2025 is coming to an end, Christmas is here, and I wanted to do something I rarely do: a highlights-of-the-year piece focused on the gear that actually survived real life.
Not the stuff I tried for two evenings and then packed back into a box.
I mean the products that earned a permanent place in my home — because they delivered something I can’t easily replace: realism, immersion, convenience without compromise, or that rare “I forgot I was analyzing” moment.
But I also want to be honest about something up front: while realism is the end goal, I love an exciting, dynamic, energetic sound — as long as it doesn’t become harsh, artificial, or fatiguing. Sometimes I’ll accept small compromises if the result is a sound that genuinely moves me, keeps me engaged, and makes me hit “play” again.
So yes: this is a “keepers list”… but filtered through the way I actually listen.
The context: how I actually use gear
My listening splits into a few real-world scenarios, and that matters a lot, because gear that looks perfect on paper can be completely wrong in daily life.
1) My main high-end system (where I do most of my listening — day or night)
This is my reference anchor and the system I return to when I want to reset my ears:
- Rockna WaveDream Reference Signature
- Chord Ultima 5
- MartinLogan ESL 11A
- Headphone chain: Bliss KTE powering T+A Solitaire P, DCA Stealth, Meze LIRIC 2, ZMF Atrium, ZMF Caldera
- And yes — it’s all powered through the Tsakiridis Devices Super Athena, which has become a cornerstone for consistency and refinement.
This is where I do most of my listening. Music, “serious sessions”, and a lot of late-night headphone time.
2) Night listening (family asleep)
Historically, night listening meant headphones only, because I can keep the house quiet and still get the full experience.
But here’s the twist: I recently discovered I can use speakers at night in the living room without waking my family. Many years ago, in 2020, I added a well isolated door between the living room and the bedrooms. Guess why? In 2020 I got a cat and… during the night of course, as cats do, it wanted to train the vocal chords for cat opera singing or something. My cat at 4:00 AM:
I didn’t think that door would work so well for a sound system too :)).
That discovery basically kicked off my “living room system” project, because suddenly the living room wasn’t just for background listening — it became another serious listening space, even late at night.
3) Movies and gaming (often Windows with my main headphone system)
I do a lot of movies and gaming, and I’ll sometimes use Dolby processing. Not as a gimmick — but because when it’s dialed in, it can add scale, physicality, and impact without forcing me to crank the volume.
4) Travel / office
I travel, I work, I move around. Convenience matters — but I refuse to accept “wireless = mediocre sound.” If something lives in my bag, it must still feel like music, not just audio.
With that out of the way… here’s what stayed.
Tsakiridis Devices Super Athena — power conditioning that didn’t kill the fun
Let’s start with something controversial: power conditioning.
I’ve had real power issues in my area — outages and infrastructure quirks. I already use a serious UPS, the njoy aten pro 3000(pure sine, double online conversion) for protection and stability. That part is non-negotiable. Some hardcore audiophiles would raise an eyebrow. No…It sounds better than from the main socket. I have used it for years. I also am lucky to have a closed balcony attached to the room, so I put it outside. It’s very noisy. You can’t use it in the same room without isolating it.
What I didn’t expect to chase next was refinement.
Because most conditioners I’ve tried over the years come with the same annoying trade:
- yes, you get a darker background,
- but you also lose a bit of life — that jump factor, that dynamic swing, the feeling that the system can explode when the music asks for it.
I went into the Super Athena skeptical… and it earned its place the hard way.
What it changed for me
- More holography and image stability (things lock in place better)
- More refinement and “flow”
- A cleaner, more natural presentation — without stealing dynamics
Also, important to mention here, it has 3 levels of filtration. 4000W power choke that stores energy and gives it to your system when it needs the swings, 800w isolation transformer and capacitor power banks. The good news is that you can completely control which one to use based on what sockets you use and the switches from the front of the box where you can chose to power on the power choke, or the 2 capacitor banks independently . This is gives you a lot to play with to get the sound you want.
And I love that it doesn’t feel like a blunt instrument. It feels like a serious, configurable tool — and physically it’s exactly what you’d expect: heavy, overbuilt, “big boy, not a toy”. And when I say big boy….it has 35 kg, so I am not joking. I was lucky I trained intensely(with my kettlebells, iron club bells and mace bells) in the last 2-3 years :))
Most importantly: it became part of my main system. When something ends up there, it’s not because it’s “nice”. It’s because it’s foundational.
This was an awesome gem to find in 2025. Thank you, Catalin from soundnews.net for introducing me to it and to the wonderfully passionate people from the eaudio store. I highly recommend to go to their showroom and test super athena and other products they offer.
Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2 + Pi8 — the travel duo I actually enjoy
Px8 S2 — why it stayed in rotation
- Great sense of speed & dynamics with clean sound
- Premium build and comfort that makes you reach for them daily
- A sound that still feels like music even in noisy environments
While not best in the ANC department they are good enough for me.
They are just… genuinely enjoyable.
Pi8 — when I want to travel lighter
Pi8 gives me a lot of that B&W flavor in a tiny form factor. I can take it anywhere, it’s quick, direct, and it doesn’t feel like a “downgrade to earbuds” moment.
One practical point that matters a lot: Bluetooth quality can vary wildly, and a good transmitter/dongle can make the difference between “ok” and “wait… why does this sound so much better?” This is where Bowers surprised me. The case transforms into a dac when you connect it through usb to a pc or phone and fixes the need for a bluetooth dongle.
Wireless has evolved. A lot.
And in 2025, these two became my “grab-and-go” staples.
Dan Clark Audio Stealth — quiet on the outside, deeply alive on the inside
The DCA Stealth is one of those headphones that doesn’t scream for attention… and then you realize you’ve been listening for hours.
It stayed because it does something I value more and more:
- clean
- natural
- detailed
- and holographic in a way that feels structural, not artificial
I use it a lot for:
- music (obviously)
- night gaming and movies, when I want immersion without waking the house
Stealth is not the “party headphone.” It’s not the one that throws fireworks in your face.
But it’s one of the most convincing “this is real, this has texture, this has space” closed-backs I’ve heard — and with proper amplification, it scales beautifully.
Also yes: sometimes I’ll add a touch of Dolby processing on Windows for that extra physicality in movies/games. Not because Stealth needs it, but because sometimes the goal isn’t “perfectly neutral”… it’s maximum fun without sounding fake.
Oh …and that design & build quality. They are mesmerizing to look at and use.
HiBy R8 II — the portable player that embarrassed some desktops
I didn’t expect the HiBy R8 II to hit the way it did.
You know that moment when you pick up a DAP thinking “this will be good for travel”… and then the sound makes you do that slow head turn like: excuse me?
That was the R8 II.
Why it impressed me
- It’s detailed and energetic, but still natural
- It doesn’t feel like you’re paying a “portable tax”
- It’s one of those rare portable devices that feels desktop-class
- Doesn’t have your usual dac chip use, and they have built their own HiBy’s Darwin-MPA architecture (discrete current-mode PWM DAC approach) plus Class A / Class AB switching.
The real story is the ability to customize to get synergy with almost any headphones out there, without taking anything from transparency, details or energy.
With Meze Alba, it sounded stupidly good — the kind of pairing that reminds you how much a good source can matter, even with modestly priced gear.
But the “wow” moment was R8 II + DCA Stealth.
Stealth likes power. Stealth likes control. And the R8 II drove it far better than I expected a portable player to manage.
Then you add the real superpower:
- MSEB
- PEQ
- and a deep bag of tuning options
I did some basic tuning to add body/texture and bring back a bit more excitement — and suddenly Stealth went from “beautiful and polite” to “beautiful, textured, and fun”.
That’s the difference between owning a device and actually using it daily:
it lets you shape the sound you love without ruining the sound you respect.
CrinEar Protocol Max — the tiny dongle that made me laugh out loud
This one is dangerous.
Because it forces a question nobody wants to ask:
How is this possible at this size and price?
The CrinEar Protocol Max is small enough to disappear, but it delivers a sound that doesn’t feel “dongle-ish”.
What stood out:
- Natural, engaging presentation
- Strong clarity without that typical delta-sigma glare
- Surprisingly energetic and fun
- And it has proper EQ capability, so you can actually tailor it in real life
Paired with Meze Alba, it becomes a ridiculous little “mini hi-end” setup:
small, cheap (by hi-fi standards), easy to use, and genuinely enjoyable.
2025 tech is wild.
Meze LIRIC 2 — fun, addictive, and stupidly good for Dolby movies + gaming
The LIRIC 2 became one of my favorite “I just want to enjoy this” headphones.
It’s musical. It’s engaging. It has that Meze thing where the headphone feels like it’s pulling you into the performance instead of putting you in front of a microscope.
And yes: sometimes there’s a bit of extra upper-treble energy — a hint of shine. For me it rarely crosses into “annoying”. It’s more like character.
But the reason it became daily life gear isn’t only music.
It’s movies and gaming.
