Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Hi Fi News

Once in a blue moon we alight upon a product whose BOM (bill of materials), feature set and performance fully belies its price tag. Examples from hi-fi history include the universal disc players from Oppo, its BDP-95EU [HFN May ’12], BDP-105EU [HFN Jan ’13] and UDP-205 [HFN Jul ’17] paving the way for the brand’s game-changing planar magnetic headphones. Close inspection suggested it was impossible to even build these players for the asking price. Most competing players looked positively lightweight in comparison and Oppo was sorely missed after it opted out of audio to focus its attention on its smartphone empire. Oppo’s innovative BDP-95EU was the first ‘affordable’ audio product to employ two ESS Sabre DACs when even the most ‘high-end’ of digital separates were using just one of these…

12-14 APR Axpona 2024, Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center, Illinois, USA; www.axpona.com 09-12 MAY High End, Munich, Germany; www.highendsociety.de 22-23 JUN North West Audio Show, Cranage Hall (De Vere Cranage Estate), Cheshire; http://audioshow.co.uk 21-22 SEP The UK Hi-Fi Show Live, Ascot Racecourse Grandstand, Ascot Berkshire SL5 7JX; www.hifishowlive.com 25-27 OCT Audio Video Show Warsaw 2024, Radisson Blu/Sobieski Hotel, Warsaw, Poland; www.audioshow.pl…

You hold in your hands the world’s oldest and most respected hi-fi magazine – Hi-Fi News – where heavyweight audio engineering is our stock in trade. All our review products are typically subject to a one-month test process from shipping, unpacking, installation, photography, lab work, extended listening, disassembly/packing and collection. This practice was maintained right through the pandemic period, with full Covid biosecurity adding to the logistical complexity of our four-week issue schedule. But we did it… never missing one issue of the magazine or compromising the ‘Hi-Fi News Pledge’: 1. Our hardware reviews are never brief ‘hands on’ experiences of a product from a press conference, brand-led demo or distributor’s back room spun up into a four or five page article. 2. Products reviewed in Hi-Fi News already have…

Basel CO/Christopher Hogwood Arte Nova 82876506932 The complete ballet in the original chamber version: played, conducted and recorded with lucid, plain-speaking vitality. San Francisco SO/Michael Tilson Thomas Sony 82876658402, RCA 09026635112 Full ballet, full orchestra: affectionate tempi and impressionistic textures underlining Copland’s mastery of orchestration. Ensemble K/Simone Menezes Aparté AP243 Suite, chamber version: taps into the homespun modesty and simplicity like few others, but in high-finish modern engineering. BBC Philharmonic/John Wilson Chandos CHSA5164 Suite, orchestral version: the Chandos engineering brings a wide-screen panorama to the open harmonies and sturdy dances. Pittsburgh SO/William Steinberg DG 4864442 (17CDs) Suite, orchestral version: no-nonsense tempi from Steinberg, analytical Command Classics sound, newly remastered by DG. Columbia CO/Aaron Copland Sony 19439977462 (20CDs) Complete ballet, chamber version: dry sound, even in a new remastering, patchy execution,…

2005 Kevin Churko is asked to engineer Ozzy Osbourne’s Under Cover, which helps launch his career 2010 Air Supply record Mumbo Jumbo in Studio A, using vintage microphones from Neumann, Schoeps and AKG 2014 Santana cut Corazón with guest singers that include Gloria Estefan, Ziggy Marley and Cindy Blackman 2015 The Disturbed record Immortalized with Kevin Churko at the controls. The album sells over 1 million copies 2020 Slipknot singer Corey Taylor books time to lay down his first solo album, CMFT, and goes Top 20 in the UK 2023 Five Finger Death Punch announce plans to re-record their 2008 album The Way Of The Fist at The Hideout…

RALPH TOWNER WITH GLEN MOORE Trios/Solos (96kHz/24-bit, FLAC; WAV) www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 1025 This 1972 album is unmistakably a period piece, with more than one lapse into ‘of its time’ self-indulgent noodlage, but it still sounds superb in this ECM transfer from analogue tape to 96kHz/24-bit files. In fact, this was the now-84-year-old guitarist’s debut for the label, partnered with the members of his band – oboist Paul McCandless and tabla player Colin Walcott appear here and there, but bassist Glen Moore is an omnipresent driving force. For every dreamy head-swayer there’s a more direct track such as ‘1x12’, while the cover of Bill Evans’s ‘Re: Person I Knew’, with Towner on both guitar and piano and deft bass from Moore, is simply gorgeous. Yes, it’s probably what many would describe as…

