Innholdsfortegnelse for Yearbook 2018 i Hi-Fi Choice

Complete with everything you need to get spinning vinyl, apart from a built-in phono stage, the main difference between the Primary E and the outgoing Primary base deck centres around the motor that’s mounted to the MDF plinth. The E model dispenses with the wall-wart and block arrangement of the older design and substitutes a motor that works on a standard 230V AC mains feed and uses a fixed cable and plug, which reduces the cost and makes for a far tidier installation. The tonearm is 8.6in long, made from aluminium and employs sapphire bearings for smooth travel. Where it differs from many other examples is that Pro-Ject has optimised it to work with the Ortofon OM series moving-magnet cartridge. This means that there’s no anti-skate adjustment and that the…

It’s been a good six years since we’ve seen anything from Amphion and while the original Argon1 was the winner of our standmount Group Test in HFC 353, it has recently undergone something of a refresh. It retains its remarkably neat and compact design with the 25mm titanium dome tweeter mounted in the centre of a large waveguide that matches the diameter of the mid/bass drive unit. The tweeter hands over to a 133mm aluminium mid/bass driver at a relatively low 1.6kHz. As part of the refresh, the mid/bass driver is augmented by a rear-mounted bass port that now sits directly behind it with the terminal panel placed above, which depending on your choice of speaker cable can result in the wire being visible from the top of the speaker.…

IT MIGHT BE just one step up from DALI’s entry-level range, but the Danish brand’s materials and methodology run through the Spektor 2 like the lettering in a stick of rock. Take the 130mm mid/bass driver. Its cone uses a mix of low-mass paper with wood fibre reinforcement. The idea is that the fibres give the diaphragm’s surface an uneven structure, claimed to minimise resonance and improve resolution. The 25mm tweeter is also a recipient of trickle-down tech, featuring an ultra-lightweight weaved fabric soft dome that DALI claims weighs half as much as the market norm. Sound quality Playing jazz bass legend Stanley Clarke’s dazzlingly potent mini-concept track, Combat Continuum, the Spektor 2’s exuberant sense of life and pace is immediately apparent. It isn’t just that it has more treble…

TUBBY ISN’T A word usually associated with the form factor of a standmount, but in the case of the QX-2 I can’t think of a better one. It starts with the stand-out difference of looking as if it’s upside down, the tweeter sitting beneath the mid/bass driver. The rationale is that by positioning the treble unit below the mid/bass driver, the length of path is equalised so that the sound waves coincide at the listener’s head height, optimising time alignment. More than just a pretty upside-down face, it employs Mission’s new DiaDrive cone system, which has an inverted cone driven by a secondary sub cone to “transfer maximum transient impact” from the motor system, which uses an oversized magnet to improve sensitivity. The 38mm ring-dome tweeter is a new design,…

THE SMALLEST OFFERING from DALI’s Active Series, this is also the most affordable. For your money you get aptX-enabled Bluetooth 4.0, a 3.5mm line input and a USB charge output port so network streaming can be added using Chromecast Audio for extra functionality. A pair of 25W amplifiers under the hood power two 21mm soft dome high-frequency drivers and a brace of 90mm low-frequency units that are further bolstered by a pair of rectangular passive radiators arranged on either side of the unit to achieve an arc of sound. A second Katch can be added to operate as a stereo pair. Two preset EQ modes provide a degree of tonal tailoring and battery life is quoted at 24 hours for ‘normal’ listening levels. Our review sample comes in the new…

INTERNALLY, THE CUTE nano iOne uses Burr-Brown’s Bit-Perfect DSD & DXD MultiBit DAC, which handles up to 192kHz PCM, DSD256 and DXD384kHz natively so music stays in its original format throughout its journey through the DAC. Audio signals come from the USB connector, S/PDIF via a combined RCA coaxial and optical input socket – a neat little adapter enables the coaxial input socket to also act as an optical input – or via aptX Bluetooth. The output is via a pair of RCA phono sockets and additionally from the S/PDIF socket for when you’re using Bluetooth or USB inputs. The iFi logo illuminates in different colours to indicate the input selected – blue for Bluetooth, green for USB or red for S/PDIF. Meanwhile, on the right, is a filter selector…

Hinting at its name AA‘cento’ refers to the amp’s claimed 100W power output (into 8ohm). However, with a claimed 200W into 4ohm and 300W into a 2ohm load, this integrated should feel much more muscular than its base stats suggest. Audio Analogue is certainly confident that even tough speaker loads should be driven with ease. Yet, it is not just about out-and-out power. At first glance it looks like a pure power amplifier, as there are few controls along the front panel. A sleek, brushed metal fascia is home to a central, chamfered dial and a number of tiny LEDs that only hint at features. The central hub can be rotated and depressed, with LEDs lighting up to reflect volume, but I need the printed manual to make sense of…

