Innholdsfortegnelse for Yearbook 2016 i Hi-Fi Choice

 This is no ordinary CD player, it’s one with a DAC that accepts extra digital inputs. Around the back, balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analogue outputs are joined by coaxial, Toslink optical and USB 2.0 digital inputs enabling you to feed digital signals from a streamer, portable player, transport or computer to the Wolfson WM8741 DAC. Pushing the source button toggles through these extra inputs, performing simple digital preamp duties. The chrome knob on the fascia is an analogue volume control meaning you can plug the player directly into power amps or active speakers. The traditional benefit of an analogue potentiometer over a digital volume control is that you won’t be truncating digital bits to reduce signal gain. EAR employs a pair of ECC88 valves and some rather special hand-wound…

 This receiver has been designed expressly for hooking up to a Blu-ray player and watching movies with the sound provided by your system. Inside is much of the FMJ A39 – a fine-sounding Class G stereo amplifier (HFC 394) – plus a decent DAC and a plethora of codecs for cinema use. There are also seven HDMI inputs and three outs, which means it becomes the centrepiece of your AV system, as well as your hi-fi. Uniquely for a two-channel product, it also contains a powerful room correction algorithm, one that is far more effective and less invasive than any I have previously tried. Dirac Live works by getting the user (or ideally your dealer) to take a number of measurements and then upload them to a central computer, which…

 This valve amplifier is an incarnation of an existing Duet 300B triode amp design, but now employs zero feedback and claims many other audio improvements. Operationally, it has four line-level inputs selectable by the front right dial. Ming Da offers an optional built-in Wolfson DAC for an extra £200, enabling coaxial and USB inputs for those with digital sources. Volume can be controlled by hand or remote control that operates the motorised volume potentiometer. The quantity and types of tube is noteworthy. A 6LP is an unusual and very powerful driver valve for 300B triodes and this could well create a differentiated sound quality from other similar 300B designs. Ming Da has also opted for valve rectification and cathode bias over fixed bias, so the benefit is that it doesn’t…

 Ahighish-end integrated that pushes out a claimed 2x 150W RMS, the blak sports a wide range of inputs to make it flexible enough for today’s brave new hi-fiworld. Inputs total three RCA line ins, a pair of analogue XLRs plus a USB Type-B, aptX Bluetooth and MM phono stage. A Burr-Brown DSD1794A DAC handles PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD64 and DSD128, the latter only via the USB socket at the back. Sound quality Powerful, punchy, feisty and tough – this is not the sort of amp that shirks its responsibilities. When asked to drive tricky loudspeakers with powerful dance music like Age Of Love’s Age Of Love, it supplies a thunderous yet supple and fluid sound. I find myself luxuriating in the rare combination of sheer brute force and…

HEADLINE NEWS HERE is a new headphone amplifier stage, new Bluetooth aptX input and the adoption of the ESS ES9016K2M Sabre DAC chip, which plays DSD, and this functionality is duly present on the irDAC-II. As well as 24-bit/192kHz PCM, it handles DSD128. Indeed, the USB input itself runs up to 384kHz, with coaxial topping off at 192kHz and optical at 96kHz. Sound quality Hooked up via its coaxial input to a decent mid-price CD spinner, it’s hard to believe you’re listening to a relatively inexpensive front end. Scritti Politti’s Cupid And Psyche reveals tight and animated lower frequencies. Things are propelled along further still by the crisp, well-defined midband which has plenty of fine detail, whileinstruments are located positively in the mix, and up top the Arcam is well…

EFFECTIVELY TRANSFORMING A laptop into a hi-res digital player, the Explorer2 supports the new MQA format as well as playing back standard, non-MQA digital files in PCM format, although not DSD. It’s intended for use with a computer via its USB input and additionally sports an internal headphone amplifier. There’s a mini USB input at one end, and a 3.5mm headphone socket and a 3.5mm line output on the other. Sound quality Listening begins with relatively low quality music, via Radioplayer and iTunes podcasts, revealing this little headphone amp has an even and balanced sound. Playing CD-quality material allows me to get the feel of the Meridian. From a MacBook Pro, my dBpoweramp CD rip of The Smiths’ Death Of A Disco Dancersounds rather hard and steely, with a general…

 While many DACs are sized half-width (or smaller), this is a proper, full-size product that’s as chunky as Roksan’s other K3 separates. This gives it plenty of room for its wide variety of inputs. There’s an XLR AES3 (giving up to 192kHz operation), an RCA coaxial S/PDIF (ditto), a Toslink optical (ditto, providing you use the right cable), plus a USB Type-B input. Unusually, Roksan has chosen to offer another USB input Type-B on the front too. The standout feature is its K-Link wireless functionality. The DAC comes supplied with a K-Link transmitter dongle, which allows any computer you plug it into (via the USB socket) to output music to the DAC. This effectively means it sets up a local wireless network, and it works up to around 30m away.…

