Innehållsförteckning för October 2023 från Hi-Fi Choice

hifichoice.com Issue No. 506 October 2023 It strikes me that we hi-fi enthusiasts are a weird bunch. Endlessly in search of that impossible holy grail – total listening perfection – we’re continually juggling conundrums, some real, some imagined, looking for answers to questions that may or may not lead to sonic enlightenment. Every month our Letters pages are full of queries about how best to position speakers, whether there are any new reliable CD players available, which cartridge upgrade will enhance a much-loved turntable most, what’s a woofer and what’s it for? And yet, amidst all this curiosity, there seem to be a few unchallenged ‘facts’ we appear happy to accept as gospel. Like, the long-held view that coloured vinyl is sonically inferior to the good-old black stuff. Whether there’s…

PRICE: £220 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: LINKPLAY.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK US COMPANY LINKPLAY Technology Inc. has launched its WiiM Pro Plus, an upgraded version of the WiiM Pro audio streamer. Linkplay explains that: “the WiiM Pro Plus offers a more powerful audiophile-grade music quality, now with a premium AKM DAC built-in. It is designed to significantly enhance audio quality, simplify the streaming system setup and reduce the total system cost for music enthusiasts. The ‘Plus’ in WiiM Pro Plus stands for better audio quality, making it superior to the WiiM Pro when using line output or line input ports.” Upgrades in the WiiM Pro Plus include a TI Burr-Brown Audio PCM1861 ADC, claiming up to 32-bit/192kHz digital output, to convert analogue sounds from devices like record players, MP3 players or TVs into…

IN SIXTH PLACE is the Technics SU-GX70. Were we primarily concerned with features, it would be the clear winner – but sonically it’s slightly off the pace. It’s a very polished performer, but seems to lack emotional commitment. However, for mainstream buyers it has real appeal. Simaudio’s MOON 250i V2 is flfth. It’s a highly accomplished all-rounder and is actually close to the best here. It’s a little under powered compared with some price rivals and isn’t quite as characterful as others here. Its all-round ability will charm many buyers, so it’s still worth an audition. The Classic AMP by Cyrus ranks fourth. Again, it’s an excellent amplifler while its looks, build and ergonomics are super – and it boasts very high-quality sound. The gap between it and the higher-ranking…

DETAILS PRODUCT Final ZE8000 ORIGIN Japan TYPE True-wireless noise-cancelling in-earphones WEIGHT 6g each FEATURES l 13mm aluminiummagnesium dome dynamic driver l Four-band EQ l Four mode ANC DISTRIBUTOR Final Audio WEBSITE snext-final.com Transparency. Apart from political punditry, I can’t think of another area of the media quite as fond of the word as us audiophiles. Arguably, it’s the most potent single descriptor in the audio lexicon, the one word that, used positively, confers a fundamental, over-arching trait no true hi-fi experience can exist without. So, it’s a brave company indeed that tries to claim ownership of transparency and assumes responsibility for giving it regular upgrades. And yet, to quote from the literature that accompanies Japanese headphone specialist Final’s noise-cancelling, true-wireless IEM flagship, the ZE8000: “brand new 8K sound technology exceeds…

★★★★☆ Ry Cooder Ry Cooder 180g vinyl Speakers Corner RY COODER HAD become very much in demand as a session man during the late Sixties working with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart and more before he made this his debut in 1970 for the Reprise label. All but ten of the tunes are covers, largely of blues and country music played by Cooder on guitar with Chris Ethridge, Roy Estrada, Van Dyke Parks and Milt Holland among other luminaries of the era providing backing. The hit rate is not as high as it would became a few years later, but there are some great songs including Alimony (which may have inspired Little Feat), Joe Callicott’s France Chance and John Estes’ Goin’ To Brownsville with banjo by RC. The Cooder original is the instrumental Available Space, which sounds beautiful…

