Innholdsfortegnelse for Yearbook 2015 (405) i Hi-Fi Choice

Few manufacturers have come to encapsulate the budget end of the hi-fi market quite like Cambridge Audio (as it used to be know). In the eighties it made exotic high-end kit, but reinvented itself in the early nineties with some superb affordable CD players and DACs, and since then it hasn’t looked back. The products have traditionally been a little mundane looking, but they have consistently outperformed many price rivals. This new combo – sporting the new shortened ‘Cambridge’ monicker – attempts to keep that excellent sonic pedigree, but go the extra mile in terms of styling. It’s certainly a big step up from what we’re used to from the brand, aesthetically. The CXC is a dedicated CD transport, and it pairs with the CXA60 amplifier. The CXC is said…

Even though its products have been well received over the years, every five or so years the time comes to refresh the range, and that’s what Roksan has done here. The K2 series was excellent, but the company claims the K3 is even better, with improved technologies and design. Starting with the source, the new K3 CD player gets updated circuitry and improved components. A Burr-Brown PCM1798 24-bit/192kHz-capable DAC is fitted, and this works with a high-precision master clock with less than 150psecs of jitter, the company tells us. The disc mechanism has a front-loading CD drawer; for whatever reason, Roksan has decided not to go to a slot loader. The K3 CD nails its colours to the mast with a 75ohm RCA coaxial digital output and a 110ohm balanced…

Designed as a network receiver, the DRA-100 will stream content up to 24/192, plus DSD64/128 (2.8/5.6MHz) over both its Ethernet connection and the front-panel USB. There’s built-in wi-fi, complete with twin antennae, which are also used for AirPlay and Bluetooth. Around the back are two optical digital inputs and one coaxial, plus two sets of analogue ins, while alongside the speaker terminals there’s also a pair of audio outs, switchable between fixed and variable-level operation, a mono subwoofer out and a headphone output, which has a three-position gain setting to cope with tricky loads. Under the skin, the Denon uses inhouse Advanced AL32 Processing, to give a smoother sound by expanding 16-bit music formats to 32-bit before DAC conversion. DDFA (Direct Digital Feedback Amplifier) architecture from CSR is used to…

Anyone planing to commit their music collection to some kind of digital storage solution has a wish list in mind. They’d like an all-in-one unit able to rip, store and play CDs; or something able to access internet radio and lossless streaming services; or perhaps a means of ripping their LP collection to hard disk for playback. Maybe they want to record from the radio – internet-streamed or FM; or have a unit holding music able to be accessed by other players around the house; or even something to store and play not only hi-res PCM-based music but also DSD files. If you’ve been sitting reading that and ticking off the things you’d like to have, then look no further. All the functions previously mentioned – and quite a few…

With so many new turntables coming out, you’d almost think there was a vinyl revival going on at the moment. Oh hang on, there is. We appear to have a new generation of music fans (plus a couple of old ones thrown in for good measure) getting (back) into the groove. It is to these very people that Electrocompaniet is hoping to sell its new ECG 1 turntable. The deck comes with the much-liked Jelco SA-750EB tonearm pre-fitted, although you’ll have to specify the cartridge yourself (any good dealer can advise on this). This Japaneseproduced arm is a fine thing in its own right, and shows excellent judgement on the Norwegian company’s part. Any purchaser of this package should be able to ask their dealer to fit the cartridge, and…

Right from the outset, I find myself impressed with the look and feel of the top-of-the-range model from Pro-Ject’s Xperience turntables. It has an air of classic elegance and refinement. In particular, the lovely matt finish of the walnut wood veneer is a perfect complement to the black of the platter and the Pro-Ject 9CC Evolution carbon-fibre tonearm. This arm is fitted with an Ortofon 2M Silver moving magnet cartridge, which has already been fully aligned at the factory. As well as the walnut wood veneer, the 2 Xperience SB DC is available in mahogany or olive wood or in a gloss piano black finish. The turntable has some great design features. The plinth is made from a special non-resonant MDF, which uses a combination of high density and lower…

ON THE BASE of the Black Cube are small DIP switches to configure it for a range of settings, with 47kohm (100pF) for MM and high-output MC pick-ups, and 100ohm/1kohm settings for low and mid output MCs, while a third setting lets you select a custom load by installing your own resistors on its dual mono circuit board. Removing the lid via four screws gives access to more customisable features, including adjusting the MM’s +46dB gain and MC’s +66dB gain by -10dB each, with more jumper options to activate a bass roll-off filter and bridge its output capacitors. Sound quality As soon as the needle hits the groove I can hear that the Lehmannaudio is able to conjure up an expansive and open soundstage. But it’s not just the size…

