The Jazz FM Awards produced by Serious will return in 2016, taking place at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London on Tuesday 26^th April. One of the most prestigious events in the jazz calendar, the Awards shine a light on the broad range of talent that the worlds of jazz, blues and soul have to offer and will once again feature performances from a selection of acclaimed artists and groups.

Following on from the success of last year’s ceremony, which was presented by actor and comedian John “Fast Show” Thomson and saw performances from Hugh Masekela and Rebecca Ferguson in front of a star-studded audience of guests including Laura Mvula, Cerys Matthews, Denis Lawson and Jon Snow, the organisers have confirmed the first performer for this year’s event, the Grammy Award-winning vocalist and songwriter Gregory Porter. As well as showcasing new material, Porter will also be honoured with the Impact Award, presented to a jazz artist who’s made an outstanding impression on the wider global music scene.

Speaking about being presented with the award, Porter says:

“The UK audience was the first audience to propel me really all over the world. I launched myself from the experiences I was having in the UK. France got jealous and Germany was like ‘OK what’s all this commotion about?’ and so the energy that was created is what pushes me and so I’m delighted to have the UK be the first place that I exercise this new music. In a way, you’ve let me know who I am in the past, so I’m going to lay the music on you and I hope you’ll do it again.”

“Jazz FM got my name out there, and my sound, even to the point where Howard and Guy from Disclosure heard one of my songs on Jazz FM, and that’s how they decided to call me and do the song that we did, which ended up being a number one dance song around the world. So I have you to thank for many reasons, for advancing my jazz career and doing special things like that. I’m thankful for Jazz FM’s approach, and for embracing me and my sound.”

The Jazz FM Awards 2016 will present the following awards on the night:

• Breakthrough Act
• Instrumentalist of the Year
• Album of the Year
• Jazz Innovation of the Year
• Live Experience of the Year
• UK Jazz Act of the Year
• International Jazz Artist of the Year
• Blues Artist of the Year
• Soul Artist of the Year
• Vocalist of the Year
• Jazz Impact Award – to be presented to Gregory Porter
• Digital Initiative Award
• Lifetime Achievement

The Digital Initiative Award, a new award for this year, has been created to recognise a musician who has harnessed the power of technology to engage with audiences and to take their music or performance to another dimension.

Full list of 2015 WINNERS:

Album of the Year (Public vote):

Dianne Reeves (“Beautiful Life”)

Live Experience of the Year:

Loose Tubes at Cheltenham Jazz Festival

UK Jazz Act of the Year:

GoGo Penguin

Breakthrough Act:

Bill Laurance

Instrumentalist of the Year:

Shabaka Hutchings

Vocalist of the Year:

WINNER: Zara McFarlane

Jazz Innovation of the Year:

Jason Moran

International Jazz Artist of the Year:

Gregory Porter

Blues Artist of the Year:

Dr John

Soul Artist of the Year:

Jarrod Lawson

PPL Lifetime Achievement:

Hugh Masekela

London based dealer Sonata has been appointed as the exclusive UK distributor for Goldmund, the Swiss luxury audio manufacturer.

Goldmund has taken 35 years of technological expertise and adapted it to launch a completely new range of wireless speakers, offering everything from a compact desktop system, design conscious lifestyle models, all the way up to the iconic limited edition Apologue Anniversary.

Every speaker has been engineered to include all the technological developments made by the Goldmund research team. This includes the implementation of their Proteus speaker modelling programme and Leonardo2 technology to create speakers that are “perfectly aligned for amplitude, phase and time within very powerful DSP filters”.

Internal amplification using the very latest version of the Telos circuit, Alize D to A conversion, mechanical grounding and aluminium construction are also included in each product.

All Goldmund speakers can either play music directly from a computer using the Goldmund USB dongle or from other sources connected to a Goldmund ‘hub’ such as the Mimesis 11 or Talisman.

As a result of these shared technologies, the Goldmund range of speakers has an extremely consistent musical voice and quality. The only things that improve as you go up the range are the low frequency extension and maximum possible sound pressure levels.

Sonata is delighted to have been specifically chosen by Goldmund to represent their unique products in the UK and has recently exhibited the Prologos wireless speakers to great acclaim at this years’ London Design Festival.

UK Prices range from £5,000 to £400,000

Hifi Pig is immensely pleased to welcome our newest reviewer to the team, Richard Joyce.

Richard often says that he started to learn to read music before he could read the written word, and whilst at Infant School took up the Clarinet, aged 6 and then Piano when aged 9. In 1979, aged 13, he won the coveted Mayor’s Cup for the finest soloist performance at the Cambridge Festival and 2 years later attained a Professional Performer’s Diploma (Clt) from the Royal College of Music. He had a change of heart when leaving school at 18, and instead of doing the ‘normal’ thing and going on to Music College, he joined the Royal Air Force as a Direct Entry musician. During his long career in the RAF, he was Principal Clarinettist of the Central Band for 21 years and now holds a Professional Diploma in Music Directorship/Conducting from the Royal College of Music.

He has performed as a soloist in some of the finest concert halls in the country, namely Symphony Hall Birmingham, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall amongst many others. He’s also worked with such names as Brian May, Ron Goodwin, Frank Renton, Donald Hunsberger, Frederick Fennell, Kenneth Alwyn and performed for the BBC as a soloist on Radio 3 and played with the BBC Concert Orchestra. He also has a huge amount of recording experience, working in some of the finest studios in the UK including CTS Wembley, Air Studios, BBC Maida Vale, Angel Studios, and live recordings for radio at BBC Golders Green. Since leaving the RAF he has received requests for solo work, and teaches Clarinet at home in Lincolnshire.

His interest in hifi began at a very early age (approx aged 6 he thinks) when his father bought the first ‘proper’ hifi system into the house. This consisted of a Lenco L75, Sugden A21 and Celestion Ditton 15. Richard couldn’t believe the sound a pair of boxes could make, so got hooked on the whole idea of ‘music in the home’ and hasn’t shaken the habit since!

his first review for Hifi Pig will be live very soon.

The May 2018 edition of Hifi Pig Magazine is out and ready for free download. 

YOUR HIFI NEWS

INTERVIEW: Andrzej Sosna of Fyne Audio

INTERVIEW: Lothar Kerestedjian of HIGHRESAUDIO

REVIEWS:

ORIGIN LIVE RESOLUTION TURNTABLE & ZEPHYR TONEARM

CHORD ELECTRONICS DAVE DAC

CYRUS ONE AMPLIFIER & ONELINEAR LOUDSPEAKERS

KRALK AUDIO TBD4 SPEAKERS AND STANDS

AMPHION ARGON 7LS LOUDSPEAKERS

TELLURIUM Q ULTRA BLACK XLR INTERCONNECTS

ATLAS CABLES “THE ELEMENT SUPERIOR” RCA INTERCONNECT

TIMESTEP HE V LINEAR PSU FOR TECHNICS 1200 FAMILY TURNTABLES

BIRD’S EYE VIEW: The Survivor’s Guide To Munich High-End

VIEWS OF STU: A Journey Through The Past

JAMES FLEMING: Truth, justice, rock n’ roll, and how they are wrong

MUSICAL JOURNEYS: Dave Shevyn of GIK takes us on his own musical journey

LIVE MUSIC:

RUMOURS OF FLEETWOOD MAC

CHRYSTA BELL

NEARLY DAN

BRYAN FERRY

LONDON ASTROBEAT ORCHESTRA

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

JOSH ROUSE

GARY NUMAN

LIVING THE Hifi LIFE WITH ANGELA CARDAS

Download your copy now. 

The latest Women in HIfi Special Edition of Hifi Pig Free e-magazine is live and ready to download. 

As well as all the usual great reviews and news the magazine is guest edited by Linette Smith and we have interviews and comment specifically about women audiophiles and women who work in the Hifi industry. This really is an edition that you do not want to miss.
News: All the latest news in Hifi land

Interview and Cover: Sally Gibb of The Chord Company

Women in Hifi: Women working in the HIfi industry ditch the dirt and share their experiences good and bad

Female Audiophiles: HIfi Pig talks to real live female audiophiles

Reviews: Leema Tucan Anniversary Integrated Amp, iFi Nan Black Label Headphone amp/DAC, Wire On Wire 660 speaker cables, Audiovector SR3 Avantgarde Loudspeakers, Speakase, LOngdog Audio PH1 MM Phonostage, Burson Conductor Virtuoso V2+ Headphoneamp/DAC, Parasound Halo 2.1 Integrated Amp with DAC

PLUS MUCH MORE OVER THE 141 PAGES…There is even a quiz!

