Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £1,900 AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 01235 511166 WEB: HENLEYDESIGNS.CO.UK MEET THE LATEST update to Roksan’s famed Radius turntable, the Radius 7. Boasting the same decoupled dual-layer plinth design as the company’s Xerxes record deck, but in a new precision-machined ‘glass-effect’ finish, the Radius 7 features a high-accuracy, temperature-compensated crystal speed control system, claimed to maintain pitch-perfect speed stability at both 33 and 45rpm. The Radius 7 comes supplied as standard with the Roksan Nima tonearm, which is a low-friction, uni-pivot design that allows any pick-up cartridge to navigate the groove accurately to a fine tolerance. Assembled by hand, the aluminium alloy arm tube boasts the same internal wiring as Roksan’s previous flagship tonearm, the Artemiz. The Nima has a recommended cartridge weight of 5-12g and the Radius 7 also has…

MENTION BRISTOL TO any serious hi-fi fan and what springs to mind is the annual Sound & Vision show held in late February where the hi-fi press, hundreds of brands and thousands of eager listeners descend on the city for a weekend of audio delight. Building on its previous years’ success and glancing at the queues of eager visitors each morning that snaked outside the host venue, the Bristol Marriott Hotel City Centre, underlines how the show continues to go from strength to strength. This year’s show was in fact its most successful since 2003, making it the second best in its 29-year history in terms of sales and attendance, and judging from the demos and kit on display, it’s easy to understand why it ranked as the best in…

DETAILS PRODUCT Pro-Ject RPM 9 Carbon ORIGIN Austria/Czech Republic TYPE Belt-drive turntable WEIGHT 16.7kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 440 x 180 x 325mm FEATURES ● 33 & 45rpm ● 9CC Evolution carbon-fibre tonearm ● Optional Ortofon Quintet Black cartridge (£400) DISTRIBUTOR Henley Designs TELEPHONE 01235 511166 WEBSITE henleydesigns.co.uk Not wishing to rest on its laurels, Austrian-based audio specialist, Pro-Ject, has introduced another model to its comprehensive line of turntables that spans an impressive range of models to suit just about every budget. The RPM 9 Carbon sits towards the upper end of the range and makes use of modern materials combined with new manufacturing processes to produce a deck with an extra-heavy, mass-loaded sub-chassis that is decoupled from its support surface using magnetic feet. The teardrop-shaped plinth is manufactured from an advanced…

Hi-Fi Choice employs the most rigorous test and measurement regime in the business. Here’s how we do it... INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER GROUP TEST LISTENING SESSIONS FOR this test are carried out in two distinct stages. First up, all six amps are plugged into an IsoTek Evo 3 Sigmas mains conditioner and connected in turn via a Chord Company Clearway RCA interconnect to an Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC (HFC 399) connected to a Melco N1A NAS drive (HFC 397) via a USB cable. This allows for level matching to be tweaked via the volume control of the amplifier and fine tuned via the GT40a to achieve a perfect level match. Q Acoustics 3020 standmount speakers (HFC 402) are used with QED XT40 speaker cable (HFC 394) and placed on Soundstyle…

DETAILS PRODUCT Arcam FMJ C49 ORIGIN UK/USA TYPE Preamplifier WEIGHT 8.7kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 433 x 171 x 410mm FEATURES ● Inputs: 6x RCAs; 1x balanced XLR ● MM phono stage DISTRIBUTOR Arcam WEBSITE arcam.co.uk DETAILS PRODUCT Arcam FMJ P49 ORIGIN UK/USA TYPE Power amplifier WEIGHT 18kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 433 x 171 x 425mm FEATURES ● Quoted power output: 2x 200W RMS (8ohm) ● Class G operation ● Inputs: 1x RCA; 1x balanced XLR DISTRIBUTOR Arcam WEBSITE arcam.co.uk In hi-fi ’s glory days back in the late seventies, it felt like there were more preamp/power amplifier combinations around than there were people to buy them. But some time around the late eighties, when everything began to downsize we saw the appearance of the ‘super integrated’ amplifier breed. Fewer people bought separate…