Though it sits towards the lower end of Wadia’s product lineup, the good news about the di122 is that the competitive price doesn’t seem to undermine the spec. It is fitted with five digital inputs, two optical, two coaxial and a USB-B port. The coaxial and optical sockets are both 24-bit/192kHz-capable, while the USB implementation is able to pass 24/384kHz as well as DSD and DXD. This ticks pretty much all the format boxes one might expect and should mean that the Wadia is pretty much futureproof. Internally, it is built around the increasingly ubiquitous ESS Sabre chip, in this case an ES9016S. This allows the Wadia to act as a preamp, which is actually something that it has been doing with products for some time. The volume adjustment is…

As near-field monitors fed by a dedicated 30W per channel amp, it’s no good expecting the EGG100s to fill a large lounge with window-rattling decibels. They are designed to go loud and the deliberately under-rated amp (not shown) has plenty of headroom. You can place them on your desktop or if you’ve got a mixing desk. Writing desk? Maybe a little too near-field. No, if the EGGs are to be used in a hi-fi context, sitting 6 to 8ft back is right. Second system duties in a smallish room is a comfortable fit. There’s just the one line-level input and it’s balanced so you’ll need a pair of XLR interconnects and a source with a balanced output. Standard pro fare, of course, as are the speaker cables with their insert-rotate-andclick…

These speakers are customisable, with a choice of different coloured side panels to suit taste and/or decor, which are easily removed or interchanged. There are six different finishes available, including white, black, metal blue, metal grey, orange and red; one pair (in the colour of your choice is supplied as standard and additional sets cost £145). The B version tested here is a two-way reflex ported standmount with a custom-designed, 29mm doped fabric dome tweeter and a 150mm mid/bass unit with a polypropylene cone and free compression basket. Electrically, it is of average sensitivity; 87dB is claimed and this means you need around 50W RMS of power for it to really make an impression in a normal-sized room. Nominal impedance is quoted at 4ohm, and Sonus faber says its power…

Appropriately named, the Evolution series sees Creek take small steps towards broader mass appeal in an attempt to offer its traditional values in a more modern setting. Which is to say that the new amp feels sleeker and better finished, as well as having a good deal more facilities. The overall feel is of a classy product, befitting its not inconsiderable £1,500 price tag. One reason for this is the potential FM tuner functionality. Owners will have to buy the optional Ambit plug-in radio module (£125). It fits into the rear panel’s ‘Smart-Slot’ and replaces line input 5. There’s a plug-in DAC module called Ruby with twin 24/192-capable S/PDIF inputs, two optical ins, USB, Bluetooth and FM radio inputs (£400) and a Sequel 2 vinyl phono stage (£120) that is…

LOOKING AT THE Piccolo, you can’t help but be surprised by the build quality. There are no sharp edges, no gaudy finishes or awkward graphics. Using two KT90 beam pentode power valves running in single-ended mode, two 12AU7 input valves and a 5U4G(274B) rectifier valve, it produces a claimed 18W of Class A sound. It also sports a headphone socket, three stereo inputs via RCA connectors, and an infra-red remote volume control. Sound quality In the same way that you would not buy a supercar to do the school run, this amp needs to be purchased by someone who knows the job it is intended to do – to make lovely, sweet music into a fairly sensitive pair of loudspeakers. It can handle a variety of programme material, but with…

Representing the preamp from Primare’s 30 Series, the PRE32 has lots going for it. Equipped with plenty of analogue sockets (including balanced), a remote and an OLED display, our test model also comes packing Primare’s MM30 media board, which slots into a port on the rear and ups its cost to £3,000. While this may seem like a bit of a price hike, it’s actually great value given the MM30 is lifted directly from its £2,000 NP30 streamer (HFC 387) and comes brimming with a range of digital inputs, upsampling DAC and app-controlled streaming. Our test model is also the first to get Primare’s new aptX Bluetooth module inside its case, which costs £180 fitted. Unlike many Bluetooth-equipped amps, it outputs the Bluetooth receiver’s signal directly to its own sample…

