Right then …..it’s that time of year for a bit of taking stock on what has gone before and the traditional end of year poll. I will keep this one nice and simple. It consists of my own personal favourite loudspeaker of the year and my own personal favourite album of the year.

Firstly and probably most importantly, by far and away the best album of the year is a little thing by the band Lost Crowns called Every Night Something Happens. This is one of those mind bending prog/jazz/psychedelic things that comes along once in a while and really gets your brain cells tingling.

Great music with great artwork. There are connections here with Cardiacs and Knifeworld but the songs are so much better than both of these bands. Great lyrics and wild complex rhythms bounce around and off each other bringing to mind prime time Frank Zappa and Cardiacs at their most gymnastic time signature shifting best and then add a dose of Anglagard prog rock thuggery then you end up with this aural jacuzzi for the brain. May even be album of the decade…….WOW!

The band Lost Crowns. How can a band who look this great not be good!

Now then. How about a great pair of loudspeakers to help make sense of all this prog rockery? Well try the new Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary loudspeakers. Retro beauty mixed with ultra modern drive unit and cross-over technology.

This is a design that is at once ultra revealing but at the same time ultra musical. Kinda the Holy Grail of speaker design. This results in one of those very rare designs these days that is both audiophile AND fun! So many manufacturers can do one or the other but somehow manage to forget to do both!

Boasting high-tech Kevlar constructed mid and bass drivers and a textile soft dome tweeter each housed in their own internal enclosure. The Peter Comeau designed cross-over is as close to inaudible as is possible to get which means that the drive units operate seamlessly. This means that they can image as well as anything and conjure up a depth of image that very few can manage regardless of price. This is just the perfect pair of speakers to play music like Lost Crowns through. The complex rhythms shift off and around each other bouncing along infectiously and conveying beautifully both the really dark musical moments and the humour within the lyrics.

The stands double up as great record storage too. When driven by a competent amplifier they truly disappear and the music is left hanging in the air in front of you. We love them and we think that you will too.

Come in to the Cheltenham store for a no obligation demo …..just remember to bring in some of your own favourite music and we will do the refreshments.