Inside the February 2021 issue of Hi-Fi News we have Insider comment on the hot audio topics of the day from Barry Fox, Mark Craven, Jim Lesurf, Steve Harris and, writing from the US, Barry Willis.  This month in our Definitive Product Reviews we look at the FinkTeam KIM a two-way speaker with AMT tweeter and tilted stand is designed to bring superior sound to typical living spaces. Is it a compact king? The DS Audio Grand Master, the new leading light in the brand’s range of optical pick-ups now boasts independent L/R photo-detectors. Plus much more! 

In the July issue of Hi-Fi News: VPI’s continuing collaboration with Audio- Technica is revealed. Yamaha, king of retro-chic, combines network audio with a powerful integrated amp. We test the R-N2000A. Our Vinyl Icon is Another Music... by punk phenomenon the Buzzcocks, while Steve Sutherland reveals the backstory to glam rockers Hanoi Rocks’ Two Steps... now on 180g LP.
And so much more!

Although this month’s cover is dominated, quite rightly, by Monitor Audio’s remarkable Hyphn loudspeaker [another ‘World Exclusive’ for Hi-Fi News readers], we have another product that wears its technical intrigue on a less flamboyant sleeve. Moreover, just like the Halcro Eclipse Stereo amp featured last month, it reinforces the maxim that sound quality cannot be defi ned by one or two

PLUS: - We lend an ear, and more, to EarMen’s ST-Amp DAC/headphone amp.
- Full test of D’Agostino’s Progression S350 power amp has the power to drive any speakers you might choose. 

In teh June issue Hi-Fi News:

In music this month: Join our roadtrip on Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, our Vinyl Icon (p82), while Steve Sutherland tracks down the cover story of The Ruts’ The Crack, recently re-released on 180g vinyl.

Plus much much more!

In the May issue of Hi-Fi News…

Crafted in celebration of Audio-Technica’s Diamond anniversary, the AT-ART20 blends MC sound quality with MM tracking prowess.

From The Netherlands’ PrimaLuna comes this all-tube MM/MC phono preamp – a glowing
performance,

Released in 1984, Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain is our Vinyl Icon, while Steve Sutherland lifts the lid on the Small Faces’ eponymous second album, re-available on 180g vinyl.

And so much more!

In the April issue of H-iFi News:

There’s nothing fishy about the longevity of Manley’s Jumbo Shrimp/Mahi tube pre/power combo. We haul in our nets.

German engineering at its slickest is on show in Lumin’s T3 – the brand’s most accessible network-attached server solution.

A fusion of rock and electronica, New Order’s Low-life is our Vinyl Icon, while Steve Sutherland reveals the fractured relationships behind CSN&Y as Déjà Vu is re-released on 180g vinyl.

And much more!

In the March issue:

Reviews: An in-depth review of ifi Audio’s NEO Stream, a super-flexible digital hub.

Tested: Boulder puts the ‘bold’ into amplification with its 866 integrated, we test it with its digital module.

Music: ‘Only possibly from this planet’, Grace Jones’ ‘Nightclubbing’ is our Vinyl Icon, while Steve Sutherland reveals the ‘guns for hire’ on Steely Dan’s ‘Can’t Buy A Thrill’, on 180g vinyl.

And so much more!

Lockdown allowed many music lovers to rediscover the joys of physical media, and the vinyl LP in particular. No longer rushing from place to place, listening ‘on the fly’, more people were enticed by the intricacies of album art and the ritual of slipping a precious platter from its sleeve, savouring the expectant hush that heralds a stylus dropping into the groove. Sales of turntables, arms and cartridges improved but it was vinyl’s overtake of CD that had its foot put firmly on the gas. 2021 saw the gap close but 2022 was the first year since 1987 that LPs outsold CDs. Naturally we’re not the only interested party reporting on this boost to the vinyl resurgence, so it’s important to stress we are talking about sales value and not volume here. Record companies deal in cold, hard dollars…

While we always go the extra mile to ensure your favourite hi-fi magazine is the first to bring you in-depth reviews of the latest high-end gear, neither should we forget that the very best back-to-basics separates often have competitive lifespans that extend beyond a decade. The Nagaoka cartridge and Simaudio integrated amp featured in this issue are perfect examples of long-lived success. 

So while we double-down on Wilson Audio’s new Alexia V – previewed to the general press en masse before being setup by brand ambassador Peter McGrath
in HFN’s listening room for our exclusive review – we’re also getting reacquainted with these two stalwarts of the hi-fi scene.