MAJESKI, O’NEILL, DALAYMAN, LSO/RATTLE Janacek: Kátya Kabanová LSO Live LSO0889 (two discs; downloads to 192kHz/24-bit resolution) Opera in concert is rarely so immediate, and LSO Live recordings have long overcome the acoustic limitations of the Barbican. In the title role, Amanda Majeski is an ideal Janáček heroine, vulnerable and resilient, astonishingly radiant in her top register: she is Katya the way Callas was Tosca and Hotter was Wotan. Katarina Dalayman sings the cruel Kabanicha as a woman trapped by circumstance no less than Katya; everyone is cast to wring the last drop of feeling from the piece. Rattle’s direction brings revelatory focus to the Czech-verismo idiom, more expansively paced than Mackerras [Decca], building towards a tragic climax worthy of Grimes and Wozzeck. The booklet has an essay, synopsis, libretto and…

Jim Lesurf has spent a lifetime in audio, both as an engineer at UK hi-fi company Armstrong and reader in Physics and Electronics at St Andrew’s University Despite being a fan of The Beatles, I must confess to having been underwhelmed by the recent release of a ‘new’ song – ‘Now And Then’ – that used what might be called a ‘regenerated’ version of John Lennon’s vocals. However, it set me wondering… That song aside, what is the least well known or liked Beatles release? This prompted me to hunt through my older LPs where I uncovered not one, but two copies of an album called Wonderwall Music, the soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall and written by George Harrison. I suspect I’m not the only aging music lover who…

DOWN THE LINE Build Richard McDonald’s transmission line speaker. STARTING POINT Martin Colloms looks for the best CD-based combinations up to £1000 in tests with products from Aura, Epos, Heybrook, KEF, Marantz, Mission, Philips, Pioneer, Rogers and Rotel. NAKAMICHI CASSETTE DECK 2 Tested by Chris Bryant. A LOT OF BOTTLE Ken Kessler on amplifiers from Woodside, Solen and Croft. BLACK BOX 3 Paul Miller tests Arcam’s bitstream converter. MAGNEPLANAR 2.6 Floorstanding loudspeaker reviewed by Steve Harris. AFFORDABLE ALCHEMY Ken Kessler hears a US-made value-for-money D/A unit. HARBETH P3 Trevor Butler takes stock of Harbeth’s new miniature. Is it better than the LS3/5A? POT POURRI Ken Kessler on Audio-Technica’s AT-OC30 cartridge and Martin Colloms looks at MUSICAM.…

BARRY FOX Investigative journalist supreme, Barry is the first with news of the latest developments in hi-fi and music technologies PETER QUANTRILL Peter Quantrill has been writing about music for magazines and record labels for 30 years. He is HFN’s master of the classics KEN KESSLER is a long-serving contributor, luxury goods writer and champion for the renaissance in valves and reel-to-reel tape MARK CRAVEN Editor of our sister title Home Cinema Choice, Mark’s passion for music extends from stereo to multichannel and Dolby Atmos TIM JARMAN Co-author of a major hardback on historic B&O equipment, Tim continues to research, repair and write about vintage hi-fi for HFN ANDREW EVERARD has reviewed hi-fi for over 30 years and is still effortlessly enthusiastic about new technology, kit and discovering new music…

ECO-FRIENDLY LP- Loudspeaker brand PMC has invested in a UK company that manufactures a plant-based alternative to traditional vinyl. Evovinyl, from Evolution Music, is made from sustainable sugar cane, can be pressed in any colour, and offers a sound said to be indistinguishable from traditional PVC. PMC founder/chairman Peter Thomas also says his company is looking to remove plastic parts from its own products. www.evolution-music.co.uk X MARKS THE SPOT Available in two-, four- and six-way versions (priced £260, £390 and £520 respectively), the MKII update of Russ Andrews’ X Block mains extension adds an IEC output socket enabling daisy-chain applications, plus a grounding terminal. Internal mains filtering is provided by the company’s Silencer technology, while Kimber Kable TCX cabling connects to the X Block MKII’s cryogenically treated, nickel-plated input sockets.…

