Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Hi-Fi Choice

THE EXTRAORDINARY GOLD Phantom from Devialet – reviewed on p16 – potently suggests one possible direction for the evolution of the loudspeaker and, indeed, highperformance hi-fi . Whether it turns out to be a trailblazer or a tangent too far, it surely makes the skyline of passive floorstanders lined up here look positively antediluvian. And yet, these seldom less than conspicuous towers fashioned from design principles and tech that reaches back to the dawn of domestic audio still, for many, represent the very best hi-fi has to offer. The final link in a chain of traditionally configured separates that allows the magic to happen. Traditional values At a fundamental level, a welldesigned floorstander is the perfect blend of practicality and performance. It takes up no more floor space than a…

Back in 1984 a small, fledgling audio brand launched the Cyrus One – a stylish integrated amp that sought to re-write the rulebook and deliver exceptional value and performance for consumers putting together a quality system on a budget. The eighties may be back in vogue, but the new Cyrus ONE is clearly a 21st-century product that hopes to achieve exactly the same goal. This ONE sports a new look for the brand. The deep, half-width ‘shoebox’ proportions are recognisably Cyrus, but gone is the cast magnesium alloy casework, replaced by a sharp-edged acrylic fascia and folded aluminium bodywork. It’s not as bombproof as previous designs, but feels sturdy enough. On the front, an on/off button and 6.35mm headphone output are joined by two rubberised rotary controls for source selection…

The trouble with ‘computer audio’ compared with the simple process of dropping a CD into a drawer or placing a record on a platter, is that to many it seems an awful lot of faff before you can just tap an icon on a screen and have music issue forth into the room. Yes, it’s possible to add a very sophisticated streaming setup to an existing hi-fi , not to mention extending music all around the house if you want – but you really need to know what you’re doing. Not surprisingly, then, there’s been a rash of solutions, from the likes of Sonos (HFC 405) and Denon’s HEOS system (HFC 395) to Apple AirPlay and Google’s Chromecast. And now 90-year-old German-based speaker company ELAC is getting in on the…

There is no correct way to design a speaker, but given that the challenge is to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, you can be sure that a heavy transducer will not be good at its job. Like comparing a Lotus Elise to a Range Rover, one starts and stops very rapidly thanks to its lightness, the other does not. What’s needed is a way to move air that’s ultra light and super stiff, so none of the signal is lost by the driver flexing. The nearer a speaker gets to this ideal, the greater its time and frequency domain performance. The further away it is, the less natural it sounds, and the more coloured. Speaker enclosures play a vital role too, but everything starts with the driver. On…

You Want It Darker CD Columbia Album Of The Month OVER A CAREER spanning half a century, the subject matter of Leonard Cohen’s work has been the human condition in all its difficult, messy and contradictory manifestations. This has inevitably led him into some dark places and the combination of his mournful voice and the fatalism of his lyrics has provided a compelling liturgy for the lonely and lovelorn, the anguished and angst ridden. But then there are what Cohen once called “the cracks where the light gets in”. Despite his image as a purveyor of gloom and doom, the inherent stoicism of his songs has always been laced not only with a deep romanticism, but also leavened by some wickedly black humour and a razor-sharp wit. At the age…

AS RECORDS ARE very much a physical recording medium, it stands to reason that, of all the items in your system, your turntable is probably the most sensitive to unwanted vibrations. As a result, what you use to stand your record deck on is of paramount importance as it has to effectively isolate the turntable from external vibrations and also dampen out vibrations generated by the deck itself. The stand is made from a proprietary material called Torlyte, which is constructed from wood and is both solid and light. It’s produced from individually fabricated grids and skins in a number of machined and manual operations and the result is a honeycomb-like internal structure that has excellent internal damping and also provides isolation between the equipment placed on top and the…

PRICE: £1,600-£3,800 AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 01722 426600 WEB:NAIMAUDIO.COM WHEN NAIM LAUNCHED the original Uniti all-in-one system in 2009, it represented a sea change to the design philosophy of the Salisbury-based brand. In recent years, Naim has expanded the Uniti range and announced the biggest change so far with the introduction of four all-new models that previewed at the The Indulgence Show held in Hammersmith, London in October. The new lineup comprises the Uniti Atom (£1,600) – claiming 2x 40W RMS into 8ohm, Uniti Core server (£1,650), Uniti Star (£2,999) – claiming 2x 70W into 8ohm, and Uniti Nova (£3,800) – claiming 2x 80W RMS into 8ohm. All are built around new software and offer streaming support for 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD128 playback. The casework design takes its styling cues from…

A PLEASINGLY DIVERSE group, this, with a good spread of sizes (that in the case of the DALI and Totem models looks like David versus Goliath), driver technologies and overall design approaches. Some of my previous Group Tests have been headache-inducingly difficult to call but, thanks to a robust difference of opinion between the brands about how a £2k floorstander should sound, this is an easier one to score. It’s hard to resist the temptation to form a mental picture of the way things will turn out, but in no way would I have predicted this outcome, though. After winning the standmount GT so convincingly in HFC 408, Quadral’s sixth place here is a real shock. The thing is, the Platinum M40 is a great speaker with some fine qualities…