THE OPUS IS an unscreened speaker cable that makes use of high-purity tinned copper wire for its conductors. This is surrounded with Black Rhodium’s signature silicone rubber insulation that’s twisted together internally for excellent noise rejection and finished off in a no-nonsense white outer jacket. With an outside diameter of only 6.2mm and a highly flexible and smooth outer surface, it’s ideally suited for installation work where the cable has to be navigated around tight corners. The Opus loudspeaker cable is terminated with good-quality gold-plated banana plugs, which are colour-coded red and black. Cable direction is indicated on the sleeve at each end. This is particularly important for the Opus as it has been manufactured to ensure the individual positive and negative leads run in the opposite direction from when…

Pink Floyd The Endless River CD Parlophone AFTER 20 YEARS of silence following 1994’s The Division Bell, most of us had assumed that Pink Floyd’s tide had ebbed for the final time and would not flow again. Now to our considerable surprise comes The Endless River. The death six years ago of keyboardist Rick Wright left only guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason as surviving members (Roger Waters having departed in 1985) – but in many ways it is the ghost of Wright that dominates this ‘new’ recording. The source of The Endless River lies in the material recorded in sessions for The Division Bell by Wright, Gilmour and Mason. It transpires that more than 20 hours of music was recorded and that the original intention was that The Division…

Flicking through the pages of this special issue of Hi-Fi Choice, it’s easy to appreciate the wealth of products coming our way tempting us with the latest shiny, new and exciting components designed to improve and upgrade our audio systems to take them to the next level. As audio fans we’ve never had it so good, with an overwhelming choice to help us build the very best-sounding music systems in our home. As an audio journalist I’m in the privileged position of getting to try out more new audio kit than many in my reference system at home, and regularly swap one component for another in a seemingly never-ending revolving door of products coming and going – I am on first name terms with all the delivery drivers – and…

On a few occasions I have found myself looking at a collection of electronics and feeling pretty sure that I know what to expect sonically. A bit of knowledge about the amp specs, the speaker size and the source equipment used and you’re most of the way there. At least you might think so... This system uses a valve amp partnered with electrostatic speakers. What follows should be a laudation to the qualities we associate with these categories, but in practise it doesn’t quite work out that way. MartinLogan’s ElectroMotion and Prima Luna’s Dialogue have all the attributes you might expect from electronics of this nature. They then go on to augment them with some you simply don’t expect. Part of this is down to their design, which in both…

Any product that makes it to a decade in production has to be regarded as unusually long lived and even when the more extended life spans of turntables are factored into this calculation, 30 years is both unusual and exceptional. The Roksan Xerxes is the latest arrival into this elite club and while there have been some very substantial changes to the deck in that time, the principle of a turntable suspended not on springs but on rubber ‘blobs’ that provide the same isolation with none of the associated drawbacks remains unchanged. The Xerxes you see here is the most up to date version you can buy. It makes use of Roksan’s recently released VSC2 combined phono stage and power supply, which means that as a complete analogue front end,…

Famous for its mid-price hi-fi separates, Arcam has been winning awards for over 40 years. It has always delivered fine products, but the company seems to be enjoying a particularly purple period right now. The FMJ A39 (page 101) amplifier is one of them, but the new CDS27 CD player/streamer also looks promising. The CD player as a breed is certainly on the wane, so what better way to make it relevant than to combine it with a network music player – giving all types of digital music playback from a single box? As well as offering CD and SACD compatibility, it also streams music at up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution through its Burr-Brown DAC. Careful clocking is utilised, and extra special attention has been paid to the power supply with…

As a brand, Exposure came to fame as a purveyor of high-end pre-power amplification back in the eighties, but launched its first integrated – the X – in 1988. Since then it has always been competitive in the mid-price sector, making a name for itself with its clean-sounding, punchy amplifiers. This combination is in the middle of Exposure’s main range, and is definitely ‘old school’, devoid of features like UPnP streaming. Indeed the CD player could easily be a mid-nineties product in the way it looks and feels, although as we’ll discover, not the sound. The all-aluminium casework of this British designed and built product is good if not luxurious, but the CD mechanism feels a tad flimsy. Combines all the good aspects of most rivals, but goes that bit…

Old-school is perhaps the best way to describe Roksan’s K3 CD player (overleaf). It doesn’t have a plethora of connectivity options or additional functionality. Instead the accent is very much on sound quality, not superfluities. The K3 CD Di ups the ante by adding a choice of optical and coaxial digital inputs to the mix. Round the back we have the usual IEC power inlet and RCA phono line outputs – plus Toslink optical, 75ohm coaxial and 110ohm balanced XLR digital outputs. Then there are new digital inputs (also offering optical and coaxial, although no USB – you’ll have to buy the K3 DAC for that), which come into play when you reach underneath on the right hand side. Here you will find a secret rocker switch that engages these…

