Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Hi Fi News

Regular readers will have been following our six-month project constructing a large (50m2) reference standard listening room – a unique facility in the UK to host the most substantial loudspeakers and amplifiers and ensure that all flagship products reviewed in HFN are able to realise their very best performance. At the same time work has been underway to build a new lab and photographic facility, the former including a very high-ceilinged space and pneumatic scissor truck for lifting and testing loudspeakers. High ceiling? Yes, for while all our listening experiences inevitably include sound arriving both directly and indirectly – off walls, ceiling and floor – our testing is focused on speaker response (on- and off-axis), distortion, bass extension, etc, without the room included. Anechoic chambers are a very costly way…

NOISES OFF Available for £649, Russ Andrews’ Network Purifier utilises the hi-fi accessories specialist’s ‘MiniZap’ passive filter technology to tackle network-borne high-frequency noise in ‘the critical 2 to 4GHz region’. The in-line device features shielded Gigabit Ethernet input/output linked by a custom dual-layer PCB, plus Kimber Kable-wired 4mm grounding socket, in a thermoplastic casing. www.russandrews.com SONIC SIX-PACK Arendal Sound, the Norwegian direct sales loudspeaker brand, has announced a new top-flight lineup. The six-model 1528 series ranges in price from £2400 to £7900 across floorstander, monitor, bookshelf, on-wall and centre channel options, with all speakers featuring a waveguided 28mm lithium magnesium tweeter and 130mm graphene midrange, plus aluminium cone woofers. HDF cabinets, with curved front baffles, are offered in basalt grey and polar white. www.arendalsound.com…

New from DALI are three models in the EPIKORE range that debuted earlier with the EPIKORE 11 floorstander. Once again there’s a choice of High Gloss Black, High Gloss Walnut and High Gloss Maroon colourways offered for the £9999 EPIKORE 3 standmount (plus £1999 for optional stands), the £19,999 EPIKORE 7 and £29,999 EPIKORE 9 [pic’d] floorstanders. All three continue the use of an EVO-K hybrid tweeter – first seen on the KORE flagship [HFN Dec ’22], this features both a 35mm soft dome tweeter and planar magnetic driver. The EPIKORE speakers’ bass, midrange and bass/mid units are also in-house designs, utilising paper/fibre cones, titanium voice coil formers, and motor systems with DALI’s SMC (Soft Magnetic Composite) technology. The bass drivers are reflex-loaded via rearfacing ‘Continuous Flare’ ports, while dual…

Integrated amplifiers are ten a penny, but not when you get into five figures. Often, at this point, consumers and manufacturers pivot toward pre/power systems, pursuing gains in performance and functionality in favour of the simplicity that comes from a one-box design. Yet high-end integrateds do exist, as illustrated by the Diablo 333, starting at £24,500, from Denmark-based Gryphon Audio. Is there something in the water in Denmark? The country certainly seems to have an outsized influence in the world of hi-fi audio, with Gryphon joined by well-known companies Copland, DALI, Dynaudio, Lyngdorf, Raidho, Scansonic, System Audio and Tangent, among others. And Gryphon Audio, headquartered in the central town of Ry, arguably stands out from its countrymates thanks to the breadth of a catalogue that runs through pre, power and…

With the launch of the £1300 Model 60n, Marantz finally has an entry-level alternative to the £2200 Model 40n [HFN Apr ’22]. This is par for the course, as Marantz has similar ‘good’ and ‘better’ offerings in the shape of the Model 30 [HFN Jan ’21] and Model 50 amplifiers. But where those two are ‘old-school’ analogue-only separates requiring external sources, this new Marantz amplifier is an all-in-one with DAC and streaming capabilities – all of which explains the ‘n’ for ‘network’ at the end of the name. The Model 60n also flaunts multiple analogue and digital inputs, including HDMI ARC to handle audio from a television if required, and when it comes to functionality there’s very little missing compared to the pricier Model 40n. It’s the innards that are…

