Dream Hifi

20. March 2012 · 5 comments · Categories: Comment · Tags: , , ,

Is is it a bit sad to have a dream hifi? It probably is you know, but I bet a pound to a penny that the vast majority of folk reading this have dreamed of owning a particular set up. Well perhaps they haven’t physically dreamed it as that would be a bit wrong, but you get my point I’m sure. More »

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Is the Acceptance of Mediocrity Killing the Hifi Industry?

07. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Comment · Tags: , , , , , ,

It seemed that just a few short years ago, you couldn’t visit any major town or city without tripping over audiophiles in the foyers of hotels all intent on seeing the latest and greatest in hifi.  Well perhaps not, but there did seem to be more shows of an international bias, drawing crowds from far and wide.  Today, it’s refreshing to see shows such as the Wigwam Festival (this year re-named the Pie-Fi show due to its location at Melton Mowbray, home of the Pork Pie!) in addition to trade shows and fairs.  It demonstrates that hifi is alive and kicking, but for me there’s still one issue with many hifi shows.  They are speaking to the “converted” and are geared at either demonstrating wares to the hifi buying public or showing off very individual systems for those already bitten by the bug. More »

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Loudspeaker and Listening Room Interaction…Important or Not?

05. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Technical · Tags: , , , ,

How many times have you listened to a set of ‘speakers in a showroom to be surprised, or even disappointed when after purchasing, dragging them (carefully) home and impatiently setting them up only to be rewarded with something that bore no relationship with the sound that you heard at the dealers?  Besides the usual caveats of allowing ‘speakers to break-in for 50 hours or more so that the moving parts can free up slightly, what else is there to be concerned with? More »

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Musical Fidelity X-Ray V8 CD plus Triple-X Power Supply

28. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: CD Players · Tags: , , , , , , ,

Having been impressed with MF’s most popular player on the block, the A5 CDP, I was curious to know how its diminutive sibling the XRay V8 would fare so managed to get hold of one for an audition.  It arrived neatly packaged with the separate off-board power supply unit, leads and remote.  Initial impressions on build were quite good.  Well screwed together and quite an unusual design with the long slim casings and separate (and quite beefy) psu.  Assembled and left to warm up, I had a look at the remote which is a plastic affair with far too many buttons and a confusing layout.  The remote is intended for the matching amplifier and tuner operation too and the overall impression is that MF intended this to be bought as a package with those units (X100 amp and X-Tuner).  They share a trademark casing design meant as an upgrade to the older cylindrical shaped units . More »

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Consonance Mini Droplet Linear CDP3.1

27. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: CD Players · Tags: , , , , , ,

Build and design
I first came across this CDP whilst auditioning a set of speakers a few years back.  The dealer had a CDP3.1 sitting on the equipment table next to a particularly tasty Horning Sati SET valve amp.
The first thing that strikes you about the player is just how misleading its name is…there’s nothing “mini” about it!  In fact it’s one of the largest CDPs I’ve so far encountered, but boy is it beautiful.  I remember thinking at the time that I’d be quite happy to pay the asking price and never play it, just keep it on a pedestal as a work of art! More »

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MBL 116F Radialstrahler

25. February 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Loudspeakers. · Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

MBL 116F RADIALSTRAHLER SPEAKERS

This is a difficult review for me.  I normally like to be able to put a hifi component  into context, by comparing it with some of its sonic and/or financial peers, and so being able to point out their relative sonic merits, the pros and cons of the performance. More »

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Bristol Show This Weekend

23. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

A little late on reporting this but this weekend (Friday 24th Feb – Sunday 26th Feb) sees the 25th annual “Sound and Vision –The Bristol Show” taking place at the Marriott City Hotel in Bristol.

This is the UKs largest hi-fi, home cinema and audiophile show and all the major industry players, large and small will be in attendance.

The show boasts a great location right in the heart of Bristol with easy access by train, plane or car. Prices are Adults £9, Senior Citizens (over 65)/Student £6 Accompanied Children under 16 free  and students can even claim a free pair of Headphones worth £14.95 when producing valid Student ID. Sadly that was a long long time ago for this porker.

At the time of writing there are 192 exhibitors taking part.

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