Hi Fi News Yearbook 2020

If there was ever a year to celebrate the positive things in our lives, then 2020, the global annus horribilis, is that year. So stay home, spin up your favourite tunes and immerse yourselves in our annual Yearbook as Hi-Fi News & Record Review celebrates the hardware that inspired our senses and the music that sustained our souls throughout 2020. And what a treat we have in store, as our cover parade of issues from this year – published on schedule and uninterrupted throughout the health crisis – provides some expectation of the jewels of high-end audio featured in this bumper-sized 188-page collection. I can promise this year’s annual is a festival of the most awe-inspiring vinyl-playing hardware, amplifiers, loudspeakers and increasingly versatile digital gear launched across the globe. It’s also an…

BARRY FOX Investigative journalist supreme, Barry is the first with news of the latest developments in hi-fi and music technologies DAVID PRICE An avid collector of audio treasures, and life-long hi-fi addict, DP lends his ears and experience from analogue to digital KEN KESSLER is a long-serving contributor, luxury goods writer and champion for the renaissance in valves and ‘vintage hi-fi’ MARK CRAVEN Editor of our sister title Home Cinema Choice, Mark’s passion for music extends from stereo to multichannel and Dolby Atmos STEVE HARRIS Former Editor of this very title from 1986 through to 2005. A lifetime in audio and a love of jazz makes Steve a goldmine ANDREW EVERARD has reviewed hi-fi for over 30 years and is still effortlessly enthusiastic about new technology, kit and discovering new music STEVE SUTHERLAND worked on Melody Maker and then edited NME from 1992-2000,…

One of the advantages of being the oldest hi-fi magazine in the world is that over the years HFN has had time to station its journalists in audiophile hot-spots across the globe to bring you coverage of the biggest shows. From Germany’s vast High End Show in Munich through to the annual exhibitions in Hong Kong, Warsaw, Prague and Athens – not to mention our own UK Hi-Fi Show Live! which celebrated its seventh year in 2019 by moving from Windsor to the vast but elegant settings of Ascot’s Grandstand – we keep you in touch with the latest kit releases. Here’s our pick of the top events that impressed us over the last 12 months! A gold-leaf Sonus faber Lilium and Clearaudio Statement deck were just two world-class components to…

This show just gets better and better – and there is no more vivid indication that it is becoming a destination event than the number of ‘civilian’ audiophile visitors I recognised from the UK. The rooms of the Radisson Blu Sobieski hotel were filled with high-end demos while across the road the Golden Tulip offered massive conference rooms, and the National Stadium contained everything from high-end imports to vinyl vendors to headphone halls. This gorgeous beastie comes from SoulNote. The A2 is a differential amp with assorted output modes, three balanced and three single-ended inputs, operation as pre- or power-amp-only and is rated at 100W/8ohm. Controls include on/off, source select and level – purism to the nth degree! Oh, and the build quality is breathtaking. www.nipponhifi.com The Egg-shell Tanq integrated amp with…

Southeast Asia’s largest audio event, the Hong Kong High End AV Show, took place over three days in 2019 at the Conference & Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai District, and was a roaring success. With exhibitors from around the globe – many appearing for the first time – plus live performances from local singers, AV demos and dragon drum displays, there was something for everyone. With the Air Force Zero, the project to produce the ultimate reference turntable is now complete. Hideaki Nishikawa of TechDAS, the deck’s designer, has been accompanying the 330kg system on a limited world tour and at the Hong Kong event posed for this shot as he lifted a cover that was protecting the motor pulley. www.techdas.jp The Wadax Atlantis Transport reads CD, SACD, DVD-Audio and Blu-ray ‘Pure…

For the sixth year, the Prague Audio Video Show was held at the Hotel Don Giovanni, just five minutes by metro from the city’s historic centre. Taking place over the weekend of the 28th and 29th of February this year, there was no shortage of showstopping kit, from both international and local brands alike. Whether it was cutting-edge streamers, Kronzilla tubes or big-ticket speakers made from slate, you could be sure of sounds to suit all music lovers. Czech company KR Audio has certainly built itself an enviable reputation over the years when it comes to producing vacuum tubes and used the event to show off single-ended amplifiers from its Kronzilla series. The integrated design pictured sports a brace of its T-1610 tubes and is said to deliver 22W-50W in Class…