Category Archives: DDPR news & musings

Got an audio ailment? Need some hi-fi healing or reel-to-reel rehab? Allow me to introduce you to The Audiophile’s Clinic

Do you live, breathe, eat, sleep and dream music and sound? Then, dear reader, I’m delighted to report that I’ve discovered something that can help: The Audiophile’s Clinic. Don’t worry, this isn’t a rehab clinic. Nobody’s going to try to cure you of your addiction. On the contrary, the aim of The Audiophile’s Clinic is to help ensure that you can indulge freely in your obsession (sorry, hobby), delve yet further into your passion for music and feed your need for audio nirvana unimpeded. To put it another way, The Audiophile’s Clinic is here to ensure your musical wellbeing.
Continue reading Got an audio ailment? Need some hi-fi healing or reel-to-reel rehab? Allow me to introduce you to The Audiophile’s Clinic

Furutech NCF Booster bags another audiophile award

Launched in 2017, Furutech’s new NCF Booster is a performance-enhancing cable and connector holder. Initially it seemed a tad slow coming to worldwide distribution – because rave reviews in the Japanese press meant that initial production runs sold out to industry insiders before even making it into shops! Fortunately, the company soon increased production and now the NCF Booster is available worldwide and gathering awards.

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“Punches way about its weight (and pricetag)”: Hi-Fi World is impressed by Exposure’s compact XM5 integrated amp

Launched in 2017, British brand Exposure’s XM series of amplifiers is cleverly designed to pack a raft of high-performance features into a compact half-width design. Hi-Fi World’s Martin Pipe puts the XM5 integrated amp to the test – and awards it the full five stars.

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“Exposure is to be congratulated”: Hi-Fi Choice includes a trio of Exposure amplifiers in its best of 2017

Each year, the Hi-Fi Choice Yearbook singles out the greatest-sounding audio products reviewed by the magazine’s expert team during the previous 12 months. On news-stands now, the 2017 edition’s chosen few includes no less than three of British brand Exposure’s amplifiers. All three are from the company’s small but brilliantly conceived XM series.

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“A masterpiece of design”: Hi-Fi Choice picks the Larsen 8 as one of the best loudspeakers reviewed in 2017

On news-stands now, the Hi-Fi Choice Yearbook 2017 singles out the greatest-sounding audio products reviewed by the magazine’s expert team throughout the year. Every product listed is a coveted Hi-Fi Choice badge winner – hardly an easy accomplishment given the “staggering number of high-performance components emerging to feed our passions in increasingly innovative ways,” writes editor Lee Dunkley. Among the chosen few is the multi award-winning Larsen 8 floorstanding loudspeaker by Swedish brand Larsen.

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“The perfect superhero”: Hi-Fi Plus is star-struck by Gamut’s flagship Zodiac loudspeaker

“For good or ill, when it comes to audio, we live in a time of flagships and statements,” writes Hi-Fi Plus editor Alan Sircom in the magazine’s December issue. For the most part Sircom remains relatively unimpressed, having found that many such bigger-is-better products, while certainly big on size and price, don’t necessarily deliver a commensurate peak in terms of performance. Gamut’s flagship Zodiac loudspeaker, however, “is one of the rare exceptions. A true statement piece….”
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High-end hat-trick: Timestep wins its third Hi-Fi World ‘Best Turntable’ Award

Devon-based Timestep has garnered quite a reputation for its intelligent modifications of various iconic Technics turntables, and the resulting Timestep/Technics decks have earned themselves a canny mantelpiece of awards. The latest of these is the coveted ‘Best Turntable’ Award from Hi-Fi World – just presented to Timestep for an impressive third time.
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“Almost irresistible”: Magnepan .7 loudspeaker is a Hi-Fi Plus 2017 Award winner

What do you do if you hanker after Magnepan’s soaring (and multi award-winning) flat-panel loudspeakers but you don’t have the largest of listening rooms or budgets? “We’re on it”, said Magnepan, and promptly created the .7 (‘point seven’), a scaled down version of the brand’s acclaimed 1.7 model, and now a Hi-Fi Plus 2017 Award winner.
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Transfiguration Proteus wins Hi-Fi Plus’ 2017 Award for best phono cartridge

The range of Transfiguration phono cartridges from Japanese Immutable Music is a deliberately limited one, focusing on just three exquisitely innovative models. But there seems to be no limit to the number of awards they’re notching up…

Positive Feedback’s Writers’ Choice Award 2015, Hi-Fi World Product of the Year 2016, The Absolute Sound Editors Choice Award 2017… Transfiguration’s flagship Proteus just keeps on impressing reviewers around the globe. And now it’s the proud winner of the 2017 Hi-Fi Plus Award for the top phono cartridge.
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