Innholdsfortegnelse for Aug-18 i Hi-Fi Choice

www.hifichoice.co.uk Just like the summer weather, the British floorstanding loudspeaker market is hotting up. We’ve seen several impressive high value for money floorstanding designs of late that offer serious hi-fi clout for a relatively low outlay. Regular readers will have marvelled at the 3050i from Q Acoustics that we reviewed last month, which received a coveted Editor’s Choice award and is the hottest, value floorstander we’ve seen so far. But contenders are already lining up to take its crown – including this month’s £600 cover star, Fyne Audio’s F303 (p46), and Monitor Audio’s Monitor 300 (p60), priced at just £550. Like Q Acoustics, Monitor Audio has a considerable reputation and hi-fi heritage, but Fyne Audio is perhaps less well-known to those outside the industry. Tellingly, the Scottish-based newcomer, which unveiled…

PRICE: £600 AVAILABLE: LATE JULY CONTACT: 01480 447700 WEB: QUAD-HIFI.CO.UK EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH for Quad’s debut headphone – this is the company behind the legendary ESL loudspeaker and whose philosophy is “the closest approach to the original sound”, after all. According to Quad, the ERA-1 combines high sensitivity with low impedance to enable excellent performance with a range of partnering devices – from portable players to top-of-the-range amps. To create this flagship design, it developed a planar magnetic driver, which aims to deliver a more natural and accurate sound – allowing the listener to immerse themselves in every musical nuance. The headphone incorporates a strong, ultra-thin, electrically active diaphragm fused with a magnet system designed to maximise sensitivity and consistency over the driver area. Comfort hasn’t been overlooked, as soft…

Flat’s all folks! Warped vinyl can be the bane of the record collector, but help is at hand in this excellent guide to restoring your beloved music to pristine condition again, along with some top tips to ensure that it doesn’t happen in the first place: bit.ly/2JPIYEG You’re surrounded Discover how sound engineers took Sennheiser’s AMBEO 3D immersive sound audio technology to create a unique 360° surround mix of Pink Floyd’s last performance together (back at the 2005 Live 8 concert in Hyde Park) for the exhibition in the V&A museum: bit.ly/2lm0bqm Making a Classic Go behind the scenes to discover the manufacturing process behind VPI’s “vibration-free” Classic 1 turntable in this video featuring VPI President Harry Weisfeld and discover how the creation of a vinyl cleaning machine kick started…

AS: What advantages do you feel that the Class G power amplifier topology offers? NC: Class G offers two clear advantages. The first is excellent speaker driving capability, due to the superb power reserves and current delivery of the configuration. As a result, the amplifier is more than able to partner virtually any speaker well, including those that might be traditionally regarded as “complex and difficult” to drive. The second advantage is the greater efficiency of the output stage, which results in a smaller heatsink required for a given power rating of amplifier. In addition, it has the added bonus of making the amplifier run cooler, which can give enhanced long-term component life. Of course, this comes at the cost of greater complexity and skill required in implementation, but this…

It does a fine job of getting the head nodding and pulling you into the music Thanks to its rather retro appearance, one could easily assume that Grado has been building the same headphone design for decades. Its e-series is a relatively recent revision and the GS2000e is part of the Statement range that sits just below the professional series. Key to the construction is the use of two different woods in the driver housings. Mahogany and maple are used as they offer different specific resonances that when combined create an inert but lightweight enclosure for the purpose-built 50mm dynamic drivers. The super lightweight feel will divide opinion and it seems as though there is only just enough mass to ensure that the drivers are held in place. The result…

Usefully detailed, it does a good job of finding the ballistic edge of the track It might be a new name to HFC, but Ultrasone is actually 25 years old and has a considerable range of headphone designs. This is the most affordable member of its Edition range and is a closed-back design. Where Ultrasone feels that its headphones differ from others is the use of a proprietary technology called S Logic that studies the relationship between the driver and the wearer’s ear for the best possible performance. The drivers that S Logic is working with here are 40mm dynamic units made from mylar and titanium. These are placed unusually low down in the housings rather than dead centre, as is the case as with the other designs here. The…

DV: What’s the secret to the finely detailed treble? PM: We matched a 25mm polyester soft dome, chosen for its controlled and well-damped behaviour, with a powerful neodymium magnet system designed for high efficiency and ability to reduce thermal compression effects. A phase compensator disc is integrated in the tweeter’s protective mesh. This is engineered to delay the output from specific areas of the dome to deliver a smooth and extended frequency response. The challenge was to create a crossover to maximise the tweeter’s potential without pushing up the price. After auditioning, we chose components that delivered the best transparency with minimal colouration. Most similarly sized floorstanders are heavier – do they need to be? Thanks to starting with a clean sheet at Fyne Audio, we had the opportunity to…