DETAILS PRODUCT Marantz HD-AMP1 ORIGIN Japan/China TYPE Integrated amplifier & DSD-capable DAC WEIGHT 5.8kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 304 x 107 x 352mm FEATURES ● Quoted power output: 35W (8ohm) ● 32-bit/384kHz PCM & DSD256-capable DAC ● Digital inputs: 2x optical; 1x coaxial, 1x asynchronous USB ● Analogue inputs: 2x RCA DISTRIBUTOR Marantz Europe WEBSITE marantz.co.uk Once upon a time, you could survey the shelves in your local high street hi-fi shop and choose between any one of a dozen or more amplifiers from the big Japanese brands, but the hi-fi landscape has changed. Now ranges have been pared back, and more than a few of those oncefamous names have withdrawn from the mainstream separates market. Happily, for some companies stereo remains not just their bread and butter but also a vital…

DETAILS PRODUCT Meridian Explorer2 ORIGIN UK TYPE USB DAC/headphone amp WEIGHT 50g DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 102 x 18 x 32mm FEATURES ● 24-bit/384kHz DAC chip Meridian apodising filter; 4x upsampling ● PCM up to 24/192, MQA playback ● Connections: 3.5mm headphone jack; 3.5mm line output; mini-USB B input DISTRIBUTOR Meridian Audio Ltd. TELEPHONE 01480 445678 WEBSITE meridian-audio.com Meridian’s original Explorer DAC (HFC 377), was a little out of the ordinary (not least because it was a new market sector for a traditionally high-end brand), but didn’t quite set the world alight. Perhaps its successor might have more luck. The Explorer2 could be the product that Meridian always intended the original to be – because it now supports the new MQA format. Master Quality Authenticated is essentially a way of packing hi-res…

Why does Tony ‘Iron Man’ Stark drive an Audi R8 when he could easily afford a Bugatti Veyron or, presumably, just fly everywhere? If you really need to know the answer, you’ve missed the point. You noticed. That is the point. The product placement team’s work is done. The idea of not-so-subtly slipping a recognisable brand into a movie as part of the prop landscape is almost as old as cinema itself. Serial offenders include Kellogs, Apple, Nike, Ray-Ban and Tom Cruise’s face, McDonalds… oh, the list is almost endless. Directors will claim it all adds to the authenticity but everyone knows it’s a form of advertising, sometimes so blatant it’s deeply annoying. But there is another kind of product placement that’s deliciously oblique to most but will have an…

When somebody spends their hard-earned cash on a new interconnect cable or mains lead, they naturally want to feel their investment is worthwhile. The process usually starts by allowing the upgrade to run in for an appropriate length of time and then spending a prolonged period listening and playing some familiar music. Hopefully, they start to feel reassured that they can hear some real benefits, but then ask the question “Am I fooling myself?”, so the next stage is to invite a friend or two around to listen. If all goes well, there is a general nodding of heads combined with utterances of appropriate superlatives. The initial euphoria brought on by this behaviour is short lived, however, as doubts begin to creep in – “What if my friends are just…

Opening a second store is hardly an unheard of practise in audio circles. If your business is successful in one location, it makes sense to increase the number of premises you have and make it work in another. Few dealers have been quite so ambitious as Kronos Audio Visual, however. Based out of Dungannon in County Tyrone Northern Ireland, it has chosen Uckfield in East Sussex, 500 miles away, as the site of its second store. There is a logic to this hefty distance, however. Owner David Campbell wanted to take advantage of a lack of clear rivals in the area, but still be placed centrally enough to be accessible for customers willing to travel. The second decision is to make Kronos a dealer worth seeking out. As well as…

