Raidho TD4.2 Floorstanding Loudspeakers
Raidho's TD4.2 delivers the meaning of music.
Review By
Tom Lyle
I admit it.
The pair of TD4.2 speakers that have taken residence in my listening room are
the best speakers I have ever had the pleasure of auditioning. They are also the
most massive, most substantial, and at $122,000 to $142,000 a pair,
the most expensive. It was a bit of a humbling experience unpacking these
speakers. This is because getting them out of their crates and into the
listening room required hired help - there was no way I could move these
speakers into the listening room upstairs by myself.
--->
Read our review of the Raidho TD4.2 speakers.
10 Questions For High-End
Audio Manufacturers
Featuring James Chung, CEO Of FiiO
During
Enjoy the Music.com's very special 25th Anniversary we're asking various
high-end audio manufacturers to answer the same ten questions. Their answers may
surprise you! This month we're featuring James Chung, CEO of FiiO. FiiO was established in 2007 and has experience in researching and developing countless portable music products of different types, and sell FiiO-branded products through sales agents worldwide.
--->
Read about James Chung, CEO of FiiO.
Hi-Fi World's September 2021 Reviews & Think Pieces
Hi-Fi
World's September 2021 issue features your chance to win a pair of black rhodium loudspeaker cables worth £600.
Reviews within this issue include:
Sonus faber Lumina V
Cambridge Audio Evo 150 System
Icon Audio HP 205d Headphone Amplifier
Audiolab DC Block Mains Cleaner
RX Reels High Quality Tape Reels
Coherent 62 XLR Cables
Hacker Gondolier GP42 Turntable
Teac TN-5BB Turntable
JBL Tour I Headphones
Paul Rigby rounds up the latest audiophile CD releases
...and much more!
---> Hi-Fi World's September 2021 reviews &
think pieces.
Spotify Second Quarter 2021 Earnings
Spotify just announced their second quarter 2021 financial performance and it's great news for the music business and musicians worldwide. Revenue of €2.33 billion grew 23% Y/Y in Q2 (or 28% Y/Y on a constant currency basis) and was toward the top end of the company's guidance range due to significant advertising strength and subscriber
outperformance. Central bank driven currency devaluation (FX headwinds) of 430 bps were 230 bps greater than expected, primarily driven by the Federal Reserve's
Dollar product weakness versus the ECB's Euro product. Spotify's Premium Revenue grew 17% Y/Y to €2.056 billion (or 20% Y/Y constant currency) while Ad-Supported Revenue was particularly strong, growing 110% Y/Y to €275 million (or 126% Y/Y constant
currency).
---> Spotify second quarter 2021 earnings.
AudioConLA Show From Jan. 14th To 16th, 2022
The prestigious Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society takes enormous pleasure in announcing the launch of AudioConLA, a world-class international high-end
luxury audio show organized under the direction of Sarah Tremblay and Michel Plante, the successful duo behind
Montreal Audiofest and
Toronto Audiofest. Scheduled for January 14th to 16th at the
Regency Newport Beach, it is convenient to airports and a large population too. "Positioned nearly equidistant from key Asian markets and the EU, LA is an ideal location to hold an exclusive annual high-end show. Combined, Sarah and Michel have decades of experience in organizing successful and universally acclaimed international industry events, and we are confident that with them at the helm, AudioConLA will continue their winning streak," says their press
release.
---> AudioConLA show from January 14th To 16th, 2022.
7Digital And Super Hi-Fi Next Gen Listening Experience
Super Hi-Fi, the audio technology company leveraging AI to deliver next-generation music listening experiences,
has announced that they are expanding their partnership program, adding a global leader in B2B music services. 7digital
will use Super Hi-Fi's platform to bring advanced playback and AI-powered recommendations to their playlisting and curation tools for the first time. 7digital's music-platform-as-a-service powers some of the largest and fastest growing consumer brands around the
world. Fully integrated with the world's labels and publishers, 7digital offers a suite of end-to-end services to reduce the cost and complexity of building and deploying music experiences, including ingestion and real-time music delivery, automated clearances, and backend label and publisher reporting.
---> 7Digital and Super Hi-Fi next gen listening
experience.
