Hi Fi News August 2017

Fake news never ceases to make the news these days. So just who do we trust to deliver impartial and truly informed opinion on the major events that both shape and shake our world? Can we rely on websites buzzing with the views of unsalaried scribes desperately seeking attention or, darker still, authored by lobbyists hiding behind the anonymity of a colourful avatar? In times of uncertainty we turn to trusted sources, outlets of news and views with a track record that often extends way back into our youth. There’s comfort in the certainty of a news brand that has stood the test of time, authored by seasoned journalists many with decades of experience, and produced with a passion for accuracy and in-depth insight that’s rare in a world of 30-second…

The missing link? METAXAS HEADPHONE AMP – HIGH ART FOR AUDIOPHIL ‘Life is too short to listen to expensive headphones through a musically uninvolving headphone amplifier’, says Kostas Metaxas who, with his two sons (sins), crafts a range of audiophile objets d’art. Most visually arresting of all is the Marquis Memento Mori headphone/ line preamplifier built not into a conventional box chassis but housed within a 15mm-thick CNC-machined alloy cranium. Price is £6000 in its standard black finish or in one of several ‘premium’ colours (including gold, silver, red and purple) for another £250. Volume control and input selection are governed by two (red) rotaries in the cheeks of the skull while VU meters for the left and right channels stare out of the eye sockets... A choice of headphone socket (a 6.35mm…

Esoteric is teaming up with Nordost cables at The Hi-FiShow Live to debut more of its flagship ‘X’ series separates, including the K-01X – a more compact version of the Grandioso SACD/CD player. Not only will Atlas Cables have a working build station at The Hi-FiShow Live, but it will also be demonstrating its ‘Grun Coherent Earthing System’ with range-topping Asimi and Mavros analogue interconnects. Ever wondered what the ultimate digital disc/DAC/network audio player looks and sounds like? Well dCS believes it has the answer and will be tempting visitors to The Hi-FiShow Live with its limited edition Vivaldi One player, complete with latest (v2.0) Ring DAC. Seminar specials The master of Tim Jarman, returns to The Hi-FiShow Live, with a series of demonstrations showcasing iconic kit from yesteryear. Come see and hear some…

One thing the Tonbridge Audiojumble has taught me is that it’s a perfect indicator for street-level trends. Our April issue featured a heads-up on the rumoured revival of the humble cassette, and used cassette decks certainly enjoyed brisk trade at the bi-annual event. Then there were open-reel decks of various vintage, of which there were plenty to tempt the connoisseur As ever, HFN contributors were present, including Steve Harris and Tim Jarman, the latter on the lookout for mint vintage gems for review fodder. There were bargains galore, but I am not here to torment you. Just make sure you’re there for the next one on Sunday, the 1st of October. You might be as lucky as I was: I snagged an Amcron (aka Crown) D75 slimline power amp for £80 Probably…

One of the most enduring Utopian concepts in high-quality sound reproduction is that of the diaphragm-less loudspeaker, particularly the diaphragm-less tweeter. Diaphragms have mass and thus inertia, and are never perfectly rigid and so prone to structural resonances, even if these occur above the audible frequency range. As a consequence, drive units with diaphragms never exactly reproduce transient waveforms such as a toneburst – historically perhaps the favourite test signal for demonstrating this shortfall. A diaphragm-less driver, by contrast, suggests freedom from both inertia and resonance, and hence an uncompromised ability to reproduce tonebursts [see Fig 1] or any other ‘difficult’ signal we may devise – especially transient-rich music. TALKING ARC Fine, but the diaphragm-less loudspeaker is mythical, surely? No such thing does or can exist? But actually it does, and what’s more…

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. There’s a lot to be said for occasionally refining, honing and polishing a successful product rather than starting from scratch, and Focal has proven adept at this with its top Utopia series of loudspeakers. But there’s always the risk that, when a design looks so familiar, the process of refinement fails to register with onlookers. Whereas a rip-it-up and start-afresh approach inevitably commands attention. So what has changed in the £24,999 Scala Utopia III Evo (second in line in the new Utopia III range to the £40k Maestro Utopia III Evo and available later this year) to distinguish it from its predecessor, the Scala V2 Utopia? You won’t find any change in the exterior dimensions, which are identical, or in the headline specifications where…