Such is the diversification of functionality attached to integrated amplifiers in recent years, that a valve amplifier fitted with a selection of digital inputs is no longer something that is truly surprising. Quad has an approach to the vacuum tube that is measured by the fact that much of its know-how has been in production in one form or another for decades. The ancestry of the VA-One is a little fresher than the company’s more established tube designs, and externally it shares a great deal with its PA-One headphone amplifier. Internally, the two units are rather different. Gone is the compliment of 66SL7, 6SN7 and EZ81 valves used in the headphone amp and instead in its place, the VA-One opts for a quartet of EL84 power pentodes, which are partnered…

Over a year has passed since Yamaha’s deeply ambitious MusicCast multi-room series arrived, and the company has been true to its word at the launch and kept its foot on the gas expanding and augmenting the range. The NX-N500 is one of the more recent arrivals into the MusicCast family and also one of the most distinctive both in terms of functionality and appearance. This wireless active speaker system comprises a pair of standmount speakers, one of which contains an extensive selection of inputs. It is able to play hi-res PCM streams up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD 5.6MHz, as well as access Spotify Connect, Juke and Napster streaming services, internet radio and AirPlay. This can be done via wired or wireless connections. The NX-N500 can additionally connect via aptX Bluetooth,…

I love visiting consumer technology shows of all kinds. There's nothing quite like being among the first to experience the latest developments in the frenetic world of audio/visual tech. To be able to see firsthand cutting-edge innovations as they're introduced to an expectant crowd at expos around the world is a real privilege. Of course, HFC has attended many such events over the years, always on the hunt for the best-sounding audio electronics, loudspeakers and new playback formats to share with eager readers in our regular show reports and news pages. I have personally shed a considerable amount of shoe leather attending many such events, walking the miles of corridors and vast open floorspaces to visit audio brands showcasing the hottest new products at some of the greatest technology showcases,…

There’s something really special about attending a live concert. It’s not just the environment, the sense of occasion, or the opportunity to see the performers. For me, it’s all about the performance and the atmosphere. Obviously, the quality of the sound and the ability to hear instruments live is a key issue, but there is also that extra element of excitement that performers generate knowing that duff notes can’t be edited out during a live gig. I believe that it is a combination of all these factors that makes live shows so appealing. So is it possible to capture all of this in a recording? Well, actually, yes it is, and the technology for achieving this has been around for as long as we’ve had the ability to record sound.…

The Welsh borders contain some of the most bucolic countryside in Britain, but perhaps aren’t the first place you’d associate with high-end hi-fi . Nonetheless, Ceritech Audio has been steadily carving out a reputation for delivering distinctive systems at a variety of price points. Husband and wife Simon and Sam Jackson started the business – named after their daughter – in 2000 and have spent some years operating firstly out of a domestic premises followed by a high street location in nearby Monmouth. They moved to their present out-oftown location 18 months ago. Ceritech offers custom install and multi-channel equipment in addition to two-channel, but first and foremost regards itself as a stereo dealer. The brand portfolio has been assembled with a view to combining a selection of well-known makes…

Hot on the heels of David Bowie’s expansive Who Can I Be Now? Pink Floyd release The Early Years: 1965-1972 on 11 November. This deluxe 27-disc boxset is the last word in lavish, comprising seven book-style packages, stuffed with a treasure trove of never-before-released – or never bootlegged – material. Floyd fans are hoping that the sound quality of this incredible collection will justify the smashing of a few (flying) piggy banks: the completist’s dream can be pre-ordered for around £375. The 130-track set contains BBC sessions, TV recordings, outtakes and demos, and over 12+ hours of audio – as well as more than 15 hours of video. There are 20 previously unavailable songs – including the legendary Vegetable Man and multiple takes of In The Beechwoods, newly mixed for…

The National Audio Show kicks off the autumn hi-fi show season at Whittlebury Hall, near Silverstone in mid-September, and the timely autumn drizzle proves to be exactly the right sort of weather for driving hi-fi fans indoors to explore some 120 brands across 59 exhibitors. With a good balance of starter systems and budget accessories all the way up to high-end systems that your bank manager would prefer you didn’t listen to, there is something for everyone at this year’s show. New brands Code Acoustics, ONKK, Kerr and Smith, Wall Of Music and Arendal Sound are present, alongside the usual stalwarts, while the HeadZone area is busy all weekend with visitors sampling the latest DACs and headphone tech, as others flick through the new and pre-loved vinyl. Vinyl is the…

