LATEST ADDITIONS

Steve Sutherland | Sep 01, 2018

It was an album the singer hated, while the reaction of the music press was at best lukewarm. All wrong, says Steve Sutherland, who hears the 180g reissue of the LP

'The first time I heard the album, I cried.' It's rare but not entirely unknown for a musician to disown their own work. Lee Mavers wanted nothing to do with his one and only La's LP [HFN Nov '17], claiming the finished article did not represent the melodic visions gambolling in his brain. And Paul McCartney famously baulked at all the lush orchestration Phil Spector lavished on The Beatles' Let It Be.

Loudspeakers

Vivid Audio Kaya 90 loudspeaker

Review: David Price, | Sep 01, 2018

If you've admired Vivid Audio's design philosophy but baulked at its styling, the new Kaya range is for you

Audiophiles can be a conservative bunch. Me, I sometimes feel that if I ever see another wood veneered box loudspeaker I'll attack it with a chainsaw but others of you, I know, prefer the old aesthetic, or at least a modern take on it, to curved, organic cabinet forms – especially if painted in primary colours. For a company like Vivid Audio, which appreciates and exploits the benefits of curved cabinets in respect of structural stiffness and clean diffraction behaviour, this is a problem.

Integrated Amplifiers Outboard DACs

McIntosh MA9000 integrated amplifier/DAC

Review: Andrew Everard, | Sep 01, 2018

Billed as McIntosh’s most powerful integrated amp to date, the mighty MA9000 combines transistors with transformers and a ‘blue’ aesthetic that’s truly timeless

Right, let’s get the ‘and fries to go’ thing out of the way first. If ever a product deserved the title, this is the ‘Big Mac’. Or at least ‘Big Mc’, for the McIntosh MA9000 is huge in every respect, from the sheer bulk of the thing – at least by the standards of most integrated amplifiers – to the 45.8kg fighting weight, increasing to 60.8kg packed, and the £12,995 price tag.

Meet The Team

Paul Miller

Hi-Fi News Staff | Aug 31, 2018

A contributor for 30 years and editor for the last 10, Paul Miller oversaw the return of Hi-Fi News & Record Review to its specialist roots and yellow border and re-established its technical prowess on the world stage. He's tested more hi-fi than anyone in the business. Not bad for an ex-organic chemist. Paul is also the President of EISA.

Meet The Team

Ken Kessler

Hi-Fi News Staff | Aug 31, 2018

Ever wondered how reviewers built up their systems, and what their rooms are like? And how did they develop their reviewing techniques? Welcome to the listening room of the most influential and certainly the most entertaining writer in audio: Ken Kessler

Hi-Res Downloads

Danish String Quartet : Last Leaf

C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Aug 27, 2018

A sequel to their demanding Adès/Nørgård/Abrahamsen ECM album [HFN Dec ’16], this is a self-produced, helpfully annotated 16-track collection of mainly Nordic folk music, arranged by the group and including a reel after Dowland, ‘Shine You No More’, by the leader, Rune Tonsgard Sørenson. To add textural variety, he also plays harmonium, piano and glockenspiel. And cellist/bass player Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin contributes three compositions, ‘Shore’, ‘Intermezzo’ – especially delightful – and the unwinding ‘Naja’s Waltz’ with pizzicato backing. The traditional pieces also include ‘Unst Boat Song’ from the Shetlands and the Faroese ‘Stædelil’.

Hi-Res Downloads

Benny Andersson – : Piano

C. Joseph (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Aug 20, 2018

That sombre cover portrait sets the tone for Benny Andersson’s latest solo project, which consists of 21 tracks from his decades-long career reinterpreted for piano. The mood is generally melancholy, and the album largely concentrates on Andersson’s post-Abba material, including songs written for musicals such as Chess, as well as his current ‘group’ – the Benny Andersson Orkester. Inevitably, though, it’s the handful of familiar Abba classics that stand out. The piano version of ‘My Love, My Life’ lacks the lush harmonies of the original, but the bittersweet melody still shines through.

EISA Awards

EISA Awards 2018 2019

Mark Craven | Aug 14, 2018

The Expert Imaging and Sound Association celebrates the year's most desirable hi-fi hardware Welcome to the EISA Awards for 2018-2019. For over 30 years EISA has been selecting the most innovative, cutting-edge products for its prestigious EISA Awards. The Awards are debated and voted upon by groups of specialist judging panels covering the full spectrum of consumer electronics and photographic products, including Hi-Fi, Home Theatre, In-Car Electronics, Photo, Video and Mobile Devices. Key to the success and relevance of the annual EISA Awards lies in the evolution of its categories, always reflecting the changing trends and technologies of the consumer electronics world.

Hi-Res Downloads

Mavis Stales : If All I Was Was Black

C. Joseph (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Aug 13, 2018

‘This life surrounds you, guns are loaded. . . .

Hi-Res Downloads

Semyon Bychkov & Czech Philharmonic : The Tchaikovsky Project: Manfred Symphony

C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Aug 06, 2018

The time when the Manfred Symphony was cut (Toscanini, Kletzki) or worse, cut and pasted (Ahronovitch), has long gone; and it now seems it was Balakirev who first suggested replacing harmonium with organ in the finale – which nearly all conductors do (Markevitch excepted). In this marvellous recording from Prague’s ample Rudolfinum it’s the way Bychkov integrates all those finale episodes and flashbacks into a coherent whole that impresses most. Back in 1972 a HFN editorial review suggested that Decca’s earlier VPO/Maazel version ‘would be unlikely to be surpassed’ as an orchestral recording – but it clearly is by this one over 45 years later! Bychkov’s is a powerfully dramatic account with a glowing richness missing from Pletnev’s cooler Pentatone Manfred with the Russian National Orchestra, which we also reviewed in this section [Album Choice, HFN Jun ’14]. CB Sound Quality: 90% Hi-Fi News Lab Report Digital throughout (recording, mixing and mastering) and mercifully free of obvious distortion or compression, this file still shows some low-level (<–80dBFs) spuriae, particularly 20kHz-48kHz.

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LATEST ADDITIONS

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