Page 31 - Hi-Fi

Hi-fi as a hobby (or as a way of life, of course) can be both time and space consuming (... and the less said about the bank balance the better!). One of the biggest problems you as an audiophile will ever face is... where the heck do you keep all of your lovingly chosen separates?

Well never fear. For every hi-fi problem, there is a hi-fi solution. And thankfully this is a solution which fixes several problems in one fell swoop. And that solution is... the hi-fi stand!

Looks and practicality are

At Audio Affair we're surrounded by top quality audio equipment, so here's a bit of a photo tour of the kind of things that are available to listen to in the Audio Affair shop and showroom...

Partington Partington Partington! We can't get enough of these marvelous speaker stands. There's nothing quite as satisfying as a hi-fi brand which has one keen focus - and one acute speciality, and you don't get many quite as keen and focused as they. They were initially forged in Britain, and that is where they remain to this very day. It all began with the Partington's Family Business of playground equipment, and a chance encounter with a hi-fi guy who just happened to have the right connections

You would think it's a question that your average audiophile would know the answer to - but you'd be surprised at how often that question arises on the day-t0-day, even with our most regular of regular customers. What the bloody hell is a DAC? Frankly, if you're not already a streaming aficionado, or know a great deal about digital music, you probably hadn't given much thought to the matter. But despite DACs being present ever since the digital revolution began - and was intrinsic to its longevity.

We've already talked - at great length - about the science and reasoning behind speakers stands and speaker stand spikes ('support solutions' in their own words) and how they offer benefits in stability, purging and isolation. So we shan't go on too much about that. Instead, we're going to introduce you to one of the leading names in the spikes business: Track Audio.

Track Audio are a UK-based company and the purveyors precision-made and gloriously crafted speaker stands, isolation feet,

In memory of Joseph Grado founder of Grado Labs 1924 - 2015. 

How many inventors can you remember, right off the top of your head? Okay, and how many of those were hi-fi inventors? We're willing to bet that any hi-fi (particularly the head-fi and vinyl crowds) will be able to name Joseph Grado, right off the bat. The second-generation Italian immigrant first made his name (however you pronounce it, it's currently a toss up between /ɡreɪdəʊ/ and /ɡrɑdəʊ/) by making phono-cartridge history on his

If you were keeping your eye on of Facebook and Twitter pages this weekend, you'd have noticed that we were among many of you, scoping out the latest and the greatest products and concepts from within the world of hi-fi at the wonderful Bristol Show 2015! This year, the final tally for exhibitors was 195, so as you can imagine there was a great deal to get through. But we ploughed on as best as we could and got lots of lovely pictures, as well as a few sneak-peeks of the kind of gear that we will

A turntable may appear as a strange a complicated beast, but once you break it down (not literally, unless you really know what you're doing...) it's really not all that bad. We have demonstrated this, by breaking it all down for you. Here we have the Audio Affair anatomy of a turntable!

Tone Arm

This is the free-swinging arm of a phonograph turntable that holds the cartridge, which contains the stylus. This is the item which holds the instrument which runs over the grooves on the vinyl.

Counterweight

A little while ago, our Sales Manager Richard (and our in-house Vinyl Head!) put together a video on how to set up a Pro-ject Debut Carbon. This was designed both as an instructional video for that specific turntable, and a little general 'how to' on how the vast majority of turntables will need to be tended to before they're put to use. Rather than bumble through my own hacked up interpretation of how it's done, we thought we'd let our favourite bonefide audiophile do the job for us. Again.

Here's

CDs. We love them. They sound great and they are responsible for huge shifts in both the hi-fi and the music industries. But the times they are a'changin' and the digital revolution has been sweeping the world of music. So... what do you do to make your great sounding - and great looking - CD collection to integrate fully into your lifestyle? The answer my friend is to digitise. But how do you do that in a fuss-free and easy way without losing that ever crucial CD quality sound?

Thanks to various