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.
One of the few Japanese musicians to have made a long career in the West, with a Boston tenure of 29 years. Christopher Breunig looks at his life and wide discography
Atough game of rugby football put an end to the hopes that a young Japanese boy would become a concert pianist. Seiji Ozawa, then 15, was mad about the game but severely damaged his hand in a scrum. When his piano teacher suggested he might think of conducting instead, he had never even seen a symphony orchestra, live or on television.
This is not quite the most affordable of Lumin's network-attached players, but the D2 looks good, is sensibly priced and – thanks to a super-slick app – is a delight to use too
As the model number suggests, the £1845 Lumin D2 is the latest version of the company's affordable network audio player, the entry point for a range that started with the A1 back in 2012. And while the range has expanded, and some things have changed, much still seems the same: the D2 is compact, at just 30cm wide and a mere 6cm tall, and so light at 2.5kg that my stiffish Chord Company interconnects almost lifted it off its feet!
Take one pale Texan and a band of top talent and you have an LP ready to rock the charts. Steve Sutherland assesses a 1972 album destined for reissue on 180g vinyl
Say what you like about Quentin Tarantino, but one thing's for sure: the man's got great taste in movies. Listed among his favourites are the obvious (Apocalypse Now, Fight Club), the not so well known but fantastic (Takashi Miike's Audition, Bong Joon-ho's The Host) and one that especially concerns us here, Richard Linklater's Dazed And Confused.
A new big beast stalks the integrated amplifier jungle, courtesy of the refreshed Musical Fidelity brand. Armed with ears and test gear, we track the M8xi to its lair...
If you are into fancy-looking hi-fi with machined fascias and decorative meters then the £5649 M8xi integrated amplifier is not for you. 'Sorry, that's the way it is', says Musical Fidelity, though I suspect this declaration of intent for the entire M8 series owes more to Musical Fidelity's founder than the new owners, Audio Tuning Vertriebs GmbH, of which vinyl evangelist Pro-Ject Audio Systems is another division.
Danish-based Dantax Radio reinvents a classic: a rework of the Raidho D2.1, now fitted with tantalising drivers
Déjà vu, all over again? Very recently we were playing 'spot the difference' with the Scansonic MB5 B floorstanders [HFN Jun '20], a superficially lookalike but substantially revised version of the old MB5 and one of the latest from Dantax Radio's growing GamuT/Raidho/Scansonic family. This month the focus is back on Raidho itself, with the arrival of a new version of the D2.1 speaker [HFN May '18] where, as with the M5/M5 B, there's quite a bit of visual similarity between old and new.
This is not quite the most affordable of Lumin's network-attached players, but the D2 looks good, is sensibly priced and – thanks to a super-slick app – is a delight to use too
A new big beast stalks the integrated amplifier jungle, courtesy of the refreshed Musical Fidelity brand. Armed with ears and test gear, we track the M8xi to its lair...
Danish-based Dantax Radio reinvents a classic: a rework of the Raidho D2.1, now fitted with tantalising drivers
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