Remember the 1970s, when the stereo receiver was at its pinnacle? Of course, the breed grew to become multichannel in the 1990s, and it’s now difficult to find one that doesn’t contain at least seven channels. So it was with great interest that I stumbled across Arcam’s FMJ SR250 back in 2016. It’s a two-channel […]
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The DVP-S7000 was one of the most famous and thrilling first generation DVD players, having been released in March 1997 in Tokyo, Japan, and arriving in the UK six months later. It was outrageously overengineered, like with Sony’s ‘first’ ever product – CDP-101 CD player, TCD-D3 DAT player, etc. With just one glance inside, you’ll
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This Tellurium Q power amplifier, another example of a great British hi-fi ‘what-if,’ debuted on the scene in 2012, promising so much. This newish British startup isn’t prone to exaggeration; rather, the excitement sprang from the fact that it was designed by Colin Wonfor, formerly of Inca Tech and one of the industry’s many eccentric
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Every self-respecting mass manufacturer offered the same thing in a single package during the hi-fi boom of the 1970s, when every lifestyle magazine was advising people to buy enormous, bulky stereo separates. It was known as a music center, and the breed was mocked a little because there were some rather rudimentary items for sale
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It’s difficult to fathom how the Hydraulic Reference was welcomed when it was first released in the early 1960s. It defied the accepted dogma in practically every regard, unlike all other high-end turntables of the time. The deck was created by David Gammon and initially appeared in 1963. It moved into full-time production in 1964
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MiniDisc was introduced in 1992 and spent its early years in a dogfight with Philips’ now-defunct DCC format before disappearing entirely. Despite its excellent ergonomics, the format sounded so terrible that its end appeared imminent. But suddenly, around 1997, the first generation of ATRAC version 4 devices came, and the dying format seemed to find
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The Pioneer PL-12D revolutionized the industry. It was at this point that established British companies like BSR and Garrard were deprived of their core market — entry-level turntables. Suddenly, in 1973, you could get a significantly slicker belt drive deck with Japanese build quality for a few pounds more than a clumsy, idler drive Garrard
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Vinyl was in its harvest years in 1975, a decade after stereo LP became widely used in the United States. Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, and Electric Light Orchestra broke sales records with their mega-selling albums and extravagant packaging, while Queen and Wings sold previously unheard-of volumes of 7 singles. Vinyl seemed to have no competition;
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Trio/design Kenwood’s team was the first to look into the acoustic qualities of materials used in turntable construction, making it the most complete Japanese turntable of its time. This iconic high-end turntable was decades ahead of its late-nineties, early-seventies rivals — and similarly pricey. It cost four times as much as a Linn LP12 when
Sony’s first CD recorder was released in late 1998 in the company’s native market of Japan. It was a surprise at the time, because Sony had previously stated that MiniDisc was a competitor to Philips’ (then) new CD recordable format, and that as a result, no CD-R machines could be expected! It was odd because
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