Among the Naim faithful, every hint of a new product is greeted with endless speculation about what’s on the way and the trotting out of well-polished wish lists often encompassing products perfect for the list-maker, but potentially of such niche appeal that they could probably never happen. Somewhere deep within Naim’s HQ, I can’t help but think such speculation is often the cause of some amusement as the company seems to be able to wrong foot the guessers every time by announcing something no one saw coming, but which proves an entirely logical addition to its catalogue. The NAC-N 272 caught them on the hop, but has rapidly established itself as not just a product coveted by those whose immediate reaction was “You’ve launched what?”, but also the subject of…

I doubt many hi-fi watchers would have bet on the all-in-one music centre still being a serious proposition half a century after being put in the stocks and pelted with disdain by the enthusiast elite. Despite the negative baggage, ‘music centre’ perfectly describes the type of product whose time seems finally to have come: a merging of digital media and computer tech, of convenience and connectivity, that some say is already mapping the future of hi-fi on every level. The more fully featured examples go by the name of media servers or digital hubs – single units packing the wherewithal to process and disseminate separate audio and visual digital media strands to multiple rooms with complete flexibility, usually via a control app. For a quartet of music-loving entrepreneurs from Derby,…

Given that the functions a turntable must perform successfully are rather set in stone, the number of different approaches taken to carrying them out are impressive. Inspire Hi-fi is very aware of this as the company’s portfolio includes, belt, direct and idler-drive turntables and a variety of construction techniques, all with the common aim of great vinyl replay. The Elevation is an unsuspended deck that combines birch ply and acetyl to be as inert as possible. The birch ply forms the plinth and is built up over multiple layers to produce a thick teardrop-shaped base that houses the motor, bearing and arm board. Various options are available to then veneer the plinth. This is then combined with a 50mm-thick acetyl platter, which is a heavyweight piece of engineering and furthers…

One of the things most likely to put off newcomers to vinyl is the additional expense of needing to purchase a dedicated phono stage as many amplifiers are not fitted with one. Pro-Ject’s Essential II Digital neatly sidesteps this problem by having one built in and ready to connect to any spare line-level input. It features a built-in moving magnet phono stage based on Pro-Ject’s Phono Box design. The 8.6in aluminium tonearm has a damped cueing lever and is factory fitted with an Ortofon OM5e moving magnet cartridge. The turntable is supported on three adjustable feet. It is fitted with a heavy MDF black platter and a black felt platter mat is also supplied. Sound quality To kick off the listening test I select Handel’s Organ Concerto No.1 in G…

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS of this phono stage from USA-based Lounge Audio are very favourable, thanks in part to its simple and elegant looks. The unit provides a 50kohm 100pF load for the moving magnet cartridge and it emits a subtle blue glow from the acrylic layer just beneath the lid when powered up. There is no on/off switch on the unit and should you wish to use the phono stage with a moving coil cartridge, you will need to purchase a pair of moving coil step-up transformers of a suitable impedance to match your cartridge, or indeed a matching Lounge Copla moving coil step-up amplifier. Sound quality I connect up a Goldring 2400 moving magnet cartridge to the input of the phono stage and lower the stylus onto Simon and…

HAILING FROM CANADA, Mass Fidelity’s Relay DAC is an aptXcapable design that decodes via a Burr-Brown PCM5102 and Cirrus Logic processor. AAC decoding is also supported, which means it is backwards compatible with less capable variants of Bluetooth as well. In connectivity terms, it initially looks like Mass Fidelity has dropped the ball as the rear panel only sports a pair of RCA phonos. However, if you hold down the power button for five seconds, these outputs neatly become a pair of S/PDIF connections allowing the Relay to be connected directly to a DAC. Sound quality With the rear outputs set to analogue, the performance with lossless files delivers on the promise of aptX. There is nothing in the way of audible compression or elevated noise floor, meaning that Röyksopp’s…

Universally respected for its high-tech drive units – especially the celebrated and distinctive JET ribbon tweeter, now in fifth-gen spec – Kielbased Elac perhaps comes across as having a little too much vorsprung durch technik and not enough funk. A response of sorts has come with a new range of optional custom lacquer finishes, but I’m inclined to think its BS 263 two-way standmount – the baby of the ‘affordable high-end’ 260 series (there’s also a 267 floorstander) – has more raw desirability than the majority of models in its extensive range. And, like many a compact component with a premium price tag, the good feelings start with first contact. This is a really chunky little fellow, almost dinky in height but unusually deep, the enclosures’ gently curved sidewalls tapering…

