LATEST ADDITIONS

Classical
Classical (December 2018)
Christopher Breunig  |  Dec 01, 2018
This month we review: Sibelius, JS Bach, Beethoven/Brahms/Mozart and The Rotterdam PO Collection
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Jazz
Jazz (December 2018)
Steve Harris  |  Dec 01, 2018
This month we review: Wayne Shorter, Camilla George, All About That Basie, and Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares
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Rock
Rock (December 2018)
Johnny Black  |  Dec 01, 2018
This month we review: KT Tunstall, John Butler Trio, Ian William Craig, and Advance Base
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Audiophile Digital
Audiophile: Digital (December 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Dec 01, 2018
This month, we review: The Doors, The Guess Who, Billy Squier and Negro Church Music.
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Audiophile Vinyl
Audiophile: Vinyl (December 2018)
Ken Kessler  |  Dec 01, 2018
This month we review: Doug MacLeod, Ruth Brown, The Minx Soundtrack, and Matthew Sweet
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Hi-Res Downloads
Hi-Res Downloads (December 2018)
Reviews: Hi-Fi News Team,  |  Dec 01, 2018
This month we review and test: Scottish CO/Christian Baldini, John Scofield, Deutsches SO Berlin/Robin Ticciati, Les Chats Noirs, and Boz Scaggs.
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Network Audio Players/ServersOutboard DACs
Weiss DAC501 USB/network DAC
Review: David Price,  |  Dec 01, 2018
hfncommended.pngPacking a high quality DAC and streamer into a half-size box, this new digital converter also features powerful user-configurable DSP. It's a potent combination…

With this new DAC, for the first time in my design career, I have the chance to make an impression that has people saying “wow”', Daniel Weiss told HFN. 'Designed by our team here, it is different – but not radically so – to our earlier products.' He's being a little modest because the new Weiss DAC501 is more than a little diverting in any number of different ways…

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Pre/Power Amplifiers
T+A M 40 HV power amplifier
Review: Andrew Everard,  |  Dec 01, 2018
hfnoutstanding.pngThe sound of music is raising the rafters in Eastern Westphalia as Germany's T+A celebrates its 40th anniversary with a set of very special monoblock hybrid amplifiers

Not so much monoblocks as monoliths, these new flagship power amps from Germany's T+A certainly have what you'd call 'in room presence'. At least they do when you have got them in position, a task hampered by the fact each is a 50kg+ dead weight, although admittedly the two substantial handles sprouting from the top panel – and the assistance of a friend – will help.

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Pre/Power Amplifiers
Parasound Halo JC5 power amplifier
Review: James Parker,  |  Dec 01, 2018
hfnoutstanding.pngNo shortage of machismo – it has to be an American power amp, right? Parasound's Halo JC5 conforms to some of these stereotypes, but there's more to it than just slam

There's nothing terribly unusual about a big, hefty US-made power amp: after all, it's almost an archetype of what we think the US high-end is all about. Long cable runs from preamp to power amp(s), short tails to the speakers – it's just the way they do things over there, and at first glance the Parasound Halo JC5 seems to conform to all those preconceptions.

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Headphones
Meze Empyrean headphones
Review: Ken Kessler,  |  Dec 01, 2018
hfnoutstanding.pngMeze Audio turns up the heat in the hotly-contested high-end headphone sector with the radical Empyrean, claiming the first 'Isodynamic Hybrid Array Headphone'

Yes, £2700. For headphones. Ulp!… Meze Audio isn't messing around with its assault on the state-of-the-art and, thankfully, its new Empyrean model goes to great lengths to justify that price. These ooze with innovation, the construction is impeccable – all the better to convey immediate perceived value – and, thanks in no small part to the impressive packaging, an air of luxury rare in hi-fi. Which is what I have been screaming about for years: these tell you that you're getting what you pay for, and in spades.

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