CD ACT Music CD Harmonia Mundi ★★★★☆ AGED JUST 21 and with prestigious award nominations to her name, Rawicz has chromesthesia – seeing colours when hearing sounds – and there is no doubt this translates into the vivid colouring of the album. The deep purple of Rangwali has her saxophone playing at the fore, bobbing and weaving with alacrity around frenetic piano, drums and bass. There’s the burnt orange of a sultry sunset washing over Viridian with its beautiful female vocal over the accompanying players, the bass playing in particular is exceptional. Chroma bursts through the grey predictability of life and bathes the listener in a rainbow of sound. PSH…

★★★★★ CD ECM IF YOU CAN imagine Purcell mashed up with Eric Dolphy on clarinet with a bit of Gershwin and Vivaldi thrown in, you will have some inkling of what to expect on this distinctive release by wind player Trovesi and violinist leader Montanari. Along with an ensemble playing strings, percussion, lute, woodwind, harpsichord and electronics, these musical adventurers re-imagine ancient pieces and add their own to produce a charming variety of music that sounds fabulous thanks to ECM’s high standards of production. It sounds like madness but works surprisingly well, especially if you love the rasp of original instruments. JK…

★★★★☆ SACD BIS BOTH CONCERTOS ARE terse, rather knotty works that challenge the listener, though neither sets out to be deliberately awkward or obtuse. Thankfully, Mustonen is a canny experienced guide who grasps the music from the inside; he comprehends its ebb and flow and dynamic contours. Rautavaara’s concerto, subtitled Gift Of Dreams, was written in 1998. Much of it is lyrical; unfolding with a firm spacious dignity that leads to an energetic finale. Martinů’s concerto from 1947/8 reflects the dark under currents of the political instability of that period. Excellent performances and very good recordings. Open, natural and detailed. JH…

★★★★☆ Come With Fierce Grace CD International Anthem THIS JAZZ ALBUM consists of what is described by team Deplume as: “spontaneous compositions”. The Mancunian saxophonist surrounded himself with musical talent and pressed record. Those with an over-sensitive ‘indulgent twaddle’ radar might be on their guard, but there’s no need. Mostly. When it works, Greek Honey Stick with its shuffling groove and stuttering saxophone, is a joy. As is the brooding Did You Know, featuring the delicate vocals of Momoko Gill, but other tracks sound like they need time to find their way. It’s a fascinating sketchbook of creative ideas and a bold attempt at trying something truly adventurous. PSH…

★★★★★ Open reel tape Chasing The Dragon hon THE BEAUTIFUL SAN Vidal church in Venice was the setting for the live recording of Vivaldi In Venice. This recording by Chasing The Dragon features Venetian music performed by the internationally famous Interpreti Veneziani baroque orchestra, which debuted on the Italian and international concert stage in 1987. San Vidal is their official home. Recorded in 2018, this is a double album of music composed primarily by Antonio Vivaldi, but also including works by Venetian baroque composers Giuseppe Tartini and Arcangelo Corelli. The recording was made over several days and used a spaced pair of modern Flea C12 microphones set in omnidirectional mode for the main stereo feed. A sheepskin-covered Jecklin disc, which enhances the stereo image when used with omnidirectional microphones, was placed…

★★★★☆ CD Ninja Tune THE FORMER MOLOKO front woman returns with her sixth solo album, a collaboration with DJ Koze. As we know, Murphy likes to experiment with her vocals and here she’s in full crooner mode on some tracks, while others employ heavy effects to produce something other worldly. Elsewhere, there are house and disco inflections (Free Will), techno synth stabs and both soul and hip-hop. Fader is exultant, while Hurtz So Bad is deeper and more reflective. At its heart Hit Parade is paradoxical: you know what you’re going to get, but at the same time it’s surprising and satisfying. PH…

Fly Jefferson Airplane gets you there on time,” Donovan sang on his 1966 album Sunshine Superman. The song was the first time most of the world got to hear about the band, who were still to release their debut album, but that was all about to change as they strapped in and readied for take-off. Donovan was impressed by the group when he met them on a trip to LA in the summer of 1966. Recording material for his next album in a Hollywood studio, he slipped the namecheck spontaneously into the lyrics of a song titled Fat Angel – which he had written as a tribute to Cass Elliott of The Mamas And The Papas. It was a prescient salute. The psychedelic age was about to explode in technicolour…

