Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2015 i Hi Fi News

Sights and sounds from around the globe Guys, c’mon! We’re talking about Munich! Naturally, there’d be a humungous horn somewhere at the show! This wooden beast from Realhorns (www.realhorns.de) greeted visitors in one of the atriums, and it is genuine. This was the best Munich High End Show ever, and possibly the best event I’ve attended in 20 years, since the heyday. If numbers speak louder than my enthusiasm, 506 exhibitors from 42 countries, over 6500 trade visitors and 14,000 members of the public attended. It was a feast of new turntables, loudspeakers, headphones, cartridges, headphone amps and even – yes – pre-recorded open-reel tapes. So rejoice: hi-fi ain’t dead yet. Robert Watts (left) and John Franks flank Chord’s new DAVE DAC/pre, probably not named after the repeats TV channel…

Wilson Audio claims 87dB SPL sensitivity for the Sabrina at 1kHz. Our broadband pink noise figure of 87.6dB suggests that this is, if anything, slightly conservative. Nominal impedance is quoted as 4ohm with a specified 2.53ohm minimum at 139Hz. Setting aside the unrealistic accuracy of the latter figure (we measured a minimum modulus of 2.4ohm at 146Hz), it indicates that 3ohm would actually be a more representative nominal value. Impedance phase angles are quite large at low frequencies which, combined with the low modulus, drops the minimum EPDR (equivalent peak dissipation resistance) to a challenging 1.1ohm at 89Hz, indicating that the Sabrina is a notably difficult load to drive and which demands an amplifier capable of high current delivery. The forward frequency responses, measured at tweeter height with the grilles…

AUDIO FILE MM/MC phono preamp with balanced outputs Made by: Allnic Audio Labs, South Korea Supplied by: Lotus Hi-Fi, UK Telephone: 0788 785 2513 Web: www.allnicaudio.com www.lotus340r.net Price: £8995 As the world of top class phono stages becomes increasingly crowded, new contenders need to offer both high performance and a little something extra to make them stand out from the crowd. Fortunately this is not a problem for the Allnic H-3000 as it is positively overflowing with features, while boasting a proprietary tube circuit and novel choke-based RIAA equalisation. So there are several touches that make it well worth a close look, despite its not inconsiderable retail price of £9000. Even then, this is not Allnic’s top model – that honour belongs to the mighty H-5000DHT: a snip at £23,000!…

For years, the performance of Arcam’s digital products was at least partially defined by its choice of Wolfson DACs, so if the CDS27 ‘looks’ different on the bench then this will have something to do with the decision to employ a TI/Burr-Brown PCM1794 DAC. The S/N ratio is a fine 112.3dB with CD, SACD and (wired) network sources although the maximum 4.85V output is reduced to 3.5V via SACD (all at 0dBFS). Bear this in mind if you compare the two layers of a CD/SACD disc. It’s also worth knowing that SACD data is downsampled to 88.2kHz LPCM within the CDS27, so the response with these discs reaches –0.2dB/20kHz but is –7.4dB/40kHz. By contrast, the response of hi-res audio delivered over the network connection reaches +0.1dB/40kHz (96kHz media) and –3dB/70kHz…

The lab tests accompanying our review of Melco’s flagship N1Z ‘audiophile NAS drive’ [HFN Feb ’15] pitched the performance of the Melco against a high quality PC/router solution using various network-attached DACs. Despite the N1Z’s superior engineering there were no observable differences in distortion (versus level or frequency), response, output level, linearity or, indeed, A-wtd S/N ratio whether the test DAC was driven via the PC network (and Netgear switch) or directly via the same test files stored on the N1Z. This same ‘lack of difference’ was observed with Melco’s N1A. Small differences in jitter were recorded between PC/Cyrus XP2 Qx and Melco/Cyrus XP2 Qx and, once again, the same was seen with the N1A in situ. I’m bound to conclude that subjective differences may well be experienced between noisy/shared…

The first three lines of the test table [below] refer to MF’s partnering V90-BHA headphone amplifier. Rated at >750mW/32ohm it achieves a (single-ended) 402mW/25ohm which is not too far off specification. Distortion is low at ~0.0004% through the midrange at 10mW/25ohm, only increasing at very low and high frequencies. The A-wtd S/N ratio is about 10dB below the very best at 88.5dB while the 11-12ohm source impedance is also a little high. In practice, its –1.1dB to –0.1dB response (20Hz-20kHz) will be subject to some ‘real world’ modification [see Graph 1, below]! Musical Fidelity’s spec. for the ’200B headphone is unusual in that it includes production sample limits for both sensitivity (99dB ±3dB) and impedance (64ohm ±10%). Assuming the sensitivity figure is for an input of 1mW, this corresponds to…