DESIGNED TO STAND upright, this Class D design claims 2x 30W RMS into 8ohm and uses the latest implementation of its PowerDrive circuitry with soft clipping to protect speakers from being over driven. It offers coaxial and optical digital inputs along with aptX Bluetooth wireless connectivity, but unlike the original D 3020 the USB port has been replaced with a moving-magnet phono stage. Sound quality Listening via the RCA phono aux input, it neatly balances refinement and attack with a 24/96 Qobuz Sublime+ stream of David Byrne’s American Utopia. It shows off the recording’s impressive production while Byrne’s vocals are weighty, rich and beautifully placed within the expertly crafted soundstage of supporting instruments. Everybody’s Coming To My House hammers along with the restless energy that marks Byrne’s work. The bassline…

As the first two pieces in Mitchell & Johnson’s top-of-the-range 800 Series, this £2,598 amplifier combo is designed, engineered and built in the UK. The S800 preamp sports both moving-coil and moving-magnet phono stages and has a good quality ESS Sabre 9018 DAC with XMOS asynchronous USB input and three optical and three coaxial digital inputs. This makes it the beating heart of any modern hi-fi system, with six analogue inputs – five unbalanced RCAs plus one balanced XLR – including the aforementioned discrete phono stage with op-amp buffer. Outputs include two unbalanced RCA phonos plus one balanced XLR. There are fixed-level sockets for left and right subwoofers and line-level outs for a recorder. Also onboard is a headphone amplifier stage – based around a Texas Instruments op-amp – with…

Although Naim has built its reputation making distinctive and capable traditional hi-fi separates, it is now venturing into making products such as the Uniti Star all-in-one system. It’s a fascinating offering inasmuch as it infuses more than a whiff of its brand’s traditional values into a new and different platform. Put simply, this product is ‘hi-fi without tears’ as it crams traditional Naim purist thinking into just one box. Yet looked at another way, you could also say it’s a ‘style system for audiophiles’, because it offers all the functionality of trendy products from lesser manufacturers, but with Naim DNA to deliver serious sound. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t matter what you call it or how you frame it; the real question is how good is it at the all-important task…

REPRESENTING THE FIRST rung on the Auralic ladder, the Aries Mini can stream DSD files or decode MQA and is also fitted with a USB digital out, allowing it to send audio to a USB DAC. It’s well specified as a player too, with an ESS ES9018K2M DAC outputting via its single-ended RCA stereo out. A drive bay on its underside allows it to be both a player and renderer. The chassis is well finished, available in black or white and there is also the option of boosting performance by making use of the optional linear power supply (£250). Sound quality The Aries Mini quickly reveals itself to be a very fine performer. Its handling of the strings in Daft Punk’s Adagio For TRON is unforced, natural and supplies the…

A streaming transport that’s dependent on users adding an external DAC to route music from it to a hi-fi, the Aries G2 has a USB-A port to ensure driverless configuration. Unlike the Aries G1 overleaf, it is fitted with Lightning Link, which is a bidirectional 18Gbps digital hookup that uses an HDMI connection. This means that add-on G2 components – Vega, Sirius and Leo – have the means to handle all sorts of extraordinary hi-res files and also to lock the components together and suppress jitter – a standard criticism of the two-box approach. For those music streaming fans that aren’t quite on the bleeding edge of technology, the Aries G2 is also fitted with AES/EBU, coaxial and Toslink digital outputs that cater for transmission of PCM files at up…

HAND ASSEMBLED IN Audio-Technica’s production facility in Tokyo, the ATH-ADX5000 represents a significant jump in cost over any other model in its range. It’s a full-size, over-ear open-back design built around enclosures that mount a 58mm dynamic driver, with a claimed frequency response of 5Hz to 50kHz. Unlike previous designs, the ‘3D Wing support’ system has been dispensed with and a more straightforward padded headband is employed. You also get a hard carry case and a detachable 3m cable with A2DC connections. Sound quality The sound of the Audio-Technica is entirely at odds with its lightweight design. This is a big and potent-sounding headphone that has a weight and sense of scale at its disposal that allows it to handle large and powerful recordings without any sign of strain. The…

SENNHEISER CLAIMS TO have cracked the shortcomings of closed-back designs with its Ring Radiator transducers, which are fitted with special Gorilla Glass covers. The concave glass reflects sound waves from the rear of the transducer to an absorber, which is said to minimise resonances. Combined with the 56mm driver, this results in a good enclosed volume, and the diaphragm should not be overly constrained. The HD 820 is supplied in a wooden case and comes with three 3m silver-plated OFC cables fitted with gold-plated plugs. The one for unbalanced operation is terminated with a 6.35mm standard unbalanced stereo jack plug. The other two are balanced – one is terminated with a 4.4mm Pentaconn stereo jack plug and the other with an XLR-4 connector. The ends that connect to the earcup…

DOUBLING UP AS both a headphone amplifier and a high-quality preamplifier with a built-in phono stage, the front of the XM HP boasts a pair of 6.35mm headphone sockets alongside twin XLR outputs. Two sets of headphones can be used at the same time and there’s a Wolfson WM8742 DAC chip fitted (running PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD64 via the asynchronous USB) that handles digital signals from the two coaxial BNC inputs, two Toslink optical inputs and a Class 2 USB digital input. Three analogue inputs are fitted, including two line inputs as well as a moving-magnet phono, complete with ground terminal. Sound quality The XM HP offers a really rather fine performance. It is powerful and smooth, yet detailed and musical; there’s no sense that it’s really colouring…