Download your copy now 

The Latest Hifi Pig Free e-magazine is live and ready for FREE download.

NEWS: All the months Hifi News in a new easy to read format.

INTERVIEW: Holger Fromme is the man behind the German horn loudspeaker manufacturer Avantgarde Acoustic. Here he talks to Hifi Pig about what drove him to build these speakers and where he sees the role of innovation in loudspeaker design going forward.

A TIDAL STORM IS UPON US 

There really is a tidal storm of music out there! A never-ending, algorithmically-curated musical selection that is spat out ad-nauseam especially for you, your gender, your socio-economic grouping. Perhaps I should just let it wash over me, or perhaps I should just have nice cup of tea, turn on the wireless and calm down a bit. Perhaps not.

REAL MEN LIKE WHITE SPEAKERS

Never afraid to bring, as she has been accused, of fetching the itchy blanket of gender politics to the audio table, Linette this month looks at why we should all embrace better looking Hifi.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE WORD HIFI?

Hifi means many things to many people. Some prefer valves ad some prefer solid state. Some prefer horns and some prefer conventional speakers. But what does Hifi really mean? Or is that a question that is impossible to answer?

FROM WORDS, INTO WORDS

Regular Hifi Pig contributor, James Fleming looks at the work of The Fall and especially the recently deceased Mark E. Smith.

INTERVIEW:

Ian Munro was one quarter of the UK electronic band Opus 3 that had a major hit with the tune Fine Day which was an absolute monster of a tune and seemed to be everywhere in the year it was released. Other members of the band were Kirsty Hawkshaw, Kevin Dodds and Nigel Walton and in addition to Fine Day, that charted in the UK at number 5 (U.S. Hot Dance Club Play number 1) they released two albums, Mind Fruit (1992) and Guru Mother (1994).

BOOK REVIEW:

Cosey Fanni Tutti – Art Sex Music

My life is my art, my life is my art is a statement that few can say they have lived by so wholeheartedly as Cosey Fanni Tutti and Art Sex Music documents her life as art using her diary entries as the starting point.

HIFI REVIEWS:

AURALIC POLARIS ALL IN ONE STREAMER AMPLIFIER

REL T9i SUBWOOFER

FLUX HIFI SONIC STYLUS CLEANER

LIVING THE HiFi LIFE:

Colin Pratt is the sales director for Chord Electronics. This trip to New York was the third trip out after CES and Germany, back home for day then straight in to his home market show of Bristol. Then off again, Prague, Montreal, LA and Chicago in quick succession! He still loves Living the Hifi Life though !

GADGETY REVIEWS

…there’s even a quiz.

Download your copy now!

The NEW LOOK Hifi Pig and GadgetyReviews is out and ready for FREE download.

NEWS – A new look, easy to read format that will display better on more devices.

INTERVIEW – Kostas Metaxas: The creative powerhouse behind high-end brand Metaxas & Sins. As well as his wonderfully inventive “High-end audio sculptures”, he has an extensive collection of concert recordings from some of the top names in the music world.

Not limiting his imagination to the audio world, Kostas also designs for some of the most well-known luxury brands in the world.

HIFI REVIEWS

MUSICAL FIDELITY M6 ENCORE CONNECT

LINN KLIMAX DS STREAMER

AVID HIFI REFERENCE FOUR LOUDSPEAKERS

ALBEDO MONOLITH REFERENCE SPEAKER AND INTERCONNECT CABLES

FLARE AUDIO PRO IN EAR MONITORS

ATC HDA-DP20

FREE download.

LIFE THROUGH A SCREEN. A MODERN DAY ADDICTION? -Our obsession with screens shows no signs of slowing down but what does this mean for the future of high quality music in the home and on the go?

STU’S VIEWS

It’s all well and good having a thousand and one records in your collection, but how do you go about organising them and making sure you can put your hands on specific recording you want to play?

In recent weeks this very subject has been to the fore of Stuart’s thoughts given his burgeoning record collection and here he shares some possible solutions to deal with this perennial problem.

BIRD’S EYE VIEW

I was browsing through Facebook earlier, flicking through some of the Hifi and audio related groups that I am a member of, and something caught my eye. The cover photo for this one group was a close-up of a loudspeaker driver, instantly recognisable, without any branding or names visible, it was the KEF Uni-Q driver.

SERIAL BOWL RECORDS

So, you want to launch your own record label but don’t have the funds, don’t have the know-how and frankly haven’t a clue where to start?

Hifi Pig has a chat with Serial Bowl Records, a label collective based in Sunderland in the North East of England to get the low down.

David Blumenstein takes a look at how 2018 is starting out musically.

MUSIC INTERVIEW

Dale Jonathan Perkins “Voice Without Words Parts 1-3 (Ishikawa) plus Interview with this innovative and somewhat avant-garde musician 

LIVE MUSIC

Slalom D and The Damned by Fiona Duncan 

BOOK REVIEW

Lou Reed: A Life by Anthony DeCurtis 

LIVING THE HiFi LIFE

A Behind the scenes glimpse of life on the road with Rune Skov of Raidho whilst he visits the US.

FREE download.

GADGETY REVIEWS

iFi NANO iDSD BLACK LABEL PORTABLE DAC/AMP

KZ ZS6 LOW COST HYBRID QUAD DRIVER EARPHONES

NINETY7 VAUX SPEAKER FOR ECHO DOT

HONOR 7X – FLAGSHIP LOOKS, MID-RANGE PRICE

BRAINWAVZ B200 DUAL BALANCED ARMATURE EARPHONES

WiZ SMART LIGHTS – VOICE CONTROLLED ILLUMINATION

FOOBOT SMART AIR QUALITY MONITOR

TiBAG COMPACT LAPTOP BAG

ROCCAT KHAN PRO GAMING HEADSET

FREE download.

The December Edition of Hifi Pig and Gadgety News is ready to download 

AVM Inspiration CS2.2 Leema Acoustics Tuscana II Integrated Amplifier
Triple M Icon Smart TVC Preamplifier
MUTEC MC-3+ Smart Clock USB (Master Clock/Reclocker/SPDIF Converter)
Kralk Audio Elite Mk 2. Loudspeakers
Arcaydis EB1S Standmount Loudspeakers
Tannoy Revolution XT8F Loudspeaker
Göbel Lacorde Statement USB and Ethernet Cables
MCRU No. 75 Mains Cable
Black Rhodium Stream Power Cable
Sbooster Best of Two Worlds Power & Precision ECO (BOTW) Power Supplies
Hifiman HE-400S Headphones
Kralk Audio KALSU Loudspeaker Set Up Device
Solidair Audio Ukishima Magnetic Isolators
Winyl Record Cleaning Fluid

Gadgety Reviews

Download your copy now. 

The October Edition of Hifi Pig and Gadgety News is Ready To Download

Hifi News

Hifi Reviews

Sound Kaos Liberation Loudspeakers
RMB 12/3 qnd 22/3 Loudspeakers
KJF Audio Frugel Horn Lite Speaker Kit
TAGA Harmony Diamond B60 Speakers
Ophidian Audio Prophet P2 Speakers
Melco N1A/2 Music Library
Lector 707 CD Player

Gadgety Reviews

The September Edition Of Hifi Pig is ready to download.

Hifi News

Hifi Reviews

Pylon Diamond Loudspeakers

Melodika BL40 MK2 Loudspeakers

Townshend Allegri + Passive Preamp

Gold Note PH10 Phono-Stage

Tellurium Q Black II Speaker Cable

Ecosse The Director SE Digital Coax

Music Reviews

GadgetyReviews

Acer Predator 17 Laptop

Casio Edifice Smartwatch

Mynt Tracker

Sony Xperia X2 Phone

Noble Trident IEMS

Adam Vimteg Fencer IP Camera

Acer Swift 3 Laptop

I Frogz Impulse Duo Earbuds

Speedlink Fortus Wireless Mouse

Aukey PBB5 Solar Charger

Bertek 8 AC/6 USB Tower Extension

Download your FREE copy now.

July’s edition of Hifi Pig Extra is ready for you to download for FREE. Click the link or the image for your download to begin.

Hifi News

Hifi Reviews

Pro-Ject 6 Perspex SB Turntable Package

The Audio Files AT-LP5 1PT Turntable and Cartridge Package

Innuos Zenith MK2

Prism Sound Callia Dac/Preamplifier

Auralic Aries

Russ Andrews Power Purifier

Music News and Reviews

Gadgety Reviews

Vodafone Smart V8

STM Kings Backpack

Ben Q BL2706HT

Pioneer XDP-30R DAP

Hohem HG5 Pro Action Cam Gimbal

AOC Agon AG272FCX Monitor

F-Secure Sense Secure Router

Download your copy now! 

