Hi Fi News

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 lie behind our shared hobby... the passion of listening to music on the very best equipment available to the enthusiast. Every issue, Hi-Fi News delivers uniquely in-depth reviews of high-end audio equipment, including the best in vinyl replay and iconic vintage gear from the early days of audio. It is essential reading for all music enthusiasts.

Welcome

HI-FI NEWS’ EXPERT LINE UP: THE FINEST MINDS IN AUDIO JOURNALISM BRING THEIR EXPERIENCE TO BEAR ON ALL AREAS OF HI-FI & MUSIC

Yamaha backs stereo • A TRIO OF TRICKLEDOWN INTEGRATEDS

Contour quartet • NEW ‘I’ SERIES FROM DYNAUDIO

HI-FI NEWS’ NUGGETS

New Niagara • AUDIOQUEST’S COMPACT CONDITIONER

E Glo gets a boost • EAT INTRODUCES ITS FIRST TUBE INTEGRATED

High Voltage preamp • T+A EXPANDS ITS HIGH-END HV RANGE WITH A NEW PREAMP

Give your bass a boost • PSB LAUNCHES A BRACE OF AFFORDABLE SUBWOOFERS

HI-FI NEWS? JUST ASK…

Upcoming Events(?) • DATES FOR YOUR HI-FI DIARY – TO BE CONFIRMED!

Audio Video Show, Prague • Sights and sounds from around the globe

Hi-Fi @ Home revisited • Steve Harris catches up with a reader whose system we featured in 2008 to find out what changes he’s made. But first, here’s the way things were…

HI-FI @ HOME – CATCHING UP 12 YEARS LATER…

Chord Ultima Pre 2/Ultima 2 • The Chord Ultima range has grown from a single pre and power amp, as the tech becomes more affordable. The Ultima 2 models might just give the flagships a scare

THE POWER GAME

JOHN FRANKS

CHORD ULTIMA PRE 2/ULTIMA 2

PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube DAC • PrimaLuna’s minimalist, valve-equipped EVO 100 DAC may seem a throwback to the time when digital only meant CD, but the sonic performance is truly 21st century

THE ‘TUBE CLOCK’

PRIMALUNA EVO 100 TUBE DAC

Scansonic MB5 B • From a new and extended Raidho family these Scansonic floorstanders now benefit from the ‘GamuT touch’

RUNNING THE GAMUT

SCANSONIC MB5 B

Lindemann Musicbook Source & Power 1000 • With multiple inputs, streaming functionality and plenty of power, this elegant and compact system promises consummate convenience and super sound. Does it deliver?

LPCM TRUMPS DSD

LINDEMANN MB SOURCE/1000

Sumiko Pearwood Celebration II • With nearly a half century of MC experience under its corporate belt, Sumiko knows how to optimise pick-up performance: enter the Pearwood, an MC that tracks like an MM

FROM MICRO TO MACRO

SUMIKO PEARWOOD CELEBRTN. II

Bricasti M3 • With trickle-down tech from the flagship M1, a custom DSD DAC plus network and headphone amp options, Bricasti’s M3 looks like the new go-to star of the range

HEADPHONE RETROFIT

BRICASTI M3

T+A Solitaire P • When a company of T+A’s audiophile standing decides, perhaps belatedly, to launch a high-end headphone and spares no effort in its design, the wise sit up and take notice

PRECISION PERFORMANCE

T+A SOLITAIRE P

Arcam CDS50 • Based on Arcam’s ‘FMJ’ CDS27 CD/SACD disc spinner and network audio player, is the more affordable CDS50, complete with new DAC, the brand’s best kept secret?

ARCAM’S APP

ARCAM CDS50

Johannes Brahms The Symphonies • A staple musical diet option for many of us, distasteful to a few, these four works come in a variety of flavours. Christopher Breunig suggests complete and partial choices

ESSENTIAL RECORDINGS

The Bar-Kays Soul Finger • Steve Sutherland relives the fateful night when four of The...