Priced £3000, the new ATH-AWKG headphone from Audio-Technica features over-ear housings made from Japanese Kurogaki wood, giving each model a unique finish. The material, here lacquer-coated, is also said to help define the performance of A-T’s latest flagship, which features ‘exclusive’ 53mm drivers back by permendur-based magnets and OFC voice-coils. The closed-back capsules, meanwhile, incorporate separate acoustic chambers – Audio-Technica’s ‘Double Air Damping System’ – to fine-tune bass performance. Claimed sensitivity is 102dB/1mW. The ATH-AWKG’s arms are made from magnesium alloy, and the headband and earpads are sheepskin. Hand-built in Japan, the headphone ships in a Kurogaki storage box and comes supplied with 6.35mm and 4-pin XLR-M fabric-braided 3m cables, plus an additional set of earpads from specialist brand ZMF. Audio-Technica Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, 0113 277 1441; www.audio-technica.com…

The latest version of Magico’s S3 speaker, which was first reviewed in these pages a decade ago [HFN Nov ’14], isn’t what you’d call a mild refresh. Just as the company’s MkII version was a major reworking of the original, so this new arrival has been comprehensively redesigned, drawing both on the technology of the flagship M9 model and the measurement abilities of Magico’s enhanced development tools. It’s yours for a couple of pounds short of £57,000 a pair in the five powder-coat M-Cast finishes Magico offers, or £66,000 in a choice of six high-gloss M-Coat shades, including the striking blue colourway pictured here. It stands some 112cm tall, weighs a very substantial 101kg and, despite the familiar model number, is basically an entirely new speaker. Given that the S3…

For a company that’s embraced the digital, online world (founder Paul McGowan is well known for his regular YouTube videos), it’s a little odd that PS Audio hasn’t completely thrown itself into networked audio playback. Its AirLens streamer, newly launched at £1995, is its only networked product – unless you count the Bluetooth-equipped Sprout integrated amplifier, or its earlier Stellar Strata integrated [HFN Mar ’21], now superseded by the (nonnetworked) Stellar Strata MK2. Even without the new design language that sees PS Audio’s standard fascia given a swooping, two-tone layout, the AirLens would still stand out from the Boulder, Colorado brand’s lineup. Not part of the Stellar or PerfectWave series, it’s currently a one-off model and has a singular focus, which is to act as a bridge between your networked…

At first glance, since they look like twins, you might wonder what Luxman has done to the L-509X integrated amplifier [HFN Jan ’18] to justify the Z suffix. The pesky price increase from £8500 to £10,999 reflects six years of inflation and recent world turbulence, but don’t be fooled by nearly identical looks. The devil is in the details. PM explains the internal changes which impact favourably on the performance [see boxout, p53] but aside from the revised approach to feedback and other circuit tweaks, Luxman has also initiated a number of upgrades to the features. The eagle-eyed will notice that the tone controls now include ‘midrange’ where the predecessor only provided bass and treble. Similarly, between the VU meters is now a two-digit display to provide a digital read-out…

Everyone loves a special edition because, unlike a limited edition, it’s usually the forerunner of trickledown into the standard range. The hi-fi industry is a fertile ground for such bounty and the latest manufacturer to come up with a tempting morsel is Goldring, its new Ethos SE moving-coil taking its place at the top of the range, priced at £1299. Historically, while this is a big ticket for Goldring it is still rather more affordable than many a premium pick-up from the artisan suppliers based outside of the UK. To create the ‘special’ within the Ethos SE, Goldring started with the standard Ethos and worked its magic both internally and externally. The most obvious difference is on the outside, for while the Ethos SE’s body is still made from aircraft-grade…

Just below the mid-price point of European Audio Team’s (EAT) nine-model range, the C-Dur belt-drive deck looks likely to identify a new price/performance benchmark. We have been flooded with decks at the £10,000-£12,000 mark to designate entry to the scary high-end, and companies such as MoFi, Thorens and Pro-Ject have numerous models from £500-£3000, but something was needed in between from, say, £3000 and £5000. At £3500 with arm, EAT’s C-Dur – German for C major – fits the bill. Shown on these pages is the C-Dur in its high-gloss plum (wooden) finish with the 10in C-Note straight carbon-fibre tonearm, also available with the Jo No5 moving-coil cartridge [HFN Dec ’18], all in for £4798. As noted in the box-out [p61], a variant with a black satin finish is offered…

