Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £190-£300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: DENON.COM DENON HAS INTRODUCED its PerL and PerL Pro (Personalised Listening, geddit?) true-wireless earbuds. Featuring Masimo AAT (Adaptive Acoustic Technology), the in-ears allow users to create a personal audio profile in order to optimise sound quality. The company explains that hearing varies from person to person and so the earbuds use proprietary Masimo technology to: “measure faint otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), which are produced by the inner ear in the presence of a range of tones played to assess each person’s unique response to sound. Once the OAEs are analysed to determine how sensitive a person’s ears are to each frequency, a personal hearing profile is created in the Denon PerL Headphone app.” This profile is claimed to provide unparalleled depth, detail and clarity. Equipped with…

PRICE: £800-£3,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: QUAD-HIFI.CO.UK BRITISH COMPANY QUAD has released its first new speakers in seven years, the Revela 1 and Revela 2. It says a critical component of both models is the new True Ribbon high-frequency driver, which it claims: “delivers effortlessly extended high frequencies that are audibly superior not only to those supplied by typical dome tweeters, but also other planar driver types that are not true ribbons”. It works is by positioning a ribbon of thin aluminium foil in a high-strength magnetic field, through which the audio signal flows from the amplifier. According to Quad: “the advantage of this design is that the diaphragm is fully energised by the audio signal and does not suffer from the break-up modes and resonances encountered in domes and other…

PRICE: £1,100-£2,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CYRUSAUDIO.COM CYRUS AUDIO ANNOUNCED its partnership with Lenbrook International to integrate the BluOS streaming platform into its products a couple of years back, and now the pairing has seen the launch of two new streamers in the Classic and XR ranges. Cyrus says both the Classic-STREAM and Stream-XR products are: “fully featured streaming DACs capable of wirelessly playing lossless music up to 24-bit/192kHz with no lag and zero loss in sound quality”. The BluOS operating system and BluOS controller via iOS, Android, Kindle, Mac or PC allows music playback from all the major audio streaming services such as Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Spotify and dozens of others as well as offering Roon Ready (pending), AirPlay 2 and MQA decoding. The Stream-XR includes the Cyrus 2nd Generation…

Hi-Fi Choice employs the most methodical test and measurement regime in the business. Here’s how we do it… STREAMING SERVICES GROUP TEST THIS IS VERY much a headphone-based listening programme, so a 2021 iPad Pro is consequently employed as the source for all six streaming services. Music is outputted over USB via an AudioQuest Carbon USB cable into iFi Audio’s GO bar portable digital-to-analogue converter and then T+A’s Solitaire T headphone. iFi is extremely good at producing devices that offer both MQA support and that show the incoming sample rate, the latter being useful because it isn’t always what you might expect it to be… The T+A is run passively for testing, allowing the DAC to perform the decoding in its entirety. As many of the services offer direct audio options,…

As the successor to Klipsch’s R-51PM from 2019, the R-50PM boasts a larger and more powerful cabinet design that puts an emphasis on bass. Each speaker houses a 133mm bass driver and 25mm tweeter that together deliver a healthy 60W per channel. The R-50PM has a frequency response of 55-Hz-20kHz, compared with the low-end of 68Hz found on its predecessor, and opts for a deeper MDF cabinet and bass port to make the most of the bass sound. Mind you, it does rather stretch the definition of a ‘bookshelf’ speaker, with each cabinet standing 274mm deep. There is, however, a slightly more compact and affordable option in the shape of the £500 R-40PM. To be fair, the R-50PM fits nicely onto my TV bench and the 4m wire that connects…

As a company that has made effortless and flexible multi-room a core part of its wider offering, Bluesound is good at ensuring that pretty much any evolutionary niche your house might present is catered for across its and (NAD’s) ranges. The Powernode Edge is a fine example of this, but the role it is designed to fill is one that often crops up and could be exactly what you have (consciously or otherwise) been looking for. As the name suggests, the Powernode Edge is a Bluesound component with amplification on board to which you add the speakers of your choice. A larger Powernode (HFC 402) has been part of the range from the outset and is effectively a double-height Node that combines its streaming functionality with an amplifier. Over time,…