Committed to vinyl replay long before the current popularity of the medium, Creek Audio’s OBH range of phono stages has been around for 25 years. The OBH-8mk2 is the latest iteration of the design and is the entry-level model in the range, sitting just below the long-running £300 OBH-15mk2 (HFC 407). The OBH-8mk2 is a straightforward moving-magnet phono stage with fixed loading and no user adjustments. The new design uses an integrated circuit for the gain stage powered by a 24V supply, which is something that has been present on OBH designs since their inception. The reason why Creek uses this relatively hefty voltage is because it is split inside the phono stage to +/- 12V via a custom circuit. This means that the OBH-8mk2 can be DC coupled with…

The 300’s ability to run from right down low to way up high is rare at the price Has hi-fi got better in the past few decades? Take loudspeakers for example; low-cost designs from the seventies were somewhere between dreadful and dire, but improvements in design and manufacturing now make it possible to do so much better. This point is beautifully illustrated by the new Monitor 300. To be frank, the price has you wondering if the company has inadvertently left off a zero. From a distance it looks like a swanky high-end floorstander – indeed, you could say the same from moderately close up. Yet there’s also a slight playfulness to the design; it’s as if the company’s product planners have sat back and relaxed, almost as if it’s…

Gang Of Four Entertainment! Arty, thought-provoking and politicised, Gang of Four’s first LP brought the funk into punk, challenging expectations on its release in 1979 and remains a compelling listen in 2018. Echo & The Bunnymen Heaven Up Here Purveyors of the new psychedelia from Stephen’s former home town. “Epic pop, before they went too epic pop,” he notes. Their second album is a hybrid of Joy Division and Television. The Cure A Forest It’s criminal that the first three Cure records don’t get spoken about in the same breath as innovators such as Public Image Limited. This single, their first 12in, is a masterpiece. Aztec Camera High Land, Hard Rain The 1983 debut album from youthful songwriter Roddy Frame is a soulful fusion of incredibly catchy jangle pop and…

ALBUM OF THE MONTH Florence & The Machine High As Hope CD Virgin EMI THE SHENANIGANS THAT took place in order to bring HFC readers this review deserve to be known. Before being granted permission to hear High As Hope, your reviewer was required to sign a sworn affidavit not to "publish, broadcast or comment online” about the record prior to its release date. The legal agreement even made it a crime to “talk about” the album and threatened that any breach of the undertaking would result in the record company suing for “damages”. Welcome to the machine, as Pink Floyd once sang. Tempting as it was to tell the record company to stick the record up their self-important backside, when you are as huge as Florence Welch has become, resistance…

HOT PICK Jorja Smith Lost & Found FLAC 24/44.1 onkyomusic.com WALSALL 21-YEAR-OLD JORJA Smith is a rising star thanks to her collaborations with Drake and Stormzy, and her debut long player shows what all the fuss is about. A beguiling mix of R&B, soul, pop and trip-hop, it's all underpinned by her smoky, affecting voice. Whether she's crooning about lost love or the state of society, there's real depth and maturity here. Beats are precise and crunchy, while Smith's incredible voice soars above it all. PH Neko Case Hell-On FLAC 24/48 onkyomusic.com PROLIFIC SINGER-SONGWRITER NEKO Case – who counts collaborations with the likes of Laura Veirs and KD Lang as part of her long and acclaimed career – is back with a new solo record. And, as ever, her shining, positive folk-pop…

Both performances are aided by the deep acoustic of Hanover’s Grosser Sendesaal HOT PICK Symphonies Nos. 4&5 NDR Radiophilharmonie Andrew Manze CD Pentatone PENTATONE’S MENDELSSOHN SYMPHONY cycle continues with No.4, Italian and No. 5, Reformation. With a careful attention to blend, balance and tuning, both performances are beautifully sonorous, aided by the deep acoustic of Hanover’s Grosser Sendesaal. The stereo mix lacks a bit of clarity in the busier passages, but the surround mix is excellent. The strings are refined and cope well with Mendelssohn's demands, while the winds are polished and rounded. In general Manze opts for the poise of steadier tempos. In the Italian the central movements are best, with a particularly delightful Pilgrims’ March. The Reformation begins with stunning brass and strings, and the Allegro Vivace is immaculate.…