The resurrection of Rotel’s Michi series, previously delighting audiophiles in the 1990s, was a hi-fi highlight of 2019. The Japanese manufacturer again created a strand of components (stereo and mono power amps, a preamp and two integrated models) with a focus on both high-end performance and aesthetics, even going so far as to drop the Rotel name from the branding. Then, in 2023, it announced it was revisiting three models in the lineup, making changes inside rather than out. Successor to the P5 preamplifier [HFN May ’20], Rotel’s new Michi P5 S2 continues a trend seen in some of the company’s more affordable products and the Michi X3 S2 [HFN Jan ’24] and Michi X5 S2 integrateds – switching the DAC stage over from chips made by AKM to those…

Search online and you’ll discover a groundswell of cheap DACs and streamers playing to every (hardware) whim, making it easy to overlook Eversolo’s efforts. But the company, which is the dedicated audio department of Shenzhen-based Zidoo, known for its EISA Award-winning Neo S media player, follows a different, more quality-focused strategy, as the affordable Z8 DAC and DMP-A6 have so far proved. The DMP-A8 streamer/DAC/preamp sees Eversolo aiming higher. Selling for £1890, it offers an astonishing range of features controlled via a large touchscreen, while AKM’s new dual-chip AK4499EX/AK4191EQ DAC solution, plus dual ‘femto’ clocks and two power supplies, are part of a mix designed to arouse an audiophile’s interest. However, while the DMP-A8 is ‘multipurpose’ like few others, in practice it’ll likely be used in a more limited role,…

THE BEVIS FROND Focus On Nature DOMINO FIRECD743; LP: FIRELP743 Nick Salomon has been leading The Bevis Frond from the front since 1986, playing flamboyant lead guitar with liberal use of effects, in a way that evokes the progressive psychedelia of Jimi Hendrix, the heavy blues of The Groundhogs and the grunge-rock of Dinosaur Jr. He is going through a prolific patch. His 2021 album Little Eden examined the state of the nation, looking for positives, and these 19 songs range from his role as a musician on ‘Mirror’ to a look back at ’70s nightlife on ‘Mr Fred’s Disco’. But the focus is on our mismanagement of the planet, and when he warns us that we need literally to ‘cool it’ on the opener ‘Heat’, the unadorned vocals, incisive…

Barry Fox trained in electronics with the RAF and worked as a patent agent, but he gave that up to enter journalism. He is one of the world’s top technology writers Everyone’s doing it. Upgrading from ‘copper’ broadband to fibre. I did it and witnessed first-hand the other side of the pretty picture that telecoms providers paint. So, because most readers just want to listen to music in the best possible quality, and don’t want to become IT experts, here’s a quick jargon-busting survival guide. In the beginning, broadband came into our homes via ordinary copper POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) wires using clever technology called ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). Think of ADSL as the wired equivalent of DAB or digital TV; high frequencies are spread thin over a…

Peter Quantrill has been writing about music for magazines and record labels for 30 years. When not hunched over a CD player, he’ll be at a concert, or the cricket Across Germany throughout 2024, exhibitions and events are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the painter Caspar David Friedrich, born in the north-German university town of Greifswald in September 1774. Okay, you may say, but this is a hi-fi magazine, so what? Well, we talk about Bernard Herrmann’s music as the sound of Hitchcock, and Ligeti and Strauss as the sound of 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the same way, the paintings of Friedrich are the image of German Romanticism, the visual analogue to Schubert, Brahms and Reger. NATURE TRAIL I am not a betting man, but I will wager that…

Arriving to crown the 5000 series launched by Q Acoustics in 2023, the 5050 floorstander (£1299) mirrors the triple-driver configuration of the 5040 model (£999), but partners its 25mm ‘mechanically isolated’ soft dome tweeter with 150mm Continuous Curved Cone (C3) bass/mid units – up from 125mm. Correspondingly, Q Acoustics has doubled the number of Helmholtz ‘pressure tubes’ inside the point-to-point braced cabinet from two to four, to optimise its low-frequency performance. Available in Black, White, Santos Rosewood and Holme Oak finishes, the 5050 ships with aluminium outriggers with adjustable spikes, plus magnetic grilles. Q Acoustics, Herts, UK, 01279 501111; www.qacoustic.co.uk…

