Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2012 i Hi-Fi Choice

www.hifichoice.co.uk Issue No. 357 April 2012 In terms of great hi-fi comebacks we have known, surely the humble DAC is hard to beat? Let’s not forget that the last time we saw these little boxes in any great number was way back in the late nineteen eighties, just when everyone started experimenting with the (then) red hot technology of Compact Disc. Companies such as Arcam, Linn and Meridian carved a niche for the separate digital-to-analogue convertor; here was a way you could upgrade your CD player without having to buy an expensive new transport. If we’d known then how many digital sources DACs would have to contend with now however, we’d have been shocked to our very shoulder pads. Everything from satellite boxes and PlayStations to computers benefit from decent…

Unique group tests BLIND-LISTENING TESTS THIS CRUCIAL process, carefully controlled and yet sufficiently relaxed that our listeners do not feel that they’re being tested, forms the heart of our Group Test review. Our panel of three listeners are not aware of the brand or price of the product they are listening to, but they are able to choose their own music selection and decide upon the initial listening level at the beginning of the first session. This level is accurately matched from product to product throughout subsequent sessions so that subjective impressions of ‘louder’ or ‘quieter’ sounding separates helps inform us of their inherent character. Regular breaks keep our listeners refreshed while the sessions are conducted with the minimum of distractions, playing the same programme through each system while they…

DA-160 £750 DETAILS ORIGIN: Australia TYPE: DAC WEIGHT: 5kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 180x80x250mm FEATURES: • Burr-Brown PCM1793 DAC chip • 2x USB inputs • coaxial digital input • optical digital input • 2 pairs RCA line outputs DISTRIBUTOR: Item Audio TELEPHONE: 01782 621225 WEBSITE: itemaudio.com It’s a new name to the UK, but Burson has been going strong in its native Australia for over fifteen years. Perhaps that’s why the DA-160 looks and feels such a solid bit of kit; unlike so many unknown brands here, they’re not a Chinese company that set up shop last Tuesday on a whim and a prayer. Finish is generally excellent, with very finely finished aluminium casework, although we weren’t so sure about the exposed allen bolt heads. The front panel is simple, with two…

Glass FX Tube DAC £440 DETAILS ORIGIN: USA/China TYPE: DAC WEIGHT: 3kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 203x76x177mm FEATURES: • Burr-Brown PCM1793 DAC • 1 pair RCA line outputs • coaxial digital input • optical digital input • USB digital input • 1 ground terminal DISTRIBUTOR: Aired Audio TELEPHONE: 01452 385573 WEBSITE: airedaudio.co.uk Never let it be said that Jolida don’t do things differently. Here we have a very affordable DAC that sports two little 12AX7 tubes buffering the audio output. The glowing bottles supplied are very modest examples of the breed; Jolida would say that you’re welcome to ‘roll’ the tubes and put better ones in, for superior sound. However, for the purposes of this test, we stayed with the stock valves, of course. It’s certainly a strikingly styled product, one of…

It’s hard to say exactly when digital audio was invented. The principle of representing an analogue electronic signal with ones and noughts goes back many decades, and the maths behind it runs further still, to the 17th century. Perhaps the nearest we can get to defining the moment of its invention is the first description of Pulse Code Modulation, the basic principle behind it, by an engineer called Alec Reeves in 1938. Substantial work was done to make it a practical reality by Claude Shannon, who is mentioned in many textbooks in terms such as ‘the father of digital signalling’. And thanks to Reeves and Shannon, the use of digital encoding was known in telephony from the 1940s. Sending a more-or-less recognisable voice signal down a phone line is one…

