Hi-fi choices

THIS MONTH

ED SELLEY

EXPERTISE: REVIEWER

Active in the industry since 1999, Ed’s first record was Boss Drum by The Shamen. He splits his time between reviewing and protecting hi-fi kit from his son Will.

NEVILLE ROBERTS

EXPERTISE: ENGINEER

Neville has an eclectic taste for classical baroque and jazz. His wife was forced to marry his transmission line speakers in the eighties and he collects BBC test card music.

JASON KENNEDY

EXPERTISE: REVIEWER

Editor of HFC from 1998 to 2001, Jason’s first turntable was Rega’s Planar 3 and Elvis’ 40 Greatest Hits was his first vinyl, so don’t go stepping on his blue suede shoes.

DAVID PRICE

EXPERTISE: REVIEWER

DP two-finger typed his first hi-fi review 25 years ago. Since then he’s edited Hi-Fi World and HFC. He describes himself as an “unreconstructed analogue addict”.

CHRIS WARD

EXPERTISE: REVIEWER

Like his first kiss, Chris will never forget the sound of his first amp – an Aura Evolution VA-100. War Of The Worlds and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours were his first records.

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Headphone experiments

My dedicated music room has reverted to a bedroom and as a result my listening has been forced to relocate to the living room. In order to fit in with the current domestic arrangements my setup consists of a Technics SL-1200 with Audio-Technica VMN40ML, Creek CAS-4140 amp and Sennheiser HD 600 cans.

The Creek could probably do with re-capping, re-resistoring and retiring, but it’s got an MM input, headphone output and mono switch and I can plug my Chromecast audio into it. Also, and more importantly, I can stand it upright and out of sight in the sideboard, so keeping some semblance of marital harmony.

I’ve always preferred using speakers over headphones, although the latter gives a bigger bang per buck, mainly because of the sensation of the numbskulls forming a tiny tribute