Chinese portable/desktop audio brand Fiio, winner of an EISA Award for its M11 Pro digital audio player, has launched a new top-of-the-range model incorporating AKM’s AK4191EQ dual-chip DAC for playback of 384kHz PCM, DSD256, and MQA files. Available in Blue Titanium [pictured] or Stainless Steel, the M23 (£649) sports a 5.5in touch display for its custom Android OS, and 64GB storage that’s expandable, via microSD, to 2TB. Single-ended/balanced line-outs, and 4.4mm (bal)/3.5mm headphone jacks, are joined by two-way aptX HD Bluetooth. This flexible DAP can also run in desktop mode (with ‘Super-High’ gain) when powered by its USB connection. Fiio, Guangzhou City, China, 0343 289 6880; www.fiio.com…

All-alloy cabinets have long been a hallmark of Magico’s loudspeakers, whether in the form of an extruded section, like the original S3 [HFN Nov ’14], or the machined castings used for the enclosure walls of the S3 2023. Five thick aluminium horizontal plates divide up the internal volume here, as well as bracing and damping the enclosure, but this speaker’s choice of materials isn’t solely about weight and stiffness. Rather than ‘bracing the hell out of it’, quipped Magico CEO Alon Wolf, ‘we now brace it right’. During my call with him during our review, he explained that ‘our new 3D laser interferometry system enabled a very efficient analysis of the cabinet surfaces. We could see where the vibrations – the main panel modes – were occurring, and this informed…

Founded in 1961 in Tokyo by Tomoki Tachikawa, Rotel has long been held in high regard by stereophiles for both its ‘mass market’ and rarer Michi models. News that it has secured distribution in the UK after a period of flux is welcome – our recent review of the X3 S2 integrated [HFN Jan ’24] was predicated on it soon finding a ‘home’, in this case Cadence Distribution (www.cadencedistribution.co.uk), where Rotel will rub shoulders with SME, Rockport, Nagra and others. Although the company has remained family owned and independent throughout its 63 years, from 1981 its history in the UK and elsewhere was intertwined with that of Bowers & Wilkins. The two companies formed a ‘strategic alliance’ in which the B&W Group would handle Rotel distribution through its enviable global…

As you’ve probably gathered, the menus shown on the DMP-A8’s 150mm-wide touchscreen are quite extensive. The Eversolo Control app does a brilliant job of trimming down and presenting the available options but, with nine main items (including Music, Streaming and EQ), there’s still a lot of information to parse. For this reason, it would be handy if you had the option to disable unused services. Surprisingly, the app presents very differently on a smartphone screen [see screenshots, right] than it does on a larger tablet. This is a clever move by Eversolo, showing a more condensed interface on the smartphone that’s closer to the UI on the DMP-A8’s screen, while displaying far more on an iPad or Android tablet. On both device types, the Eversolo Control app works smoothly and…

The Violectric name may be new to you, as it was to me, but behind the brand is a company getting on for four decades in business, principally in the pro audio field, where it operates under the rather unusual moniker of Lake People – inspired by the company’s location in the Lake Constance region of Germany. Like many an audio brand from that country, the company designs and manufactures its products in-house, and is proud of the ‘Made in Germany’ label. Since 2009 it has been designing products for what it calls ‘the private sector’ under the Violectric brand, using the technology of its pro models to address the consumer audio market. It offers a wide range of headphone amplifiers covering just about every usage requirement, from the pocket-sized…

‘The Gift To Be Simple’, an old Shaker tune quoted and developed throughout Appalachian Spring, could be the motto for a major part of Copland’s work. Copland could write hard-edged pieces with the best of them, and did so especially at the beginning and end of his career with works such as the Vitebsk piano trio of 1928 and the magnificent orchestral Inscape (1967). By contrast, his famous scores of the 1930s and ’40s develop an aesthetic of simplicity and accessibility exemplified by Appalachian Spring, which he composed for the dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. RURAL LIVING The unassuming setting is a farmhouse in a pioneer settlement, but Graham and her company gave the first performance at the Library of Congress in Washington in 1944. Accompanied by a chamber ensemble…