 The Zero is available as a basic model for £1,000 or as seen here in Zero+ form, which upgrades the arm and cartridge supplied for an extra £500. This is an unsuspended, belt-drive design with a high-mass steel type platter that is seriously weighty for the price.Completing the package is a Jelco SA-750DB tonearm and Audio-Technica AT440MLB cartridge. There is also the possibility to upgrade performance further at a later date with the optional WM One Power Supply, which will set you back an additional £745. Sound quality Connected to an Avid Pellar phono stage (HFC 363), Naim Supernait 2 integrated amp and Neat Momentum 4i speakers, it demonstrates a number of distinctive and likeable traits. The first is that it is a genuinely quiet turntable. Mechanical noise is almost…

 This teardrop-shaped plinth is manufactured from an advanced sandwich construction of MDF, carbon fibre and steel pellets that has been subjected to a thermo treatment. The polished 7.2kg aluminium platter has a vinyl top and is fitted with an inverted ceramic main bearing that has been designed to deliver stable speeds with very low rumble. Spinning the platter is a freestanding precision DC-driven, AC generator. The drive is coupled to the platter via a circular cross section rubber belt. Pro-Ject’s 9CC Evolution tonearm, employs a conical carbon-fibre arm tube fitted with very flexible high-quality copper internal wiring. Henley Designs can fit an Ortofon Quintet Black moving-coil cartridge for an extra £400, but for this test I install a Lyra Clavis DC moving-coil cartridge, costing £1,500. Sound quality I start off…

IN ORDER FOR this new deck to fit into Sony’s brave new world of hi-res audio, it’s equipped with the ability to rip vinyl to digital files via USB and some nifty software. This is not unusual in itself, but the scope of its abilities is rather more ambitious and as well as ripping files in PCM at rates up to 24-bit/192kHz, it can also do DSD at 2.8MHz and 5.6MHz. The PS-HX500 is a relatively conventional unsuspended belt-drive design with electronic speed adjustment, a 5mm-thick rubber mat and a built-in switchable movingmagnet phono stage. Sound quality Kraftwerk’s Minimum Maximum, quickly reveals that it has all the basics in place. The noise floor is commendably low, pitch stability is very good and the levels of surfacenoise are usefully absent. All…

 Representing the latest chapter in the Contour story, the S 1.4 LE replaces the standard S 1.4, despite its ‘Limited Edition’ moniker. The driver complement begins with an inhouse 170mm mid/bass cone formed from a single piece of Dynaudio’s MSP (magnesium silicate polymer), which removes the need for a separate central dust cap and glued joints. Below this sits an upgraded inhouse 28mm Esotec soft-dome tweeter, which claims finer precision coating than its predecessor. Sound quality What strikes me straight away about the sound of this speaker is its sheer sense of presence. While many high-end standmounts can drive generously sized listening rooms without too much hassle, few can do this while also making music sound so convincingly real and evenly proportioned as the 1.4. Streaming a 16/44.1 ALAC rip…

 True to mission, Monitor Audio has lifted elements from older Silver and Gold series tech to make the Bronze 2. The box hasn’t changed much, but the drive units have. In line with current Silver series models, it now uses a dished cone for its 165mm C-CAM mid/bass driver, which abandons the previous dustcap and resulting cone aperture to increase rigidity, control and radiating area. The 25mm gold-dome tweeter, MA’s emblematic metal driver, appears to be the same, but is modified as well with new geometry and venting that prevents back pressure behind the dome – a measure claimed to reduce distortion, improve dynamics and reduce mechanical resonance. Also revised and upgraded is the crossover, which uses polypropylene capacitors and air-cored and laminated steel core inductors. The mid/bass driver hands…

 Tannoy’s Dr Paul Mills was the main driving force behind the 7.2, but he credits “significant input from our rising star engineer Ryan Sheen and tuning input from Tannoy’s pro-audio director of engineering, Phillipe Robinaeau”. The boys have been busy, because it’s touted as the most significant overhaul of the Mercury since the original, back when New Romantics roamed the earth. Interestingly, it has a larger mid/ bass driver than you’d expect for its cabinet size and it’s wider than many rivals. The larger the drive unit and greater the internal volume of the cabinet, the more chance it has to sound good. The 9.4-litre cabinet is connected to the outside world by a single rear-mounted bass port with the option of using the (supplied) foam bung. It also sports…

 Re-imagining the rather sprawling and untidy sub-hi-fiworld of networked, wireless, multi-room speakers as a kind of supersonic sound bomb, Devialet’s Phantom ‘Implosive Sound Centre’ resembles a long exposure photo of a ten pin bowling ball hurtling down the alley. Of the many innovative technologies incorporated into the Phantom, arguably the most eye catching are the pumped power stats attributed to the physically shrunken ADH (Analogue Digital Hybrid) amp design lifted from the company’s domestic high-flyers, rated at a barely believable 4,500W. Make that 9,000W of peak power as I’ve got two, which I’m running with the help of the £249 Dialog wi-fisharing centre. The Silver Phantoms proved to be every rounded centimetre the revolutionary product when I tested them back in HFC 400. It’ll be helpful to recap why they…