Download your FREE 135 page copy of the June edition of the Hifi Pig Extra Magazine. In this edition of Hifi Pig Extra you’ll find a whole host of reviews carried our over the last couple of months. The magazine took a small break in the late spring and early summer to allow us to get some new systems in place, both online and with the e-magazine, but going forward readers can expect a much more responsive and speedy website due to us moving the whole site to new and better servers and some other cosmetic changes that will improve the viewing experience. You’ll still be able to enjoy all the great content you have always had with Hifi Pig but expect more of everything including more news, more reviews, a better and more comprehensive music section plus we’ve launched Hifi Pig Television on our You Tube channel, so expect to see more video coverage of shows and video reviews too.

Normal service and Gadgety News will also return in the July/August edition.

Download your copy now! 

REVIEWS

Atmo Sfera Platterless Turntable
Elipson Omega 100 RIAA BT Turntable
Stemfoort SF-200 Passive Line Amplifier
Onix DNA-50 Amplifier
Lab 12 Pe 1 Valve Preamplifier
Rupert Neve RNHP Headphone Amp
Trafomatic Audio Head 2 Headphone Amp
ExaSound e32 DAC
Wyred 4 Sound DAC 2V2
Ruark R7 Radiogram
Fiio X1ii DAP
Periodic Audio IEMs
Aequo Audio Ensis Loudspeakers
Rdacoustic Evolution Loudspeakers
Rdacoustic Euphoria Loudspeakers
Russel K Red 50 Loudspeakers
Townshend Audio Engineering Maximus Supertweeters
TAGA TAV-616F SE Loudspeakers
Audio Vector QR1 Loudspeakers
Tannoy Revolution XT6 Loudspeakers
Ziro Audio Disclosure Power Cord
Ghostwire “Silver Heart” Loudspeaker Cable
Townshend Audio Engineering Seismic Speaker Bars
Iso Acoustics GAIA III Isolation Footers
Goldnote Vasari Gold and Red Cartridges

The March edition of Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyNews is now available for FREE download.

It has absolutely LOADS of music news and reviews of music that will be new to many and not the usual classical and jazz reviews seen in many other publications. We hope you enjoy and discover something new for yourselves to add to your collection.

Of course there is also page after page of the latest Hifi News and tons of reviews too.

HIFI PIG REVIEWS

VOLYA BOUQUET LOUDSPEAKERS

MONITOR AUDIO PLATINUM PL300ii LOUDSPEAKERS

ARCAYDIS EB2S LOUDSPEAKERS

UNISON RESEARCH TRIODE 25 AMPLIFIER

CYRUS ONE INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

DENSEN B-130XS AMPLIFIER

ECHO DIASTASIS PH-79 PHONOSTAGE

BENCHMARK DAC3 HGC

AURALIC ARIES MINI STREAMER

TELLURIUM Q SILVER DIAMOND SPEAKER CABLES & INTERCONNECTS

ERZETECH PERFIDUS HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER

NUFORCE SPORT3 IEMs

OPTOMA HEM4 IN EAR MONITORS

PENSIL CABINET KIT

GADGETYREVIEWS

Vodafone Smart Platinum 7

Skullcandy Method Wireless earphones

Blink wireless security cameras

Elipson Alpha 100 RIAAT BT turntable

Q Acoustics M3 soundbar

Emicro One electric scooter

Roth VA4 active speakers with phono

SteelSeries QcK+ Limited gaming mat

Tile Mate Bluetooth tracker

TrackR Bravo Bluetooth tracker

TASCAM MiNiSTUDIO US-32

Buffalo MiniStation Velocity USB SSD

Toshiba Canvio Premium 3TB HDD

BenQ GL2706PQ 27-inch monitor

TP-Link Archer VR2800 DSL modem

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY NOW !

Scroll down the page for previous editions 

January’s edition of Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyNews is now available for FREE download.

HIFI PIG REVIEWS

GOLD NOTE VALORE PLUS 425 TURNTABLE

PRO-JECT PRIMARY TURNTABLE

COS D1 DAC & PREAMPLIFIER

SOTM SMS 200 STREAMER

CEC TL5 BELT DRIVE TRANSPORT

TANNOY ECLIPSE THREE LOUDSPEAKERS

STELJES NS3 POWERED LOUDSPEAKERS

LEHMANN LINEAR D HEADPHONE AMP/DAC

WIRE ON WIRE EXPERIENCE 680 INTERCONNECT

CHORD COMPANY SIGNATURE TUNED ARAY USB

1More C1002 & E1001 IN-EAR HEADPHONES

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTS 2016

PRIMALUNA DIALOGUE PREMIUM HP INTEGRATED AMP

MUSIC FIRST BABY REFERENCE V2 TVC PREAMPLIFIER

PRO-JECT MaiA DS INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

CHORD SARUM SUPER ARAY USB CABLE

STUDIO CONNECTIONS CARBON POWER CABLE

GIK ROOM TREATMENT PRODUCTS

MUSIC

MUSIC NEWS AND REVIEWS

CLASSIC ALBUM – Never one to avoid an obvious cliché, John Scott takes a walk on the wild side and reacquaints himself with Lou Reed’s 1972 hit album, Transformer.

GREAT COLUMNS 

RETRO BITES – Janine Elliot charts the rise and fall and rise again of the Thermionic Tube/valve in this fascinating and informative article

BIRDS EYE VIEWS – 2016 As Seen From The Perspective Of Linette Smith

VIEWS OF STU – 2016, The Year The Music Died? Cheerful as ever Stuart Smith makes a list of musicians that have died in 2016 and asks, was this the year that the music really did die?

RANTS, RAVES & ROCK ‘N ROLL – James Fleming asks that crucial question: Is it the singer or the song?

GAGDETYNEWS REVIEWS

AOC Agon AG241QG G-Sync monitor

UKI Mr Bubble and Hystrix Red 5 X Series 2.4 camera drone

AOC Agon AG241QX Free-Sync gaming monitor

Vape Shoreditch e-liquids

TP-Link Archer C9 router

Onkyo TX-8150 networked amp / DAB radio

Mi Band 2 fitness tracker

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless: haptic bass headphones

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY NOW

December’s edition of Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyNews is now available for FREE download.

HIFI NEWS & REVIEWS

Loads of Hifi News

THE HIFI PIG CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE PROMOTION

AVID HIFI PELLERE PHONOSTAGE

NORD ONE UP NC500 DMST POWER AMPLIFIER

SIMAUDIO MOON NEO ACE

ROKSAN K3 DAC

CODE ACOUSTICS SYSTEM 1 ACTIVE SPEAKER SYSTEM

RUSS ANDREWS BMU3000 BALANCED MAINS UNIT

FROM THE VAULT  – ZETA ZERO VENUS PICOLLA LOUDSPEAKERS

GADGETY REVEIWS

Noble Audio Savanna IEMs

Amazon Echo Dot and Alexa

Stihl Compact Cordless garden tools

BenQ EW2775 27-inch monitor

Astro A50 wireless gaming headset

D-Link DCS-936L HD security camera

Anki Overdrive Supertrucks

Revell Control Spot 2.0 camera drone

INTERVIEW  

Hifi Pig goes Behind The Brands Alan Clark of Kralk Audio 

GREAT COLUMSNISTS

RETRO BITES – Janine Elliot takes a look at the Meridian M2 active loudspeakers

BIRDS EYE VIEW – Linette tells us that music is a universal language

THE VIEWS OF STU – Potrzeba Jest Matką Wynalazków 

RANTS, RAVES AND ROCK ‘N ROLL – James Fleming does a bit of Soul Searching

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November’s edition of Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyNews is now available for FREE download.  More pages of great content than many of the mags you’d pay good money for!

HIFI PIG REVIEWS 

WESTMINSTER LAB UNUM POWER AMPLIFIERS

AVID HIFI VOLVERE TURNTABLE

TAGA HARMONY PLATINUM F 100 SE LOUDSPEAKERS

AXIS VOICEBOX S LOUDSPEAKERS

REVEL CONCERTA 2 M16 LOUDSPEAKERS

FOSTEX TE05 and TE07 IEMS

BLACK RHODIUM QUICKSTEP SPEAKER CABLE

MID PRICED LOOM FROM CHORD COMPANY

Download now

GADGETYNEWS REVIEWS

Acoustic Energy Aego Sound3ar

Vivitek Qumi Q3 pocket projector

Udoq universal phone and tablet dock

Prism Sound Callia DAC/pre/HPA

Garmin DriveSmart 60 Satnav

Skullcandy XTfree sports earphones

MVR Ascend Virtual Reality kit

Parrot Minidrones first look

Dali KATCH Bluetooth speaker

Dell XPS 15 laptop

Skullcandy Barricade speaker

MORE PAGES OF HIFI NEWS

BEHIND THE BRANDS with Mark Fenlon of Markaudio and Markaudio-Sota

CLASSIC ALBUM – Bob Dylan’s “Blood On The Tracksl”

GREAT COLUMNISTS including a rant from Stu, Handbags and lipstick from Linette and a great guide to vinyl EQ from Janine

ALBUM AND GIG REVIEWS

The Indulgence Show photographs and photos from the Windsor show too. 

