LATEST ADDITIONS

Peter Quantrill,  |  Apr 25, 2024
This month we review and test releases from: Carducci Quartet, Ross Pederson, Gustaf Ljunggren/Emil De Waal, Mikyung Sung and Barre Phillips.
Review: Tim Jarman,  |  Apr 23, 2024
hfnvintageRising phoenix-like from the ashes of Deltec Precision Audio in 1992, the 'continuity brand' DPA retained designer Robert Watts' flair for innovation. How does it fare today?

The story of DPA is not uncommon among small and specialised hi-fi manufacturers. Arriving in 1992, it actually represented the second iteration of a company co-founded by Robert Watts (who has since gone on to be digital design consultant at Chord Electronics). And while Deltec Precision Audio, which debuted in 1984 with its CTA80 preamplifier, had ultimately shut up shop in the early '90s, the ideas behind its original models clearly had some merit – it was soon back with Watts onboard, albeit under a slightly different name.

Review: Andrew Everard,  |  Apr 22, 2024
hfnoutstandingThere's more to this slender, stylish Italian floorstander than striking wood veneers as trickledown hits the target

Think Sonus faber, and the chances are you'll imagine speakers with luxurious finishes and price tags to match. After all, the company used the 2024 CES event to roll out its Suprema speaker system, comprising two main 'towers' and two subwoofers, with a £695,000 price tag. But such lofty ambition also brings the option of 'trickling down' new technologies to less expensive models, including the £2999 Lumina V Amator floorstander we have here.

Review: Paul Miller,  |  Apr 19, 2024
hfnedchoiceAudiophiles are assaulted by a fog of noise, and not just from the Internet. Chord aims to remove the hash from our wired Ethernet.

Filters, particularly AC mains filters and regenerators, have long been an audiophile staple but the genre has expanded in recent years to accommodate our embrace of digital and streaming audio in particular. With 'high speed' digital transmission comes the prospect of a sea of extraneous noise and interference, from both outside and inside the 'system loop', that washes though our equipment. Jitter in the digital domain and RF-related IM and other distortions are the least of what we understand as the audible consequences of this entirely unwanted hash.

Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Apr 18, 2024
hfnoutstandingInspired by the diminutive and still current Accordo, the Goldberg variation features a larger cabinet and bass/mid driver, and integral crossover. Is bigger always better?

Odd though this might sound, it bothers me when PM gives me a sequence of exceptional loudspeakers to review. Can there really be that many miraculous designs, one after the other – or am I growing soft? Following models from DeVore Fidelity [HFN Aug '23] and Wilson Audio [HFN Sep '23], and reborn LS3/5As, I find myself with a new Franco Serblin speaker that has rocked my world. The Accordo Goldberg could be, overall, the best yet to come out of the fertile brain of the inspirational if, sadly, late designer.

Steve Sutherland  |  Apr 16, 2024
This facility in Auckland is one of the crown jewels of the Kiwi music scene, shaping the sounds of legends while elevating the art of acoustic design. Steve Sutherland explains

One of the more lamentable ailments the world is suffering from right now is donor fatigue, which is what happens – or more accurately, doesn't happen – when people inclined to give to charity give up. There are tons of reasons for the current DF epidemic, not least that belts are getting tighter back home, not to mention the proliferation of desperate causes and a suspicion that not all the funds are going where they should.

Review: Mark Craven,  |  Apr 15, 2024
hfnoutstandingThe third and final component in Audiolab's three-strong 9000 series has landed – an app-driven network DAC with balanced outs. But what, if any, is the Lumin connection?

Arriving to crown Audiolab's top-flight 9000 series, which launched with the 9000A integrated amplifier and 9000CDT CD transport [HFN Aug '23], the 9000N is arguably the most intriguing model in the range. This streaming DAC, priced at £2499, and styled to match, marks a point of departure for the brand as its association with DTS Play-Fi is cut in favour of a new streaming platform and app.

Martin Colloms  |  Apr 12, 2024  |  First Published: Jul 01, 1993
hfnvintageMiniature components claiming high-end performance... Martin Colloms hears French company Micromega's Microdrive, Variodac and Microamp

Sitting in a neat stack on the desk in front of me as I write, the subjects of this review remind me of those pretty Toshiba Aurex units of yesteryear [HFN Apr '16]. There are three Micromega components in all: the Microdrive CD transport (an improbably small device, this); the Variodac, comprising a Bitstream digital-to-analogue converter with remote power volume control and an additional line input; and finally, the Microamp, a neat-looking stereo power amplifier block.

Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Apr 11, 2024
hfnoutstandingThis Slovakian design and production facility takes pride in its tube selection, in-house PCB 'milling' and other innovations. Here's the new flagship 'Premium Line' integrated

Canor Audio, based in Slovakia, is certainly not the most famous of hi-fi brands, but has been around for longer than many will realise. And, cunningly, it sidesteps the minefield of online rage surrounding tube versus solid-state amplification by manufacturing hybrid amps, a solid-state design, and fully fledged tube products. Canor is clearly smart enough to hedge its bets.

Mike Barnes  |  Apr 10, 2024
The teenage singer with the vibrato soprano shunned the commercial trappings of a major label deal to record this stripped-back collection of traditional folk songs, launching a career that would later see her performing at the White House...

In July 1959, aged just 18, Joan Baez played at the first Newport Folk Festival at Freebody Park, Rhode Island, and created an instant reaction. Coming off the stage she was approached by newspapers, the student press and Time magazine, who all wanted to speak to the unknown teenager with the astonishing pure soprano voice and who had duetted on a few songs with singer, guitarist and banjo player Bob Gibson.

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