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Hifi and Live Music.

21. June 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Comment · Tags: audiophiles, hi fi, hifi

Well today is Fete de la Musique in France and this is the one day of the year where towns and villages across the country put on a great deal of free music in their streets and bars. The whole country comes out in a big celebration of all things musical and a great time is had by all…needless to say it’s banging it down with rain here at the moment.

This got me thinking about live music and where hifi fits into all this. Hi-fi aficionados often claim that they are looking to recreate that “live experience” and I wondered where this came from and what it was about the “live” experience they wanted to recreate. The majority of my experience of live rock and electronic music is being surrounded by drunken mid-twenty somethings combined with pretty average sound reproduction and hi-fi it certainly is not. If that’s the experience folk are looking for then surely it can’t be that difficult to recreate; a couple of cases of cheap lager, turn the music-centre up full whack, get too many friends around and there you go…for the festival experience take the whole lot out into the garden and roll around in the mud. More »

Confessions of a Hifi Addict

19. June 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Comment · Tags: hi fi, hifi

There are those in hifi that like to collect boxes and I’m not ashamed to say that I count myself in this category. I like the fact that my hifi takes up a whole wall in one room of the house and I don’t think I would get the same satisfaction from a one box hi-fi system. I can see the benefits of having all the component parts of a hifi in one convenient unit, but I’m afraid it just doesn’t appeal to me. That said I do quite like my hifi to be functional…ok I quite like ugly hifi…or hi-fi that most would consider to be ugly…I prefer the word “different”.

Currently there are 7 different boxes on my hifi shelf – a CD player, an amplifier (it’s integrated so there’s one less box I suppose), a turntable and all it’s little tools, a phono-stage, a headphone amp, a squeezebox and of course a pair of speakers. Of course there is more than one pair of speakers in the house as I seem to be a little magpie-like when it comes to loudspeakers. As I type this I just looked around the open plan living space and counted 3 pairs…all in use mind…and these all have associated amplifiers too. I think there is no hope for me! There’s more dotted round the house too…and another pair on the way. More »

What is Hifi?

14. June 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Comment · Tags: audiophile, hi fi, hifi, hifi amplifiers

Hi-fi can mean so many things to different folk, so a quick search on the internet seemed in order and Wikipedia had the following to say: “High fidelity – or hi-fi or hifi – reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts (audiophiles) to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment.”

I’m never even sure whether you should write hifi or hi-fi and so interchange the two at random!

This got me thinking! I participate in a number of hi-fi forums and no one person seems to agree on what hifi actually means. I suppose if being an audiophile meant the same to everyone then we would all be playing identical hi-fi systems, but the truth of the matter is that there are those with valve amplifiers, solid state amplifiers, horn loudspeakers, “normal” loudspeakers. Some audiophile folk prefer analogue front ends and use a record player, others prefer their hifi pleasure delivered by cd players and some prefer their music to be delivered by streaming hifi systems. There are those audiophile types who use digital sources, but then talk about how best to achieve an analogue sound. If I was starting out down the audiophile path all over again I have to say the world would look a lot more confusing than it did thirty years ago. More »

Epiphany Acoustics – New Headphone Amp and Interconnects

22. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: British Hifi, Headphone Amplifier, hifi, Interconnects

Epiphany Acoustics is a small British company owned by Olivier Freeborn and are very much of the thought that high-end hifi should not be the preserve of the very wealthy.

The EHP-O2 has been designed from the ground up to offer the very best head-fi performance whilst maintaining its portability. All the components used in this diminutive headphone amplifier have been “exhaustively selected and tested to offer the user true audiophile quality” and result in a THD of just 0.0017% and a noise floor of -105dB.

With the two lightweight rechargeable batteries the unit can be used for up to 8 hours and with the included AC adaptor/charger it becomes a very capable and compact desktop amplifier to boot.

The amplifier can be optimised to almost any headphone you choose using the on board gain switch and connection to your source and headphones is made with the 3.5mm jacks to keep the weight and form factor to an absolute minimum. More »

One Man and His Turntable (Well Three Actually)

20. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Analogue · Tags: Hi fi turntables, hifi, hifi reviews

I remember as a youngster seeing my first Dansette record player which my uncle used to spin up Elvis singles and thought it was the bees knees! That’s what really got me into vinyl, the diverse range of albums that relatives owned and regularly played. It just left an indelible impression that music over the airwaves didn’t seem to capture as well for me. I vowed on day to own a Dansette!