Download your FREE copy now. 

The October edition of Hifi Pig is ready for FREE download. Download your copy now.

October’s edition of Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyNews is now available for FREE download.  This bumper edition of 170 pages includes loads of reviews, great news, interviews, in-depth classic band profile and more. Download your copy now.

HIFI PIG REVIEWS 

MUSIC FIRST AUDIO BABY REFERENCE V2 PREAMP

CREEK EVOLUTION 100CD CD PLAYER & 100P POWER AMP

AUDIOLAB 8300A AMP & 8300CD CD PLAYER

ETALON SUPRA INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

CONVERT TECHNOLOGIES PLATO CLASS A

CYRUS STREAM XA STREAMER/DAC & PSX R2 PSU

VIVID B1 DECADE LOUDSPEAKERS

PEAK PT1 TURNTABLE

STUDIO CONNECTIONS CARBON POWER CABLE

QUADRASPIRE X REFERENCE RACK

MEZE CLASSIC 99 HEADPHONES

FROM THE VAULT (McIntosh MA 5200)

GADGETYNEWS REVIEWS

VaultCard RFID blocker

Buffalo MiniStation Slim 1TB

NanoQuad Cam Drone

SteelSeries Rival 700 mouse

BenQ BL2205PT monitor

Motorola VerveRider+ earphones

D-Link DIR-879 EXO AC1900 router

Neato Botvac Connected

Allocacoc audioCube

FIIL Diva headphones

12 PAGES OF HIFI NEWS

BEHIND THE BRANDS with Conrad Mas of AVID Hifi

CLASSIC ALBUM – Elvis Costello and The Attractions “Last Year’s Model”

CLASSIC BAND – An in-depth look at the band Taste

GREAT COLUMNISTS

ALBUM AND GIG REVIEWS

NATIONAL AUDIO SHOW 2016 – All Hifi Pig’s coverage of this year’s Whittlebury show with loads of photographs

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY NOW

September’s edition of Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyNews is now available for FREE download. It’s packed with hifi news, hifi and gadget reviews, great columns and a visit to the fabulous Crescendo Progressive Rock festival in France. Download your copy now.

HIFI REVIEWS

GIK ROOM TREATMENT PRODUCTS

AUDIO MUSIC AM-RT TVC/VALVE PREAMPLIFIER

COPLAND DAC215 DAC, PRE & HEADAMP

LEEMA LIBRA DAC/PREAMPLIFIER

AUDIOBYTE HYDRA Z & HYDRA ZPM

HANA LAB SAKURA MUSIC SERVER/DAC

OPTOMA BE16 BLUETOOTH EARPHONES

GADGETY REVIEWS

TILE KEY TRACKER

BUFFALO LS510D NAS

SPEEDLINK PARTHICA KEYBOARD

D LINK EXO AC1750 ROUTER

MUSAIC MUSIC PLAYERS

MOTOROLA VERVEONES+ EARPHONES

STM PRIME LAPTOP BAG

POWEREGG DRONE

TEN PAGES OF HIFI NEWS

BEHIND THE BRANDS

with Jonathan Billington Of Music First AUDIO

CLASSIC ALBUM

Richard And Linda Thompson – I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

ALBUM AND LIVE MUSIC REVIEWS PLUS PICTURES AND COMMENT FROM CRESCENDO PROGRESSIVE ROCK FESTIVAL 

RETROBITE – The Leak Trough_Line series of tuners

BIRDS EYE VIEW – Fame, I want to live forever
VIEWS OF STU – Camping and Caravanning

Download your copy now.

The AUGUST edition of Hifi Pig Magazine and Gadgety News is out and ready for FREE download. 

We’ve given the inside of Hifi Pig Magazine a bit of a revamp to make it cleaner and more attractive to read. We’ve also added a news section with our pick of the months best news items.

HIFI REVIEWS

ROKSAN BLAK AMPLIFIER AND CD PLAYER

NAIM SUPERUNITI

MINUTE EL34 SE AMPLIFIER

ATC SCM19A LOUDSPEAKERS

CHARTWELL LS3/5 LOUDSPEAKERS

PROJECT VC-S RECORD CLEANING MACHINE

VERMOUTH AUDIO RHAPSODY CABLES

SOUNDCARE SUPERSPIKES

FLARE AUDIO ISOLATE & ISOLATE PRO  

GADGET REVIEWS 

TP-LINK AV1200 POWERLINE STARTER KIT

GEEK OUT V2 INFINITY PORTABLE DAC/AMP

VIEWSONIC VX2776-SMHD MONITOR

MIVUE 658 WI-FI DASHCAM

WD RED 8TB NAS HARD DRIVE

PIONEER SE-MHR5 HEADPHONES 

BEHIND THE BRANDS with Steve Halsall of KEF UK 

IN THE STUDIO

Hifi Pig’s Janine Elliot is invited along to world famous AIR Studios where BBC Radio 2s Clare Teal joins the Syd Lawrence Orchestra for a direct to disc recording session. Read on, it’s fascinating! 

CLASSIC ALBUM

This month, John Scott revisits the 1968 classic from Pink Floyd, Saucerful Of Secrets 

LIVE MUSIC 

PiL and  Rickie Lee Jones 

COLUMNISTS 

RETRO BITES

Things are afoot in the world of reel 2 reels. Not only are there now at least 4 major companies producing reel to reel copies of famous master tapes, but very importantly after a long gap the Swiss tape recorder manufacturer Revox are bringing back the medium with a player based on the A700. By Janine Elliot. 

READERS LIVES

How I Judge A Hifi System – Hifi Pig reader Michael Howell was born in England but now resides the good old USA. In this Readers’ Lives article he tells us how he personally goes about evaluating a system. 

FIDELITY MATTERS

There’s More Than One Way To Skin A Cat. Different loudspeaker designs with Ian Ringstead. 

VIEWS OF STU

Why Hifi Pig ? Why ? The truth behind the name and origins of Hifi Pig by Stuart Smith. 

BIRDS EYE VIEW

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder. Linette Smith examines what the visual appeal of a system can do.

Download your copy of the August edition of Hifi Pig Magazine now

Download your free copy of Hifi Pig’s FREE 66 page special supplement for the last months North West Audio Show. There’s loads of reports from the show, photos and more

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The JULY edition of Hifi Pig Magazine and Gadgety News is out and ready for FREE download. 

HIFI REVIEWS

Grandinote Proemio Preamplifier and Silva Power Amplifier

Mitchell & Johnson SAP201V Amplifier, CDD 201V CD player and WLD+211T Streamer

Triangle Elara LN01 Loudspeakers

Chord Electronics Hugo TT DAC/Headphone Amp

Intimate Audio DS-108 Back Loaded Horn Loudspeaker

MS HD Audio MS-E02SS Mains Block 

GADGET REVIEWS

Dali Menuet Speakers

Buffalo DriveStation

Astro A40 TR Gaming Headset and Amp

Vodafone Smart ultra 7

Netgear Nighthawk X8

ONEmicro DECT Speakers

PLUS

Retro Bites

Fidelity Matters

The Views Of Stu

Dealers View

Album Reviews

CLASSIC ALBUM

T Rex “Electric Warrior”

INTERVIEWS

Mike Twomey speaks with Vince Bruzzese of Totem

Miles Showell, mastering engineer at Abbey Road, speaks to Hifi Pig about half speed mastering

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The JUNE edition of Hifi Pig Magazine and Gadgety News is out and ready for FREE download. 

Hifi Reviews 

Wadia DI122 Digital Audio Decoder

Pro-Ject MaiA DS Integrated Amplifier

Dayens Menuetto Integrated Amplifier

Soundsmith Carmen Moving Iron Cartridge

Ferguson Hill FH007 and FH008 Loudspeaker System

Scansonic M-5 Loudspeakers

Audio GE – Sincerus 80 Loudspeakers

Paradox Audio Cables

Gadgety Review

Ben QGW2270H Monitor

Devil Volt Power Pack

Eyejusters Reading Glasses

Guild 1.5AH Hammer Drill

Huawei MediaPad M2 10.0 Tablet

Huawei P9

Tascam TrackPack US-2×2 Home Studio

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PLUS: Retro Bytes, Fidelity Matters, Birds Eye View, Classic Album, Music Reviews and more.