PRICE: £210 (0.5M) AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CHORD.CO.UK  CHORD COMPANY HAS upgraded its Shawline analogue interconnect using XLPE (Cross-linked Polythene) insulation, creating what the company is calling: “the best-performing Shawline cable yet”. The new ShawlineX ARAY is the latest cable handmade in the UK by the company to benefit from the performance-enhancing dielectric. Shawline’s upgrade follows the SignatureX and EpicX ARAY interconnects announced earlier in 2023. Built with high-quality silver-plated conductors, layers of shielding and Chord Company’s proprietary ARAY geometry, the ShawlineX ARAY has been designed with the intention of enhancing a wide range of different systems at a reasonable price. The ShawlineX ARAY also benefits from Chord Company’s unique ChorAlloy-plated VEE 3 RCA, DIN or XLR connectors. It boasts a dedicated tonearm cable, mini-jack options, HDMI AOC, power and…

Those of an historical bent will know that Wilson Audio’s Sasha V isn’t merely its fourth-generation Sasha. This two-box floorstander is a carefully developed, decades-long evolution of a brilliant initial concept. Founder David A Wilson’s design was not thefirst to place bass drivers in one enclosure with the tweeter and/or midrange in a module perched on top. But it has refined that layout, not least by ensuring that the tiltable top module can be positioned precisely for perfect time alignment. What started out as the Wilson Audio Tiny Tot (WATT) prototype of 1985, and which was swiftly joined at the decade’s end by the much-needed Puppy bass driver enclosure, has matured into a £54,000-per-pair high-end speaker of manageable size and luxurious finish. The Sasha V sits in between the Yvette…

Debates about the merits of different types of amplifier designs are nothing new and regardless of sound quality, most mobile devices tend to stick with Class D simply because it’s the most power-efficient option for portable devices with limited battery life. So we have to admire the sheer no-compromise attitude of A&K’s decision to buck the trend and go with Class A for its headphone amp. It’s twice the size and weight of an iPhone, so A&K includes a couple of tough silicon bands so you can strap it to your smartphone or DAP of choice. It’s very sturdy, with an aluminium case that should be tough enough to cope with life on the road. The top houses a large thumb wheel for power and volume, along with 3.5mm and…

88 Allison Russell The Returner 89 Richard Stöhr Orchestral Music, Volume Two Sinfonia Varsovia Ian Hobson 92 Don Kapot I Love Tempo CD PeMa THE PHOTO THAT accompanies the press release for TF’s 11th studio album (above) tells its own story. Five middle-aged blokes with greying hair – or in some cases no hair at all – stand in front of their guitars, amps and drum kit like they’re auditioning for a remake of One Foot In The Grave. Yet although their teenage years are a misty-eyed memory, their music remains for the ages and they’re about to embark on a sold-out 31-date tour to promote Nothing Lasts Forever. The tour itinerary, too, tells a tale and all but two of the dates are taking place in “seated venues”. One…

★★★★★ 180g vinyl Chasing The Dragon THIS CHASING THE Dragon pressing of Scheherazade features award-winning lead violinist Katerina Nazarova playing Arthur Grumiaux’s amazing Guarneri del Gesù violin, which was loaned to her for this recording. Nazarova and the NSO manage to impart a freshness to the music that is somehow missing from other recordings that I have heard (and I’ve heard many over the decades). The LP was half-speed mastered at AIR Studios and is pressed on 180g vinyl. The resultant quality is fantastic with a staggering dynamic range, especially for vinyl. For me, this is now the reference recording of this well-known piece of music. NR…