SME is another brand deservedly famous for the longevity of its products, so new SME turntables are almost guaranteed to send a ripple through the vinyl-loving
community. Naturally, we were delighted to have the very first sample of SME’s Model 12 MK2 on our photographic bench before a press release had even
been written…

CD is now as much a ‘legacy’ format as the venerable LP. Some of our readers may well have owned a Philips CD380 – the star of this month’s Vintage Review, and a great deal of us still get a lot of listening pleasure from the little ’ol silver disc. We regularly get mails from readers who are returning to CD having switched off the ‘streaming experience’. Part of this is surely the lack of ‘ritual’ about playing locally stored downloads or snagging fi les from the cloud, but it’s also a reflection of the fact that so much of the 24-bit potential of ‘modern digital’ goes unrealised.This month’s hi-res album choice is a 16-bit CD file and yet its practical dynamic range is exceptional. There’s life in the old format yet!

In this issue: As two exemplars of the science and art of loudspeaker design, DALI’s KORE and YG Acoustics’ Cairn new models have more in common than you might expect. Our reviews have the inside story on both designs with our in-house lab testing by way of further insight, so dive in and relish the diversity of modern hi-fi design. PS Audio’s top-of-therange monoblock amplifiers (and the last to have been penned by the late Bascom H King) make a fabulous partner for either loudspeaker. See inside for more!

There are occasions, possibly just once in a lifetime, where an event of such momentous, historic importance stops us in our tracks. Wherever we were, whatever we were doing, these are the rare moments that become indelibly imprinted upon our personal and collective memories. For many of us, Thursday the 8th September 2022 will be that day. Early that morning the great and good of the hi-fi industry had begun to arrive at the Ascot Grandstand, home to the UK Hi-Fi Show Live in September, And then, in early evening, the devastating news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. An extraordinary 70 years of constancy, of service to the nation. It was the end of the second Elizabethan era. Everyone at Hi-Fi News extends their condolences to the Royal Family. The UK Hi-Fi Show Live will return to Ascot in 2023.

Your October issue of Hi-Fi News has expanded into a bumper 172-page offering where, as the exclusive UK member of EISA’s Hi-Fi Expert Group, we can reveal the cream of the crop, as tested, judged and voted for by the most respected quarters of the international audio press.

We typically consider the music of our formative years to be ‘the best of all time’, so too do we look back with similar affection at the hi-fi separates that tempted us in that same period. Looking back, hi-fi ’s boom years loosely corresponded with the span of The Beatles’ career, levelling off during the 1970s-1990s. So when our US columnist, Barry Willis, cites 1980s hi-fi as his vintage ‘sweet spot’ [see p113] there’ll be fans in equal number rooting for hardware from every other era.

We’ll have one of the largest displays of pristine vintage audio assembled at our UK Hi-Fi Show Live in Sept, so if you want to revisit those cherished memories, grab a fast-track ticket (https:// hifi showlive2022.eventbrite. co.uk) and avoid the queues!

Naturally, we’re all very excited at the prospect of meeting so many of you again at our own UK Hi-Fi Show Live, hosted at the Ascot Grandstand on Sept 10-11th. You can keep tabs
on the top shows via our ‘Events Diary’ at the end of News pages.

In our July issue: Thirty years in the waiting, if not in the making, SME has finally launched its 60th anniversary turntable, albeit delayed for a couple of years by the pandemic. A rare and genuine example of art meeting precision engineering, the smooth curves of the Model 60 cleverly disguise its 65kg bulk.

Also in the news this month are the floorstanding LS60Ws from KEF, described as ‘the first Single Apparent Source wireless system’. KEF’s 12th
generation Uni-Q driver has its treble dome in the throat of the peripheral midrange driver and shares the same acoustic centre.

Music: Defining the Motown sound – The Supremes’ Where Did Our Love Go is our Vinyl Icon. Steve Sutherland samples the triple-LP Build The Ark from
The Upsetters, now on 180g vinyl.

And much more!

Some highlights from the June issue of Hi-Fi News, available now!:

PS Audio has not been short of both positive expectation and forecasts of a fall in the long – very, very long – gestation of its first loudspeaker. As it turns
out, the aspen FR30 is no vanity project, for not only does it sing very sweetly but it pretty much sets the standard for man-sized floorstanders at, and
comfortably above, its £28k asking price. To all those dyed-in-the-wool speaker brands who have deservedly ruled the roost for decades... watch out!

