Hi Fi News Yearbook 2016

Welcome, audiophiles, enthusiasts and music lovers all to our annual Yearbook. Christmas has come a little early this year as Hi-Fi News & Record Review celebrates the hardware that turned our heads and the music that stirred our souls throughout 2016. Hungry for the best that hi-fi has to offer? Well, prepare to be sated because this bumper 172-page issue is a feast of audio dreams, a menu of the most delectable source components, amplifiers and loudspeakers from across the globe. We’ve more than a few vintage audio heroes on show to remind us of hi-fi ’s deep roots together with selections from our Budget Esoterica series, proving there’s some very affordable hardware ready and eager to tempt our musical tastebuds. While the range of equipment grows and diversifies by the year,…

STOP PRESS… Special Events Chasing The Dragon Mike Valentine, the world’s leading producer of Direct Cut Vinyl albums has joined forces with Symmetry (Windsor 6) to reveal the recording techniques he uses at Air Studios in London. Mike will also be playing tracks from his tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, performed by Clare Teal and the Syd Lawrence Orchestra Pure Cello Join Vincent Bélanger as he accompanies his own recordings played through a £60k Audio Note system throughout the weekend (Lancaster 5)! Vintage system demo You love our vintage gear reviews so look out for Tim Jarman’s seminars to enjoy some choice examples assembled into a complete system TICKETS ON SALE NOW 29th-30th October Advance tickets will remain on sale until Fri 28th Oct for the UK’s premier highend audio event – The Hi-Fi Show Live at the Beaumont Estate…

SHOWBLOG Sights and sounds from around the globe USA, Las Vegas – CES HI-FI NEWS SHOWBLOG This year saw Hi-Fi News celebrate its 60th anniversary and one of the advantages of being the oldest hi-fi magazine in the world is that we’ve had time to station our journalists across the globe, all of whom are able to bring you coverage of the biggest shows. Every issue we offer our Showblog from a major international event somewhere in the world, including CES in Las Vegas and the High End Show in Munich through to the annual shows in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Portugal and Stockholm – in addition to our own Hi-Fi News show in Windsor [see p16]. Here’s our pick of the world-class kit that impressed us in 2016. UK, Windsor – Hi-Fi Show Germany –…

AUDIO FILE Belt-driven turntable with electronic speed control Made by: AS-Distribution GmbH, Germany Supplied by: Elite Audio (Distribution) Ltd, London Telephone: 0203 397 1119 Web: www.acoustic-signature.com; www.eliteaudiouk.com Price: £995 (inc. arm and MM cartridge) Acoustic Solid has been quietly growing its catalogue and taking on other German competitors. Its designs are rather less showy and seem more focused on compact, down-to-earth engineering. The Primus sits at the entry level of its range, so unlike the £85,000+ flagship Invictus model there is one motor rather than six, one belt not two, and you can only fit one tonearm, not four. But the Primus costs an eminently affordable £995 by way of an introductory offer. For this, the deck comes fitted with a pre-aligned arm and cartridge. ‘An Ibiza nightclub had taken up residence – but we weren’t complaining’ The turntable is…

AUDIO FILE Magnetically isolated, belt-drive turntable Made by: Clearaudio Electronic GmbH, Germany Supplied by: Sound Fowndations, UK Telephone: 0118 981 4238 Web: www.clearaudio.de; www.soundfowndations.co.uk Prices (turntable/arm): £92,500/£18,500 With Clearaudio’s Statement and the matching Statement TT1 linear tracking arm, at a combined price of £111,000, you can imagine that an upgrade to ‘v2’ status was going to tax its designers. Its basic form remains that of a three-speed belt-drive turntable with electronic control and massive, magnetically coupled platters – the lower one belt-driven, the upper combination isolated from direct mechanical contact with the ‘engine’ – with a massive weight hanging below for damped self-levelling. Now in v2 guise the electronic speed control uses a brand new circuit board featuring upgraded components, to deliver even more precision and stability. The massive integrated stand’s top sandwich layers of aluminium plates and…

AUDIO FILE Belt-driven turntable with electronic speed control Made by: Inspire Hi-Fi, Chesterfield Supplied by: Inspire Hi-Fi Telephone: 01246 268887 Web: www.inspirehifi.co.uk Price: £1390 (£2315 inc. arm) Inspire says the £1390 Elevation turntable is intended to deliver a ‘high-mass design in an affordable package’. This mass involves two distinct materials. Birch ply is used to form the plinth, with sections layered to create a 90mm-thick teardrop shape that accommodates the motor, bearing and the arm mount. Inspire offers various veneer options, or the deck may be supplied with the layers of ply exposed, as seen here. The unit is topped off with an equally hefty 50mm platter machined from an acetyl polymer – a substance similar to Delrin and a little less dense than acrylic. It locates directly onto a small subplatter driven via two belts, while the…