Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Hi Fi News

Our cover stars this month – the huge integrated amp and SACD player/DAC from Marantz’s new 10 series – have a compelling back story that reflects the brand’s special place in hi-fi history since its founding, by Saul Marantz, in 1953. However, our exclusive testing has also revealed another story that’s not in the press release but might loosely be paraphrased as ‘didn’t you get the memo?’. That’ll be the engineers talking to the marketing department talking to the industrial designers. Or perhaps, after drawing up a wish-list of features, facilities and target specifications, all these divisions went away and did their own thing anyway. Marantz has form here – when we tested the PM-10 [HFN Aug ’17], another amplifier to feature the legacy ‘porthole’ display, we discovered pairs of…

’PHONES UPGRADED Selling for £999, Focal’s Bathys MG headphones upgrade the standard Bathys design by incorporating the company’s 40mm magnesium membrane ‘M-shaped’ drivers in their over-ear closed-back housings. Connectivity is via either Bluetooth (with aptX Adaptive), 3.5mm jack or USB-C, the latter option improving battery life to a rated 42 hours and supporting 192kHz/24-bit playback. Focal’s partnering app offers EQ settings and three ANC (Active Noise Cancelling) modes. The finish includes an illuminated Focal logo – similar to the Diva Utopia speaker [HFN Dec ’24]. www.focal.com KEEP IT CLEAN Aimed at audiophiles eager to keep their cartridge ‘in the groove’, the Extract Stylus Cleaning Kit from Goldring consists of an anti-static cleaning brush, compact 10x magnifying glass and a special formula gel in a dedicated ‘cleaning pot’ – the manufacturer…

Priced from £18,000, Dan D’Agostino’s new Pendulum is the US brand’s ‘entry-level’ amplifier. An integrated, solid-sate design claiming 2x120W/8ohm, it features a ‘re-engineered’ iteration of the JFET-based input stage of the Momentum C2 preamplifier launched in 2024, while its direct-coupled, fully balanced signal path follows the lead of D’Agostino’s higher-end models. Out-of-the-box connectivity is all-analogue, comprising 3x unbalanced RCA/1x balanced XLR line inputs, a headphone output, and balanced preamp outs for subwoofer integration. Ethernet/Wi-Fi, HDMI eARC and optical ins can be added through an optional digital module (£2850), which supports 384kHz and DSD256 and adds music streaming platforms through its iOS app. A phono stage module (£1150) is suited to ‘low output’ MCs. D’Agostino LLC, Arizona, USA, 0208 971 3909; www.dandagostino.com; www.absolutesounds.com…

15-18 MAY High End, Event Center Messe München (Munich), Germany; www.highendsociety.de/high-end 21-22 JUN North West Audio Show, Cheshire; http://audioshow.co.uk 08-10 AUG Audio technique AV Show, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre; www.audiotechnique.com/avshow 27-28 SEP The UK Hi-Fi Show Live, Ascot Racecourse Grandstand, Ascot Berkshire SL5 7JX; www.hifishowlive.com 24-26 OCT Audio Video Show Warsaw 2025, 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 demonstration or distributor’s back room spun up into a four or five page article. 2. Products reviewed in Hi-Fi News already have…

Review: Andrew Everard Lab: Paul Miller Network players have the potential to be a great leveller for ‘family listening’ outside of the exclusive audiophile world. It’s even possible that younger music fans will discover the joys of sitting and listening via a proper hi-fi system. Of course, that means everyone getting to grips with streaming music from internal storage or Tidal and Qobuz, putting together the odd personal playlist, and even routing the TV sound through the system. That said, the learning curve involved in driving the MU2, Grimm Audio’s flagship music streamer/DAC/preamp, is somewhat steeper than usual. Yes, just about every brand of network player is different in set up and operation, as manufacturers have different priorities when it comes to functions and features, but this one is unlike…

Review: Jamie Biesemans Lab: Paul Miller Employing a deal of trickle-down technology from its costlier models, the 3050c is the only floorstander in Q Acoustics’ new 3000c range. Following on from its popular 3000i series, the basics remain the same – slim speakers that look and sound good, with price tags that won’t break the bank. The 3050c tower tested here differs from the 3010c, 3020c and 3030c standmount models not only in size, but also with its dual 142mm woofer/mid units, promising bigger bass and more thrills at what seems an extremely generous £849 price tag. PIN SHARP I’m always impressed by the build quality of Q Acoustics’ loudspeakers. While you shouldn’t expect high-gloss paint jobs with multiple layers of varnish or exotic veneers at this level, the company…

