LATEST ADDITIONS

Mike Barnes  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month we review: Laetitia Sadier, Black Grape, epic45 and The Fallen Leaves.
Steve Harris  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month we review: Erskine & Kavuma, Joel Harrison, Ethan Iverson and Rymden.
Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 29, 2024
This month we review: Bergen PO, ET AL/Sir Mark Elder, Bavarian RSO/Bernard Haitink, Bertrand Chamayou and Borys Fedorov, Anna Fedorova, Mikhail & Dana Zemtsov.
Andrew Everard  |  Mar 28, 2024
This month we review and test releases from: Daniel Knaggs, Edward Vesala, Inger Marie Gundersen, My Life Story and Amaro Freitas.
Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 26, 2024
The jazzical nature of this ostensibly religious piano cycle invites an array of approaches that range from reverential grandeur to gaudy showmanship, finds Peter Quantrill

In the summer of 1944, the head of music at French radio asked the 35-year-old Olivier Messiaen, and the Catholic writer Maurice Toesca, for a reflection on the Nativity in words and music, to be broadcast over the Christmas season. Beyond its title, there is nothing very Christmassy about the piano cycle that became Vingt Regards, which may be why Messiaen's contribution was eventually shelved.

Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Mar 25, 2024
hfnoutstandingFew brands can match Luxman when it comes to blending traditional engineering values with timeless elegance, and the new PD-191A flagship is an exemplar of the art

There is a coterie of Japanese brands whose products never fail to delight. Along with Air Tight, Denon, SAEC, Stax and a smattering of other high-end producers, Luxman has provided gem after gem, from valve amps of undeniable desirability to great turntables. Luxman's latest flagship deck, the PD-191A, honours the brand's traditional mix of beguiling sound, superior build quality and stunning looks.

Martin Colloms  |  Mar 22, 2024  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2000
hfnvintageMartin Colloms wonders if this all-tube line preamplifier can re-establish Audio Research's supremacy in the exalted reaches of the high-end

As an increasing number of digital source components come equipped with variable output level one might think that line controllers – preamps without a phono cartridge input facility – are an endangered species. This will make sense to those embarking on an all-digital system, mixing a variety of digital sources and prepared to convert from the analogue disc domain to digital via an A/D converter function. Indeed, some digital control units are digital-only and cannot handle analogue signals at all.

Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Mar 21, 2024
hfnoutstandingLaunched a little after Halloween, iFi Audio's devilish top-of-the-range portable aims to put a bat up the nightdress of the competition. Are you ready to sell your soul?

With its wide range of portable, battery-powered DACs and headphone amplifiers, few companies have done as much as iFi Audio to improve listening on the hoof. Yet the new iDSD Diablo 2, its latest range-topping model and a replacement for the iDSD Diablo of 2021, pushes the envelope of the mobile DAC/amp genre, both by being far from budget at £1299, and large enough for its manufacturer to deem it more 'transportable' than genuinely 'pocket-size'.

Review and Lab: Paul Miller  |  Mar 19, 2024
hfnedchoiceA cryogenic/demagnetisation process and proprietary piezoelectric crystals lie at the heart of Furutech's 'Clear Line' plugs. We cut through the noise.

Cryogenic treatment is key to almost every Furutech cable and connector, as is the promise of exceptional build and finish quality [HFN Mar '18]. With cables, of course, the material engineering can easily be quantified, but with the Japanese brand's 'noise busting' NCF Clear Line plugs – supplied with RCA and XLR terminations for insertion into unused audio inputs – the science can easily lose some clarity. Prices are £205 for each RCA-equipped plug and £260 for the bigger male and female XLR derivatives.

Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Mar 18, 2024
hfnoutstandingB&W's premium 800 D4 range is bookended by Signature versions of the flagship 801 D4 floorstander and the 805 D4 standmount. But is the polish more than skin deep?

Only two years after launching the D4 generation of its flagship 800 series [HFN Nov '21], Bowers & Wilkins has announced Signature editions of both the range-topping 801 D4 floorstander [HFN Sep '23] and its partnering 805 D4 standmount. At £10,000 a pair the 805 D4 Signature increases the stakes for this compact model, as the 'standard' 805 D4 [HFN Feb '22] retails for a full £3000 less.

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