Hi-Fi Choice

OUR AWARDS EDITOR’S CHOICE: Awarded to those products that are judged to deliver outstanding performance RECOMMENDED: Products that we feel meet a high standard of performance GROUP TEST WINNER: Comparative tests can only have one winner, and this ba

A month ago I kicked off my first Welcome column as HFC’s new editor with some words about the clocks springing forward and an urge to get out and about. How quickly things have changed! Right now, at the time of writing this, most of us are hunkered

• US turntable manufacturer VPI has partnered with Nordost to create the new VPI Weisline tonearm cable, designed to maximise vinyl performance. The cable has four x28 AWG, solid-core OFC conductors, Nordost’s FEP (Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene) ext

Luxman has just released details of its latest compact disc player, the D-03X, which inherits the essential configuration of the highly acclaimed D-05u CD/SACD player and incorporates decoding of MQA (MQA-CD/MQA) files. The CD playback system boasts

MC: What benefits can SA30 buyers most expect to get from the Dirac room optimisation system? NC: The Dirac Live system employed in the SA30 is the same as in the award-winning Arcam AVRs, so buyers can expect to get all the same benefits–greater int

Demo, 1991 Given to Bruce Hornsby when he discovered Yeager. Sold for £12,110.78 in January 2017 Demo, March 1979 Features Bono’s artwork and address on card. Sold for £6,500 in January 2019 12 Of The Best, 1978 Australian limited-edition compilation

The other day I did something I haven’t done in 30 years. I bought a cassette tape. And I bought it despite the fact that I haven’t actually got anything to play it on. I bought it on Discogs from a fellow in France and, when it arrived, I must admit

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a lossy audio codec designed as the successor to MP3, claiming better sound quality at similar bit-rates. Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) was developed by Apple in 1988 and uses uncompressed pulse-code modulation (

Melco has rapidly built a reputation as one of the go-to brands for audiophile music servers, but the name–and the company heritage–is deep rooted. Melco Syncrets–the company behind the ‘Music Library’ series–was founded as part of Melco Holdings, th

N“o plan survives contact with the enemy”, said a Prussian army commander shortly before World War I. And so it was that my hopes for Hi-Fi Choice’s Group Test on portable DAC/headphone amplifiers were dashed. The idea was hatched on a chilly late Fe

Back in October 2019, it was National Album Day in the UK. If you’ve not heard of it, that is perhaps not surprising as it’s only been going for two years. The idea behind the event is to promote the complete and proper listening of albums from start

The UK music industry presents a united front in the fight for independent shops to stay afloat during the Coronavirus crisis, launching the #loverecordstores campaign. The BPI launched its #loverecordstores campaign in late March to help independent

A Day in the Life 180g vinyl Chasing the Dragon CHASING THE DRAGON has made a sizable impression on the audiophile scene with stunning recordings of largely classical music, and its impressive selection of direct-todisc cuts are among the best around

HOT PICK CD Egg Records WHAT WE ALL need now is music to lose ourselves in and psych-pop veterans The Lovely Eggs provide the perfect escape here. Across 12 bonkers but fantastically enjoyable tracks, the twopiece has enlisted famed producer Dave Fri

CD Blue Note IT’S SIX YEARS since the jazz fusions of the Manchester trio earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination for second album v2.0. Since then they’ve released two further fine albums, but this feels like a major advance and is by far their most

Lay Me Down The vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar in this beautifully recorded track from two of the great singer-songwriters of our time provide a stern test for any setup. Work Work A blend of technical rap with hip-hop and a superb bassline to b

1 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 2 Roger Eno & Brian Eno Mixing Colours 3 Earth Trax 4 AlDi Meola Across The Universe 5 Four Tet Sixteen Oceans 6 The Weeknd After hours 7 Shabaka And The Ancestors We Are Sent Here By History 8 London Grammar Truth Is A Beauti

1 CD, 1 Blu-ray audio Deutsche Grammophon ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 1966, this famous performance has definitely grown in stature over the years. It was released the same time as Klemperer’s (EMI), and many felt the latter to be a superior performance.