A good number of female composers are belatedly reaching wider audiences, but few of them deserve your attention as pressingly as Mel Bonis. Take the Flute Sonata, a Lalique vase in four movements, 20 minutes of fleeting impressions, instantly evocative of fin-de-siècle Paris, soaked in musical chartreuse and wreathed in mystery. NOM DE PLUME Mel Bonis wasn’t even her real name – she was born Mélanie Hélène Bonis in 1858, but soon disguised herself in print, so that her music would not suffer from being prejudged as coming from the pen of a woman. Fortunately for a middle-class girl from an unmusical background, the culture of French musical education was relatively enlightened for its time. Women had been admitted to the Paris Conservatoire as both students and teachers for some…

Motörhead spent two weeks recording Overkill at London’s Roundhouse Recording Studios between December 1978 and January 1979 with producer Jimmy Miller (who had seen them play High Wycombe Town Hall a few months before), plus Ashley Howe and Trevor Hallesy engineering. Built by Gerry Bron, founder of Motörhead’s record label Bronze, the Roundhouse studio was both named after and located right next door to the Roundhouse venue where the band often performed. It also had London’s first 24-track recording desk. Engineer Hallesy detailed Jimmy Miller’s work ethic in Make My Day: The Rock ’n’ Roll Story of Eddie Clarke, Kris Needs’ 2024 biography of the late Motörhead guitarist. ‘He was very good at getting a good vibe in the studio, getting a good take out of a band, actually making…

I’m sick of hearing how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to change everything for everyone. It will soon be obligatory to stick the label AI on anything audio. But how will giving hi-fi an imitation brain help music? Better room EQ, less brutal LP click removal, undoing compression codec damage, finding international Internet radio stations by musical content… all possible, but hardly awe-inspiring. However, at the last Audio Collaborative Conference, organised by market watchers Futuresource, some genuinely interesting audio AI ideas came up. TO THE MOON AND BACK You probably won’t be familiar with Knowles of Illinois. The company’s rather stodgy website talks drily about balanced armature speaker drivers and dual coaxial micro-microphone capsules. Yet, like the better-known Motorola and Qualcomm, Knowles is one of those shadowy giants developing super-small…

In the summer of 2024 I was privileged to spend two days in a recording studio with György Kurtág. Production staff at the Dutch label Pentatone were putting the finishing touches on a four-year project (delayed and prolonged by Covid) to record the complete Játékok with the pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. The occasion was a highlight of the year for me, simply from a sense of proximity to one of the last living legends of post-war modernism. Indeed, by the time I met him in Budapest, Kurtág was 98, and a frail shadow of the figure who had coached, cajoled and frankly terrorised generations of students at the Liszt Academy. Wheeled in and out of the studio, he expressed himself very satisfied by what he heard: ‘très bon’ became a refrain…

Review: Tim Jarman Lab: Paul Miller Many Hi-Fi News readers will have fond memories of Pioneer’s PL-12D turntable. A best seller when new and one of the models that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with the vinyl revival, generations of audiophiles have, at one time or another, had one of these decks in their systems. Introduced in 1973, it came at just the right time to benefit from the rapidly increasing growth in affordable hi-fi, setting music lovers on a path to better and (usually) more expensive things. NOBODY DOES IT BETTER With a product as well-loved and well-remembered as the PL-12D, it is perhaps inevitable that a certain amount of mythology has built up around it. Let’s begin by setting the record straight, so to speak. Firstly, the…

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Products from the Aavik, Ansuz, Axxess and Børresen brands of Audio Group Denmark [see p31] are coming to the UK courtesy of distributor Signature Audio Systems. The company, headquartered in Aalborg, was established by Michael Børresen and Lars Kristensen, former owners of loudspeaker maker Raidho. Flemming E. Rasmussen, the founder of Gryphon Audio, joined ADG in 2021. Børresen is a loudspeaker brand with a catalogue spanning six series, up to the most recent C models. The C1 [pictured] is a two-way standmount employing Børresen’s signature RP94 ribbon planar tweeter, plus a 125mm DCC5 Neo bass/mid driver with carbon fibre/aramid sandwich cone. The matching C1 stand incorporates Darkz S2t ‘resonance control’ devices from Ansuz – ADG’s cable, power distribution and accessories brand. The Aavik range, meanwhile, covers streamers/DACs, phono stages, and…

