Chord Huei

Chord's experience shines through in this fine phono stage

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Chord, as you probably know, makes brilliant digital-to-analogue converters. Indeed, it has dominated the quality DAC sector in recent years, producing a string of class-leading products, from the portable Mojo 2 to the high-end DAVE, that have left the competition floundering. With all that, it's easy to forget that Chord has been making analogue amplification for over 30 years.

Chord’s Huei phono stage is built into one of the company’s distinctive compact cases - similar to that used on the Qutest, our current What Hi-Fi? Awards Best DAC winner - and it looks very smart too. The casework has a luxury feel normally lacking in products of this type and is small enough to be tucked away unobtrusively on a shelf. There's only one finish option, and that's black.

Around the back, there are the usual single-ended stereo RCA connections for input and output as well as a balanced XLR output. Be careful when using heavy cables though, as the Huei is light enough to be dragged around by the cables' weight.