Hi-Fi+ May 2026

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hi-fi+ Magazine May 2026

hi-fi+ is a magazine that is serious about hi-fi. Our articles are intended to help you get the best from your system, rather than simply telling you to buy another one. Our reviews only cover product that we think is worthwhile. You can read more about that by looking at our reviews policy, but lets just say that our attitude to equipment is rather different, and we hope, much more informative. We haven't forgotten that hi-fi is supposed to be fun!

The Ultimate Goal Of High-Fidelity Audio
Getting closer to the live music performance.
Editorial By Alan Sircom
We are getting ever closer to the goal of ultimate fidelity; where a recording and the live sound are so close to one another that they are functionally identical. However, I experienced a couple of live events recently, and that demonstrated how far we still have to go. I know of at least five members of the UK audio industry who attended the 2026 Teenage Cancer Trust (you can donate here: teenagecancertrust.org) concerts staged at the Royal Albert Hall. Those who think 'RAH' and assume 'classical music'... these were gigs by bands like My Bloody Valentine and Mogwai. They were handing out ear defenders at the door (I brought my own). Regardless, even with enough ear defence that my hearing remained resolutely undamaged, the visceral experience of standing in front of one of these post-rock and shoegazy bands playing at mind-numbingly powerful levels is something that's almost impossible to replicate in the home. Good ear defence notwithstanding, Mogwai made my teeth go deaf for a few days. That is not a live, unamplified event; it's a live event with all the amplifiers. Think of that scene from Oppenheimer, but with sound instead of a nuclear bomb.
---> The Ultimate Goal Of High-Fidelity Audio.

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