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Simply gorgeous: The new Planar 10 from @regaresearchuk is a stunner. We can’t wait to hear it with the new Apheta 3 MC cart. For more details hit the Rega website. (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2M4ManA9J-/?igshid=c5s9lvkrcd3u

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We had a fantastic day of excellent hifi and live music from @daudi (on @naimrecs ) at the @naimaudio event hosted by our friends at @thedeptofmusic. What a beautiful setting. It doesn’t look like it in the pics but it was sunny most of the day! Do go and see them if you’re in the South Downs area. 👍👌 They have more events lined up through the coming months. (at The Department of Music) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2JH04rpxWG/?igshid=1pax7x4fi6cnr

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We had a fantastic day of excellent hifi and live music from @daudi (on @naimrecs ) at the @naimaudio event hosted by our friends at @thedeptofmusic. What a beautiful setting. It doesn’t look like it in the pics but it was sunny most of the day! Do go and see them if you’re in the South Downs area. 👍👌 They have more events lined up through the coming months. (at The Department of Music) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2JHay2peeF/?igshid=907j1hbggt1a

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Pop Quiz time! This is from those wonderful folks @albumdayuk via @classicalbumsundays How many can you guess? #classicalbums #audiophile #highend #vinyl #turntable #records #highperformanceaudio #hifi #speakers #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio⁣ #stereo #lovemusic (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0B5w19pFns/?igshid=v4ytp9ktityv

#classicalbums #audiophile #highend #vinyl #turntable #records #highperformanceaudio #hifi #speakers #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio #stereo #lovemusic

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The first reviews are coming in... #naim #supernait3 #audiophile #hifi (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzxQCLopW_p/?igshid=13fequbl4ymiy

#naim #supernait3 #audiophile #hifi

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Today @naimaudio announced the latest instalment in their blockbuster series of integrated amps: SUPERNAIT 3 and NAIT XS3. Both enjoy significant performance upgrades and the addition of a built-in phono stage. ⁣👌👍 ⁣ We are massive fans of #SUPERNAIT already and can wait to see and hear the new release. For more info see Naim website - link in bio or bit.ly/supernait3 ⁣ ⁣ Our only dilemma is selecting a turntable to road test that new phono input... What would you choose? 😎 ⁣ #audiophile #highend #highperformanceaudio #hifi #amplifier #naim (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzsOgozJBt6/?igshid=n3ieg5pzzxva

#supernait #audiophile #highend #highperformanceaudio #hifi #amplifier #naim

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Resistance is futile. 😂 ⁣Happy Sunday! ⁣ #audiophile #highend #vinyl #records #turntable #highperformanceaudio #hifi Repost from @discogs (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzm9Hh8JoU1/?igshid=17yl43ybng7al

#audiophile #highend #vinyl #records #turntable #highperformanceaudio #hifi

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When was your last gig? Ours was on Wednesday: the amazing @robertglasper blessed Camden with him presence. ⁣ 🙌🔊🎹🎼💯🙌 ⁣ ⁣ #talent #robertglasper #bluenote #jazz #legend #livemusic #audiophile #highend (at Camden Roundhouse) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzinV9EJRKg/?igshid=t9hwgmfkgfdl

#talent #robertglasper #bluenote #jazz #legend #livemusic #audiophile #highend

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We spent yesterday in training with #ClarityAlliance, hosted at @pmcspeakers HQ in beautiful Biggleswade. We loved their gallery of vintage hifi and cheeky #AimHigher poster in the gents. Thanks for having us guys! ⁣ ⁣ #audiophile #highend #highperformanceaudio #hifi #speakers #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio⁣ (at Biggleswade) https://www.instagram.com/p/By5D8QUJAKr/?igshid=ft5t8fqy76cv

#clarityalliance #aimhigher #audiophile #highend #highperformanceaudio #hifi #speakers #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio

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Mono vs Stereo 101

Back in the 60s, many albums were released in both mono and stereo versions. Ever since, collectors have debated which mix is best.

Why? What’s the difference? Which should you buy?

Discogs spoke to Larry Crane, studio producer and founder of Tape Op magazine, to find the answers in Mono vs Stereo: What You Should Know.

