Volume 12 Number 1
January / February / March 2018

Reviewed In This Issue
4 Stan's Safari No41
Stan Curtis examines the pluses and minuses of line source loudspeakers.

6 High Level SPKRS/KH
Keith Howard explores loudspeaker distortion at higher than usual test levels.

10 Passing Notes
Julian Musgrave's diary examines looks, watches someone else work, and finally fettles his widget.

13 Silver Solids
Martin Colloms gets to grips with some mail order interconnects from the USA.

14 Somewhere Along The Timeline
Julian Ashbourn delivers a personal perspective on the development of recorded sound.

16 The Regeneration Game
Will hi-fi ever win back today's music listeners? Andrew Everard reckons 'loud' matters more than 'quality'.

20 AKG N90Q
Martin Colloms assesses a luxury headphone that comes with auto-calibration and noise cancellation.

22 Russell K RED 150
To avoid any editorial bias, we asked Kevin Fiske to review Russell K's first floorstanders.

24 Phono Stages
Harry Harrison checks out six phono stages, including models from iFi, Timestep, Graham Slee, Rothwell, Naim Audio and Audio Research.

32 Active Speakers
Affordable active stand-mounts: the PreSonus Eris5 and the Yamaha MusicCast NX-N500, assessed by Martin Colloms.

36 Bowers & Wilkins 707 S2
B&W's new 700-series has inherited technology from the flagship 800s. Chris Frankland tries out the entry-level 707 S2 stand-mount.

38 Practical High Power Triodes
Robert Harris explores the world of triode amplifiers with 'useful' power outputs.

40 AQVOX + Brainwavz
Martin Colloms investigates two accessories from German operation AqVox, and some inexpensive earphones from a US brand with a head office in Hong Kong.

42 Tuned To Perception
Bob Pyle discusses the ins and outs of his personal sound perception.

45 Inakustik + Lessloss
Kevin Fiske tries out some accessories – cables from Germany, and RF countermeasures from Lithuania.

46 Pioneer N-70AE
This versatile network player is a heavyweight high-end unit, as Andrew Everard discovers.

48 HIFICRITIC Annual Awards 2017
Our retrospective awards come in three forms: Audio Excellence, Recommended and Best Buys.

50 Index To Vol 11 (2017)

52 Favourite Things
My nephew Vincent might live in Sweden, but crucially he is also a teenager, so brings a new perspective to his selection.

54 Jazz Picks
Greg Drygala selects six new and noteworthy jazz releases.

56 The Best Classical
Several recent classical releases reviewed by Colin Anderson.

58 Rock, Pop And Other Nice Music
Nigel Finn presents his latest selection.

60 Subjective Sounds
Time for a guest writer, so Harry Harrison takes over for this issue. 

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