Time moved on, and no I never got to own a Dansette (although the historical interest means I may yet search one out!). Of the record decks that have been through my hands, three have stuck out for me as defining moments in my hifi journey. I’ll say, before I start, that these are not meant to be a comparison with other decks, but are quite personal to me for reasons I’ll go on to explain.

Rega P25
I stared out with a Dual 505-2 and whilst an inoffensive and pretty decent starter deck, it was nothing special and I never really minded selling it on. Following a brief affair with a Thorens TD260 which as ok too, I bought what I considered to be my first quality hifi deck which was the Rega Planar P25 in a Rosewood plinth surround. The attraction with this deck, was that it was and still is (for me) quite a statement. It was Rega saying “we’ve been around 25 years now and this little gem proves we can do quality at a sensible price”. That it was. Very nicely finished, the P25 filled the gap between the P3 and P9 decks. The platter may have been taken from the P3 but the plinth was more like the upmarket version used on the P9. The big upgrades over the P2 and P3 decks, besides the RB600 arm included the motor where the twin pots were hand adjusted to reduce resonance and the mounting was better isolated than the P3. The arm had improved bearing tolerances over the P3, was finished in anodised silver and used the same wiring as the P9, with klotz cable and Neutrik Profi RCA’s. All in all, it was a pretty remarkable deck for the princely some paid of £485. More »

Audio GD Digital Interface USB to S/Pdif converter

19. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: D to A Converters · Tags: DAC, hifi, hifi reviews

Price £159 (£204 with optional Class A PSU)

I’m pretty much on my own with this one. A quick poll at Hifi Pig HQ confirms what I already know – I’m the only one here who can get worked up about computer audio.

It makes sense to me. It works. I buy a CD, I rip it to a NAS hidden in a cupboard and then access the file through either my Sonos network or a ‘stealth’ spec laptop modded to run as quietly as possible. The CD goes onto a shelf (in alphabetical order of course) and the whole shooting match is controlled by my iPhone or iPad. I had some set up teething problems but the advantages far outweighed the odd technical hitch. All my tracks in one place, on one screen. I won’t miss collecting up all those silver discs with a hangover after an impromptu back to mine on a Friday night and PC audio was the key to the hallowed gates of high resolution audio, with files encoded at 24/192 as opposed to the Cd Redbook industry standard 16/44. Potentially a big deal. More »

ProAc Future Point Five Floor-Standing Loudspeakers

16. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Loudspeakers. · Tags: floorstanding loudspeakers, hi fi reviews, hifi, Loudspeakers

Wow – I really, really wanted to like these speakers.

I’d owned and liked, and sometimes loved, ProAc speakers off & on for years. It all started with a pair of the original Response 2 speakers. I’d gone to a dealer dem’ to listen to some big floorstanders of another make that were getting good reviews … urk, dull as ditchwater and mind-numbingly dynamically slow. So I got to chatting with the dealer (Dave from Progressive Audio), and saying what I wanted – dynamic speed, openness, low colouration ….. He looked at me kind of speculatively and said “wait a minute”. He brought two small standmount speakers into the dem room – he saw my expression – “don’t pre-judge – just listen” he said “and don’t ask the price!”.

I was blown away, just awestruck by what these little speakers did, dynamics exploded from the small cabinets. I bought those ProAc Response 2 speakers, quite possibly the first pair sold in the UK, and stayed with them a long time. I changed them for floorstander Response 3 when the 3 came out – that was a bit of a mistake, really, the 2 had more musical magic.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the Future series. ProAc’s stab at the high-priced high end of the market. Well, why shouldn’t they have their crack at the Big $$$?

From what I had heard and read, the Future series were the speakers that Stuart Tyler (ProAc founder & boss) had always wanted to make – I’d heard tales of ProAc working on an open baffle design a decade or so earlier, but that seemed to come to nought at the time. The Future series were his dream come true, apparently. But for some reason they received very little publicity (apart from a Stereophile review for the Future One back in 2000 which came up with one significant criticism and otherwise a bit of a rave). More »

Martin Logan Motion SLM – Super Skinny Loudspeakers

07. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: hi fi, hifi, hifi news, Loudspeakers

MartinLogan, well known the world over for their electrostatic speaker technology, announces this month the slender Motion® SLM, a wall-hanging or free standing LCR speaker that is ”powerful enough to stand alone and detailed enough to be used in conjunction with floor standing MartinLogan speakers”. The Motion SLM features dual four-inch, ultra-slim fibre cone woofers and dual four-inch high-velocity passive bass radiators, paired with a Folded Motion™ tweeter – all in an ultra-slim profile designed with super-thin TVs in mind.