Unique group tests Our Group Tests are supported by rigorous and exhaustive listening tests carried out by experts FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKERS GROUP TEST A LOUDSPEAKER WILL never sound at its best when factory fresh from the box, and will need time to free up properly to reach optimum performance. All six floorstanders here are given a minimum of 72 hours with the IsoTek Full System Enhancer CD on repeat, plus an additional two days of music before any listening commences. Auditioning is done in the main listening room over a period of a week, during which time optimal placement is experimented with. The listening position is adjusted so that the tweeter is roughly at ear height for each of the models, and the speaker is initially placed close to the rear…

Simon Freethy has one of the hardest jobs in hi-fi . Now four years into his role as the managing director of Cyrus Audio, he’s got the corporate equivalent of making ‘that difficult second album’ – the one that fans have great expectations for, demanding that it be the same as what came before, but also different and better. His predecessor at Cyrus, Peter Bartlett, took the company from a sub-brand of Mission to a fully fledged, management-owned British hi-fi manufacturer. Under his stewardship, the concept of compact, half-width, high-quality audio was taken to its limit – and very successfully, too. So Simon’s new role, announced in October 2012, was something of a double-edged sword; he had to continue the appeal of Cyrus, yet stretch it to new customers beyond…

Some say that the sixties didn’t really start until about 1965, and nor did the seventies properly assert itself until a decade later. By 1986, the eighties was at last in full swing – we were in a world that was unrecognisable from the beginning of the decade. As BBC Radio One played Chris de Burgh’s Lady In Red and Berlin’s Take My Breath Away in non-stop rotation, Concorde was jetting to New York, computers were in every office and cars with digital dashboards, turbochargers and strobe-effect fabric seat trim surprised and delighted us. For the first time ever, a generation of kids were ‘wired for sound’, playing their tapes on new Sony Walkmans. Fashions changed too. Suddenly, spiky flat-topped pop stars adorned the pages of Smash Hits magazine, shoulder…

One of my fondest memories of growing up is my mum feeding me dripping on toast for my tea. During the era of war-time rationing, the fatty, grey-coloured sludge was regarded as far too valuable to throw away and dripping became a staple of the British national diet. Its widespread use lingered on well into my childhood. Half-melted and spread on toast it was delicious and we regarded it as a culinary treat. So I was astonished recently when dining at The Quality Chop House, a fashionable eatery in London’s Farringdon Road, to see that it is back on the menu – albeit served with a side of watercress to assuage the guilt. At £14.50 for a slice of bread smeared with leftover fat, I passed and opted instead for…

Formed back in 2002, DFA embodies the very best in the cool eclecticism that’s always been a hallmark of the Big Apple’s style. Its lynchpin, James Murphy, had turned down an offer to help write a new sitcom, thinking it wouldn’t take off. One can imagine that on more than one occasion during the next decade, while his bands Pony and Speedking slogged around the dive circuit and Seinfeld went on to become one of the greatest TV shows ever made, he may have rather regretted that decision. He took a job as soundman for the band Six Finger Satellite, building a fearsome PA system nicknamed Death From Above – later to receive a post-9/11 acronym – and honed his production skills at a local studio. It was here, while…

Hi-fi furniture is as old as audio itself. In fact, hi-fi was originally sold like furniture. Sound reproducing equipment was usually bought because of its looks and its ability to sex up the décor of your room. Nowadays, of course, most hi-fi equipment stands freely, but prior to the seventies the fashion was for hi-fi to be installed and hidden away in cabinets so that only the front panel was visible. Hard to imagine it now, but almost every hi-fi component was designed so it could be flush-mounted into a console, as well as being used freestanding. Quad II power amplifiers were hidden inside slabs of oak that looked like chests of drawers, Garrard turntables nestled above, while most loudspeakers were often simply off-the-shelf units screwed into matching enclosures. This…

THE ENGINEERS AT DALI may have trouble with their spelling, but you can’t fault their audio expertise. This slender Bluetooth speaker measures just 269 x 138 x 47mm (WxHxD), and is compact enough to fit into a backpack or shoulder bag with no trouble at all. There’s a convenient carrying handle that you can pull out from the left-hand side of the speaker, and a weight of just 1.1kg means that you can just grab it and go when you’re on the move. Bluetooth is the primary connection for mobile handsets, including support for aptX-enabled devices, but there’s a standard 3.5mm audio connector on the right-hand edge, along with a USB port to top-up your smartphone when you’re away from home. The USB and audio connectors are covered by a…

Denmark regularly tops the polls as the happiest place to live in Europe – and if you’re a vinyl obsessive it’s easy to see why. Whatever your taste in music, the superfriendly capital is packed with record shops. Compact and easy to get around on foot, bike or public transport, there are plenty of excellent new and used stores in and around the city centre. Spoiled for choice, we’ve picked five of the best that are easily navigated in a day, with plenty of time for a delicious smørrebrod en route. Just pick up a free map on arrival at Copenhagen Airport – no time at all on the Metro to Nørreport – and plan your shopping jaunt by district. New shops are opening all the time: indeed, we chanced…