The Small Faces’ third studio album originally came packaged in a giant circular tin with artwork depicting an imaginary brand of tobacco. The branding was a play on Nut-brown Flake, produced by Liverpool firm, Ogdens’. Designed by Nick Tweddell and Pete Brown, friends of the band’s keyboard player Ian McLagan, inside the tin was a poster comprising five fold-out panels featuring psychedelic graphics and pictures of the band members – finally revealing a photograph of an open tobacco tin with rolling papers sitting on top. The pun, though not immediately apparent, was actually a simple one. Smoke this apparently ‘normal’ tobacco mixture and soon your ‘nut’ – or head – would be ‘gone’. In fact, flake tobacco comes in chunks and is for smoking in pipes rather than rolling in…

There is a hive of activity in the portable digital player market. In the June issue we reviewed the small, portable HA-2 headphone amp from Oppo; a recent meeting with John Franks of Chord informed me that the Hugo DAC is one of its most successful products ever; and I’ve just learned that Astell & Kern is launching a £399 player. HI-RES ON THE HOOF Why is this important to us? Those who don’t travel a lot are able to indulge in fixed, out-sized and/or mains-dependent systems of vastly superior quality than any portable can deliver (save for schlepping around a Nagra 4S with open-reel tapes). This stuff has little value for them. But how many of you commute daily, have occupations involving regular foreign travel, or – simply –…

We reveal the latest products and upcoming events One of hi-fi’s most enduring brands is celebrating its 90-year history with the launch of a combined CD/SACD player/USB DAC, a fully analogue stereo preamp and matching power amp rated at 2x120W/8ohm, or bridged to give 420W/8ohm in mono. The brand is Luxman and the models are, respectively, the D-06u, the C-700u and M-700u, all priced at £6995. The D-06u combines the 384kHz upsampling, digital filter and DSD filter options provided by TI’s TA3152 DSP chip with Burr-Brown’s PCM1792A DAC, itself compatible with LPCM inputs up to 384kHz and DSD up to 5.6MHz. ‘Luxman Audio Player’ software for PC/Mac supports FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, MP3 and DSF file formats over USB. Luxman’s partnering C-700u preamp – its design borrowing from the flagship…

In part one of this round-up of music videos, [HFN Jun ’15], we covered the ‘real,’ factual films. It’s the category that contains rockumentaries about bands or genres, the ‘making of’ specials that tell how classic albums were recorded and – most common of all – concert films, including festivals. What remains are biogs and fictional rock movies that were made either commercial vehicles for the performers, such as all of Elvis’s 30+ films, or those that use rock music as part of the plot. They range from the perfect spoof, This Is Spinal Tap, to that toxic development: period dramas using utterly inappropriate rock soundtracks. This is not the place for me to explain why I despised Moulin Rouge and A Knight’s Tale, to a level nearing the psychotic.…

AUDIO FILE Pre & Class D power amplifier. Rated at 200W/8ohm Made by: Classé Audio, Quebec Supplied by: B&W Group Ltd, West Sussex Telephone: 0800 232 1513 Web: www.classeaudio.com; www.bowers-wilkins.com Prices: £4250/£2950 (pre/power) Paired with the 200W per channel, £2950, Sigma AMP2 power amplifier is the £4250 Sigma SSP preamp/processor, which, says Classé, is ‘optimised for stereo’ despite its multichannel functionality. Classé’s name springs from the fact that its first product, back in 1980, was a pure Class A stereo amplifier. Today the Canadian company’s main focus is on AV, but surprisingly perhaps, it has only quite recently launched its first Class D power amplifier. This is the CA-D200, in Classé’s now long-established curve-fronted Delta Series casework. Internally pretty well identical, the Sigma AMP2 here comes in a more conventional…

This luxurious phono stage is very flexible but not without some certain ‘colour’ of its own! Four E810F industrial pentodes provide all the gain necessary to deliver a healthy output voltage from a choke-based (LCR) RIAA equalisation network, with generous S/N ratios, albeit at modest to high levels of distortion. The ‘straight’ MM input offers +39.6dB gain (via balanced outputs) and a corrected response that extends out to 20kHz (–0.09dB) with a –3dB point of 56kHz. Bass frequencies roll gently away below 100Hz, reaching 50Hz/–0.4dB, 20Hz/–1.3dB and with a –3dB point of 13Hz [see Graph 1, below]. The H-3000’s output is very substantial too, although distortion increases linearly with level to give 0.2%/0.5V, 0.4%/1V, 0.8%/2V, 1.6%/4V right up to 5%/12V output, all through a 118ohm source impedance. Distortion follows the…