THE US AUDIO firm is opposed to mentioning anything about the technology or specs of its products and there’s no info about the size of the drivers fitted to the enclosures, either. What we can tell you is that noise-cancelling tech is partnered for the first time with Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The QC35 doesn’t support aptX, but it does have NFC contact pairing. Sound quality Used as a conventional wired headphone, the Bose is good if not challenging for top honours. The presentation is broadly neutral, but the upper registers can come across as a little smoothed off. Underworld’s Barbara, Barbara, We Face A Shining Future is powerful and controlled, but lacks some of the sparkle that’s available with wired models at a similar price. However, it has goodtonality and…

WHEN IT COMES to cable upgrades, replacing the one that’s supplied with a set of headphones is often well down the list of priorities. But, as we shall discover, it’s well worth considering. The Zeno cable incorporates Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) copper conductors that are covered in FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene) low-temperature deposition dielectric to protect the integrity of the OCC material. The wires are then wrapped in a protective soft PVC inner liner and finished with a tangle-free red fabric outer jacket. A wide range of termination options is available employing Atlas’ Metik non-solder crimp plugs to give an airtight metal-to-metal contact. The Zeno is available fitted as standard with a single 3.5mm stereo plug or two 2.5mm, 6.35mm or 4-pin XLR mini plugs for theheadphone end, together with…

YEARS AGO, ALL audio fans ever seemed to worry about was clicks, pops and background hiss from their analogue recordings. Over time a number of different techniques were developed to minimise these audio ailments, but they were never perfect. When digital audio finally arrived with the promise of noise-free reproduction, it seemed as though we had at long last found the ideal recording medium. Alas, we quickly discovered that digital recording comes with its own raft of problems that need to be overcome. Close to the top of this list of issues is jitter. Generally speaking, jitter is a deviation from what was intended of the signal pulses in a highfrequency digital signal. This can be caused by a poor frequency response of the digital circuits and cables, as well…

AN EQUIPMENT PLATFORM is an ideal way to isolate sensitive audio components from external vibrations. It is particularly important for turntables as well as for CD players where mechanical vibrations can increase jitter. Apart from providing isolation, platforms can also help to dissipate vibrations and the BaseTwo M PRO equipment platform from bFly Audio is designed to do exactly that. The BaseTwo range is based on a 30mm slab of layered birch wood. On the upper side is a 3mm aluminium plate that is bonded to the wood with a soft polymer adhesive. Each wooden layer is designed to provide filtering of different vibration frequency ranges, which according to the designers offers an improved cumulative effect when compared with a single piece of wood. Inaddition to absorbing vibrations, the 3mm…

 The value of a life cannot be measured in column inches, but the sheer volume of the tributes paid to David Bowie and the breadth, depth and weight of the assessments of his cultural legacy across every serious media platform early this year represented eloquent testament to the loss of an artist whose rare genius changed our world. Newspapers such as The Times produced wrap-around souvenir editions, which devoted more space to Bowie’s demise than they had done to Margaret Thatcher on her death two years earlier. There were a handful of crusty letters from those who grew up in a pre-rock and roll age, and who dismissed his art as “just pop music” and complained that his death did not warrant such saturation coverage. But there were few under…

 It had to be done! There they were, staring at me on ebay, saying “Buy It Now”. I pressed the magic button and became the proud owner of a Sony TA-73 integrated amplifier and matching ST-73 tuner, for the princely sum of £40. Launched in Autumn 1976 and sold until 1979 – by which time they were heavily discounted – both these products cost £62 when new and were the company’s cheapest stereo amplifier and tuner available. Why, then, would I want such basic, bottom-of-the-range stuff? After all, I own some substantially more expensive classic and modern hi-figear – even the top-of-the-range turntable, cassette deck, reel-to-reel and loudspeakers from that year. The dinky TA-73 with its measly 10W RMS per channel, and the ST-73 with its single signal strength meter…

COMPONENTS AUDIO RESEARCH CD6 £7,998 The CD6 combines a top-loading CD transport with a selection of digital inputs that are fed into a 24/192kHz DAC that has separate clocks for PCM and S/PDIF sampling rates. AUDIO RESEARCH GSI75 £14,500 The flagship integrated in the Audio Research range, the GSi75 combines a healthy power output from its four KT120 valves with an extremely extensive feature set including digital inputs. SONUS FABER VENERE SIGNATURE £4,448 The flagship member of the Venere range, the Signature is a three-way floorstanding speaker that features a downward-firing reflex port that is intended to avoid conflict with the drivers and aid placement.  As a reader of HFC, you are unquestionably someone of great knowledge and taste and I’ll wager even before you fully clocked the products that…

 So, you’re a company that started with record players, and was responsible for much of the digital tech that’s used in studios and CD players, but you’re best known for your AV receivers: what do you do to redress the balance? If you’re Denon you kit yourself out with a substantial SACD/ CD player and even heftier integrated amp, and label them with a new suffix on the model names, indicating that this is the start of a New Era. That’s the story of the DCD-2500NE and PMA-2500NE, the former able to play hi-res files up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD5.6, the latter quoting a 2x160W output and a digital section able to handle files up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD11.2. But isn’t the conventional disc player and stereo amp a dinosaur…