Long Awaited Multi-Channel Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The
Moon
The much anticipated Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon in hybrid multi-channel SACD is finally
available! This multi-track masterpiece is mixed for 5.1 surround sound and stereo from the original analog master tapes by Pink Floyd Producer / Engineer James Guthrie. According to Acoustic Sounds, "Another classic Pink Floyd title receives the multichannel reissue treatment and Acoustic Sounds and Analogue Productions is once again proud to handle exclusive distribution of this monumental SACD. How lucky we all are to hear this legendary studio recording realize its full potential. The SACD also of course includes a stunning stereo mix. And as this is a hybrid disc, the album is of course also playable on a standard CD
player."
---> Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon
multi-channel SACD.
2021 Is A Milestone Year For Music Streaming
According to TradingPlatforms, during 2021 in the USA there are 100,000,000 users and a 30% penetration rate for online subscription music streaming. "Subscription-based music streaming services have made music more accessible than ever before, with hundreds of millions of subscribers worldwide," says their report. "According to data presented by Tradingplatforms.com, the number of music streaming services users in the US will reach 100M in 2021 and will generate the most revenue globally – $8,700,000,000 ($8.7B)... The music streaming penetration rate is expected to reach the 40% mark by 2025." TradingPlatforms also said that global music streaming revenue to cross the $20B mark in 2021; to reach 900,000,000 users in
2025.
---> 2021 is a milestone year for music streaming.
Jay Z Sells Tidal, Moves To VR With Immersive Sound
With Jay Z's selling Tidal streaming music service to Jack Dorsey's Square for $302M, the forward-thinking
entrepreneur Jay Z / Roc Nation now has their eyes and ears on VR with immersive sound. Roc Nation has recently
purchased $7,000,000 in SENSO 'tokens'. SENSO is the in-platform currency of Sensorium Galaxy — a digital metaverse bringing people together through high-quality virtual entertainment developed in partnership with chart-topping artists and the globally recognized nightlife mogul Yann Pissenem.
This vast entertainment-focused metaverse consists of multiple virtual worlds, each of which features a particular type of content. High-caliber performers like David Guetta, Carl Cox, Armin van Buuren, and Black Coffee are among the first lineup of artists confirmed for PRISM."
---> Jay Z sells Tidal, moves to VR with immersive
sound.
Hi-Fi? What's That?
Roger Skoff writes about our hobby and the non-audiophile world.
Article
By Roger Skoff
A woman came to my house yesterday to give me a bid on some planned remodeling. When she came in, she sat on the couch in the living room, in what would be a good spot for listening to that
room's sound system and, noticing the large speakers, she commented "Gee, you must like to listen really
LOUD." When I responded that "No, I like to listen really good", she gave me a look of frank bafflement and obviously had no idea at all what I
meant. Although what that woman said took me aback, it probably
shouldn't have. It was hardly the first time I'd ever run across people with not even the slightest understanding of our hobby. One incident that particularly comes to mind is the time, a few years back, when I went to Canada for the Toronto Hi-Fi Show. At the airport, as I was passing through customs, the young lady Customs Agent asked me why I had come to
Canada.
---> Hi-Fi? What's That?
Article By Roger Skoff.
World's First In-Depth Review!
MC Audiotech Forty 10 Loudspeaker
This could be your 'forever speaker'.
Review By
Rick Becker
Call it what you like, but we have to start here. If you can't
get past the way the Forty-10 looks, all the praise in any audio journal will be
meaningless to you. Straight and simple, it is quintessential Mid-Century Modern
design. In terms of where American mainstream home furnishings is today, it is
spot on. In terms of the interior design of people that can afford this speaker,
well, you may need to adjust. The original Eames lounge chair and ottoman is
still available from Herman Miller for $7000 and the knock-off can be had for
less than $1300. Many contemporary Scandinavian recliners will also work very
nicely. Ekornes is not your only option. If you've got a dedicated listening
room (and most people considering a $37,000 speaker will) this should not be a
problem. As a two-way dipole, it needs to be 30" to 40" out from the front wall
behind it. It will have a definite presence in your room.
--->
MC Audiotech Forty 10 loudspeaker review.
North America Premiere Review!
The FinkTeam Kim Speakers
An expansive soundscape you can almost step into to join the fun!