#mono #monovinyl #audiophile #highendaudio #vinylcollector #Discogs #turntable #hifi

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Getting the best price for your old turntable

Vinyl may be one of our most ‘mature’ music formats, but it doesn’t mean that innovation in turntable design and manufacturing stopped decades ago. New ideas, composite materials, quality control… the ongoing R&D at companies like Rega, Michell and SME have brought significant sonic benefits to the classic spinning platter. Even the iconic LP12 has benefited from  Linn’s 45 years of tweaking and evolution.

If you’re thinking of upgrading to a new turntable, you’re probably also thinking about selling your old one. Luckily, those guys at Vinyl Me Please have some handy hints about how to go about it. Their guide covers everything from where to sell it, to taking the best photos and ensuring shipping costs are clear.

After all, the more you get for your old turntable, the more you can contribute to your upgrade - or to more records to play on it!

Read the full article by Vinyl Me Please here.

#Audiophile #Vinyl #vinylcollector #turntable #HighEnd #highendaudio #rega #vinylmeplease #stereo

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1989: a vintage year for classic albums

What was in the water 30 years ago? Today, in 2019, a surprising number of artists and bands are celebrating the 30th anniversary of some of their greatest albums. Sure, 1988 and 1990 have their fair share of significant releases, but 1989 was a stonker of a year. 

Read on to discover our favourite ‘Big Albums’ from 1989.

The decedent 80s drew to a close with landmark releases across all genres. The ‘second summer of love’ had pushed dance music and rave culture into the mainstream, whilst indie guitar upstarts suddenly found themselves playlisted on daytime Radio One. As these contrasting acts rubbed shoulders on TOTP and across NOW compilations, influences began to cross-pollinate, lighting the touch paper for Madchester and beyond.

In the studio, samplers and digital recording kit had become more affordable. Artists could realise ideas without the mortgage-scale budgets of the Fairlight pioneers earlier in the decade (Bush, Gabriel, Horn, Clarke et al).

At home, the CD format was firmly established but still in its infancy compared to its dominance in the late-90s. Cassette tapes sold more than vinyl in 1989, mainly driven by the US market. 1989 was also the year Comet Group bought up all 31 branches of the Laskys hi-fi chain – remember Laskys? You could still buy hi-fi separates in stores like Boots, but the masses mainly wanted neater ‘stack’ or ‘midi’ systems from brands like Aiwa, Kenwood, Technics and Sony.

So, what were we playing on these systems?

If we squint our rose-tinted vision just beyond hits by Jive Bunny, Kylie & Jason and, ugh, Band Aid II, 1989 offers a plethora of genre-defining debut LPs alongside creative peaks from established artists.

Before I ruffle anyone’s feathers, I admit this is a totally subjective piece. I have not been studying sales figures or cross-referencing reviews in Q Magazine, but many ‘89 albums pop up in the ‘Top 10’ lists of Pitchfork, NME or Rolling Stone etc, and they’re frequently referenced as key influences by artists and producers today.

Here’s a selection of my favourites. It’s by no means exhaustive.

Which albums were you cueing up on your Technics linear-tracking deck in 1989, and what type of TDK tape were you recording them onto?

Let us know in the comments.

1. The Cure – Disintegration

Last week the band completed a five-night run of gigs at Sydney Opera House, celebrating 30 years since the release of their landmark Disintegration album. No doubt many of its tracks will also feature when they headline Glastonbury this summer.

I was a big Cure fan as a teenager. I nipped out of school at lunchtime to buy Disintegration on the day it was released. It was a hot, sunny day and I drew the curtains to listen in the dark.

2. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses

Before Spike Island or even Fool’s Gold, 1989 introduced us to this genre-defining eponymous Mancunian debut. Nothing quite chimes and grooves like the Roses’ early output and its unrivalled sing-along nostalgia.

3. De La Soul – Three Feet High & Rising

Rhymes, skits and daisies. This funky and humorous collage of samples from the NY trio has been referred to as “genius”, “a hip-hop masterpiece”. It was reissued by Vinyl Me, Please as a double LP in their Essential series earlier this year.

