Curated HiFi Product Lists

The best of the best

As the largest database of hifi audio, we're in a unique position to comb through our data to find the best of the best. Start with the lists most people come for, or jump to a category.

Julian Shapiro

ExtremeHiFi

Cameron Oatley

ExtremeHiFi

Curated

Featured Lists

All lists

Speakers

All $100K+ Speakers

Every speaker in our database priced over $100,000 a pair.

All Open Baffle Speakers

Every open baffle speaker in our database.

All Planar and Electrostatic Speakers

Panel speakers: Magnepan's planar magnetics and the electrostatics from Martin Logan and Quad.

Below $10K Speakers

The speakers under $10,000 a pair that get you most of the way to the best sound available.

Best Active Speakers

Speakers with the amplification designed in, from desktop pairs to full-range systems with room correction.

Best Bookshelf Speakers

The most reviewed stand-mount speakers at every price, from a first pair to the small speakers people keep for life.

Best Bookshelf Speakers Under $1,000

Stand-mount speakers under $1,000 a pair, the most asked-about purchase in hifi.

Best Floorstanding Speakers

The most reviewed tower speakers, from $1,000 pairs to the designs reference systems are built around.

Best Floorstanding Speakers Under $2,000

Tower speakers under $2,000 a pair that do not need a subwoofer.

Best Speakers

The speakers that reviewers and listeners keep calling unforgettable, at any price.

Best Speakers for Tube Amps

High-sensitivity speakers that a low-powered tube amplifier can drive properly.

Best Studio Monitors for Listening to Music

Active studio monitors that work as hifi speakers, from the Yamaha HS range to the Kii Three.

Best Subwoofers for Music

Subwoofers built for music rather than movies: fast, tight and tuned to match a pair of speakers.

Best Used Speakers to Buy

Speakers that show up used often and sell well below their new price, from our used-listings data.

Best Wireless Speakers

Hifi speakers with the amplifier and streaming built in: one box, or a pair, and nothing else to buy.

Classic Speakers Still in Production

Speakers designed before 1990 that you can still buy new, updated but recognisably the same.

Flagship Speakers

The flagship speaker from every notable brand in our database.

Low Frequency Subs

The subwoofers that reach below 20 Hz, for people who want to feel the bottom octave.

Most Expensive Speakers

The most expensive speakers in the world, ordered by price.

Outdoor Speakers

Speakers built to live outside, from the brands that take sound seriously.

Ultra High-End Speakers

Reference speakers between the $10,000 list and the million-dollar statements.

Ultra High-End Subs

The subwoofers at the top of the market, built to match reference speakers.

Amplifiers & Preamps

All 400W+ Amps

Every amplifier we track rated at 400 watts or more into 8 ohms.

All Class A Amplifiers

Amplifiers that run in pure Class A: hot, heavy, low-powered and prized for it.

All GaN FET Amps

Every amplifier we track built on gallium nitride output transistors.

All Monoblock Amplifiers

One amplifier per channel, from $300 a pair to the reference monoblocks.

All SET Amplifiers

Single-ended triode amplifiers: a few watts from one output tube per channel, and a devoted following.

All Tube Preamps

Preamplifiers and phono stages built around vacuum tubes.

Best AV Receivers

AV receivers and processors good enough to anchor a music system as well as a cinema.

Best Class D Amplifiers

Class D amplifiers from $100 desktop units to the Hypex, Purifi and Eigentakt designs that changed the argument.

Best Integrated Amps

The integrated amplifiers reviewers rate highest, from $2,000 to the reference one-box designs.

Best Integrated Amps Under $2,000

The integrated amplifiers under $2,000 that reviewers rate highest, most of them with a DAC built in.

Best Preamplifiers

Line-stage preamplifiers, solid state and tube, ranked by reviewer coverage.

Best Streaming Amplifiers

Integrated amps with streaming and a DAC inside: add speakers and the system is done.

Best Tube Amps

The tube amplifiers reviewers rate highest, from affordable integrateds to the reference monoblocks.

Flagship Amplifiers

The flagship amplifier from every notable brand in our database.

Most Expensive Amplifiers

The most expensive amplifiers in the world, the ones that appear on every reviewer's reference list.

Headphones & IEMs

Below $2k Headphones

The headphones between $1,000 and $2,000 that reviewers rate highest.

Below $500 Headphones

Headphones under $500 that compete with sets costing several times more.