HOT PICK CD Heavenly A COMPANION PIECE to Lanegan’s warts-and-all memoirs, Straight Songs Of Sorrow is full of melancholic laments (one song is called Ketamine, for instance). To tell the story of his life, Lanegan has roped in some stellar help–Greg

highresaudio.com debuts Zachary Carrettin & Mina Gaji?’s Boundless, Queenz Of Piano’s self-titled album, Armel Dupas and Jean-Louis Cousseau’s Jazz & Poetry and Laurence Juber’s The Fab 4th. hdtracks.co.uk has Cocteau Twins’ Victorialand, Gordon Ligh

HOT PICK CD Deutsche Grammophon SWEDISH BORN OF Belarusian-Kyrgyz parentage, Daniel Lozakovich had only just reached the age of 18 when this live recording of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was made, but his reading has the maturity to be judged along

IT’S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to ensure that the metal-to-metal contacts in your system are kept as clean as possible. Otherwise it can lead to resistance, which can generate noise, resulting in subtle interference in the background during quiet passages

A precocious debut featuring the first recording of Watermelon Man and five other Hancock originals, with Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon among the supporting cast. Backed by Miles Davis’ rhythm section of Ron Carter, Tony Williams and Freddie Hubb

6000CDT PRICE: £380 REVIEWED: HFC 447 The 6000CDT is exceptional at revealing what’s on your discs to deliver a great big soundstage with plenty of detail inside. It can dig down deep into the mix to eke out the different musical strands while dynami

Edge W £2,500 HFC 447 The Edge W power amplifier quotes 2x 100W RMS output and has oodles of power to drive pretty much any speaker. It has a neutral sound with a hint of sweetness and an upbeat nature underwritten by plenty of insight that’s serious

6000A PRICE: £600 REVIEWED: HFC 444 A cracking budget integrated amplifier with just the right mix of features and high-quality performance. The 6000A boasts a snappy and engaging sound with sufficient power and fine build quality. It’s a great buy f

Equator Integra PRICE: £115 for 1m REVIEWED: HFC 438 Employing the same OCC copper conductors used in Atlas’ higher end interconnects, the Equator Integra transmits consistently sophisticated music and represents excellent value for money. Subtle nua

6000N Play PRICE: £450 REVIEWED: HFC 453 Employing the DTS Play-Fiplatform (which is not without its foibles), the Audiolab beautifully balances refinement and engagement with an impressive bass response and tonality. Given an operating system update

Vault 2i £1,100 HFC 452 If you see yourself buying into the BluOS ecosystem favoured by the Canadian brand and its cohorts, this 2TB, server, ripper and player compatible with up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM and MQA files, is a great way of starting off in o

Stratos PRICE: £1,315 REVIEWED: HFC 455 Remarkably flexible at the price, the Stratos offers an impressively wide-reaching range of features without compromising sound quality. The soundstage is wide and open with a refined presentation, delicate det

AE509 PRICE: £2,300 REVIEWED: HFC 456 Employing a carbon tweeter to shun shrill brightness, the AE509 allows you to listen into instruments on your favourite recordings, sounding dazzlingly fast and frenetic without the slightest hint of grain or sib

M10 £2,200 HFC 451 With its super flexibility, powerful amplifier design, big front panel touchscreen and impressive BluOS platform, this is a supremely stylish offering. Sonically it’s a very powerful and refined system while its definition and prec

AT-OC9XEN £300 HFC 452 This Group Test-winning moving-coil cart utilises an elliptical nude stylus mated to an assembly using two coils rather than one–which is something of an A-T trademark–and balances excellent performance with a useful boost to u

Huei PRICE: £900 REVIEWED: HFC 459 The Huei’s appeal extends from its rocksolid build and playful, sphere-based control system to its impressive knack of extracting the best from a turntable/cartridge combo without being too painfully honest about th

ATH-M50xBT PRICE: £180 REVIEWED: HFC 450 Taking its M50x and turning it into a very capable wireless design (thanks to Bluetooth v5.0) without altering its sonic character, Audio-Technica has come up trumps here. Balance and refinement join crunching

TT Zero PRICE: £1,500 REVIEWED: HFC 453 Pristine without being bright, the TT Zero has fine tonal discrimination and starts and stops precisely where it should. It is able to unpick all the audio strands with ease, sounding, open and airy with plenty

These pages are a must-read if you’re thinking about buying used kit, or if you have hi-fi you want to sell. It’s free–simply submit your ad with no more than 50 words (we reserve the right to edit it if not), remembering to include your email, phone

Editor Steve Sutherland Production Editor Jake Day-Williams Art Editor Emily Hammond Simon Berkovitch, Mark Craven, Andrew Everard, JeffGinn, Paul Hirons, Paul Hocker, James Hughes, Jason Kennedy, James Parker, David Price, Neville Roberts, Ed Selley