PRICE: £600 TELEPHONE: 07580 691803 WEB: ecossecables.co.uk REVIEWED: HFC 435 A great deal of work has gone into the Maestro interconnect. A fine-looking cable, it has UHPOFC conductors, said to be ultra-pure, grain-free copper, with tight double braiding and an additional polymer screen. Polyethylene and gas-foamed polyethylene are used as a dielectric. Proprietary shielding is fitted, to form a Faraday cage to eliminate RF interference. MACH2 RCA phono plugs are specified, with Monocrystal copper contact points, direct silver hard-plated and with a copper alloy body. Meanwhile, the MS2.3 speaker cable has 4mm plugs and boasts Monocrystal copper conductors, in a concentric stranded, rope-lay weave. The strands are 3mm2 twisted copper with polypropylene dielectric, cotton fibre and paper acoustic damping, plus soft PVC sheathing with an outside diameter of 8mm. Sound quality This…

PRICE: £85 TELEPHONE: 01279 501111 WEB: qed.co.uk REVIEWED: HFC 434 Intended to be a first-step upgrade, this 3m loudspeaker cable employs a variation on QED’s X-Tube technology that’s designed to maximise the usable cross-sectional area of the cable across the audio frequency spectrum without substantially increasing its overall size. QED recognises that a low DC resistance is important for high-fidelity signal transfer. To achieve this, the X25 uses 10 groups of 19 strands of 0.13mm diameter, 99.999 percent oxygen-free copper. These are then twisted around a hollow central core of low-density polyethylene to achieve a practical cross-sectional area of 2.5mm2. This is claimed to achieve a lowering of impedance compared with a traditional large cross-sectional area twin-core cable. The copper cable is covered in an aluminium Mylar sheath and finished off in…

COMBINING BLUETOOTH AND active noise cancelling in a headphone is a highly desirable option for that discrete ‘shut out the world’ ability that those on the move demand. Meanwhile the elimination of the headphone socket on key smartphones has also served to ensure that the price point for such flexible designs has dropped, but even taking this into account, this JBL looks like very strong value. For £90 you get an on-ear model that is built around a pair of 32mm drivers, which feature JBL’s Pure Bass Sound. The enclosures are closed-back and noise leakage is impressively low. Or if you prefer, you can simply connect the JBL up as a wired headphone via the supplied cable with its 3.5mm jack plug. Ditch the wires If you want to go…

PRODUCED FROM TWO inner conductors of tinned oxygen-free copper with a quoted maximum level of 0.001 percent oxygen, each conductor here consists of 19 single strands of wire and is insulated with polyethylene insulation. Two twisted PVC insulators are also included and used as fillers in the construction. The cable is screened by four shields that Viablue calls ‘Quattro Silver’. This is a combination of two silvered spiral shields with separating fleece foil and two ALU-PETP foil shields. The company points out that the shields are positioned in opposite directions to maximise the screening effect. The cables are finished in the company’s Cobra sleeving, which is fitted between two vibration-absorbing clamps, one at each end of the cables. The interconnects are terminated with Viablue T6 RCA connectors, which have bronze…

www.hifichoice.co.uk These pages are a must-read if you’re thinking about buying used kit, or if you have hi-fi you want to sell. It’s free – simply submit your ad with no more than 50 words (we reserve the right to edit it if not), remembering to include your email, phone number and county. Simply email your ad to: letters@hifichoice.co.uk. This service is open to private advertisers only. Just one ad per household and please note that images are for illustration only and do not represent what is for sale. FOR SALE YAMAHA A-S501 amplifier, mint condition, boxed £95: 0114 2378731 (Sheffield). MONITOR AUDIO Gold GX100 speakers in piano black, very good condition, fabulous build quality £500. Meridian 504 FM tuner £250, collection only: 01353 665059 (East Anglia). VINTAGE HI-FI comprising:…

PRICE: £2,995 AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 01323 843474 WEB: SPENDORAUDIO.COM Spendor introduced its new two-way A7 floorstanding loudspeaker at The Bristol Show back in February. It’s described by the British speaker brand as a major revision of the acclaimed A6R, which impressed us when we reviewed it back in HFC 381. The A7 has a slim and contemporary-looking cabinet, available in black ash, dark walnut, natural oak and satin white finishes. The base of the plinth has four machined steel stabiliser inserts, secured directly into the main cabinet structure. Not content to rest on its laurels, Spendor has applied some key elements of the technology and materials developed for its D7 and A6R models to create its new A-Line loudspeakers. The A7 claims a typical in-room response of 32Hz to 25kHz,…

PRICE: £1,395-£3,495 AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 01423 358846 WEB: KARMA-AV.CO.UK Putting in an appearance for the first time at The Bristol Hi-Fi Show back in February, British speaker brand Falcon Acoustics has partnered with UK distributor Karma-AV. The first fruit of this team up is the introduction of the Reference Audio Monitor (RAM) Studio series with three models: Studio 10, 20 and 30. The first and smallest in the range, the Studio 10 (from £1,395), is a two-way ported standmount loudspeaker with a 150mm mid/bass driver and custom 25mm soft dome tweeter. Falcon says it’s designed to deliver a smooth and detailed response, precise imaging and an extended soundstage and is rated at 89dB sensitivity into 8ohm. The next size up the three-strong range is the larger Studio 20 (from £1,995),…

