LATEST ADDITIONS

Rock

Rock, May 2019

Johnny Black | Jul 25, 2019

This month we review: James Morrison, Hajk, Josefin Öhrn And The Liberation and Ishmael Ensemble

Jazz

Jazz, May 2019

Steve Harris | Jul 25, 2019

This month we review: Patchwork Jazz Orchestra, Joe Lovano, Duncan Eagles and Joey Defrancesco

Classical

Classical, May 2019

Christopher Breunig | Jul 25, 2019

This month we review: Schubert, Berlioz, Mozart and Sibelius

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

DS Audio DS-E1 Cartridge

Review: Ken Kessler, | Jul 24, 2019

Following a flow of revolutionary, hugely desirable but astronomically-priced 'optical' cartridges, DS Audio introduces the DS-E1 – could 'E' stand for 'Everyman'?

This is the second review this month that's been tough for me to write if, in this instance, for entirely positive reasons. You see, the DS Audio DS-E1 is actually too good, and the asking price of £2295 is the reason. I do not want to inflict any hardship upon DS Audio, which offers three models above this, but, like an entry-level Rolex, Leica CL camera or Porsche Cayman, it begs the question: why pay more?

Pre/Power Amplifiers

Audia Flight Strumento No1 mk2/No4 mk2 Pre & power amplifier

Review: Andrew Everard, | Jul 23, 2019

Very much hi-fi on the grand scale, this Italian-made pre/power amplifier combination is a sweet-sounding heavyweight with more than sufficient output to match its size

For a while, the amplifier combo you see here was almost literally the elephant in the editor's listening room. Delivered for review just at the end of 2018, its sheer mass – 28kg for the £12,500 Strumento No1 mk2 preamp alone, plus a further 95kg for the No4 mk2 power amp, which sells for £16,250 – defied almost all efforts to move it into PM's lab for test work before I could listen. It finally inspired our esteemed editor to relent and buy himself a trolley – and so, at last, the review literally began to roll...

Network Audio Players/Servers

Novafidelity X45Pro Digital Media Player

Review: Andrew Everard, | Jul 19, 2019

This do-it-all unit, designed as the hub of a digital music system, combines ripper/server, streamer, player, DAC and more. Is this a total solution, or is it trying too hard?

Here's a simple suggestion for anyone thinking of moving from 'physical media' to computer-stored music, or at least adding a collection of files to their system: buy the most complex piece of equipment you can find. Yes, that may seem like some kind of lunacy for the beginner in ripping, serving and streaming, but then the £5099 Novafidelity X45Pro, the flagship of its manufacturer's range, will do everything you could ever think of in the world of digital audio – and then some.

Investigation

Why 5G Matters For Hi-Fi

Barry Fox | Jul 19, 2019

The latest wireless tech could be a boon for audio, as Barry Fox explains

The hype cycle is well under way. 5G is coming, starting slowly this year and rolling out through 2020 and beyond. But who cares? It's nothing to do with hi-fi and music, is it? Just the Fifth and latest generation of phone technology, which – yawn, yawn – works faster and better than the Third and Fourth Generations that have previously been heralded as the be all and end all of mobile phoning and lo-fi MP3 streaming.

Vinyl Icons

Joan Armatrading: Joan Armatrading

Johnny Black | Jul 17, 2019

The singer/songwriter's third album not only included two of her most celebrated songs but was the springboard for a career that would eventually see her achieve a number of firsts for UK female artists. Yet teasing out her talent was not straightforward...

Joan Armatrading was the first black British singer-songwriter to achieve major success. She would deserve to be hoisted shoulder-high for that alone but, above and beyond her commercial success, she should be recognised for having produced over the years a catalogue featuring a clutch of the finest songs ever written by any songwriter, male or female, black or white.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Dual CS 600 Turntable

Review: Ken Kessler, | Jul 16, 2019

Affordable German turntables are looking set to repeat their dominance of the market they owned 50 years ago. Can Dual's top-of-the-range CS 600 raise the stakes?

A tough review for me to write, at least objectively: I'm rooting for the CS 600 to be something special because my first turntable was a Dual and I recall it with fondness. I want the CS 600 to be a champ like the all-conquering '505 was back in the days of the NAD 3020-based systems. But this new deck costs £1199 in black, or another £200 in gloss black or white (as reviewed), and the competition for turntables with tonearms is fierce around this price point.

Loudspeakers

JBL L100 Classic Loudspeaker

Review: Nick Tate, | Jul 12, 2019

First launched in 1970, the L100 has been reimagined by JBL as the 'Classic' – a modern take on a speaker that's visually faithful to the original. Strap on your seat belts...

Behold this 'modern take on the all-time best-selling JBL L100 loudspeaker' with its classic retro styling. It's certainly something you'll not forget too soon. Yet why would JBL want to recreate such a whimsical thing, considering how far loudspeaker design has come in the past 50 years? The answer is surely more cultural than it is technological as, to a greater or lesser extent, our collective dissatisfaction with the modern world has encouraged us to revisit a generation or two back with rose-tinted spectacles firmly in place.

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