2026 Awards – Active Loudspeakers

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by Editor
Feb 24, 2026

Winner: Active Loudspeakers

Dynaudio Confidence 20A

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Winner: Active Loudspeakers

Dynaudio Confidence 20A

Whether or not you are pro, anti or indifferent to active loudspeakers, there’s no denying that their use is becoming a steadily growing trend in today’s audio systems. The Dynaudio Confidence 20A, with its XLR connections (whether in analogue balanced form or digital AES3), isn’t just a part of that trend, it leads the charge.

Pro actives

The Confidence 20A look very similar to their passive peers, besides their stand housing those connections as well as the clever digital processing electronics and controls designed to shape the sound according to the system, room and position. You can, for example, choose between three settings depending on how damped your listening environment is. Both active and passive siblings share the same 28mm Esotar3 soft-dome tweeter (one of the best in the business) and 180mm NeoTec MSP mid-woofer, although the latter in the 20A is optimised for active use. The DSP engine provides precise filtering that guarantees excellent phase alignment at the transition between those two drivers, and greater crossover accuracy, too.

The Dynaudios prove more than capable of resolving enough to highlight the exceptional performance of Linn’s flagship Klimax DSM streamer. They are faithful to the passive version’s delivery, too, delivering, notes Alan Sircom, “the tonal accuracy, detail, and soundstaging we associate with Dynaudio loudspeakers, but with a livelier, more energetic presentation than usual and deeper bass than you’d expect from a speaker of this size.” Rarely are speakers so ideally suited to their purpose.

Reviewed in Issue 248

Dynaudio • dynaudio.com

Read more Dynaudio reviews here

Welcome to a very special hi-fi+ Awards. Fate (and producing a dozen issues a year) has colluded to make this issue a combination of our 250th edition and our annual Awards special edition. We have scoured the last 12 months of issues to find the best products we’ve seen across a range of categories.

In the past, we had very fixed categories for our annual awards, but that doesn’t fully reflect the current shape of the audio industry. While some categories remain constant, others change and branch out into new avenues. For example, a few years ago, there were so few streaming integrated amplifiers that the category did not need to exist. Now, we have enough to make them distinctly different from integrated amplifiers, without the need for a streamer or DAC. It’s not that one has eclipsed the other; it’s not that one is obsolete and the other state-of-the-art. These are now two divergent lines of ‘integrated amplifier’ that demand their own Awards. To lump them all together as ‘integrated amplifiers’ does the reader no favours, as it adds to confusion rather than pointing out the best we’ve tested.

Similarly, we have sometimes found categories where new products were commonplace a few years ago have reached a zenith. Thus, the category hasn’t received as many new products this year. Portable Audio DACs are a fine example. There are doubtless new models coming soon, but there aren’t enough yet for us to choose an example this year.

Each year we say this, but it’s worth repeating. The best in each category may or may not combine to build the best systems. There have been many cases over the years of people buying an Award-winning source, amplifier, and loudspeakers only to find the pairing a sonic mismatch. Our view of our awards is that they are a finger pointing the way. That finger often points to a good dealer who can assemble a system around that component, blending it with other devices like a master cocktail mixologist.

This is also why we include Highly Commended products. Not everyone likes the same things, and not every component works beautifully with every other. Our Highly Commended products are the result of the audio world being so good at its job, picking the very best from the already excellent is sometimes a very nuanced decision. By including Highly Commended products, we introduce a wider selection of outstanding devices to your next shortlist.

Awards and celebrations

Combining this Awards issue with our 250th also means we get to think about past masters in audio. There’s an interesting question surrounding the best of the past with today’s finest products. How do they compare? I think in many respects, the outstanding products this year are as good as we can get at the moment. They hold no comparison with even the finest past glories of 26 years ago; things have moved so far forward.

Sonically speaking, the very best in digital audio today leaves everything from even five years ago in the dust, so looking back to the last century is almost not worth it. And while things might seem less clear-cut in other aspects of audio design, I still maintain that today’s audio outperforms nearly everything from the 1990s, and today’s best is the best you’ll ever hear. Hopefully, that trend continues, and the sound of good audio in five or ten years keeps getting better.

We’re still a long way from achieving sonic realism in the home, and even the best audio systems cannot fully replicate the whole live experience. But they get ever closer; the top-end has the drama, scale, detail and dynamics to take your breath away, but even the most affordable audio gets closer than ever now!

One thing is sure: your next hi-fi product is on the following pages of this magazine! I hope you enjoy the search for the best as much as we did.

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