FOLLOW US: @HIFICHOICEMAG THE CHORD COMPANY @CHORDCABLES Each week we will share with you some of our Friday afternoon selections from the Sales Office or Production. Let us know what you are listening to! NAIM AUDIO @NAIMAUDIO Our new flagship network player, the Naim ND 555, is going on tour. We will be hitting selected retailers across the country between now and November. Find out more here: https://www.naimaudio.com/events/nd-555 #NaimGoDeeper #NaimAudio THE AUDIO ROOM @THEAUDIOROOM @linnproducts Akurate DSM Katalyst upgrade, WOW! Simple as that. A huge upgrade for all who own Akurate level – at The Audio Room HARBETH AUDIO LTD @HARBETHHQ We’ve maintained extensive traceability records describing the elements in every speaker that we’ve made since the 1980s. It takes time for sure, but above all it fosters a culture…

Percussive taps to the guitar display plenty of weight and immediacy Prior to the arrival of the ATH-ADX5000 (HFC 435), the W5000 was Audio-Technica’s flagship model, but it now has to content itself with being its premium closed-back design. The enclosures are interesting as each is made from a single carved block of striped ebony, fronted by deep (and user replaceable) leather pads. This means that unlike more affordable members of the same range, noise leakage is fairly low. The drivers are 53mm dynamic units that use a neodymium magnet system specific to the W5000. The magnetic circuit of each includes a section made from permendur – an alloy that is both permeable and resistant to magnetic flux. This is placed in one of Audio-Technica’s DADS (Double Air Damping System)…

Does its best work with high-quality recordings and careful partnering Built at the Tohuku speaker plant in Japan by a select group of audio engineers and craftsmen, every SE-Master1 displays a unique serial number that’s been engraved on it. Otherwise, the design is conventional enough, this being an open-back model employing a pair of 50mm dynamic drivers. The drivers are made from an extremely thin aluminium section, which Pioneer stiffens up by applying an additional thin layer of ceramic and then ribbing the outer edges. The magnet assembly is neodymium for optimal performance and Pioneer claims that the driver has an upper frequency response of 85kHz. The drivers are set well back in a large enclosure so that the rear section is clearly visible against the rear mesh of the…

CW: What were the main goals in re-approaching the original design? LT: The original Hydra is a pretty hard act to follow, but in the last couple of years we felt that there were improvements to be had in terms of image depth and extra ‘air’. Technically, the role of capacitors in the signal path is better understood now and specialised products are available, which are sonically superior to those available 10 years ago. How important is quality control and component matching to the final sonic qualities? Crucial, particularly the output transistors, where poor performance matching can lead to increased distortion. We have a lady (Gail) in production who precision matches thousands of transistors into specific complementary sets for each amp. How do you test and refine amps? You need…

It sometimes appears as though iFi Audio takes a rather scattershot approach to its product portfolio, with its nano and micro ranges offering almost a dozen portable DACs with similar designs and features. Every now and then, though, it comes up with a product that really stands out, such as the entry-level nano iDSD Black Label (HFC 433) that it launched at the end of 2017 for just £199. This year’s offering is the xDSD, which starts a new X-series of DACs, but it’s another impressive product with a £399 price tag that represents a challenge to the market-leading Chord Mojo (HFC 423). The xDSD immediately stands out from other iFi Audio products, with a more streamlined design that is well suited to portable use. The ridged aluminium casing feels…

DP: Why did you create this series? CM: We wanted to redefine what an entry-level loudspeaker could be and attract new people to the Monitor Audio brand. It had to perform better than previous generations, but also be practical in a modern living environment. It’s aimed at a new generation of audiophiles, those customers buying their first system. But it has equal appeal to someone who is just looking to add some speakers to an older system. What distinguishes it from its commercial rivals? Everything from the drive units and crossover to the visual ID is created by our own in-house development team based in the UK. Very few of our rivals can boast this level of team work under one roof. We feel this gives a more rounded product…

By the late seventies the LP12 wasn’t so much a hi-fi component as a cult So happy anniversary then, Linn Sondek LP12. The first decks emerged from the Castlemilk factory some 45 years ago – and made a huge impression on the hi-fi world. We’re now enjoying a renaissance of the vinyl LP format, but the real deal was in the second half of the seventies and the first half of the eighties, when the Sondek reigned supreme. In the UK at least, it was the turntable to beat – offering a great sound at a relatively affordable price, and an excellent upgrade ladder too. In the great scheme of vinyl things, it was still just about reachable for serious audiophiles. Back in 1980, one of the best Japanese direct-drives…