★★★★★ CD Toccata Classics STÖHR'S SECOND VOLUME of orchestral works maintains the high standard set by Volume 1. Over the course of a long life, (1874-1967) Stöhr wrote fresh melodic music that is approachable and easy on the ear without being dumbed down. His first symphony is not a prophetic progressive work like Mahler’s 1st, yet is in no way derivative. He’s individual without being avant-garde, and despite echoes of Dvořák, Bruckner and Franz Schmidt, he couldn’t be mistaken for these composers. Ian Hobson and the Sinfonia Varsovia make a strong case for the music, and the recording is clear and smooth-sounding; well balanced and natural. JH…

★★★★☆ CD Decca AS A YOUNG man, Mendelssohn went on The Grand Tour of Europe, visiting Venice, Edinburgh, and (I kid you not) sunny Camberwell in South London. While there, he wrote his delightfully whimsical Spring Song. Christian Li’s recital also includes a lyrical quicksilver account of the popular E Minor Violin Concerto. Schubert’s Serenade is slipped in, plus some Bach and Mozart’s Sonata K.304. Li’s playing is crisp and clean, and his intonation is perfect. Alas, On The Wings Of Song is a bit Palm Court saccharine, but the Mozart is not sentimentalised. Decca’s recording is sweet, warm and very natural sounding, reproducing smoothly and easily. JH…

★★★★★ CD Milk! TWO YEARS AFTER her last album comes this collection of tracks written to soundtrack the documentary film Anonymous Club, which is about Barnett herself. This meta relationship with the movie doesn’t detract from the album, but Barnett fans should approach this with fair warning – all the 14 tracks are instrumental and improvised, and do not showcase the rise-andfall, verse-chorus-verse style that she normally provides to such good effect. End Of The Day is an ambient album of sorts – slow, low, meditative, twangy and beautiful. Like driving across the desert during the middle of the night. PH…

★★★★☆ Mozart Recital CD Steinway and Sons KOREAN PIANIST SU Yeon Kim chooses an all Mozart programme for her recording debut and writes the interesting notes. She quotes Schnabel’s famous dictum that Mozart’s sonatas are: “too easy for children; too difficult for artists”. Her playing is fluent, stylish and largely unaffected. But there is perhaps just a slight self-consciousness evident at times – alack of artless simplicity. Regardless, it’s still a very enjoyable well-chosen recital; one that showcases Mozart’s many different sides and the varied multi-faceted breadth of Kim’s playing. The recording is rich, sonorous and velvety smooth, with a warm burnished tonal quality. JH…

★★★★☆ SACD Chandos CD W.E.R.F. Records THE 14TH SYMPHONY dates from the composer’s last years. A grim dark work, it reflects his nihilistic view. He saw no hope of salvation, nor believed in any sort of afterlife. Yet curiously it is more uplifting than depressing. Storgårds delivers it with unflinching honesty, making no attempt to lighten the mood or soften the blows. Tempi are broad and the effect is bleak and sobering. The Six Verses Of Marina Tscentayeva makes an appropriately sombre coupling and the singing in both works is fine. The recording has a wide dynamic range with crisp impact and impressive percussion. JH…

★★★★☆ CD Reprise IN HIS PRIME, songs were pouring out of Young so fast that he would record and shelve entire albums. Belatedly these are now seeing the light of day Originally scheduled for release in 1977 before it, too, was jettisoned. Most of Chrome Dreams’ songs have emerged elsewhere, but we get the likes of Pocahontas, Powderfinger, Sedan Delivery and Hold Back The Tears in unfamiliar versions. To hear the album as intended at the time is a revelation for this could easily have been his finest since Harvest. As he hasn’t recorded a consistently satisfying album in the past decade, these releases take on extra resonance. NW…

ADDING TO ITS range of high-end connectors, the new top-of-range XLR plugs – CF-601M male NCF connector and CF-602F female NCF connector – employ Furutech’s proprietary Nano-Crystal Formula (NCF) anti-static and anti-resonance material. According to the company, this special crystalline material generates negative ions to reduce static charges and also converts thermal energy into far infrared. Nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder are added to the crystalline material to provide “piezoelectric effect” damping properties to reduce noise and improve imaging and soundstaging. The bodies of the male and female XLR connectors are a one-piece rhodium-plated pure copper construction and have been subjected to Furutec’s ‘Alpha’ treatment to reduce internal stresses in the metal and improve electrical conductivity. The housing of both connectors is a multi-layered design made from a hybrid…

