Hi-Fi Choice

Having recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, Q Acoustics has announced its latest flagship floorstander from its Concept series. The Concept 500 is a new speaker design with a Dual Gelcore construction toall sides, where three layers of MDF are separated by thin layers of gelthat remains as a viscous liquid and turns cabinet vibration into heat. The floorstander utilises refined versions of its existing 28mm fabric dome tweeter and 165mm mid/bass drivers, while bass extension is aided by a large bass port at the back. The contemporary style of the Concept 500 keeps some house design features from its award-winning Concept 20 and 40 models (HFC 372 & 404 respectively), but combines this with some new aspects.

2017 got off to an exciting start following our annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas’ Consumer Electronics Show last month to witness the latest technology developments and product launches for the year ahead. The massive event attracts trade visitors from across the globe, and you can read all about the hottest new trends and audio highlights coming your way in our CES Show Report. One of the most significant stories at this year’s show was MQA’s announcement that its Masters hi-res content has been added to Tidal’s HiFi music platform. Tidal is the first to offer hi-res audio streaming content, and regular readers will know that its top-tier HiFi subscription offering is our preferred music service of choice after winning our blind listening streaming servicesGroup Testfor two years running, thanks to its consistent CD-quality streams.

If there has been a theme to 2016 – aside from the loss of some of our most cherished musicians, take a bow David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen et al – it would have to be the continued rise in popularity of vinyl and the equipment that plays it. The last 12 months have seen the black stuff rise to become the most cherished physical music format of all. As records have once again become a common sight in all record stores and even on some supermarket shelves, so too has the production of turntables risen – providing existing vinyl fans, and both lapsed and newcomers alike with plenty of variety. Suddenly, there’s a real choice of decks available to prospective purchasers from both established hi-fi specialists with a focus on best-quality sound, to more convenience-based models with a raft of features at very attractive prices.

KEF has opted to mark the occasion of its 55th anniversary with the release of a new, completely active digital and wireless lifestyle audio system in the shape of the LS50 Wireless. Utilising a 24-bit/192kHz digital signal path, allied to a dedicated DAC for each channel, the loudspeaker boasts wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The LS50 previously won a recommended badge when it was reviewed back in HFC 384 and the Wireless version boasts the same Uni-Q driver technology, which sees the 25mm tweeter placed in the centre of that distinctive 130mm rose-gold coloured bass/midrange cone. The built-in amplifier claims power output of 230Wper channel in a bi-amp, dual mono configuration, while an advanced time-correcting DSP crossover has been designed to maximise time alignment between the frequencies.