Chord Electronics Huei
The Huei brings silent backgrounds, a glass-clear midrange and unusually precise spatial focus to MM and MC vinyl playback. StereoNET admired its clean, open control, while Hi-Fi Choice found airier staging and finer tonal texture. Extensive gain/loading adjustment, balanced outputs and compact billet-aluminium build make this a refined, cartridge-friendly phono stage with serious high-end poise.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
91/100
Cartridge Compatibility
92/100
Build Quality
91/100
Value for Money
93/100
Pros
Exceptionally low-noise, transparent presentation with clear detail and strong spatial precision.
Highly flexible MM/MC support, with extensive gain and MC loading adjustment, plus RCA and balanced XLR outputs.
Compact, premium billet-aluminium construction and high-quality fit and finish.
Cons
Colour-coded gain and impedance controls can be unintuitive, often requiring the manual for setup.
Its neutral, matter-of-fact balance can sound less dynamically expressive than leading rivals and may not flatter poor recordings or bright systems.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 91/100
Reviewers consistently find the Huei exceptionally clean, controlled and revealing, with notably low noise and a spacious, precisely organised presentation. Its balance is generally neutral-to-cool rather than overtly warm, and while most praise its timing and control, one review finds it less dynamically exciting than key rivals.
Transparency Noise Floor
94/100
Low-noise performance is a recurring strength. The Ear heard it as absolutely silent with no hiss, Hi-Fi Choice calls it clearly very low in noise, and Enjoy the Music reported no buzz, clicks or hum during use. Ecoustics and StereoNET also praise its very clean, highly revealing presentation and low surface-noise character.
Tonal Balance Musicality
90/100
The Huei is widely described as neutral, clear and musically absorbing, revealing a smooth midrange, natural warmth in voices and convincing tonal texture. Its character is not especially lush: Ecoustics found it slightly cool and a little hard at times, while StereoNET says it is matter-of-fact and unlikely to flatter bright cartridges or poor pressings.
Dynamics
88/100
Several reviewers praise tight, punchy bass, precise percussion transients and confident handling of demanding crescendos. The Ear highlights convincing pace, rhythm and timing, but What Hi-Fi finds the Huei less dynamically expressive and exciting than leading alternatives, despite its composure under pressure.
Soundstage Imaging
93/100
Spatial performance receives especially strong praise. Hi-Fi Choice heard airier, more expansive soundstages with greater resolution, while StereoNET describes precise image placement, secure localisation during crescendos and convincing front-to-back depth. The Audiophile Man and Enjoy the Music likewise commend its stable images, focus and separation.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Cartridge Compatibility
92/100
The Huei accommodates both MM and MC cartridges, with eight gain settings, twelve selectable MC loading options and balanced XLR outputs alongside RCA connections. Reviewers found it easy to optimise for different cartridges and call it broadly configurable, though MM loading remains fixed at 47k ohms and the colour-coded control system can require the manual.
Build Quality
91/100
Reviews consistently describe the compact billet-aluminium casework as solid, luxurious and finished to a high standard, with good-quality rear connections. Hi-Fi Choice calls the fit and finish high-end, and The Ear praises the packaging and instruction booklet; the main practical criticism is the small, somewhat cryptic button-and-colour interface.
Value for Money
93/100
At roughly £990 in the UK and around $1,775 in the US, reviewers regard the Huei as highly competitive in its class. StereoNET considers it difficult to fault near its price and says shortcomings emerge mainly against stages costing two or three times more, while Enjoy the Music says it performs beyond its asking price.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
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Specifications
- Input Impedance
- Moving magnet: 47,000Ω Moving coil: 100Ω – 3,700Ω, 12-step user selectable
- Gain Range
- Moving Magnet V Gain: RCA – 21dB – 42dB Moving Magnet V Gain: XLR – 27dB – 48dB Moving Coil V Gain: RCA – 49dB – 70dB Moving Coil V Gain: XLR – 55dB – 76dB
- Input Noise
- 1.1nV/Hz
- Max Output Voltage RMS
- 20v RMS
- Equalisation Response
- RIAA Curve
- Equalisation Accuracy
- +/- 0.1dB
- Frequency Response
- RIAA Curve = 12Hz to 25kHz
- Rumble Filter
- Rausch Slope -24dB per octave below 50Hz
- Output Impedance
- 520Ω (resistive)
- Input Power Supply
- 12v – 100v to 240v 50/60Hz PSU
- Dimensions
- 4.5cm (H) 16cm (W) 8.8cm (D)
- Weight
- 657g
Manufacturer's Description — Chord Electronics
Entirely conceived, engineered and manufactured in Great Britain, Huei has been carefully designed to provide turntables with the same high standards of amplification that Chord Electronics has become known for over the past 30 years.
Benefitting from both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil functionality, Huei offers compatibility with a huge range of cartridges thanks to comprehensive gain and impedance-matching options; Huei’s high- and low-gain switching settings are easily accessible via front-panel controls, introducing welcome flexibility.
Huei’s advanced design offers (for the first time in a Chord Electronics phono preamp) ultra-low-noise microprocessor control of its main features, including a convenient memory function. With multiple options for impedance-matching, eight-stage switchable gain and a switchable rumble filter, Huei’s design offers comprehensive compatibility.
Precision-machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium billet, Huei has a similar form factor to the company’s Qutest DAC and also offers a top-mounted viewing window into the illuminated electronics within. The design also shares the same polychromatic control spheres the company has become known for in its digital products. The illuminated front-panel spheres offer direct access to Huei’s gain and impedance settings, selection for MM/MC cartridges and access to the on-board rumble filter.
Huei is a stylish, practical and high-performance solution for integrating turntables into Chord Electronics’ (and other) systems and features both unbalanced (RCA) and balanced outputs (XLR) with RCA inputs. A high-quality 12V external power supply is also supplied.
Supported cartridges:
Moving magnet and moving coil
Inputs:
1x Stereo unbalanced RCA input
Outputs:
1x Stereo unbalanced RCA output
1x Stereo balanced XLR output
Included Accessories
Huei user manual
Safety instructions
Drawstring bag
12V 2A Switching barrel type power supply
Grounding plate
Gain/impedance reference card
Verified Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Chord Electronics Huei
- Absoulute Audio plus Video — in-store — Aiken, South Carolina, United States (website)
- In Living Stereo — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
- The Music Room — online and in-store — Erie, Colorado, United States (website)
- 110Hz — online and in-store — Kielce, Województwo świętokrzyskie, Poland (website)
- Accent On Music — in-store — Mount Kisco, New York, United States (website)
- Acoustic Designs Inc. — in-store — Scottsdale, Arizona, United States (website)
- Acoustic Sounds — online and in-store — Salina, Kansas, United States (website)
- Acoustic Streams — in-store — Lower Drift, England, United Kingdom (website)
- Acoustica — online and in-store — Chester, England, United Kingdom (website)
- Ajasom — online and in-store — Amadora, Lisboa, Portugal (website)
and 202 more verified dealers