High-end German loudspeaker brand Tidal Audio describes the company’s AP1 floor stander as a ‘new reference’, albeit one that’s in part based on the design of its Tidal x Bugatti project. Standing 1.63m tall and weighing 205kg, each AP1 cabinet features an eight-driver, four-way configuration, powered by onboard amplification (AP stands for ‘Amplified Performance’). Mounted into a mechanically decoupled stainless steel housing on the front baffle are a 30mm ‘diamond diaphragm’ tweeter and 80mm ceramic bass/mid unit, while positioned below are two 170mm aluminium-magnesium woofers. Additional low-end ‘reach’ comes from the AP1’s four 260mm subwoofer units, operating in side-firing pairs. The speaker’s sealed ‘omni-polar’ enclosure is made from Tidal Audio’s proprietary multilayer Tiralit material. Connections are analogue XLR inputs (the AP1’s amplification maintains an analogue signal path, eschewing any DSP…

Review: Mark Craven Lab: Paul Miller At the tail end of 2020, when Marantz released its Model 30 amplifier [HFN Jan ’21], the name paid homage to the brand’s Model 1 preamp of 1954 while the chassis styling nodded at past Marantz designs from hi-fi’s ‘golden age’. However, this was not a case of the New York-born (but now Japan/California-based) company jumping headfirst into the so-called ‘nostalgia economy’ with a retro/vintage-inspired product, more the first step in a complete overhaul of its brand image. Since then, there have been various additions to the new-look Model catalogue, but all have sat below the Model 30. Until now. On test here are Marantz’s new Model 10 integrated amplifier, plus SACD 10 player/DAC. Priced £11,999 and £9500 respectively, these are two of three…

Review: Ken Kessler Lab: Paul Miller Is there a more outrageous-looking cartridge than Ortofon’s radical MC 90X? By now we should be used to the shape since the MC 90X’s form was first introduced 15 years ago in Ortofon’s MC A90. This revised version, in a cool blue hue, still has that look of a Bizarro horseshoe from the side. Forgive the Superman reference, but this cartridge turned out to be something of a hero. No longer surprising, too, is a price tag of £3999, which isn’t even a quarter of the price of the most expensive cartridges on the market. Where to place this in the context of today’s moving-coils I do not know, but calling it ‘mid-level’ might cause a few of you to choke when decent MCs…

Review: Mark Craven Lab: Paul Miller At the UK Hi-Fi Show Live in Sept ’24, during a chat with an industry colleague, our discussion moved on to Roon. His opinion was, ‘you either love it, or you haven’t used it yet’. Such is the passion for this music management system among those who have invested in it. And now Roon is offering the ultimate investment, in the shape of its £3899 Nucleus Titan server. Like the previous Nucleus and Nucleus+ models [HFN May ’18], which debuted some seven years ago, the Nucleus Titan and another new unit, the entry-level Nucleus One (£599), are devices dedicated to running Roon’s Core server software. Before the company embarked down this hardware path, some Roon users would simply install the software on a standard…

hicken vindaloo, pilau rice, six papadums, bhindi bhaji, Bombay aloo, oh, and a stuffed paratha. Yummy, right? Rick Wakeman certainly thinks so, tucking in with gusto. Thing is though, he’s not in a restaurant or at home with a takeaway, he’s sat behind a phalanx of keyboards on stage at the sold-out Manchester Free Trade Hall. And while he enjoys his nosh, Yes – the band he’s part of – is plodding through their Tales From Topographic Oceans, a newly released double album – one track per side – which his bandmates have insisted on playing in its 85-minute entirety. This is November 1973 and even by the overblown musical standards of the era, TFTO is what you might, being generous, call an epic. ‘There were a couple of pieces…

ORIGINAL VINYL & CASSETTE Three weeks after the initial Bronze release of Overkill on black vinyl [BRON 515], the album was released in a now highly sought-after limited edition of 15,000 on green vinyl [also BRON 515]. Lemmy’s bass guitar isn’t as present here as on later LP reissues/upgrades and the late frontman reportedly preferred it that way. Overkill is also available on compact cassette [TC-BRON 515 and Profile PCT-3241 in the US], for those who prefer their Motörhead music served up somewhat more lo-fi ’n’ raw (regardless of its ‘Dolby System’ NR designation). CD Overkill’s 1985 CD [Legacy LLMCD 3011] does what it’s supposed to do, but you’ll find better fidelity on the album’s extra-track-laden reissues. The 2004 Sanctuary CD [SMRCD039] adds five studio-recorded bonus cuts while the 2019…