The spontaneity of the double-quick time production makes The Now Now a delight HOT PICK CD Parlophone DAMON ALBARN KNOCKED up the sixth album from his ‘virtual group’ Gorillaz in double-quick time in his West London studio – and the resulting spontaneity makes The Now Now a sheer delight. The smooth soul of Humility features the mellow guitar of George Benson, Snoop Dog raps wickedly on Hollywood and Albarn’s old Blur mucker Graham Coxon drops by to play some guitar on Magic City. But the speed with which the album was made means there are fewer guests than usual, allowing Albarn the auteur free reign to display his dazzling grasp of so many different genres and styles. Idaho is a slice of Syd Barrett/early Floyd psych-weirdness; Fire Flies recalls the sound…

Connie Cargill, co-owner Elite Audio Limited, reveals the music she uses to demo and develop products Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong Cheek To Cheek This classic track combines male and female vocals, is great for all types of gear testing and reminds me of my childhood. Angus & Julia Stone Down The Way The opening sequence of Black Crow has a great snare drum and vocal harmony. A brilliant test track and regular in the demo room. Fink Trouble's What You're In Wheels Turn Beneath My Feet is really well produced and has some real clarity in the high frequencies that will expose any grainy or glassy-sounding kit. Kyung Wha Chung & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre Get the volume wrong and you'll have holes where your speaker drivers…

Tapestry was recorded in three weeks, spent four months at No.1 and six years in the charts On the cover of her touchstone album Tapestry, Carole King sits bare footed on the windowsill of her Laurel Canyon living room, framed by Indian print curtains. Wearing bell-bottom jeans and with her wavy brown curls tumbling casually over her shoulders, she holds a piece of needlework in her hands and her tabby cat Telemachus foregrounds the picture. The image – so natural and yet so artfully stylised – captured the troubadour spirit of the times, while the songs inside provided the soundtrack to the romance and heartache of the baby-boomer generation. Alongside James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James and Joni Mitchell’s Blue, no record better defines the mellow vibe that dominated the charts…

PRICE: £72.50 TELEPHONE: 01563 572666 WEB: atlascables.com REVIEWED: HFC 431 The first interconnects in Atlas’ extensive range to make use of cold-weld crimping technology (using the company’s in-house tooling system), the Element Superior features 100 percent calibrated compression fittings for both the signal and return conductors. The conductors are OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper and are 20 percent larger than the previous Atlas Element interconnects. They are insulated with a stabilised foamed polyethylene dielectric that is designed to improve the bandwidth. The overall diameter of the cable has also been increased with the aim of improving the natural characteristic impedance. The cables are terminated in the company’s low-mass, non-compression, self-cleaning, solder-free Integra RCA plugs. Sound quality Giving these interconnects a work out with Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien, the soundstage is wide and deep.…

PRICE: £635 TELEPHONE: 01536 762211 WEB: divineaudio.co.uk REVIEWED: HFC 435 Better known as an innovator of the RCA phono connector, Keith Louis Eichmann’s cable loom offering aims to maintain a zero voltage low noise/ground state to enhance electron flow in the signal conductor. The materials used are not specified, while the hand-wound conductors are “more conductive than pure copper or pure silver”, the maker claims. KLEI Copper Harmony RCA phono plugs are fitted, but there’s a choice of other terminations. The speaker cable, meanwhile, uses the company’s new architecture – said to be an evolution of Eichmann’s previous Ground Nulling Circuitry, which reduces and controls the effects of the ground on the signal. It also helps to protect from interference and static charges. Sound quality Distinctive sounding from the off, the KLEI’s…

PRICE: £390 TELEPHONE: 01458 251997 WEB: telluriumq.com REVIEWED: HFC 437 Typically reluctant to share any details about the secret materials that it uses in this 1m RCA interconnect, one thing Tellurium Q can reveal to us about the Black Waveform is that it is developed from the previous Waveform range of cables, with improved shielding and what it enigmatically describes as “other interesting developments” designed to aid its digital signal carrying capabilities. It can be supplied with BNC or RCA connectors at either one or both ends. Sound quality We start off by spinning a CD of The Silver Violin performed by Nicola Benedetti. Her breath-taking performance is totally captivating and extremely moving, revealing tremendous levels of excitement as Nicola’s exuberant performance is brilliantly conveyed by the cable. Meanwhile, Charles Avison’s Concerto…