MARSHALL CRENSHAW Field Day Yep Roc Records YEP3058X As is expected of cult artists, Crenshaw has vaults full of amazing unreleased stuff, and he’s taken the opportunity presented by anniversaries to thank his fans with bonus tracks on reissues. Matching last year’s celebration of his eponymous debut, this magnificent birthday CD of his sophomore release adds six tracks consisting of alternates and B-sides, the quality of which match the main album. For those not familiar with Crenshaw, he was part of a 1980s subgenre that offered a loving look back at the ’60s – not least the British Invasion – a bit like The Knack without the attitude. Every song is worthy of the not-dissimilar Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe. KK Sound Quality: 85% GARRET T. WILLIE Same Pain Garret…

JOHN ETHERIDGE BLUE SPIRITS Live Dyad Records DY033 While fronting Soft Machine through its decades of reunions and in its current revival, virtuoso guitarist John Etheridge has worked with many greats in many genres, and for 20 years he’s also led the trio here. With organist Pete Whittaker and drummer Geoff Double, there are lots of pyrotechnics and plenty of variety. Mal Waldron’s ‘Soul Eyes’ is a lush ballad, but there’s some fiery fusion, not to mention Etheridge’s take on Stevie Wonder’s ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’ and a country excursion to Hank Williams’s ‘Cold Cold Heart’, before a well-paced set ends beautifully with Mingus’s ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’. Blues, jazz and rock in a special blend. SH Sound Quality: 80% LIV ANDREA HAUGE TRIO Ville Blomster Hubro HUBROCD2659; LP:…

While his main interest is high-end audio, Barry Willis also writes about the culinary industry, visual art and theatre for a huge variety of US newspapers and magazines Arecent visit to a new audio acquaintance opened with his apology about his listening space, a big room with a high ceiling. ‘The best-sounding rooms have lower ceilings’, he said. I don’t know how many he’s been in, but in my experience high ceilings aren’t problematic. Quite the opposite, in fact – some of the best rooms I’ve been in have high ceilings and unusual architectural features that give them unintentionally good acoustics. Years ago, my friend Ken bought an old home on the east side of Atlanta. The place had a free-standing carriage house built of rough stacked stone. About the…

Steve Harris edited Hi-Fi News between 1986 and 2005. He loves jazz, blues music, vinyl and vintage hi-fi and anything that makes good music come to life One of the most heartwarming albums of 2023 for me was 50 Years [Ubuntu Music] by the Doncaster Jazz Alumni, a bigband in which former members celebrate Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra’s golden anniversary. Under the guidance of its founder, John Ellis, the DYJO has played both the Montreux and Nice festivals and toured the US. It’s equipped countless young players with the skills needed to work in music professionally. BEYOND JAZZ But another outstanding album of 2023 came from an American singer who’d acquired those skills as a child. Veronica Swift started early, because her father was the late jazz pianist Hod O’Brien,…

The Philips Motional Feedback (MFB) loudspeaker has been mentioned a number of times in these pages over recent years. The company achieved considerable success with both its first- and second-generation models, including the 22RH544 [HFN Nov ’16], but in the UK at least, the third generation is less commonly encountered. The AH585 seen here is the smallest of three consumer speakers, the others being the similar but larger AH586 and the three-way AH587. These new designs saw Philips work hard to apply its MFB techniques to a series of more conventional-looking speakers. They were also easier to hook up to non-Philips equipment as they used standard RCA connections operating at signal levels and impedances that suited all preamps, rather than just the few made by Philips itself. PETAL TO THE…

Feeling a bit like the boy who cried ‘Wolf!’, I still can’t help but regard this new range of speakers from Apogee as ‘ribbons for the masses’. But unlike the last models that inspired this sort of reaction – the Stages [p129] and Calipers – the new Centaurs really do make Apogees accessible to a wide range of consumers. And not only by virtue of their cost. The name, credited to Brian Rivas of Pinewood Audio, is the neatest yet to denote ‘hybrid’. And as the Centaurs are hybrids, with traditional Apogee ribbons mated to dynamic woofers, the company has chosen to regard them as a truly separate model range. SPACE INVADERS The Centaurs will invite into the fold a number of hi-fi enthusiasts who were tempted by the fullrange…