AS THE NAME suggests, there have been previous versions of the P75 – we saw the Mk3 in HFC 370. For this latest generation, the power supply – still a wall-wart unit – now has its AC input more heavily shielded from the rest of the circuit to reduce interference. The whole circuit is placed on a pull-out tray, allowing you to adjust gain, impedance as well as the unique Phono Enhancer functionality. This makes for neater externals, but also means the business of adjusting is a little more involved. One feature that is very handy is that capacitance can be set exactly via the insertion of a resistor into the circuit. Sound quality With the phono enhancer circuit off, the Dynavector has plenty of gain coupled with low background…

2018 has been another year where vinyl’s popularity showed no sign of abating and given Rega’s work in redefining last year’s Planar 6, the arrival of the new Planar 8 didn’t come as the biggest surprise. However, few people could have predicted that it would be quite so different from pretty much every other turntable that the South-end-based specialist has produced up until now. Borrowing design concepts and features liberally from the RP8, Planar 6 and – perhaps most impressive of all – Naiad flagship vinyl spinner, which is ordinarily only built to order in extremely limited numbers, the Planar 8 had vinylistas everywhere drooling in anticipation before we even had a chance to give it a spin. Looking similar to the RP8 minus its plinth, the Planar 8 is…

Anyone that grew up listening to the countdown of the best-selling singles on Radio 1 on a Sunday evening in the seventies and eighties will no doubt be wondering about the state of the music industry following the recent news that the UK Top-40 singles chart will now include video streaming as part of its sales figures. It’s no secret that even with the increased interest in vinyl, record sales are in catastrophic decline as the way we consume music moves to streaming services and away from buying physical formats. The way the UK single charts is compiled has changed a lot since it began in 1952. Originally introduced and published by New Musical Express (NME) with sales figures gathered from a number of record stores willing to report their…

One of the most interesting developments in hi-fi over the last few years has been the slow but inexorable move away from the idea that minimalism is a prerequisite of high performance. The notion of a device doing two or – shock horror – even more functions and being superb at all of them is finally taking root with a number of manufacturers. Even allowing for this development, though, the system you see here takes that idea and runs with it. Of course, NAD has some positive form in this particular area. Its Modular Design Concept has been around for some time now and allows you to tailor the facilities that a given product offers to suit your needs. It has sufficient faith in the concept that it extends to…

Celebrating 70 years since the first ELAC turntable – the PW1 autochanger – rolled off the production line, the Miracord 70 comes as a complete package including arm and Audio-Technica AT-95E (HFC 387), which remains one of hi-fi’s great bargains. This is pre-fitted into the tonearm, meaning setup is merely a matter of fitting belt and platter, balancing the arm, setting anti-skate, and you’re good to go. The ELAC is built around a solid MDF base with a high-gloss black finish and metallic trim. The sub-platter rotates on a ceramic ball and has a hardened steel bearing shaft, spinning between two sintered bronze radial bearings. Four rubber bumpers support the main platter when in place. This weighs in at 2.6kg and is a solid piece of glass, coated on its…

With a range of dedicated phono stage designs for every budget, Rega has traditionally held off from all-in-one vinyl solutions, but that all changed with the introduction of the Planar 1 Plus. As the name suggests, at its core this is a Planar 1 turntable and a belt-driven unsuspended design with the belt acting on a sub platter rather than directly against the phenolic resin platter. The matching tonearm is the RB110, which has been tweaked to include automatic bias adjustment. Rega says this makes installation easier than on any previous iteration. The slight counter to this is that the value the bias operates to is fixed and so may not suit all cartridges. It is, of course, an ideal match for the Carbon that comes supplied and if you…

As the larger standmount of B&W’s sixth-generation edition of its entry-level 600 Series lineup, the 606 is likely to be the best seller, as the 685 S2 was before it. Along with its more voluminous cabinet comes a larger Continuum cone mid/bass driver and the same 25mm tweeter. Sturdy and functional is probably the best way to describe the build and finish and there’s nothing wrong with that. The overall effect is smart enough to fool casual observers into thinking they’re looking at the much pricier 706 S2, especially if they venture round the back where the terminal tray and dimpled airflow reflex port are identical. Behind their Continuum cones, though, the mid/bass drivers aren’t quite the same. For the 600 Series, the motor system and chassis has been slimmed…

BASICALLY OLD-GUARD TANNOY talent marching under its own flag, Fyne Audio has wasted no time pinning itself to the UK’s hi-fi map with two, well-stocked model lines and a roll-out schedule that would make even a well-oiled multinational sweat. The F301 boasts a whopping great 150mm mid/bass driver with a multi-fibre paper cone and a phase plug at the centre to smooth roll-off characteristics. Look more closely and you’ll notice that the roll rubber surround is contoured and looks a little like the outer tread of a car tyre. Fyne Audio calls this variable geometry FyneFlute technology and says the aim is to provide a non-homogeneous interface and thus a more effective barrier for the cone’s energy – leading to a cleaner sound. Meanwhile, the tweeter’s protective mesh cover incorporates…

