Hi Fi News Yearbook 2021

Welcome, audiophiles, enthusiasts, music fans and lovers of all things luxury to our annual Yearbook. Whatever the mainstream news headlines are currently troubling us with, it’s reassuring to know there’s absolutely no global shortage of audio goodies as Hi-Fi News & Record Review celebrates the hardware that inspired our senses and the music that sustained our souls and sanity throughout 2021. So sit back and savour our annual festival of the most awe-inspiring vinyl-playing hardware, of amplifiers ranging from tube titans to Class D divas, network-connected digital players and DACs, and loudspeakers of every conceivable size and stripe. While leafing through the jewels of high-end audio featured in this bumper 188-page collection, I hope you’ll also be tempted to seek out some new sounds from our choice of heavyweight LPs,…

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…

We’ve missed a full two years of sights and sounds at our Hi-Fi Show Live, but in anticipation of our next feast of all that’s truly fabulous in high-end audio we thought we’d look back at some of the seminal kit, and inspirational people, that fuelled our passion over the years. The Hi-Fi Show Live was launched and hosted at the Beaumont Conference Centre in Old Windsor from 2013-18 witnessing a host of exclusive product launches and once-in-a lifetime listening experiences. Here’s a taster of those events… Our inaugural show in 2013 featured live performances by Eleanor McEvoy in the PMC demonstration room, in addition to seminars by world-renowned mastering engineer Crispin Murray, seen here standing next to PMC’s awesome BB5 SE ‘prosumer’ monitors with their 15in Radial bass units.…

For its seventh year, the UK Hi-Fi Show Live witnessed a change of venue – and what a change! In 2019 we took the ‘hotel’ out of hi-fi shows, hosting the cream of high-end audio in the vast but elegant settings of Ascot’s iconic Grandstand. Home to Royal Ascot in June [pictured, below], in October this spectacular venue saw exclusive UK product launches from brands including BAT, Wilson Audio, Constellation, Innuos, IsoTek, Avantgarde and D’Agostino. The luxurious Parade Ring, On5, Ascot Authority and Windsor Forest suites provided the ideal environment for packed workshops, hosted by world-class presenters including Germany’s Matthias Bode, Michael Fremer and Ken Kessler. Here’s a very, very brief taster of this unique high-end audio extravaganza. The doors open again on 10-11th Sept 2022! Kudos Audio and Exposure…

AUDIO FILE Low-output moving-coil cartridge with exposed body Made by: AVID Hi-Fi Ltd, Kimbolton, Cambs Supplied by: AVID Hi-Fi Ltd Telephone: 01480 869900 Web:www.avidhifi.co.uk Price: £4000 The middle model in a range of three cartridges, the £4000 Boron sells for a substantial £2000 less than the flagship Reference Ruby [HFN Nov’20]. Aside from a boron cantilever instead of ruby, hence the models’ names, the Boron is identical to the flagship model, with the same micro-ridge stylus, tracking force and impedance. The entry-level Ionic has an aluminium cantilever, but an elliptical stylus, so comparisons of that model with its dearer siblings isn’t a matter of varying cantilevers. You open up that other can of worms – the sound of different stylus profiles. Hey, we even know those who swear by conical!…

AUDIO FILE Photo-electric pick-up cartridge and equaliser Made by: Digital Stream Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan Supplied by: Soundfowndations Ltd, Berks Telephone: 0118 9814238 Web: www.ds-audio-w.biz; www.soundfowndations.co.uk Prices: £11,995/£38,000 (cartridge/PSU & equaliser) In every field there are products that push both engineering and price limits, and this is certainly a phenomenon we are used to in high-end audio. Thus, with shaking hands (not a desirable state with this item), we installed the DS Audio Grand Master cartridge, at £11,995 surely one of the most expensive on the planet. That’s not all: DS Audio pick-ups, with their ‘optical’ engine, require their own dedicated energisers and specific equalisation. To accompany the Grand Master, there is a two-box solution selling for a heart-stopping £38,000 [pictured bottom right]. To advance beyond the stillamazing Master 1 [HFN…