Streamers. They're all the rage - and for a very good reason. And why? Well, they're getting better. Much better. We know that streaming digitally will never quite replace wired analogue in terms of sound quality, but it far surpasses it in terms of convenience and sheer usability, and sound quality is catching up fast. Case and point: the following five hi-fi streamers are streaming separates, designed for use with an existing system

Just in case the paragraph above makes no sense to you, let

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

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…

Here at Audio Affair we are great lovers of vinyl records and music in general. Our philosophy is that without great music, having a great hi-fi system, tweaking, upgrading and improving it would be pointless.

Hot off the heels of Record Store Day 2014, and in the midst of a vinyl revival, we thought that it made sense to ensure we offered a great varied selection of vinyl records along with the turntables and kit to play them on, which is why we now stock a much greater and more varied range of

Imagine it, sat in your listening chair  - comfortable, warm and enjoying the soulful sound of  your system - then as you doze that familiar pop and jump of being awoken to your stylus hitting the  infinite groove, ouch! Or having to get up to change a CD, now I am not complaining too much as I am a vinyl head - this said I would look pretty cool to friends if I could control something with vales coming out of it with an iPad, old meets new!

Streaming is still a new technology in some respects

Famous for popularising the modern music, their long list of name changes, their iconic logo, for pioneering the use of an umlaut in band names and for making metal catchy (not to mention coverable!) BÖC have certainly left their mark on both the alternative and mainstream music markets. The regular rotation of their exceptional music videos on the likes of MTV combined with an enormous crowd following - assisted by their impressive stage shows - resulted in them selling over 24 million albums

The world of alternative rock is wide and varied, but the vast majority of the albums and singles tend not to stray too far from the rock charts - preferring to stay in the safe confines of the alternative community's repertoire. Of course, there are many exceptions to that rule, one of the many being Third Eye Blind and their Eponymous début album which, upon its release in 1997, propelled the band to major chart success, owed in part to the chart successes of the singles Semi-Charmed Life, Jumper

Choosing the right direction

Wherever you look people can be seen using Headphones and Earphones: train, bus even in cars? Not 100% why on the last one but each to there own! What I am basically trying to say is that music on the move is massive at the moment and looks set to continue – I personally would not be seen on the train or bus without my trusty headphones. This popularity raises problems however every manufacture is jumping on the bandwagon and as I am sure you can appreciate this often

If you are passionate about music, you'll find yourself downloading songs online quite regularly. It's in everyone's best interest to only download from a trusted source and more importantly - legal download. To keep up with the fast evolving online digital world, we have compiled an up-to-date list of websites where you can download your favourite MP3s and songs - free and paid.

Amazon
As well as the huge list of paid music to download from Amazon, (not many people know) they also have just over

What do you think of when you think of hip hop and gangsta rap? It's a genre typically - though not consistently - grounded in the 'guns, b*tches and bling'  thematics, when it's not focusing on civil or political elements. Arrested Development - formed by the hip hop artists Speech and Headliner - decided to take the genre on a different route: one of spirituality, of peace and of positivity . Their début album 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of was released in 1992 and peaked at #3