AS THE LARGER of the two standmount offerings in the 3000i series lineup, the 3020i promises to be nothing less than formidable. The 125mm mid/bass driver uses a cone that’s precision formed from impregnated and coated paper and mated with a newly developed, low-hysteresis, rubber surround – claimed to accelerate without flexing and stop very accurately without unwanted resonances. The 22mm micro-fibre soft dome tweeter is decoupled from the baffle to isolate it from vibrations from the mid/bass driver and has a wide surround for increased dispersion. The neatly integrated binding posts and chrome driver trims look up market, too. Sound quality Compared with many rivals at the price, the 3020i is a real exhale… and relax moment. It’s a ‘Chill buddy, I’ve got this’ speaker and whatever the music…

Sooner or later, thinking gets connected and everyone’s happy. KEF’s LS50 Wireless is a neat (and I do mean neat) example. Prior to its launch, there tended to be just two types of self-powered stereo speakers you could buy in the UK. One is the truly active type favoured by recording studios, with dedicated built-in power amplification for each driver that requires a couple of mains sockets and a link to an external preamp and source to work. Maybe not the ultimate clutter-buster and no digital processing, but what a sound. The other, hitching its colours to the nascent lifestyle trend, simply puts an integrated amp/DAC with Bluetooth inside one of the enclosures, giving drive to its passive host speaker and, via a length of speaker cable, its equally conventional…

THE ONE’S COMPACT chassis means it will easily sit on a bookshelf or coffee table without taking up too much space. It squeezes in an array of six microphones, which allow it to work with interactive voice-control technologies such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home. The Sonos app works on a wide selection of computers and mobile devices, and supports all the main streaming services, including Apple Music, Spotify and Qobuz. We understand that it plans to add Apple AirPlay 2 support early in 2019, which means you’ll be able to create a mix-and-match multi-room speaker system using AirPlay 2 speakers from manufacturers other than Sonos for the first time. Music file support is limited to a modest 16-bit/48kHz and, like other Sonos speakers, it’s reliant on a home network,…

DESIGNED IN THE USA and built in Poland, the Liberty is loaded to the gunwales with the latest technology. The inclusion of MQA, 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 capability are the headline features, but more useful is the connectivity; USB Class 2 and AES/EBU digital inputs (handling PCM up to 192kHz, up to DSD64 DOP), plus two S/PDIF coaxial digital ins (PCM up to 192kHz, up to DSD64 DOP) and a Toslink optical input (PCM up to 192kHz, up to DSD64 DOP). RCA phono and twin balanced TRS outputs (TRS to XLR adapters are a cost option) complete the list. Inside the tiny alloy chassis is an ESS Sabre 9018K2M digital converter chip, a low-noise clock generator with a claimed 10ps of jitter and a high current headphone amplifier offering a…

As a DAC-enabled, souped-up Cyrus ONE, the ONE HD ushers in a whole new world of digital connectivity, uprated Bluetooth and a claim for superior sound all round. If you’ve just bought a plain Cyrus ONE (HFC 420), this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but the HD checks in at £999, £300 more than the official retail price of the now ‘basic’ ONE, which continues and is still a cracking starter amp. The HD applies extra socketry to an already crowded rear panel that, impressively, boasts two sets of speaker terminals to make bi-wiring that much easier. The additions are all digital and comprise optical, coaxial and Type-B asynchronous USB inputs, extending hook-up potential to laptop, TV and games console. These inputs all route to the…

RESOLUTELY ANALOGUE IN all senses of the word, the Cor is built around a Class A/B amplification stage, claiming a healthy 2x 95W into 8ohm (rising to 140W into 4ohm). PMC’s design is to provide an amplifier with no sonic character of its own, one that simply adds gain. It is fitted with four RCA line inputs and a single balanced one on XLR connections. There’s also an AV bypass for use with multi-channel installations and a headphone amp with a full-size 6.35mm jack. Sound quality Listening to the 16/44.1 download of Wild Beasts’ Last Night All My Dreams Came True, it does a good job of delivering on its promise of studied neutrality. There’s little sense of there being any aspect of the performance that you can pin on…

As an intelligent and flexible stereo power amplifier the ‘Anniversary Edition’ of Leema’s well-regarded Hydra II power amplifier can also be bridged for use as a monoblock, should you lust for even more power. Rated at 148W power output per channel into 8ohm, it may not appear overly muscular but it is claimed to tolerate even the most recalcitrant of loudspeakers. Around the back, primary input is via single, balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA selectable by a small push button just below the level of the back plate. Likewise, a similar, secreted button needs to be selected to instruct the amp to be in regular stereo mode or become bridged as a single-channel monoblock. Small, three-position toggle switches also need to be set to confirm two-channel or left or right…

Quad’s compact and dapper Artera family of solid-state components – so far the Play (a combined CD transport, DAC and preamp) and the Stereo (a power amp) – has managed to be both high functioning and lifestyle literate, which is trickier than it might seem. But not quite as tricky as folding all of the above (plus streaming) into a single Artera chassis. Equipped with aptX Bluetooth providing basic streaming to sit alongside its CD transport, DAC and amplification, the Artera Solus will be joined by a premium version adding app-controlled wi-fi network streaming to its repertoire for around £2,000. Quad freely admits: “It was a real challenge to make the individual parts – the CD transport, the DAC, the digital streaming, the analogue preamp and power amp – perform…