AS A BRAND, Q Acoustics isn’t as old as some, but its pedigree in the affordable arena makes it the one to beat. The new 3000 series makes improvements over it 2000 series in cabinet construction, driver design – specifically the tweeter – and in overall aesthetics. The only downside is the curious positioning of the terminals that makes connecting plugs harder than it should be. The look of love The driver compliment is a 125mm paper bass/mid and 25mm soft dome tweeter. A single rear port augments the bass response. The 3020 is comfortably on the small side of the standmount spectrum. Fit and finish are extremely good and details like the curved corners on the cabinet and the magnetic grille fastenings make it look clean and modern. Graphite…

The Dual Concentric driver has given Tannoy its distinctive sound over the years, and does some things better than conventional loudspeakers. By keeping the tweeter and the midrange (and usually bass) units together on the same plane, it makes for a far more phase-coherent sound, which gives soundstaging and pin-point image location. The recent revamp of the Dual Concentric is said to be, “a major milestone in more than 65 years of the company’s audio research and development”, no less. The concentric mid/bass and treble drivers now share the same magnet, and a special waveguide integrating a donut-shaped tweeter diaphragm and bullet-shaped phase plug. Tannoy has moved the tweeter forward for better time alignment, which is said to improve high-frequency directivity and low-frequency performance, enabling a higher crossover point. Sound…

While all-in-one systems come in many shapes and sizes, generally they follow a similar set of conventions with smaller scale woofers, tweeters and amps packed together under the same roof, trading levels of sonic output for greater degrees of ease of use. But as we know, following conventions isn’t the Devialet way. From the outset the distinctive Silver Phantom’s egg-like case challenges preconceptions of what a hi-fi system should look like. Each one houses its own internal amp, DAC, wi-fi streamer and speakers, allowing it to fly solo as a standalone system or work alongside more Phantoms as part of a two or more channel installation through Devialet’s free Spark app and Dialog wi-fi controller (£249). There’s also a dedicated remote control (£109) and Branch speaker stand (£199). At £1,690…

One of the biggest challenges the fourth incarnation of Exposure’s excellent amp faces is to manage any extra functionality without letting it interfere with all that was good about its predecessor. The new ‘D’ suffix, indicates its readiness for the optional new plug-in DAC board. This costs £375 and offers PCM at up to 24/192 resolution, plus DSD64, and comes with USB and BNC inputs between which it auto-switches. All this is possible thanks to the Wolfson WM8742 DAC chip, which is at its heart. Vinyl fans aren’t forgotten; there’s an optional £240 onboard phono stage, in moving magnet or moving coil flavours. Sound quality I kick the listening session off with Congo Ashanti’s Days Chasing Days, which can seem a little anodyne, and the 3010S2 didn’t quite capture it…

FEATURING TUNED ARAY technology originally developed for Chord’s flagship Sarum range, the C-Line claims to offer improvements in detail and transparency of sound. Its conductors are manufactured from oxygen-free copper and are constructed in a pseudo-balanced configuration with fully floating high-performance shielding. Direct gold-plating technology and over-moulded strain-relief for the phono plugs is also adopted. Sound quality Impressively, the C-Line is no slouch when it comes to conveying exuberance and excitement. Dvorak’s Symphony No.9 shows the brass section leaping furiously across the musical score with plenty of energy, yet somehow with refinement. The latter quality is something I have come to expect from silver conductors and I’m surprised to find this being demonstrated with the interconnects’ solid copper. Bolero is equally polished and captivating. GoGo Penguin’s Murmuration really exemplifies the…

Fashion can move so bewilderingly fast in the world of popular culture that every year can seem like a milestone, but 1975 found music at a watershed moment perhaps like never before. The dawn of disco was upon us, prog-rock was growing flabby and self-indulgent, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were taking rock ’n’ roll decadence and debauchery to new levels of excess and punk was gathering on the horizon. It was also a year rich in symbolism as rock ’n’ roll came of age – it was 21 years since Elvis Presley had entered Sun studios in Memphis for the first time in 1954. At the same time, it was the year when the last rites were finally read on the sixties, as The Beatles were officially dissolved…

