LATEST ADDITIONS

Network Audio Players/Servers
HiFi Rose RS130 Music Library/Streamer
Review: Andrew Everard,  |  Nov 02, 2023
hfnoutstandingKorea's HiFi Rose has moved upmarket with its first DAC-less, transport-only network player – the result is an impressive combination of purity and innovative technology

As if on a one-company mission to prove all the variations possible when it comes to network audio, Korean brand HiFi Rose has gone in very short order from being an upstart newcomer to its current role as a pillar of the digital establishment. And it's done so not by the simple expedient of taking one platform and pitching it at a range of price-points, but rather by expanding its offering to fill every niche from the all-in-one 'just add speakers' system [HFN Mar '22] to the highly-focused high-end network component explored on these pages.

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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl, October 2023
Ken Kessler  |  Oct 31, 2023
This month we review: John Lee Hooker, The Doobie Brothers, The Id and The Undertones.
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital, October 2023
Ken Kessler  |  Oct 31, 2023
This month, we review: The Alan Parsons Project, Eva Cassidy With The LSO, The Kinks and Paul Simon.
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Rock
Rock, October 2023
Mike Barnes  |  Oct 30, 2023
This month we review: Big Big Train, Soft Machine, Fassine and Rain Parade.
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Jazz
Jazz, October 2023
Steve Harris  |  Oct 30, 2023
This month we review: Zoe Rahman, Linley Hamilton, David Hazeltine Trio and Dan Wilson.
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Classical
Classical, October 2023
Peter Quantrill  |  Oct 30, 2023
This month we review: Fuge, Williams, Singapore SO/Venzago, Freiburg Baroque/Von Der Goltz, Lied Haga, Apekisheva and Weser-Renaissance Bremen/Manfred Cordes.
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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, October 2023
Andrew Everard  |  Oct 27, 2023
This month we review and test releases from: Sebastian Rochford/Kit Downes, iril Heide-Steen, Cappella Romana, Alex. Lingas, Josh Nelson and Mull Historical Society.
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Network Audio Players/Servers
Volumio Rivo Network Audio Streamer
Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Oct 26, 2023
hfncommendedItalian brand Volumio is responsible not just for a series of network-attached digital players, but also an open-source OS and bespoke app. The Rivo (stream) is its 'bridge'

Launched in 2022, the Rivo is the middle model in a trio of new streaming devices from Florence-based Volumio, and this digital-only streamer, together with the second-generation Primo streaming DAC and the Integro networked amplifier, concludes an unlikely journey for the Italian start-up.

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Loudspeakers
B&W 801 D4 Signature Loudspeaker
Review: Andrew Everard,  |  Oct 24, 2023
hfnoutstandingDetailed mechanical and component upgrades to B&W's flagship 801 D4 unmask the speaker's full potential

We've been here before: just over a year and a half ago [HFN Nov '21] we pitched the newly arrived 801 D4 loudspeaker from Bowers & Wilkins against the 800 D3, its previous flagship, and played 'spot the differences' between two designs half a dozen years apart. At the time, we also commented on the changes at the company since the D3 models were launched in 2015, not least the acquisition of the Worthing-based manufacturer by Silicon Valley start-up Eva Automation, then by Sound United, the parent brand of Denon, Marantz and others.

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From the VaultPre/Power Amplifiers
A Rising GRAFF
Ken Kessler  |  Oct 20, 2023
hfnvintageAt last, an output transformerless tube amplifier that needn't play second fiddle to transistors, says Ken Kessler, as he hears the GM 200

Given that few people will defend tube/transistor hybrids, how do you go about satisfying the valve-oriented consumer who wants his or her amp to have everything under one cage? And without simply adding to the buttonry? Italian company GRAAF (Gruppo Richerche Audio Alta Fidelta) has as its slogan 'II Suono Fatto A Mano', which I think translates into 'Hand-Made Sound'. This is about as cool a way of saying 'Lunatic purism' as I can imagine.

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