Fell Audio is a new hi-fi brand that aims to entice hi-fi fans with affordable, British-made separates

Fell Audio amplifier and CD player
(Image credit: Fell Audio)

There's a new hi-fi brand in town. Fell Audio is a Cumbria-based, family-owned business backed by the 50-year-old specialist retailer, Peter Tyson, and aims to 'disrupt' the market by offering affordable hi-fi separates that are manufactured in the UK.

The current line-up includes the Fell Amp integrated stereo amplifier costing £599 and the Fell Disc CD player at £499, with more components coming later in 2025. At launch, the Fell Audio products are available in the UK only, from Peter Tyson, Amazon UK and direct from the brand's website, but we're told more retailers and Europe (and beyond) availability will appear in 2025.

Fell Audio's designs are inspired by the 'golden era' of hi-fi from the 1970s (note the green LEDs) but combined with modern touches such as touch-capacitative buttons and Bluetooth streaming.

The brand's aim is to reach the "modern music lover" and promises "authentic sound and a solid build" for affordable prices. These new products have been designed in-house and are manufactured by a "trusted and time-proven" hi-fi manufacturer based in the UK. Everything from the product and packaging design, the metalwork, injection-moulding and painting to the PCBs and assembly are all undertaken in the UK, while many of the components are also sourced locally. This allows the brand to offer a long repair window and reduce its carbon footprint, says Fell, along with a five-year warranty for the products.

Fell Audio amplifier and CD player

(Image credit: Fell Audio)

The brand has been developing these products over a period of three years, and thanks to Peter Tyson's access to various brands and products across various budgets, Fell Audio's engineers have undertaken extensive benchmarking and comparative testing to create competitive products that offer "unmatched specifications for British-made budget devices".

On to the products themselves, the Fell Amp integrated is powered by Class D amplification with a quoted 89 watts per channel into 8 ohms. It has three analogue RCA line-level inputs and two digital inputs (optical and coaxial), along with preamp and subwoofer outputs. The amp features a built-in moving magnet phono stage, so you can plug your turntable into the phono inputs directly. There is also Bluetooth aptX HD streaming on board, a 6.35mm headphone port and touch-capacitative buttons on the front panel for selecting inputs.

The amp uses an ESS ES9018 DAC chip, along with an advanced 32-bit HyperStream digital architecture and jitter elimination tech to deliver "ultra-low noise and high dynamic range". And, as a nod to even more Britishness, the volume dial goes up to 11.

Fell Audio amplifier rear panel connections

(Image credit: Fell Audio)

The Fell Disc features a slot-loading CD player and can play CD-R and CD-RW formats. It uses the same DAC chip as the Amp, and can play digital files up to 24-bit/96kHz. The green dot matrix display dominates the screen alongside playback buttons, and there are optical and coaxial digital outputs at the back. Both products come with dedicated remote controls.

Both products are available in black or silver finishes and can be bought in the UK now. The products can also be demoed in store at Peter Tyson's three locations in the north of England (Newcastle, Workington and Carlisle).

Fell Audio’s Managing Director Matthew Tyson says: “After working in audio all my life, it became very apparent that great-sounding hi-fi at affordable prices is no longer being made here in the UK. I wanted to change that and be able to offer people something British-built that they can start their hi-fi journey with.”

Fell Audio amplifier front panel

(Image credit: Fell Audio)

Fell Audio is coming in at price points that could certainly do with being more populated in the hi-fi world, but it has strong rivals to contend with. At £599, the Fell Amp sees competiton from the likes of the five-star Rega io, Rotel A8 and Arcam A5, while the Fell Disc (£499) sits in between the budget Marantz CD6007 and step-up Arcam CD5, both Award-winning players.

Fell Audio, then, may have cannily positioned itself in the entry-to-mid level price range and could offer a viable alternative to the established brands. It's brave and encouraging to see a new hi-fi brand emerge in today's landscape, so here's hoping Fell Audio delivers on its promise and makes a big impact. We look forward to reviewing the new products in due course.