The speakers are slim enough to complement even the thinnest of wall-mounted HD displays (even projection screens) and the Motion SLM is designed to step in where underpowered, unnatural sounding TV speakers fall short. The Motion SLM’s is said to have a “larger-than-its-size performance” and this down to the dual ultra-slim fibre cone woofers and high-velocity passive bass radiators, which provide low-end bass extension from an ultra-slim profile combined with the advanced resolution Folded Motion tweeter. The high-gloss black SLM cabinet is only 1.45-inches thin, for a total wall protrusion of 1.83-inches when used with magnetic grille and included wall mount bracket. More »

Meridian Offer Trade up Opportunity

07. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: hifi, hifi news

With immediate effect – and until the 31st May 2012 – customers can obtain a minimum trade-up value from an authorised Meridian retailer on selected CD Players and Controller products against the purchase of a new 800 Reference Series product. More »

Is the Acceptance of Mediocrity Killing the Hifi Industry?

07. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Comment · Tags: audiophile, audiophiles, best hi fi, hi fi, hifi, Hifi Shows, what hi fi

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 »

HiFi Wigwam Scalford 2012 Show Report

06. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: audiophile, hi fi, hifi, Hifi Shows, Scalford, what hi fi, which hifi

For the 4th successive year, the HiFi Wigwam internet hifi & music forum has organised its very own hifi show. This is hosted in the spacious Scalford Hall Hotel in the heart of rural Leicestershire UK, just outside the town of Melton Mowbray, which is otherwise famous for its pork pies! Hifi Pigs beware …

For the first 2 years the Show was held in collaboration with Chester Group, who are experienced with organising hifi shows worldwide. For 2011 and 2012, though, the Hifi Wigwam forum has been solely responsible.

Other than in the main reception area, hifi dealers and manufacturers are not allowed in! Instead the show’s focus is on the real life hifi systems belonging to forum members.

Some 50 systems were presented this year, each in their own room, ranging from the small and low cost end of the spectrum to no holds barred super systems, and with components from well known established manufacturers to vintage hifi, and DIY constructions of amazing appearance! More »

Naim Announce NDS Network Player

06. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: audiophiles, hi fi, hifi, streaming audio

Naim has announced a new addition to its network player range - the NDS. The new reference network player joins the NDX and ND5 XS and completes Naim’s range of streaming separates sources.

The NDS is an audiophile source, capable of playing and streaming audio over a home network at up to 24bit/192kHz resolution. It offers internet radio yet forgoes a DAB and FM radio tuner to minimise noise. It includes three S/PDIF digital inputs for connection to external digital sources, such as a computer or CD player. A front-panel USB port complets the feature set – either connect an iPhone or iPod digitally to allow the NDS to control and play stored audio or play audio from a USB memory stick, even hi-resolution WAV or FLAC files, with full on-screen control. The NDS will support all the main file formats. WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, AAC, Windows Media-formatted content, Ogg Vorbis and MP3 files are all catered for, as is gapless playback.

In true Naim reference engineering style, the NDS requires the use of an external power supply. The XP5 XS, XPS and 555 PS are all suitable matches. Performance can be further enhanced by the addition of a second Burndy cable (in the case of 555 PS only) splitting out the analogue and digital sections, which a second 555 PS will bring about even greater gains.

Like its fellow network players, the NDS can be controlled by Naim’s n-Stream control app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The app also alows control of a Naim system’s inputs and volume. The supplied remote and front-panel interface provide simple and easily accessed control.

Loudspeaker and Listening Room Interaction…Important or Not?

05. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Technical · Tags: best hi fi, hi fi, hifi, Loudspeakers, Technical

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 »

Grado 325is Headphones

05. March 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Headphones · Tags: album reviews, audiophile headphones, hi fi, hi fi reviews, hifi, hifi pig, hifi reviews

Needs Must

In the main I like to listen to my music through real speakers, but, being the henpecked member of the farmyard, Hifi Pig sometimes has to either turn things off or resort to the use of headphones. Now I have my own listening space (to call it a listening “room” would be wholly inappropriate as its just one end of a large living area) I’m listening to lots more music and, let’s face it, sometimes the drivel on the television is just too much to take and a retreat to the sty and some soothing tunes is all there is for it.