Below $5k Headphones

The headphones between $2,000 and $5,000 that reviewers rate highest.

Best Closed-Back Headphones

Closed-back headphones that give up very little to the best open designs.

Best Headphone Amps

Headphone amplifiers ranked by how much reviewers have covered them, from desktop units to the reference pieces.

Best Headphones for Soundstage

The headphones with the widest, most speaker-like sense of space.

Best IEMs

In-ear monitors the review community rates highest, from $100 single-driver sets to flagship hybrids.

Best Open-Back Headphones

The open-back headphones reviewers rate highest, for listening at home where leakage does not matter.

Best Planar Magnetic Headphones

Planar magnetic headphones from the $150 HE400se to the Susvara, ranked by reviewer coverage.

Flagship Headphones

The flagship headphone from each major headphone brand.

Most Expensive Headphones

The most expensive headphones in the world, from $5,000 to the Sennheiser HE 1.

Sources & Power

All R2R DACs

Every R2R ladder DAC we track.

Below $5K DACs

DACs under $5,000 that hold their own against the reference converters.

Best DACs

The most reviewed DACs in hifi, from desktop boxes under $500 to reference converters.

Best DACs Under $1,000

DACs under $1,000, where measured performance stopped being a reason to spend more.

Best Music Streamers

Network streamers and servers, from a $300 box that adds Tidal to an old amp to reference transports.

Best Portable DAC/Amps

Pocket DACs and headphone amps for a phone or laptop, from USB dongles to the Chord Mojo and Hugo.

Best Power Conditioners

Mains filters and regenerators from the brands hifi reviewers actually test.

Ultra High-End DACs

The reference DACs: the converters at the top of the market, and what they cost.

Vinyl

Best Phono Cartridges

Moving magnet and moving coil cartridges from the makers reviewers cover most.

Best Phono Preamps

Phono stages from $200 to reference level, ranked by how much the review community has covered them.

Best Powered Speakers for Turntables

Powered speakers that take a turntable directly, so a record player and a pair of these is the whole system.

Best Turntables

The turntables reviewers come back to most, from a first Rega or Pro-Ject to a Linn you keep for decades.

Best Turntables for Beginners

First turntables under $1,000 that are set up in minutes and good enough that you will not need to replace them soon.

Most Expensive Turntables

The most expensive turntables in the world, from $50,000 to the TechDAS Air Force Zero.

Brands & Countries

All Horn Brands

The brands known for horn-loaded speakers.

American HiFi Brands

Every American hifi brand we track, ranked by how much reviewers and buyers talk about them.

Best Headphone Brands

The brands behind high-end headphones and headphone amps, ranked by how much reviewers and buyers talk about them.

Best HiFi Brands

The hifi brands reviewers and buyers talk about most, ranked.

Best Speaker Brands

The loudspeaker brands reviewers and buyers talk about most, ranked.

Best Streamer Brands

The brands best known for music streamers and servers.

Best Turntable Brands

The turntable makers reviewers and buyers talk about most, ranked.

British HiFi Brands

Every British hifi brand we track, from Rega, Naim and KEF to the small BBC-monitor makers.

Canadian HiFi Brands

Every Canadian hifi brand in our database.

Chinese HiFi Brands

Every Chinese hifi brand we track, the most reviewed group of brands on the site.

Danish HiFi Brands

Every Danish hifi brand we track, from Dali and Dynaudio to Gryphon and Børresen.

Endgame Amp Brands

The brands that build amplifiers at the very top of the market.

Field Coil Brands

The brands that build speakers around field coil drivers.

French HiFi Brands

Every French hifi brand in our database.

German HiFi Brands

Every German hifi brand in our database, from Sennheiser and ELAC to Burmester and MBL.

Italian HiFi Brands

Every Italian hifi brand in our database.

Japanese HiFi Brands

Every Japanese hifi brand in our database, from Accuphase and Luxman to the cartridge makers.

We'd love to hear from you on our . What's ExtremeHiFi? We're the encyclopedia of hifi. We read every review, talk to every brand, and help you figure out what to buy. We also have a large database of used products to browse. Much of the data, recommendations, and summaries on ExtremeHiFi are researched after thousands of hours of loving labor. We archive our site's data and its pages on Archive.org and monitor for those repurposing the data. We also fingerprint data to know when text and numbers came from us.