The contributors to 1971’s boundary-blurring Shirley Collins & The Albion Country Band LP No Roses not only reads like a Who’s Who of the sixties traditional music revival, but also includes folk-rock innovators, avant-garde jazz improvisers and early music scholars. Nearly 30 diverse musicians make up The Albion Country Band, helping to create the defining statement of electric folk – from ex- and current members of Fairport Convention, including Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol and Ashley Hutchings, to saxophonist Lol Coxhill and Mike and Lal of vocal group The Watersons. Indeed, No Roses is comparable to the informal sessions that birthed the latter duo’s self-penned collection of songs that make up the classic Bright Phoebus (1972) – which also features assorted Fairports. In a determinedly bold move for a folk album,…

PRICE: £90 for 1m TELEPHONE: 01539 797300 WEBSITE: russandrews.com DETAILS PRODUCT Kimber Kable DV-30 Digital Interconnect ORIGIN USA FEATURES Solid copper central conductor; dual shielding; FEP foam dielectric DISTRIBUTOR Russ Andrews THIS 75OHM RG6 cable features a solid 18AWG copper central conductor, which is insulated with a low-loss fluorocarbon (FEP) foam dielectric. This is then screened by an aluminium and Mylar foil shield and covered by a tin-plated copper braid. The cable is finally finished off with a yellow FEP sheath and directionality is indicated by an arrow printed on the black heatshrink label. The cable is available in a variety of lengths from 0.5m to 5m. Ultraplate phono connectors are fitted as standard and gold-plated BNC connectors are also available as an option. The phono plugs have been soldered…

PRICE: £65 TELEPHONE: 07908 056978 WEBSITE: mcru.co.uk DETAILS PRODUCT MCRU No.12 Digital Cable ORIGIN UK FEATURES Dual screened silver-plated OFC conductor; PE foam dielectric; rhodiumplated and goldplated RCA plugs DISTRIBUTOR MCRU THE CENTRAL CONDUCTOR of the No.12 is manufactured from silver-plated oxygen-free copper with a quoted attenuation of 0.6dB per 100m at 1.0MHz and 7.1dB per 100m at 100MHz (the same as the Supra cable). The dielectric used is PE foam and this is double shielded. The inner braid is made from silver-plated OFC and the outer is plain old oxygen-free copper. This gives a 75ohm cable with a quoted capacitance of 58pF/m and a propagation velocity of 78 percent of the speed of light. The twin-shield design provides good noise protection from external sources. The cable is finished off…

I MUST CONFESS to being rather surprised by the diminutive dimensions of Tagent’s Ampster BT integrated amplifier. How can a box that measures only 190 x 52 x 139mm (WxHxD) and weighing 1.85kg manage to deliver a claimed 50W per channel into a 4ohm load? Aside from its impressive power output specs, the rear panel is fitted with speaker binding posts that will accept 4mm banana plugs. There are two line-level inputs – one is via a pair of standard RCA phono sockets while the other is a 3.5mm stereo jack socket, and there’s another RCA phono socket for connecting an external subwoofer. Digital inputs are available as optical Toslink for connecting an external DAC or CD player as well as Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity – the BT bit of the…

DETAILS PRICE £300 TELEPHONE 01279 501111 WEBSITE grado.co.uk OUR VERDICT WHILE IT IS perhaps best known as a manufacturer of full-size headphones, Grado has also been producing earphones for some time now. The longstanding GR8 and GR10 models have gained an ‘e’ suffix in keeping with the rest of the range. In practise, for the GR8, the changes aren’t so much a series of improvements as a wholesale lifting of the most important part of the original GR10. Unlike most rivals, Grado doesn’t use a conventional balanced armature driver for its earphones. These are detailed and extremely fast-sounding devices, but can struggle to reproduce the level and depth of bass that a conventional dynamic driver can achieve. Grado instead uses a moving armature, which takes the basic operating principles of…