COMPACT DISC SUPERAUDIO DVD BLU-RAY VINYL  DOWNLOAD FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION Whisky A Go Go, 1968 Zappa Records/Universal ZR20045 (three CDs) As legendary concerts go, this one transcends the artist’s fan base. By ’68, Zappa and Co were A-list performers and worshipped by their colleagues, while the venue itself was a fabled site. Imagine, then, a 5hr show originally intended for release but which has been mostly unheard unless you collected bootlegs. This stunning package, with an informative booklet and a cool interview with Alice Cooper, contains the whole gig, said to be the first time all three sets have been released. ‘Help I’m A Rock’, ‘King Kong’, ‘Plastic People’? Classic stuff. And sonically for a live recording in a jam-packed club? Truly exceptional. KK Sound Quality:…

COMPACT DISC SUPERAUDIO DVD BLU-RAY VINYL  DOWNLOAD EMMET COHEN Vibe Provider Mack Avenue MAC1211; LP: MAC1211LP This is the pianist’s tribute to the late Funmi Onanaiye, producer, A&R man, event organiser, and a ‘force behind the scenes’ in the unmissable livestream series ‘Emmet’s Place’. And although this starts out as a trio album, Philip Norris on bass and ‘Emmet’s Place’ mainstay Kyle Poole alternating with Joe Farnsworth on drums, we soon hear three of Cohen’s erstwhile streaming guests – saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, trumpeter Bruce Harris and veteran Mingus Big Band trombonist Frank Lacy – making it a full-bodied sextet for the exhilarating title tune. And Cohen’s playing is as resourceful, as eclectic in its influences and yet as fresh and engaging as ever. SH Sound Quality: 85% MARK CHERRIE QUARTET…

It’s a safe bet that most HFN readers are not merely gearheads, but music lovers too. So you might have wondered how economic decisions affect the lives of the artists on whom we depend, aesthetically and emotionally. Back in the days of physical media, musicians launched tours in support of new releases. Tickets were affordable because profits were primarily derived from sales of records. Beginning with Napster, and especially since the advent of streaming, that business model is dead. Recordings today are basically given away as promotional items to sell concert tickets, whose prices have skyrocketed. CULTURE VULTURES This development has left many musicians out in the cold financially. Most make little from streaming and a pittance from performing – if they are lucky enough to land regular gigs. Superstars…

Half a lifetime ago, I was the youthful editor of another hi-fi magazine in the UK. One day in 1979, I was visited by a senior executive from Goodmans, who explained that the firm’s next hi-fi speaker range would not be built in its own British factory, but would be bought in from Jamo of Denmark. It was a sign of the times for the company which, in the 1950s, had been ‘Europe’s largest Manufacturer and the World’s largest Exporters of High Fidelity Loudspeakers’. LONDON CALLING Like Celestion and Tannoy, Goodmans got started in the mid-1920s. Founder Edward Stanley Newland began by reconditioning ex-army headphones, using the premises of an early business partner – a Mr Goodman. The company eventually expanded and a factory in Wembley was opened in 1936.…

Much gnashing of teeth and wringing of corporate cheque books later, and the B&W Group has become the latest recipient of Philips’ cherished Red Book licence: an exorbitant magic wand that bequeaths the rights to design and assemble own-brand CD players, rather than simply modify an existing box. Incidentally, I hear from trusted sources that manufacturers who have traditionally opted for this cheaper halfway-house will soon be stomped on from a great height. B&W can therefore sleep soundly at night as two variants of a new BitStream player are launched under its ‘Aura’ brandname. RIGHT ON This is the CD-50, an exceptionally slim player that will set you back some £400 (or £450 for the mirrored, chrome version), and whose elegant appearance will complement Aura’s existing TU-50 tuner and VA-50…