PART OF NAIM’S Uniti range, the Uniti Core also acts as the server option for its Classic series of network music streamers. One critical aspect that’s different to rivals is that there’s no hard drive. Customers can choose the type and capacity to suit their needs and the 1TB SSD fitted to our review sample costs an additional £240. It handles 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD128 music files and can be made available via Ethernet to other devices on the same network or via S/PDIF so it can be connected directly to a DAC. Rather unusually, this converts DSD files to 176.4kHz PCM to allow them to be played. Around the front, there is a CD mechanism for ripping to WAV or FLAC with tagging or to playback a CD. A…

Looking at the latest version of the CXN it’s not easy to spot any significant updates from the original. So, what’s changed? In a nutshell: a faster, more powerful processor for a “smoother user experience”, MPEG-DASH and HTTP Live Streaming HLS compatibility to enable high-quality internet radio streams (many BBC stations at up to 320kbps) and greater playback control via the ability to ‘seek’ through a track played over UPnP, USB or Spotify Connect. It’s a pity on-board Bluetooth hasn’t been folded into the deal. If you want it, you’ll need the USB BT100 aptX module as before (£70). Carried over from the original are the dual Wolfson WM8740 24-bit DACs, enabling all digital inputs to play hi-res files up to 24-bit/192kHz, though Anagram Technologies’ second-gen Adaptive Time Filter (ATF2)…

EMPLOYING BOTH BLUETOOTH and active noise-cancellation the PX utilises 40mm drivers based on 2017’s well-received £700 P9 Signature (HFC 421). It costs much less, which pitches it up against high-end noise-cancelling rivals such as the Bose QC35 (HFC 418). The adjustable noise-cancellation has three different modes – Flight, Office and City – that allow different levels of background noise to filter through. Additional features include a motion sensor that will pause or play music when you take the PX off or pick it up again. The headphone upsamples the audio signal to a claimed 768kHz and B&W has also adopted aptX HD Bluetooth, which caters for up to 24-bit wireless streaming. Along with a standard 3.5mm audio cable for wired hook ups, it also includes a USB-C connector and cable…

UNUSUAL IN THE ranks of high-end in-ear headphones, the IE 800 S doesn’t use balanced armature drivers, either singularly or in multiple driver arrangements. Instead, each enclosure has a single dynamic driver. This driver is 7mm and is designed to Sennheiser’s Extra Wide Bandwidth (XWB), with a claimed response of 5Hz to 46kHz. Relatively unusually for an in-ear at this price, the IE 800 S has captive cable attachments at the housing ends – something that leaves them potentially vulnerable to being snagged and damaged. To minimise the chances of this happening, Sennheiser provides a stress break point halfway down the cable to allow it to easily separate if snagged. The lower section is supplied in conventional 3.5mm and balanced 2.5 and 4.4mm connections. The in-ear is comfortable to wear…

WITH A DAC chip based on the same Burr-Brown DSD1793 processor as the nano iDSD Black Label, the xDSD has a redesigned headphone amplifier, improved connectivity and aptX Bluetooth. There’s a single 3.5mm jack, which acts as the main headphone output, but can also switch into fixed-level line-out mode for use with a set of desktop speakers. The xDSD has a female USB-A port on the back that provides the main USB audio input, but it also includes a S/PDIF for optical or coaxial input. Battery life is quoted at 10 hours when using S/PDIF, dropping to eight with Bluetooth and six for USB. Sound quality There’s not a hint of distortion as Queen launch into the multi-tracked gospel chorus of Somebody To Love. The vast rondo in the middle…

TAKING A SLIGHTLY different approach to its rivals, the circuit of the Limetree Phono is derived from a valve-based design but is entirely solid-state and makes use of high-quality components. The input stages are separate and there are independent moving-magnet and moving-coil inputs on the rear. The moving-magnet section offers a conventional 40dB of gain while the moving-coil goes for a fixed 60dB, which should be enough for all but the lowest output cartridges and limited gain setups. There is a single RCA output and switching between the two input types is carried out via a switch on the front panel. Sound quality Initially connected to a £695 Goldring Legacy moving-coil cartridge mounted on a Gert Pedersen-modified Michell GyroDec with SME M2-9 tonearm, the superb pressing of Amadou & Mariam’s…

When it comes to polls of the world’s all-time great guitar heroes, alongside obvious grandstanding contenders as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, the more discrete name of Ry Cooder will always be there. There’s nothing flashy about Cooder’s guitar playing and no gimmicky effects. His trademarks are restraint, subtlety and emotional nuance, allied to a masterful technique and an ability to pack more sinew into a few understated notes than the bombastic arpeggios of any of his peers. If you polled his fellow musicians, it’s highly possible he would come out as number one: the guitarist’s guitarist, who – in the words of the veteran drummer Jim Keltner who has played with him since the seventies – knows how “to touch the instrument rather than strangle it or manhandle it.”…