MISSION 778X INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER Our reviewer says: “There is no arguing that the 778X is a formidable arrival in the affordable amplifier category. It combines enough power with a range of inputs that should allow you to use it in a wide variety of ways and then makes sure that it sounds great across all of them.” Find out more in the November issue ALSO: REVIEWS Elipson Legacy 3230 floorstanding speaker, Klipsch R-50PM active speaker, Astell&Kern A&futura SE300 DAP, Musical Fidelity LS3/5A loudspeaker, Bluesound Powernode Edge streaming system and a Group Test of the major streaming services.  FEATURES Music Legends, Music Reviews, Reasons To Be Cheerful, our comprehensive Buyer’s Guide and sharp-as-nails Opinions pieces, the Flashback interview, Beginner’s Guide, all the latest kit release news in Audiofile and your hi-fi…

THIS MONTH ED SELLEY EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Active in the industry since 1999, Ed’s first record was Boss Drum by The Shamen. He splits his time between reviewing and protecting hi-fi kit from his son Will. NEVILLE ROBERTS EXPERTISE: ENGINEER Nevillehas aneclectictastefor classical baroqueandjazz. His wifewasforcedtomarryhis transmissionlinespeakersinthe eightiesandhecollectsBBCtest cardmusic. JASON KENNEDY EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Editor of HFC from 1998 to 2001, Jason’s first turntable was Rega’s Planar 3 and Elvis’ 40 Greatest Hits was his first vinyl, so don’t go stepping on his blue suede shoes. DAVID PRICE EXPERTISE: REVIEWER DP two-finger typed his first hi-fi review 25 years ago. Since then he’s edited Hi-Fi World and HFC. He describes himself as an “unreconstructed analogue addict”. CHRIS WARD EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Like his first kiss, Chris will never…

CD Concord ★★★★★ A rich and rewarding set that draws on the legacy of African-American popular song THE CANADIAN-BORN BLACK folk-roots singer won three Grammy nominations and the Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year award for her 2021 solo debut Outside Child. The follow up is a conscious effort to step outside the folk stockade on a rich and rewarding set that draws on the entire legacy of groove-rich African-American popular song. Not that Russell has thrown off all ties with her origins. Eve Was Black is cloaked in banjos and fiddles; but she delivers its lyric with the kind of soulful intensity you associate with Roberta Flack or Nina Simone. Elsewhere she synthesises influences as diverse as the Pointer Sisters, Philly soul, the syncopations of New Orleans and even disco on Stay Right…

★★★★☆ LIGETI’S MUSIC ABOUNDS with inventiveness; an ability to surprise that keeps listeners on their toes. In the Six Bagatelles there’s a keen sense of fun; a delight in musical slapstick and brash piquant harmonies. The Chamber Concerto is very different – afascinating study in texture, sonority and tonal colour. The Ten Pieces For Wind Quintet treat each of the five instruments as soloists within a constantly evolving/repeating framework. Performances are highly accomplished and the recordings are bright, crisp, close and very immediate – successfully capturing the reedy tangy overtones of the instruments. JH…

★★★★☆ CD Thirty Tigers CBR‘S FOURTH LONG player gives us plenty of soulful, jazzy pop to showcases her powerful vocals, but then we get the title track‘s flowering, kaleidoscopic jazz mash-up Erasure, which is full-on grunge rock, and Earthlings, a space jazz/soul piece with phased-out, synthy strangeness. And then there‘s the simply stunning Red Horse – amelodic, reflective and beautiful soul-pop song. Black Rainbows can be a difficult record to get your head around because you don’t know what’s coming next. However, there‘s one thing that cannot be questioned: Bailey Rae still loves to challenge and experiment within the confines of the pop world. PH…