KEF’s Uni-Q array with MAT (Metamaterial Absorption Technology) has found its way down to the company’s entrylevel loudspeakers. The new Q Series Meta comprises eight options and is headlined by the Q11 Meta [pictured], a £2000 three-way floorstander marrying its Uni-Q 100mm mid/19mm tweeter, with ‘Shadow Flare’ surround, to a trio of 165mm ‘aluminiumskinned’ paper cone woofers. A second floorstander, the £1399 Q7 Meta, sports two bass drivers, while the Q Concerto Meta (£1099) is a three-way standmount. Satin Black, Satin White and Walnut finishes are available. KEF (GP Acoustics UK Ltd), Maidstone, Kent, 01622 672 261; www.kef.com…

You hold in your hands the world’s oldest and most respected hi-fi magazine – Hi-Fi News – where heavyweight audio engineering is our stock in trade. All our review products are typically subject to a one-month test process from shipping, unpacking, installation, photography, lab work, extended listening, disassembly/packing and collection. This practice was maintained right through the pandemic period, with full Covid biosecurity adding to the logistical complexity of our four-week issue schedule. But we did it… never missing one issue of the magazine or compromising the ‘Hi-Fi News Pledge’: 1. Our hardware reviews are never brief ‘hands on’ experiences of a product from a press conference, brand-led demonstration or distributor’s back room spun up into a four or five page article. 2. Products reviewed in Hi-Fi News already have…

Since the company’s inception in 2014, MoFi Electronics has developed a reputation for high-quality products. And in a range now encompassing turntables, cartridges, phono stages, loudspeakers, a DAC and a growing number of accessories, there is also a convenient pathway of progression along an upgrade ladder. For MoFi’s vinyl-related items, this takes you from ‘Studio’, through ‘Ultra’, and onto ‘Master’ models. The latest flagship offering to bear the top moniker is the MasterDeck turntable, retailing at £6995 or £7995 as a complete package with the UltraGold MC pick-up [see PM’s boxout, p55], offering a saving of £849 over buying the items separately. The deck is available in Black Ash and Walnut finishes and, like the StudioDeck [HFN Jan ’20], and UltraDeck [HFN Jul ’19], includes design know-how from Spiral Groove’s…

The latest member of Focal’s Utopia loudspeaker family is clearly cut from a different cloth – and that’s before you lay eyes on its felt cabinet wrap. Sure, at £29,995 the Diva Utopia boasts a similarly ‘high-end’ asking price to the likes of the £34,999 Scala Utopia Evo [HFN Aug ’17] and its overall styling isn’t far off its siblings either. But this is Focal’s first active loudspeaker, the result of a collaboration with Naim Audio, its stablemate brand since 2012. In fact, to call it a speaker doesn’t really do the Diva Utopia justice. It’s more like a full system inside a loudspeaker enclosure. From one point of view, this union of the two companies makes sense, as it allows for the passive loudspeaker design of Focal to be…

About a year ago the writer, editor and founder of Rolling Stone magazine Jann Wenner was unceremoniously booted off the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation board of directors. His misdemeanour? In an interview with the New York Times about his new book The Masters, featuring conversations he’d conducted with artists such as John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, etc, he claimed that he’d decided not to include any women or black artists because, ‘none of them were articulate enough on this intellectual level’. MISSING IN ACTION Wenner then went on to add insult to injury by saying: ‘For public relations sake, maybe I should have gone and found one black and one woman artist to include here that didn’t measure up to that same historical standard, just to…

1982 The Stranglers record Feline using synths for a more polished sound. The album is a Top 5 hit in the UK 1984 The Cure use ICP to finish mixing Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, which sees them break into the US market 1987 Ex-Skids frontman Richard Jobson seeks to showcase his skill as a poet and storyteller with this now-rare LP 2010 Pulp producer Ed Buller is behind the desk as The Courteneers record Falcon. It debuts at No 6 in the charts 2012 Helped by Kings Of Leon producer Ethan Johns, The Vaccines enter the UK charts at No 1 with Come Of Age 2021 Another album to debut at No 1 in the UK is Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice, produced at ICP by Markus Dravs…