We all know we should service older cars on a regular basis. Oil becomes dark and thick, brake fluid needs topping up, coolant needs changing and tyres go bald. It’s a complex machine with moving parts that are designed to wear. Forget to service a vehicle and you’ll end up with poorer performance or worse still a breakdown. So, how did we get so lazy with turntables? Across the land turntables are crying out for some basic servicing, but years pass without any TLC. Maybe any decline is so gradual that we don’t perceive the drop in performance until something forces more drastic intervention. While the vinyl revival is great, surely we may need a ‘servicing’ revival to match it? Back in the seventies, the heyday of the turntable, the…

There are times when the full benefit of a particular product cannot be totally realised until other changes and developments in seemingly unrelated areas have come to pass. In the case of active loudspeakers, the technical advantages have been known for some time in professional studio applications, but in terms of what that actually means for home audio fans constructing a system, any benefits have to be measured against the practicalities and upgrade path of a more traditional setup. In truth, you have to be completely on board with the active loudspeaker concept to go to the effort of constructing an audio system around it. The blurring of where source ends and amplifier begins has recently started to make the active speaker look like a much more enticing concept. With…

There’s a splendid organisation I’ve supported for many years called Freemuse, which campaigns for freedom of artistic expression and on behalf of banned musicians around the world. Its activities usually centre around censorship by the more unpleasant and undemocratic regimes and is pursuing active cases in China, Russia and Iran. The row that erupted over Spotify’s controversial policy to remove “hate content” from the music on its streaming platform may mean that Freemuse needs to turn its attention to matters a littler closer to home. Back in May, Spotify announced it would not playlist any music that “expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability”. All…

Distinguished from the rest of Pro-Ject’s huge range of turntables by the new S-shaped tonearm, the Debut III S Audiophile is based around a superbly finished gloss plinth, which is available in black or white. The sub-platter has a stainless steel bearing shaft, which spins in a brass housing and is driven by a flat belt from the motor. The aforementioned aluminium tonearm is 8.6in long and easy to set up and fine tune. Available adjustments even include azimuth, as the arm tube can be rotated about its axis in the bearing housing after loosening a screw. It comes pre-fitted with a moving-magnet cartridge that is based on an Ortofon OM10 and dubbed the Pick-IT 25 A. However, internally, the coils have been replaced by pure silver types, which Pro-Ject…

For the last couple of years Rega has been replacing its RP series of turntables with Planar decks, so it didn’t take an enormous amount of deduction to work out that this would continue up the range to include the RP8. What wasn’t so obvious is that the Planar 8 would be so different to its predecessor and almost every other Rega deck that came before it. It takes concepts from the RP8 and Planar 6, but also borrows from the Naiad – the company’s flagship design. The most important of these is the application of mass – employing it where it is needed and eliminating it where it isn’t. In the case of where it isn’t, the main area where this has been tackled is the plinth. At first…

A compact standmount, the AE300 is designed for small-to-medium sized rooms and sports 18mm-thick MDF cabinet walls in a standard box shape. Extensive internal damping has been used to reduce colouration and bracing technology derived from Acoustic Energy’s Reference Series is employed. To the rear is a slot-shaped reflex port, said to reduce the effect of air turbulence. Both drive units are bespoke designs rather than being bought off the shelf from external suppliers. The mid/bass unit is a 130mm affair with a new ceramic/aluminium sandwich cone with a shallow profile, and long-throw motor system. A new 28mm aluminium tweeter has been developed, which is said to offer high power handling and low distortion, allied to good dispersion thanks to the company’s Wide Dispersion Technology (WDT) waveguide. The two drivers…

Replacing the CM Series in 2017, the 700 Series draws on tech trickled down from the company’s flagship 800 Series – allowing Bowers & Wilkins to offer a taste of the cutting edge at a much more affordable price point. Its 25mm ‘carbon dome’ tweeter tech used in this mid series aims to bridge the gap between the aluminium double dome used in its entry-level 600 Series and the diamond dome that gives the 800 Series Diamond its name. Also lifted from the 800 Series is the ‘Continuum cone’ mid/bass driver, albeit in shrunken 130mm form for the 707 S2. The Continuum cone is made from a new composite material that is woven in the Kevlar way and the intended upshot is a cleaner, sweeter, more open and neutral midband…

In 2017, Danish loudspeaker brand Dynaudio hit the big four-O, hence the name. The resulting loudspeaker saw the company’s famed 28mm Esotar2-coated soft-dome tweeter undergoing some refinement. The even more powerful Neodymium magnet assembly now has a new pressure conduit – a specially shaped vent that allows a more spacious rear chamber and controls how the air moves from the back of the diaphragm into that space. The tweeter’s frequency response has been tweaked to reach down to around 1kHz – well into the midrange – for still smoother integration with what Dynaudio describes as its “best-ever 170mm woofer”. Its basis is the long-running 17W75 driver, which uses the company’s MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) cone material, but debuts an improved ‘Nomex’ spider and ‘optimised excursion-symmetry’. This mid/bass unit is a…

