Archives: Hi-Fi

Valfet Amplifier

Hi-Fi News & Record Review 6/1989 and posted in Hi-Fi, Reviews - Amplifiers

CROSS-BRED BRIT A new valve/MOSFET hybrid amplifier has just been released by a – surprise, surprise – UK manufacturer. Ken Kessler examines the cross-fertilisation. Valve scarcity and solid-state progress have almost forced valve amp manufacturers to blend the two technologies. … Continue reading →

UK News January 1995

AudioReview 1/1995 and posted in Hi-Fi, Columns, News Items - Archives

It’s taken long enough, but some of the older British manufacturers have finally realised that there’s no better quality to exploit than one’s own heritage. (The younger ones, quite naturally, have no heritage yet worth exploiting.) The revival a few … Continue reading →

Boston VR12 Center Channel Speaker Review

Sound & Image and posted in Miscellaneous, Hi-Fi, Reviews - Loudspeakers, A/V

Still wary of this industry’s THX sermonizing, I’m at a loss to explain but happy about the proliferation of center-channel speakers that are something other than horizontally-mounted versions of a given manufacturer’s main left-and-right speakers. Weren’t we told time and … Continue reading →

Inside Hi-Fi Column: Hi-Fi Shows vs Watch Shows

Inside Hi-Fi and posted in Hi-Fi, Columns

There I was, sitting in a fat, comfy business class seat, wondering if the audio industry could do what the watch’n’jewellery crowd could do. One phrase stuck in my mind, from one of that industry’s annual trade fair’s opening speeches: … Continue reading →

Copland CDA 266 CD Player

Hi-Fi News & Record Review and posted in Hi-Fi, Reviews - Digital Sources

Had I paid attention in Psychology 101, this review could have featured a mini dissertation on the single-chassis vs two-box debate. To separate or not to separate – that is the question. It’s just that any single-box CD player over … Continue reading →

Simon Yorke S7 Turntable

Hi-Fi News & Record Review 4/1998 and posted in Hi-Fi, Reviews - Analogue Sources

However cool or unimpressed we try to be, there’s no escaping ‘prestige’ endorsements. Even if there’s been some financial inducement – what did it cost BMW to get James Bond to drive a German car? – we’re still impressed. But … Continue reading →

Marantz 17-Series System

Hi-Fi News & Record Review 4/1998 and posted in Hi-Fi, Reviews - Analogue Sources, Reviews - Digital Sources, Reviews - Amplifiers

MARANTZ REVIEW Ken Kessler Having established itself as THE brand for affordable audiophile CD players, Marantz is going out of its way to prevent what’s known as ‘cherry-picking’. Cherry-picking happens when a brand has one outrageously successful product, but the … Continue reading →

Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Pre-Amplifier

Hi-Fi News & Record Review 8/1998 and posted in Hi-Fi, Reviews - Amplifiers

Anthony Michaelson knows how to push the right buttons. All he had to say was the word ‘nuvistor’, and every tube crazy worth his weight in anode plates was clamouring for a listen. After all, wasn’t the nuvistor the last-ever, … Continue reading →

Wilson Audio Cub Review

Fi Magazine and posted in Hi-Fi, Reviews - Loudspeakers

At the rate Wilson Audio is entering the more affordable sectors, there’ll be a $100-bookshelf model around 2015. Until then, the “entry level” is the new CUB, not cheap at just under $6000 per pair, but almost a case of … Continue reading →

The Hi-Fi Show 1995

Fi Magazine and posted in Hi-Fi, Show Reports

Because of the nature of the hi-fi beast — politics and prejudice often override reality — the Hi-Fi Show at the Ramada Hotel at London’s Heathrow Airport is always taken for granted. Or dissed beyond belief. Maybe it’s because the … Continue reading →