COMPACT DISC SUPERAUDIO DVD BLU-RAY VINYL DOWNLOAD JORDINA MILLÀ & BARRY GUY Live In Munich (48kHz/24-bit, WAV) www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 2827 The opening of this album by Catalan pianist Millà and bassist Guy, both known for their improvisational styles, may be off-putting for those of the ‘it’s all just noises, give me a real tune’ persuasion. However, it’s well worth sticking with, if only for the range of extraordinary sounds the two conjure in this impactful, insightful recording engineered by Zoro Babel for the ECM label. Each of the two seems determined to push their instrument not just to its limits, but way beyond, Millà diving into her piano to elicit rasping tones and harp-like purity, while Guy plucks, bows and weaves his strings around her remarkable performance. The set is split…

COMPACT DISC SUPERAUDIO DVD  BLU-RAY VINYL  DOWNLOAD CLEVELAND ORCH/FRANZ WELSER-MÖST Bruckner: Symphony No.4 Cleveland Orchestra TCO0012 (downloads to 96kHz/24-bit resolution) I make no apologies for giving Bruckner more than his fair share of reviews in this anniversary year. Especially when the Cleveland Orchestra’s in-house engineering team, led by producer Elaine Martone, continues to set a gold standard for modern orchestral sound on record. In both weight and detail, the balance complements Welser-Möst’s intensely engaged, analytical but lively approach. The Fourth comes into focus as a step on the road to the hard-won serenity of the Fifth. There’s nothing radical here in terms of tempi, beyond (ii) more Allegretto than Andante. The dawn light of (i) and the approach of the hunt in (iii) are magically evoked, and the episodes of…

I was particularly interested to read the recent review of the Technics SL-1200GR2 [HFN Sep ’24]. This is because for a very long time I’ve owned and been happily using a much earlier example of the direct-drive breed. I can’t now recall exactly when I bought it, but I’ve had a Panasonic/Technics SL-1500 turntable and arm with a Shure V15 series cartridge since about 1973. And it has continued to deliver good performance for about half a century! The main sign of the SL-1500’s age after so many decades of use is that the small rotary potentiometer, which tweaks the rotation speed, has developed a ‘burn spot’ just at the place that sets 33.33rpm. This means that, nowadays, I have to let the deck run for about a quarter of an…

23-24 NOV High End Vienna, Austria Center Vienna, Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1, Wien; www.highendsociety.de/fas-vienna 21-23 FEB Florida International Audio Expo 2025, Sheraton Tampa Brandon, Florida; https://floridaaudioexpo.com 21-23 FEB Bristol Hi-Fi Show, Marriott City Centre Hotel, Bristol; www.bristolshow.co.uk 02 MAR Spring Audio Jumble 2025; www.audiojumble.co.uk 11-14 APR AXPONA Audio Expo North America 2025, Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Centre Hotel; www.axpona.com…

Based in Berlin, German company MBL is perhaps still best known for its omni-directional Radialstrahler loudspeakers [HFN Jun ’21], spreading their output over 360o in the cause of creating sound that fills a room. The idea isn’t new – the design was first launched at IFA in Berlin in 1979, in the times when audio was a major focus of that show – but it has been developed and refined over almost five decades, and is still a mainstay of the company’s lineup. But for anyone reading this review and expressing surprise that MBL also makes ‘front end’ electronics, that’s nothing new, either – the 1986 arrival of the 6010 preamp, also known as Der Vorverstärker, created similar incredulity, so bound was the company to its radical speaker design. Since…