If you’ve been keeping up with Chord Electronics’ pretty extensive range of digital-to-analogue converters you’ll know that the 2Qute (HFC 402) was closely related to the Hugo (HFC 386), boasting the company’s distinct Chordette casing but without the rechargeable battery and variable output. Similarly, the Qutest is the same relation to the Hugo 2 (HFC 428), inasmuch as it’s a simplified, pared-down version without the portability and a few other non-essential. It also loses the Chordette casework, looking a lot more like the Hugo 2. So, your £1,195 buys you Chord’s latest and most advanced FPGA chip, four different user-selectable filters and the same wide range of file compatibility. There are also some interesting new features that you don’t get from its portable brother. Unlike the vast majority of digital-to-analogue…

Being a thoroughly modern machine, this integrated amplifier has pretty much everything but the kitchen sink. That means four unbalanced analogue inputs, one balanced analogue in, one monitor in and one analogue in that can be assigned to bypass the preamp section; effectively making it a power amp. There’s an optional MC/MM board, which replaces the first analogue in for £330, while the sixth input becomes a 24-bit/192kHz DAC when equipped with the optional £360 USB DAC board. In terms of outputs, there are unbalanced preamp and record outs, plus a headphone socket alongside the loudspeaker connections. In short, it’s hard to think of anything that the FL Three S is missing – aside perhaps from DSD via USB. Sound quality I like the fact that the FL Three S…

Pioneer Corporation has just turned 80 years old, and to celebrate it has launched a new range of affordable integrated amplifiers – of which this is the mainstay. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s not a Class D design; instead Pioneer has thought hard about getting its Class AB circuitry to give its best. It puts out a claimed 76W per channel into 4ohm, which is sufficient for power output to not really be an issue. There are five line inputs, plus a moving-magnet phono and two digital inputs (optical and coaxial). A Wolfson DAC chip is fitted inside, giving 24-bit/192kHz digital playback. A fixed-line output is present for external headphone stages, and there’s a Power Amp Direct facility switch on the front panel. This lets users bypass the preamplifier section/volume control, so…

This small-footprint integrated amplifier packs in more features than most – Primare’s Terry Medalen describes it as offering “a bundle of the most commonly used connectivity platforms – Bluetooth, AirPlay, Spotify Connect and Chromecast built in – so that anyone in the household can comfortably use the system”. In effect, it’s far more connected to the outside world than most, and it’s all easily app controllable. It puts out a claimed 2x 60W into 8ohm, while its AKM AK4490EQ DAC chip supports up to 384kHz PCM and DSD128 via its USB-B port, plus the usual WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, MP3, MP4 (AAC), WMA and OGG files. The Prisma control app – iOS or Android – is a joy to use and lets you get music from Bluetooth, AirPlay, streaming services…

Launched in France in 1981 by electronics professor Yves-Bernard André, YBA today is a very different thing to the company that it once was. The company describes its products as being “designed in France, made with passion”, deftly circumnavigating the fact its majority shareholder is now the Shenzhen Shanling Digital Technology Development Company, which is a prominent Chinese hi-fi marque. In 2009, Shanling purchased a controlling stake in the brand, and all production aside from the flagship Statement range went East. Founder André is still very much a driving force however, and there’s no denying the distinctive and pleasingly quirky French feel of even the company’s affordable audiophile Heritage range – to which the CD100 CD player and A100 integrated amplifier you see here belong. It offers a good taste…

It’s sometimes difficult to fathom the best way of combining digital media libraries into one central location. Looking at the different kinds of one-box solutions on the market today, it’s clear that many companies have been pondering the same problem, with each introducing their own take to tackle this modern way of accessing our favourite music as effortlessly as possible. Novafidelity – established in 2003 and previously known as Cocktail Audio in the UK, is now distributed by SCV Distribution – and has a growing reputation for turning computer-based sound technology into user-friendly audiophile products. The X45 is its latest and is described by the company as a reference streamer and DAC. It builds on the now discontinued X40 (HFC 399), and is fitted with a faster Dual Core ARM…

Sacrificing some of the features of Auralic’s high-end Aries G2 (overleaf), the G1 comes in at less than half the price of the flagship model. The principle is the same, and this is a streaming transport that focuses on the business of accessing your digital music files on a home or external server and presenting them to an outboard DAC via its digital output connectivity. For added flexibility, one of those connections is a USB-A port for hook-up to a USB DAC without the need for a driver, while there’s also a trio of optical, coaxial and AES outputs. Auralic’s Lightning Link 18Gbps digital hookup is absent and the G1 can’t facilitate an internally mounted hard drive, although you can still attach an external one directly via USB. Like other…

Befitting a model being at the top of its streaming tree, Pioneer has ensured that the N-70AE wants for nothing in specification terms. The decoding platform is built around a streaming solution that works via wired and wireless connections and is compatible with 24-bit/192kHz PCM and up to DSD256. Decoding is handled by a pair of ESS Sabre 9016 DACs and runs in dual mono and fully balanced configuration, available to coaxial, optical and USB Type-B digital inputs. The USB betters the streaming section and is 32-bit/384kHz capable and there are coaxial and optical digital outputs as well as analogue RCA and XLR. As well as network content, the N-70AE is able to natively access Tidal, Deezer and Spotify alongside internet radio services. If you want to listen to a…