MORE:

These are the best stereo amplifiers across all budgets

And the best CD players we've tested and rated

9 of the best Quincy Jones tracks for testing your system

Kashfia Kabir
Hi-Fi and Audio Editor

Kashfia is the Hi-Fi and Audio Editor of What Hi-Fi? and first joined the brand over 10 years ago. During her time in the consumer tech industry, she has reviewed hundreds of products (including speakers, amplifiers, turntables and headphones), been to countless trade shows across the world and fallen in love with hi-fi kit much bigger than her. In her spare time, Kash can be found tending to an ever-growing houseplant collection and shooing her cat Jolene away from spinning records.

  • Guy4510
    I'd love to think these offer great value for money from a sound quality pov, especially as they are 'British Built', so hopefully will read some positive reviews or try them out at some point. My concern already is seeing Peter Tyson offering them discounted with speakers as bundles. The cynic in me wonders if they are overpriced initially to sell this way? Will reserve judgement for now I guess but it is so hard to compete in a manufacturing environment in the UK and offer better value than bigger player's economy of scale such as Cambridge Audio, NAD and Rotel for example 🤷‍♂️
    Reply
  • Ian AV
    Very forward thinking, having capability to drive a sub via a pre-out. There's lots of so called high end manufacturers that don't have the forethough to provide that facility.
    Reply
  • mirosparks
    Both components do look good! It'd be great if the amp had a line-out for those of us who still have a recorder.
    Reply
  • Ian AV
    mirosparks said:
    Both components do look good! It'd be great if the amp had a line-out for those of us who still have a recorder.
    It has Pre-out which perhaps could be used for this purpose, but of course would be variable unless there are settings for fixed output.
    Reply
  • nopiano
    I like the five-year warranty. I think all Hifi should have this.

    The discounted bundles are quite usual, the money being off the speakers in many cases.
    Reply
  • Mr. C Nation
    I wish them every success. One reason is that Fell Audio/Tyson is based in an area I know well, having been to school in the western Lakes and lived at Kendal. A sentimental attachment to things Cumbrian - Cumberland, as it was.

    Another reason to hope they succeed is that they will establish a market and reputation to follow on from UK companies like Rogers/Leak/Quad which gave Brits home-grown quality at affordable prices in the '50's and '60's.

    Thirdly, I have long thought that a big hole in the market was left when Musical Fidelity dropped their so-called 'entry level' product line: in my case the B1 amp. When launched, a review in The Gramaphone summed it up as 'Unneccessarily good'. I had mine for 25 years, + a 2nd one as back-up - never needed. I only moved on to a Marantz for digital connections.

    Marantz is going to give Fell a severe test. Long established, consistently the leader at its price point, an easy sell by retailers and indeed, good quality.

    Bon Courage Mr Tyson
    Reply
  • djh1697
    nopiano said:
    I like the five-year warranty. I think all Hifi should have this.

    All HiFi comes with a 6 year warranty, it is the law, something that has been the case for a few years now. Richer Sounds, for example, make it clear in their advertising, they are following the law of the land.
    Reply
  • djh1697
    Mr Tyson, if you are reading this, I would be nice to see a USB socket on the back of the amplifier, so that it can be connected to the ESS DAC for decoding DSD. I guess that would make it more costly, however, the ESS DAC really shines with DSD, you could also add Roon compatibility.
    Reply
  • nopiano
    djh1697 said:
    All HiFi comes with a 6 year warranty, it is the law, something that has been the case for a few years now. Richer Sounds, for example, make it clear in their advertising, they are following the law of the land.
    I don’t think that’s correct. There is an implied warranty that something that should last say ten years won’t fail after two and be written off, but I’m not aware of any law that provides six years of cover. Try telling PMC whose 20 year warranty only applies to the original purchaser!

    I’ve looked at RS and they have a mixture of free and paid for warranties. By all means post a link that sets out what you say, as I’d be interested to understand it.

    This is a good summary of my understanding. https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl
    Reply
  • nopiano
    djh1697 said:
    Mr Tyson, if you are reading this, I would be nice to see a USB socket on the back of the amplifier, so that it can be connected to the ESS DAC for decoding DSD. I guess that would make it more costly, however, the ESS DAC really shines with DSD, you could also add Roon compatibility.
    I can’t imagine the target audience has many DSD recordings! I certainly don’t, although I think I can download some from Qobuz. Where do you store yours?

    Maybe the forthcoming streamer will see your wish answered.
    Reply