 It was always intended that the original Plato (HFC 400) would be an evolving platform, and sure enough the quest for even better sound quality has resulted in a new power amp that runs mainly in Class A, albeit with a clever technical twist. The original Plato (Class AB) continues in production, selling for £3,600, or £2,700 sans power amp. The Class A option may be more expensive, but it targeting true, high-end, audiophile sound quality without the need to plug in a third-party power amp. Plato’s appealing function as a repository for all things ‘entertainment’ is further enhanced by the ability to copy music and video stored on it to any other home network device such as a phone or tablet running the control app. As before, when new…

 Essentially, this is an Audiolab M-DAC+, plus a preamplifier and power amplifier, shoehorned into the same box. Added to this is the handy aptX Bluetooth functionality. The result is a versatile, up-to-date music maker, in a diminutive chassis. Under the hood it has an ESS Sabre32 ES9018K2M DAC chip – the twochannel little brother to the flagship eight-channel ES9018 one found in the M-DAC+. It plays Direct Stream Digital and ultra-high-resolution PCM, while the number of userselectable digital filters – a kind of 21st-century tone control that lets you fine-tune sound – has been reduced to three, but they haven’t gone completely. And there’s a Class AB amplifier section conjuring up 40W per channel into 8ohm. Sound quality The M-ONE sounds much more like a grown-up hi-fisystem than its size…

 In an age where phono stages, digital inputs and tuners abound on most integrated amplifiers, this model from Canadian-based NAD can come across as a little puritanical. It’s the entry-level model in its lineup, and is finished in grey like any self-respecting NAD amp should be. Connections include five line inputs (one shared with a front-panel 3.5mm mini-jack) and a tape loop. A headphone socket and defeatable tone controls are pretty much the limit of NAD’s generosity, while an indication of the C 316BEE’s age is the fact that it doesn’t have a phono stage, as it came into the world when vinyl was still considered as something of a fringe interest. Power output claims of 40W per channel are competitive if not class leading, but the figures are given…

 When it came out, the original M-DAC (HFC 359) had no real rivals at its £600 price point. It was one of the first DACs to use the (then) new and highly regarded ESS Sabre 9018 DAC chips. The new version is considerably larger than the original, mainly on account of the fact that the power supply has been brought inside the unit. Around the back, there are more digital inputs than ever, including an AES/EBU socket and a USB Type A input alongside the existing USB Type B connection. These join the M-DAC’s twin coaxial and twin optical digital inputs, optical and coaxial digital outputs, singleended RCA and balanced XLR analogue outputs. The M-DAC+ now runs PCM right up to its 32-bit/384kHz ragged edge via USB, but the headline…

MOJO AIMS TO do much of what Chord’s Hugo (HFC 386) does only smaller and cheaper. It can decode material from 32kHz to a faintly unnecessary 768kHz and all flavours of DSD up to 512 (a rate at which almost nothing is commercially available). It sports coaxial and optical inputs, a pair of 3.5mm outputs and claims a 10-hour battery life from a four-hour charge. Sound quality Mojo leaves very little trace of itself on the recording. Jack White’s Lazaretto is free of any traits that can easily be assigned to it and instead lets Three Women sound composed, detailed and as entertaining as it should be. White’s vocals are laden with detail and their relationship to supporting instruments is entirely logical. The snap and drive tothe percussion is also…

BUILT AROUND THE popular ESS Sabre chipset, the Moon has the sort of file and sample rate handling that might be expected of a digital device today. The USB input decodes PCM at sample rates up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256. This is joined by two coaxial and one optical input that are all 24-bit/192kHz capable. The Moon deviates from the norm by adding an analogue input for its fourth input. This is truly analogue, in that at no stage does the 230HAD perform any form of digital conversion on the signal. Sound quality Kicking off with the Moon being used as a fixed-level DAC, it has a presentation that is utterly unforced. A 24/44.1 download of Carbon Based Lifeforms’ Hydroponic Garden simply opens out as a vast and spacioussoundfield in…

 This dual mono design can handle PCM audio up to 24-bit/192kHz, but also automatically detects DSD files and routes them to a standalone DSD DAC for native processing. Around the back, there are digital inputs for two coaxial S/PDIF feeds and a single USB. There is also an analogue input to simply utilise the Mystra as a dual mono, dual valve rectified, pure Class A, single-ended triode valve preamp, as well as a ground lift switch in case you experience any hum in your system. Analogue output is via RCA or balanced XLRs, and in this instance headphone output has been moved to the back. The valves employed are 2x 6SN7, 2x ECC82 and 2x CV574 with Veracity Audio offering customers a number of quality tube options according to preference…

OFFERING A NUMBER of revisions from the original TT2, the Special Edition gets a 25mm full-gloss finished MDF plinth that comes in a choice of gloss black or white, with the red you see here at no extra cost. It comes complete with a pre-fitted TA202 tonearm, which is hardwired to RCA phono sockets fitted on the back. There’s also a separate earth terminal, which is a major improvement on the Rega tonearm on which the TA202 is based. The deck comes with a range of options, including a new external speed control box which is claimed to give lower wow and flutter and there’s also an ISO1 mains isolation filter. Sound quality Bass is taut and lithe with no excess padding or overhang, so there’s never any sense that…