Like a famous brand of wood preservative, Beautiful Systems strives to do precisely what it says on the tin. This means that we feature systems that are attractive to look at or otherwise innovative, bold or at least a little different from the norm. We then also seek to have a complete functioning system – something you could buy in its entirety if you fancied. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but I think we feature some great-looking kit, as well. This second part sounds easy enough, but in reality there are some caveats. Some systems feature more than one brand that divide the roles and responsibilities of two very different disciplines – electronics and acoustics. Even when we do have systems supplied by a single…

Call it a wild guess, but I reckon that, like me, the majority of HFC readers have large record collections. Not much point in having all that expensive, top-of-the-range audio equipment if you haven’t got plenty of music to play on it. I dare say most readers also own a sizeable DVD library. So I wonder what we should make of Alan Wolk’s new book, a review copy of which arrived in my mail recently. There’s a lot of techy TV stuff that I skipped in How The Internet Is (Slowly But Surely) Changing The Television Industry. But I was much struck by his theory that the full maturation of the internet age has, in terms of media, now rendered the concept of consumer ownership pointless. Wolk’s argument goes like…

Launched in October 1983, Audiolab’s original 8000A integrated amplifier was a veritable powerhouse by the standards of the day, with a quoted 50W RMS per channel into 8ohm that virtually doubled into 4ohm. Remarkably, unlike nearly all its rivals, the 8000A could even work into 2ohm loads without going bang. The model was extensively tweaked over the years and by the nineties had become a sort of hi-fi version of the Volkswagen Golf – affordable yet designed and engineered like no others at the price. It lived on for 14 years in its original incarnation, and the 8300A you see here is its latest descendant and arguably most radical departure. It has been substantially redesigned inside by Jan Ertner, and can function either as an integrated, preamplifier or power amplifier.…

This great British hi-fi brand has been around since the early eighties, and has made a bewildering array of products, including some iconic ones like the A1 Class A integrated amplifier. This combo is the latest mid-price offering, and is rather more mainstream. It is headed up by the new M3scd, which is a CD player complete with digital inputs – which the manufacturer tells us makes it a ‘digital hub’. It sports a new disc loading mechanism, claimed to have very low jitter and a 24-bit/192kHzcapable DAC. The machine works nicely and its disc drawer is smooth. Handsomely styled and well finished like its matching amp, it comes in a choice of black or silver aluminium fascias with pressed steel casework done to a good standard. This combo comes…

Abit of a do-it-all device, the CXN isn’t just a streamer/network player, it is also designed as a DAC and a digital preamp, having a range of inputs including an asynchronous USB, plus a choice of fixed or variable analogue outputs on both RCA phonos and XLRs. It also has AirPlay and Spotify Connect capability, with a choice of wired or wireless network connection and can be used with the optional Cambridge Audio BT100 aptX Bluetooth receiver (£70) for wireless music streaming from smartphones, tablets and computers. It can handle content at up to 24/192 over network connections or from USB storage devices, for which a Type-A USB socket is provided on the rear panel (alongside another used for the wi-fi antenna that comes supplied), with a further socket on…

Whether you’d call it a network-equipped CD player, or a CD-equipped streamer doesn’t really matter. What’s important here is that it brings together the key ways that most people currently consume digital audio into one compact and highly affordable box. It also adds internet radio, two USB inputs and iPod connectivity, meaning that it’s a most flexible device. Digi-philes will also like the sound of the 5.6MHz DSD functionality, in addition to the standard 24-bit/192kHz FLAC and WAV playback. There’s even a smartphone app to make controlling it easier, too. There are two absentees, however. First, there’s no wi-fi, meaning you’ll need to connect it to your router via an Ethernet cable. Likewise, there is no aptX Bluetooth playback either. In my experience this isn’t a particularly fine sounding way…

Aname that’s well-known to vinyl enthusiasts, Audio-Technica has been around for many years. This package includes its AT95E moving magnet cartridge, a built-in phono stage that can be plugged straight into any line-level input or can be bypassed when used with equipment that has a moving magnet phono input stage. There’s also a USB output to connect it to a computer for digitising LPs at CD quality of 16-bit/44kHz or 48kHz, and it comes bundled with all the necessary cables and Audacity open-source recording software to digitise your vinyl. The turntable has a nice, solid feel and includes a removable hinged acrylic dust cover. The LP120’s quartz-controlled direct-drive DC turntable motor has 33, 45 and 78rpm speeds selectable via push buttons, as well as reverse mode for any budding DJs.…