Behind the Brands with Eunice Kron of KR Audio

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The MAY edition of Hifi Pig Magazine and Gadgety News is out and ready for FREE download.  

It’s packed with Hifi and Gadget reviews of course but this month we have a great interview with the man who discovered Prince and help write his first hit single, plus a special report on the possible effects of a Brexit on the British Hifi industry. Download your free copy now.  There’s also great music reviews, fab columnists and more…

Hifi Reviews

Pre Audio GL-1102N Turntable

EAT C Sharp Turntable and Koetsu Black MC Cartridge

Remton 383 Mk 2 Phonostage

Roksan TR-5 S2 Loudspeakers

Fostex PM0.5d Active Loudspeakers

Questyle QP1r DAP

O2A Quintessence SUBLIM Speaker Cables

Studio Connections Platinum Digital Cables

Atlas Cables Budget Loom

Gadgety Reviews

Cubot X17 Smartphone Review

Devil Horns Earbuds Review

Fugoo Tough and Style Bluetooth Speaker Review

iFit Classic Analogue Fitness Smartwatch

Manfrotto Lumiemuse 3 LED Camera Light

Onkyo H500M Headphones

Skullcandy Grind Wireless Headphones

Skullcandy Hesh 2 Bluetooth Headphones

ViewSonic Pro7827HD Projector

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY NOW!

The March and April edition of Hifi Pig Magazine and Gadgety Reviews is out and ready for FREE download. 

HIFI REVIEWS

Roksan Xerxes 20Plus, Caspian RPM Speed Control and PUG Tonearm

Krell Digital Vanguard Integrated Amplifier

Fezz Audio Silver Luna EL34 Valve Amplifier

TAGA Harmony HTA – 700B V2 amplifier, Platinum B-40 Speakers and Platinum 18 Speaker Cables Package

Audiobyte Black Dragon DAC

Etalon strEamer

Audiofilia AF-S6 Loudspeakers

ATC SCM7 Loudspeakers

Kralk Audio DTLPS-1 Elite Loudspeakers

3 Square Audio Translator Loudspeakers

KBL Sound Red Eye Ultimate Interconnects.

MCRU Limited Edition Silver Plated 6 Way Mains Block

GADGET REVIEWS

Adam Elements CASA USB-C Cable and Adaptors

AOC G2460PG Gaming Monitor

Atlas Cables Zeno

Dali Rubicon 5 Loudspeakers

Intempo Retro Blaster

Lindy BNX Bluetooth Headphones

Linksys EA7500 Mu-Mimo Router

Netgear Arlo Q Camera

Olive ONE Home Digital Audio Player

STM Drifter Laptop Backpack

View-Master VR Starter Kit

Wraps Bracelet Earphones

PLUS

Retro-Bites

Fidelity Matters

The Views Of Stu

Bird’s Eye View

The Voice Of Dom

Interview – Marshall Currier of Lenbrook America

Behind The Brands with Brian and Trevor

Album and Gig Reviews

Classic Album – Hawkwind’s “Space Ritual”

Download your FREE copy by clicking here.

The February Edition of Hifi Pig Extra and GadgetyReviews is now available for FREE download. Yes, that’s right, as well as all the usual great hifi reviews, music reviews and great columnists we’ve got loads of gadget reviews from our sister website GadgetyNews.

HIFI REVIEWS

Lampizator Big 7 DAC

Aaron “The Chrome One” Integrated Amplifier

PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium HP Integrated Amplifier

Arcam FMJ CDS 27 and FMJ A19 Integrated Amplifier

Naim Mu-So

Russell K Red 100 Loudspeakers

Hana S Range Moving Coil Cartridges

A Chord Company Budget Loom

GADGET REVIEWS

BenQ BL2420Z Monitor

Gibson Trainer Wireless Headphones

Huawei Mate S Phone

Sengled Pulse JBL Speaker & Bluetooth Lightbulb

Intempo Bluetooth Jukebox

Oppo F1 First Impressions

Vodafone Findxone Tracker

GREAT COLUMNISTS

LOADS OF MUSIC REVIEWS INCLUDING THE CLASSIC ALBUM BOWIE’S “THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS”

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The January 2016 edition of Hifi Pig Extra is now available for FREE download.

REVIEWS 

Merrill Audio Thor Monobloc Amplifiers.

MunroSonic EGG150 – Active Monitoring Loudspeakers.

Cabasse Stream 100 Amplifier and Surf Loudspeakers.

Martin Logan Motion 15 Standmount Loudspeakers.

Zeta Zero Venus Picolla Loudspeakers.

DiDiT DAC 212 Digital To Analogue Converter.

Lab 12 gordian Power Distributor/Conditioner.

Clearaudio Smart Matrix Professional Record Cleaning Machine.

Black Cat Redlevel Tube speaker Cable and RCA Interconnects.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY NOW 

COLUMNS 

Retro Bites – Janine Elliot takes another look at retro audio kit, this time focusing on the rare Tefifon

Voice Of Dom – Dominic Marsh gets puzzled over the differences people hear with identical products and explains how he goes about evaluating and listening to new kit.

Fidelity Matters – In the last of his Fidelity Matters articles for 2015, Ian Ringstead celebrates innovation wherever it comes from and applauds all the people in the hifi industry who make this wonderful kit possible.

The Views Of Stu – Stuart Smith looks at the year that was 2015 and hints at a few things you can expect to see in the coming year from Hifi Pig.

Bird’s Eye View – Linette Smith asks “What’s your drug of choice?”.

Dealers’ View – Mike Twomey continues his series of articles looking at the wonderful world of audio from the dealers perspective and this month offers up a few useful tips on how to get the best trade in deal when it comes round to the inevitable upgrade time…

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY NOW 

Music and Live Gig Reviews with John Scott and Stuart Smith including live reviews of The Rezillos, Spizzenergi and The Proclaimers. 

The Classics – John Scott throws a log on the fire, pours himself a wee dram and puts on his copy of Mike Oldfield’s Ommadawn as part of his Classic Albums series. 

A great Behind The Brands interview with Heinz Lichtenegger, the CEO of Pro-Ject.

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OLDER ISSUES

Hifi Pigs coverage of the recent Haute Fidélité Show in Paris.

This special promotional publication is sponsored by Leedh.

Download your FREE copy now. 

The November Edition of Hifi Pig Extra is available for FREE DOWNLOAD

COVER STORY

Linette Smith talks about the recent visit to the Paris Haute Fidélité show the week after the attacks. ““We are setting off to visit the Haute Fidelité Show at the Marriott Rive Gauche in Paris. I’m not entirely sure how I am feeling, a mixture of anger and defiance, but also sadness and admittedly fear”

REVIEWS

VPI Prime Turntable

Pro-Ject RPM3 Carbon Turntable

Bespoke Audio Co Passive Preamplifier

Kralk Audio BC30 Loudspeakers and PAW Stand

Ophidian Mojo Loudspeakers

Leema Xen Loudspeakers

Melodika “Purple Rain” Series Speaker Cables

COLUMNS

Janine Elliot takes a step down memory lane with the much loved Leak Stereo 20 power amplifier.

Dominic Marsh concludes his popular three part series on mains cables.

Ian Ringstead takes a look at the state of the hifi industry and asks what we can all do to boost the popularity of two channel audio in the home.

There seems to be a lot of in-fighting within the audiophile world about people’s personal choices and the equipment they finally place in their system. Stuart Smith takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what he thinks are the reasons for this phenomenon…

Mike Twomey tells us how best to strike a great deal with your retailer this holiday season.

Plus album and gig reviews with John Scott, Janine Elliot and Stuart Smith and the ever popular Classics series where John Scott takes a look at the Kinks album “The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society”

Download your FREE copy now! 

The October Edition of Hifi Pig Extra is Out and available for FREE download

COVER STORY

“”Cable wars must surely be the biggest single cause of conflict and injury between audiophiles …better just to keep quiet, watch from a distant hilltop and let the troops on the virtual front line battle it out ad-infinitum”… Stuart Smith goes over the top!

