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Loewe 32 Connect ID

Welcome Back, Sansui! 

During the 1970s, Sansui dominated the Hi-Fi market with their innovative designs and superb sound quality. They also demonstrated that Hi-Fi components didn’t need to be expensive to give true performance.

Classic Sansui AU-317 fron the late 1970's

Happy Birthday, KEF!

Yes, it’s been 50 years since KEF started engineering and manufacturing their range of audio speakers. Raymond Cooke, the founding member and ex-Wharfedale technical director, realised that he could start a company to build high-quality loud speakers and sell them to people with the desire for quality and affordability in one. As they established themselves as a UKbrand of Hi-Fi speakers, KEF joined a league of manufacturers that had a good clue as to what their buyers expected; the competition consisted of Celestion, B&W and Wharfedale. More of KEF’s history is documented in our previous blog post: ‘KEF are on the Scene'. 

To celebrate KEF’s anniversary, KEF has launched the LS50 – a superb bookshelf speaker that delivers unique design and all the best of KEF’s outstanding technology. To be honest, it’s almost like a ‘greatest hits’ album which also combines those ‘previously un-heard tracks’; it’s a reminder of KEF’s past which is presented in a modern and enthusiastic manner.

KEF's superb LS50 Mini Monitor

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Bowers & Wilkins have conquered the Hi-Fi speaker market with their range of floor-standers, bookshelf and home cinema speakers. With many fans from both professional and consumer backgrounds, it is easy to see why they’re a firm favourite. Also, being the world’s largest speaker manufacturer, the manufacturer of choice at Abbey Road Studios and the manufacturer exclusively used by Jaguar cars could be something to do with their thriving success.

B&W's P3 Headphones in Black and Silver Finishes

We have recently taken delivery of the brand new Loewe Connect ID televisions which are now on display and demonstration in our Hereford showroom - we have the 32", 40" and 46" screens on display in various colour options. Prices start from £1395 for the 32" model.

Loewe Connect ID TV in gloss black/ orange

An Experience of Pro-Ject

 Founded by Heinz Lichtenegger in 1991, Pro-Ject’s home is located in Vienna, Austria, and houses the firm’s manufacturing and management facilities. With around 300 workers in the company, Pro-Ject may be a small company, but they certainly are big on the results of their products!

Pro-Ject originally came about due to Lichtenegger finding the market of turntables to be un-inspiring and to be certainly lacking in the true Hi-Fi and audiophile sector. We must remember that in the late 80s the CD was beginning to exceed sales of vinyl records for the first time. Although the CD was, and still is, a convenient format that can produce phenomenal accuracy and superb tonal results, Lichtenegger still firmly placed his trust in the format that was beginning to fade away from mainstream production. But, after many ideas and self-built examples, Lichtenegger soon found that his turntables were breathing new life into the format that was seemingly dying a fast death. On the timeline of Hi-Fi history, CDs were becoming as cheap as CDs, offering more clarity on budget systems and stood up to the reliability tests that vinyl records were failing to: record releases toward the end of the 80s saw cheaper materials and thinner albums being produced, resulting in hastened wear and tear. Eventually, the mass production of vinyl records ceased on mainstream releases ceased.

Pro-Ject's 6 Record Deck

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Here in My Car…

A Guide to Maximising the Audio Quality in your Car

At Hifi Gear, we specialise in consumer-based Hi-Fi and Home Cinema products. Often, most of these products are designed to be used in homes and small public venues. However, we don’t supply car audio related products. But, however, we do supply advice (as found in this blog entry) about the best ways of getting quality from the audio formats you use in your car.

Car audio became a popular asset to many American cars in the 1960s as they began to feature AM radios and, on more expensive models, VHF receivers. As the seventies grew closer, 8-track cartridge players became a favourite retro-fit item on cars of the time. Interestingly enough, brands we take for granted in the Hi-Fi community often had links and sectors of their brands that dealt in audio systems for vehicles: Pioneer is one of them that stands out the most because they brought Hi-Fi onto the car scene with their refined cassette and receiver models. Yet, as formats came thick and fast, car audio grew into much more than a radio and a set of stereo speakers in the parcel shelf. There were phases of graphic equalizers and Minidisc car systems, but it all largely relies on CD and the iPod or MP3 generation of today.