 Rega’s iconic belt-driven, low-mass unsuspended plinth turntables have worn a few names over the years but have always related to the number three – the Planar 3, P3, RP3, the list goes on. Now, the company has released its most substantial revision yet, coupled with a rather familiar name – the Planar 3. Rega claims that only two parts of the Planar 3 are shared with the outgoing RP3, effectively making it all new. While the basic form is the same as before, there are some key updates. The plinth is stiffer and has a superior finish to its predecessor – it’s also available in black and white high-gloss finishes. The bearing is re-worked with a new brass central section that improves fit and quality to lower thenoise floor and…

CYRUS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Peter Bartlett wanted the ability to change capacitance and impedance ‘on the fly’ as the loading instructions for many cartridges are suggestions rather than rules. So, there are four inputs, each of which can be configured for either moving-magnet or moving-coil operation and if you choose the latter you also have the option of setting the gain, capacitance and impedance to best suit the cartridge you have chosen to connect. Sound quality This is not a phono stage that you buy to romanticise your vinyl. It will display no more warmth or bloom than is naturally on the record. The trade off to this is that it is at times startlingly vivid. With a Nagaoka MP-150 cartridge playing Nils Frahm’s beautiful Spaces album, itis very much in…

COMPARATIVELY TINY BUT finely crafted, the Menuet stands out for taking the small is beautiful thing to heart. While undeniably cute, it doesn’t look very much speaker for the money, so it has a lot to prove. The first sign that all might not be quite as it seems comes when you lift one of the glossy, elegantly curved enclosures. These are nuggety little beasts, weighing an improbable 4kg apiece. They seem amazingly dense and solid. DALI’s contention is that the Menuet resolves the often conflicted goals of ‘reference class’ sound and the amount of space taken up by the transducer producing it. The baffle measures barely 25cm top to bottom and has a 114mm wood fibre-coned mid/bass driver and a large diameter but low-mass 28mm soft dome tweeter. It’s…

s KEF’s flagship standmount with enclosure and driver tech trickled down from the £20k Blade concept statement floorstander, the Reference 1 is shooting for the stars. It uses the same latest iteration Uni-Q midtweeter, its distinctive tangerine wave-guide garlanding the 25mm vented aluminium high-frequency dome that sits in the centre of the ribbed 125mm aluminium midrange cone. It’s joined by a 165mm woofer with a vented magnet assembly and a large aluminium wire voice coil attached to a continuous surface aluminium cone claimed to be incredibly light and stiff. A The rear-firing reflex port is supplied with a ‘short’ port sleeve to fine tune the bass output and allow a choice of near wall or open space placement. Sound quality It’s rare for a high-end speaker to give a respectable…

 What sort of company would actually have the nerve to produce a new two-way standmount that conforms so exactly to the archetype – the dome tweeter and nondescript main driver, the round rear-firing port, the curved cabinet, the glossy black or white finish – that it simply wouldn’t warrant a second glance in a well-stocked showroom containing rivals offering ribbon tweeters, woven cones, atypical porting arrangements and flawless finishes for hundreds of pounds less? Revel, that’s who. The Concerta2 M16’s 25mm aluminium dome tweeter sits in a waveguide that merges elegantly with the gasket for the mid-bass driver. This ‘fourth-generation Acoustic Lense Waveguide’, as Revel has it, boosts the tweeter’s sensitivity and helps integrate its dispersion characteristics with the 165mm mid-bass unit. This driver uses an aluminium/ceramic composite cone, the…

 Sharing exactly the same price as Quad’s S-2 (HFC 408) – which has a common design boss in Peter Comeau – the Reva adopts a 25mm textile soft dome tweeter, accompanied by a single 125mm woven glass fibre mid-bass driver. It also utilises a so-called ‘Slot-Loaded Distributed Port’, which according to Wharfedale’s engineers allows a smoother transition between the pressure variation in the cabinet and the low-frequency output into the room. The claimed upshot is greater efficiency and less distortion than would be the case with more typical ported bass reflex arrangements leading to a deep, articulate and well-integrated bass response, even if the speaker is placed close to a wall. Sound quality It doesn’t really matter what you kick off with – I’ve chosen a little uptempo Gregory Porter…

FORMING PART OF the Quincy Jones signature line, the N90Q claims to be the world’s first headphone to be fitted with unique auto-calibration technology designed to deliver sound that’s specifically tailored to your ears. AKG’s TruNote auto-calibration technology uses two microphones in each ear cup to measure the characteristics of your ear canal while you are wearing the headphone. Volume level adjustment is provided via an outer ring on the right earcup while EQ alterations use a similar outer ring action on the opposite earpiece. Three soundstage settings can also be cycled through by pressing the calibration button. Sound quality Connecting the AKG N90Q via USB direct to a MacBook Pro laptop to try out the built-in DAC with some hi-res material, I kick off with a24/96 version of Bob…