As much as we’d like to, sometimes it’s just not realistic to fork out large sums of cash to update a component to try and improve system performance. Happily, there are solutions to help squeeze that extra last drop of quality from your setup to get the best from what you already have. Take having a tidy up for example. You might have started out with the best of intentions by routing your mains cables and interconnects around the back of your stand, but when you swap over two pieces of equipment, you find the mains leads become tightly tangled together and twisted around the interconnects. Apart from looking a mess, tangled cables also have a negative effect on sound. A cable that is under tension can put unnecessary stress…

I’m not a big fan of musical anniversaries and you won’t find me reviewing the gratuitous 40th or 45th anniversary reissue of this or that so-called ‘classic’ album. Centenaries are special, though, so I’m going to make an exception for the singer whom I regard as the greatest voice of the 20th century. I’m talking about Maria Callas, the operatic soprano known as La Divina, who was born 100 years ago and whose life is about to be celebrated on the London stage with 7 Deaths Of Maria Callas, an astonishing show that combines performance art and video to profile the great through her seven most famous operatic death scenes. It is an unwritten rule of opera that the heroine must always die in the final scene and nobody died…

Animal Collective Isn’t It Now? CD Domino ARGUABLY NO BAND has flown the flag for 21st-century psychedelia more thrillingly than the Baltimore quartet of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin. Straddling the thin line between the audaciously experimental and the gloriously self-indulgent, the collective peaked commercially and artistically with 2009’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, a wondrous mix of sunshine pop, Beach Boys harmonies, avant-techno and global beats, all trailing clouds of lysergic glory. Merriweather Post Pavilion was the band’s eighth album in an extremely prolific ten years, but since then they’ve sprinkled their magic rather more erratically. While the quartet’s members unleashed a plethora of solo releases, over the next decade and more there were only two further Animal Collective albums and a frustrating six-year hiatus between 2016’s Painting With and…

DESPITE BEING DESIGNED as an upgrade power cable, the Intro is surprisingly competitively priced meaning that an entire system using many cables can be upgraded at a more reasonable cost than you might perhaps expect. The cable is available in lengths of 1.5m and can be supplied fitted with a standard C13 10A IEC connector that is suitable for most audio equipment or with a C19 16A IEC connector at the same price for use with multi-way extension blocks and mains power conditioners. Black magic The Intro Power Cable is finished in a black braid and fitted with a large ferrite core close to the IEC connector end. The ferrite is intended to attenuate radio frequency interference to offer a more detailed and clearer sound by attenuating any high-frequency noise…

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the New Music Seminar. The rest of the sh*t going on in this building is the Old Music Seminar.” Tony Wilson, Factory Records boss, TV host, club owner, entrepreneur, producer pauses for dramatic effect. The Brits in the audience cheer, sensing a wind-up. The Americans, congregated in the Astor Room of New York’s Marriott Marquis, remain silent. “I’d like to begin with a quote,” Wilson continues, grinning like the Cheshire Cat: “‘The kids wanna dance’. That does not come from Manchester or Madchester 1989 or The Haçienda or Ibiza in 1987. It comes from the Family Dog in San Francisco in 1964. You used to know how to dance here. God knows how you f**king forgot. “What people in America don’t seem to…

PRICE: £280-£1,100 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BOWERSWILKINS.COM BOWERS & WILKINS has launched its new 600 Series S3, the eighth iteration of its second-longest continuously available series after the 800 Series Diamond. Described as: “the perfect first step to experiencing the ‘True Sound’ of the artist’s intent”, the new range includes four models: the 603 S3 floorstander, the 606 S3 standmount, the 607 S3 bookshelf (right) and the HTM6 S3 centre for home cinema. Each is available in a choice of Oak, White or Black finishes while a new dedicated FS 600 stand for the 606 S3 and 607 S3 comes in Silver or Black. The company reveals that the new speakers all feature comprehensive updates and changes to every aspect of their acoustic performance with many of the new components derived…