Asked what I’d be doing at Christmas, I said (only half-jokingly), ‘cleaning records’. I had placed an order for one of the Keith Monks machines but, waiting for delivery, bought a Knosti manual cleaner too – £75 at Amazon. My collection of LPs dates back to 1958 and I must have over 1700 records, almost entirely classical and nearly all in ‘as new’ condition. Playing a flawless pressing over headphones gives me greater pleasure than either CD or hi-res downloads. But, of course, few vinyl discs are absolutely silent-surfaced. BAMBOOZLED One of the first cleaning machines for professional use came from Keith Monks Audio; his son Jonathan now markets three designs for the home audiophile. Each is made from sustainable bamboo and features a switchable ‘light show’ at the intersection…

Though it’s been with us for 25 years, the Super Audio Compact Disc has never looked like becoming the replacement for Compact Disc that its originators – Sony and Philips – hoped it would be. But it remains firmly in its niche. And while DSD, the one-bit recording system that’s the basis of SACD, couldn’t challenge the supremacy of multi-bit PCM digital, it’s gone from strength to strength with double-speed (128), quad-speed (256) and even ‘faster’ versions. PEER PRESSURE At the beginning SACD didn’t take off because, for the general public, CD was good enough, and the real home entertainment success story of the late 1990s was DVD-Video. For those who did want better sound, DVD-Audio held out the promise of high-resolution audio in stereo and multichannel – yet here…

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1. ACCESSORIES SEISMIC Podiums, Size 2. Condition is nine out of ten due to some scuff marks. Dimensions for speaker base: 300x400mm (wl). Overall size: 454x549mm (wl). £800. Tel: 07956 584363 MARANTZ SX-72 click noise eliminator with box and manual. Offers in the region of £100 (all proceeds to go to Parkinson’s UK). Demo/collection High Wycombe. Email: geoff.carter35@googlemail.com. Tel: 07804 862989 2. AMPLIFIERS AVID Pellar phono stage, excellent condition, still has 11 months’ manufacturer’s warranty. Original boxes and manuals, comes with 500, 100 and 30ohm MC loading plugs. £430. Email: jdsnell@hotmail.co.uk. Tel: 07555 950223 3. CABLES TRANSPARENT Audio MusicLink Ultra XL, 1m long with Transparent RCA interconnects. Owned since new. £410. Happy to discuss. Email: stuartdarshan67@gmail.com. Tel: 07870 912963 CHORD Signature Reference speaker cables (4m pair, banana plugs), £800 ovno.…

Promising a low-end response down to 23Hz from a newly designed 380mm/15in basalt sandwich construction woofer, the Atalante 7 Évo standmount is the latest flagship model from France’s Revival Audio. Priced £9390 including stands, and offered in walnut [pictured] or ebony veneer finish, its handed cabinets measure 820x456x480mm (hwd) and are extensively internally braced. Completing this three-way design are RASC Évo midrange (75mm) and tweeter (28mm) units with ARID (Anti-Resonance Inner Dome) technology, joined on the front baffle by a low-turbulence ‘AeroFlex’ bass port. Decoupling spikes between speaker and stand, plus adjustable isolation pads, are supplied, in addition to magnetically attached grilles. Revival Audio, Alsace, France, 0800 464 7274; www.revivalaudio.fr; www.eliteaudiouk.com…

iFi Audio’s new portable DAC/headphone amp takes the top spot in its range above the earlier iDSD Diablo 2 [HFN Feb ’24]. The £1699 iDSD Valkyrie connects to headphones over 4.4mm balanced/3.5mm ‘S-balanced’ outputs, in addition to external hardware via its line-out, while inputs comprise analogue, Bluetooth, USB-C and S/PDIF. Digital file handling, to 768kHz PCM and DSD512, is complemented by six digital filters, plus two ‘flavours’ of JVCKENWOOD’s K2HD processing. iFi Audio’s customary analogue EQ modes – XSpace, XBass and XPresence – also feature. Output power is said to improve on the Diablo 2 by up to 44%, while the 20,000mAh battery array claims 18 hours of playback. iFi Audio, China, 01903 768919; www.ifi-audio.com…

Held across the weekend of March 22nd and 23rd at the Scandic Asker Hotel, the third edition of the Oslo HiFi Show was its biggest yet, with over 60 rooms and exhibition areas. The fair is organised by the Norwegian audio magazine Stereo+, in conjunction with specialist retailers AnalogLab, Mala Audio and Stereofil. This year, as usual, the focus was on hi-fi, both local and global, but a vinyl fair and increased emphasis on head-fi products were well received by the audience. Those making the journey to the venue, a 15-minute drive from the country’s capital, included a noticeably larger proportion of young people than in 2024. Making its show debut was Polish brand Unitra, a stalwart of the Cold War era that has recently been resurrected. Classic design, impressive…