COSMETICALLY NOTHING HAS changed from the original HD 800 to the new S. As before, the 56mm driver remains. What has changed, if only slightly, is the frequency response – according to Sennheiser, the S has a little more output below 150Hz and a little less around 6kHz. Also new is the use of a revised absorptive material within the capsules, plus an unbalanced lead terminated in a 6.35mm jack plug and a balanced lead terminated in a four-pin male XLR plug are bundled. Sound quality The HD 800’s stock in trade was precision and the S is no different. On the end of worthy ancillaries it is full of life and engagement. And it has a tonal balance that’s as close to neutral as we’ve ever heard from a…

EACH CONDUCTOR OF the Foxtrot comprises 16x 0.2mm diameter plated copper wires, resulting in a conductor of 6mm diameter. The conductors are insulated in silicone rubber of 1.2mm thickness. Gold-plated Z plugs are fitted and they are flexible enough to make installation around the perimeter of the room tidy and easy. Sound quality I start off listening with Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. There is a deep and extended drum roll during the opening that tends to be most noticeable when it pauses for a few bars before starting again. During this pause I become aware that the rumbling has stopped. When it is there, it is almost felt rather than heard, and I have a sense that the Foxtrots are perfectly conveying thepower and…

 If there has been a theme to 2016 – aside from the loss of some of our most cherished musicians, take a bow David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen et al – it would have to be the continued rise in popularity of vinyl and the equipment that plays it. The last 12 months have seen the black stuff rise to become the most cherished physical music format of all. As records have once again become a common sight in all record stores and even on some supermarket shelves, so too has the production of turntables risen – providing existing vinyl fans, and both lapsed and newcomers alike with plenty of variety. Suddenly, there’s a real choice of decks available to prospective purchasers from both established hi-fispecialists with a focus on…

 Forget about the latest high-resolution digital file formats hitting the headlines, the world going crazy for old-school analogue sound complete with warts-and-all quality in a quest for tangible music formats. Vinyl has long been championed by HFC and even though we all knew the format never really went away, its return to mainstream popularity is well documented in these pages. But it’s the LP that’s currently catching the ear of the audio hipster, but the forgotten compact cassette tape. As the resurgence of vinyl reaches greater consumer awareness – finding its way on to supermarket shelves – with the biggest Record Store Day event so far held earlier in the year, we’ve become accustomed to the idea of an analogue format making a comeback into the heart of our audio…

In hi-fiterms the standout feature of the Solo is the use of a Class G output stage, taken from one of the finest sounding amplifiers at its price, Arcam’s FMJ A29. It gives 80W RMS per channel (8ohm) and 125W per side (4ohm) – which is more than generous for this sort of application. Alongside this, a Cirrus Logic CS42526 DAC chip sits at the heart of the Solo. It is capable of running at up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM resolution, but doesn’t sport DSD functionality. Interestingly, it does have a disc transport capable of playing back SACDs and CDs. The DAC can play through its coaxial, optical and USB (storage media) inputs, and there’s aptX Bluetooth and UPnP streaming. Arcam always does good tuners and it offers both DAB (and…

 Back in the late seventies, it felt like there were more preamp/power amplifier combinations around than there were people to buy them. But around the late eighties, when things began to downsize, we saw the appearance of the ‘super integrated’ amplifier breed. Fewer people bought separate pre-power combos as a result, and now they’re comparatively scarce. The C49 preamp is a cleanly styled box with a long row of buttons and a large central volume control, allied to a green alphanumeric display. Unlike many of its rivals, it doesn’t come with a DAC inside – for this, there’s Arcam’s rSeries accessories range. It does have a good-quality moving-magnet phono stage, and seven line-level analogueinputs, including one via balanced XLR. It also offers the choice of balanced XLR and RCA phono…

 If you ever doubted that products drawing on a brand’s heritage have a place in an audio market dominated by iThings, look no further than the HD-AMP1. This fashionably compact amplifier is equipped with an asynchronous USB input able to handle the highest resolution music files available. Not only does that mean PCM-based formats up to 32-bit/384kHz, but also DSD64/ 2.8MHz as used for SACD discs, all the way through to DSD256, at a sampling rate of 11.2MHz. If the styling looks familiar, that’s because it draws from the HD-DAC1 (HFC 405). It still offers a high-quality headphone section, but also has analogue inputs as well as digital, even more wide-ranging file compatibility, and power amplification, delivering 35W into 8ohm and double that into a 4ohm load. In addition to…

 It’s time for the rebirth of the stereo receiver and this machine is designed to do what your average 21st century stereo-type will want. Which is to say, it plays vinyl (there’s an MM phono stage), it handles line sources (it has six), it has a radio (DAB/ DAB+, FM and internet) and it is network-capable so you can play music from your NAS. It has four digital inputs too, so you can plug your TV or Blu-ray into it, and enjoy far superior sound. It’s AirPlay and Bluetooth equipped (not aptX), and there’s a USB socket so computer audio files can be piped in direct. Then, via wi-fi, there’s Deezer and Spotify. The power output is quoted as 2x 135W (into 6ohm). The DAC is 32-bit/384kHz capable, but this…