PRICE: £900 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: PROJECT-AUDIO.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK PRO-JECT HAS ANNOUNCED the release of its new T2 W wi-fi streaming turntable. Based around an upgraded version of the company’s T1 design, it is equipped with a 10mm-thick glass platter and sturdy wooden plinth with an improved tonearm and spring-loaded anti-skate dial, a pre-adjusted Sumiko Rainier moving-magnet cartridge and built-in MM phono stage for traditional analogue connection to an amplifier. Using its wi-fi connectivity and a new Pro-Ject Control App, it is compatible with most UPnP-enabled products for playback on Smart TVs, AV receivers and streaming audio systems, with lossless streaming up-to 24-bit/48kHz. The T2 has a CNC-machined plinth that has been expanded in size to enhance stability and is available in three finishes: Gloss Black, Satin White or Walnut. The core…

PRICE: £200-£2,850 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: DECOAUDIOPRODUCTS.CO.UK DECO AUDIO PRODUCTS is a new brand of British hi-fi equipment created as a manufacturing offshoot of Deco Audio, which was established in 2010 as a specialist hi-fi retailer with service and modification facilities. All Deco products are designed and manufactured in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and first out of the blocks is Governor, a high-quality turntable power supply suitable for use with almost all decks that use an AC motor run directly from the mains. Features include 33 and 45rpm switching, with independent fine speed adjustment for both, an all-analogue circuit, a high power design transformer coupled design rated for up to 30W output, adjustable output voltage to allow the motor’s torque and vibration to be balanced for best performance and an analogue meter to…

PRICE: £7,300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MOLA-MOLA.NL SOUNDDESIGNDISTRIBUTION.CO.UK SOUND DESIGN DISTRIBUTION is bringing Mola Mola’s Lupe MM/MC phono stage to the UK. The RIAA stage has been developed from the Makua preamp and Kula integrated (HFC 427) to create an enhanced standalone component. In the process, Mola Mola has re-engineered the design, equipping it with fully independent stages, each with short signal paths optimised for low current noise and voltage noise. Claiming to be: “the quietest and probably most versatile phono stage ever built”, the Lupe boasts input gain switchable in 5dB steps over a 40dB range. Input resistance and capacitance are individually switchable. Available EQ settings cover practically all known cutting curves including 78rpm. Stage craft Fine calibration via analogue switches is controlled from the Mola Mola Remote app or stored…

PRICE: £109 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: HIDIZS.NET THE NEW HIDIZS MP145: ultra-large planar in-earbus have just launched in association with WDC (Whale and Dolphin Conservation), the leading global charity dedicated to the protection of whales, dolphins and their ocean homes. The distinctive design was inspired by the pleated throat grooves of whales, so Hidizs is hoping to give back by supporting WDC’s green whale work and helping to raise awareness about the vital role the creature plays in the health of our oceans. Hidizs says, with WDC’s assistance, it drew inspiration from whales’ biological features. By incorporating whale tail and rorqual pleat characteristics, the company claims to have achieved a smooth, ergonomic shape that fits the ear perfectly. Utilising advanced moulding and five-axis CNC carving, the headphone panel is divided into…

Those of you with long memories will know that Mission has not always solely made speakers. The original Mission Cyrus One appeared in the Eighties and proved to be a capable and highly regarded amp that spawned a small range of components before the enterprise continued under the Cyrus name. More recently, the LX Connect (HFC 486) system has suggested a desire for the company to dip a toe into electronics again. The 778X is a logical enough addition to both the Mission range and the wider IAG portfolio; it matches a considerable number of its speakers and also undercuts any integrated amp from sister brand Audiolab – which is moving gently upmarket. The 778X might cost less than any Audiolab, but on first inspection it’s not immediately obvious why.…

Many respectful words have been written on the occasion of Sinead O’Connor’s recent sad passing and rightly so. I only met her once, very early in her career when she was escorted into a music paper office and then a nearby pub by her PR in what was in those days the customary ritual of introducing a new artist to the hacks in an attempt to establish recognition or, if they were lucky, some sort of working relationship. As I recall, she was pretty uncomfortable with the whole procedure but not noticeably more so than any of the other fledgling would-be stars who’d been made to run a similar gauntlet. The reason I mention this is that she did unwittingly play quite a major role in shaping my life later…