It’s with the above in mind that I recently took the bull by the horns and decided to invest in a pair of decent quality headphones. The choice is bewildering, but I had certain criteria I needed to meet and so a short list was made: They needed to be comfortable, they needed to be open back ( I find that closed backs actually sound a little closed in and less airy than their open back counterparts) and they needed to sound good.

Now I’ve owned Grados in the past and liked the presentation and, despite many calling them uncomfortable, I’ve had no problems with them in this respect at all. So it was with a certain degree of piggy trepidation I ordered a pair of the company’s 325is headphones. More »

A Cacophony of Cartridges Part 2 (Denon MCs)

03. March 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Analogue · Tags: audiophile, hi fi, hi fi cartridge, hifi, hifi cartridge, hifi reviews, moving coil, which hi fi

Part 2 in the ongoing cartridge shootouts -this time Denon MCs are put through their paces More »

Computer Based Hifi and Me

29. February 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Comment · Tags: audiophiles, computer hi fi, computer hifi, hi fi, hifi

Now don’t get me wrong I do like computers. I use a computer daily. I’m even using one now to write this article. Computers have enabled me to work from home, do that away from the UK and even allows me communicate in real time with folks all over the world at the push of a mouse button. I get computers and I use one daily despite my sausage fingers and one fingered typing style!

Computers allow me to take photographs, edit them and see them almost immediately – no more trudging down the chemists with my roll of film and waiting a week before it comes back from the processing laboratory to view my snaps – No siree. I can catch up on the day’s news, share a joke with friends and even read the latest audiophile news and reviews on Hifi Pig (shameless plug). I can stream videos to my desktop and watch the latest antics of LOL Cats should the drudgery of work become all too much for me to take. More »

Chord CPM 2600 Integrated Amplifier

29. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: amplifiers hi fi, hi fi, hi fi amplifiers, hi fi reviews, hifi

Chord is a well-established British company who make a wide range of equipment covering a very broad price band. You can spend just a few £hundred on a DAC or large multiples of tens of thousands on a fridge-sized amplifier! Chord have a penchant for very distinctive-looking equipment chassis, lots of silver aluminium and a high tech – OK, some would say blingy! – appearance. Chord are not shy of providing transparent windows into the chassis with internal lighting provided by LED – that wasn’t on offer with the CPM2600, though.

Since their foundation Chord have used switch mode power supplies (SMPS) which are much lighter, smaller and more efficient than the more traditional type, although they don’t have universal compatibility with partnering equipment. And some audiophiles have no time for them at all because of perceived sonic characteristics. More »

Parasound Halo A21 Stereo Power Amp

29. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Amplifiers · Tags: audiophiles, best hifi, hi fi, hi fi reviews, hifi, hifi amplifiers, hifi reviews

American muscle amp, blingy appearance, heatsinks along the sides.

Yawn – not another one?

Certified for THX – why are you wasting my time with this AV stuff?

Move along, nothing to see here for a 2-channel audiophile.

But wait – it’s wonderful! More »

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

28. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: CD Players · Tags: audiophile cd, best hi fi, best hifi, cd players, hi fi, hi fi reviews, hifi, hifi reviews

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 »

MHZS CD88 CD PLAYER

28. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: CD Players · Tags: audiophile cd, best hifi, cd players, hi fi, hi fi reviews, hifi, hifi reviews

This is one of the more, errr, ‘controversial’ CDPs of recent years. It got a thorough online blasting by that Lampizator chappie, who discovered that the DAC chipset used was a cheap and cheerful variety rather than the upmarket leading edge hi-tech item that was claimed! Nonetheless it received many very favourable reviews and online comments by others and even Lampizator gave it 10/10 for sound quality!

It’s a top loader with a neat sliding dark plastic panel, and a magnetic puck is supplied to hold a CD firmly in place. A remarkably hefty item as well, it definitely inspires confidence. Balanced (XLR) outputs as well as RCA. Switchable by remote (when a CD is not playing) between the standard Red Book 44KHz and a choice of 88 or 196KHz upsampling.

I spotted one on a well known auction site and I thought it was worth a punt just to hear it for myself.
Well – I’m very, very glad that I did! More »

Cyrus CD8x

28. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: CD Players · Tags: audiophile cd, audiophiles, cd players, hi fi, hi fi reviews, hifi, hifi reviews, what hi fi

Ho-hum … Cyrus? Not a lot of audiophile credibility there!