DETAILS PRODUCT: XTZ 99.36 MKII Piano ORIGIN: Sweden/Far East TYPE: 2.5 way floorstanding loudspeaker WEIGHT: 27kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 200x1000x320MM FEATURES: • specified sensitivity: 89dB • specified impedance: 4-8ohms • tweeter: aluminium sandwich ribbon • mid-bass driver: 6.5inch magnesium SEAS Excel • bass driver: 6.5inch coated paper SEAS DISTRIBUTOR: Audio Sanctum TELEPHONE: 01623 857 707 WEBSITE: audiosanctum.co.uk Conventionally ported loudspeakers make life easier for amplifiers in terms of load, and can sound larger than the cabinet they are machined out of. But some believe they can also sound congested and lack musical timing, particularly when reproducing bass lines, compared to well designed infinite baffle (non-ported) models. With its somewhat unimaginatively named 99.36MKII, XTZ has tried to give the best of both worlds with a cabinet sporting three ports, each with a…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Sonic Studio Amarra ORIGIN: USA TYPE: audiophile player (Mac only) FEATURES: • bit/sample rate: 16-32-bit/44.1-384kHz (see text) • bypasses Apple’s CoreAudio processing • uses Apple iTunes front end DISTRIBUTOR: Media Arte WEBSITE: store.mintavsystems.com The advent of high-resolution digital downloads from the likes of B&W and HDTracks.com has not just spurred on the wireless hi-fi craze, but also prompted many to seek the optimum direct computer connection route to hi-res heaven. There are plenty of computer audiophiles who make the effort to conquer the mysteries of WASAPI and install third-party USB audio drivers for Windows 7, but for many the concentration has been on the use of the Mac, with its frequently driverless support for Class 2 asynchronous USB DACs. Another key reason many audiophiles choose the Mac is…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Usher Dancer Mini-Two ORIGIN: Taiwan TYPE: floorstanding two-way loudspeaker WEIGHT: 57.5kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 340x1,237x500mm FEATURES: • quoted sensitivity: 90dB • quoted nominal impedance: 4 ohms • drive units: 2x 7-inch mid/bass, 1.25-inch tweeter • crossover frequency: 2.7kHz DISTRIBUTOR: Hi Fidelity TELEPHONE: 01382 540402 WEBSITE: hi-fi delityuk.co.uk Usher is a Taiwanese company that makes a large range of superbly finished loudspeakers at what appear to be extremely competitive prices. They are designed by American speaker legend Joseph D’Appolito, and Tsai Lien-Shui, who heads Usher’s R&D. You would have to spend twice as much on a speaker built in Europe or North America to get the standard of fit and finish seen on The Dancer Mini-Two. But as we all know, appearance is not everything with audio components – more…

After a couple of days spent fixing various older bits of hi-fi for myself and friends, it’s made me reflect on the changes in serviceability of equipment over the years. Plenty of audio equipment from the 1960s, even the 1950s (and in some cases well before World War 2), is still going strong and, subject to availability of a few critical parts, can be kept going almost for ever. Will the same be true of today’s equipment in 2062? There is an undeniable trend in modern electronics, and indeed mechanical equipment too, towards increased difficulty of repair. Extreme examples turn up, such as the car which apparently needs a two-hour strip-down to replace a headlamp bulb. Even neglecting such eyebrow-raisers, a cursory comparison between a Leak valve amp of the…

The year is young, and still full of mystery. I’m currently wondering to myself what the most important thing is that could happen in 2012? Perhaps it’s the very sad end of UHF analogue TV transmissions in the UK, something that doesn’t improve the sum total of humanity one iota in my view. Or what about those wretched Olympic games – call me a grouch but I’m not enormously enthused by the prospect of thousands of people running around in circles for pieces of gold, silver and bronze, in some recently rebuilt part of London. No, for me, the watershed moment is surely the thirtieth anniversary of the Compact Disc, that most versatile and still strangely futuristic audio format! Lest we forget, back in 1982 CD was astonishing. A combination…

