Articles by Jez Ford, Editor, Sound+Image magazine

Jez is the Editor of Sound+Image magazine, having inhabited that role since 2006, more or less a lustrum after departing his UK homeland to adopt an additional nationality under the more favourable climes and skies of Australia. Prior to his desertion he was Editor of the UK's Stuff magazine, and before that Editor of What Hi-Fi? magazine, and before that of the erstwhile Audiophile magazine and of Electronics Today International. He makes music as well as enjoying it, is alarmingly wedded to the notion that Led Zeppelin remains the highest point of rock'n'roll yet attained, though remains willing to assess modern pretenders. He lives in a modest shack on Sydney's Northern Beaches with his Canadian wife Deanna, a rescue greyhound called Jewels, and an assortment of changing wildlife under care. If you're seeking his articles by clicking this profile, you'll see far more of them by switching to the Australian version of WHF.

Articles by: Jez Ford

Aussie home cinemas: Wavetrain's 'Dune' theatre puts a ring on it

By Jez Ford published 16 November 24

Size restrictions and strict divisions within a new extension made this home cinema a challenge for the team at Wavetrain Cinemas, but careful choices and a strong sci-fi theme delivered a stunning result.

Electrocompaniet Rena SA2 review

By Jez Ford published 9 November 24

A small silvery box that streams and makes lovely sounds: Norway’s Electrocompaniet delivers a luxurious take on the streaming zoneplayer.

Zildjian Alchem-E headphones review

By Jez Ford published 9 November 24

A 17th-century cymbal maker turns its hand to wireless noise-cancelling headphones, and the Alchem-Es prove genuinely different

Meridian Ellipse review

By Jez Ford published 4 November 24

Meridian’s Ellipse may be the best small wireless speaker we’ve ever heard.

I experienced the world's first "interactive 3D symphony" in a new audio format that expands on the ideas of Dolby Atmos – here's how

By Jez Ford published 13 October 24

An orchestra of music mixed as a 3D choreography of sound – a new visual audio format makes good sense for VR goggles, but is that how we want to listen to music?

A man wheeling a suitcase and carrying red cable

What I did on my holidays, or 6 lessons in checking hi-fi and TV systems for schoolboy errors

By Jez Ford published 1 October 24

I recently transformed two hi-fi and TV sound systems – one of them for almost nothing because of a hilarious installation error.

The Wombles album pulled out of a vinyl collection

After reviewing hi-fi through five decades, here's why The Wombles remain my biggest musical influence

By Jez Ford published 19 September 24

The furry litter-pickers were a supergroup of GOATs and heavily influential on my formative musical taste.

I just saw the fulldome presentation of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon – and was blown away

By Jez Ford last updated 16 September 24

The bad news: your home cinema ain’t gonna cut it. The good news: there’s more to fulldome than Floyd.

Zildjian makes a splash – with wireless noise-cancellers

By Jez Ford published 16 September 24

A 17th-century cymbal maker turns its hand to wireless noise-cancelling headphones

Cyrus CDi player on wooden rack with magazines in background

How music streaming is righting a wrong of the Compact Disc

By Jez Ford published 30 August 24

As we wave goodbye to the CD format, it turns out silver discs were largely imaginary all along...

Tidal is definitely lossless, and my mate can prove it

By Stephen Dawson published 30 August 24

I decided to see what the real measurable differences were between the (hopefully) lossless service and the admitted lossy Spotify...

Yamaha R-N1000A smart streaming amplifier

Yamaha R-N1000A review

By Jez Ford published 30 August 24

This streaming amplifier trickles down tech from Yamaha's higher analogue amplifiers, while adding MusicCast streaming and digital inputs for a well-priced all-round performance.

a person wearing headphones and meditating

Why I gave up my search for silence to embrace ambient headphone listening

By Jez Ford last updated 26 August 24

Once upon a time I travelled the world in search of silence. I never found it...

Audio-Technica's AT-LP70x turntable under test at SOujnd+Image magazine

Audio-Technica AT-LP70X review

By Jez Ford published 3 August 24

Moving up from the company's most basic design, the LP70X is still fairly basic and plastic, but it delivers good performance for the price, and is incredibly easy to set up.

Hisense C1 Sound+Image review

By Jez Ford published 23 July 24

Hisense has gone from TVs to short-throw ‘Laser TV’ projectors, and now brings a more conventional ‘mini’ projector in a kinda cube. How do Hisense’s skills translate to the new environment?

JBL TT350 Classic review

By Jez Ford published 17 July 24

JBL’s higher-level turntable leaves behind the pop-culture design of the cheaper Spinner BT and goes for modern vintage and direct driven the TT350 Classic. But how does it sound?

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro X Limited Edition review

By Jez Ford published 24 June 24

Marking the centenary of Beyerdynamic, these ‘X’ edition headphones upgrade the standard version with the latest driver technology

BenQ W5800 review

By Jez Ford published 23 June 24

A full-sized ‘true 4K’ home cinema projector – no dongles, no built-in speakers, just solid DLP projection delivering up to 200 inches of bigscreen real estate

What’s inside Sennheiser’s Mirrorbox at Vivid Sydney?

By Jez Ford published 24 May 24

Lights, AI mood readers, floor haptics and Sennheiser sound await visitors to Vivid Sydney this year

Audio Pro Addon C5A in a kitchen next to some limes

Got a Bluetooth speaker? Think of it like cheap vodka, and take this route next

By Jez Ford published 6 May 24

Bluetooth speakers are convenient and affordable, but you can do better. Much better.

Living room with a sofa, table and glass walls

The trouble with my listening room: speakers weren't made for it

By Jez Ford published 2 May 24

A realisation that open-house lifestyles may not provide quite the conditions for which your loudspeakers were designed...

Australian Hi-Fi Show 2024 report: all-Aussie supersystem, Avantgarde world debut, and more

By Becky Roberts, Jez Ford published 8 April 24

The highlights from, and the lowdown on, the weekend’s Australian Hi-Fi Show in Sydney...

Hubbl review

By Jez Ford published 12 March 24

Can the latest little streaming box for Australia deliver on its promise of being “the future of TV and streaming”?

BenQ X300G review

By Jez Ford published 6 March 24

BenQ's compact 4K XPR projector is specialised for gamers, but proves a capable all-round entertainer, with Android TV and built-in speakers

Marantz Cinema 30 review

By Jez Ford published 15 February 24

The integrated rangetopper brings 11 channels of power and 13 of processing, along with HEOS streaming and several paths to multiroom playback. How does it sound?

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