Opinion

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Opinion
Living the dream
Barry Willis  |  Sep 12, 2024
Hi-fi’s traditional distribution model has evolved due to the Internet, but the price of high-end equipment will always remain high, says Barry Willis – it’s more fine art than mass-market tech

Last month I touched upon the economics of audio – in particular, the unlikely possibility of getting back a substantial fraction of the money put into high-performance equipment. Long ago, the rule of thumb was that suggested list prices for high-end products were generally five times factory cost. That was when multi-tiered distribution was still the rule – manufacturers delivered goods to distributors, who in turn offered them to dealers. Distributors provided marketing assistance, employing sales reps who called on dealers, did demonstrations, and could intervene in the case of defective products.

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Opinion
Look... hear?
Jim Lesurf  |  Sep 12, 2024
Jim Lesurf remembers a former HFN stalwart as he battles with the poor ergonomics and insufficient printed manual of a new audio purchase – before sending it back for a refund.

Many years ago I saw a poster which showed a young woman in a wheelchair at the top of a flight of stairs that led down to a public washroom. The point being made was simple: she wasn’t disabled by being unable to walk. The problem was that whoever installed the facility had ignored the existence of people who found the stairs a barrier.

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Opinion
Maestros unfiltered
Peter Quantrill  |  Mar 04, 2025  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2024
What do conductors do, and how do they do it? Peter Quantrill says two recent memoirs lift the veil on the supposed mysticism of a very practical profession, from contrasting perspectives

There is a nice irony to the fact that the most silent musicians of all are required to be the best with words. Orchestras may like the conductors who speak the least, but explanation, correction and encouragement can’t entirely be done at the tip of a baton. Meanwhile, the public is perennially fascinated by the power dynamic at play when a single figure seems to conjure unity from the talents of a hundred individuals.

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Opinion
Make Mine A Large
Steve Harris  |  Nov 15, 2024
Walk into any hi-fi show and you'll spot towering horn-loaded loudspeakers, says Steve Harris, but 'big' speakers in the UK have typically gone down another route, as he explains...

Not so long ago the idea of a hi-fi system costing a million pounds would have raised eyebrows and hackles. Such systems might exist, we thought, but only in the secret hideaways of a few eccentric billionaires. But today you can have a good chance of hearing a million-pound sound just by walking in to a hi-fi show.

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Opinion
Mending cables
Barry Fox  |  Apr 01, 2025  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2025

There are often affordable solutions to tech problems, says Barry Fox, whether that’s a cable failure or a stuttering home network. You might even want to write your own ‘Idiot’s Guide’

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Opinion
Music and activism
Steve Harris  |  Apr 25, 2025  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2025

From Dylan and Baez to Geldof and Sting there’s a long history of music and activism – now artists including Coldplay and Jacob Collier have climate change in their sights, says Steve Harris

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Opinion
Never too old
Peter Quantrill  |  Apr 16, 2025  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2025
The longevity of conductors can be misleading, says Peter Quantrill, when the sentiment of the occasion obscures the vitality of the music-making. Yet with age can come great wisdom...
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Opinion
New CD players
Andrew Everard  |  May 22, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2024
A recent encounter with a couple of new CD players had Andrew Everard engaging in a trip down memory lane. But first-world problems aside, he wasn’t too sure he liked what he saw
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Opinion
NXT’s flatpanel speaker
Steve Harris  |  Apr 16, 2025  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2025
Steve Harris looks at the legacy of NXT’s flatpanel speaker, which once promised to revolutionise audio replay. Did you realise the technology is now more widely available than ever before?
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Opinion
Online radio
Barry Fox  |  Jun 02, 2025  |  First Published: May 01, 2025
Technology developments and copyright concerns have left the world of online radio in a monster mess, says Barry Fox. Is a standalone Internet radio tuner the answer to his problems?
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Opinion
Opinion: Let the past be the past
Barry Willis  |  Dec 01, 2018
An electric shock from an antique valve amp finally sends the rose-tinted glasses flying from the face of Barry Willis. Vintage gear? You can keep it, because the golden age of audio is happening now...
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Opinion
Opinion: Trouble in store?
Steve Harris  |  Dec 01, 2018
We have a hundred more record shops than we did in 2009, thanks to the efforts of those who run the stores and events like Record Store Day. But don’t celebrate just yet, warns Steve Harris
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Opinion
Optimising The Bottom End
Barry Willis  |  Nov 15, 2024
Barry Willis believes a subwoofer can bring a performance boost to your hi-fi system as long as you take the time to calibrate it - so look out for models with remote/app control

A properly setup subwoofer can add enormously to your musical satisfaction. Improperly setup, it can be an annoying nemesis.

Many subwoofers are designed for maximum dynamic impact with multichannel movie soundtracks. While they may excel at making explosions sound convincing, they may not contribute much to your enjoyment of music. Truly musical subwoofers are rare.

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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
Plea for peace
Christopher Breunig  |  Sep 12, 2024
Now remastered several times, Britten’s War Requiem was recorded by the composer in 1963. Christopher Breunig recalls its Coventry premiere and, later, his cheeky cub reviewer’s account

Reissued last November on vinyl and in digital formats, Benjamin Britten’s Decca recording of his War Requiem was produced at Kingsway Hall by John Culshaw, and engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson, in January 1963 – eight months after its Coventry Cathedral UK premiere.

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