you get a sound profile of the integrated for all your sources and ONE volume control. Examples of this include the Rega Elicit, Rega Elex & Leak Stereo 130 to name but a few.

The JAS Hi-Fi

This is a new term that we’ve coined at Audio T Bristol - JAS (Just Add Speakers). Surprisingly, this can be as simple as a Bluetooth input like the new Rotel A11 tribute. This is the late Ken Ishiwata’s final design for an affordable great sounding amp. Many of our customers have started there Hi-Fi journey with this Rotel and a pair of Acoustic Energy AE100², and stream via a phone or ipad directly to the amp and then add a better source at a later date.

The likes of the Audiolab 9000A and the Roksan Attessa Streaming Amp both have four digital inputs and Bluetooth Receivers with the Attessa adding streaming by way of the BluOS streaming from Bluesound. The Marantz Model 40n utilises the Denon & Marantz streaming platform, HEOS. The JAS sector arguably tops out with products such as the Naim Uniti series Atom, Star and Nova and then the truly amazing Linn Selekt DSM with its myriad of modular design features, as reviewed earlier this year.

All-in-One

Sometimes our living spaces and our listening objectives do not allow for two channel speaker setups. For example a kitchen area, dining room or art studio/craft space where ambient listening that takes up very little space is needed.

Ruark Audio, a brand with a heritage founded in true hi-fi speakers, offer a range of all-in-one solutions from the compact R1 MK4 to the larger R5 and more models to come later in the year.

Naim also offer all-in-one solutions in the form of the Mu-So 2nd Generation and the more compact Mu-So QB 2nd Gen. Whilst these models are superb stand-alone products that feature Focal speaker drivers aligned for room filling detailed audio, they can also be integrated in to larger, multi-room Naim systems via the bespoke Naim app.

Another notable Hi-Fi manufacturer that is also known for a popular all-in-one product is Bowers & Wilkins. Now in its second generation, the Zeppelin has become an iconic item in the lifestyle and interior design world.

The Active Lifestyle

We’ve looked at the amp combining input source functionality, now let’s look from the business end. Speakers combining amplification is nothing new, but lately technologies have allowed speaker manufacturers to finely tune the speaker performance.

Theoretically, this is the perfect scenario - the speaker designer tunes the amplification and crossover to achieve maximum performance out of the speaker design. And certainly, in our opinion comparing active and passive versions, such as the ATC SCM40A or Acoustic Energy AE1 active, that is the case. Indeed, beautiful combinations of the AE1 active with a Bluesound Node as the source and preamp or the ATC SCM40As with a Naim NSC222 as the source and preamp are a marvel.

The Super Actives

Combining a streamer, DAC and source inputs into active speaker now gives a complete system that consists of just two stereo loudspeakers, doing away with need for any boxes of electronics. The new Dynaudio Focus range is the benchmark for this implementation. An absolute breeze to set up, an intriguing deep and detailed sound, a plethora of streaming services integration, Roon ready and Hi-Res streaming at your fingertips and we look forward to reviewing these very soon. The range consists of: Dynaudio Focus 10, Dynaudio Focus 30,Dynaudio Focus 50

In Summary

Low box count does not necessarily mean Lo-Fi. Future-Fi™ is here to stay and the options are becoming more compelling than ever with excellent Hi-Res streaming services cheaper than ever. Whatever your flavour of Hi-Fi, Audio T is here to help!

Thanks for reading.

Justin, Max & James - Audio T Bristol

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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