Streaming amplifiers. Network amplifiers. Just-add-speaker systems. Whatever you prefer to call them, these one-box-streamer-and-amplifier components are one of the hottest trends in hi-fi now, with many of the established electronics brands having produced at least one over the past few years – Arcam, Cambridge Audio, Marantz, Naim and Technics, to name just a handful.
Their appeal is plain to see: why have two boxes of electronics – a standalone network streamer and standalone stereo amplifier – when you can have both functionalities in one? The only neater hi-fi system solution than having one box connected to a pair of speakers is an all-in-one speaker system whereby all the electronics are crammed into the speaker cabinets themselves.