Cyrus comes in for more than its share of flak on some of the online hifi forums, especially some of those that I frequent. So I was more than a bit biased against the brand and I never would have gone out of my way to try it, to be honest. But a swap deal was offered, so I thought I might as well give it a try – after all, Cyrus gear is easy enough to sell on.

In due course, the Cyrus CD8X arrived. Neatly packed, well made in the famed half-size ‘shoe-box’ format. More »

Horning Agathon Ultimate Loudspeakers

27. February 2012 · 4 comments · Categories: Loudspeakers. · Tags: audiophiles, best loudspeakers, floor standing loudspeaker, hi fi, hi fi reviews, hifi, hifi reviews, high end loudspeakers, Loudspeakers

Design and Construction

I first came across these unusual ‘speakers a few years back when looking for replacements to a pair of Lumley AB300’s I owned, as I was after a high efficiency loudspeaker without some of the stereotyped high efficiency design colourations, and was lucky enough to find a pair courtesy of Jim at Audiolincs in Leicestershire. A 2 ½ hour drive later had me sat in his listening room with a pretty mammoth pair of loudspeakers facing me from about 9 feet away. Build quality on these is up there with the very best. Solid wood (not veneer) panel fronts are used for the substantial edgings with veneer to the main panels. The panels themselves are very substantial and made from ¾ inch thick ply, heavily braced. More »

Reso-Mat LP Mat

27. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Accessories · Tags: Accessories, hifi, Reviews

Well, here’s something interesting.

Adventurous as ever, this eBay item caught my attention, and for £35.00 UK delivered (with refund option) I thought I’d give it a go. More »

Onkyo Announce 4 New AV Recievers for 2012

26. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: AV recievers, hi fi, hifi, hifi news

Onkyo recently announced the release of the first models from its 2012 range. These comprise four receivers all engineered to deliver superior sound quality, better features, and value for money, compared to their outgoing equivalents.

Onkyo's TX-NR616 AV Reciever.

The receivers are:

TX-SR313 5.1-channel home cinema receiver
TX-NR414 networked 5.1-channel home cinema receiver
TX-NR515 networked 7.2-channel home cinema receiver
TX-NR616 THX Select2 Plus-certified home cinema receiver

Beginning with the affordable TX-SR313 (100w per channel) this boasts WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology), a low negative-feedback design philosophy that Onkyo says “reduces signal noise and guarantees superb performance with minimal distortion”. Discrete output-stage components – not cheap ‘all-in-one’ chips – are said to significantly improve audio quality. More »

Isotek Release “Ultimate System Set-Up Disc”

26. February 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: Accessories, audiophiles, hi fi, hifi, hifi news

A new CD compiled by IsoTek, the pioneering brand of power conditioning products for hi-fi and home cinema systems, aims to improve the sound of audio systems by ensuring they are set up correctly and ready to perform at their best.

The Ultimate System Set-Up Disc comprises 20 tracks to test and fine-tune key elements of two-channel system performance, and is designed to be both practical and easy to use. The CD includes a selection of superbly performed, recorded and produced music from the legendary Opus3 audiophile record label, each one chosen to test specific elements of audio performance, together with a unique sequence of specially prepared sounds and test tones to help with things like speaker positioning and system optimisation.

Isoteks Ultimate System Set-Up Disc

The disc begins by testing stereo and phase, with further tests for basic speaker positioning, then stereo and front-to-back soundstage depth. These tracks (1 to 12) help to fine-tune the way a system is set up, in order to optimise its performance.

Tracks 13 and 14 provide a frequency range test – a useful way to examine the bandwidth that a system is able to deliver. The disc then concludes with six music tracks that have been specially selected from the Opus3 catalogue, each one capturing a certain quality associated with two-channel replay, be it timing, atmosphere, soundstaging, dynamics or bass depth.

The six music tracks from Opus3 include an interpretation of Frank Zappaʼs Dog Breath Variations/Uncle Meat by the Omnibus Wind Ensemble, Everybody Loves My Baby performed by Eva Taylor, Bachʼs Toccata and Fugue in D minor with organ played by Matthias Wager and a track from Eric Bibbʼs new album, Blues, Ballads & Work Songs.

The Ultimate System Set-Up Disc is available now from IsoTek stockists, priced at £19.95.

Hifi Pig