Issue 68    October 2009
Music Matters
Editorial By Alan Sircom

  Welcome to the Hi-Fi Plus Awards 2009. In a slight break with tradition for the magazine, we've chosen the best possible products from the most important categories in hi-fi today. This, I feel, gives a good indicator of just how the audio industry is shaping up across the board. And we do mean the audio industry, not simply the high-end audio industry; what other roll-call of awards would place a £350 CD player and amplifier on the as high a pedestal as nearly £30,000 worth of loudspeaker? This is where we hope the future of audio lies; not inexpensive audio, not high-end audio, but good audio. Whatever the cost.

Awards-haters please note; we've also including reviews of ten of the latest products in the magazine too. Many of these are award winners in their own right (we had a lot of products released this year that demanded attention and many have been sitting patiently waiting for their reviews). Some arrived just over the deadline for submission and there is still at least two magazine's worth of products to get through arriving every issue. It's a tough life, spending your hours listening to music!

So, we've tried to cram as much into this issue as possible, in addition to the Awards themselves, including the long-awaited conclusion to the tales of Roy's Room! Naturally, something had to give, and in this issue, it's a full set of music reviews and features. So, those looking for an interview, a Top 10 or a full spread of music reviews will find this issue wanting, I'm afraid. But, fear not, the music section is not going away and there are still a good selection of the latest recordings on tap; it's simply that our full-on music section will return in full effect next issue.

Before then, we'll be at the new Sound & Vision Show in Manchester on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October, in room 308 on the third floor of the Renaissance Hotel in Central Manchester. But this time, no demonstrations, no lectures, no listening tests... just a relaxed chill-out room to get back to good music.