Plus:
Two little steps to vinyl heaven with Exposure’s VXN MM/MC phono preamp and outboard VXN PSU

Aurender’s N200 network-connected streamer allows you to install your own storage for a full music library experience

Soundtrack to a movie that spoke to a new generation – Cliff Richard’s The Young Ones is our Vinyl Icon
 
Steve Sutherland gets spritual with Pharoah Sanders’ Africa, now on 180g LP

Ans so much more!

As hi-fi shows re-open and audiophiles can again look, touch and hear those rare breeds of our hi-fi world, we have a report from Florida, Montréal next and, of course, Munich’s seminal High End after that. We are also beginning our ‘sneak previews’ from the Ascot Grandstand as key brands start their preparations for our own UK Hi-Fi Show Live in September.

In this issue we look at the over 400 new releases have been revealed for Record Store Day on 23rd April, including albums from the likes of Taylor Swift, Alice Cooper, Joni Mitchell, Steve Hackett and even Motorhead. There are two new offerings from the Bowie estate, the Brilliant Adventure and Toy EPs, both on vinyl and CD. This 15th annual RSD is particularly special, not only for the breadth of content slated to arrive, but also because it marks the return of a truly physical retail event following the RSD ‘Drops’ that were imposed by Covid lockdowns.

A note from the editor. As this month’s cover star is, as hinted, the partnering tri-chassis’d Relentless Preamp – reassuringly heavy at 60kg as befits a member of the Relentless clan. It’s clearly a work of passion, as my interview with Dan explains [p43], and it’s still absent the dedicated phono stage and digital streaming module – yet is this the line-only preamp to rule them all? I’ll let Ken Kessler have the first and last word on this, starting on p40. Meanwhile, the stunning Wilson Alexx Vs and Transparent Gen 6 cables had never left our room [HFN Jan ’22] – it’s by far the costliest system we’ve savoured. Sadly, they want it back.

If 2021 provided us a little more ‘positivity’ than the annus horribilis that was 2020 then, by this circumspect scale, the artisans who press our vinyl will surely be popping more than a few corks in January 2022. The first week of the New Year typically sees the BPI (British
Phonographic Industry) reporting its statistics on just how, and by how much, we’ve been consuming our music media. Now, I’m writing this before Big Ben once again strikes up its familiar chime, but the runes look very good for sales of the black stuff. By all accounts it
seems in excess of fi ve million units (albums) were purchased in the UK throughout 2021, an increase of eight percent on 2020 and the 14th consecutive year of growth since the ‘vinyl revival’ kicked off in 2007. In Vinyl Release Steve Sutherland considers the legacy of Cat Stevens’ 1971 LP, Teaser & The Firecat, now on 180g. We discuss The Hi-Fi News Pledge - Why you can trust our reviews. We review, MBL Noble N11/N15 - German-made pre/power amps with an artisan spin on Class D have no shortage of slam or subtlety.

As the nights get a little longer, audiophiles across the land will be settling down for an evening’s music-making with their fave LPs and hi-res streams. And while you are surrounded by stereo what better than a copy of Hi-Fi News by your side?

How much?! That’s not an uncommon response to the price tag hanging from more than a few of the very high-end audio
products that have featured in Hi-Fi News over the years. The
£137k Engström ERIC Encore tube amps [HFN Nov ’21] raised
a shackle or two [see p119] but I remember even greater outrage
greeting the arrival of Naim Audio’s Statement NAC/NAP S1
preamp/monoblocks [HFN Jun ’15] at £155k, now £179k. The debate about the cost of these very limited edition pieces, all typically comprising years of product development, countless staff payroll hours, custom components and requiring unique tooling, will rumble
on. Our cover stars this month, the astonishing-looking, fabulous-sounding and backbreakingly heavy NHB-468 from Swiss brand darTZeel will doubtless spray more jet fuel onto the fi re [see p40].

MUSIC: George Michael’s fi rst solo album, Faith, is our Vinyl Icon (p84), while Steve Sutherland recounts a career cut short by tragedy as Kirsty MacColl’s Kite reappears on 180g vinyl (p82) 

PLUS: Hi-Fi News & RR is the UK’s representative of EISA’s Hi-Fi Expert
Group. Editor Paul Miller took over as EISA’s President in June 2016.

Welcome audiophiles, enthusiasts, music fans and lovers of all things luxury, to our annual Yearbook. There's absolutely no global shortage of audio goodies as Hi-Fi News & Record Review celebrate the hardware that inspired our senses and the music that sustained our souls and sanity throughout 2021.

