2021 may not have been the year that many of us had hoped for, there was only one hi-fi show in the UK and not many more elsewhere, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers both large and small who have produced some absolutely outstanding audio components in that time. Our best of the year round up […]
It’s funny how, after all my years in evaluating both hardware and software in the home music replay industry, there are still some venerable (not old but respected and well-established) names that have not passed through my listening room. In the speaker line I’ve had most types here, including stats, planars, horns, infinite baffles, plasma […]
Historically at least priorities in audio have varied between the UK and the US. Americans hold that the loudspeaker is the most important part of any sound system, they tend to spend more on speakers than any other part of the audio chain. In Britain, ever since a certain Scotsman started preaching that the source […]
Egglestonworks is one of those American brands that you rarely encounter on British shores, its loudspeakers have tended to be large, masculine in style and very often black. Qualities that do not endear them to the limited space in homes on this side of the Atlantic, so it was encouraging to be introduced to Emma […]
About ten years ago when I was working in the retail side of the audio industry, the original PMC Twenty series was launched and we sold a good few of them. They seemed especially well suited to Naim amplification and we sold that combination regularly. Indeed, I liked them so much that when the shop […]
The Danes appear to have a knack for building hi-fi, maybe it’s because they have been doing it for a long time what with brands like Bang & Olufsen and Ortofon being in the business for so long. Michael Børresen was formerly with high end specialists Raidho but started to build loudspeakers under his own […]
There are creepy moments in the Aphex Twin’s dark and atmospheric electronic tracks that, when played back through headphones, have you turning around to see where those unsettling sounds are coming from. The Bowers & Wilkins 603 Series 2 Anniversary Editions have an uncanny ability to reproduce that effect. I am not talking about any kind […]
Hi-fi as a hobby had its heyday in the 50s, 60s and 70s, an era when there were fewer luxuries to indulge in for the average man and large loudspeakers were not considered to be an obstacle to domestic bliss. As a result most of the people who appreciate good sound and make good sounding […]
One of my more enjoyable reviewing experiences last year was listening to the Kudos Titan 505 stand-mount loudspeakers, which are the smallest of the company’s flagship range. However, they are not inexpensive and face very stiff competition at their price point. I was therefore more than a little intrigued when offered the chance to play […]
Italian speaker makers have always had a thing for solid walnut, the stuff must grow on trees over there, and it certainly makes for a beautiful and extremely solid cabinet, as a rule it’s used on standmounts but for the first time in its extensive history Sonus faber have built a floorstander from this lovely […]
Neat Acoustics Orkestra loudspeakers A new speaker from Bob Surgeoner at Neat is not an everyday occurrence. Unlike the increasing number of manufacturers who feel a marketing necessity to churn out new models with alacrity, this County Durham company spends hundreds of hours listening and honing new designs before releasing them. Each new concept must […]
To my knowledge PMC is the only audio manufacturer of any repute to have used Townshend Seismic bases under its loudspeakers at a hi-fi show. It’s a brave move given the tendency for the audience at such events to ascribe disproportionate benefits to ancillary components. But PMC clearly understand the improvements that genuine isolation can […]