HI-FI HOME THEATRE AUDIO HOME THEATRE VIDEO & DISPLAY IN-CAR MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY The European Imaging and Sound Association is the unique collaboration of 55 member magazines and websites from 25 countries, specialising in all aspects of consumer electronics from mobile devices, home theatre display and audio products, photography, hi-fi and in-car entertainment. Now truly international with members in Australia and the USA, and still growing, the EISA Awards and official logo are your guide to the best in global tech! TESTED BY THE EXPERTS ■ WWW.EISA.EU…

USING A POOR-QUALITY USB cable to connect a computer to a DAC can result in effects that will interfere with the quality of the audio signal that’s transmitted. These unwanted effects manifest themselves as errors in the digital data stream, which the DAC has to correct and can introduce jitter and other issues that can degrade the audio signal. What’s in a name? The Blue USB cable is the baby brother of TQ’s Black USB cable, which employs a special blend of materials for both the conductors and insulators and aims to minimise phase distortion. We reviewed the original back in 2014 (HFC 383), but the construction has been “tweaked” despite the name staying the same. The cable is of the AB configuration, which means it has a red-sheathed, flat…

I'm a member of a lot of audiophile appreciation groups on Facebook and apart from countless photos of Americans proudly smoking cigars in front of their enormous home setups, the other trend that appears on pretty much every thread is comic strips or memes highlighting the plight of the plucky 'hi-fi widow'. You know the sort of thing, you've probably seen it yourself. An image of a husband proudly telling his wife how good his ultra-rare vinyl pressing of a Led Zep album will sound or a nerdy-looking man discussing the intricacies of speaker placement while in both cases the wife looks sadly on wondering where she went wrong with her life that it's come to this… But in these days of equality where it's finally sunk in that, yes,…

By its own admission, AudioQuest is a tweaker – and the latest modifications to its Rocket cable range are on the launch pad. The affordable Rocket 11 (£12.50/m) and 22 (£20/m) speaker cables are suitable for bi-wiring applications, and AudioQuest is confident of the improvement they’ll bring to any home audio setup. Both cables feature what it calls “semi-solid true-concentric conductors” for the first time. Rocket 11 uses Long-Grain Copper (LGC), while the slightly larger conductors in Rocket 22 – which has 20 percent lower impedance than its sibling – uses an effective blend of LGC and Perfect Surface Copper (PSC). Both are directional for optimum performance and available in a choice of black or white sheaths. AUDIOQUEST.COM…

Another headphone first comes from Audiolab – best known for its DACs and amplifiers – which pulls back the curtain on two sets of in-ear designs with the M-EAR 2D (£430) and M-EAR 4D (£700). Both available now, the former is a two-driver design, with one driver handling mid/high frequencies and the other dedicated to bass. The M-EAR 4D is a three-way design sporting four drivers – one for high frequencies, another for midrange and two for bass. Both come with a tangle-resistant detachable 1.45m cable, while an in-line mini-mic is also included for hands-free mobile calls. For a snug fit and decent noise isolation, the M-EARs come with six pairs of ear tips in three different sizes made from memory foam. AUDIOLAB.CO.UK…

SME, now under new ownership, has been working on something very special indeed – its first ‘all-in-one’ turntable package, complete with Nagra-designed phono stage. The Synergy will be unveiled at the Hi-Fi Show Live… In addition to the regular habitué of our sister mag Hi-Fi News, the Hi-Fi Show Live also plays host to brands new to our shores – including the massive, modular pre/power onslaught that is Emotiva with its XPA-DR series platform. Come and hear what all the fuss is about… The design genius of Andrew Jones, has catapulted ELAC’s loudspeakers into A-list stardom. The Adante AF-61 with its coincident driver array and interport-coupled cavity bass begs to be auditioned at the Hi-Fi Show Live The latest addition to Audio Research’s revered Reference range – the REF160M monoblock…

The bass it finds in the recording is deep and has a real snap and vigour to it As one of the most successful new headphone companies (a relative term given its has been building models for almost a decade), Focal has a comprehensive range of models for all needs. The Clear is the latest and sits between the Elear (HFC 416) and the flagship Utopia. Its open-back design is a further development of that used in the Elear, and the hope is that the listener will completely forget they are wearing it. Internally, the Clear uses a pair of 40mm dynamic drivers, which are made from an aluminium/magnesium alloy. These have a patented ‘M Profile’ that is intended to increase the stiffness of the driver, which Focal says maintains…

The combination of speed and low-end extension is beautifully worked First appearing back in 2009, the original HD 800 was at the upper end of Sennheiser’s headphone range, thanks to its £1,000 price tag. It is a mark of how far things have come that the £1,400 HD 800 S isn’t the most expensive in the group, let alone the wider market. The flagship of Sennheiser’s open-back range, it takes the same fundamental design of the original and updates the details. It’s built around a large pair of 56mm dynamic drivers, (the largest in the group) and benefits from the Sound Absorber technology originally developed for the IE800 in-ear that controls resonances to more accurately reproduce high frequencies. This is combined with the shape of the enclosures, which direct frequencies…

