LATEST ADDITIONS

Integrated Amplifiers
Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 Integrated Amplifier
Review: Mark Craven,  |  Sep 07, 2023
hfnoutstandingThis latest nuvistor/bipolar hybrid integrated marks a return of Musical Fidelity's traditional 'no-nonsense belter'. Difficult speakers? This amplifier will drive anything!

The conclusion to our review of Musical Fidelity's original Nu-Vista 800 integrated amplifier [HFN Nov '14] announced: '16 years from now, we'll remember it!'. That was the gap between the manufacturer's first Nu-Vista product, the 1998 Nu-Vista Preamplifier, and its then-new integrated descendant. Yet while our reviewer was so enamoured of MF's tube/solid state powerhouse that he imagined it flying the hybrid amp flag for years to come, it turns out the Nu-Vista 800 was not to last quite that long.

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Vinyl Release
Big Star: #1 Record
Steve Sutherland  |  Sep 06, 2023
This debut record didn't launch the band to stardom, but remains much-loved by fans and the musicians it influenced. Steve Sutherland hears the 180g reissue

A funny thing happens when you get to a certain age and you've had a bit of a past life; people start writing about you. You crop up in their memoirs or they mention your name in interviews and reminiscences. As a rule these things are best avoided, especially if you're thin-skinned about personal criticism, although I can mostly handle the contrary opinions and character assassinations, writing them off as differences of perspective or sour grapes.

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Loudspeakers
DeVore Fidelity O/baby Loudspeaker
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Sep 04, 2023
hfnoutstandingDeVore's 'Orangutan' loudspeaker range now has a funky sibling – the aptly-named O/baby that extends the brand's high sensitivity DNA into a very compact cabinet

Even the name sounds like a clarion call: 'O/baby!', straight out of Austin Powers. It resides 'one from the bottom' in DeVore Fidelity's Orangutan range, with only the minuscule, 25x25x25cm micr/O sealed cube below it. But the O/baby is the one that screams 'Buy me!' at this jaded hack. How so? This trickle-down gem from DeVore, smaller than the O/93 [HFN Mar '23], just may be the answer to my bucket list dreams. Or would be, had I the £6298 for a pair. And £1398 more for the stands.

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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl, August 2023
Ken Kessler  |  Aug 31, 2023
This month we review: Lori Lieberman, Jan Gunnar Hoff, The Preachers and Talk Talk.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital, August 2023
Ken Kessler  |  Aug 31, 2023
This month, we review: Marshall Crenshaw, The Boneshakers, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder and British Mod Sounds Volume 2.
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Rock
Rock, August 2023
Mike Barnes  |  Aug 31, 2023
This month we review: The National, Yes, Baxter Dury and They Watch Us From The Moon.
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Jazz
Jazz, August 2023
Steve Harris  |  Aug 30, 2023
This month we review: Scott Hamilton Quartet, Ingi Bjarni, Donny Mccaslin and Dominic Miller.
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Classical
Classical, August 2023
Peter Quantrill  |  Aug 30, 2023
This month we review: Alexander Melnikov, Les Talens Lyriques/Rousset, David Le Page, Orch of the Swan/ Philip Sheppard and Huelgas Ensemble/Paul Van Nevel.
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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, August 2023
Andrew Everard  |  Aug 28, 2023
This month we review and test releases from: Bobo Stenson Trio, Tamara Stefanovich, WDR SO/Ciaccarini, Rundel, Thom Lafond, Jimmy Regal and the Royals and Caesar Spencer.
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Loudspeakers
Epos ES14N Loudspeaker
Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Aug 25, 2023
hfnoutstandingA mid-'80s audiophile favourite from UK brand Epos is reimagined by the go-to-speaker designer, Karl-Heinz Fink

Revivalist products are in the ascendant, but they range from the dubious, cashing in on nostalgia, to more respectful attempts aiming to recreate something remarkable from yesteryear. Rest assured – the ES14N is firmly positioned in the second category. In fact, it goes one step further by claiming to be both truthful to the design ethos of the original '80s speaker icon, while also improving on it.

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