 Mytek prototypes end up with major mastering and recording engineers in New York for field testing, before the final production versions arrive. Perhaps that’s how the conversation started that saw the inclusion of MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) in this new converter. But MQA is a mere bauble in the great scheme of Mytek Brooklyn things. It’s a USB-capable DAC with 384kHz PCM and DSD256 capability. There’s also a preamplifier with line/MM/MC inputs and a headphone stage. It sports USB Class 2 and AES/EBU digital inputs (handling PCM audio up to 192kHz and DSD64), plus two S/PDIF (PCM up to 192kHz and DSD64) electrical digital ins, one Toslink optical input (PCM up to 192kHz and DSD64), and one SDIF-3 (for DSD up to DSD256). Analogue fans can look forward to RCA…

In a world where DACs are preamps and headphone amplifiers, this Rega offering comes across as a little bare. It is an updated version of the earlier (and highly regarded) Rega DAC. This revision is almost identical to the earlier model, but incorporates a number of changes to the digital circuit and a fairly critical functionality upgrade. The older DAC was limited to USB 1.0 and a 48kHz incoming sample rate. The DAC-R is capable of asynchronous 192kHz-capable operation – at the moment where DSD support is the order of the day. This is combined with a revised power supply and an increase in depth to accommodate it. The digital filters can now also be selected via the remote control. In specification terms, these filters are about the only area…

 This direct-drive turntable package comes with a tonearm, cartridge and built-in phono stage that can easily be bypassed if required. And if that’s not enough, it also has a USB-B digital output to allow you to rip vinyl and store it as a digital file on a hard drive, and comes supplied with the Audacity computer software to help you carry this out successfully. The cartridge is bespoke to the AT-LP5, although it has a more recognisable origin. The AT95Ex is a hot-rodded version of the budget favourite with a revised stylus and detail tweaks. It comes in a deep red housing, which is rather easier on the eye than its pea green ancestor and is pre-mounted in an AT-HS10 lightweight headshell for easy set up. Sound quality The sound…

CHIEF AMONG THE Omega 100’s new technology is a computercontrolled motor with electronic speed switching. The arm is also unique and features a carbon fibre armtube connected to an innovative bearing arrangement that combines vertical and horizontal yokes into a single knuckle and applies the antiskate down the bearing axis using a patented rubber torsion system. An Ortofon OM10 cartridge is also fitted. There’s also an onboard phono stage with the ability to connect via aptX Bluetooth to a suitable device. The internal phono stage can’t be switched out of the system. Sound quality You might reasonably expect that dependence on its own internal phono stage might put it at a disadvantage, but quite the opposite. The internalboard is encouragingly quiet with no hiss or hum, which allows the Omega…

REMINISCENT OF A turntable from the sixties, The Classic is based around a framed ‘two-plinth’ design that allows the motor to sit on a separate plinth from the one that supports the bearing and tonearm to reduce the transference of any unwanted electrical or mechanical noise or interference. The Classic sports a new tonearm design with the ability to adjust both azimuth and VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) so it can be used with a variety of cartridges. It is supplied with an Ortofon 2M Silver moving-magnet cartridge, that’s been designed exclusively for Pro-Ject by Ortofon. Sound quality Tchaikovsky’s Cossack Dance from Mazeppa played by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is sprightly while the sound remains delightfully realistic throughout the performance. Next up, Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1, by the London Symphony Orchestra has…

THIS IS THE most affordable model in Graham Slee’s range of phono stages. The spec is strictly moving magnet (or high-output moving coil) and it is devoid of controls. The casework feels solid enough and the rear panel is laid out in such a way as to allow for the easy hooking up of inputs, outputs and ground connection. The only slight issue is that due to its very light weight, the Communicator tends to ‘rear up’ when moderately heavy or stiff interconnects are used with it, which can look a little odd in use. Sound quality The Gram Amp 2 has reasonable levels of gain, and manages to reach the test level without any issue. When running at this volume, a slight audible hum is present and no adjustment…

IT MIGHT BE a name we’re not too familiar with in the UK, but Quadral is big on the international scene with a vast range of model lines catering for more or less every pocket. The Chromium Style range wants us to be as snared by its appearance as its sound and combines elegantly curved cabinets with flash-looking aluminium drive units, including a very vorsprung durch technik ribbon tweeter. Stereotypically Teutonic, maybe, but the result does look extremely smart. Quadral’s ribbon is a bespoke design derived from a larger unit developed for its flagship models. The ribbon element is folded inside the enclosure to increase the surface area and moved by a double magnet assembly. The 155mm mid/bass driver is also made inhouse and employs a titanium-coated polypropylene cone. As…

 Adecade and a half after the launch of the first Leema Xen mini monitor comes this new update. Whereas the first Xen used a SEAS mid/bass unit, the Xen 2 one gets a customdesigned 100mm affair specified by Leema. It has been specially designed to, “give a little just at the right frequency”, the company says – so it counters the tendency for small mid/ bass drivers to peak across the midrange. It is loaded by two 26mm reflex ports, which extend into the cabinet then fold down behind the bass driver. Based on a nowdiscontinued VIFA design, the new 25mm tweeter is a soft-dome unit with a neodymium magnet and Ferro-fluid-loaded coil, which helps damp resonance and aid cooling. Sound quality In my experience, there are two types of…