Roy Wood Music Book emi.com 4.0/5.0 EMI 2-CD UNDERNEATH THE WAR PAINT and the rainbow-hued hair, Roy Wood at his peak was one of British pop music’s most intriguingly talented pop mavericks. His ability to pen unforgettable pop songs first emerged in the late 1960s with The Move, a band that borrowed from a rich Beatles/Kinks/Who heritage and then came up with its own uniquely wonderful take on the genre, via hits such as Fire Brigade and I Can Hear The Grass Grow. That Wood was too expansive a talent for the constraints of a conventional bass-drums-guitar line-up was evident when he next formed the Electric Light Orchestra in order to indulge his penchant for more experimental, classically-influenced arrangements. He soon abandoned ELO to Jeff Lynne and formed Wizzard, who…

Antonio Forcione and Sabina Sciubba Meet Me In London aimlabel.com 5.0/5.0 NaimLabel 24-bit/192kHz MEET ME IN LONDON has long been Naim’s best-selling title. So it came as no surprise when the company selected it to be its first ‘super high-definition’ release. Guitarist Antonio Forcione and singer Sabina Sciubba’s combined performance is exquisite. To preserve the integrity of the recording, Naim began the remastering process with the original, 14-year-old analogue master tapes. These were transferred to 24-bit/192kHz WAV files on hard disk, which were converted back onto new tape for mixing on a Neve analogue desk. Every possible care seems to have been taken to extract the utmost sonic performance from those original masters. MS Standout tracks: Take Five; Could You Believe Charlie Winston Running Still bowers-wilkins.co.uk 5.0/5.0 B&W 24-bit/48kHz THIS…

Zeppelin Air PRICE: £500 CONTACT: 0800 232 1513 WEBSITE: BOWERS-WILKINS.CO.UK PERHAPS THE BEST-KNOWN high-end speaker dock, if only on account of its distinctive shape and catchy name, the Zeppelin now includes Apple’s ‘AirPlay’ wireless technology. This makes for very simple streaming from a computer or iPod/iPad/iPhone, in high quality since AirPlay is a networking technology and doesn’t involve data reduction. There are many other useful features built into the Zeppelin, including both USB and Ethernet ports, which allow streaming (via wires, if you aren’t AirPlayed-up), in-dock syncing of the iPod with a home computer’s copy of iTunes, and setup of the Zepplin’s audio parameters via iPod or home computer. Bass response can be tailored in a limited kind of way, to adjust for positioning. The unit is heavy, and very…

LINN (linn.co.uk) The newly revised Linn website is now more than a means of checking out the latest way the company has creatively used the letter K in product names. As well as the obligatory product section, the biggest expansion has been in music. Linn Records is thirty this year, and the site now features an extensive music section that might surprise anyone who assumed that their choice was limited to the polite end of the music spectrum. Much of this catalogue is now available in hi-res lossless download form which should appeal to everyone in possession of a streaming system. This is also a very attractive and well thought out place to point your browser at. I like the guest columns discussing various subjects and the ‘50 albums 50…

WE HEAR... PICTURE COURTESY OF APPLE RUMOURS HAVE BEEN RIFE of “something new and exciting” being released by Naim Audio for several months, and now Backchat can tell you precisely what! The NDS is the company’s new flagship network music player, launched at the Bristol Sound and Vision Show... COMING SOON TO A HI-FI SHOP near you, perhaps? Air Audio Distribution is now the UK Distributor for Block Audio products from Germany, a brand that’s gone from nothing to the third largest sales turnover for a German audio company. Read all about the brand at audioblock.de, and look out for a review soon! WE HEAR THAT A MAJOR UK hi-fi separates manufacturer, which currently wants to remain nameless, is diversifying into headphones. The designs (of which we’ve seen prototypes) look…

PRICE: N-30 £349.99; N-50 £499.99 AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 0870 600 1539 WEB: PIONEER.CO.UK Following the vogue for wireless-capable network music players, Pioneer has landed two new models in the UK. The N-30 and N-50 support Apple’s AirPlay and offer the ability to play music files from a variety of sources and formats, including high-resolution 24-bit/192 kHz audio files. Whether it’s off computer, NAS drives, hard disk, USB, iPod, iPhone or iPad, the new Pioneers will play it, from 24/192 hi-res FLAC and WAV files, to MP3 and MPEG-4 AAC compressed audio files. Apple’s AirPlay onboard means that users have complete access to, control and playback of, their entire iTunes music library, too, with song information and album art simultaneously displayed on the full-colour 2.4 inch QVGA LCD display. It also…

