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Audiophile Vinyl

Audiophile: Vinyl, April 2020

Ken Kessler | May 18, 2020

This month we review: Yes, The Beatles, Dire Straits and Tina Turner.

Audiophile Digital

Audiophile: Digital, April 2020

Ken Kessler | May 18, 2020

This month, we review: Lynn Anderson, Argent, Cantus and Bob Dylan

Rock

Rock, April 2020

Johnny Black | May 18, 2020

This month we review: Fassine, Son Little, Seth Lakeman and Pavey Ark.

Jazz

Jazz, April 2020

Steve Harris | May 18, 2020

This month we review: Viktoria Tolstoy, Pablo Held, Sergio Mendes and Jim Rattigan's Pavillon.

Classical

Classical, April 2020

Christopher Breunig | May 18, 2020

This month we review: Royal Fireworks, Beethoven, Ravel and Karl Münchinger

Loudspeakers

Focal Chora 826 Loudspeaker

Review: David Price, | May 15, 2020

As Focal replaces its Chorus range of high-value speakers with a new Chora lineup, we test the flagship floorstander

Time waits for no one – especially if you're a speaker manufacturer. Focal knows this, and will regularly refresh its ranges to maintain its competitiveness. That said, the popular entry-level Chorus lineup [HFN Jun '08] has held sway for longer and only now is it superseded by the high-value Chora range.

Vinyl Icons

Ian Dury: New Boots & Panties!!

Johnny Black | May 15, 2020

Peppered with provocative lyrics and a cast of often nightmarish characters, this debut offered a snapshot of late-'70s Britain in all its gritty glory. Yet the catchy tunes delivered with a helping of music hall mischief means it still stands as one of rock's most original LPs

Towards the end of 1977 punk rock had taken hold in the UK in a big way and, for older and established musicians, this was a party to which they had not been invited. For David Bowie the best solution was to relish his individuality, which prompted the advertisement strapline for his LP Heroes: 'There's Old Wave. There's New Wave. And Then There Is David Bowie'. The same could have been said about the 35-year-old Ian Dury, whose music had always stood outside prevailing musical trends and whose first solo album New Boots And Panties!!, was one of that year's most original statements.

Pre/Power Amplifiers

Luxman CL-1000 Preamplifier

Review: Ken Kessler, | May 14, 2020

Continuing its modern take on traditional Japanese purist amplification, Luxman finally offers a MM/MC phono/line preamp partner for its ultra-retro MQ-300 valve amplifier

Just over three years ago I had my first taste of cost-no-object Luxman [HFN Nov '16] in an achingly long time. The company has had its ups-and-downs, but fortunately its new owners – IAG, home to Quad, Wharfedale, Audiolab and Castle Acoustics – realise what a plum brand Luxman is, so it was expected that the flagship MQ-300 power amplifier which so charmed me would be followed by a worthy preamp. Enter the alluring CL-1000, at £16,000 a grand more than the power amp and looking every penny of its price.

Vinyl Release

Symarip: Skinhead Moonstomp

Steve Sutherland | May 14, 2020

A song with a kick, but for all the wrong reasons, as Steve Sutherland reassesses a ska album from 1970, which has recently been re-released on 180g vinyl

We could begin with Plato, or even Aristotle, but Oscar Wilde it is. In his 1889 essay, The Decay Of Lying, the great man took umbrage with the Greeks' philosophy of mimesis which said that all true art mimics nature. On the contrary, quoth Oscar, 'Life imitates art' and that is roughly how it felt – very roughly as it happens – one sunny Saturday lunchtime in April, 1972, when I got my head kicked in.

From the Vault Loudspeakers

High Caliper

Martin Colloms, | May 13, 2020 | First Published: May 01, 1987

With the latest Apogee, ribbon technology comes in a more affordable package. Ken Kessler's assessment follows Martin Colloms' review

The US company Apogee has expanded its range of open-panel loudspeakers, which began with the Apogee model itself. This was a large-scale design using three separate diaphragms, with pure aluminium ribbons for frequencies above a few hundred Hertz. Three other models are now in production, comprising, in descending order of size and price, the Scintilla [HFN Sep '85], Duetta, and now the so-called 'baby' of the group, the £2500 Caliper.

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