Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £1,400-£4,400 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: ATLASCABLES.COM Atlas Cables from Kilmarnock is also launching a new speaker cable this month, the Ailsa Achromatic. Joining the Ailsa Achromatic interconnect launched in 2021, Ailsa is pitched between the company’s Hyper and Mavros ranges and offers users OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) conductor technology and microporous PTFE dielectrics at a lower price point than previously available. The AASC consists of 2x 3mm2 OCC multi-stand copper conductors wrapped in a microporous PTFE dielectric. This is enhanced with super stabilised conductor geometry (SSG isolation layer), an extruded outer layer that keeps the multiple strand conductor symmetrical and geometrically accurate. The cable is then packed out with anti-vibration cotton filler and finished with a high-gloss grey jacket. The Ailsa Achromatic comes terminated with the company’s Achromatic Z (4mm…

Like the Land Rover and Ray-Ban sunglasses, the Pro-Ject Debut comes in many different flavours. What started out as a pure entry-level product has been joined by enough siblings over the last 20 years that the latest Debut PRO reviewed here can be regarded as the range’s flagship and crowning glory. The numerous improvements might elevate the price to £700, but even that has done little to undermine this turntable’s bargain status. Pro-Ject CEO Heinz Lichtenegger maintains that the steps up the scale continue the mission statement of the most recent Debut, the Carbon EVO (HFC 468). Lichtenegger explains: “The Carbon EVO was designed to give people with a moderate budget a record deck with an ‘entry audiophile’ attitude. The idea of the PRO is to further squeeze any compromises…

STREAMING SERVICES GROUP TEST £7.99/MONTH-£200/YEAR THE WORLD OF on-demand music streaming can be a sightly deceptive one. Viewed with a disinterested eye, things appear to change slowly, if at all. We’ve had on-demand music for over a decade now, initially as a compressed-only service, then with lossless, followed by hi-res options. Behind the scenes, though, the dynamics of what’s on offer and why is fascinating as providers respond and tweak their services to counter what their rivals are up to. This applies with particular significance to the last year. The early part of 2021 was dominated by the news that lossless Spotify – a service that hasn’t featured in recent round ups because it only offers a lossy tier – was due before the end of the year. Here we…

Back in 2016, it made a lot of sense for Monitor Audio to buy the Roksan brand. For a company like MA, securing an up-and-running range of products that offered scope to partner its speakers made sense and gaining a well-respected brand name was logical too. For Roksan’s part, the benefits of being taken over by a company with the resources of Monitor Audio gave scope for it to access technology and production processes that it would have struggled to achieve on its own. The Attessa range features the first all-new products launched by Roksan since the takeover. The four-strong lineup includes a CD transport and turntable as well as two amplifiers, the more affordable of which combines digital and analogue inputs – although the more expensive of the two…

Attractive sound and competitive price were the main takeaways when we reviewed the original Beam back in HFC 441. The Gen 2 update is a little more expensive, but includes a more powerful processor and supports Dolby Atmos for surround sound – plus there’s Dolby TrueHD as found on some Blu-rays. The second-generation Beam is virtually identical to its predecessor. Available in black or white, it’s much more compact than many soundbars, making it easy to accommodate in smaller rooms and with more modestly sized screens. Inside there’s a single central tweeter, four midrange drivers and three passive bass radiators. The new processor allows the Beam Gen 2 to handle five audio channels for surround effects, adding depth and height to the left, right and centre channels. There’s a single…

Looking back over the past 12 months, you’d be forgiven for thinking that people would be increasingly turning to streaming as their primary music source. However, it turns out that it’s not quite that straightforward. In its 2021 year-end report, MRC Data, which is a US data and analytics provider to the music business, notes that audio streaming of current music (released less than 18 months ago) has declined by 4.9 percent for the first time since the company began measuring streaming data. However, older music is increasingly streamed as consumers reconnect with their favourites. In fact, 41 percent of people in the UK aged between 56-74 use streaming, compared with around 78 percent of those aged below 39. The older titles also helped maintain CD sales, which were up…

AN UPGRADE TO QED’s Performance Audio 40i RCA interconnect (HFC 481), the Reference Audio 40 is fitted with QED’s Analoc2 RCA plugs. The plug bodies are manufactured entirely from non-conductive materials to minimise eddy currents. The Analoc2 design, like its predecessor, features low-bulk, high-purity copper connectors and low-mass metal barrels. It uses a high-rigidity thermoplastic material for the inner support structure and cable strain relief to eliminate the detrimental effects of eddy currents. Furthermore, the connector has hollow, gold-plated, high-purity copper signal pins to combat the skin effect, while the slip ring used for locking the similarly plated copper coaxial earth connection in place has also been improved. The cables are made from two silver-plated 99.999 percent oxygen-free copper (SPOFC) conductors of different diameters that carry the same audio signal,…