DO YOU REMEMBER THE EIGHTIES? Just three or four years after CD enjoyed its UK launch, we were reading about these strange, fantastical devices called ‘DACs’. Along with a ‘CD transport’, we learned from the magazines of the day that a standalone ‘digital-to-analogue convertor’ was suddenly the best way to get hi-fi sound from your shiny, cutting-edge digital audio discs... In the same way that you split a preamp and a power amplifier, or the turntable into its component parts of motor unit and tonearm, so the CD player could be broken up into separate boxes better designed to do the job. True enough, but at the time it was overkill; it’s only now that the profusion of digital sources means you’re really at a loss without a separate DAC…

DACmini CX £650 DETAILS ORIGIN: USA TYPE: DAC/headphone amp WEIGHT: 4.5kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 164x42x164mm FEATURES: • USB input • coaxial digital input • optical digital input • 1 pair RCA line inputs • 1 pair RCA line outputs • 6.3mm headphone output DISTRIBUTOR: Item Audio TELEPHONE: 01782 621225 WEBSITE: itemaudio.com Curiously proportioned, you’d almost think the designers of this little bit of kit had taken inspiration from a certain premium computer with a sound-a-like title! The upshot is that the DACmini looks like a bespoke table-top partner to the Apple of nearly the same name. It’s fairly well made, with a silver machined aluminium alloy case that’s even compartmentalised inside to keep vital sections nicely screened; galvanic isolation is also featured. Black finish is said to a forthcoming option. The…

DAC £500 DETAILS ORIGIN: UK TYPE: DAC WEIGHT: 4kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 215x80x270mm FEATURES: • twin Wolfson WM8742 DACs • 5 switchable digital filters • 1 pair RCA line outputs • 2x coaxial digital input • 2x optical digital input • USB digital input DISTRIBUTOR: Rega Research Ltd. TELEPHONE: 01702 333071 WEBSITE: rega.co.uk Unexpectedly well made, considering its modest retail price, the Rega felt like a big metal brick compared to some other DACs here. Finish was good, too, and we liked the front panel design which displayed the input, sampling frequency and user-selectable digital filter settings (five different ones are offered; we used Filter Four for most of the listening). Inside it’s an eye-opener, with designer Terry Bateman’s traditional circuitboard inscriptions raising a smile (“best used with EL84 valves”; is…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Unison Research Simply Italy ORIGIN: Italy TYPE: Single-ended stereo integrated tube amplifier WEIGHT: 15kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 260x190 x350mm FEATURES: • four tubes – 2x EL-34 (6CA7) and 2x ECC-82 (12AU7) • output: 12W per channel (claimed) • 0utput impedance: 6 Ohm • inputs: 5 pairs of RCA phono line inputs • outputs: 1 stereo pair of loudspeaker binding posts DISTRIBUTOR: UKD TELEPHONE: 01753 652669 WEBSITE: ukd.co.uk Just in case you hadn’t noticed, 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification as a nation. Well, to commemorate this important event, Unison Research has released a new integrated valve amplifier, a single-ended design offering a claimed 12 watts per-channel from EL-34 output tubes. In producing Simply Italy, the company aimed to produce a high-quality low-powered amplifier that offers superb sound…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Focal Spirit One ORIGIN: France TYPE: Closed, circumaural headphone WEIGHT: 225g FEATURES: • impedance 32 ohms (quoted) • sensitivity: 104dB SPL/1mW @ 1kHz (quoted) • frequency response 6Hz-22kHz (quoted) DISTRIBUTOR: Focal TELEPHONE: 0845 6602680 WEBSITE: focal.com French hi-fi specialist Focal is best known for its behemoth Utopia loudspeakers, so it’s not a name that one normally associates with headphones. But two or more years ago, the company decided to bring its considerable loudspeaker voicing skills to a range of ‘phones designed for the mobile user. The first of these to appear is the Focal Spirit One you see before you... I tested them with my iPhone and Apple lossless files on the move, and with my Naim UnitiQute and FLACs in the office, comparing them to other headphones…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Neat Acoustics Iota ORIGIN: UK TYPE: desktop loudspeaker WEIGHT: 3kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 200X130 x165mm FEATURES: • 2-way bass reflex enclosure • 6 ohms nominal impedance • 84dB/1 watt quoted sensitivity • recommended amplifier power 25–100 watts • 50mm vertical planar magnetic ribbon tweeter DISTRIBUTOR: Neat Acoustics Ltd TELEPHONE: 01833 631021 WEBSITE: neat.co.uk Recently, several well-respected loudspeaker manufacturers have taken to producing models designed for desktop use. And why not? Most of us spend far more time sitting at our desks than we do sitting in front of our hi-fi systems. Why, then, should we be obliged to listen to low-grade audio merely because we are not in the room that houses our hi-fi? And, if truth be told, while nobody can beat the computer industry on savage pricing,…

