LATEST ADDITIONS

Esoteric Grandioso P1/D1 SACD transport/DAC

Review: Ken Kessler, | Nov 01, 2018

A dedicated stack that forms one of the most expensive digital playback systems on the market, Esoteric’s Grandioso P1/D1 is aimed squarely at fans of the SACD format

Let’s not beat about the bush: alongside the top-of-the-range, multi-chassis dCS Vivaldi pile [HFN Feb ’13] – I can think of no others in this category – the Esoteric P1/D1 combination SACD transport/mono DACs package will lighten your Amex by a worrying £49,500. That breaks down to £33,000 for the two-chassis player/power supply and £16,500 for the mono DACs. Oh, and if you really want to go the whole hog then the Grandioso G1 Master Clock, not supplied here, adds another £23,000.

Disc Players

Kalista DreamPlay ONE CD player

Review: Ken Kessler, | Nov 01, 2018

Streaming – schmeaming: for many audiophiles CD still rules the high-end digital roost and Métronome’s Kalista division has a champion in the new DreamPlay ONE

Despite being an SACD-phile, I am also a realist: in my library, CDs outnumber SACDs by greater than 100-to-1. In the real world, I suspect that CD players outnumber SACD players by a higher ratio still. So, when Métronome brings out a new integrated model – the Kalista DreamPlay ONE with a price of £32,000 – CD-only capability is par for the course.

News

Hi-Fi Show Live 2018

Hi-Fi News Staff | Oct 31, 2018

Saturday 10th to Sunday 11th of November 2018
Advance Tickets Are On Sale Now!

The Hi-Fi Show Live 2018 is a specialty high-end audio event organised by the passionate audiophiles that bring you Hi-Fi News & Record Review magazine every month. The world's oldest and most respected hi-fi magazine knows a thing or two about sound quality, so expect to experience some of the very best demonstrations ever attempted in the UK!

In a refreshing departure from the conventional hotel show format, visitors will be treated to a series of memorable high-end audio events.

Hi-Res Downloads

Jack Johnson : All The Light Above It Too

A. Everard (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Oct 12, 2018

There’s something familiar about this latest album from the surfer-turned-environmental activist, who appears on the cover surrounded by artfully-arranged plastics from the sea. Trouble is, it’s not comfortingly familiar in its continuation of the feel-good Hawaiian-tinged sounds of past offerings. Rather, it’s just more of the same, with Johnson showing little sign of moving on or developing, but instead just resting on his laurels. Or his palm-fronds, or whatever.

Hi-Res Downloads

Gregg Allman : Southern Blood

A. Everard (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Oct 08, 2018

Whether or not it was intended as such, recorded while Allman was suffering from the liver cancer that finally claimed him in 2017 at just 69, Southern Blood serves as a suitable epitaph by combining a self-written opening track with nine takes on songs by friends and acquaintances. There’s a suitably dirty and authentic feel about the set, recorded in FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals and produced by Don Was.

Hi-Res Downloads

Van Morrison : Roll With The Punches

A. Everard (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Oct 05, 2018

Is it just me, or is Van the Man having a bit of an Indian summer, seemingly banging out albums at a remarkable pace? Certainly even at 72 the old boy is showing no signs of slowing down, and this rootsy set of Chicago blues tracks, mixing covers and originals, is one of his strongest offerings of late.

Loudspeakers Vintage

Yamaha NS-1000M loudspeaker

Review: David Price, | Oct 01, 2018

It was an audacious design from a company with no prior reputation for making serious loudspeakers, yet it soon became a landmark product. How does it shape up today?

There's no such thing as the perfect loudspeaker, nor is there ever likely to be one. Most manufacturers don't even try – theirs is a volume business where the trick is to produce a good-sounding product at an affordable price. There's nothing wrong with this, as perfection can often be the enemy of the good. Yet sometimes hi-fi companies do reach for the stars, and attempt to come up with an innovative, no-holds-barred design.

Classical

Classical (October 2018)

Christopher Breunig | Oct 01, 2018