This year’s event for audiophiles, High-End 2023, was a great success with over 20,000 visitors. 550 exhibitors representing over 800 brands shared 30,000 sqm at the MOC Event Centre about 20 minutes from the city centre. This time, over 500 journalists were present to share news from what has become the most important hi-fi trade … Read more
With Italy’s rich cultural history, there is no shortage of inspiration anywhere. For Sonus faber, the cultural connection has largely centred on violin makers. Guarneri, Amati, and of course the most famous of them all, Stradivari. The new Stradivari is therefore an homage, as Sonus faber likes to call it, to the world’s most famous … Read more
One of the smallest products at this year’s high-end show was one of the best-sounding and obviously popular with the public. The queue to listen to Yamaha’s headphone amplifier was long at times, but it was worth the wait. It’s called the Yamaha HA-L7A, and it’s been in development since 2019, according to Yamaha. Who … Read more
First, a short history lesson. Lyngdorf isn’t just the speaker you see in the picture. It’s also Tact, Hi-Fi Klubben, Purifi, Gryphon Audio, DALI (I bet you didn’t know that), and Steinway Lyngdorf. All of these, and a lot more, Peter Lyngdorf either started, ran, or co-founded. He also founded the company bearing his own … Read more
The new range of outdoor speakers are not splash-proof Bluetooth speakers, but intended for installation. Focal’s Littora range comes in a number of variants, from small lantern like speakers, to recessed or even in-ground in the garden. The 1000 series is where you’ll find the in-ceiling speakers. They use Focal’s M-shaped beryllium tweeter and a … Read more
They’re actually quite small, the two new models in PMC’s new Prodigy range. They are also relatively affordable, but still have the PMC signature: Transmission Line. Which is a folded channel for extended range in the bass. It works like a charm, and in our tests, it’s the PMC that goes deepest in the bass. … Read more
Heinz Lichtenegger and his team clearly have a sense of humour. Last year they launched a turntable as a tribute to the band Metallica, shaped like the well-known Metallica logo. It’s a far cry from the more solemn turntables Pro-Ject has made as a tribute. Like the one they made for the 175th anniversary of … Read more
Invisible to the naked eye, JBL has actually given the Classic range an overhaul. The heavily retro-inspired speakers are not randomly designed. They’re based on previous classics from JBL’s speaker range. Hence the Classic name. The largest of them, the L100 Classic, was recently introduced in black piano lacquer, as was the smaller two-way model, … Read more
Bang & Olufsen products can rightly be described as timeless. And the newly launched Beosystem 72-23 Nordic Dawn Limited Edition takes this idea to the extreme. The system unites 51 years of product history by combining a refurbished Beogram 4000c turntable from the early 1970s with the new Beolab 28 speakers and digital streaming. With … Read more
The upcoming Dali IO-12 is not the first headphones from the Danes, but it is the first in the high-end segment, and then they should be good for fighting for attention in an increasingly large market. These particular ones are a bit different than anything Dali has done before. Not on speakers, mind you, but … Read more
The Dali Epikore 11 is so close to the recommendation we made in our review of the flagship Dali Kore, that it can hardly be a coincidence. At the time, we more than hinted at Dali making a smaller model, one that’s a little easier to get out of the boxes, easier to place, and … Read more
There seems to be no end to the retro wave in hi-fi. Every company that once made a popular product can’t resist making a modern version dressed up in a 70s design. Sometimes it’s very successful, like JBL’s Classic series, sometimes not. Now, you might accuse McIntosh’s design language of always being retro, since their … Read more
The Pro-Ject Stereo Box DS3 is not big, but it seems to be more potent than its size suggests. We’re talking 150 W power in 4 Ohm, which is more than its predecessor, the Stereo Box DS2. The new Stereo Box DS3 has also got Bluetooth 5.0 with support for aptX and aptX HD, which … Read more
The DNP-2000NE is Denon’s first take on a premium network player that has everything. Including the Denon and Marantz HEOS streaming platform, AirPlay 2 – and streaming from well-known streaming services like Spotify and Tidal in the HEOS app. You can stream high-resolution music over the network using Wi-Fi or Ethernet, but for convenience, the … Read more
The simple Planar 3 is perhaps the best turntable in its class. It has long since become an icon among turntables of all classes, and the new anniversary version spares no expense. The turntable also appears to be a great bargain for those who are considering a new turntable. The Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition … Read more