News
Campfire Audio's Chimera IEM costs US$7500
3+ day, 3+ hour ago (640+ words) by John Darko May 15, 2026, 13: 16 Campfire Audio has announced Chimera: a nine-driver flagship IEM priced at " and I hope you are sitting down " US$7500. That's used car money. Or a long-haul flight in business class. Or, if you're in the top…...
Wharfedale's Denton 1 S revives a 1974 space-saving oddity
3+ day, 4+ hour ago (517+ words) by John Darko May 15, 2026, 11: 40 Wharfedale has been mining its Heritage catalogue for over a decade, with the Linton and subsequent Denton revivals proving that nostalgia, done properly, can still shift boxes. The Denton 1 S " a small standmount " is the latest…...
Hi-Fi You Tube is a show without walls
6+ day, 2+ hour ago (615+ words) by John Darko May 12, 2026, 13: 13 A hi-fi show is, at its core, a numbers game. More people through the door means more eyes and ears on the product, though it is arguably more about seeing and talking than listening. A packed…...
Serious buyers only
6+ day, 5+ hour ago (533+ words) by John Darko May 12, 2026, 10: 41 I know this store, having last visited it in 2022. Per Sinclair's account, some of the stock has no price until you carry it to the till. Not new behaviour and not uncommon among the world's used…...
Three slimline subwoofers that won't take over your room
1+ week, 21+ hour ago (500+ words) by John Darko May 10, 2026, 16: 17 The typical hi-fi subwoofer spends most of its life on the floor, wedged wherever there's space. Aesthetics rather than acoustics often decide placement: people put subwoofers where they cause the least visual offence, which may or…...
Shanling's EC Play is its most affordable portable CD player to date
1+ week, 2+ day ago (514+ words) by John Darko May 8, 2026, 16: 56 Shanling has announced the EC Play, the most compact and most affordable portable CD player the Chinese manufacturer has produced to date. The active magnetic disc clamping system, carried over from the EC Zero models, continuously…...
Sivga M260: $45 wired IEMs w/ inline USB-C DAC
1+ week, 3+ day ago (419+ words) by John Darko May 8, 2026, 16: 15 Chinese audio manufacturer Sivga has announced the M260, a super-affordable wired IEM built around a 14. 2mm dynamic driver. That driver pairs a copper-ring composite bio-diaphragm with a CCAW (copper-clad aluminium wire) voice-coil and an N50 neodymium magnet, a combination…...
The curious double standard in online hi-fi communities "
1+ week, 6+ day ago (948+ words) by John Darko May 5, 2026, 12: 20 [Editor's note: This is the fifteenth in a series of fifteen observations from fifteen years of audio writing] A mate of mine in Australia recently moved house. I've known Mark for years. He used the occasion…...
Fii O teases K17 R2 R Pro with no price & mid-2026 ship date
2+ week, 2+ day ago (573+ words) by John Darko May 2, 2026, 12: 45 Fii O has begun teasing the K17 R2 R Pro, a new version of its flagship streaming DAC and headphone amplifier. Beyond the DAC circuit, everything else carries over from the K17: the closed Android 12 operating system, 4" touchscreen interface,…...
NAD loads its C 589 CD player with MQA tech
3+ week, 5+ day ago (500+ words) by John Darko April 22, 2026, 14: 40 NAD has announced the C 589, a dedicated CD player that joins its Classic Series. The transport and loader mechanism was reportedly engineered for quiet and stable disc tracking across a wide range of CDs, including those…...