HEADPHONE AMP/DAC: Copland DAC 215 £1,995 HFC 418 If you don’t need portability, the Copland is a scintillating performer via all of its outputs and makes very considered use of valves to enhance the sonic performance. STREAMING SERVICE: Tidal £20/m HFC 414 It may be facing tougher competition with the arrival of Qobuz’s Sublime+ hi-res streaming tier, but Tidal’s HiFi lossless service – supported by a growing number of MQA masters – remains the one to beat. PORTABLE HEADPHONE AMP/DAC: Chord Electronics Hugo 2 £1,800 HFC 425 An outstanding headphone amp that also happens to be an incredible DAC and preamp, the Chord is a true multi-role device that excels as a headphone source.…

A clue might be in the name, but to be honest, it isn’t much of a clue. Fyne Audio. Considerable pun potential apart, a manufacturer with a Scottish HQ seems a fair bet – not unlike legendary Scottish loudspeaker maker, Tannoy. More than just a coincidence? Absolutely. The tortuous machinations that accompanied ‘old’ Tannoy’s acquisition by The Music Group are very much related to the genesis of the entirely new speaker brand you see here. So, moving straight to go, target acquired. Fyne Audio isn’t your average start-up. The name might be new, but the ex-Tannoy personnel behind it bring with them a combined 200 years of experience in the hi-fi industry. Safe to say, the old cliché ‘hits the ground running’ has seldom seemed more apt. It’s probably not…

The M0 sounds rich and weighty with plenty of detail provided to vocals Portable audio players have become something of a specialist category since the demise of the iPod, and several manufacturers have become proficient at developing this product niche to great effect. Shanling demonstrated this with the impressive £189 M2s in our hi-res portable player Group Test in HFC 428 by combining useful features with high levels of performance at a very competitive price. With its entry-level M0 design, the company has gone even smaller. The chassis is slightly off square at just 45mm tall by 40mm wide, making it extremely easy to stow about your person. Like the M2s, the M0 is designed to work with your phone rather than doubling up on functionality. It’s fitted with two-way,…

To paraphrase Edwyn Collins on Orange Juice’s 1980 single on ultra-hip indie Postcard, home to “The Sound of Young Scotland’, we’re simply thrilled. Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop, the first major exhibition dedicated to the nation’s music has just opened at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. Running until late November, it’s a fascinating exploration of more than half a century’s worth of sounds, taking visitors on a journey from skiffle in cramped fifties coffee bars – via beat, folk, prog, glam, punk, new wave, new pop, indie, house and beyond – to the global festival stages commanded by the Scottish superstars of the 21st century. Just like the V&A’s marvellous David Bowie Is and Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains before it in London, Rip It Up…

ED SELLEY EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Active in the industry since 1999, Ed’s first record was Boss Drum by The Shamen. He splits his time between reviewing and protecting hi-fi kit from toddler son Will. NEVILLE ROBERTS EXPERTISE: ENGINEER Neville has an eclectic taste for classical baroque and jazz. His wife was forced to marry his transmission line speakers in the eighties and he collects BBC test card music. JASON KENNEDY EXPERTISE: REVIEWER Editor of HFC from 1998 to 2001, Jason’s first turntable was Rega’s Planar 3 and Elvis’ 40 Greatest Hits was his first vinyl, so don’t go stepping on his blue suede shoes. DAVID PRICE EXPERTISE: REVIEWER DP two-finger typed his first hi-fi review 25 years ago. Since then he’s edited Hi-Fi World and HFC. He describes himself as an…

The Last Dinosaur The Nothing 180g vinyl Naim Records THERE’S NOTHING QUITE like the death of a close friend and collaborator to bring you down to earth with a bump that won’t go away. But such life changing events don’t always have the effect you’d expect – in the case of Jamie Cameron it resulted in a seven-year project that has a dreamlike quality with a depth that draws you in. And while The Nothing is hardly a celebration, neither is it awash with misery. What it is a beautiful paean to James MacDonald, a fellow musician with whom he clearly had a strong connection. Cameron is a multi instrumentalist extraordinaire who plays acoustic guitar, bass, piano, xylophone, accordion and drums among other instruments on here, but this is far from…

hdtracks.co.uk has Norah Jones' My Heart Is Full, The Beach Boys With The Philharmonic Orchestra and Duke Ellington's In Coventry, 1966. highresaudio.com debuts Maria Marchant's Bantock Rediscovered, Gianluca Luisi's Bach: French Suites and Huw Wiggin's Reflections, while onkyomusic.com has Lykke Li's So Sad So Sexy, The Flaming Lips' Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Deluxe Edition, pictured) and Kevin Kenner's superb Late Chopin Works.…