In this issue of HiFi news:
- Instantly recognisable despite decades of subtle evolution –Exposure’s new 3510 integrated proves that old school still rocks, p56. 
- With custom streamer, DAC, phono preamp and power amps
on board, Cambridge Audio’s Evo 150 is a true pocket rocket. See p52.
- Music: Radiohead take control with their third release, OK Computer, our
Vinyl Icon (p82), while Steve Sutherland pitches into Metallica’s The Black Album now available on 180g vinyl (p80)
- Hi-Fi News & RR is the UK’s representative of EISA’s Hi-Fi Expert Group. Editor Paul Miller took over as EISA’s President in June 2016

This issue of Hi-Fi News has expanded into a bumper 172-page offering where, as the exclusive UK member of EISA’s Hi-Fi Expert Group, we can reveal the cream of the crop, as tested, judged and voted for by the most respected quarters of the international audio press. This issue is packed full of Vinyl, Record and Product reviews. Steve Sutherland goes inside Abbey Road Studios and Johnny Sharp tells the story behind the making of some of the world’s most famous record sleeves.

"Like the fabled rolling stone that gathers no moss, Boulder’s massive amplifiers do a fairly convincing job of rolling over any lightweight competition en route to delivering a speaker-crushing sound. Our cover stars this month are exemplars of heavyweight, component-dense, audio engineering and are
about as far from the minimalist audiophile aesthetic as it’s possible to get. I hope you all enjoyed our cover design this month. I can’t vouch for the geology of the rocks but I can confirm that the stars are from the Colorado night sky. We like to go the extra mile at Hi-Fi News! In our definitive product reviews we look at the Boulder 1110/1160. Meet this month’s cover star – a doughty double-act of a pre/power whose sound ensures your money buys you more than macho looks. In news this month we have the DS Audio’s more affordable ‘optical’ pick-up, Dynaudio updates Emit speakers, Roksan unwraps Attessa separates, Klipsch’s Forte IV speaker, Auralic revamps Altair streamer/DAC. Plus much more!"

In an era of fake news and product reviews of uncertain provenance it’s reassuring to know that Hi-Fi News is not only the ‘Home of Real Hi-Fi’ but it’s also a high-end magazine where hi-fi is tested and reviewed for real. This is our pledge to the HFN readership, and a bond we will never break. While I’m on the subject of duty of care to our fellow audiophiles, I must reluctantly confirm the postponement of this year’s Hi-Fi Show Live to the weekend of 10th/11th September 2022. Although the UK’s only high-end audio event also offers vastly more open space and fresh air at the Ascot Grandstand than an old-school show in a crumbling hotel, your safety and – as important – your confidence in your safety takes precedence. Listening to amazing systems and enjoying seminars without the stress of social distancing is vital, so I remain committed to bringing you all a bigger and brighter UK Hi-Fi Show Live next year when we can meet and celebrate, and relax. And when we do, it will still be the biggest party the UK hi-fi industry has ever thrown! This month we have news on Limited edition anniversary amplifier from Luxman, Grado revisits Prestige Series ’phones, Q Acoustics expands its active speaker range, Vertere unveils hand-built MM cartridge. Mike Barnes talks to those working in the music industry about how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the ways they make music and in our definitive product reviews we look at the PMC fact fenestria, Flagship speaker packs a quartet of piston bass drivers and vibration control like that used in earthquake zones... Hold on to your seats! Plus much more. 

New materials, and material technologies, are keenly anticipated in many quarters of our hi-fi industry. If there’s a way that an unusual metal, native or alloy, can be incorporated into a cable or connector then our hobby will find a way. Same goes for novel semiconductors, power transistor substrates or tube variants. But if there’s one quarter of hi-fi’s commonwealth of components that’s more keenly influenced by new materials then that’s in the land of loudspeakers. This month in News, Rogers reveals active subwoofer for LS3/5A, Rotel revamps 14 and 15 Series amps, headphone-centric Uniti Atom from Naim, Astell&Kern;’s SE180 with plug-in DAC modules. In our Definitve Product reviews we look at the Magico A5, It’s the sound of beryllium domes and ‘Graphene Nano-Tec’ cones as we hear the preeminent speaker in the California company’s A series. We take a look into Thorens TD 124 DD.Big-ticket deck evokes the spirit of the fabled TD 124 from 1957, but uses a direct-drive motor. What gives? 

