LATEST ADDITIONS

Loudspeakers
Franco Serblin Accordo Essence Loudspeaker
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Feb 04, 2021
hfnoutstandingAccordo standmount gains a dedicated woofer and larger, floorstanding cabinet. Hey presto: the Essence

No kidding: when I first fired up the Franco Serblin Accordo Essence, I figured it sold for around £20,000, somehow forgetting that the loudspeaker above it – the flagship Ktêma [HFN Sep '20] – cost £25k. Surely they wouldn't price two models so closely? Equally, I failed to recall that the standmount Accordo [HFN Jan '18] from which it is derived sells for only £7500. The pricing, however, illustrates how Massimiliano Favella is sticking to a plan where each model fills a sonic and fiscal gap: the Accordo Essence will set you back £12,998 per pair.

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Investigation
Portraits In Jazz
Barry Fox  |  Feb 02, 2021
Barry Fox on the music books that bring insights into audio

Polymath Humphrey Lyttelton not only played as he pleased, he wrote as he pleased in many excellent books on music, once appealingly disparaging sound engineers he suffered on tour as 'Marconis'. The reason? They couldn't stop fiddling with the controls, so destroying the natural balance of his live band and adding electronic distortion.

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Turntables, Arms & Cartridges
Mark Levinson No5105 Turntable
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Feb 01, 2021
hfnoutstandingMark Levinson's second turntable, the No5105, has been designed to be a painless, all-in-one, 'turnkey' affair – but does it still tick all the high-end boxes?

Like that 'difficult second album', any sequel to the Mark Levinson No515 [HFN Oct '17] has to live up to a heady precedent. At £5799 less cartridge, or £6499 with Ortofon's Quintet Black S MC pick-up installed, the No5105 sells for just over half the price of the No515. While the inclusion of the cartridge does not save any money – certainly not always the case when buying a package – it does remove any set-up worries by being factory-fitted.

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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl, January 2021
Ken Kessler  |  Jan 29, 2021
This month we review: T Rex, Fleetwood Mac, Girl In Gold Boots and Leon Thomas.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital, January 2021
Ken Kessler  |  Jan 29, 2021
This month, we review: Fiona Boyes, Victoria Alexandra With Mike Skid Wroe, Buddy Miles Express and Vanilla Fudge.
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Rock
Rock, January 2021
Mike Barnes  |  Jan 29, 2021
This month we review: Calexico, Coldharbourstores, Jakko M Jakszyk and Smashing Pumpkins.
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Jazz
Jazz, January 2021
Steve Harris  |  Jan 29, 2021
This month we review: Joel Ross, Joshua Jaswon Octet, Django Bates and Dave Brubeck.
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Classical
Classical, January 2021
Christopher Breunig  |  Jan 29, 2021
This month we review: Yves Saelens, Lucile Richardot, Het Collectief/Reinbert De Leeuw, BBC Philharmonic/John Wilson, Ida Ränzlöv, The Mozartists/Ian Page and Philharmonia Orchestra/Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, January 2021
Hi-Fi News Staff  |  Jan 28, 2021
This month we review and test releases from: RLPO/Vasily Petrenko, Don Gruisin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Herbert Blomstedt, Philhofer Jazz Quartet and Robert Dean Smith, Dame Sarah Connolly, Berlin Radio SO/Vladimir Jurowski.
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From the Vault
Reel-To-Reel Recorders
Martin Colloms  |  Jan 27, 2021  |  First Published: Jun 01, 1978
hfnvintageMartin Colloms hears four top-quality open-spool decks

The last year or so has seen the emergence of a new generation of high-quality open-reel tape decks, of which four are investigated here. As the price span ranges from £500-£600 for the Sony and Revox models to £850 for the Technics and £950 for the basic Pioneer assembly, these units are not strictly comparable, although their relative performances are nonetheless interesting.

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