US-based hi-fi magazine The Absolute Sound has just published its prestigious Editors’ Choice Awards for 2017.
Editor-in-Chief Robert Harley and his team of expert audiophile reviewers offer their top product recommendations from across the world of all things audio, along with mini-reviews of each award-winning product. First up, loudspeakers….
Continue reading Magnepan, Raidho, Gamut, Larsen & Riva loudspeakers collect multiple Editors’ Choice Awards from The Absolute Sound
“2016 was dominated by turntables,” writes Paul Rigby in online magazine TheVinylFactory.com. “The year began with the news that Amazon had sold more turntables than any other home audio product over Christmas. While these decks aren’t the kind you’d wish on your worst enemy, it’s clear the appetite was there.”
Indeed – and it shows no sign of abating. According to new data just revealed by the Entertainment Retailers Association, more money was spent on vinyl album sales than digital album downloads in the UK last week” (see full story: Vinyl is killing the MP3 industry).
So if you’re a digital die-hard who’s finally considering a foray over to the vinyl side, or a turntable toe-dipper who bagged an Amazon cheapie but now hankers after an upgrade, you’re in luck. “Turntable manufacturers of all stripes have been busy and very proactive, releasing a swathe of top quality designs that will suit all budgets,” notes Rigby. But how do you choose between them?
Continue reading Clearaudio Innovation Basic & Timestep EVOke in The Vinyl Factory’s 15 best turntables of 2016
Well, it’s that time of year again – when we sit back with a glass of something mulled and mull over the year’s highs and lows. To say that it’s been an ‘interesting’ year would be something of an understatement and so perhaps it’s best to focus our attention firmly on the world of hi-fi, where most news tends to be good news and hence where 2016 can go down as a year of positive change and innovation.
The December issue of Hi-Fi Plus magazine does just that, highlighting the best products of 2016 and rewarding those that stand out among them in the magazine’s annual ‘Product of the Year’ Awards.
Continue reading DS-Audio & IsoTek: worthy winners of Hi-Fi Plus ‘Product of the Year’ Awards
Due to be aired on Channel 5 this Wednesday 16th November, the latest episode of The Gadget Show turns its attention to turntables and asks the question, just how much should you spend on a new deck?
Well it’s that time of year again. The air chills, the days shorten and we retreat indoors for a glass of something fortifying and to reflect on the year’s highs and lows. And what better way to do it than with a copy of the Hi-Fi News Yearbook 2016 with its round-up of “the hardware that turned our heads and the music that stirred our souls” over the past 12 months. This year’s bumper 172-page issue features a real “feast of audio dreams”.
It’s a common conundrum. You covet the superior sound of a high-end audio system, but you’d rather not have to take out a second mortgage to fund it. Thankfully, you don’t have to, as there are plenty of superb-sounding hi-fi components that won’t break the bank.
Bewildered by the choices on offer? Fortunately help is on hand with The Absolute Sound’s Buyer’s Guide To Affordable Audio 2016, created to help maximize your purchasing power and your hi-fi system enjoyment.
The 2016 What Hi-Fi? Awards have now been revealed. There are 102 individual winners across 27 categories, showcasing the best hi-fi, home cinema and portable audio products on the market.
“Who would have thought that four decades after What Hi-Fi? was founded in 1976, vinyl would still be going strong?” asks the magazine’s Andy Clough.
And who would’ve thought that, in 2016, one little turntable would be celebrating its sixth win…
Continue reading Is this some kind of record? Clearaudio Concept bags its sixth What Hi-Fi? Award
“The Gamut Lobster Chair is billed as ‘the world’s first audiophile chair’. I will respectfully defer — ‘firsts’ don’t really matter to me as much as ‘awesomeness’, and this chair is awesome,” writes Scot Hull of US-based e-zine, Part-Time Audiophile.
The Absolute Sound (TAS) has just published its brand new and biggest ever Buyer’s Guide to Loudspeakers. The 2016 edition covers all types of speakers, from floorstanders, stand-mounts and desktops to planars and horns, across a range of price brackets.
The magazine’s review team has mulled over the world’s top models and picked out a select few to provide audiophiles with an easy-to-navigate PDF guide, available as a free download.
Continue reading Gamut, Raidho & Magnepan in The Absolute Sound’s Buyer’s Guide to Loudspeakers 2016
In 2013 DS Audio pioneered the world’s only optical phono cartridge, the DS-W1, which was an immediate hit in its native Japan. International distribution soon followed, as did rave reviews from the worldwide audiophile press. Now the company is proud to announce its new flagship, the Master 1.
Continue reading Optical cartridge pioneer DS Audio launches new flagship: the Master 1
David Denyer PR | The hi-fi specialist 