With its rather distinctive, minimalist design, the Pro-Ject RPM 1 Carbon is available in striking red, white and black high gloss finishes. It will certainly add an air of modern elegance to any hi-fisetup and has a real feel of quality about it. The motor is mounted to the side of the platter and the drive is taken from the pulley to the circumference of the platter via the belt. The motor sits inside a hole in the plinth, but doesn’t touch it. It stands on your equipment support and so is completely decoupled from the deck itself, apart from the drive belt, which runs around the platter’s circumference. This motor is of a similar design to the one used on the more expensive Xpression Carbon and is powered by…

With a hi-fi heritage spanning several decades, Rega is the name that undoubtedly comes to mind when considering British turntables and tonearms. Its classic Planar turntable dates back to the seventies and was a budget belt-drive deck employing a solid plinth instead of the suspended chassis that was used in many quality turntables from the early sixties onwards. Keeping with tradition, Rega’s latest entrylevel RP1 turntable is also a solid plinth and is supplied in the Performance Pack upgraded version as seen here, which includes a Bias 2 moving magnet cartridge, an upgraded drive belt and a 100 percent natural wool turntable mat. The plinth is available in three finishes – cool grey, white or titanium. The platter is made from a phenolic resin to give it a flywheel effect…

IF YOU’RE LOOKING for a phono stage that makes a statement, look no further than the bright metallic pinky-red aluminium case of the RP-02. Those with more conservative taste will be pleased to know it’s also available in black. The front panel houses the blue LED power indicator and an on/off switch, and the rear has an IEC power socket, earth binding post and four gold-plated RCA phono sockets for input and output. There’s also a jumper array for choosing the impedance to match the moving magnet or moving coil cartridge on your deck. Sound quality I connect the RP-02 into my system and feed it from the Kiseki Blue NOS MC cartridge that is installed in my tonearm. First up is a brilliant EMI recording of Haydn’s Baryton Trios.…

POSITIONED IN THE middle of three miniature USB DACs, the Geek Out M hails from seriously high-end Da Vinci Audio. It has an impressive back story that saw the original Geek Out EM model born from a swell of support following its crowdfunding campaign. The diamond black M model here has a claimed 720mW power output suitable for less efficient headphones within the 100-300ohm range. Silver and Red models are available with power outputs tailored towards different efficiency headphones. Despite its tiny size, it packs one heck of a lot into its remarkable dimensions. There are two tiny buttons on the side and a USB plug at the end, plus a pair of 3.5mm jack sockets labelled 47ohm and 0.47ohm at the other. Much of the tech is derived from…

The C 510 would be notable enough as a DAC given that it includes some connectivity I’ve not encountered before, but that is only half the story. It also has full volume control and has it sights set firmly on your preamp. To do this with any degree of transparency, it has to ensure that the level of the digital signal can be adjusted without affecting the content itself. Adjusting the level of digital by removing bits of it (literally bit reduction) is easy enough, but isn’t a solution that will sound much good unless the volume is wide open. To get around this, the C 510 takes all signals and upsamples them to 35-bits. This additional information is passed through a CSRA6601 8-channel digital modulator, which sacrifices this additional…

One of the latest in a long line of mid-priced KEF standmounts, the R300 is pretty and technically interesting, being a relatively rare three-way loudspeaker. It’s also fairly large for a standmount and looks the part with clean uncluttered lines that give it an air of sophistication, helped in no small degree by the excellent finish (which comes in a choice of classic piano black, rosewood or walnut wood veneer). It sports the latest version of KEF’s Uni-Q driver array which takes care of treble and midrange duties, and a 165mm bass driver, effectively making it a three-way design. The 25mm vented aluminium dome tweeter sits mounted in the centre of the 125mm braced magnesium/aluminium midrange cone, and a 165mm bass unit made of the same material handles the lows.…

QUAD’S S SERIES, brings a bespoke ribbon to a market sector where domes have traditionally been the norm. It’s a bold initiative to capture a flavour of that airy and finely-textured ESL transparency for those of us with more frugally tailored pockets. The S-1 is small enough to squeak into the ‘cute’ category, measuring 285mm high and its ribbon tweeter is partnered by a 100mm Kevlar-coned bass/mid driver. Sound quality The S-1 draws the listener right in from the opening bars and doesn’t let go. Perhaps pertinently for Quad, the overarching ‘politeness’ that has tended to define the sonic signature of some previous small standmount designs from the company, has given way to a higher order of dynamic expression and immediacy and, more rewardingly still, an ability to deliver lightning-fast…

