The amplifier is the engine of your hi fi system. A good amp will grab a hold of the bass and reveal more musical detail. Whether you’re building a system from scratch or want to upgrade what you existing kit, check out these star picks. All power to the engines!

Using all the knowledge gained from producing their ground breaking flagship speaker, the Pilastro, Mission has created the elegante series. Designed to be one of the world’s ultimate cinema packages, the elegante series is the perfect blend of performance and style...

The first words out of my mouth were more like deep, gutteral groans of approvement.

Sonically, the new Arcam AVR 300 is superb. I wired it up with a suite of PMC speakers and the most awesome Legend Kurlo sub and the result was, honestly, amazing. It's sad that many of us have become used to the hard and tiring sound that most Japanese/Chinese receivers offer - to suddenly hear a decent movie through the AVR 300 with such beautiful speakers is a revelation...