WHAT HI-FI? Choice picks / Awards 2022 – A great selection of outstanding wired and wireless pairs

The What Hi-Fi? Awards 2022 winners have been announced, and the headphones category has no fewer than 12 winning pairs deemed worthy of Best Buy gongs. They’re spread across both wired and wireless styles, in-ear and over-ear designs. We’ve got a lot of familiar faces in the wired headphones sub-category, including repeat winners from Austrian […]

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STAX DA 100, CA-X, SRA 12s, servicing, attitude towards end-users, Audio Research REF75 and 5SE as possible alternatives

Originally published in 2009 Question: Hi. I have à pair of Stax da 100  with ca-x after  having the da80 vwith sra12s I had some problems with the ça-x but none up to now with the  da100 and i had them  for almost  30 years  I like them how ever vu the age and the […]

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FM: Aerials, the misunderstood and/or marginalised component?

Surely the radio aerial, with possibly a signal amplifier present for weaker signals, could be regarded as being the equivalent of vinyl’s cartridge and phono amp stages? If achieved then consequently, we may have more choice and availability of aerials and magazine reviews. Imagine going into a hi-fi shop to discuss an aerial/amp combination that […]

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MUDDY WATERS: News

Classic live radio broadcast from 30th May 1973 Includes the entire broadcast Digitally remastered for enhanced sound quality Background liners Muddy Waters had only recently completed his Australasia tour that had started in late April and finished in Perth on 11th May 1973. He arrived just two days later in Vancouver before performing five dates […]

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ARCAM: The C49 pre amplifier

They said .. rcam’s C49 pre-amplifier represents the pinnacle of Arcam’s audio engineering. We set out to incorporate everything we have learnt in almost 40 years to deliver a pre-amplifier that will set new standards and provide class leading sound quality for the best possible reproduction of your music. Drawing on the many years of […]

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FINAL / UX3000 HEADPHONES: News

STUART MILES: What’s happened? Final is usually associated with extravagant (and painfully expensive) headphones that have their own dedicated listening room and wires that have to be handled with satin gloves, but the UX3000 is a headset you would happily rock on your morning commute. Our quick verdict The Final UX3000 headphones offer sound quality that’s largely unmatched […]

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DEVIALET / Mania: News

CHRIS HALL: What’s happened?French hi-fi brand Devialet has something of a reputation for stylish, high-quality (and pricey) speakers that pack a punch. However, you’ve never been able to take that sound on the go with you – until now. The Devialet Mania is the result of four years’ hard graft, cramming all of Devialet’s hi-fi know-how, […]

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CONVERSATIONS WITH COLIN: Why sell an under-optimized item that can be easily improved upon by the owner or a modder?

Dear Colin, If audiophile grade feet, power cords, and fuses can really improve sound quality, why don’t high end designers/manufacturers just incorporate these audiophile grade components at the time of build? Why sell an under-optimized item that can be easily improved upon by the owner or a modder? I guess you don’t do that at […]

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PRIMALUNA: EVO 400 preamp reviews

“The EVO 400 is not only PrimaLuna’s best line preamp offering ever, but it also holds its own against ultra-high-end competition . . . If purity of expression and tonal realism are two of your sonic priorities, get ready to embrace the EVO 400. I certainly did. In a nutshell, it’s an insane audio bargain […]

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GRADO GW 100X: News

RIK HENDERSON: What’s happened? Grado is a family-run headphone manufacturer from Brooklyn, New York, with a seven-decade history. It focuses almost exclusively on open-back headphones and is thought by many to produce some of the finest examples in the world. In 2018, it introduced its first Bluetooth model, the Grado GW100. The heritage was plain to see, […]

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KOETSU: Rosewood Signature Platinum

STEREOPHILE: Among the more intriguing audio-related announcements this year was that Koetsu phono cartridges were once again available in the States. In fact, they’re being handmade in limited quantities by the sons of founder Yoshiaki Sugano. There are three new models, each using samarium-cobalt magnets with a healthy 600µV output: the Standard (Red), the Rosewood […]

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SPEAKERS: Active or passive speakers; it’s a no-brainer – right?

So Neil … at heart, are you an active speaker man or a passive speaker man? Well, in my career I have been responsible for the manufacture of active loudspeakers of varying quality. One model I particularly admired and two rather less and lately I have started to be very interested in active loudspeakers again, […]

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FOSTEX: Why use good headphones?

Aggravating a dealer or two! Whether dealers like it or not, there are certain things that headphones can achieve which even the world’s finest stand-alone hifi systems can’t. There’s no magic to this. It’s purely the fact that the driver mechanism of the headphone is within an inch or two of the receptive areas of […]

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JEREMY SPENCER: In conversation

 Asking the questions: editor Fran Leslie. You have been invited to play at the Chicago Blues Festival and I see that you are doing a workshop entitled The Art of Slide. How did that come about? In July of last year (2008), I was playing with the Norwegian band at Fitzgerald’s, a blues club in […]

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