Spotify's Listening Lounge turns lossless into a live hi-fi showcase

What Hi‑Fi? visits Spotify's new Listening Lounge in London, a by‑invitation, 30-seat space built to showcase lossless streaming via Spotify Lossless. The room centers around a two‑channel system featuring giant Friendly Pressure horn speakers, Bryston power amps, Prima Luna front end and a Bluesound Node Icon source, all presented in a shrine‑like, acoustically treated environment by Cake Architecture. While the setup highlights the fidelity of 24‑bit/44.1kHz streams, the piece notes lossless is not spatial audio and acknowledges the lounge’s limited scale and exclusivity as a promotional showcase for lossless listening.