LATEST ADDITIONS

Opinion
Too young for Brahms
Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 13, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
A pair of prestigious piano competition finals has Peter Quantrill wondering if particular pieces and composers are best left on the shelf, waiting for a musician’s life to catch up with their ability
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Opinion
You and AI
Jim Lesurf  |  Mar 13, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
Jim Lesurf admires the technology used to finish off the long-lost John Lennon ballad ‘Now And Then’, but believes Artificial Intelligence brings with it problems as well as solutions
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Opinion
Performance art
Barry Willis  |  Mar 13, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
Can a good hi-fi demo count as art? Barry Willis discovered the crowd-pleasing nature of high-quality music reproduction – and some ‘interesting’ systems – at San Francisco’s MOMA
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Opinion
A guide to home networking
Barry Fox  |  Mar 13, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
For music lovers entering the world of home networking, Barry Fox delves into its many acronyms and foibles, before singing the praises of Amazon’s affordable Fire TV Stick
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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads, January 2025
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Mar 13, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
This month we review and test releases from: Sun Ra Arkestra; Janine Jansen and Klaus Mäkelä; Arild Andersen; Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Espen Berg; and Michael Dease
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From the Vault
Alphason Symphony
Steve Harris  |  Mar 12, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
hfnvintageThe well-received Sonata turntable has been developed and refined as the Symphony. Is this Alphason’s masterpiece? Steve Harris investigates

Few brands have been more dedicated to perfection than Alphason. Although the company is now also very successful as a supplier of hi-fi furniture, and has launched an innovative loudspeaker range, the £1860 Symphony turntable remains a flagship product.

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Vinyl Release
Julian Cope: Saint Julian
Steve Sutherland  |  Mar 12, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
The marriage of Island Records and the prolific songsmith got off to a flying start with this fresh-faced pop/rock classic. Steve Sutherland kicks back with the 180g LP

I’m not really what you’d call the campaigning type but in the days when I edited HFN we launched a couple nonetheless. The most famous was ‘Jarvis Is Innocent’, occasioned by the Pulp frontgeezer getting himself arrested for stagecrashing Michael Jackson at the 1996 BRIT Awards. Within a few hours we had t-shirts on sale in the street outside gig venues all around the country, the funds raised, as I recall, contributing to his legal aid. And, of course, much fun and many games were to be had by all.

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Outboard DACs
HiFi Rose RD160 USB DAC
Review: Jamie Biesemans,  |  Mar 12, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
hfncommendedDesigned to partner the RS130 network-attached streamer and RD180 integrated amp, the flagship RD160 DAC combines state-of-the-art silicon with a raft of custom DSP

Sean Kim, the Marketing/Sales Executive Director at HiFi Rose, has stated that the brand wants to ‘liven up the hi-fi market and have it embrace new technology faster’. That’s quite an ambition, and, to be fair, the South Korean company has already proven itself to be a successful disruptor – a case in point being the buzz generated by its ‘steampunk’ RA180 amplifier [HFN Jul ’22], and its network streamers sporting massive, customisable touchscreens [HFN Jun ’21 and Mar ’22].

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Classical Companion
Géza Anda Troubadour of the Piano
Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 12, 2025  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2025
There’s more to the Hungarian pianist than his famous Bartók and Mozart recordings, says Peter Quantrill, as he explores Anda’s rigorous formation and poetic imagination
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Vinyl Release
The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night
Steve Sutherland  |  Mar 09, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2025
The Fab Four reached a new level of musical ambition – and fame – when their third album topped the charts. Sixty years on, Steve Sutherland hears the 180g reissue

Some say it’s a dominant 9th of F in the key of C. Others claim it’s a poly-triad ii7/V in A flat major. Still others insist it’s a G7 with added 9th and suspended 4th or a superimposition of Dm, F, and G.

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