It is with great sadness that we receive the news of the passing of Her Majesty The Queen. Our thoughts are with His Majesty The King and the Royal Family. At this time of national mourning, the UK Hi-Fi Show Live, hosted at the Ascot Grandstand is cancelled. The rescheduling of our event will be announced as soon as appropriate.
As one more issue of Hi-Fi News goes to press under lockdown we give thanks not only to the frontline workers but also to the gift of music recreated by the equipment at the heart of our shared passion. This is a time to count our blessings and appreciate that ours is a 'home hobby' – to tweak, to play and to listen... and to keep us all sane.
As a matter of good publishing principle, we try to keep mention of current affairs out of Hi-Fi News. After all, something
that seems of great public or political interest one day can seem incongruous if read in the context of a column or review a year or two later.
Nevertheless I feel safe in assuming that the Coronavirus pandemic, and the upheaval – both trivial and tragic – will live forever in our collective memory. So this will be a far more personal and heartfelt 'Welcome' than our regular readers might have become accustomed.
Now in its sixth and final year at the Beaumont Estate in Windsor, the Hi-Fi Show Live burst at the seams with the cream of 2018’s high-end audio. Exclusive UK product launches were unveiled by iconic brands including Metronome, dCS, Mark Levinson, Wilson, Melco, Chord, ELAC and many others...
EAT revives an old idea from NAD in the 1980s, but with a modern execution. Welcome the E-Flat belt-drive turntable with its, er, flat carbon fibre tonearm
The wife of Pro-Ject’s CEO Heinz Lichtenegger, Jozefina, is one of the gutsiest individuals in hi-fi today. Not only does she insist that the turntables under her EAT Forté banner are high-end, while hubby’s Pro-Ject concentrates on the affordable, she’s had the sheer guts to revive a much reviled form. Flat tonearms are as old as hi-fi itself, the E-Flat’s arm following Connoisseur’s CS1, the wooden Grace G-714, an early Grado, the back half of the ‘hinged’ Dynavector DV-507 and many others.
Limited to a mere 30 pairs, is this the world's ultimate loudspeaker?
This flagship design will be limited to 30 pairs. It stands 1. 7m tall and weighs a staggering 305kg. There are five main drive units: a 15in subwoofer with a sandwich cone made by Audio Technology of Denmark.
Classy German design matches fine build to engaging sonics
Elac’s F247 Sapphire is finished with the sumptuous attention to detail. A slim, elegant floorstander boasts an eye-catching front baffle and mirror-like piano black finish. Elac’s signature JET tweeter and a pair of its multifaceted aluminium mid/bass drivers are fitted.
These unusual cones are an aluminium sandwich design with cellulose filling, shaped to reduce unwanted vibrations.
Dan D'Agostino returns with a product half amplifier, half sculpture, all genius
With his new company’s first product, the Momentum Monoblock Power Amplifier, Dan D’Agostino hopes to re-write the rules of solid-state amplifier design.
Most notable is a concern for green issues, by addressing the amp’s power consumption when not in use. It’s a claimed 1W – not bad for a 300W amp that thinks it’s a kilowatt. Running in Class AB, and merely warm to the touch after a long session reflects a cooling system which provides much of the Momentum’s visual presence: solidcopper bars (venturis) that form the amplifier’s flanks.
Another digital masterclass from dCS but with added aesthetic charm.
Down the years a great many words of praise have been directed at dCS products but I doubt that ‘stylish’ or ‘chic’ have often been among them. Well, the new Debussy DAC represents a big step in the right direction.
Let’s begin the tour with that striking fascia, festooned with no fewer than 17 blue LEDs.