REVIEWS

Entotem Plato

Zontec Art-Deco Phonostage

Rothwell Signature One Phonostage

Icon Audio MB 30 SE Power Amplifiers

NuForce DAC80 DAC

NuForce HA200 Headphone Amplifier

Magnific Acoustics M521 Loudspeakers

Oak Audio Hurricane Loudspeakers

Wyred4Sound Remedy Digital Reclocker

MCRU Excelsior DC Blocker

10 Great Free Android Apps

COLUMNS

The Story of Stax with Janine Elliot

Hifi Shows with Ian Ringstead

Giving WAF the red card with Linette Smith

Mains cables explained with Dominic Marsh

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PLUS  22 pages of Album and Gig Reviews by John Scott and Stuart Smith, The Classics – Yes – The Yes Album, Behind The Brands interview with Russell Kauffman of Russell K…

The FREE September edition of Hifi Pig Extra is available for download.

Reviews

Zontek Turntable

Timestep T-01MC Phonostage

Transfiguration Axia S Cartridge

Devialet Ensemble

Primare I32 Integrated Amplifier With DAC and Media Board

Tisbury Audio Passive Pre Mk 2

Etalon Solo DAC/PRE

Ophidian Minimo Loudspeakers

WAY Cables Silver 1 and 4 Interconnects

Triangle Titus Loudspeakers

Flare Audio R2Pro and R2A Earphones

RETRO BITES JANINE ELLIOT DUSTS OFF HER PHILIPS DCC900 Digital Compact Cassette Player

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Columnists

THE VOICE OF DOM  – DOMINIC MARSH TALKS MAINS CABLES (PART 1)

FIDELITY MATTERS –  IAN RINGSTEAD IS BOXING CLEVER

THE VIEWS OF STU – STUART SMITH AVOIDS A STICKY SITUATION

BIRDS EYE VIEW – LINETTE SMITH TELLS THE BLOKES TO PUT IT AWAY

DEALERS VIEW – WITH MIKE TWOMEY

Music

21 Pages of album and gig reviews PLUS THE CLASSICS WHERE JOHN SCOTT DIGS LOVE’S FOREVER CHANGES OFF THE SHELF

Behind The Brands

WITH FREDERIK DAVIES, CREATOR OF THE AXJET LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM

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Hifi Pig Extra July edition

NORTH WEST AUDIO SHOW SPECIAL

May’s Hifi Pig Magazine is out for FREE download.

Reviews 

Chord Electronics Hugo Dac/headphone amp,

Triangle Titus EZ loudspeakers,

FiiO X5 portable audio player,

Flare Audio R1 Headphones,

Final Audio Heaven VI – CC, Hifiman RE-600 and Sennheiser IE 800 in ear monitors,

LessLoss DFPC Original power cable,

Audioplan Powerstar SII and Finefilter power filter plus X-Air

Plus Music Reviews, The Who’s Live At Leeds in the Classic Album section and Behind The Brands with Lee Taylor of Leema Acoustics

Download your copy now! 

April’s Hifi Pig Magazine is out for FREE download.

Loads of reviews:

Pro-Ject MaiA Integrated Amplifier

ADL (Furutech) H-118 Headphones

ATC SCM 11 Loudspeakers

Roth OLi RA1 Bookshelf Loudspeakers

Skogrand SC Beethoven Loudspeaker Cables

Arte Forma Mezzo Power Amplifier

Tangent Spectrum X5 BT – Powered Digital Bookshelf Speakers

NuForce NE750M and NE800M Inner-Earphones

Roksan Kandy K3 Integrated Amplifier

Album and Gig Reviews

Behind the Brands with Peter Comeau of IAG

 Download your FREE copy now !

The March Edition of the FREE Hifi Pig Magazine is published and ready for download.

Its a bumper issue of 111 pages with great reviews of German Physiks and Acoustic Energy loudspeakers, Music First Audio’s MM phono Stage, Tellurium Qs Black Diamond Speaker Cable, IsoTek’s Evo 3 Mains Conditioner and Arcam’s Mini Blink Bluetooth DAC.
There’s music reviews, Gig reviews, a look at the classic album In Land Of The Grey And Pink by Caravan and there’s boozers corner where we sample the delights of Campari and Fizzy water plus a rather Punky IPA from Scotland.
We also have a free supplement of the recent Sound and Vision – The Bristol Show.
What are you waiting for?

Download it now. 

It’s a fab issue with Dealer Profile with Manchester’s Audio Counsel, Music and Gig Reviews, Boozers Corner, Behind the Brands with Robert Kelly of German Physiks. Then there’s some great reviews including Diesis Aura loudspeakers, Vincent PHO-700 Phono Stage, Merrill Audio Veritas Power Amplifiers, Paul Hynes SR5 Power Supply, Russ Andrews Balanced Mains Unit 1000, Simply Audio Cadenza Interconnect, Speaker Cable and Jumper Links, Vinyl Passion Dustbuster.
In the Classics John Scott looks at Neil Young’s Ditch Trilogy of albums;DONT MISS IT

Hifi Pig’s Yearbook is out now and it’s FREE to download.
It has over 350 pages and over 100 hifi reviews from the last year on Hifi Pig and is an invaluable resource for all audiophiles anyone interested in audio.

What’s more is there’s a great chance for one lucky reader to walk away with kit worth over £2500 from the following companies in our fantastic competition – Amptastic, Chord Company, Fiio, Henry Audio, HiSound, Lehmann Audio, Linn Records, Pro-Ject, Sansui, Snip Records, Triangle, Velodyne, Vinyl Passion.

Download your copy now…

er edition of the Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for FREE download. This issue has lots and lots of reviews including Townshend Audio F1 Stereo RCA Interconnect, The Varios Jr Loudspeakers, Vermouth Audio Black Pearl Loudspeaker Cables, Epiphany Acoustics Atratus 3 Interconnect, Tellurium Q – Blue, Ultra Blue and Blue Diamond Speaker Cables, Van Damme “Blue” and Hi-Fi Grade 6.0mm Speaker Cables, Grado PS500e Headphones, Henry Audio 128 MkII Asyncronous USB portable DAC, Lindy HF-110 Headphones, Tidal Music Streaming Service Graham Slee Majestic DAC, Baby Reference Preamplifier by Music First Audio, JIB ‘Digital Glass’ Toslink Cable and Audiomica ERYS Excellence Interconnect and CELES Excellence Loudspeaker Cables. PLUS Album Reviews, The Classics review and interview with My Brother The Wind’s celebrating their recording from this year “Once There Was A Time When Time And Space Were One” and A Festive Christmas Countdown from John Scott and a teaser about our HUGE January prize giveaway. Don’t miss it. Download for FREE now. 

The November edition of the Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for FREE DOWNLOAD. The latest edition of the magazine has reviews of Graham Audio’s LS5/9 loudspeakers made famous initially by the BBC, SLIC Innovations latest Eclispse C interconnects, the excellent Signature Alpha loudspeakers from French company Triangle, Beyerdynamic’s T61 portable headphones, Blue Horizon’s Proburn cable burn in and conditioning machine and the very chic LH Labs Geek Out 1000 portable headphone amplifier.

Not only that but there’s album reviews, a great Classics piece from John Scott about the album “Eli and the Thirteenth Confession” by Laura Nyro, an in-depth Behind the Brands interview with Mark Sears of The Missing Link and Vinyl Passion and our latest regular feature Tipplers corner where Louis Bricka pairs booze with music.

The cover story and a great article full of pictures and editorial, is our visit to iconic British hifi manufacturer Roksan.

You can download the full Hifi Pig magazine for FREE here.

The October edition of the Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for FREE DOWNLOAD. The new issue has REVIEWS of: Schiit Lyr2 Pre/Headphone Amplifier and Bifrost DAC Robson Acoustics’ Opulus Prima Loudspeakers CAD (Computer Audio Design) USB Cable JIB – Krypton Balanced XLR Interconnects Beyerdynamic T1 Headphones Audiophile Inventory AUI ConverteR 48×44 Professional Ripping and Converting Software PLUS Editorial comment and regular columns, Dealer System Report from The Future Of Audio in Poole, Album reviews, The Classics where John Scott gives us a potted history of the legendary country-rock musician Gram Parsons, the new Tipplers Corner in which Louis Bricka, who has worked in the wine industry for over two decades introduces Banyuls and suggests what music it may go with plus Behind the Brands with Daniella Manger of Manger. Download Hifi Pig’s Free Magazine  NOW!

The 97 page September edition of Hifi Pig Magazine is available for FREE DOWNLOAD. The review section is dedicated to everything headfi with reviews of kit from Audeze, OPPO, Sennheiser, HifiMan, Final, Stax, Focal; Lehmann, GOFI, Epiphany Acoustics, Graham Slee, AudioValve and Tisbury. There’s an interesting Dealer System report from Mark Sears at the Missing Link/Vinyl Passion and a fabulous looking Hifi Pig Reader’s System. Add to this some great album reviews and a look at the classic album Made In Japan by Deep Purple and you’ve got yourself loads to keep yourself occupied. Download Hifi Pig’s Free Magazine  NOW!

