Welcome to the first Sound Matters awards; a celebration of excellence in accessible HiFi with a focus on vinyl playback.
In a market full of hype and a great deal of snobbery, these awards cut through the noise—highlighting the gear that truly enhances the vinyl listening experience while still remaining affordable.
Every winner has been chosen on merit, through hands-on testing and genuine long-term use, with two simple questions in mind: does the product enhance the listener’s experience of music? And does it achieve this at a fair price?
As our first awards, it’s a pleasure to recognise the great products featured on the channel or experienced on our travels.
Future awards may expand the categories we cover, so if you’d like to submit a product for consideration, please get in touch. But without further ado, here are this year’s winners—the products that impressed us most, earned their place in our setups, and reminded us of the power of great-sounding music.
Best Manual Cleaning Kit | GrooveWasher Mondo Record & Stylus Care Kit
The GrooveWasher Mondo Kit gives you everything you need to care for your records—and a whole lot more. The G2 fluid remains one of the safest and most effective cleaning solutions around, while the walnut-handled brush and matching docking station add a touch of craftsmanship rarely seen elsewhere. A complete, beautifully executed record-care system that elevates the everyday ritual of cleaning vinyl.
Best Vinyl Lifestyle Product | Twelve Inch Record Adaptor
The record display adaptor from Twelve Inch is a minimalist way to liven up any listening space and show off favourite sleeves. Ingeniously designed, records appear to float on the wall with only a subtle nod to a 45-adaptor remaining visible. The new cork-fronted version adds warmth and sustainability—an elegant meeting of form, function, and eco-conscious design.
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Best Turntable Accessory | HumminGuru S-DUO Pro
The S-DUO Pro is a smart, two-in-one companion for vinyl playback. It combines an ultrasonic stylus cleaner with a precision digital tracking-force gauge—both rechargeable and neatly stored in one compact unit. For collectors seeking a low-contact, high-tech way to keep their stylus performing at its best, this is the benchmark.
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Best Record Cleaning Machine | Degritter MK II
Quite simply the most advanced record cleaning machine available today. The Degritter MK II refines its predecessor’s ultrasonic system with quieter operation and improved filtration, delivering spotless results with minimal effort. It’s expensive, but once you’ve used one, there’s no going back—record cleaning doesn’t get more effortless or more effective.
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Best Affordable Turntable | Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2
Pro-Ject’s Debut Evo 2 builds on the success of its predecessor with upgraded isolation feet, a new carbon-aluminium tonearm, and electronic speed control. It offers genuine hi-fi performance at a still-attainable price, proving that serious analogue sound doesn’t have to mean a serious budget.
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Best Budget Turntable | Fluance RT81 +
The RT81 + refines Fluance’s already popular entry-level deck with a new two-speed DC motor, updated tonearm, and solid MDF plinth. It comes fitted with an Audio-Technica VM95E cartridge and includes a built-in, defeatable preamp for instant plug-and-play simplicity. A stylish, great-sounding gateway into the world of vinyl.
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Best Affordable Phono Preamp | Michael Fidler Spartan 15
Designed and hand-built in the UK, the Spartan 15 is a minimalist moving-magnet phono stage that delivers reference-grade performance for a fraction of the expected cost. Its discrete circuit design offers exceptional transparency, ultra-low noise, and ruler-flat RIAA accuracy. A true audiophile bargain.
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Best New Product | JDS Labs Atom Phono
JDS Labs’ Atom Phono is an instant standout—clean, dynamic, and astonishingly quiet. Designed for moving-magnet cartridges, it offers reference-level sound with an impressively low noise floor. A handy switchable EQ function adds flexibility, and the ability to bypass the internal preamp means it can stay in your signal chain even as your setup evolves. Smart, flexible, and future-proof.
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Best Bluetooth Turntable | Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT
The T1 Evo BT combines true hi-fi engineering with modern wireless convenience. Its precision-machined platter, high-quality tonearm, and factory-mounted Ortofon OM 5E cartridge ensure impressive analogue performance, while aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity lets you stream lossless-quality audio to compatible speakers or headphones. A Bluetooth turntable done right.
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Best Record Storage Solution | Lägom Studio Vinyl Storage Cabinets
Lägom Studio brings Scandinavian design sensibility to record storage with its handcrafted modular cabinets. Built from sustainable materials and finished to furniture-grade standards, they balance aesthetics and practicality perfectly—allowing your vinyl to become part of your living space rather than something to hide away. Beautiful, functional, and built to last.
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Most Innovative Product | Fosi Audio V3 Mono
Fosi Audio has built a reputation for redefining what’s possible in affordable amplification, and the V3 Mono takes that mission to new heights. Compact, beautifully built, and astonishingly powerful, these tiny Class-D monoblocks deliver true hi-fi performance at a fraction of the expected cost. The design is modular and scalable—start with one pair, expand your system later—proving that great sound doesn’t have to come from oversized boxes or inflated price tags. In an industry often obsessed with excess, the V3 Mono represents innovation at its most meaningful: smart engineering that brings high-end performance to real-world listeners.
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Best Reissue Label | Blue Note Tone Poet Series
Blue Note’s Tone Poet Series has set the modern standard for how classic jazz should be reissued. Overseen by Joe Harley and mastered by Kevin Gray from the original tapes, every release is pressed at RTI on 180-gram vinyl and housed in deluxe Stoughton tip-on jackets. The result is a collection that honours Blue Note’s heritage while raising the bar for quality, presentation, and sound. A triumph of curation and craftsmanship.
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Best Cartridge | Audio-Technica VM540ML
Audio-Technica’s VM540ML continues to define what great value looks like in cartridge design. Its MicroLine stylus tracks inner grooves with precision, revealing detail and clarity that rivals far more expensive models. Balanced, musical, and forgiving enough for everyday use, it’s a benchmark moving-magnet cartridge and one of the easiest upgrades any vinyl listener can make.
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Editor’s Choice Award | Rega Planar 2 with ND3 Cartridge
Sometimes the product that stands out most isn’t the newest or flashiest—it’s the one that makes you fall in love with vinyl all over again. Rega’s Planar 2 with the ND3 cartridge does exactly that: beautifully built, elegantly simple, and endlessly engaging. It captures everything we love about vinyl playback—tactile design, musical flow, and that unmistakable sense of connection between listener and record.
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Closing Thoughts
That wraps up the Sound Matters Awards 2025—a celebration of excellence across the world of vinyl & accessible HiFi. These products represent the best of what the format has to offer: thoughtful design, genuine craftsmanship, and a passion for music that runs deeper than specs alone.
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Did your favourites make the list?
Which products have earned a permanent spot in your setup?
Join the conversation below, or tag us on social media using #SoundMattersAwards to share your own recommendations.
