July 2021

Reviews Within This Issue Of Hi-Fi World
A good hi-fi system should be exciting.
Editorial By Noel Keywood

  Big loudspeakers like Triangle's Antal reviewed on p10 are usually a gripping experience. As in gripping the side of the settee as they shake the room with seismic bass. And that's what we all want to hear, because it brings a sense of scale to the sound, making music big and bold. The really deep bits are, with Rock music, mostly concentrated in the 30Hz region our spectrum analyser shows, for the simple reason recording engineers commonly raise level here to give their mix some weight. The Antals reached this low and really thundered at times. I mention Leak 3090s in the review but in truth they were a tad overwhelming compared to the Antals, being designed at a time pre-dating computer optimisation.

After a lot of running in I was surprised to hear deep bass rumbling from the compact Mission LX-4 MkII loudspeakers as well. Again, computers are used nowadays to match drive unit to cabinet for optimum results – and that's why the compact Missions you can read about on p46 delivered strong bass too. Not quite as low perhaps but you'd have to play a recording of a pipe organ able to reach down to 33Hz to notice the difference I suspect. Mission always made an affordable product and its founder Farad Azima was ever keen to embrace new technology, like NXT. Mission continue that tradition today.

Britain's traditional hi-fi brands reliably turn out high quality products that are a delight to review – enter Naim with their Uniti Star that you can read about on p36. An almost curious blend of old values and new technology, this app controlled all-in-one system was unusual in its sound, there was so much sheer strength in there. A peek inside shows why. Great to see values maintained.

A good hi-fi system should be exciting. In this month's great issue we have products that manage to be just that, whilst staying affordable. I hope you enjoy reading about them.

— Noel Keywood
Editor, HiFi World

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