AUDIO FILE Balanced headphone preamp/USB DAC Made by: Pioneer Home Electronics Corp., Japan Supplied by: Pioneer Europe NV, Middlesex Telephone: 0845 060 9395 Web: www.pioneer.co.uk Price: £699 Make no mistake about it: headphones and their ancillaries are big business right now. In fact, this sector of the market is just about the only growth area in the specialist audio market, and not just in terms of units shipped and the amounts of cash crossing the counters. Even more to the point is the number of manufacturers re-discovering (or in some cases discovering for the first time) the allure of personal listening. TAKING UP POSITION Pioneer is the latest on the DAC/headphone amp train, which is showing almost unstoppable momentum right now at every level: from pocket devices designed to spiff-up…

Focal claims 92.5dB sensitivity for the Aria 948 but our measured pink noise result of 89.9dB indicates that this figure is somewhat inflated, 90dB being more appropriate. Low impedance is an important part of the recipe used to achieve this above-average sensitivity. Focal’s claimed 8ohm nominal is at odds with its specified minimum impedance of 2.5ohm but the latter figure is spot on: we measured 2.5ohm minimum modulus at 103Hz. Coupled with some very high impedance phase angles at low frequencies, this drops the EPDR (equivalent peak dissipation resistance, which takes into account impedance phase) to a scary 1.0ohm at 78Hz, making the Aria 948 an unusually intimidating amplifier load. Forward frequency response, measured at 1m on the tweeter axis [Graph 1, below], is essentially flat in trend with only…

Made from a cast aluminium frame, the KEF M400s boast a supra-aural capsule that follows the contour of the human ear. This not only makes for a comfortable fit but gives a tight acoustic seal for improved noise-isolation. The M400s employ KEF’s ultra-light, full-range 40mm driver, powered by a neodymium magnet and tuned to deliver the brand’s trademark sound – intricately detailed treble, fluid, natural mid and tight, clean bass. High-density memory foam ear pads assume the shape of the user’s ear while in-line mic and volume controls are compatible with most iOS and Android devices for music on the move. The KEF M400s weigh a mere 175g and are part of the company’s 2015 ‘Personal and Digital Audio Range’. To be in with a chance of winning a pair…

LED ZEPPELIN Physical Graffiti Swan Song R2-544660 (three LPs + three CDs) This 1975 release is regarded by some as Led Zep’s greatest. It is, however, an oddity, consisting of eight fresh tracks plus unreleased performances from earlier LPs. Bands usually do not mix outtakes with new recordings, but the primary eight ran longer than a single LP, so they chose to expand it with bonus material. Even so, Led Zep’s leftovers are fascinating and worthy, with an outtake from Led Zeppelin III, three from Led Zeppelin IV and three from Houses Of The Holy. Part of their overkill repackaging series, this contains the album on double vinyl and double CD, with a bonus CD and LP containing studio outtakes, plus a 96-page hardback. (You can buy the CDs or…

YOUR VIEWS Sound off! Correspondents express their own opinions, not those of Hi-Fi News. We reserve the right to edit letters for publication. Correspondents using e-mail are asked to give their full postal address (which won’t be published). Letters seeking advice will be answered in print on our Sound Off pages, but due to time constraints we regret we’re unable to answer questions on buying items of hi-fior any other hi-fiqueries by telephone, post or via e-mail. I am happy to see the resurgence of interest in vinyl and agree with most of the points raised by Barry Willis in his June Opinion piece on vinyl’s persistence as a format. But I do take issue with his comments on the Record Man and Crosley turntables, which he dismisses scornfully as…

AUDIO FILE Belt-driven turntable, arm & MC cartridge Made by: Rega Research Ltd, Essex Supplied by: Rega Research Ltd Telephone: 01702 333071 Web: www.rega.co.uk Price (including arm): £3698 To mark its 40th anniversary, back in 2013, Rega put out a colourful limited-edition turntable called the RP40. A more significant act of celebration, perhaps, was the unveiling of the Naiad, a final version of the noholds-barred development test-bed in which Rega founder Roy Gandy’s design philosophies had been pursued to new levels without budgetary constraints. This development work had already borne fruit in a whole new range of turntables culminating in the RP8 [HFN May ’14] and the RP10. In fact the £2998 RP10 itself first appeared in that anniversary year of 2013, but it now also comes, as reviewed here,…