CHANNA VITHANA EXPERTISE: REVIEWER CV GOT lost in music back in 1980 and has never recovered. With a background in design and architecture, he’s been a published journalist for nearly a decade. ED SELLEY EXPERTISE: REVIEWER ES HAS SPENT the best part of ten years selling, developing and supporting products from some of the biggest names in audio. Enjoys blogging about his favourite tunes too... TIM JARMAN EXPERTISE: ENGINEER TJ IS AN electronics engineer by day and a hi-fi enthusiast by night. Doesn’t own a mobile phone, enjoys fixing and collecting all types of vintage hi-fi. PATRICK CLEASBY EXPERTISE: TECH GEEK PC WORKS as a high-level tech support for the BBC, when not fiddling with the latest network music players and his newly discovered LP record collection. Digital dilemma Currently,…

You’re not singing any more... The jazz trumpeter and band leader Harry James used to say he never compared bands – only nights. In other words, great musical performances are partly a question of luck – of everything being ‘right’ on a certain evening. A squad of players might well perform gloriously one night, and then badly the next. Twenty or so years ago, Harry James’ words more or less summed up my feelings about the way most hi-fi systems performed – mine included. On form, things could sound amazing and inspiring. But there’d also be nights when the sound would seem thick, leaden, and anything but inspiring. Very frustrating… It’s a bit like football. Premier League clubs can play brilliantly in the Champion’s league midweek, holding their own against…

Back in their heyday, turntables were highly political items, telling you much – though not necessarily the entire truth – about the character of their makers, owners and users. In 1990 the Linn Sondek LP12 with its Valhalla power supply board was the market leader in UK high-end terms, outselling all competitors including the diametrically opposed – politically, philosophically and in engineering terms – Pink Triangle. It’s fair to say that neither company was – outwardly, at least – respectful towards the other, and the likelihood of any co-operation or joint venture-style operations between them or their products seemed so unlikely as to be completely off even the maddest radar. No one anticipated or expected the surprise that was waiting around the corner, or how audacious that surprise would be...…

3.0/5.0 CBS/Pure Pleasure 180g vinyl JOHNNY WINTER is one of the most respected American musicians to come out of the blues boom of the mid sixties. He played with some of the great originators of the form including Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and this, his second release, was made with a relatively unknown rhythm section and a whole lot of energy. It’s a mix of original and standard tunes including a very nice rendition of Good Morning Little School Girl where the trio is expanded with saxophone from brother Edgar, even if Winter’s voice is not particularly strong. He makes up for this with cracking guitar work that energises pretty much every track on the album. The guitar is usually electric, but there are some fine acoustic pieces as…

