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Vinyl Release
Television: Marquee Moon
Steve Sutherland  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Oct 01, 2024

Although ostensibly a band album, Television’s 1977 debut owes much to the vision of frontman Tom Verlaine. Steve Sutherland tunes in as the 180g reissue drops

There’s a quote attributed to Brian Eno that says: ‘The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band’. Television’s Marquee Moon is a bit like that. Very few people bought it and although it was such a complex curate’s egg that I doubt many bands formed because of it, the album is famous for being one of the most written-about, talked-about and lauded albums of all time.

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Disc Players
Rotel Michi Q5 CD player/DAC
Review: Mark Craven,  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingStyled to match its amplifier siblings, the latest member of Rotel’s flagship Michi family combines a custom-made top-loading CD transport with USB input and DAC stage

Rotel has crowned its new Michi Q5 a 'Transport DAC', which strikes us as a somewhat vague description of what is, first and foremost, a CD player. Yes, it has digital inputs to make wider use of its onboard DAC, plus digital outputs, but just one glance at the Q5's distinctive top-loading drive mechanism – plus the fact it resides under the 'CD player' tab on Rotel's website – tells you this is a unit primarily aimed at silver disc lovers.

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Pre/Power Amplifiers
Audio Research REF 330M tube monoblock
Review: Andrew Everard,  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
hfnoutstanding

Debuted at the UK Hi-Fi Show Live 24, Audio Research’s new flagship monoblocks are not quite its most powerful ever, but are the first to feature the mighty KT170 output tubes

The latest arrival from US high-end brand Audio Research Corp., the Reference 330M monoblock amplifier (£92,000 per pair) may not quite be the most powerful amp the company has ever built, but by any standards a rated output of 330W – into 4ohm or 8ohm speaker loads – is going some for an amplifier using tube technology. Indeed, it will come as something of an eye-opener for those still subscribing to the belief that for the purity of the valve sound – or whatever else you consider to be the sonic traits of the genre – you must settle for low output power, and start looking for speakers of appropriately high sensitivity.

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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, April 2025
Andrew Everard,  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
This month we review and test releases from: The Tord Gustavsen Trio, Anthony Inglis/NSO, Trichotomy, Agustin Maruri, and Sparks
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Rock
Rock, April 2025
Mike Barnes  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
This month we review: HiFi Sean and David McAlmont, The Delines, Edvard Graham Lewis and Bartees Strange
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Classical
Classical, April 2025
Peter Quantrill  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
This month we review: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Asya Fateyeva, Lithuanian National SO, and Erich Korngold
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Jazz
Jazz, April 2025
Steve Harris  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
This month we review: Misha Mullov-Abbado; Danielsson, Pohjola, Parricelli; Snorre Kirk; and John Patitucci
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital, April 2025
Ken Kessler  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
This month we review: John Cale, Gerry And The Pacemakers, Kim Wilde, and Thom LaFond
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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl, April 2025
Ken Kessler  |  May 02, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025

This month we review: Patrick Leonard, Howard McGhee, Santana, and Truth

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Vintage
Braun PS 450 turntable
Review: Tim Jarman,  |  May 01, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025
hfnvintage

Illustrative of a ‘new wave’ in both the mechanical design and ergonomics of early-1970s turntables, Braun’s fully automatic PS 450 was an idler-drive of some distinction

Braun’s hi-fi activities are little known in the UK, although the company’s Regie 510 and Regie 350 receivers have been featured in previous Vintage Reviews [HFN Jun ’16 & Apr ’17]. At its peak, the Braun hi-fi range was as broad and as sophisticated as that of any rival manufacturer, in addition to the kitchen, personal care and photographic equipment that the company also produced. Unlike some, Braun designed and manufactured its own turntables and these were engineered to the very highest of standards.

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