The Record Album 8 Terminus Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3PD 01273 323853 therecordalbum.com A legend among record shops, The Record Album originally opened in the forties. George Ginn, who was in the RAF at the time, took it over in 1958 and since then has kept a continuous stock of top-condition records – there’s no bargain-bin filler here, and the grading is meticulous. Though known as a specialist in soundtrack LPs, there’s a wide selection of styles, genres and eras, with an emphasis on original pressings. Phil’s initial conversation opener with George that we’re writing an article is met with a short and curt response, but once he realises he’s not here to just take a photo and leave, he becomes amenably expansive, and shows us his prized scrapbook…

PRICE: £499–£1,250 AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 01353 721089 WEB: DYNAUDIO.COM WE'RE SEEING A growing number of brands introducing new or revised entry-level speaker lines, proving that there's growing interest in the sector attracting new audiences looking to take the first steps along the hi-fi path. It's a healthy state of affairs, and the plentiful choice of models on offer ensures there's lots of competition, meaning better-quality products and lower prices for everyone. Dynaudio is the latest loudspeaker maker to join this increasingly popular sector with the introduction of its Emit entry-level series. The new range officially launched at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show back in February – see our Show Report starting on page 10 – with the four-strong range promising high-level performance at affordable prices, according to the Danish manufacturer. Despite…

IN 2016, WIRELESS loudspeakers are the big new thing. After all, we’ve all got Bluetooth and wi-fi -equipped smartphones, so why not cut out the middle man and render traditional separates obsolete? Well, one reason is that these ‘smart solutions’ simply don’t sound as good as traditional separates components. If you want the best sound per pound, you will still need to go the conventional route with an integrated amplifier at the heart of your system. The variety of formats we’re using to play music shows no signs of resolving itself just at the moment. We have streamers vying for the top spot, while the CD player battles on – fighting a valiant rear-guard action – and vinyl continues to lure in new and returning fans of the black stuff…

DETAILS PRODUCT Yamaha A-S301 ORIGIN Japan/China TYPE Integrated amplifier WEIGHT 9kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 435 x 151 x 387mm FEATURES ● Quoted power output: 2x 60W (8ohm) ● Inputs: 3x RCAs; 2x tape loops; 1x optical; 1x coaxial digital ● MM phono stage ● Bypassable tone controls DISTRIBUTOR Yamaha UK TELEPHONE 01908 366700 WEBSITE uk.yamaha.com/en HOME HUB The A-S301 offers extensive functionality and the good news is that the performance of these various features is impressive too. The digital inputs have a clean and smooth sound and there are no issues sending sample rates up to 24-bit/192kHz. The headphone output has plenty of gain and keeps the same potent and lively sound that is present via the speaker outputs. The phono stage can’t quite match that of the Rotel and Cambridge…

DETAILS PRODUCT Edwards Audio TT2SE ORIGIN UK TYPE Belt-drive turntable WEIGHT 6.5kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 465 x 390 x 120mm FEATURES ● 33 & 45rpm ● Edwards Audio TA202 tonearm DISTRIBUTOR Talk Electronics TELEPHONE 01344 844 204 WEBSITE talkelectronics.com The original TT2 from Edwards Audio – an offshoot of Talk Electronics – was essentially a modified OEM design made for low cost, ease of use and mass appeal for vinyl fans going back to black and newbies alike. Now though, it sports some meaningful tweaks, which give it extra character of its own. The SE version offers a number of revisions; for example the original had a basic painted MDF plinth, whereas the Special Edition gets a 25mm full-gloss finished affair that’s a big improvement in looks and feel – and…

When its founder John Michell passed away 12 years ago, many in the hi-fi industry feared that Michell Engineering wouldn’t be able to survive the loss of this uniquely talented man. However, the family business rallied round, resisted invitations to sell up, and put John’s son-in-law Steve Rowland into the hot seat. Since then, the vinyl revival has given the company a new lease of life, new markets, and – finally – a new product. I spoke to Steve, and his son-in-law Jonathan Nye, in the office of Michell’s venerable Borehamwood factory. DP: How long has Michell Engineering been making turntables now? SR: 44 years. Things kicked off in 1972 a proper. John always used to say we are the longest-established turntable maker in the United Kingdom, so yeah, I…

