Hi Fi News November 2016

Somewhere in the world it’s always ‘Show Time’, from the most local of specialist hi-fi events through to Munich’s High End extravaganza in May and the two big beasts of the event calendar – CES in January and IFA International in September. Hi-Fi News is not only the world’s longest-serving and, I’m bound to say, most respected high-end audio journal but it’s also the title with a truly global reach, so we have reporters covering as many of these events as possible with at least one ‘Show Blog’ in every issue. This month we enjoy the sun and sounds of California’s Newport Beach show [p18] where headphones and vinylplaying systems are clearly still in the ascendent. Contrast this with IFA International, the sprawling, colourful jigsaw of all things electronic that, at…

Yamaha NS-5000 ICONIC THREE-WAY, STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKER REIMAGINED Tucked away in Yamaha’s impressive booth at the IFA show, this €15,000 loudspeaker was ‘soft-launched’ to selected visitors. Clearly reminiscent of the iconic NS-1000M, launched nearly 40 years ago, this reimagined version (dubbed the NS-5000) shares the same left/right mirroring of its three drive units but uses entirely different materials technology. Out go the beryllium-domed mid and treble units to be replaced by lookalike drivers fashioned from a high-tech metallised polymer weave called ‘Zylon’ Claimed to offer a similar acoustic velocity to beryllium, Zylon was originally developed for space suits! What’s very rare here, if not unique, is Yamaha’s use of the same material in its 30cm woofer cone, 8cm mid and 3cm tweeter domes. Each lacquered and polished reflexloaded cabinet is made from plywood, features…

Latest from the UK’s only high-end hi-fi show 29th-30th October Advance tickets are on sale for the UK’s premier highend audio event – The Hi-Fi Show Live at the Beaumont Estate conference centre, Old Windsor on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October 2016. Tickets cost £20 (£30 for a weekend pass) via www.the-hifi-show-live-2016.eventbrite.co.uk or from the link on our website where HI-FI NEWS and Hi-Fi Choice subscribers can discover details of our special £15 day pass. Please return regularly to www.hifinews.co.uk/show for more details. B&W Histor y Zone The Hi-Fi Show Live will not only provide enthusiasts with the opportunity to compare models from B&W’s award-winning D3 range from 2016 but we will also be taking a trip down memory lane with earlier examples of the 800 marque, including the original 801...…

The Hotel Irvine was the site of T.H.E. Show 2016, held over the first weekend in June. This spacious hotel offers easy access, plenty of parking, excellent dining, and a wealth of exhibition space. The biggest such show on the West Coast, this year’s event grew by more than 15% over 2015, with over 10,000 attendees checking out 410 exhibitors from 18 countries. Headed by Bob Levy, the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society was a big presence at the show. Levy hosted a raucous raffle on closing day which saw many happy audiophiles heading home with everything from records to headphones and cables. This year’s show was dedicated to founder Richard Beers, who passed away in late January. A jazz concert and dinner were among the festivities held in his…

Our May ’15 ‘From the Vault’ certainly struck a chord, prompting a flurry of letters [see Sound Off, HFN Jul’ 15]. A reprint from December 1979, ‘Sleeves under scrutiny’ had looked at the way in which different record companies used the annotated LP sleeve, gatefold or box design to attract customers – and some of it (pace my old friend co-author Tully Potter) had the delicious flavour of BBC2’s Grumpy Old Men. There were complaints about sleeve notes reduced to accommodate German and French translations; a lack of production information; double sleeves and oversized boxes taking up too much shelf space; no information on orchestral size and layout; and even the inclusion of session photographs, with informally dressed players and trailing microphone cables, ‘destroying the concert hall illusion’ FRISSON OF EXPECTATION I wouldn’t…

AUDIO FILE Pre & power amplifier. Rated at 175W/8ohm Made by: Ayre Acoustics Inc., Colorado, USA Supplied by: Symmetry Systems, Herts Telephone: 01727 865488 Web: www.ayre.com; www.symmetry-systems.co.uk Prices: £7495 (each) All manufacturers are keen to tell you that they are different from the others, but Ayre does so more convincingly than most. And the KX-5 Twenty preamp and VX-5 Twenty power amp (each priced at £7495) exemplify this company’s continuing advocacy of some unusual design approaches. Both the KX-5 and VX-5 appeared in their original form in 2013, but the improved ‘Twenty’ editions became available last year. As usual with Ayre, users were given the opportunity to upgrade rather than having to invest in a new product. A NOVEL DESIGN From the start, the KX-5 had included Ayre’s big innovation in preamplification, its Variable Gain Transconductance (VGT) volume control,…