Review: Ken Kessler Lab: Paul Miller With the HD Phono, Nagra has joined a rather select group. By my estimation, there are but a half-dozen manufacturers of phono stages costing above £50,000. At a heady £68,500, the all-valve Nagra HD Phono is about as expensive and exclusive as it gets, and for that amount of money you expect to get everything. And you do. This beautifully engineered two-chassis affair consists of the phono section and a separate power supply, the latter being a feature of each component in the HD series. The pairing oozes Swiss artisanship, and Nagra even states that ‘the transformer itself is hand-wound in a very delicate process requiring watchmakers’ type of skills’. So it’s not just me who sees a link between horology and audio… SIDE…

Review: Jamie Biesemans Lab: Paul Miller Since its debut in 2022, and with models introduced on a piecemeal basis, Audiolab’s 9000 series has sought to offer improved performance and specification above the company’s already popular 6000 and 8000 ranges. And now, with the launch of the 9000Q preamplifier/DAC and 9000P power amplifier, the family is truly complete. Topping off the flagship range with these final two models is a wise move by the IAG-owned, Huntingdon-based manufacturer, as the 9000 series now caters to a wide audience, from CD and digital enthusiasts to turntable owners. There’s also a deal of interconnectedness between all 9000 models, as audio designer Jan Ertner has shared a lot of technology between them. POWER TO THE PEOPLE The combination of the 9000Q and 9000P, rated at…

Review: Mark Craven Lab: Paul Miller Balanced Audio Technology, otherwise known as BAT, doesn’t beat about the bush when it comes to its audio philosophy. The main page on the US manufacturer’s website lists core principles, all of which have an engineering bent: ‘balanced is best’, ‘dual-mono construction maximises performance’, and ‘zero global feedback achieves natural sound’. All three of these are at play in the company’s VK-90 preamp. Priced £14,995 and offered in BAT’s usual choice of silver or black anodising, this is the company’s flagship single-chassis preamplifier, ranged below the £30,000 REX 3, which has separate control (audio) and power (PSU) enclosures, but more on that later. Filling out the roster of preamps are the VK-80, ticketed at £9995, and the new VK-85, for £12,500. The latter is…

AUDIOPHILE: VINYL AL DI MEOLA Elegant Gypsy Impex IMP6062 (180g vinyl) On one of those rare occasions when a jazz album crossed over to the mainstream, guitarist Di Meola’s second solo, from 1977, established him as a front rank performer. Thirty albums later, it still dazzles, the guest list alone enough to ensure it was something special: Paco de Lucía on acoustic guitar, Jan Hammer and Barry Miles on keyboards, Steve Gadd and Lenny White on drums. Its mélange of styles appealed to rock, jazz and Latin audiences, Di Meola making reference to The Kinks and Leslie West, while ‘Race With The Devil On Spanish Highway’ features shredding worthy of any current metal hero. Impex has improved on the original packaging, adding a new note from Di Meola. KK Sound…

I enjoyed reading the review of the new Quad 33/303 amps in HFN Jan ’25, and it prompted me to do something I’d been tempted to do since the new amps were announced. So I’m now the happy owner of a new Quad 303 – despite also still having an original example with a strange history! My ancient one was originally not bought for a hi-fi system. It was chosen to drive the ‘Modulation Coils’ of an Electron Spin Resonance system at the university where I worked for many years, as back then I was using an Armstrong Audio 700 pre/power combination to drive my Quad ESL loudspeakers. Following the release of the new 303 amp, however, I decided that it was time to get up-to-date and buy a new…

Hi-Fi News Oct 1999 Each month HFN will bring you an article from our vast archive of features and reviews from yester year Whether it’s caution or obstinacy, numerous high-end brands are studiously avoiding DVD. Some argue that it’s the dearth of half-way decent OEM transports, others that they’re waiting until dust settles in the forthcoming DVD-A vs. SACD format war. Then there’s the fact that CD is the ‘last format to eschew data reduction or data compression’, that there are tens of thousands of readily available CD titles, and that CD has a huge owner base. Whatever the justification, Bow has joined Linn and others in seeing out this century with a CD player. But not just any CD player. BOW’S BELLE Although the Wizard – designed to match…