A couple of years ago, I found himself in the opulent surroundings of the Meridian factory in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. I’ve visited manufacturers all over the world over the years, but this was impressive by any standards – closer to what you’d expect visiting a specialist sports car company, for example. As well as viewing the impressive production facilities and interviewing Bob Stuart and Allan Boothroyd, I was taken into Bob’s ‘lair’ and played some music. As you’d expect, it sounded excellent. “We’ll have a major announcement in a few months”, he intimated with ill-concealed enthusiasm. What it turns out he was dying to tell me was that Meridian was about to launch Master Quality Authenticated, or MQA. Bob was only able to give vague hints, but by the time the…

Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself thinking rather too often than is healthy about mortality. It wasn’t just David Bowie and the realisation that he was only a few years older than me when he died. He was followed by Glenn Frey of the Eagles and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane, meaning that in the space of a fortnight we had lost a trinity of artists that framed my youth and whose music will be forever associated with the heady, freewheeling spirit of baby boomer optimism and a restless desire to expand our horizons. We were blessed to have been young when such artists were changing the world and it was our good fortune to have been able to see them on stage in their prime. It was…

1 YBA DESIGN DAC WITH DSD £800 2 YBA DESIGN CD PLAYER £900 3 YBA DESIGN RECEIVER £950 4 TAGA HARMONY PLATINUM F-60 SPEAKERS £799 MAINS CABLES BY TITAN AUDIO 2X TYCO AT £75 EACH TITAN AUDIO HELIOS £150 INTERCONNECTS BY ADVANCE ACOUSTICS RCA DIGITAL £80 YBA GLASS RCA £250 YBA GLASS SPEAKER CABLE 2X 2.7M £250 TOTAL £4,329 THIS IMPRESSIVELY BIJOU system combines French electronics with Polish loudspeakers for a handsome CD-based setup that is a little different from the norm. ‘Being a little different’ could be a strapline for YBA if the company was minded to use one. The brainchild of Yves-Bernard André, it produces a variety of components of which the Design series is the most affordable. The core of the system is the Design Receiver. This…

Joining the likes of cult UK labels Neon, Deram and Bronze Records in mining the late sixties’ progressive music goldmine was Pegasus, soon shortening its name to Peg. Its tenure was short – only active between 1969-1972 and releasing just 14 LPs – but its roster was an ambitious sweep of underground sounds, which included hard rock (Nazareth), keyboard-heavy prog (Atomic Rooster), fusion (Ricotti & Albuquerque), traditional music legends (Shirley Collins, Dave Swarbrick and Martin Carthy), folk-rock (Steeleye Span) and acid-folk (Fuchsia). Pegasus set out its stall with a 7in sampler flexi featuring excerpts from the first four LPs and an instantly identifiable logo. Just like Vertigo, Harvest and Mushroom, its label design – the winged horse from Greek myth in full flight – was no less iconic than its…

Formed in 1969, Steeleye Span’s first lineup was a veritable supergroup, boasting Tim Hart and Maddy Prior as well as Terry (Sweeney’s Men) and Gay Woods. The latter duo left the group after debut album Hark! The Village Wait to be replaced with revered folk singer and guitarist Martin Carthy for follow-up LP Please To See The King. The ensemble’s third album, Ten Man Mop, Or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again is a mixture of pure folk music and electric reinvention – and the last Steeleye Span album to feature founder Hutchings, now Mr Shirley Collins and helping to orchestrate her stone-cold classic No Roses LP. In its Pegasus issue, Ten Man Mop in textured gatefold sleeve and expansive booklet was paid for by the band and lost money on…

CD Stax/Caroline THERE’S A CERTAIN kind of American roots-rock act that sells millions of records all over the world, but to whom British audiences for some inexplicable reason remain stubbornly indiff erent. The Wallflowers, the Dave Matthews Band and Hootie & The Blow Fish are three that come to mind who have been platinum sellers just about everywhere except the UK. Ben Harper is another. In a career lasting more than 20 years, he’s released a dozen fine albums which have topped charts all over the world from Europe to Australia and made him a major star in America, where he has garnered three Grammy awards. Yet in Britain he has no more than a dedicated cult-following. Quite why is a mystery, not least because Harper’s music has an obvious aff…

