KEF Reference Series 5 now in stock!

At this year's high end hifi convention in Munich it finally happened: after the rumour mill had already predicted it in the correct direction, manufacturer KEF introduced the new and improved Reference Series. The flagship - the Reference Five - promptly won the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) Award 2014-2015. The speaker has arrived at our shop and its performance is waiting to be tested by you.

UKW and DAB+: The Official Rankings

For over a decade its technology has appeared to be on the brink of extinction and yet the analog FM radio is still here. Previously attempts to establish digital alternatives form a rather long list of rather ingloriously failures. Given the situation, it's not surprisng if you're left with a feeling of uncertainty. A couple of thoughts.

The Television vs. The Projector?

Every now and then you still come across CRT televisions: bulky and often small in size, they've quickly dropped by the way side. For some it may even make it to a second or third repair service, for almost all the others they end up as junk on the street corner, serving out the last of their existence. Their modern TV successors have been on a long race for first prize in functionality, design and screen size. Fueling this trend of home cinema ambitions is the horde of customers, who are watching sporting events, games, and evening blockbusters, whilst wanting to get the perfect viewing experience across the genres. While this promise so far was apparently solved with a projector screen now in the equation, one may still now weigh up the options: Big Screen TV or Projector?

Digital Music: How It Works

As part of our series on The Source of Good Music we've already touched several fields of "Digital Music". We've compared different storage formats for music information presented and compared, it fell to assess the quality of these data mainly two concepts again and again: sample rate and word length. But what exactly do they actually mean? And what happens in the translation of analog signals in the digital world? Even at the risk of literally go here in a bottomless pit, we will try to provide some basic answers, focusing on the widespread PCM method (Pulse Code Modulation).

Room Acoustics

Describe the room you are sitting in. Even music lovers and the sound obsessed will probably begin with the visible. Spaces always have their own sound, but we are rarely conscious of it. Unless you're being swept away by the symphony in the concert hall, or by the blaring bass of the stereo as you moved through space. Maybe you've enjoyed participating in a lively discussion in a public place as well as in confined meeting room? To inform yourself on the strain on your nerves to hear sound in certain spaces and by what laws spaces otherwise react to sound, please refer to our article on some key terms on the interesting theme of room acoustics.

Lange Nacht der Ohren

While we hopefully still have a bit of summer to go but we're starting to get excited about this year's 'Lange Nacht der Ohren', and we want you to also get excited even while you're soaking up the last of this years sunshine!

Berliner Staudenmarkt 2014: Hifi im Hinterhof bids farewell

August has begun and summer is in full bloom, and that means the annual Berliner Staudenmarkt (Berlin Flower & Produce Market) in the Botanical Gardens in Dahlemdorf is not too far away. On September 6 and 7, Hifi im Hinterhof takes over the Mediterranean House with ambient sounds for your listening leisure and presents a selected products from our range in an ambient floral atmosphere

Spectral Ameno now on show: more than just TV and Hi-Fi furniture

Whether in the living room, home theatre or in your own music room, again and again one is faced with the challenge of integrating technology into a room. And always the answer seems to be found quickly: appropriate furniture is needed. It should be fit for purpose, but also stand for themselves, make the room look good. Once they are designed to put the carefully curated stereo in the right light or frame the big new TV fit, other times should be best seen as little, messy cables and sockets certainly not. They should be processed valent, a trusty companion for many years, but also flexible, because tastes change and TVs are changing before our eyes. There is a whole catalog of claims, that can be very different tomorrow. And then? You end up finally with Ameno.

Enjoying music on the move

A long time maxim from the Hi-Fi textbook: Let the ear decide. Although for many users fashion now plays an important role in the choice of the mobile companion, this is one credo when headphones must be considered first and foremost by two aspects. Not only what falls upon the ear drum but also the comfort should satisfy the individual's requirements. The ear, especially in with inner-ear sets, can turn out to be pretty picky. In order to make your seach as quickly as possible we present a number of current headphone concepts and their advantages and disadvantages.