LATEST ADDITIONS

Loudspeakers
Quad Revela 1 Loudspeaker
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Apr 01, 2024
hfnoutstandingQuad's first new speakers in some seven years feature an evolved version of the ribbon tweeter seen in its 'Corner Horn' of 70 years ago. Now, of course, they come in pairs!

For nearly nine years, I have been listening to Quad's ribbon-hybrid S-1 speaker – the brand's smallest two-way box-type system – as part of my day-to-day desktop set-up. When they were launched, I revelled in the realisation that they were a throwback to Quad's first ever loudspeaker, the Corner Ribbon of 1949, and the all-new Revela 1 tells you that the company's boffins, based in the UK and China, haven't been sitting idle since 2015.

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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl, March 2024
Ken Kessler  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month we review: Dr. John, Art Farmer, Madness and Whitesnake.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital, March 2024
Ken Kessler  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month, we review: Bryan Ferry, The Long Ryders, Alice Cooper and Henning Sommerro.
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Rock
Rock, March 2024
Mike Barnes  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month we review: Laetitia Sadier, Black Grape, epic45 and The Fallen Leaves.
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Jazz
Jazz, March 2024
Steve Harris  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month we review: Erskine & Kavuma, Joel Harrison, Ethan Iverson and Rymden.
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Classical
Classical, March 2024
Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month we review: Bergen PO, ET AL/Sir Mark Elder, Bavarian RSO/Bernard Haitink, Bertrand Chamayou and Borys Fedorov, Anna Fedorova, Mikhail & Dana Zemtsov.
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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, March 2024
Andrew Everard  |  Mar 28, 2024
This month we review and test releases from: Daniel Knaggs, Edward Vesala, Inger Marie Gundersen, My Life Story and Amaro Freitas.
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Classical Companion
Olivier Messiaen: Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus
Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 26, 2024
The jazzical nature of this ostensibly religious piano cycle invites an array of approaches that range from reverential grandeur to gaudy showmanship, finds Peter Quantrill

In the summer of 1944, the head of music at French radio asked the 35-year-old Olivier Messiaen, and the Catholic writer Maurice Toesca, for a reflection on the Nativity in words and music, to be broadcast over the Christmas season. Beyond its title, there is nothing very Christmassy about the piano cycle that became Vingt Regards, which may be why Messiaen's contribution was eventually shelved.

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Turntables, Arms & Cartridges
Luxman PD-191A Turntable
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Mar 25, 2024
hfnoutstandingFew brands can match Luxman when it comes to blending traditional engineering values with timeless elegance, and the new PD-191A flagship is an exemplar of the art

There is a coterie of Japanese brands whose products never fail to delight. Along with Air Tight, Denon, SAEC, Stax and a smattering of other high-end producers, Luxman has provided gem after gem, from valve amps of undeniable desirability to great turntables. Luxman's latest flagship deck, the PD-191A, honours the brand's traditional mix of beguiling sound, superior build quality and stunning looks.

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From the VaultPre/Power Amplifiers
ARC Reference Two
Martin Colloms  |  Mar 22, 2024  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2000
hfnvintageMartin Colloms wonders if this all-tube line preamplifier can re-establish Audio Research's supremacy in the exalted reaches of the high-end

As an increasing number of digital source components come equipped with variable output level one might think that line controllers – preamps without a phono cartridge input facility – are an endangered species. This will make sense to those embarking on an all-digital system, mixing a variety of digital sources and prepared to convert from the analogue disc domain to digital via an A/D converter function. Indeed, some digital control units are digital-only and cannot handle analogue signals at all.

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