PRICE: £55 for 1m TELEPHONE: 07711 939519 WEBSITE: supracables.co.uk DETAILS PRODUCT Supra Trico ORIGIN Sweden FEATURES Dual screened silver-plated conductor; PE foam dielectric ; 24K goldplated RCA plugs DISTRIBUTOR Wavelength Distribution THE PALE BLUE Trico has a very low capacitance rating of only 58pF per metre with the central conductor being made from seven 0.36mm silver-plated oxygen-free copper (OFC) wires to enhance the highfrequency properties of the cable and to ensure its flexibility. It has the correct 75ohm characteristic impedance and a low attenuation of 0.6dB per 100m at 1.0MHz and 7.1dB per 100m at 100MHz. The cable uses a polyethylene (PE) foam dielectric and all this adds up to a propagation velocity of 78 percent of the speed of light, according to Supra. Trico is double shielded, with an…

DETAILS PRICE £87 TELEPHONE 02380 578877 WEBSITE originlive.com OUR VERDICT REGA TONEARMS HAVE long held a cult status for their elegant design and strong musical ability, but Origin Live felt there was more performance to be had. This simple structural modification replaces the rear-end stub and counterweight on the tonearms of Rega models from the RB250 onwards. The structural upgrade is available as a kit or you can post your arm to Origin Live. I opt for the DIY kit. Removing the existing stub end requires a gentle twist with some pliers or molegrips before I can unscrew it by hand. Next, I screw in a small threaded insert, until it sits c1.5mm inside the Rega armtube. Then I attach the new rear stub by gently tightening a bolt through…

Resident 28 Kensington Gardens, North Laine, Brighton, BN1 4AL 01273 606312 resident-music.com Arguably one of the greatest record shop success stories of the 21st century, Nat and Derry asked for a bank loan to set up Resident in Brighton’s vibrant North Laine in 2001 and were told by their bank manager – and most of their friends – that they were mad. Fast-forward 14 years and they’ve made the shop floor space 50 percent bigger and just received their hat trick of Independent Record Retailer Of The Year awards. Resident is always bustling, and the policy of hiring only friendly and knowledgeable staff has paid off over time, and with it renown for a cheerful helpfulness however awkward the customer. “Clean, spacious and wide-ranging, it’s everything that HMV so sorely…

As one of our favourite digital-toanalogue-converters since its launch in 2011, Audiolab’s M-DAC has received plenty of plaudits for its outstanding performance, features, upgradeability and build, and naturally went on to scoop a Hi-Fi Choice product of the year award back in 2012 (HFC 366). Described as a premium digital preamp with a Class A output stage and a high-quality headphone amplifier, the most immediate diff erence with the new M-DAC+ is the larger chassis measuring 247 x 114 x 292 (WxHxD), and the control layout with the OLED display window now centrally positioned and flanked by two rotary dials replacing the buttons found on the M-DAC – one to adjust volume and the other to select menu options. The diff erences aren’t merely cosmetic, states Audiolab, and internal enhancements…

t’s not hard to see why mini- and micro-systems have long been so popular: they provide a simple, stylish and compact way to deliver all your home entertainment needs, but by nature compromising on audio quality. Now Denon has drawn together all the expertise it has developed over more than a century to create the Design Series: taking ‘lifestyle audio’ to the next level, it’s Combining all the performance of its full-size audio components with a sleek, compact form perfect for modern living, the Design Series means you can have room-filling sound without filling the room with hi-fi equipment. Using the latest digital audio technology, Denon has managed to take the familiar building-blocks of the home audio system, the CD player and the amplifier, and not only make them smaller…