PRICE: £7,000-£9,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MELCO-AUDIO-MASTERS.COM JAPANESE SPECIALIST MELCO Audio has launched a new two-box digital music library, the N10/2, which it’s describing as: “the best-performing Melco music library in the company’s history”. The N10/2 is available in either HDD (N10/2-H50) or SSD (N10/2-S38) guises, with the former a direct replacement for the original N10 and the latter supplanting the previous SSD flagship, the N1Z/2EX. The libraries centre around newly selected drives: 5TB in the N10/2-H50 and 3.84TB in the N10/2-S38. The N10/2 also benefits from a new high-performance PCB, first seen in Melco’s limited-edition N10 45th Anniversary Limited Edition – now sold out. The N10/2 is a two-box design, featuring a half-width (215mm) chassis, enabling the signal-processing electronics to be kept separate from the power supply. The ‘head’ unit…

PRICE: £1,350 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: KLIPSCH.COM KLIPSCH IS THE official headphone and portable audio partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team and has added The Fives McLaren Edition powered speakers to its collection of co-branded products. The company says the loudspeakers: “combine McLaren Racing’s renowned design ethos and use of advanced materials with Klipsch’s legendary high-fi delity audio and technical innovation”. Klipsch The Fives McLaren Edition include an integrated phono preamp, Bluetooth, digital optical, analogue RCA, USB inputs and a subwoofer output. The speaker offers full compatibility with PCM music files up to 24-bit/192kHz. The company’s engineers designed the high-excursion carbon fibre bass driver cone from scratch to ensure maximum output with minimal cone break up for detailed, deep, dynamic bass and decreased distortion. The result, they say: “is a…

PRICE: £150 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AUDIO-TECHNICA.COM AUDIO-TECHNICA HAS LAUNCHED its Sony 360 Reality Audio-certified ATH-CKS50TW true wireless earphone – a new lightweight model, which the company claims provides 20 hours of continuous playback or 15 hours with noise cancelling enabled. “Use of the charging case allows as much as 50 hours of use on the go,” according to AT and charging for 10 minutes provides up to 90 minutes of continuous playback when noise cancelling is disabled. “Additionally, there’s a feed-forward active noise-cancelling function, which ensures an immersive audio experience – even in noisy environments.” 360 Reality Audio is an immersive music experience that uses Sony’s object-based 360 Spatial Sound technology and allows any audio input to be placed in a 360° spherical sound field, from the instruments, vocals or…

PRICE: £7,950 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: VERTEREACOUSTICS.COM VERTERE HAS UNVEILED its new Imperium Motor Drive, which the company says was driven by owners of its SG-1 and RG-1 turntables looking for an affordable motor drive superior in performance to its Tempo, which was launched last year. The new design derives from Vertere’s Reference Motor Drive and includes a simplified power supply and control functions. The purpose, according to Vertere, was to make a motor drive: “with as pure a sine and cosine wave output and as little noise as possible. The design and cabling also had to consider possible RF pickup and ingress.” Enclosed in a shell precision CNC milled from solid aluminium is a twin-regulated linear power supply feeding the primary circuit, the 12V external supply for the record player’s…

STREAMING SERVICES GROUP TEST THIS MONTH’S ROUND up employs a headphone-based setup for testing. As well as providing a point of difference to the previous streaming services test, it also covers off higher than normal noise levels in our testing environment over the time that the evaluations are carried out due to building work nearby. A Lenovo T15P ThinkPad and 2021 iPad Pro are used throughout, with both devices connected via USB to the iFi Neo iDSD DAC (HFC 482) and Meze Audio’s Liric headphones. The iFi combines MQA compatibility with the ability to show the sample rate it is receiving at the time; invaluable when that sample rate might not be the one you expect! As many of the streaming services offer direct audio options, they are run consecutively…

B&W took its time creating its first true-wireless in-ears, but did so in order to avoid the compromises involved in combining high-quality sound with the convenience of wireless technology. That delay means that its PI5 and more expensive PI7 (HFC 478) are up against some stiff competition. But, like the company’s more traditional PX range of headphones, they are smartly designed and reasonably priced. Available in white or charcoal, the chunky earbuds have a large control button that protrudes quite noticeably from each ear. There are three sizes of tips provided to help get a good fit. The solidly built earpieces house substantial 9.2mm drivers, with 10Hz-20kHz frequency response and two mics apiece to handle calls. AAC and aptX are supported for Bluetooth streaming and active noise cancelling is on…

One of the most important aspects of having a successful range of products for any company is making sure that the ‘first rung’ – the point at which a customer might begin their relationship with you – is a compelling one. Different companies have different approaches to this, but the common theme is to try and embody what you stand for in miniature. For Rega, this is trickier than it might at first appear. The company offers complete hi-fi systems; produced in the UK, usually vinyl-fronted and from separate components. Any attempt at a first rung has to embody these values to have any relevance to the rest of the model range. The answer to this conundrum is the System One; a complete hi-fiin a box for £1,200. The components…

