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Johnny Cash: Hot And Blue
Mike Barnes  |  Oct 04, 2022
Featuring original songs 'I Walk The Line' and 'Folsom Prison Blues', the 1957 debut album from the American singer laid the first foundations for a near 50-year career as The Man In Black. Not bad for a 25-year-old former vacuum cleaner salesman...

One of the legends of American music, Johnny Cash's place in the record industry was hard-won. Born in 1932 in Kingsland in rural Arkansas, he grew up picking cotton on his father's farm and graduated to working on a car assembly line, before eventually joining the US air force in 1950 and serving in Germany as a radio operator at Landsberg airbase.

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Pre/Power Amplifiers
Engström ARNE Tube Amplifier
Review: Andrew Everard,  |  Oct 03, 2022
hfnoutstandingEngström's pursuit of the 'pure Scandinavian Sound' reaches its peak in the ARNE amplifier – a triode tube amplifier that takes aim at solid-state competition

This isn't our first encounter with the valve amplification from Swedish company Engström, the ERIC Encore power amps [HFN Oct '21] lighting our blue touch paper of interest. The ARNE integrated amplifier, its 'entry-level' offering, is quite possibly an amp best suited to what comedy writer Danny Robins made famous as 'The Cold Swedish Winter', it also doubling as potent heat source. The curvaceous glass cover protecting the pairs of power triodes gets very warm indeed, so this amp needs plenty of 'fresh air'.

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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, September 2022
Andrew Everard  |  Sep 30, 2022
This month we review and test releases from: Nash Ensemble, Reynaldo Hahn/Pavel Kolesnikov, Morten Schantz Trio, Gasoline Lollipops and Kalaha & Hilal Kaya With The Aarhus Jazz Orchestra.
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HeadphonesOutboard DACs
iFi Audio xDSD Gryphon Headphone Amp/USB DAC
Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Sep 29, 2022
hfncommendedReplacing both the xCAN and xDSD, iFi Audio describes the xDSD Gryphon as its most ambitious portable headphone amplifier yet. Is this another boost to the success story?

Since launching in 2012, iFi Audio has established a reputation for delivering affordable, compact, often portable audio products. And at some pace too – looking back over the past decade, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed by the number of devices the company has released. Not all are entirely 'new', because iFi Audio likes to 'tweak' its products, which is why the xDSD Gryphon tested here follows the EISA Award-winning xDSD DAC [HFN Jul '18], and also serves as a successor to the xCAN [HFN Feb '19].

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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl, September 2022
Ken Kessler  |  Sep 27, 2022
This month we review: Carole King, Andy Bey, Jamiroquai and John McLaughlin.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital, September 2022
Ken Kessler  |  Sep 27, 2022
This month, we review: The Mothers, The Church, Marianne Faithfull With Warren Ellis and Foxfeather.
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Rock
Rock, September 2022
Mike Barnes  |  Sep 27, 2022
This month we review: Sun's Signature, The Dream Syndicate, Pure Reason Revolution and Shearwater.
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Jazz
Jazz, September 2022
Steve Harris  |  Sep 27, 2022
This month we review: Lynne Arriale Trio, Fergus Mccreadie, Opus 5 and The Pucciarelli Group.
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Classical
Classical, September 2022
Peter Quantrill  |  Sep 27, 2022
This month we review: Peter Donohoe, BBC SO/Sakari Oramo, Michelle Cann, New York Youth SO/Michael Repper, Vicky Chow and Lisette Oropesa, Dresdner Phil/Daniel Oren.
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Loudspeakers
Perlisten Audio R7t Loudspeaker
Review: Mark Craven,  |  Sep 26, 2022
hfnoutstandingNo mere trickledown, the R7t floorstander inherits a full flood of technology from its flagship stablemate

Shoppers are always on the hunt for a bargain, so anything labelled 'half-price' attracts attention. Okay, that usually applies more to supermarket biscuits than floorstanding loudspeakers, but with Perlisten's R7t selling for £8100 – pretty much half that of the American company's flagship S7t [HFN Apr '22], while looking strikingly similar – it immediately appears a potential bargain. On the other hand, there must be changes behind the scenes for the price tag to have dropped so much, so the question becomes, will it sound only 'half as good'?

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