Dub maestro, ace bassist and national treasure Dennis Bovell MBE – aka Blackbeard – has been the guiding hand behind some of the greatest recordings of our lifetime, including The Pop Group’s Y, The Slits’ Cut and Janet Kay’s Lovers Rock classic Silly Games. Seems like a good idea, then, to pick his brains concerning a trio of timeless albums Sly & The Family Stone There’s A Riot Goin’ On Epic (1971) Sly’s fifth LP is a socially conscious masterpiece. Bovell says: “The key thing for me was the lyrics – they’re so dark, but so direct. ‘Looking at the devil grinning at his gun, Fingers start shakin’, I begin to run’ – these hit you right between the eyes. Larry Graham is credited with creating that bass sound that later on Jaco…

Eugène Ysaÿe Six Sonatas For Violin Solo op.27 ★★★★★ 2x vinyl Deutsche Grammophon Individual sonatas vary from 7 to 18 minutes and represent a sort of musical Mount Everest BELGIAN COMPOSER/VIOLINIST EUGÈNE Ysaÿe penned his six sonatas for solo violin in 1923, inspired by hearing the young Joseph Szigeti play Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas that same year. Individual sonatas vary in length from seven to 18 minutes and represent a sort of musical Mount Everest. Huge demands are made that only the finest virtuosi can meet. Fortunately, Hahn’s unassailable commanding technique is equal to every challenge. As well as CD and download/stream, DG has issued the set on two LPs cut at 45rpm. The sound (especially on vinyl) is natural and true, faithfully capturing the specifics of how Hilary Hahn…

★★★★★ CD Test Card Recordings FOR THE UNINITIATED, Public Service Broadcasting blends an infectious mix of instruments, electronica, sometimes vocals and samples taken from archive footage, propaganda or public information films to glorious effect. This newly remasterd and remixed recording captures the band’s 2022 appearance at the Proms – which celebrated the centenary of the BBC – alongside the 88-piece BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley. As you’d expect, this is a supreme recording almost certain to become a mainstay for hi-fi demos everywhere in the future. JDW…

★★★★★ THE OFFBEAT JAZZ trio from Brussels comes over loud and clear on this their fourth album. Me Pig opens with what sounds like an amped-up Stylophone before making way for an infectious drum beat in what can only be described as a joyous racket. Macrona delights with a honking saxophone riff as percussion that should be labelled ‘sorting through the cutlery drawer’. There’s an afro-beat tang to Bernadette that could easily be a Talking Heads outtake and gives the ears a good workout. All in all, a noisy, rocket-fuelled romp over six tracks that you’re never likely to forget. PSH…

★★★★☆ 2x CDs Deutsche Grammophon THIS RELEASE COMPLETES Nézet-Séguin’s Philadelphia cycle of the three Rachmaninoff symphonies for DG. He approaches these lush romantic scores con amore and achieves crisp precise playing, yet is also able to add rubato during the more opulent passages – especially in the Second symphony. The Philadelphians outdo themselves, sounding passionate, sumptuous and rich toned one moment, lean, mean and hungry the next. DG’s recordings are technically outstanding, with ample warmth and tonal weight and a deep powerful bass drum in the Third. Clarity is excellent, with much subtle inner detail revealed. JH…

DESIGNED TO OFFER high-quality cables at an affordable price, Black Rhodium’s Intro tonearm cable is terminated with a 5-pin mini DIN on one side and two RCA phono connectors and a small spade for the tonearm earth connection on the other. Other variants terminated with XLR or RCA connectors at both ends are also available. The cable is fitted with a large ferrite core close to the RCA end to attenuate radio frequency interference that can cause distortion, is finished in black braid and is very flexible. I use it to connect my valve phono stage to my Jelco SA-750 tonearm, which is fitted with a Vertere Mystic (HFC 499) MC cart. I kick off with a direct-cut LP by Chasing The Dragon of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra playing Joe…