Were it not for the enclosure design, it might be tempting to think of the Kaya S12, the smallest speaker from South Africa’s Vivid Audio, as just another standmount. But as those eye-catching looks suggest, there’s something special going on here, and the price – £6000 a pair in a choice of striking finishes, with more available to order – certainly sets expectations high. Standing 40cm tall, and weighing just 6kg each, the S12 comes in Piano Black, Lexus Pearl White and Oyster Matte as standard, while the samples submitted for review showed what could be achieved with the company’s choice of RAL colours (available at a £500 premium), with one pair in the green you see here, and another in a deep purple. With so much choice, you really…

One of the annoyances of modern life is noise. Outside, our ears might be assaulted by traffic roar, construction clamour or roadworks cacophony, plus buzzing leaf blowers and lawn mowers. Indoors, however, it’s rather more subtle. The prevalence of wireless communications around the house, plus the switched-mode power supplies that run pretty much everything, mean the noise is electrical in nature – and more insidious. Enter the £21,900 T100SPA power amplifier from the aptly-named Quiescent, which aims not only to delight your ears, but also ensure this ever-present noise doesn’t get in the way of the music. This stereo model, plus the £23,100 T100MPA mono amplifier, are the latest items in the UK brand’s T-Series of audio components, alongside the T500VA Balanced Mains Power Supply, for an equally heady £16,300.…

COMPACT DISC SUPERAUDIO DVD BLU-RAY VINYL DOWNLOAD DAVID GILMOUR Luck And Strange Sony 19802804602; LP: 19802804611 The former Pink Floyd guitarist’s first solo album for nine years is also one of his best. Producer Charlie Andrew, young enough to not be overawed by Gilmour’s famous past, has helped give the music a freshness and sense of space. His partner Polly Samson’s lyrics address time passing, poignantly looking back on ‘The Piper’s Call’, while a 2007 recording of Floyd’s late keyboardist Richard Wright decorates the title track’s loping groove. The epic string-swathed closer ‘Scattered’ features thrilling playing from Gilmour, whose singing is animated throughout. He sought a blend of family voices and daughter Romany plays harp on ‘Between Two Points’, but her lead vocals, largely nailed in one take, steal the…

We need to talk about Freely. Why? Because it’s a clear pointer to the future of radio. Broadcasters are already planning for a time when TV and radio are delivered as an IP Internet stream and not a linear over-the-air transmission. Hence the BBC’s huge investment in its iPlayer and Sounds streaming services. Fewer and fewer people, especially in the lower age groups, now use a conventional radio or TV. Virtually all new TVs are ‘smart’ and Internet-ready. Regulator Ofcom has found that the over 75s are four times more likely to rely on digital broadcasting than Gen Z youngsters who have been brought up with streaming. Over 50% of 16-24 year olds don’t watch TV. Even fewer tune into a radio station. Rather, they stream YouTube or TikTok, or…

There is a nice irony to the fact that the most silent musicians of all are required to be the best with words. Orchestras may like the conductors who speak the least, but explanation, correction and encouragement can’t entirely be done at the tip of a baton. Meanwhile, the public is perennially fascinated by the power dynamic at play when a single figure seems to conjure unity from the talents of a hundred individuals. What do conductors do, and how do they do it? The best answer I have heard came from Bernard Haitink, interviewed late in life by John Bridcut. ‘I am very good at translating music with my hands.’ Conductors do a lot more than that, especially in the field of opera, but Haitink’s phrase elegantly outlines the…

The mini/micro system craze was one of the Japanese electronics industry’s last great flourishes of the 1970s. Aiwa joined with Technics, Toshiba (Aurex) and Mitsubishi in producing tiny equipment with the same (or better) performance than many full-sized units, the contention being that improved component miniaturisation meant large boxes were no longer needed. Aiwa’s 22 micro series was introduced in mid-1979 and proved to be a big hit. It couldn’t quite match the finish of Technics’ Concise Components range or the outstanding performance of the Toshiba/Aurex System 15, but it was fully featured, keenly priced, visually attractive and decent to listen to. It was especially popular in Germany, where it was also offered by BASF, Wega (then part of the Sony Corporation, just like Aiwa) and Uher, which applied orange…

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