The hi-fi industry lives on unwritten rules. One of the most enduring is the notion that if you want extensive functionality, your box count is likely to increase. Another is that if you want large amounts of power, the physical size of your system will also have to go up. Acceptance of these two statements is nigh on absolute, and has been for years. Almost as durable is the notion that big sounding speakers must be big themselves. What then, are we to make of this system? Here we have three boxes that offer extensive functionality and a Herculean power output, yet collectively they could easily occupy one shelf of a conventional hi-fi rack. Not quite a brace of Krells, then! They are joined by a pair of loudspeakers that…

iDeck 200 PRICE: £250 CONTACT: 01268 740580 WEBSITE: MONITORAUDIO.CO.UK AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT from a loudspeaker manufacturer, the technology selling this dock is based in the speakers. Well... sort of. In fact Monitor Audio has managed to incorporate a trick best known for its inclusion in Bang and Olufsen’s top models: automatic frequency-response alignment. This accounts for the rather unsettling habit the unit has, when you switch it on at the mains (not from standby), of emitting a few low-frequency buzzes. This is what MA dubs ‘Automatic Position Correction’ and it’s intended to compensate for the unknown inherent in the highly random positions in which any dock is likely to find itself. At the analogue end of things, the speakers use high-tech cone materials The iDeck is a solidly-built item,…

The Logitech Squeezebox Touch has been with us for a couple of years now. For those who have yet to stretch to pricey premium streaming units, it has been well received as an excellent-sounding network transport to dabble with. Dixons are currently knocking them out for £200, nearly a third off! With no new Squeezebox product announcements from Logitech at CES this year, it remains to be seen if they will ever reintroduce a high-end device to follow the much-missed Transporter. But in the meantime, the Squeeze-loving community continue to embrace the stock device, and tweak with both hardware and software mods to their hearts’ content. It’s an excellent introduction to the world of streamed music, and one that’s highly tweakable too. Before one leaps to these never-ending measures, however,…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Musical Fidelity M1 PWR ORIGIN: UK/Taiwan TYPE: power amplifier WEIGHT: 3.9kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 220x100x315mm FEATURES: • unbalanced RCA phono inputs • RCA loop output • switchable bridgable operation • power: 90v to 250v AC 50/60Hz DISTRIBUTOR: Musical Fidelity TELEPHONE: 0208 900 2866 WEBSITE: musicalfidelity.com Class D amplification has been around for donkeys’ years – it’s not, as some suggest, a recent phenomenon. Indeed, the benefits are well known; in a world of rising energy prices it’s extremely efficient, drinking very little power and producing negligible heat. In turn, this means relatively high amounts of power can be obtained in fairly small spaces. Trouble is, the sound quality of Class D amplifiers has been patchy; more miss than hit until quite recently. This has allowed a sort of ‘hi-fi…

rDAC £300 DETAILS ORIGIN: UK TYPE: DAC WEIGHT: 1.2kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 160x40x111mm FEATURES: • Wolfson WM8741 DAC chip • coaxial digital input • optical digital input • asychronous USB input • 1 pair RCA line outputs • offboard power supply DISTRIBUTOR: Arcam TELEPHONE: 01223 203200 WEBSITE: arcam.co.uk This DAC gives you a lot for the money, despite being so modestly proportioned. Seemingly hewn from a solid block of aluminium, its build quality is something that would shame many products at five times the price, and the styling and ergonomics are superb, too. A single central source selector works in conjunction with a bank of LEDs, which glow different colours to denote whether there’s a source locked on or not. Round the back, a single pair of RCA phono line outs…

DAC-150 £545 DETAILS ORIGIN: UK TYPE: DAC preamp WEIGHT: 2.6kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 190x72x335mm FEATURES: • Crystal CS4396 DAC chip • 1 pair RCA preamp outputs • 1 pair RCA line outputs • 1 pair RCA line inputs • coaxial digital input • optical digital input • asynchronous USB digital input DISTRIBUTOR: Fidelity Audio TELEPHONE: 01302 563124 WEBSITE: fidelityaudio.co.uk This quality of build and the sheer versatility of features wasn’t expected at the modest retail price of this product. It doesn’t win prizes for style like the Arcam or finish like the Burson, but there’s no denying it’s a lot for your money. It uses a vacuum fluorescent alphanumeric display for navigation, working with a rotary knob that toggles between sub-menus. The unit can be set to run as a DAC…