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3 ISSUES FOR £11.99! Subscribe today and SAVE 30% on the normal shop price. Get FREE DELIVERY with every issue, straight to your door. Never miss an issue! The perfect gift! SUBSCRIBE SECURELY ONLINE TODAY! https://checkout.avtechmedia.co.uk/EGENC Or call 01858 438446 LINES OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY – 9AM - 6PM Calls are charged at the same rate as standard UK landlines and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances. There are no additional charges with this number. Overseas calls will cost more. TERMS & CONDITIONS:. *UK print subscriptions offer only. AVTech Media Ltd collects your data so that we can fulfil your subscription. We may also, from time to time, send you details of AV Tech Media Ltd offers, events and competitions but you always have a…

THERE ARE MANY people who will argue that using a digital cable doesn’t make that much of a difference. After all, it is essentially a 75ohm coax wire. However, the Clearway RCA uses the same tuned conductor geometry as found in the company’s original Sarum Digital interconnect, designed to improve musical coherence. It is all about timing and providing as accurate a digital signal as possible. A poor-quality digital cable, or one with an incorrect impedance, will generate reflections of the signal, which can result in jitter and ultimately degrade the audio signal. Silver screen In addition to its silver-plated VEE 3 RCA plugs, the Clearway can be fitted with silver-plated BNC and/or mono mini-jacks to suit portable DACs. The standard length is 1m, but custom lengths are available to…

3 ISSUES FOR £11.50! Subscribe today and SAVE 36% on the normal shop price. Get FREE DELIVERY with every issue, straight to your door. Never miss an issue! The perfect gift! SUBSCRIBE SECURELY ONLINE TODAY! https://checkout.avtechmedia.co.uk/EGENHC Or call 01858 438446 LINES OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY – 9AM - 6PM Calls are charged at the same rate as standard UK landlines and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances. There are no additional charges with this number. Overseas calls will cost more. TERMS & CONDITIONS:. *UK print subscriptions offer only. AV Tech Media Ltd collects your data so that we can fulfil your subscription. We may also, from time to time, send you details of AV Tech Media Ltd offers, events and competitions but you always have…

PRICE: £2,200 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: LUMINMUSIC.COM SOUNDDESIGNDISTRIBUTION.CO.UK THE LUMIN D3 network music player has just become available in the UK. Combining new processing hardware/software within an updated and compact all-aluminium chassis, the D3 delivers increased resampling flexibility over its D1 and D2 predecessors. The D3 supports plug-and-play AV protocol with audio streaming extension (OpenHome), Roon Ready, Plex, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, FLAC Lossless Radio, Tuneln Radio, AirPlay 2, Gapless Playback, On-Device Playlist and Multi-Room (Songcast). Supported audio file formats include DSD Lossless: DSF (DSD), DIFF (DSD), DoP (DSD); PCM Lossless: FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC), WAV, AIFF; compressed (lossy) audio: MP3, AAC (in M4A container); and MQA. There’s a new output stage built around the Sabre DAC ES9028PRO chip, which renders PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz and up to DSD256, 1-bit,…

PRICE: £160-£200 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AUDIO-TECHNICA.COM SINCE 2012, AUDIO-TECHNICA has created limited-edition colourways of its ATH-M50 and ATH-M50x headphones, and this year’s models are available in Ice Blue, a colour which was chosen in an online vote. The ATH-M50xIB features 45mm large-aperture drivers, sound-isolating 90° swivelling earcups, a padded headband and earpads for comfort during extended use, a collapsible folding body for easy transport and three detachable cables. The ATH-M50xBT2IB utilises Bluetooth wireless technology and boast 50 hours of playtime on a single charge and up to three hours of use on a 10-minute rapid charge (via USB-C connection). There’s the option to adjust the headphone’s EQ settings in the Audio-Technica Connect app. The cans use proprietary 45mm large-aperture drivers and include an AK4331 advanced audio DAC and dedicated internal…