Sometimes the real story is what people don’t do rather than what they do. Neil Young grabbed the headlines when he gave Spotify a ‘him or me’ ultimatum over the platform’s hosting of Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Young accused Spotify of complicity in spreading anti-vax misinformation via the podcast, which it signed up on a $100-million deal and has 11-million daily listeners. When Spotify stuck with Rogan, Young insisted his music be removed from the platform in protest. A handful of artists followed suit, including Joni Mitchell, old mates Crosby, Stills and Nash, Nils Lofgren, Lloyd Cole and India Arie. Each departure from Spotify’s ranks led to a fresh round of news stories. But does it not strike you that this is a surprisingly short list? Nobody…

ALBUM OF THE MONTH Jack White Fear Of The Dawn CD Third Man IT’S HARD TO think of any artist who has seized DIY control of the entire production, distribution, promotion and marketing of his music as totally as Jack White. Via his Third Man enterprise he not only has his own studio and record label, but his own mastering facility and pressing plant and a growing chain of record store outlets, including one recently opened in London. Lockdown hit most people hard, but it was a double blow for the restless, endlessly creative former White Stripes man who also does his own artwork and directs his videos. Not only was he unable to tour, but Third Man was also put on hold. With business suspended, what to do while waiting…

Hi-FiChoice Recommends ESSENTIAL HI-FI YOU’LL WANT TO OWN ■ CD players p110 ■ Amplifiers p111 ■ Pre/power amps p111 ■ Cables p112-113 ■ Network audio players p114 ■ Music servers p114 ■ DACs p115 ■ Loudspeakers p116-118 ■ One-box systems p118 ■ Turntables p119 ■ Cartridges p119 ■ Phono stages p120 ■ Headphones p120-121 ■ Portable DACs p121 CD PLAYERS Audiolab 6000CDT PRICE: £380 REVIEWED: HFC 447 The 6000CDT is exceptional at revealing what’s on your discs to deliver a great big soundstage with plenty of detail inside. It can dig down deep into the mix to eke out the different musical strands while dynamically and rhythmically it’s hard to beat at the price. In short, it’s a super, highly affordable audiophile CD transport. Métronome Technologie Le Player 2S PRICE:…

PRICE: £369 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: PROJECT-AUDIO.COM/EN HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK PRO-JECT HAS ADDED a new series to its collection of turntables. The Automat range will be the company’s first fully automatic turntable series and its inaugural deck is the A1, which boasts “plug-and-play simplicity”, electronically controlled playback speeds (33 and 45rpm), an 8.3in aluminium tonearm with carbon fibre reinforced anti-magnetic headshell. A pre-adjusted Ortofon OM 10 cartridge with elliptical stylus profile comes bundled, while a built-in switchable moving-magnet phono stage makes it ideal for first-time buyers. The damped metal platter is designed to decrease wow and flutter, while the resonance-damped wooden chassis and silicon-damped feet offer extra protection from unwanted vibrations. It comes with a premium semi-symmetrical Connect-IT E phono cable, gold-plated RCA output connectors and dust cover. The A1 measures 430 x…

PRICE: £119 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SNEXT-FINAL.COM/EN EXCLUSIVELY PREVIEWED IN last month’s noise-cancelling headphone Group Test, Japanese high-end audio specialist Final is now releasing the UX3000, the brand’s first full-size Bluetooth 5.0 wireless headphone featuring ANC, with hybrid noise cancellation. In addition to SBC, aptX and AAC, the UX3000 supports aptX LL – a low-latency codec that delivers high-quality sound with minimal interruptions and time delay. The headband can be folded, it comes with a storage pouch and is made with a soft-textured, dirt and fingerprint-resistant black Shibo (Japanese for ‘wrinkle’ on the surface of paper or leather) coating. The UX3000 supports multi-point connection so users can connect two Bluetooth devices at the same time for listening to music and taking incoming calls. The button controls govern volume, play/pause, ANC and…

PRICE: £770-£1,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: IN-AKUSTIK.DE/EN KARMA-AV.CO.UK KARMA-AV IS NOW distributing German company in-akustik’s Reference LS-404 Micro Air speaker cables in the UK. According to the company, the ‘Micro Air’ technology aims to minimise the physical filter effect of cables by deploying air as a dielectric to insulate concentric copper conductors, which are helically arranged according to a proprietary design. A thin layer of polyethylene protects the pure copper from oxidation. Accordingly, the new Reference LS-404 Micro Air speaker cable uses air as the insulation surrounding a total of eight concentric copper conductors in a multi-core architecture, arranged so that the magnetic fields of the positive and negative conductors overlap and neutralise each other. The claim is that this spec reduces the inductance of the cable, promoting a faithful transmission…

