LATEST ADDITIONS

Pro Ject Xtension 9 Super Pack Belt Driven Turntable System (£2200 Inc. Arm And Cartridge)

Hi-Fi News Staff | Jan 09, 2015

Pro-Ject’s Xtension 9 Super Pack mates the Xtension 9 Evolution turntable and 9CC Evolution arm to the new Ortofon Quintet Black MC. Its plinth measures a nicely compact 465x350mm and so size-related rack placement is not an issue. This is made from MDF and filled with a metal granulate to produce a non-resonant, high mass, base all topped with a very swish paint finish in High Gloss Red or White. The deck stands on three damped aluminium feet, pre-adjusted for level atthe factory.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Rega Rp8/rb808 Belt Driven Turntable With Electronic Speed Control (£1598 Inc Arm)

Hi-Fi News Staff | Jan 09, 2015

Rega’s RP8 turntable uses what it calls ‘Double Brace Technology’. Here stiffening braces above and below the plinth provide rigidity between the turntable main bearing and the arm mounting. Thanks to this, Rega’s Roy Gandy was able to envisage a plinth construction that would be much lighter than in previous designs, so in the RP8 the plinth has given way to a very light skeletal chassis. From a functional point of view, the RP8 on its skeletal chassis is complete in itself but Rega has added a separate outer frame, using the same foam-sandwich construction, to support a dust cover.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Stst Motus Ii/vertex Direct Drive, Suspended Subchassis Turntable With Tonearm (£4995 Turntable; £2795 Tonearm)

Hi-Fi News Staff | Jan 09, 2015

It’s that very rare bird: a suspended-subchassis turntable with a direct-drive motor. A development of STST’s original Motus solid-chassis model, the Motus II inverts the usual concept of a subchassis turntable. Although the ‘plinth’ is a substantial component made of 20mm MDF, in reality it is just a cover. Once the platter and arm have been removed, it can be lifted off to reveal the whole mechanism.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Vpi Scout 1.1 Belt Driven Turntable With Manual Speed Control (£1975 Inc Arm)

Hi-Fi News Staff | Jan 09, 2015

VPI’s entry level Scout [HFN Nov ’09] looked deceptively simple, while promising lots of easy adjustment for the deck – even the supplied in-house tonearm that came as part of the package boasted an easy to remove arm wand, thereby facilitating rapid cartridge swapping. The Scout 1. 1 offers more refinement for your money, and is the cheapest VPI turntable to use a freestanding motor unit housed in its own steel case, which tucks into a dedicated cutout in the plinth. Compared to the original Scout, the 1.

AVTech Media Awards

Avtech Awards 2014/2015

Hi-Fi News | Jan 02, 2015

Welcome to the AVTech Awards for 2014/2015, the distillation of knowledge from the UK's trio of premium AV brands – Hi-Fi Choice, Home Cinema Choice and Hi-Fi News & Record Review. Collectively we test and review more hi-fi, TV and home theatre equipment than any other organisation in the UK, with hundreds of pages of editorial content published every month! Our Awards are informed by this pool of experience which stretches from earbuds and headphones to flagship high-end floorstanding loudspeakers; from 4K TVs to state-of-the-art projectors; to universal disc players, media streamers, USB DACs and headphone amps, turntables, integrated and pre/power amplifiers and every black box and cable in between. So whether you are a diegard stereo or AV home theatre enthusiast, or a prgressive consumer looking for the ideal 'connected' system, let the AVTech Awards be your guide to the best that's available in 2014/2015. Best Floorstanding Speaker Monitor Audio Silver 8 Monitor Audio’s Silver 8 is a wonderfully capable floorstander, delivering music with subtlety and sophistication and offering a cavernous, well-projected soundstage.

EISA Awards

EISA Awards 2014 2015

Hi-Fi News | Jan 02, 2015

Welcome to the EISA Awards for 2014-2015. The European Imaging and Sound Association is the world’s largest independent awards panel and one that reflects the collective opinion of nearly 50 of the most respected specialist magazines centred on, but not exclusively based within, the European community. While faultlines within the Euro Zone continue to dominate headlines in the UK, the collaboration of EISA’s member magazines has continued apace and with renewed purpose as the aspirations of our fellow audio and video enthusiasts rise above the political turmoil of the day. From the EISA Convention held in May to the final General Meeting in June, member magazines pool their combined experience to arrive at a consensus of the very best in sound and vision products available across the wider European continent.

Hi-Res Downloads

Toronto Symphony Orchestra/peter Oundjian : Rimsky Korsakov: Sheherazade

C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Jan 01, 2015

192kHz/24-bit FLAC, Chandos CHSA5145 (supplied by www. theclassicalshop. net) This appears to be the first Chandos orchestral recording from The Classical Shop at 192kHz/24-bit resolution – like the SACD, it has no extra work so is low-priced. It was produced live in mid-2013 by Soundmirror Inc at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall: the first of three Chandos projects with the orchestra.

Hi-Res Downloads

Stefano Bollani : Joy In Spite Of Everything

J. Bamford (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Jan 01, 2015

Italian pianist Stefano Bollani has covered many musical styles since becoming a professional player at the tender age of 15, his jazz collaborations with trumpeter Enrico Rava gaining him international recognition. Recorded in NY’s Avatar Studios last year, but only recently released, Joy In Spite Of Everything sees Bollani alongside drummer Morten Lund and bass player Jesper Bodilsen (both from Bollani’s working trio) joined by Mark Turner and jazz guitar maestro Bill Frisell. From the laid-back calypso style of the opener ‘Easy Healing’, with a tremendous contribution from Turner’s tenor sax, this modern jazz quintet sparkles with musical inventiveness and tremendous playing throughout the album. A bit more ‘air’ to the sound would have been welcome, nevertheless the tonality and textures of the band’s instruments are colourfully depicted.

Hi-Res Downloads

Ingrid Fliter : Frederic Chopin: Preludes

C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Jan 01, 2015

192kHz/24-bit ALAC/FLAC, Linn Records CKD475 (supplied by www. linnrecords. com) Chopin collectors will (should) have the Preludes with Friedrich Gulda [Audite/DG, 1950s] or his one-time pupil Martha Argerich [DG, 1975]. Add fellow-Argentinian Ingrid Fliter to the list! Unsurprisingly, her Chopin readings have become more interesting since her 2008/09 EMI debut CDs with the Waltzes, etc.

Hi-Res Downloads

Jan Lundgren Trio : Flowers Of Sendai

J. Bamford (Music); P. Miller (Lab) | Jan 01, 2015

Classically trained Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren has made some 40 albums under his own name since graduating from Malmö’s Academy of Music in 1991. Flowers Of Sendai was recorded late last year in Italy, for the French BeeJazz label, since when Lundgren has further released a collection of standards from the great American songbook entitled All By Myself for Barcelona-based Fresh Sound Records. Here Lundgren is accompanied once again by bassist Mattias Svensson and highly accomplished Hungarian drummer Zoltán Csörsz Jr (who famously filled the seat of Jaime Salazar in Swedish prog-rock outfit The Flower Kings and has taken over from drummer Morten Lund in Lundgren’s Trio). Audiophiles will be impressed by the recording quality that puts the trio in a natural acoustic with the instruments clearly delineated in ‘open’ space.

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