Page 2 - Monthly Archives: October 2014

One of the - if not the most important events in British hi-fi was upon us last night - and we there, front and centre, to see which of our favourite products were deemed the cream of the sound and vision crop - and to report straight back to you, with the news from the front line. It certainly felt like a battle getting there - the roads to London were flooded and treacherous and visibility was poor. We'll probably get the train in 2015 - just to make sure we get there in one piece!

But once

Convenience. The key to a modern streamlined life: pre-peeled carrots, pre-packed sandwiches -  these and many other little touches make our lives that little bit simpler allowing us to concentrate on the more important things in life. Such as Hi-Fi.

So, what happens when you want to simplify your music collection and thoroughly drag it into this century - vinyl, I love you, but lets face it this blog would never be finished if I kept having to lift the needle from the record!

Let's leave our

Christmas is a time for treats - be that for yourself, or a loved one. And a pair of great value bookshelf speakers that won't break the bank, but will still offer excellent delivery in spaces of any size make for an excellent gift for even the most discernible audiophile in your life. Are you, or your loved one - ready to step into a pair of serious bookshelf speakers? Well then, now is the time to consider an upgrade.

But which way to go? There are so many options out there in the £350 - £900 bracket,

It’s true what they say, nothing can replace a full-blown hi-fi system. But we know a few desktop speakers which come pretty damn close! A desktop 2.1 speaker system has everything a full speaker system has – including a sub-woofer – but in a much smaller case. This makes it suitable for a number of applications, especially when integrating a full hi-fi set up into a small space.

Yes, the size is paramount. But don’t skimp on sound quality when it comes to selecting your desktop speakers. There more

If you keep up to date with the latest advances in hi-fi technology, it’s highly likely you’ve come across the term AptX. But what is AptX? Essentially, it’s the latest step in the field of Bluetooth streaming. Bluetooth, despite being a revolution in itself, has a nasty habit of compressing audio sent over it, discarding data deemed 'unecessary'. But, as any audiophile will tell you, there is no such thing as 'unecessary' information when it comes to hi-fidelity. Due to this loss, there was a degarding

The uncorded headphone – more commonly referred to as the wireless headphone, is somewhat iconic in its representation of how far audio technology has come. Not only is completely wireless audio-on-the-go possible, it’s a reality. And now it comes in audiophile grade sound quality too!

Before we go any further, let me talk a little bit about the two very distinct types of wireless headphone. We have the cordless – a base station which transmits a signal to its dedicated headphone – ideal for at home

Radio. It’s very much alive, and it's beginning to thrive. The staple for any kitchen, office, bedroom… or anywhere else that your normal system isn't. DABs make fantastic gifts - for yourself or another - the content is provided in some shape or form, so you don’t have to panic about gifting your loved one with something that will in turn cost them money. And it’s the gift that will keep on giving too! Whether they like music (of any conceivable genre), chat, news, sports, politics (etc.), your

Hi-fi and wireless have something of a speckled history, with many purists believing that the only way to achieve real hi-fi, is through fully wired units. Up until recent years those purists were probably right. But will the arrival of AtpX – the new generation of Bluetooth – do enough to herald a new age of fully wireless hi-fi with the sound you’d expect? Let’s find out.

So… where did it start?

It began, of course, with radio frequencies. This has been a way of transmitting audio completely wirelessly…