The August edition of Hifi Pig Magazine is available for FREE DOWNLOAD. There’s loads of interesting content this month including reviews of the McIntosh MA 5200 Amp/DAC, SoulNote’s SC 710 CD Player and SA730 Integrated Amplifier, The Digital Music Box’ Linus and Kalliope USB Cables, Roksan’s Caspian M2 Integrated Amplifier and Neat Acoustics’ Motive SX1 Floorstanding Loudspeakers. If that wasn’t enough we’ve got a great computer based Reader System report and a high-end Dealer System report from North East UK’s Hifi Sounds. We also visited Triangle way back in May at their offices in Bordeaux for what turned out to be a wonderful trip where we got the opportunity to sample some great wines and the Triangle Magellan Grand Concert loudspeakers. On the music front there’s a whole host of album reviews plus we highlight the story behind John Martyn’s album Solid Air. This month’s Behind the Brands interview is with Mrijn Kooy of Dutch record label Snip records. All in all a great read we think. Download it now.

The July edition of Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for free download. This month we not only have loads of reviews including the terrific Soulines Kubrick turntable, the much awaited Lampizator level 7 Dac, the Astin Trew Concord Dac 1, the surprising Focal Aria 906 standmounters, new cables from Tellurium Q in the form of their Ultra Silver speaker cables, Van den Hul’s First Ultimate Mk2 interconnects, LessLoss’ DFPC Ultimate mains cables and some interesting lower priced products from Carot One. There’s a great Behind the Brands interview with Rune Jacobsen from Triangle, the French loudspeaker manufacturer as well as a new item featuring a classic album….this time it’s King Crimson’s ” The Court of the Crimson King”. There’s album reviews too, not to mention our great photos and coverage of the Cranage Hall Audio Show. Don’t miss it!!!

The June edition of Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for free download. Lots of reviews including the the £52 000 JoSound Ra Loudspeakers, Roksan’s Darius S1 Loudspeakers, Ophidian unusual looking Solo Loudspeakers, Speaker Cables from Audio 4 Soul, DirectWave’s Directors interconnect cables and the Analogue Works One Turntable. There’s a great Behind the Brands interview with the MD of KEF UK, a wonderfully amusing Readers System report and MCRU put together a £15000 Dealer System for Hifi Pig. As well as all that there is a 24 page supplement with some of our coverage of High-End Munich.Download your copy now!

The Brand NEW edition of Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for download on Hifi Pig. In this month’s edition there is a look forward to High End Munich PLUS a new feature looking at Vintage Classics…this month it’s 57 years of the ESL 57!!!! We’ve got reviews of KEF’s X300A speakers with built in amps and a DAC…plug and play, PrimaLuna’s Prologue Premier Valve Integrated Amplifier, Tellurium Q Ultra Black Interconnects, MS Power’s Distribution Mains Filter and High Current Mains Cable, Pro-Ject Xpression Carbon UKX Turntable andCLONES Audio Pre and Power Amplifiers. O’Brien Hifi put together an £80 000 system for a classical musician and a Hifi Pig reader in France shows us his dedicated hifi building. You can also WIN an amptastic Mini 1 amp……LOOK NOW!

The April edition of Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for Free download. Reviews: Brunoco Diva Digital Amp/DAC, Reference Fidelity Components Pluto II Interconnects, Onix A25 Integrated Amp, AudioValve Eclipse Valve Preamplifier, Skogrand Centaurus A Speaker Cables and Interconnects, SoulNote SA 710 Integrated Amplifier, Temple Audio Bantam Gold Integrated Amplifier Plus:Behind the Brands with Funjoe of Clones Audio, a great reader system from the owner of AudioChews forum, an analogue front-ended dealer system from Divine Audio, loads of great album reviews PLUS our cover story where Hifi Pig spend the day as guests of Focal. Not only that but you can also win an ampstastic mini-1 amplifier.

The March edition of the Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for FREE download.Reviews of Leedhs E3 loudspeakers, MS HD Powerplugs, Paul Hynes RS3 Power Supply, Chord Electronics QUTE EX DAC and Amptastics latest diminutive amplifier the Mini 1. Plus editorial comment, album reviews, a great reader system that includes Lampizator, Ming Da and hORNS kit and a very stylish dealers system from Audio Emotion. There’s also a very interesting Behind the Brands interview with Nigel Finn from The Chord Company and you can win one of ten sets of six Oyaide NWA-RCA Wave Absorbers courtesy of Mains Cables R Us.

The February 2014 edition of the Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for FREE download.  Reviews: Coffman Labs G-1A Valve amplifier, The Cartridge Man Isolator,  Simple Audio GO bluetooth speaker, Oriton Audio R33 Support System, Astintrew Concord powered USB, Atoll Electronique IN200 SE Integrated Amplifier & CD200 SE-2 CD Player, LessLoss DFPC Signature Power Cables.  Plus: Editorial comment, Reader System, Dealer System, Interview with Scott Berry from Computer Audio Design and music reviews too.   Win: Astintrew’s Concord Powered USB worth £695. If you’d rather not download the PDF magazine you can read it here using the interactive magazine-like display widget..

The January 2014 edition of the Hifi Pig Magazine is now available for FREE download. Reviews: Pluto Ultimate Loudspeakers, Monster iSport Freedom Headphones, Van de Leur 002/402 pre and power amps, Isotek EVO3 Mains cables, Resonessence Herus headphone amp/DAC, Wireworld Starlight 7 USB cable, Tellurium Q Claymore integrated amplifier. Plus: Editorial comment, Reader System, Dealer System, Interview with Holger Fromme MD at Avantgarde Acoustics, a factory visit to Cabasse, music reviews and the pick of 2013’s albums. Win: Chord Company’s Epic Reference Loudspeaker cable worth £750 plus Akiko Tuning Sticks. If you’d rather not download the PDF magazine you can read it here.

Download the free December edition of Hifi Pig Magazine. Reviews: Roksan Kandy K2 Integrated amplifier. Musical Fidelity MF100 Headphones, Mike New’s bearing for the Technics 1210, Dynaudio Excite x14 Loudspeakers, QNKTS AB-1.2 DAC, QED uPLay Stream digital streamer, Akiko Audio tuning sticks, Teufel Audio Aureol Real headphones, Waterfall Victoria EVO loudspeakers. Plus: Bird’s Eye View, Ripping Yarns, Reader System, Dealer System, Albumreviews and Behind The Brands with Randy Kunin of Randall K Designer Hifi.  WIN a Tellurium Q power amplifier worth £1194 and Akiko Audio tuning sticks worth €496. CLOSING DATE FOR THE COMPETITION IS 28th DECEMBER 2013 NOT 28th DECEMBER 2014 AS STATED IN THE MAGAZINE. DOWNLOAD the December edition of the FREE Hifi Pig Magazine.

Stu Smith

Hifi Pig (Stu) has a background deeply rooted in both playing and listening to music. In the dim and distant past he hosted the infamous “Midnight Train to Doomsville” show on the Sony award winning station “Wear FM” and has DJd at clubs, parties and festivals around the UK, where he’s been known to play sets of eight and nine hours.

As part of the dub reggae band “Roughneck Sounds” Stu toured the UK, cut an album and even got a tune played by the great John Peel. He has owned a vinyl only record store, a recording studio and finally ended up working in newspaper and magazine publishing.

Stu got the hifi bug in his mid-teens when he was bought a Hitachi separates system and was immediately hooked. In the first term of university, his grant was blown on an LP12, Crimson Elektrik amps and Wharfedale Diamonds and he survived on little more than swill and beer. These days quite a bit of kit goes through the sty and he has a bit of a fetish for unusual loudspeakers.

Stu lives in NW France with his long-suffering wife and two teenage sons. He is, for the moment, T total – though this status can change without warning (and indeed has) – and he is a bit obsessed with making Hifi Pig the very best it can be. His musical taste is eclectic and most things get an occasional spin, though classical music is a species rarely spotted in the pigpen he calls a listening room.

Stu is the only person to take any income at all from the Hifi Pig project which is derived from advertising you see on the site. He has been hired to design websites for a small number of hifi related companies (G-Point Audio, Epiphany Acoustics and also Paul’s Reference Fidelity Components) and a handful of non-hifi related enterprises. He is solely responsible for the design and creation of all advertising copy on the Hifi Pig website unless supplied by the advertiser/sponsor’s own design and graphics department.