Before I organised this test, there was a voice in the back of my head warning me – just how different could a bunch of cheap DACs sound? I had visions of myself and the listening panel scratching our heads as we desperately tried to pick up on infinitessimally small differences. Then I’d have to labour at the keyboard for hours, employing the very loosest journalistic licence to make it an easily readable review... Ermm, I needn’t have worried. Differences were very marked across the group, even between designs costing within £50 of one another. And neither is this a group where everyone does well; some were poor. The Burson was the biggest disappointment; it was clean and had decent texture, but was about as exciting to listen to as…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Thorens TD 2015 ORIGIN: Germany TYPE: manual turntable WEIGHT: 11kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 420x140x330mm FEATURES: • 33/45 rpm belt drive • free-standing motor • solid acrylic plinth • separate electronic speed control unit • Thorens TP92 tonearm DISTRIBUTOR: UKD TELEPHONE: 01753 652669 WEBSITE: ukd.co.uk Thorens turntables have been a favourite of the LP listener for many decades, and some of the earlier models are still coveted today. The TD 2015 and TD 2035 are the latest additions to the bloodline and are very distinctive, both built on visually arresting acrylic plinths with all working parts on display. They share many components, such as the motor, its control system and the arm (a Thorens TP 92), but the TD 2015 is the lighter and cheaper of the two. Apart from…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Swans D2.1SE ORIGIN: USA/China TYPE: 2-way standmount loudspeaker WEIGHT: 13kg DIMENSIONS: (WxHxD) 305x390x205mm FEATURES: • 5 inch plastic-coned woofer • 1 inch cloth dome tweeter • Rear bass port • Bi-wirable DISTRIBUTOR: Item Audio TELEPHONE: 01782 621225 WEBSITE: itemaudio.com HiVi Research, which produces Swans loudspeakers, offers a truly vast range of models, but has only recently started to market them in the UK. The D2.1SE seen here is a small standmount enclosure with a 5 inch plastic coned, rubber-edged woofer and a 1 inch cloth dome tweeter, both of which are designed by HiVi. Bass output is bolstered by a port at the rear and two sets of binding posts are provided for bi-wiring or bi-amping. The cabinets are made from three-quarter inch veneered fibreboard and are internally…

DETAILS PRODUCT: Naim SuperUniti ORIGIN: UK TYPE: all-in-one system WEIGHT: 12.8kg DIMENSION: (WxHxD) 432x87x314mm FEATURES: • analogue inputs: 2x RCA phono, DIN, 3.5mm minijack • analogue outputs: RCA phono line, DIN pre-out, 2x subwoofer • digital inputs: 2x coaxial, 3x Toslink, 1x mini Toslink • quoted power: 80W/8 ohms radio: internet, FM, DAB • formats: Internet radio (WMA, MP3 Streams, MMS) Playlists (M3U, PLS) MP3, M4A, AAC (up to 320 kbps, CBR/VBR), Apple Lossless (from iPod) • Windows Media – formatted content (up to 320 kbps) LPCM16/24, WAV, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, AIFF DISTRIBUTOR: Naim Audio TELEPHONE: 01722 426 600 WEBSITE: naimaudio.com As an all-in-one device that combines the functions of the SuperNait integrated amplifier with the UnitiQute network audio player, should Naim not have called this device the SuperQute? Regardless,…

One of the greatest debates to rage in audiophile circles is over blind-listening tests. Internet audio forums are full of outspoken arguments about their respective rights and wrongs, with people taking surprisingly extreme positions on either side, it seems. Either they’re the only way of ever getting an accurate assessment of a piece of kit, or a ridiculous sham with the appearance of neutrality, yet none of the practice... Why were blind tests conceived in the first place? Well, I think it’s fair to say that people have favourite brands. Certain folk like certain types of product, always have done, always will. Also, the prices and/or look of a product can sway people’s judgement, at least subconsciously. If the product listening is done blind however, no one knows what to…