DETAILS PRODUCT Cambridge Audio Topaz SR10 ORIGIN UK/China TYPE Integrated amplifier with AM/FM tuner WEIGHT 8.1kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 430 x 110 x 340mm FEATURES ● Quoted power output: 2x 85W (8ohm) ● Inputs: 3x RCAs; 1x 3.5mm mini-jack ● MM phono stage ● FM/AM tuner DISTRIBUTOR Richer Sounds TELEPHONE 0207 9402200 WEBSITE cambridgeaudio.com A silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine, Topaz is the monicker that Cambridge Audio has given to it’s affordable range of components that sit just below its CX range. The SR10 is one of two stereo receivers in the lineup and as well as being an amplifier, it’s also an FM/AM tuner. Radio or not, the Topaz is the most powerful amp in the group with 85W claimed into an 8ohm load. It is also the only…

DETAILS PRODUCT Onkyo A-9010 (UK) ORIGIN Japan/China TYPE Integrated amplifier WEIGHT 6.5kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 435 x 130 x 333mm FEATURES ● Quoted power output: 2x 44W (8ohm) ● Inputs: 4x RCAs; 1x 3.5mm mini-jack ● MM phono stage DISTRIBUTOR Onkyo UK TELEPHONE 08712 001996 WEBSITE uk.onkyo.com GROOVE RIDER As the strongest-performing amp in the group at the lowest price, the Onkyo doesn’t have to work as hard to justify its relatively Spartan specification. The headphone socket produces a good – if not great – performance with the Beyerdynamic T 70 headphones (HFC 361) although it doesn’t feel as accomplished as the NAD. The phono stage does a reasonable job of sounding OK without tipping over into greatness. Noise levels are commendably low, but gain is a little limited and it…

Making changes to your system for reasons not entirely aimed at improving its sound quality can sometimes bring about unexpected results. A few years back a good friend of mine who’s also passionate about hi-fi was almost at breaking point (both mentally and financially) after spending the best part of a decade seeking the right speaker for his system, only to stumble across audio nirvana when installing his separates rig in an adjacent room while having his listening room’s carpet replaced. Despite the two rooms being of similar proportions and furnishings, the difference in bass quality and imaging between the two was immense. His system, including his speakers – which up to that point were destined for the classifieds – has remained in its new location ever since, with his…

The seventies was a fascinating period – both unerringly dreadful and really rather exotic at the same time. The music was great – whether it was prog rock or punk – and it soundtracked a massive audio electronics boom, the likes of which had never been seen before. The decade was a celebration of space travel, science fiction and futurism – a sense that humankind was boldly going places we had never been before. Star Wars, Space 1999 and Doctor Who set the tone for an edgy brave new world. On our roads, bright cars zoomed by, playing mix tapes recorded on that era’s favourite format – Compact Cassette. Indeed, the decade just would not have been the same without this most treasurable type of tape. True, the format had…

Propelled into the spotlight with one of the biggest hit 45s of 1967, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s Fire, pianist Vincent Crane took to fame badly. Experiencing a breakdown on the group’s first American tour, he and drummer Carl Palmer formed Atomic Rooster in 1969. The group, named after the Chinese calendar year in which they formed, quickly established themselves as a virtuoso live proposition. Like Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Crane played organ and bass pedals simultaneously, the one constant in a shifting lineup. The group signed to B&C, added John Du Cann (guitar/vocals) from cult acid-rockers Andromdeda, released their eponymous debut… and lost Carl Palmer to prog supergroup ELP. With Paul Hammond now on the drum stool, Death Walks Behind You followed the same year and scored…

No label of the seventies was complete without its tough-nut, axe-punishing, long-haired rockers, and Pegasus is no exception. Just like the better heavy groups of the age – Zeppelin, Purple, Uriah Heep et al – Scottish rockers Nazareth use plenty of light and shade on 1971’s eponymous debut album. Nazareth is a surprising LP that’s at odds with the band’s later, rawer records, such as piledriving Hair Of The Dog – even Dan McCafferty’s sandpaper larynx sounds like a different instrument here. Opener Witchdoctor Woman sets the scene with crunchy fuzz-guitar riffs aplenty, but there’s also room for country pedal steel, roadhouse piano, blues and lush orchestration. The album standout is a ballsy, propulsive cover of Bonnie Dobson’s classic Morning Dew – which is also covered by the Grateful Dead,…