On Windows with Dolby processing, LIRIC 2 becomes this cinematic, punchy, immersive machine:
- vocals are close and engaging
- impacts have satisfying body
- the experience feels alive
And I like that I can alternate between LIRIC 2 and Stealth depending on content/mastering:
- LIRIC 2 when I want energy and fun
- Stealth when I want clean realism and texture
Two different flavors, both worth keeping.
Liric 2 is the red one, liric 1 the yellow one:
Sennheiser AMBEO Max + LG G5 — when a soundbar actually feels like a system
My living room is not an easy room. It’s L-shaped, it’s not a perfect rectangle, it’s the kind of space that can make audio behave badly.
That’s why the AMBEO Max surprised me: it didn’t just sound big — it handled the room.
The calibration did a genuinely strong job and the result was:
- a convincing immersive atmosphere
- proper dynamics at louder volumes
- and a presentation that doesn’t fall apart because your room isn’t “studio geometry”. In my case, I have an L shaped room and it’s very hard to get a sound system to sound correct. It did an amazing job with it’s room correction features. Yes, it comes with a microphone that you can easily plug it into the ambeo max directly and with a few button clicks you get your room analyzed and properly corrected.
It made me rewatch movies because the “cinema mood” was back.
The vocal presence setting from the app was also helpful, as you get considerably better vocal presence with it.
If you’ve got kids, family, neighbors — this matters. It lets you keep dialogue clear and still feel impact at lower volume. However, one thing that I would want to add if I would be a nit pick, especially after testing the piega wireless gen 2, is that I would want a bit more dynamics at lower volumes. Yes, the vocals are great even at lower volumes, but the punch/energy gets better when you raise the volume more.
Piega Premium Wireless Gen 2 — Premium 501 & Premium 801, and why this became a “living room project”
This is where that earlier discovery matters: I realized I can use speakers at night in the living room without waking my family — and suddenly the living room became a serious listening space.
I’ve absolutely loved Piega for a long time:
- aluminum cabinets
- speed and refinement
- that “clean but not sterile” feeling
- superb details
- immersive soundstage
- superb dynamics including at lower volumes, which is an amazing achievement
I do love Piega sound and I owned and reviewed Piega speakers in the last:
- Piega Premium 3
- Piega Premium 5.2
- Piega Coax 30.2 – I actually had a speaker system in the living room before 2020 with these speakers. Because I had small children, I had to let go of that system. I always missed having the Piega sound in my house since then.
Premium 501 Gen 2
This system is dangerously easy:
setup is friendly, daily use is effortless, and most importantly it sounds great even at lower volumes — which is exactly what I need at night.
You get:
- detail
- punch and dynamics when needed
- a superb stage for the footprint
- and that superb Piega “fast, clean, energetic and detailed” character
Premium 801
The 801 is the “bigger, more ambitious” statement — and the idea that caught my attention is the ribbon + horn concept: the speed of a ribbon with the kind of presence and projection that can make a room feel energized without needing harshness. I already listened to them at the jack-fi showroom and I was stunned.
The bass was absolutely superb. So much body, control, punch, detail and texture… coming out of cabinets that are not so big…. That ribbon horn is also amazing. It brings that Piega sound character : speed, fast, detailed, but brings out more texture, detail and refinement.
I fell in love with those speakers. I am still considering which will remain in my home in 2026 between the active wireless gen 2 premium and the passive 801 + arcam sa45. I am not sure my room with all that rigips can handle the 801 as easily as the active series can, as the active don’t have bass ports, are closed speakers and that helps. We shall test and see.
Rockna WaveDream Reference Signature — the DAC that made everything feel real
The Rockna Wavedream Reference Signature is arguably the biggest statement piece in my audio life right now. Read the full review here .
I can talk about:
detail, dynamics, layering, black background…
But the reason it hit me is simpler:
It makes music feel real.
Not just accurate. Not just transparent. We are talking about realism here. Everything seems like it’s in the room with you. No digital harshness, no disembodied voices…just there with you in the room. Superbly done.
And yes — there’s a personal pride element here. It’s Romanian, it’s world-class, and it’s not leaving my main system. Respect to the people behind it. It’s the kind of product that makes me proud to be a Romanian!
The theme of 2025: realism, excitement, and gear that fits real life
If I look at this list, the pattern is clear.
Everything that stayed did at least one of these exceptionally well:
- delivered realism without fatigue
- delivered excitement without harshness
- made daily life easier without sacrificing sound
- scaled with the system and rewarded long-term use
- created “I forgot I was reviewing” moments
That’s the bar.
Not perfection on a spec sheet — but perfection in how it fits into real life.
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