PRICE: £450 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: PSBSPEAKERS.COM CANADIAN COMPANY PSB Speakers has announced the availability of its M4U 9 Premium Wireless ANC Headphone, which offers graphene-infused 40mm drivers, separate Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), Active and Passive Modes, Bluetooth HD wireless connection with Qualcomm aptX Adaptive and cVc. Designed with tilted earpads for ergonomic comfort and custom calibration through an integration with Audiodo Personal Sound, PSB’s proprietary RoomFeel technology is on hand for greater detail and better imaging through the PSB Headphones app. Other features include digital MEMS microphones to decrease audio conversion error and NFC pairing for supported devices. Let’s get physical There are also physical controls for volume, playback and mode selection, dual 3.5mm input connections (left or right), braided cords for analogue wired and USB-C connection, and 6.35mm stereo…

If you’re looking for a classy standmount and happy for your search to be snagged by the current retro trends in hi-fi, perhaps there’s never been a better time to consider buying the genuine, copper-bottomed icon sometimes referred to as the best small speaker ever made – the one and (if) only LS3/5A. Out of the handful of British speaker makers licenced to build the BBC design back in the Seventies has grown more than 40 LS3/5A-badged choices today according to Falcon Acoustics boss Jerry Bloomfied, including Falcon’s own highly regarded, BBC-licenced, authentic Gold Badge edition (HFC 470). Not all are so invested in the idea of absolute verisimilitude to the 1976 original, even if the ambition is to produce a small, near field-optimised loudspeaker with ace midband transparency, tonal…

Recently, artificial intelligence-generated music received both a green flag and a slap in the face under the latest guidance from the US Copyright Office. It notes that the level of human creativity involved in a work is a significant consideration as to whether or not it will grant copyright protection and suggests that current artificial intelligence (AI) models can’t generate copyrightable work. If a work’s traditional elements of authorship have been produced by a machine, the work lacks human authorship and it will not be eligible for protection. A more complex issue concerns music created with an AI machine by a human. In this case, the ‘traditional elements of authorship’ are considered to be executed by the technology and not by the human user. When an AI “receives solely a…

The last 12 months has seen a frenzy of different companies celebrating their anniversaries. I’ve tested both the NAD C 3050 LE and PSB Passif 50 (HFC 502 and 499) on these pages and there have been others to celebrate the notable achievement of NAD, PSB, Rega, Linn and Naim all making it to 50 within a year of each other. Meanwhile, Bluesound has hit a decade and Marantz is commemorating 70 years in business. But for every company that hits a major milestone, it’s important to remember that dozens fall by the wayside. Back issues of HFC are filled with those that made interesting and capable products that, for whatever reason, didn’t make the cut. As such, the veterans have every right to be in a celebratory mood. So…

Which British beat group of the Sixties patented garage rock, pioneered the concept album, defined Britpop decades before the term had been invented, inspired everyone from David Bowie and Paul Weller to Jarvis Cocker and Damon Albarn – and yet too often seems to get overlooked when the gods of rock ’n’ roll are being venerated? The answer, of course, is The Kinks. From You Really Got Me, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion and Sunny Afternoon to Waterloo Sunset, no British band outside of The Beatles and Stones made more memorable hit singles during the Sixties than the Kinks. In Ray Davies they had a songwriter of singular genius and a uniquely acute social observer who forged a unique marriage of rock, pop, vaudeville and a very British music hall nostalgia…

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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. Cambridge Audio AXC35 PRICE: £300 REVIEWED: HFC 454 Something of a budget marvel, you’ll have to work extra hard to get the AXC35 to put a foot wrong. Bass is firm, detailed and blessed with excellent timing; the tonal palette is pleasingly broad and clean; and though the soundstage doesn’t extend much beyond the speakers, there’s great depth perspective. Cyrus CDi-XR Phantom Black PRICE:…

1 HUSH HUSH Sound Design Distribution Ltd. is introducing Silent Angel’s integrated range of specialised audio streaming components to the UK. Silent Angel’s range includes audio network switches (four models), music servers (two models), music streamer/transports (five models) and linear power supplies (two models). Find more details at: sounddesigndistribution.co.uk 2 TAYLOR MADE Taylor Swift has created a concert film of her record breaking Eras Tour. Of the film, which debuted in North American cinemas on 13 October, Swift wrote: “The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it’ll be coming to the big screen soon… Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged 1, 2, 3 LGB!!!! (iykyk).” The movie was directed by Sam Wrench, whose…