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Calling Thorens a storied brand might be one of the biggest understatements in hi-fi history. Founded in 1882, it was most recently acquired by former ELAC director Gunter Kürten in 2018, since when it’s been inventing modernised versions of Thorens classics. The TD 404 DD seen here doesn’t have an immediately recognisable ancestor, as was the case with the TD 1600 – which is a modern retread of the iconic TD 160. That said, it does leverage a fair bit of technology from the flagship TD 124 DD [HFN Jul ’21] while also adopting a user-friendly auto arm-lift mechanism.

Two disparate thoughts crossed my mind after a mere two minutes with Aavik’s I-188 integrated amplifier. The first was a whiff of familiarity when I saw that Flemming E. Rasmussen, the semi-retired founder of Gryphon Audio, was involved in Aavik. The other was seeing reports from the AXPONA show in Chicago suggesting there was a discernible boom in high-end integrated amps, especially among older audiophiles who are downsizing, rather than post-Gen-Xers who shun clutte.

The basic design of the G.E.C. model is a conventional reflex-loaded speaker, but several important features are incorporated which materially improve its performance.

From orchestral symphonies to rock ’n’ roll, musicals to jazz, Ken Kessler, Steve Harris and Christopher Breunig bring you 20 landmark releases from the year HFN was born

If hi-fi began in the 1950s, what did it sound like? Judging from the popular albums and recordings of 1956, perhaps not much different to how it sounds now. Yes, the stereo LP was still one or two years away, CDs and streaming were decades off, and no one had heard of punk or electronica, but the staple genres of any audiophile’s collection – rock ’n’ roll, jazz and classical – were established. Billboard’s Top 100 had launched in 1955, albeit as an evolution of earlier forms of ‘best-seller’ lists. Many of the artists who scored high in the charts in 1956 remain major names in hi-fi and music today, finding new fans and listeners through vinyl reissues and streaming releases.