PRICE: £100 for 1m TELEPHONE: 01980 625700 WEBSITE: chord.co.uk DETAILS PRODUCT The Chord Company Clearway Digital ORIGIN UK FEATURES Oxygen-free solid copper central conductor with polyethylene insulation; silverplated VEE 3 phono plugs DISTRIBUTOR The Chord Company THE CLEARWAY DIGITAL cable has been designed around The Chord Company’s flagship Sarum Super ARAY Digital interconnect, although the Clearway costs considerably less. It uses the company’s ARAY conductor design to reduce both interference and internal reflections to maintain a constant characteristic impedance. The solid oxygen-free copper conductor is insulated with a gas-foamed polyethylene insulation and screened by a high-density braided copper shield. The outer blue jacket seals and protects the signal conductor from interference. Terminator too Standard terminations are Chord’s direct silver-plated VEE 3 RCA plugs, but silver-plated BNCs or a 3.5mm mono…

IN CASE YOU haven’t noticed, wireless speakers are the big thing at the moment, popular with smart phone and tablet users who enjoy streaming music from their portable devices directly to a speaker. Californian brand Riva Audio is the new kid on the Bluetooth block with the Turbo X, which goes some way to set itself apart from the competition by offering features that give it greater versatility than most of the crowd. The compact mobile speaker system measures 230 x 105 x 89mm (WxHxD) and weighs 1.6kg and can easily be moved from room to room thanks to its built-in rechargeable battery, claimed to give around 26 hours music play under optimal conditions – there’s a handy battery icon to indicate remaining charge. Other nice touches are that it…

DETAILS PRICE £55 for 0.5m TELEPHONE 01539 797300 WEBSITE russandrews.com OUR VERDICT AT THE HEART of the GQ-24 cable from Russ Andrews is a four-wire gyroquadratic braid encased in a flexible sleeving that has been designed for superior RFI cancellation. Besides the nickel-plated 3.5mm jack at the player end of the cable, there’s a choice of matching mini jack or nickel-plated phono connectors at the equipment end. The GQ-24 is available in lengths of 0.5m, 1m and 1.5m. Turn it down Obviously, using the music player’s headphone output socket will mean that the volume control on the player will also have an affect on the signal level that is fed to the other system. It’s important not to be tempted to simply set it at maximum level, as it may…

East Sussex resident Phil Macy, owner of bespoke lathe-cutting service 3.45RPM (HFC 397) is almost overqualified to guide Hi-Fi Choice around Brighton’s multitudinous vinyl outlets. By his own admission, he “left school with the sole ambition of working in a secondhand record shop”, a goal achieved with a decade’s worth of front-line service in one of London’s best-known used stores in the nineties, during which time he co-founded the Victory Garden record label, putting out Hot Chip’s first release. By 2002, he had relocated to the South coast and started Put It On promotions, organising 300+ events in Brighton over a 12-year period, eventually going into business as 3.45RPM in 2014. As a prog-obsessed teen growing up in the eighties, Phil bought vinyl exclusively, and it wasn’t until the late…

If you weren’t aware of the vinyl revolution that’s been going on over the last 18 months or so, you probably shouldn’t be reading these pages. But HFC is anything but exclusive, so for those that haven’t been paying attention or weren’t aware, we’ll go over the details just one more time. Vinyl is back and it’s more popular than its been for a very long time. The result is that everyone from youngsters wanting to experience music on something other than their phones to those that put their record collections in the loft 20 years ago are realising the real power of the black stuff. Vinyl’s popularity has grown beyond all expectations to the point where music stores are once again selling records (imagine that!) and you can now…