4. Kate Bush – The Sensual World

How do you follow a career-defining work like Hounds of Love? It seems you turn inwards, re-write the closing passages of Ulysses and employ a Bulgarian male choir. You also deliver one of the most heart-breaking performances committed to tape in This Woman’s Work.

The Sensual World may not reach the heights of its predecessor (it was one of the albums Kate reworked significantly for the Director’s Cut project), but it remains a convincing release from such an enigmatic creative talent. It earned her Brit Award nominations for both Best Album and Best Producer.

5. New Order – Technique

Ibiza, Factory, The Hacienda, ecstasy, even sheep sound effects. The stories behind this album have sold thousands of books for each member of the band. It was their first LP to reach No 1 in the UK and still sounds magnificent today.

6. Tears For Fears – The Seeds Of Love

The band’s third studio album took almost two years and £1million to make. Considering the hugely successful Songs From The Big Chair cost nearer £70,000, this could have led to the end of their record contract and career! Luckily, they had the chutzpah to see it through. Seeds reached No 1 in the UK and achieved platinum status in numerous territories across the globe.

Sadly, the album took its toll on Orzabal and Smith’s relationship. It was the last one they could work on together for over a decade.

Immaculately produced, the album features many established session players (including Phil Collins on drums, who himself released But Seriously… in 1989), but is most noted for introducing the world to the voice of Oleta Adams.

7. Neneh Cherry – Raw Like Sushi

If you came to Raw Like Sushiexpecting nine more tracks like the huge hit Buffalo Stance, you would have been disappointed. The album stood out for its range of styles and depth of influence. When you reflect on Cherry’s debut as an album envision by a ‘musician/artist’, rather than fronted by the ‘rapper/singer’ Buffalo Stancesuggests, it’s no surprise that she is still recording and performing today.

8. Pixies – Doolittle

Back in the late 80s, nothing else sounded quite like The Pixies. With their second full-length, the band perfected their loud-quiet-loud pop blast, offering up a key blueprint for Nirvana’s looming commercial breakthrough Nevermind.

9. Tom Petty – Full Moon Forever

Louder Sound describes Petty’s ’89 release as“a remarkably consistent collection of wonderfully constructed rootsy rock songs. Petty teams up with ELO guru and fellow Travelling Wilbury Jeff Lynne, who does an immaculate production job as well as co-writing the album’s standout tracks, Free Fallin’ and I Won’t Back Down.”

10. Soul II Soul – Club Classics Vol 1

In the summer of 1989, the single Back To Life and its accompanying MTV-friendly video took Soul II Soul’s London slant on R&B/Soul around the world. The album goes deeper (Back To Life features only as an acapella) but brings underground club vibes to the mainstream, going triple-platinum in the UK and Top 20 in the US (No 1 in the R&B chart).

“A happy face, a thumping bass for a loving race.”

11. Paul’s Boutique

Sorry! I couldn’t keep this list to just ten albums! The Beasties’ now-beloved second album was considered a flop at the time, but, in the ensuing years, has been embraced as a landmark of sample-based hip-hop.

The Best Of The Rest

It doesn’t stop there. The list of landmark 1989 albums rolls and rolls.

What have we missed in the list below?

10,000 Maniacs, Blind Man’s Zoo

Elvis Costello, Spike

NWA, Straight Outta Compton

Tracy Chapman, Crossroads

Eurythmics, We Too Are One

Simply Red, A New Flame

Ian McCulloch, Candleland

Lenny Kravitz, Let Love Rule

The Beautiful South, Welcome to the Beautiful South

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Automatic

Nirvana, Bleach

The B-52s, Cosmic Thing

Queen, The Miracle

Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Mother’s Milk

Lou Reed, New York

The Cult, Sonic Temple

The The, Mind Bomb

The Wedding Present, Bizarro

Pop Will Eat Itself, This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!

Throwing Muses, Hunkpapa

The Wonder Stuff, Hup

Julee Cruise, Floating into the Night

Simple Minds, Street Fighting Years

The Primitives, Pure

Jesus Jones, Liquidizer

Tin Machine, Tin Machine

Kirsty MacColl, Kite

808 State, 90

Kitchens of Distinction, Love is Hell

#1989 #bestalbum #1989albums #musiclist #Audiophile #vinylcollector #vinyl #best albums #musiclover #80s music #topten

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Michael Fremer: ‘High-end snobbery’?