PRICE: £3,500-£4,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MCINTOSHLABS.COM FINESOUNDS.UK MCINTOSH IS RELEASING a new set of dedicated amplifier stands – the AS125 and AS901 – specifically engineered to provide support for the US company’s highest-performance monoblocks, integrated amplifiers and other hi-fi components. The stands are crafted from sustainably sourced, solid white ash said to be resistant to scratches and dents. They are constructed using a face-glued technique and feature an edge-grain top, which the company says provides extreme strength, durability and stability. The stands boast a 7.62cm-thick primary wood slab, finished with multiple coats of jet-black stain, plus a catalysed lacquer topcoat to provide added vibrancy and depth. There’s also a McIntosh logo faceplate, illuminated via the rear-mounted power control ports and the four feet feature protective pads to both minimise vibration…

As surprises go, Apple’s decision to move from compressed audio stalwart to purveyor of hi-res files was up there with the best of them. At a stroke, it went from exclusively operating in AAC to a library of ALAC material in resolutions between 44.1 and 192kHz. Given that vast swathes of Apple’s hardware are completely incompatible with these resolutions, the notion that it was done purely to thwart Spotify is not without merit. Regardless, the basics of Apple Music were convincing before the move was made and remain so now. The 90 million track library is subject to the same caveats as everyone else, but is still among the biggest here. Furthermore, Apple has also put the legwork in when it comes to curated content. There are some interesting playlists,…

Bricasti Design is not one of those companies that adheres to the ‘keep your range rolling’ philosophy, seemingly launching updates to its products left, right and centre. Likely informed by its professional audio heritage, it keeps new arrivals to a rare minimum. So the launch of the M21, a flagship digital-to-analogue converter to replace the £9,600 M1 of 2011, is of real interest, particularly when you take into consideration the updates the Massachusetts-based company has implemented, and its somewhat breath-taking £17,250 price tag. There are things that haven’t changed all that much in the intervening 11 years, including the M21’s choice of third-party chipset, which remains Analog Devices’ AD1955 – a pair used in a dual mono configuration no less. And once again, the fully balanced circuit path includes separate,…

Portable audio players have settled into a niche role after having been squeezed by smartphones and portable DACs for more serious use. The Prelude DTR1+ is built by Dethonray; a China-based company that produces a small range of electronics and earphones. The DTR1+ uses a Linux-based operating system called Ocelot (not Android), intended to read stored content from a micro SD card – up to 1TB is supported. There is no internal memory beyond that required to run the playback software. In turn, there are no apps for streaming services or wireless connectivity. The good news is that it is fairly unconcerned about what format you store the files in. The DTR1+ supports every routinely encountered lossless and hi-res format and sample rates up to 32-bit/192kHz. This includes DSD64 and…

I’m not joking when I tell you this, but I’ve had customers tear up on first listening.” This is how John Bryant of Loudspeaker Design and Restoration introduces me to the world of horn loudspeakers. Emotional stuff, eh? Yet, apart from PA systems, in vintage shops or the occasional DIY enthusiast setup, horns are not often seen or heard. They were common in domestic hi-fis during the early and middle parts of the 20th century as in the pioneering days of mechanical sound reproduction the vibrating diaphragm connected to the needle of the phonograph was of such low power that the only way to get anything audible was via a horn speaker – think Nipper The Dog and His Master’s Voice. Unfortunately, the acoustic understanding embedded in early horns limited…

I’ve given Apple a fair amount of stick for its approach to digital audio over the years. It’s a company that loves eye-candy and hi-res video, but seems to have a tin ear when it comes to audio technology. Apple Music was one of the last major streaming services to offer lossless and hi-res audio to its users, and then Apple was forced to admit that its AirPod headphones – including the top-of-the-range AirPods Max, which weigh in at more than £500 – weren’t actually capable of playing lossless audio because of their reliance on Bluetooth and Apple’s ancient AAC codec. Even if you’re using wired headphones from a manufacturer other than Apple, it still advises you to use an external DAC, as most Apple devices can’t handle hi-res audio…

BUILDING ON THE success of the Evolution-100 PowerKord (HFC 461), the 300 employs twice as many woven conductors. As with all the cables in the range, it uses Kimber Kable’s high-purity copper and a new earthing arrangement claimed to offer 20 times less induced earth noise compared with its predecessor. The Evolution-300 has 16 separately insulated Kimber Kable conductors woven together in a Kimber Weave to reduce pick up of RFI. Instead of the traditional approach of twisting the live and neutral conductors around a central earth conductor, the Evolution-300 has the earth conductor helically wound around the outside of the weave. The cable is sheathed in a soft and flexible sleeve combining two strand thicknesses for protection and noise reduction. The standard cable is terminated at one end with…