BRITISH HI-FI: Why?

Being in the business myself, my answer is from the other side of the fence from the consumer. There’s a long tradition in Britain of people making hi-fi because they love it, not because there’s a lot of money to be made. Many of the people making hi-fi here spend a very long time getting […]

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GREIG: Piano Works, Ivana Gavrić, review

Geoffrey Norris: Bosnian-born pianist Ivana Gavrić brings a wide perspective to Grieg’s Norwegian peasant dances and ‘Lyric Pieces’, playing with vitality and haunting atmosphere. If Grieg is particularly well known for his Piano Concerto and for the luminous miniatures he etched as “Lyric Pieces”, the Bosnian-born pianist Ivana Gavrić here offers a much wider perspective […]

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KAPTAIN KOPTER : The Fabulous Twirly Birds – KFPK Radio LA, 13th September 1972 (CD)

As lead guitarist for late 60s US psychedelic visionaries Spirit, Randy California needs no introduction to serious rock fans. This tremendous live set was recorded for the L.A. radio station KPFK in September 1972 – the same month his wild solo debut appeared – and also features Larry ‘Fuzzy’ Knight on bass and Spirit’s legendary […]

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EPOS: Upgrading from their ES-14?

As you are likely more than aware I have had my Epos ES-14’s for some time and although I have heard a number of speakers, nothing has jumped out as significantly better than the Epos without spending stupid money. Has anyone had the chance to hear the new Sonus Faber Venere 2.5, I have read […]

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Quill

CHALLENGE: Double-Blind Violin Test … can you pick the Strad?

Originally published 2012 Christopher Joyce writes: In the world of violins, the names Stradivari and Guarneri are sacred. For three centuries, violin-makers and scientists have studied the instruments made by these Italian craftsmen. So far no one has figured out what makes their sound different. But a new study now suggests maybe they aren’t so […]

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ROBERT PLANT ….. “is back to his bluesy roots as his latest project gears up to close the Womad festival. It seems he’s happy to put his rock god days behind him”

Tim Cumming writes:  I’m due to meet him in a Russian tea room in Primrose Hill, but find the man instead in the local wine shop, pondering the chiller cabinet. Across the road, there’s a café crowded with a half dozen pavement-cramming prams. He makes a joke about fertility cults – you could say he […]

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CATERINA BARBIERI: Minimalist electronic artist

Sound On Sound write ….. With the final programme for Loop — Ableton’s music summit — being announced, we took the opportunity to catch up with one of the artists on the roster. We talk to Berlin-based Italian minimalist electronic artist, Caterina Barbieri whose 2017 record Patterns of Consciousness has received critical acclaim and even been named […]

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… but first – give a critical listen to what you have before you make any changes

Paul McGowan: Being on the front lines as a manufacturer gives me an interesting perspective most of you reading these posts don’t have. One of the continuing themes I see, from this bird’s eye view, is the tendency to blame the new guy: regardless of any facts to the contrary. If we add a new […]

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CYNDI LAUPER: The Agora Ballroom, Cleveland Ohio, 14 December 1983 (CD)

• Includes the entire WMMS-FM broadcast • Digitally remastered for greatly enhanced sound quality • Background linersAt the end of 1983, Cyndi Lauper was on the verge of rising to superstardom. Her debut album had been released just two months before this December 14, 1983 concert, and the following year, it would spawn several massive […]

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GALE: GS401A – appropriate amplification?

Poking around in the loft a while back I came across along forgotten pair of Gale GS401As in very sad condition and, if memory serves, they’d been there for 22 years! Unfortunately they were a little too near a small long term leak that developed in the roof (fixed long ago) which did little to improve […]

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NIRVANA: Transmission Impossible (3CD)

3 DISC SET FEATURING LIVE NIRVANA BROADCASTS FROM 7 DIFFERENT PERFORMANCES This three CD set consists of Nirvana at their very best, performing live on various occasions across theirshort but dynamic career. Featuring live broadcasts from; 1987 in Olympia W.A. for KAOS FM community radio while in the very earliest incarnation; 1991 at Del Mar […]

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PS AUDIO: When less is less

Paul McGowan: One of our readers asked why on earth I would run the PerfectWave Power Amplifier you see in our new music room on a P10 Power Plant – and not go straight into the wall.  After all, every time you place something between the power amp and the wall – the source of […]

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