Under the revised livery, the AMP2 clearly borrows from the earlier CA-D200 Class D amplifier – the first 384kHz-sampling PWM design from Classé and rated at the same 200W/8ohm (even the back panel layouts are identical). In practice, the AMP2 delivers 2x230W/8ohm and 2x445W/4ohm under continuous and dynamic conditions (this is a digital Class D amplifier, after all) with 390W and 185W available into 2 and 1ohm loads [the latter limited by protection, see Graph 1 below]. While the upsampling and noise-shaping operates up to 384kHz, the AMP2’s inputs are initially sampled at 48kHz so the maximum realisable frequency response is little different from CD: peaking here at +3dB/21kHz/8ohm with a load-dependent treble amounting to +0.7dB/21kHz/4ohm and –3dB/21kHz/2ohm. The inductive filter network causes its output impedance to rise at HF…

AUDIO FILE CD/SACD & Network audio player Made by: A&R Cambridge Ltd, Cambs Supplied by: Arcam UK Telephone: 01223 203200 Web: www.arcam.co.uk Price: £800 For a company once in the vanguard of all things audio and digital with its pioneering Black Box DACs and even a standalone NICAM TV tuner, Arcam has taken its time getting on the music streaming bandwagon. Yes, it’s had a range of solutions for those wanting to connect their computer to the hi-fisystem, but the £800 CDS27, which is part of the FMJ range, is its first dedicated network audio product. Well, sort of: while it can play music over a home network, connecting using either wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and also access internet radio stations, as the model designation suggests this is also a…

Despite using the popular 8-channel ESS Sabre DAC, Pioneer’s U-05 does not quite match the vanishingly low distortion and jitter of some ‘audiophile’ converters. Via its XLR outputs the U-05 offers a full 4.2V (fixed) output at 0.0003-0.0006% THD (20Hz-20kHz) and a wide 114dB A-wtd S/N ratio but jitter is moderately high at 650psec (normal, direct and hi-bit modes), increasing to 850psec with upsampling engaged. Frequency and impulse (time) responses vary with choice of digital filter: ‘Sharp’ combines 83dB stopband rejection, a –0.1dB/20kHz response with conventional pre/post impulse ringing; ‘Short’ offers 30dB stopband rejection, –9.6dB/20kHz response (with obvious in-band ripple) but no pre-event ringing; ‘Slow’ combines almost no stopband attenuation (–5.7dB), a –3.0dB/20kHz response but minimal pre-or post-event ringing. Its performance as a headphone amp is compromised by the high…

AUDIO FILE Network-enabled media storage device Made by: Buffalo Technology, Japan Supplied by: Kog Audio Ltd, UK Telephone: 024 7722 0650 Web: melco-audio.com; www.kogaudio.com Price: £1599 Less than entirely convinced – that’s a pretty good way to sum up my reaction to the Melco N1Z [HFN Feb ’15]. I could see what the company was trying to achieve – with its high-quality ‘Audio Grade’ SSD storage from Buffalo, designed for ‘write once, read many times’ operation, close attention paid to power supplies, and direct connection from server to network audio player… But I couldn’t help feeling the price was very high for a unit with just 1TB of storage. Melco’s ‘entry level’ N1A music storage solution is still a not inconsiderable £1600, but it brings over much of the thinking…

Why is it that the majority of UK audio magazines and audio manufacturers’ advertising departments seem to regard only stereo as hi-fi? My equipment fitted that picture until recently, with SACDs and vinyl being played via my midrange Cyrus 7 amplifier and bi-wired Acoustic Energy Aelite 3 speakers, while my entry level cinema/surround music system comprised a Denon AVR-1909 7.1 channel receiver powering seven AE Aelite 1 loudspeakers plus a B&W sub. However, the SACD of Kuniko Plays Reich and the decision to combine my stereo and surround systems changed all that. That SACD was amazing to listen to on my stereo system, but while the surround system reproduced the simple parts beautifully, the complicated sections were reduced to a muddled jumble of noise. The receiver had to go. Having…

Originally rated at 2x25W/8ohm, our beautifully preserved sample of the Cambridge P50 managed a full 2x33W/8ohm and 2x45W/4ohm with 48W and 83W available under dynamic conditions into 8/4ohm loads. The P50 includes a ‘switch’ (relay) fired protection circuit that limits its output to 88W and 37W into 2/1ohm loads – equivalent to a maximum current of 6.6A for 10msec/1% THD [see Graph 1]. So the amp is best partnered with 6/8ohm speakers of good sensitivity. The low-ish 0.07ohm source impedance should keep amp/speaker system response variations to a minimum although the frequency response of our sample already showed a treble roll-off of –2.5dB/20kHz (left) and –1.0dB/20kHz (right), both outside of Cambridge’s original ±0.25dB specification. The ‘Scratch’ or treble filter brings a –5.4dB cut at 10kHz (the deep notch hits –33dB/34kHz)…