Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to say a huge thanks for everyone’s support throughout 2023 and send out Christmas wishes for the coming holiday, it has been another great year at HFL, don’t know where it has gone to be honest, it has been a year packed full of great new product releases, demo’s, installs all over the country, many open days, following Bruce Springsteen round Europe, which there will be more of next year I’m glad to say, meeting loads of great people, new and familiar faces, plenty of talk about music from all genres, just basically doing the HFL things, this really is the best job in the world so thanks again everyone for helping make 2023 so memorable.
The big new releases this year where from Naim with their new 200 and 300 series products which were 20+ years in the making but most certainly worth the wait, the new PMC prodigy Range, they may be their entry level range but they seriously punch above their price point, the new Arcam Radia range which has had an amazing response, so good to have Arcam back leading the way in their respective price points, we also had the new Sasha V’s from Wilson Audio which have found homes with some of our lucky customers, we also had the new Rega Naia flagship turntable, it may look similar to a Planar 8 or 10 but it is certainly a huge step up in sound quality, we also had the £60,000 Sennheiser HE1 headphone system on demo for a few months which was off the scale good so plenty of exciting new products there and I’m sure 2024 won’t disappoint either.
I have to say though that the biggest star of this year has been DeVore Fidelity which has become in a very short time one of our biggest brands which is incredible really for a brand a lot of people have not heard of but once people listen they fall under their spell, me included, we have the full Orangutan range here if you’d like a listen at any point and for next year I have ordered both pairs of the DeVore Gibbon speakers and I am also really excited to say that I have now ordered the £115,000 DeVore O/Reference speakers for demo that we will have here at some point which will do an open day around and hopefully John Devore will be coming over for. I actually took the O/Baby’s home last night for the Christmas break as I want to set up a small system in our snug, partnered with the Audio Research I/50 and a Rega Planar 8 I have to say it was incredible for a reasonably straightforward and not hugely expensive system, I lost hours listening, I can see me spending a lot of time in that room over the next week.
DeVore Fidelity O/Reference – Coming Soon to HFL
On a personal note it was great hitting the road again seeing Bruce Springsteen play, we went all round Europe seeing him 10 times but funnily enough the best gig was in Birmingham of all places, what a party that night was, those guys really know how to have a good time, Bruce is touring again next year with the E Street band, I have 10 shows lined up again which will take me past 100 Bruce gigs, can’t wait, especially as I have a feeling this could well be the last time he tours with the the E Street Band, there is nothing better in my view than seeing Bruce live. I also had a couple of great motorsport events, the first taking the Nascar up the Hill for 4 days at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, even though the Friday was terrifying trying to tame a 900hp monster on slicks in the wet with no windscreen wiper, it is a real honor to be invited to be part of such a special event and to get to hang out with a lot of my motorsport heroes but arguably an even bigger highlight was getting the restoration finished on our 1961 Lotus Formula Junior single seater in time to race at the Silverstone Festival and to be part of the 60 car grid, I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous entering a race, what a car to drive though.
I absolutely love these 2 pictures below taken of me by someone I met this year called Asa, you can follow him on Instagram by searching for ‘aced_it_images’ I’m on the left in the bottom picture, such a cool shot.
So looking back on 2023 it has been a brilliant year and I really can’t wait to see what adventures 2024 has in store for us.
Album of the Year
It’s always fun to look back at this time of the year on what I have been listening to most and especially what new releases I have enjoyed, as ever I have spent a lot of time listening to Gary Numan as I continue to explore his back catalogue, I only really got into him around 2-3 years ago but I am totally addicted now, how I missed him originally in the 80’s I don’t know, saw 2 brilliant concerts of his this year, one being acoustic which really was special but as for new releases I wouldn’t say it has been a brilliant year but one album really has shone above anything else that has come out this year and quite possibly in the last few years really, please find my top 3 below, well worth checking out.
Number 3
James blunt – Who We Used To Be.
Time to come out of the closet and admit that I am an unashamedly big James Blunt fan, I always have been and his new album certainly hasn’t changed that, I think a lot of people write him off too easily but if you actually listen to his lyrics they really are very deep and meaningful and actually quite dark and sad so please do give it a try.
Number 2
OMD – Bauhaus Staircase
Now I must admit that I have never been a big OMD fan, I like their hits from the 80’s but never listened to any of their albums but when Darren from Naim recommend I gave their new album a listen I was instantly hooked, it is like they have gone back to the 80’s and found an album they forgot to release but at the same time it is very fresh, if you are of a similar age where you consider like me that the early 80’s where when music was at its best please give it a listen as I’m sure you will love it.
Number 1
Peter Gabriel i/o
Well I don’t know where to start here other than to say what an album, well 3 albums actually, I loved his 1986 ‘SO’ album, actually wore the tape out on my walkman when doing my paper rounds, but since then I haven’t really listened to any of his material but I was told by several people that I need to hear i/o and it is all I’ve listened to since, apparently he has been working on it for over 27 years which is crazy but if you want an album to show your HiFi off this is is at it is extremely well produced and mastered, in fact what is really cool is that there is 3 versions of the same album mixed by 3 different engineers, the Bright Side Mix, the Dark Side Mix and the In-Side Mix which is in Dolby Atmos, needless to say I have bought all 3 on vinyl and CD/SACD, I actually listened to the Dark Side mix last night on the O/Baby’s and got totally lost in it, the songs are great, catchy and have real meaning how we are just part of everything and just a speck in time really + his voice is still brilliant, I can’t recommend these album(s) enough so please do give them a listen and see which mix you prefer.
Bonus Album
Queens Of The Stone Age – In Times New Roman
I just want to give the above a mention, QOTSA are Wendy’s favourite band and this is another brilliant album from them, they have a very unique rock sound with a certain funk and groove, we went to see them in November and it was one of the best gigs I’ve seen in awhile, certainly not mainstream rock but it definitely demands your attention and once you get it I’m sure you’ll be hooked.
Well there you go, just leaves me to say thanks again for everyone’s support this year, have an amazing Christmas and all the best for 2024, look forward to seeing what adventures lie ahead for us all then.
All the best,
Regards,
Paul, Wendy, Billy and Ady.