The car has become a much more prominent necessity in many people’s lives. Some people often find themselves running up and down the UK’s motorways every day to commute, so a car can be regarded as a second home to some. So, people find that music can help the journey wind away. What this guide looks into is how to keep as much as your music as possible, and in high quality, in your car with you for your entertainment on laborious journeys.

Pioneer has now made smaller systems. Just as well. Tried fitting these in a Ford Capri?

A Brief History of

Yamaha is regarded as one of the largest manufacturers of audio and visual products in today’s Hi-Fi community. With a history brimming to the top of the historical timeline, we thought we would take a closer look at this manufacturer whose reputation has only grown stronger over their years of activity.

Yamaha’s creator, Mr. Torakusu Yamaha, originally started out as a manufacturer of reed organs in 1887. Back in that era Yamaha’s name was originally the Nippon Gakki Company, Ltd – translating into full English as ‘Japan Musical Instrument Manufacturing Corporation’. In fact, Yamaha’s intriguing and renowned logo features three tuning forks at alternating angles and still remains their corporation logo today. After the Second World War, Yamaha’s factories were re-commissioned to also manufacture motorcycles for easier travelling in the cities, and at prices people could afford – something that Yamaha is still good at doing now in all of their ventures.

Mr. Torakusu Yamaha - The founder of Yamaha

Which Cartridge is Right for Me?

A Guide That Looks at The best Cartridge for Your

Record Deck on a Budget

The traditional vinyl record is making a huge come back! Although, some may argue that it never really went away. However, if you are keen on building a collection and want to take advantage of that warm tone, an essential tune-up of your turntable is certainly worth considering!

Many audiophiles will change their tone arms, cartridges and they will alter their decks to perform better than they did coming out of the factory. In one way, it’s like tuning a classic car – throwing on some twin carbs, changing the cam shaft and exchanging the exhaust system will certainly make a considerable boost in performance. Just like car tuners, audiophiles strive to get more performance out of their ‘stock’ turntable by a series of modifications.

As we are looking at turntable cartridges for beginners and those with a tighter budget in mind, we will be looking at the great ranges available to you – all costing below £100.

The most important place to start is the join between the vinyl record and the player’s needle – the cartridge system:

Some turntables do come with a cartridge fitted. However, these often prove to be weak in terms of performance and can often lead to damaging the records if they weren’t fitted correctly prior to operation. What is suggested is that the existing cartridge, which is usually un-branded, should be replaced by a cartridge that has greater stamina and accuracy than that of the original.

A new cartridge will lead to the following benefits:

1. More sonic accuracy. This means that the sound will be more robust and will sound more as it was intended to do by the artist.
2. Kinder performance to the record. Playing a record over repeatedly will eventually lead to it wearing out. However, an up-rated cartridge will be kinder and will easily prolong the record’s playing life if it has been fitted and tracked correctly.
3. A new cartridge will also help by attaining a certain and desirable sound characteristic. In essence, you can buy cartridges that feature a warm and traditional sound, or, alternatively, a cartridge can provide a more accurate and greater sense of depth or clarity. The choice of sound characteristics can help by boosting or reducing in a certain frequency range.

So, by upgrading, you can get a much better stereo-image, boost or reduce a certain sound characteristic and prolong the record’s life for longer lasting playing pleasure. Listed below are the cartridges that can help dramatically in boosting playback performance:

£17 - £50:

The Budget AT-91 offers exceptional value...

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A Brief History of

Audiolab

Audiolab was originally conceived by two students, Philip Swift and Derek Scotland of the Imperial College. They both had a love of music and Hi-Fi and had decided to start their own brand after they felt that other manufacturers had too high a price, as well as finding operating their equipment too complicated for a vast amount of consumers in the Hi-Fi sector.

Audiolab became desired almost overnight because of their unique looks that promoted superb style and effortless functionality. Their first system consisted of the 8000C Preamplifier and the 8000P Power Amplifier. Swift & Scotland’s reputation grew because of the solid build, superb sound and th