Hi Fi News Aug-18

Many a truth has been uttered in jest and I was reminded of just such an occasion when reading Barry Fox’s column [p105]. Here Barry offers some interesting insights into what is being touted as ‘HD Vinyl’ – to all intents and purposes a conventional LP but one that promises far higher fidelity because the stamper is cut directly by a laser. Importantly, the topography, the 3D map, of the required surface is modelled in software to optimise the groove spacing, and therefore the maximum amplitude and frequency response of the LP. It has every prospect of exceeding the precision of a groove carved the ‘old-fashioned’ way by cutter head and lathe. To quote from the website of Austrian company Rebeat Innovation, in 2016 founder Guenter Loibl ‘had this crazy idea to…

Wilson’s TuneTot THE PATTER OF TINY FOOTSTEPS AT WILSON Spiritual successor to the WATT, the second Wilson Audio loudspeaker to rearrange audio industry perceptions in the early 1980s, the new TuneTot is the smallest and least costly loudspeaker in the current Wilson range – but call it ‘entry level’ at your peril. A reflex-loaded two-way with obvious stylistic references to larger Wilson models, it measures just 377x219x259mm (hwd) and has been specifically designed for use on surfaces like a bookshelf or desk – locations that require careful attention paying to boundary gain effects. Easier to drive than larger Wilsons – minimum impedance is specified as 6.6ohm – the TuneTot still offers good sensitivity of 86dB and room averaged bass extension down to 65Hz. Price is £10,998 a pair. For use on resonant…

10-11th November Advance tickets are on sale for the UK’s premier high-end audio event – The Hi-Fi Show Live at the Beaumont Estate conference centre, Old Windsor on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2018. Tickets cost £20 (£30 for a weekend pass) via www.eventbrite.co.uk or via the link on the HFN website. We are also offering a concessionary £15 day pass for subscribers of Hi-Fi News and Hi-Fi Choice (details on the subscriber insert or via the website). Please see www.hifinews.co.uk/show for further information.…

It’s hard to find a more beautiful location for a hi-fi show than the five-star Pestana Palace hotel in Lisbon – recently made more famous still after Madonna took up residence for four months up to the end of 2017. The restored 19th-century palace has played host to the Audioshow for the past four years and all the spaces available for demonstrations were snapped up in 2018. The dedication of Portuguese hi-fi professionals is second to none, so visitors enjoyed a large number of amplesized rooms beautifully decorated and acoustically treated in order that the systems used could be heard at their best. Once again, attendance was high, with around 4000 visitors packing the rooms and corridors with long queues at the entrances to the most anticipated dems. And this despite the…

It was 15 years since I had interviewed Ken Bunting, in charge of Quad’s service department, but back then it was to pick his brains about the company’s history. Early this May, I had the privilege of repeating the interrogation, on the occasion of Ken’s retirement. Off to the wilds of Cambridge, where I found him on his last day, in a busy-as-ever service area with everything from Quad ESL63s to valve units being repaired – contrary to any rumours or worries that the company had abandoned its legendary back-up division. Ken started at Quad on the 16th of March 1970. ‘It was my first job in audio, hired as a Service Engineer. I’d trained with Pye Philips, so I was in communications, working with RF, so my first real job…

A genius mix of both rebellion and restraint, Audio Research’s latest chapter in the Reference saga, the REF160M monoblock power amplifier, is one of the biggest departures in the much-lauded series’ evolution. Most obvious is the new look, which takes its cues from the G-Series, bringing with it a cool oversized meter, but the rest of the amplifier has been redeveloped, too, not least to incorporate features that will improve system matching, reliability, ease-of-use and initial set-up. At £30k per pair, they seem almost sensibly-priced by today’s standards, especially when you hear how they perform. Available in silver or black, a single REF160M is a fairly compact unit, at 438x254x457mm (WHD), with the handles adding 41mm; and its weight is a manageable 25.5kg. While we’re on the topic of user-friendliness –…