Happy birthday to us, as this month or, more correctly, this issue we are 65 years young. Was it really that long ago we were just 21 [see p128] Hi-Fi News has published uninterrupted from its arrival at the newsstands in June 1956, before growing to support, inform and entertain tens of thousands of eager audiophile subscribers from all over the world.           
This month, in 'News', Wilson Audio’s ‘all-new’ speaker with Chronosonic DNA, Cambridge Audio reveals Evo range, JBL takes wraps off retro-styled 4309 speaker, new look for Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation. In our Definitive Product Reviews, amongst others, we have the MBL Radialstrahler 101 E MkII. Does a pulsating sphere make for the perfect loudspeaker? Prepare for sound in the round as we hear omnidirectional speakers to die for. The latest Classé Delta series preamp and monoblock power amps have also been keenly anticipated since they were unveiled at our own Hi-Fi Show Live in 2017. At the time Classé was still part of the B&W product family (another story altogether, elaborated upon by Brand Director, Dave Nauber on p47) and these amplifiers had been developed and ‘voiced’ using the B&W 800 series speakers that also form the backbone of our own system here at Hi-Fi News. These amplifiers are more than capable of squeezing great sound out of a piece of damp string – they will drive any loudspeaker – but if such a thing as system synergy exists [see TEN review, HFN Apr ’21] then it was very much alive and well with this combination. Spectacular sound, as always within these pages, from two very different hi-fi universes. It’s a cosmos we’ll continue to explore, together, for many years to come!

Passion is the fuel, and source of inspiration, that drives much of the enthusiasm and innovation within our very specialised quarter of the broad ‘audio’ community. We audiophiles are a fastidious lot – we love our music and we love the kit that makes our music come alive at home. It’s a recipe we’ve all come to appreciate even more over the last year, for obvious reasons. In this months 'News' pages, Goldmund launches £175k SACD player, a just-add-speakers solution from T+A, Focal updates Clear cans, Kudos Cardea speakers reworked, Paradigm unveils new speaker range. We have insider comment on the hot audio topics of the day from Barry Fox, Andrew Everard, Jim Lesurf, Steve Harris and, from the US, Barry Willis. 

"Are you a one-brand audiophile or are you tempted to ‘mix it up’ and combine seemingly disparate products in the quest for a sound that’s mightier than its parts? Judging by our postbag, and bearing in mind that our in-depth reviews predominantly focus on singular items, a pre/power combo or perhaps a turntable with arm and cartridge, then, yes, I’d hazard a guess that most of us are enjoying great music from a diverse pool of separates.Naturally, the investigative reviews you enjoy in Hi-Fi News are also informed by, and help inform, the performance of one component with likely partners. For example, the combination of Melco/dCS front-end with Constellation amplifiers and B&W 800 D3 floorstanders – all very solidly-engineered and fine- sounding in their own right – is significantly more harmonious when they pull together as a complete system in the HFN listening room.
So the ‘art’ of system matching is perhaps something we should celebrate more enthusiastically. To start the ball rolling, this month we have a truly ‘artisan’ system from two ostensibly contrasting brands, separated by geography, but joined by a common passion. Our story begins on p40. "

"Another month under the cosh of ‘the thing that shall not be named’ has not prevented us from curating another fabulous collection of hi-fi hardware to take our minds off what’s beyond the front door. Our cover star this month comes courtesy of Florida’s Valve Amplification Company, better known as VAC. In News this month we have the Most affordable Reference tube power amp from ARC, iFi Audio’s gloss red DAC/headphone amp, new HDI speakers from JBL, and digitally-equipped amp from Mola. In opinion, we have Insider comment on the hot audio topics of the day from Barry Fox, Andrew Everard, Jim Lesurf, Steve Harris and, from the US, Barry Willis. There’s also more to anticipate, and set your musical chops salivating, in our guide
to everything from brand new albums to curated box sets [p24]. There’s no shortage of big and brilliant releases coming your way in 2021, so keep reading Hi-Fi News, keep listening to your hi-fi and, above all, keep safe..."

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Since its launch in June 1956 - two years before the commercial realisation of stereo - Hi-fi News & Record Review has been delivering insightful reviews of the key products and technologies that fire the passion of listening to music on the very best equipment available to the enthusiast.  Every issue, we deliver uniquely in-depth analysis and opinion on high-end audio and AV equipment, including the best in vinyl replay and iconic vintage gear from the early days of audio. It is essential reading for anyone passionate about sound.

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Hi-Fi News - February 2021

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