Hi-Fi+ Innovation Award
Wednesday, 20th October 2021
October 2021 marks the 200th edition of the respected magazine Hi-Fi+. To mark the anniversary, the magazine featured its own Innovation Awards “recognising one hundred innovations in audio”.
From Accuphase to Zanden Audio, the round-up covers a wide variety of audio manufacturers who have brought something unique and innovative to the audiophile universe, and we are delighted that Russ Andrews and Kimber Kable are included in their list of innovators.
This is not the first time we have been recognised for our pioneering work; back in 2013, when Hi-Fi+ celebrated their 100th issue, former editor Roy Gregory selected Russ’s mains products for his choice of 'the most important Hi-Fi of the last 99 issues', observing that, since Russ first addressed the issue of mains interference “our understanding of the inner workings of audio systems and their vulnerability to outside influence has advanced enormously. The Russ Andrews path may no longer be the only route up the mountain… but without it we wouldn’t have noticed that there’s a mountain there!”.
This time around, the recognition is even wider, noting that “over the years, [Russ] has evaluated and developed equipment in almost every aspect of audio, always relying on a keen set of ears and an open mind”. It’s this deep knowledge of audio which they recognise as the foundation of everything that was to come afterwards: “This is why when in the early 1980s no-one else in the UK was even considering mains as a potential source of noise, Russ Andrews was commissioning his first power-line filter”.
Not surprisingly, it isn’t just Russ who is acknowledged here, because Kimber Kable has been closely linked here in the UK with the Russ Andrews name since the 1980s. Russ saw the value of Kimber's RFI-combatting cable design and inherent musicality when he first met Ray Kimber at CES in 1985 and become their UK distributer shortly afterwards. “In many ways” write Hi-Fi+, “this is a perfect partnership as both companies share a similar ethos; both companies strive to rid audio of fundamental problems like radio-frequency interference, and both design products with a rare simplicity of execution and purpose”.
Magazine: Hi-Fi Plus
Edition: October 2021 200th issue
Verdict: Innovation Award
Written By Simon Dalton
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