I have just finished reading Le Freak, the superb autobiography of Nile Rodgers, who may have come to your attention as one of the creative musical forces behind the hugely popular seventies disco band Chic, and latterly as a highly successful record producer. I had known most of his musical output prior to reading the book and although definitely a fan was a little cautious, as having just recovered from the brilliant Life by Keith Richards, and still reeling from the sheer decadence of The Dirt by Motley Crüe, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to absorb more outré celebrity stories segued between tales of classic albums. Fortunately, if you are prepared for a good read and even if you are familiar with the music, possibly little can prepare…

This might sound a little simplistic, but it’s not so wide of the mark. There are two ways to survive in the audio industry – an easy one and a not-so-easy one... The former is simple; catch on quickly to what customers appear to want and give it to them fast. Don’t obsess on the quality, it’s all about the feature count. And fancy adverts and sharp-suited PRs don’t come cheap, so best save a few bob on making the kit in the most inexpensive way possible. Follow the fashion of the moment and the audio market is there for the taking – or so the theory goes! The latter is a tad more tricky. Indeed it’s not recommended for those after instant returns on their investment. Design things that…

3.0/5.0 Eagle Vision DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, LPCM 2.0 LA WOMAN was the Doors’ last album and for many their best. It was certainly the most mature and bluesy work that they produced and its standout track Riders On The Storm has proved almost as enduring as Light My Fire. As this documentary reveals, it was made not in a professional recording studio but in engineer Bruce Botnick’s rehearsal studio, a familiar place to the band and one where they could relax and focus on the music. This film features input from the surviving members of the band, as well as from Botnick and others involved at the time. It reminds you just how good the songs on this album are and reveals that the band had…

rCube PRICE: £349 CONTACT: 01223 203200 WEBSITE: ARCAM.CO.UK SHAPED AS YOU’D EXPECT from the name, the rCube measures just 20cm each way and as such may come across as a little more prosaic on a dealer’s shelf than some of the competition, but it’s certainly very practical. It’s quite heavy, thanks not least to the inclusion of a rechargeable battery, but there’s also a solidly made case-cum-speaker enclosure. A profusion of drive units hide behind three sides, while the docking connector is underneath a neat flap on the top which, when hinged open, both supports the iPod and gives access to a carrying handle. The big selling point here is arguably the wireless connectivity provided by the optional extra rWand and rWave devices. The former (£70) plugs into iPods, while…

Viso 1 PRICE: £499 CONTACT: 01279 501111 WEBSITE: NADELECTRONICS.COM LARGE AND IMPOSING, the Viso 1 features a particularly nice docking section, which clamps down on the top of the iPod for best support and also allows it to be rotated through 90 degrees, if you prefer the screen laid out that way. That’s nifty, but the significant distinguishing feature here is the inclusion of Bluetooth wireless technology with APT-X enhanced audio coding, the highest quality audio transmission available via Bluetooth. No, it’s not lossless, but it’s a lot better than standard Bluetooth and allows wireless connection of all kinds of music-playing phones and tablet computers, not just Apple but Android and Windows too. The Viso 1 is large, particularly in the height direction, and does tend to loom a bit…

TELLURIUM Q IRIDIUM POWER A FAMOUS NAME HAS DESIGNED this company’s first ever power amplifier; we reveal who, and how it sounds! ANTELOPE ZODIAC DAC A STRIKINGLY STYLED £1,500 digital-to-analogue convertor, but does it sound the part? REGA RP6 THE PLANAR COMES OF AGE with this, Rega’s brand new £800 turntable ALSO: £1,500 CD Blind-Listening Group Test, TEAC A-H01 amplifier/DAC, EPOS ELAN 30 floorstanding loudspeaker, and CHOICE EXTRAS accessories section! PLUS: your system buying and upgrading queries answered, all the latest hi-fi industry news, views and comment and the month’s finest new audiophile music releases!…