AS MRSPEAKERS’ FLAGSHIP headphone, this electrostatic has been designed to deliver very high resolution and clarity with a large soundstage, neutral voicing and a bass output that extends deep into the subsonic region. The supplied 2m cable is detachable using a small hex key and the ear pads are made of Italian Napa leather. They are an over-ear design, which is dictated by the large 88mm driver housed inside each cup. As with most electrostatics, the Voce is a completely open design, but despite this, the drivers are fully dust sealed and insulated against the elements. Also included with the Voce is a set of three ‘tuning pads’ with varying levels of attenuation in the top-end to allow you to adjust the tone of the headphone to suit your preferences,…

1MORE HAS NEATLY sidestepped the limitations of Bluetooth with the ability to receive hi-res audio in the form of Sony’s LDAC codec (up to 990kbps) and Apple’s AAC (up to 250kbps). In the box you get the headphone, a USB Type-A-to-USB Type-C cable for charging, nine sets of ear tips in foam and silicone, plus a bag for storage. The control unit on the left end of the neck band has volume, play/pause and the power button, as well as a microphone. Sound quality In terms of sound quality, the Triple Driver BT delivers a highly impressive performance with near-perfect bass levels, plenty of midrange detail and almost equally sumptuous highs. My listening test tracks have a slight warmer tone that’s enjoyable. The ‘warmth’ is most prevalent in acoustic tracks…

A MOVING-MAGNET PHONO stage, the OBH-8mk2 uses an integrated circuit for the gain stage powered by a 24V supply. The reason why Creek uses such relatively hefty voltage is because it is split inside the phono stage to +/- 12V via a custom circuit. This means that the OBH-8mk2 can be DC coupled with no input or output coupling capacitors. Additionally, by using a capacitor to roll off below 5Hz and capacitance smoothing, Creek ensures that there is no unwanted noise. The voltage swing available means that the circuit is effectively impossible to overload by any conventional means. It is also possible to use it with longer runs of cable – although they will need to be fairly flexible as, like a number of similarly lightweight designs, stiff interconnects move…

AT THE HEART of this battery-powered phono stage is the op-amp based moving-magnet section, which works in conjunction with a moving-coil transformer. The circuit boards are cleanly arranged internally and give the option of moving-magnet and high or low output moving-coil cartridges, with an auto-sensing system to adjust the settings for the type of moving coil used – as long as you set the rear switch correctly. There’s a choice of balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA outputs, giving it wider appeal. YBA claims the Genesis PH1 can be recharged up to 10,000 times, with eight hours of listening per charge. Sound quality Cue up a record and the sound is clean, open and three-dimensional with no obvious nasties. This is a neutral and even device without any obvious bass bloom…

If you like your music legends to boast the glamorous looks of a matinee idol, then Van Morrison isn’t really for you. If you expect them to be cute and affable as they sign autographs and pose for selfies, then you’ve definitely come to the wrong place. But if all you really care about is the transcendence of the music and one of the most evocatively soulful voices of all time, then Van is the man. He’s been called “moody, unpredictable, perverse, often downright wilful” – a description with which he presumably has no argument as it appeared in the liner notes of one of his own albums. Over the years he has turned the concept of the ‘difficult artist’ into an art form in itself. He has fired entire…

As someone that has attended Munich’s High End show (11-13 May) every year for the last 15 years, it’s fascinating to watch fashions come and go. I’ve seen the weird and wonderful wares on display reflect the switch from CD to streaming alongside the sharp rise and then gradual decline of valve amplifiers. Nearly a decade ago, the show also had a surfeit of massive horn loudspeakers, which seems to have fallen off recently – and now the headphone craze is everywhere. Throughout, however, one trend has been most evident – high-end turntables. I’m rather conflicted by this. On one level, I’m delighted. I think back to the early nineties when everyone was throwing their record collections into the nearest skip. The me of 25 years ago would have been…

In a world where the processes by which we control devices have become ever less tactile, we have reached the point where yelling at a small plastic wiretap seems to be the culmination of humanity’s aspirations. So let’s take a moment to appreciate the mechanical control. The tactile joy of a well-weighted button, the glide of a high-quality rotary knob and the satisfying ‘thunk’ of a two-position switch is something that – for me at least – brings a semblance of joy to the business of controlling a device that a smartphone app doesn’t even come close to replicating. The hi-fi industry has a fair few expert practitioners of the art of good controls, but right up near the top of the tree is Luxman. Somebody at Luxman HQ really…

System matching is arguably one of the most enjoyable aspects of hi-fi, and also one of the trickiest. It’s one of the first things you learn about when building your first setup, and something that’s always at the back of your mind when it comes to expanding and improving it later down the line. The reason it’s so contentious is that there’s no exact science to it – no right or wrong. But that’s also what makes it fun, mixing and matching components to get a sound that’s been tailor made by you. Despite that, one of the growing areas of hi-fi is premium active setups – speakers with all the system matching done for you, built into a compact one- or two-box system. Of course, active speakers are nothing…