Archives: Features

Anachrophile Special: Acoustic Research – A Day In the Life

Frank Sinatra and Frank Bruno have had comebacks, so why not a hi-fi company? Witness the return to form of one of the industry’s original leaders. by Ken Kessler Euthanasia has been the preferred practice when it comes to dealing … Continue reading

The Rise of Headphones

After a decade’s worth of dominance, the “earbud” faces a long-overdue backlash For hardcore music lovers, those fashionable, in-the-ear headphones supplied free with iPods, mobile phones and other portable devices are sorely lacking in most areas. They may look “cool” … Continue reading

Why Hi-Fi?

WHY HI-FI? All of those clichés about music being the food of love, soothing savage breasts, and the rest? They’re true, absolutely true, each and every one of them. And, despite evidence that popular music is flushing itself down the … Continue reading

High-End Sound Systems … With Looks To Match

  If Aga can produce a lavender cooker, and Sub-Zero can make fridge-freezers sexy, why should any household commodities be ugly? Form follows function, and no-one’s asking Black & Decker to make pretty power-drills, but home electronics have needed their … Continue reading

Extreme Audio

  Most people have no idea how good music can sound in the home. Too many down-market purveyors of junk have succeeded in promoting features over performance, while all that the iPod and its ilk have given us is convenience … Continue reading

Extreme Sound Systems

Most people have no idea how good music can sound in the home. Too many down-market purveyors of junk have succeeded in promoting features over performance, while all that the iPod and its ilk have given us is convenience at … Continue reading

Format Wars

(Intended for dummy issue of proposed BBC MAGAZINE) Blu-ray vs HD-DVD “Format Wars” – two words that strike fear in the hearts of consumers, manufacturers and retailers alike. Is there a single gadget fanatic alive over the age of 35 who … Continue reading

Highlights Of 1997

While non-audio events made 1997 a year one wants to forget – the deaths of the Princess of Wales and Mother Theresa, the collapse of various Asian economies, the arrival of a Labour government in the UK, ad tedium – … Continue reading

The Roots Of High-End Audio

Ken Kessler takes us on a wholly biased, subjective and prejudiced wander down Memory Lane   ‘High-end’ has always been with us. A generic term that means anything more expensive than the norm, it has been applied to restaurants, watches, … Continue reading