From the wine-gum shape of the baffle to the curvy, super-dense construction of the enclosure and implementation of the top-drawer drive units, this speaker’s ambition bears little relation to its price. Departures from the ordinary start with the enclosure, which is made from a weighty composite comprising epoxy, polyurethane, potassium carbonate and ‘organic bubbles’, resulting in a material that, according XTZ, is 40 percent more dense than MDF. The 165mm-diameter bass/midrange driver is a SEAS unit further developed by XTZ and SEAS that employs a new woven polypropelene ‘Curv’ cone claimed to be the world’s first self-reinforced 100 percent polypropylene composite. The partnering tweeter is a generously sized 30mm soft dome unit with dual neodymium magnets to boost efficiency and power handling. The rear-firing port comes with a sleeve-style neoprene…

Like almost every other affordable solid-state amplifier, Arcam designs have traditionally run in conventional Class AB, which has higher efficiency than Class A, but lower distortion than Class B. The company’s new generation of higher-end amplifiers, however, turns off the non-conducting transistor much more slowly than in normal designs using a mix of positive and negative feedback in the output stage. This means that it operates in near Class A up to about 20W output, to all intents and purposes loud enough for most people. Think of it like a hybrid car in some ways. The output stage’s supply rail voltages are varied according to the signal level; it uses multiple power supplies rather than just a single one, gradually bringing in the secondary supply as the dynamic load demands…

Meet the H360, Hegel’s latest integrated amp, which replaces the outgoing H300. It quotes a similar healthy output of 250W into 8ohm and 420W into 4ohm, but with completely new power supplies and output stages claiming to enable 50 percent more current delivery. A new DAC utilises AKM chips and a new master clock to raise data handling to 24-bit/192kHz for all inputs as well as native DSD64/128 for the ‘non-asynchronous’ USB input. Furthermore, its patented SoundEngine technology has been revisited and is said to achieve lower distortion and a high damping factor of 4,000. Sound quality I warm the H360 through with the INXS track Elegantly Wasted on CD, feeding the amp’s onboard DAC via the coaxial connection. From the opening cow bells, bass and springy guitar riff, I’m…

Introducing Parasound’s ‘do-it-all’ device. The Halo does everything it can be reasonably expected to, including connecting up to a variety of digital and analogue sources, delivering a fair whack of power into a wide range of loads and not being too big. It’s hardly small, but then again it negates the need for separate preamp, power amp, DAC and phono stage boxes. The power amp has full dual mono construction and is said to work in Class A mode at lower levels, switching into Class AB when called on to deliver more power. The preamp has matched J-FET input stages and MOSFET driver stages, and sports its own MM/MC phono preamplifier. It also has the popular ESS Sabre32 ES9018K2M DAC and an asynchronous USB 2.0 input that supports PCM up…

BEING ABLE TO choose the spec you require for your stand is one of the beauties of the QAVX, and the configuration builder on the website allows for at least eight shelves to be selected. These can be anything between 100 and 326mm apart and the width is fixed at a big but not unmanageable 1,630mm. There’s a variety of wood and glass finishes on offer, and neat tricks like the slight curve on the leading edge means it feels more like a piece of furniture than something you stand kit on. The build quality is excellent. The columns countersink into the shelves and then screw together so that it’s both rigid and solid. Sound quality Sonically, the most significant advantage here is that the size and cumulative mass it…

As a society we make snap, subconscious decisions based on the appearance of things. We prefer the clean well-presented restaurant over the unkempt one and – whether we like it or not – attractive people frequently find themselves benefitting from opportunities afforded them by their appearance. This cuts both ways, though. When you turned the page of this magazine and looked at this system, I would wager that you made a snap decision that it is here because it looks pretty funky. Spherical speakers and circular electronics are sufficiently different from the norm to be worthy of inclusion surely? The reality is that this system does indeed look fantastic. It is a heady combination of clean lines, bold colours and a whiff of retro futurism. It is exactingly assembled and…

1975 was another country – it all seems so different now. In Britain it was hard to miss the turbulent politics of the period, but it was the music that indelibly stamped itself through me. I loved ABBA and 10cc and who could not resist all that sweet American soul music seeping into the charts from the likes of Isaac Hayes? I was entranced every Thursday at 7pm, sitting in front of my family’s shiny new colour television set watching Top of the Pops. I was beguiled by Slade and T Rex, getting into The Carpenters and Elton John, and in love with Electric Light Orchestra. Oh for such strength in depth in the charts now! I hadn’t quite got into hi-fi by 1975 – that would come just a…