Contact Stuart 

Linette Smith (Mrs Hifi Pig)

What do you do when you live with an audiophile?  You can either make them keep themselves and all their ‘kit’ in a little-used room (preferably with a lock on the outside of the door) or you can embrace the madness and let the HiFi take over the entire house……..guess which path I chose?!

You could say that music brought myself and Stuart together…he was a dance music DJ and I was a fully paid-up member of the glowstick-waving rave brigade, a match made in heaven!

We used to live with a neon pink PA system in our lounge so a full-on HiFi fest was never going to drive a wedge between us!

20 years on and I still like to wave a glowstick on occasion though I’m not quite the party animal I once was.

I like HiFi that looks good and sounds good, I like kit that dares to be different …..life is too short for boring HiFi.

I’m a bit of a hornlautsprecher Fan Girl, love going to HiFi shows, and find vinyl to be a pain in the butt.

Other than music of the repetitive beats variety, I like to listen to a lot of different genres, from disco to rock but have a bit of an aversion to ‘stately home music’ or classical, as some folk call it.

As well as HiFi and music, I enjoy art, reading, cooking…. especially baking (come on, you don’t think that Stuart got to be such a fine figure of a man on lettuce leaves alone?!) and am doing my bit to try and reduce the European wine lake, one glass at a time!

ALL HIFI PIG REVIEWERS ARE FREELANCE AND PAID A FLAT FEE FOR ALL REVIEWS

Janine Elliot

Janine is hi-fi journalist best known for her reviews and column “Hi Fi Confidential” in Hi-Fi News magazine up until 2010. As well as hi-fi she has written on a number of subjects from cars to tropical fish, and worked in the hi-fi industry for a number of companies in research, design and writing of product manuals. She spent 25 years at the BBC as a sound engineer and now teaches music in schools. As a musician she has played keyboards and guitar with a number of famous musicians and produced her own albums and music for film. As musician, hi-fi fanatic since the age of 10 and being female she ticks all the boxes for being able to make sound reviews.

Dan Worth

I’ve always been a creative person and a creative thinker. From a young age, I always enjoyed art and music, being an 80’s baby i grew up with what I believe to be one of the greatest eras of music ever. Memories of being at home watching my mum dancing around the kitchen listening to the radio, my grandad having his own band and all the family going to gigs to support him. He had a studio in the garage and I remember being in there beating on the drums making the most awful racket but loving every minute!

My first personal system I had was when I was 12, my Dad found a Technics receiver in a skip and spent days cleaning it up and repairing it for me. He then managed to find a kind man at work who donated a three-way pair of pioneer speakers and then spent the foreseeable future telling me to turn it down!

I was always a great fan of art throughout my teenage years and used to spend my evenings drawing, painting and listening to music, which was mainly 90’s pop at the time.

Continuing my love for art after ‘A’ levels I went on to art college to study fine art and eventually found a calling in graphic design and printing which led to a job with local newspapers and magazines.

My music tastes are hugely varied but I have a passion for acoustic and vocals, I find it so relaxing and it seems to just touch my soul. After a busy day or if I have a lot on my mind I love to unwind with the simplest of music, stripped down to its very essentials, it just seems to calm me so much.

I was inspired when in the mid ’90s after the death of my grandad’s brother who played the drums he went on to gig himself. He would load a set of MIDI files onto a laptop and place speakers all around a stage in the positions of a ‘ghost band’ and whilst he took centre stage singing and playing his guitar or clarinet, his ‘ghost band’ would be performing with him via the laptop and if you closed your eyes the music felt complete and real.

I believe this is where my connection to computers and music first came from, it was beyond what I knew to be possible at that time and thought you clever sod!

I am completely convinced with the format of streaming and having music located in one core location, be it on a server or NAS drive which can be utilised by a number of devices around the home or on the go.

To complement the convenience of digital recordings I love the sound of valves and to feel the balance that can be achieved between a digital front end and a valve amplifier in conveying a wonderful and realistic insight into the music.

The way we are listening to music is changing and educating the next generation is a must for it to keep evolving, compressed mp3’s for convenience is not foe me but lossless through a good system, essential!

Ian Ringstead

I reckon I was born with hifi in my DNA. My mum and dad loved music and went to dances in the ’40s when they were growing up. My mum loved all the old dance bands like Glen Miller and had a lot of 78’s as a teenager. When I was born this wasn’t really apparent as they had moved on with my dad being a professional footballer and international for Eire and my mum a housewife. In the 60’s they bought a Pye Black Box stereogram and I played lots of singles from that era such as the Beatles etc. I then got hold of a Readers Digest favourite Classical box set and proceeded to conduct all the old favourites with one of my mum’s knitting needles for hours on end. Musically I had no talent at playing an instrument but I loved to listen to all types on the radio or TV.

The ’70s arrived and my sister went to university and the first summer she came back she brought her current boyfriend’s hifi with her, a Tripltone amp, Garrard SP25 turntable with Goldring cartridge and speakers which I can’t remember now. This beat my parent’s stereogram hands down and I was hooked. The following year I was old enough to work during the school summer holidays so I spent six weeks in a dull office filing. It was worth the boredom though as I was able to buy a BSR HT70 turntable with a Goldring G800 cartridge, Metrosound ST60 amp and a pair of Koss Pro 4AA headphones. I couldn’t afford speakers yet, much to my parents’ relief at the time.

As the 70s progressed I got a regular job as a civil servant and proceeded to spend all my spare cash on hifi and records. Then in 1980 I was offered the chance to work at the hifi shop I was a regular customer at – the Audio Centre in Sheffield. I had five happy years selling, setting up and installing quality high-end hifi such as Linn, Naim, Rega, Creek, Arcam, Meridian etc. Times changed and I moved to Superfi in Sheffield and spent 19 years there selling less exotic, but none the less good quality hifi. I left retailing in 2004 due to the climate of retailing dramatically changing and the influence of the internet and came back into the Civil Service. This didn’t dampen my enthusiasm though.

Today I write for HiFi Pig of course as a reviewer with extensive experience and still have close contact with many people in the hifi business. When my wife married me she knew what she was getting into and likes music as well, but she isn’t bothered about the equipment side, just what it sounds like, and she will comment readily if it’s not to her taste. Analogue is my thing with turntables still the best in my opinion, but I like CD as well. If I won the lottery I would be like a kid in a sweet shop wanting to buy everything I fancied, but for now, I have to be sensible. I am a great advocate of value for money equipment and don’t shy from buying classic second-hand kit if it is still good. I love progressive rock from the ’70s and listen to a wide choice of musical genres apart from opera, rap and traditional jazz. I have lost count of the different pieces of equipment I have owned over the years, but don’t regret any of it and look forward to many more years of collecting kit and music.

John Scott

I’ve been obsessed –I don’t think that is too strong a word – with music and the things that make music, for as long as I can remember.  My first experience of a “hifi” system was my parent’s 1950’s radiogram – my Mum still has it – followed later by a Sony music centre, which I thought was a sonic revelation and I suppose compared to the radiogram it was.

Around 1979, a school friend had become aware of the concept of “separates” as the way to go for a true hifi experience and we both spent many Saturday afternoons in Russ Andrew’s hifi shop in Edinburgh – Russ had sold his share in the business by this point but the shop retained his name.  The staff there were very generous with their time, recognising that we had next to no money but letting us hear what we could aspire to, from a Sansui turntable, NAD amp and KEF speakers, through Rega Planer 2 and 3 turntables and all the way to the Holy Grail of a Linn Sondek and active Isobariks, powered by Naim 250s.

We were hooked.  As soon as I left school and started work I began saving and within 18 months I was the proud owner of a second-hand Linn Sondek, an A&R Cambridge A60 amp and a pair of Linn Kan speakers.  Over time, the turntable was upgraded to another, better, Sondek (Valhalla power supply and Ittok arm) which I still have, Naim Amplification and Linn Keilidh speakers.  I resisted the lure of CD until the point came where I could no longer find the new releases I wanted to buy on vinyl and had no option but to buy a CD player.  These days, the CD player has been banished to the attic, all my CDs having been ripped to a hard drive and streamed into the hifi system, currently via a Squeezebox Touch. I think that streaming/computer audio/hi-res is providing a really exciting opportunity for the future of the hifi industry and I look forward to seeing how this develops.

Music-wise, I raised myself on Top Of The Pops and Radio 1 until I discovered hard rock and Prog in the pre-punk mid-seventies.  When punk came along I didn’t see any reason to turn my back on the music I already loved and so it just joined the mix – the more music the better as far as I was concerned.  A developing obsession with Dylan along with Elvis Costello did put a dent in my love of Prog for many years and I totally avoided the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, but these days all genres of music sit side by side in my collection – life is too short to be a genre snob. I still struggle a little bit with opera though.