 This Roksan is just a little off the beaten track, which is quite a surprise at the price. Instead of a conventional dome tweeter, it sports a ribbon tweeter that works with a more regular moving-coil mid/bass unit – in other words, it’s a hybrid. The idea is to combine the power and punch of a standard woofer with the delicacy and finesse of a ribbon high-frequency unit. The drive units comprise Roksan’s custom-developed, high-tolerance ribbon design working from 2.5kHz to 40kHz; below this is the 130mm coated-paper cone mid/bass driver, with its diecast chassis and double magnets working down to 39Hz (-3dB). Peak power handling is quoted at 100W, and efficiency at 88dB. Sound quality Every Roksan speaker I’ve heard has had a spirited performance – if not quite…

 As long ago as 2012, Dynaudio unveiled its first-generation range of Xeo active, wireless speakers. It proved beyond any doubt that cable-free convenience was compatible with true high fidelity and that buying into less discriminating sound served up by too many one-box solutions was optional rather than obligatory. Now a second-gen Xeo lineup has arrived and unlike previous models doesn’t need extra external hardware to work wirelessly, as the control speaker communicates with its partner over a built-in closed A-to-B wireless link. The control speaker has RCA line-in, a Toslink optical input (accepting up to 24-bit/192kHz, but outputting at a max of 24-bit/96kHz) and a 3.5mm aux socket. It’s a true active design with a generous 65W (claimed) of pulse width modulated Class D amplification assigned to each driver and…

UNLIKE MOST RIVALS, Grado doesn’t use a conventional balanced armature driver for its earphones. It instead uses a moving armature, which takes the basic operating principles of a balanced one and scales it up so that the design is capable of generating a deeper bass response. The wider frequency response of the moving armature gives it a claimed frequency response of 20Hz-20kHz from a single driver while offering a claimed sensitivity of 118dB/W. Sound quality While the supposed calling card of the moving armature is meant to be improved frequency response, the first thing that leaps out at you is the midrange. Like all single-driver earphones, it is seamlessly integrated in a way that only a device without a crossover can achieve. David Bowie’sWhile the supposed calling card of the…

 Few would deny that the South Korean brand Astell&Kern is king of the hill when it comes to portable hi-res audio, responsible not just for setting and regularly raising the performance bar against which others are judged but also for giving the sector an aspirational, luxury sheen that has inspired many imitators. The AK300, which made its debut at this year’s Munich High End Show, is another strategically placed andpriced addition to the lineup. It effectively replaces the ageing AK100 (HFC 370) but is just under half the price of the next model up in the range, the £1,499 AK320. In their chiselled, cool alloy chunkiness and distinctly high-end feel, the two are hard to tell apart. But the spec, while incorporating many of the features seen on AK’s pricier…

NAMED TO HONOUR a late associate of The Chord Company – David Shaw – these interconnects make use of the Tuned ARAY cable conductor geometry that was originally developed for the company’s premium Sarum range. The Shawline is £200 in the standard 1m length and fitted with silver-plated Chord VEE 3 RCA terminations, but it can be made to other lengths at £80 per additional metre. It is also available with The Chord Co.’s new lightweight DIN connections for an extra £25 or with Neutrik XLR plugs for an extra £50. The conductors are silver-plated and the construction of the Tuned ARAY means that they are hand assembled. The cables are directional and this is clearly indicated by an arrow that’s been printed on the heatshrink at one end of…

 We regularly get asked on the Letters pages about the proportion of budget to spend on the various elements of a hi-fisystem. I find that people approach a new set up as three major purchases – source, amplification and speakers, with an increasing number acknowledging the importance of power cords, interconnects and speaker cables. Historically there have been three main schools of thought around system building – ‘source-led’, ‘balanced’ or ‘speaker-led’. The ‘source-led’ argument is based on the premise that if you don’t start with vital information, retrieved from your music medium of choice, how can it appear later in the signal chain. The ‘balanced’ investment argument suggests that there are few areas of life where focusing too much budget in one specific area produces a great result. And the…

COMPONENTS KONUS AUDIO DIGITALE DAC £2,299 The Digitale is a two-input, line-level DAC built around the principles of short circuit paths and extremely simple circuitry in order to produce the best possible sound quality. KONUS AUDIO INTEGRALE AMPLIFIER £2,299 The Integrale is a matching twin input amplifier that offers 33W into 8ohm that is output via a single set of hefty speaker terminals. Different colour casework options are also available. The enclosures are heavily padded for comfortable long-term listening. BOENICKE AUDIO W8 LOUDSPEAKER £5,500 The W8 is the smallest floorstander in the Boenicke range and manages to pack no less than four separate drivers into its small but distinctive cabinet made from two matching wood sections.  Sometimes, the combination of products we assemble for a Beautiful System speak for themselves,…

 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…