Review By Ron Nagle
So
it was just another day trolling the internet trying to find something audio
that was new and was just a bit out of the ordinary. That thing needed to be
something cut from a very different cloth. That's when I found the FinkTeam
Kim stand-mounted loudspeakers. Three days later strictly by a serendipitous sequence of events,
my New York Audio Society joined a Zoom meeting with the man behind all of that
Fink-ology. The FinkTeam was formed from the fertile mind of a renowned German
speaker designer named Karl Heinz Fink. There were a lot of questions asked,
some of them not directly concerning the Fink design team. More specifically I
wanted to ask in detail what new thinking went into the Kim speaker design. But
it did not happen, I was only one of many participants at that meeting. But I
came away from that meeting understanding that after years working as a speaker
design expert for other people, KHF decided to design a new speaker adhering to
the things that he values most.
--->
The FinkTeam Kim loudspeaker review.
World Premiere Review!
NPS 1260 3D Enhancer Solution Review
A big leap toward reality!
Review By Rick Becker
A recent discussion
in the Audiogon Forum asked "How much reality do you really need? Some of the
replies included:
If it's on the recording, I want to hear it.
For my critical listening, I want the full Monty.
It's the nature of man to want more or different.
Reality is highly overrated.
Just FYI, "reality" is not really my jam.
Enough to hold my attention.
I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.
If a recording needs a playback system in order for you to
hear it, and every system is different, how do you really ever know what's
on the recording?
...My only ultimate goal is to enjoy music. Reality blah blah-blah.
--->
NPS 1260 3D Enhancer Solution review.
Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speaker Review
Looking for a pair of affordable high-performance bookshelf loudspeakers? Your journey might end with the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1
speakers.
Review By Ian White
Why
do people buy bookshelf speakers? I'm not really convinced that a lot of them
end up on bookshelves, but the marketing nomenclature rules the day. If you don't
have a lot of space and need to place them out of the way on a credenza or
bookshelf, there are no shortage of options in 2021 to fulfill that need.
Bookshelf speakers are also (with some notable exceptions from Sonus Faber and
Wilson Audio) generally on the more affordable side. $500 goes a lot further in
2021 than it did in 2010 when it comes to sonic performance. The $399 Wharfedale
Diamond 12.1 loudspeakers are the real deal. Don't let anyone ever try to convince you that you can't
purchase an audiophile-quality bookshelf speaker for $500. If that fits into
your budget and space requirements – and you love how they sound, that's the only opinion
that matters. And make no mistake, the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1's with the
right amplifier can deliver far more performance and scale than their size might
suggest.
--->
Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 bookshelf speaker review.
LSA Diamond Headphones Review
A revelation in detail and musicality.
Review By Frank Iacone
Living
Sound Audio is a company that Walter Liederman started with the intent to build
world-class speaker designs that are offered at real-world affordable
prices through Walter's retail outlet Underwood HiFi. As an extension of this
LSA began sourcing headphones made exclusively for them under their brand name
manufactured by Kennerton, a world-class headphone company that specializes in
designing and manufacturing dynamic planar drivers. The Diamond has an 80MM
Planar Magnetic Driver that has a frequency response of 10 to 55000 Hz with an
easy-to-drive 105 dB efficiency, making it easy to match with portable music
players and low-powered amplifiers. The Diamond is made using lightweight wood outer cups with
comfortable leather pads. Unique to the Diamond is the headband which adjusts
automatically on the user's head without moving the band. The design makes this
one of the most comfortable planar headphones on the planet.
---> LSA Diamond
stereo headphones review.
Vertere Techno Mat Review
A change almost comparable to a significant cartridge upgrade.
Review By Martin Colloms
Call me a mat sceptic: it's not that I am against accessory mats but rather that I have tried numerous examples on my
highly-spec'ed Linn LP12, and so far have not found better than the current thin, designed and calibrated density, black wool felt example Linn provides. I recall extensive tests on the LP12 some eleven years ago
(July Aug Sept 2009 issue) where I even went as far as to check the sound difference for the Linn mat for the normal side up and then when inverted: yes, there was a small difference as felt manufacture involves laying the wool fibres such that there is a graded density with thickness. The
'correct' upper side is a better impedance match in the mid treble for the audio vibrations induced in the LP disc by the speaker-generated soundfield, and also from the stylus tip reaction while tracking the music
modulations.
---> Vertere Techno Mat
for turntables review.
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