The dust has now settled on this year’s Munich High-End Show. If you’re a hi-fi fan and didn’t make it to Germany this year, no doubt, like us, you absorbed much of the social content from the brands and exhibitors at the event.

One of our favourite pieces is an interview posted by Absolute Sounds, distributors for some of the world’s finest brands including Wilson Audio, Audio Research and Prima Luna. Absolute Sounds’ head honcho and trouser-dazzler, Ricardo Franassocivi, interviews Stereophile writer, vlogger and vinyl veteran, Michael Fremer.

Together they discuss trends and share opinions about the current state of the hi-fi community. One particular point that struck a chord with us is Michael’s take on the phrase “high end”. He feels the term is far too snobby and puts off music lovers who might otherwise consider investing in what he prefers to call “high performance” systems.

He compares hi-fi to the wine industry, where he suggests a similar snobbery exists and puts people off sampling and learning about different wines.

Here at The Hi-Fi Project, we couldn’t agree more. We’re on a mission to show everyone how wonderful music can be across a range of different budgets. We sneer back at hi-fi snobbery. After all, audio is subjective: what sounds ‘right’ to us won’t necessarily sound perfect to your ears. Our starting point is to get as close as possible to the sound of live performance - a pursuit we share with Ricardo - but we all have different tastes. Luckily the variety of hi-fi brands offer us a range of flavours. A great dealer should be able to guide you through options to arrive at your audio nirvana - and without a whiff of snobbery! 

Have you ever been snubbed by ‘high-end’ snobbery? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Both Michael and Ricardo also share frustration at the lack of variety of music played at hi-fi shows. Why is it that the same limited playlists are exhausted in every room?! Tell us what you’d like to hear.

Watch the full interview on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/absolutesoundsltd/videos/2372404529487993/ 

#HighEnd #highendaudio #highperformanceaudio #hifi #hifiporm #stereo #michaelfremer #absolutesounds #luxury #musiclover #Audiophile #vinyl

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We want to keep you updated! ⁣Join our email list to get the latest news as we firm up plans for the new dealership in South East England. ⁣Don't worry, we'll only send one email per month, and only when we've got something worth sharing. We hate spam too! ⁣Link in bio, or go here: http://bit.ly/hfpsub ⁣Thanks! ⁣ ⁣ #audiophile #highend #highperformanceaudio #hifi #speakers #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio⁣ #stereo #lovemusic #techie #latesttech #ilovemygadgets #innovation A new high-end dealership in the south-east. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ⁣Scenic destination. Comfortable lounge. ⁣⁣ Relaxed, friendly, straight-talking.⁣ Opening soon. 😀 (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxzGZ5LJ5_H/?igshid=kddxts8dzzqb

#audiophile #highend #highperformanceaudio #hifi #speakers #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio #stereo #lovemusic #techie #latesttech #ilovemygadgets #innovation

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“Ladies & Gentlemen, Happy Birthday to... Miss Grace Jones”. #slavetotherhythm #lovemusic #amazingalbum #trevorhorn #production #audiophile #hifi #instahifi #highend #luxury #stereo #vinyl (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxqTFsBJ2vJ/?igshid=p15kwhhno3kx

#slavetotherhythm #lovemusic #amazingalbum #trevorhorn #production #audiophile #hifi #instahifi #highend #luxury #stereo #vinyl

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Our background is in radio and we cut our teeth [and fingers!] working on 1/4 inch Studer tape machines in the 90s. This Dokorder goes even further back in time! #retroaudio

The Dokorder 1140 4 Track Reel-to-Reel Studio Tape Recorder, 1973. Very scarce today.

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We had a great day @regaresearchuk last week and were super-impressed by their obsessive quality control. It’s no wonder #Rega turntables and electronics sound so good. #highend #hifi #speakers #hifiporn #audiophile #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio (at Southend-on-Sea) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwW0XjzDChU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6nit4wcjwms6

#rega #highend #hifi #speakers #hifiporn #audiophile #instahifi #luxury #highendaudio