1970 WRITER Kings’ solo debut drew on her back catalogue, including versions of Up On The Roof and Goin’ Back, previous hits for The Drifters and Dusty Springfield, delivered in the new acoustic troubadour style. 1971 TAPESTRY The dozen songs were written over a 10-year period – Will You Love Me Tomorrow dated back to 1960 while It’s Too Late and You’ve Got A Friend were new compositions. Yet they hung together perfectly. 1971 MUSIC Once again combining new versions of old hits – several co-written with Toni Stern. If it hadn’t been so overshadowed by Tapestry, Music would surely be regarded as an all-time classic and a career highlight. 1972 RHYMES & REASONS A more arranged and textured set with clavinet, strings and brass, stand-out songs include Been To…

PRICE: £480 TELEPHONE: 01980 625700 WEB: chord.co.uk REVIEWED: HFC 435 Chord’s Shawline cable loom is named to commemorate former associate of the company, David Shaw. The interconnect sports silver-plated copper conductors, encased in an FEP dielectric, with a composite shielding material claimed to work over a wide bandwidth and to reduce mechanical noise. This is all put inside a flexible plastic tube, then a protective outer braid is fitted – the result is a pretty inert mechanical cable. Silver-plated Chord VEE3 RCA phono plugs come as standard, although XLR and DIN terminations are also available. The speaker cable is based on the Chord Rumour – whose 16-gauge silver-plated oxygen-free copper conductors it shares, insulated with PTFE and arranged in a twisted pair configuration. Chord has added a specially chosen PVC internal jacket…

PRICE: £570 TELEPHONE: 01279 501111 WEB: qed.co.uk REVIEWED: HFC 435 As the master of affordable hi-fi, it won’t come as a surprise that this loom is beautifully presented. The conductors are silver-plated, oxygen-free copper, housed in a Teflon dielectric, in an asymmetric twisted pair configuration with a Zn/Mn ferrite jacket – all of which is deep cryogenically treated for superior sound. The speaker cable has nine bunches of 10-gauge silver-plated OFC copper conductors, in a special triple concentric spiral geometry. These are arranged around a central core of polyethylene to reduce inductance by around half, the company claims. Outside diameter is a fairly chunky 16.6mm. Sound quality This cable loom feels like it’s been designed by a focus group because of the way its sound ticks all the boxes. The result is…

PRICE: £495 TELEPHONE: 01582 937465 WEB: truesignalaudiocables.co.uk REVIEWED: HFC 434 Suitably impressed by True Signal Audio Cables’ True Phase Silver interconnect back in HFC 433, this Plus version sees a heavier cable being adopted along with more silver in the stranded conductors, hence the increased price. The raw cable is manufactured across the pond in New York and then assembled at the company’s specialised production facilities in Hertfordshire. Its construction features two silver-plated screens – one of foil and the other a woven silver braid, which it calls a Phase Stable coax. Sound quality Because of its 8mm outer thickness, the True Phase Silver Plus is less flexible than its more affordable sibling and the company recommends that it should be used in setups where there is plenty of connection space at the back…

THERE ARE SOME great modern loudspeakers out there, but not everyone wants to part with their existing ones – some simply want to make them better, squeezing every last ounce of performance from the original design. Given that almost all speakers are built down to a price, it makes a lot of sense to subtly improve them. Russ Andrews makes a range of products for precisely this purpose, and here we look at a selection of four. These have all been incorporated into my rebuild project of a pair of classic late-seventies Wharfedale Teesdale SP2s, but are suitable for practically all conventional box loudspeakers. Russ Andrews is happy to provide invaluable advice on this. Overhaul time The Loudspeaker Acoustic Foam Boards (£3.95 each) offer interior damping very inexpensively. A soft,…

Magical Mystery Tour The companion EP to the TV special finds The Beatles at their furthest out on tracks such as I Am The Walrus and Blue Jay Way. The Trip The Electric Flag, featuring Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles, dish up an acidic blues-soul-pop hybrid with added Moog for this 1967 flick. Monterey Pop Mind-blowing sets from Jefferson Airplane, The Who and Jimi Hendrix are undisputed highlights of the four-CD set of this concert film classic. Revolution In the grooves of this documentary on the sixties San Francisco scene are gems from The Quicksilver Messenger Service and Steve Miller. Yellow Submarine Standout tracks from the animated classic include euphoric acid rocker It’s All Too Much and the trippy It’s Only A Northern Song. 2001: A Space Odyssey György Ligeti’s…