Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £3,000-£3,300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MARANTZ.CO.UK MARANTZ HAS UNVEILED its new PM-12 Special Edition integrated amplifier and SA-12 Special Edition SACD player. Building on the original SA-12 and PM-12, solely created for the Japanese market, it says the £3,300 PM-12 SE squeezes the ultimate audio performance from the core PM-12 concept using a fully discrete two-stage design with separate power supplies for the pre and power amp sections. The circuitry is claimed to offer the cleanest signal path to the amplifiers, which deliver 100W per channel into 8ohm loads or 200W into 4. Highquality nickel-plated copper input terminals and high-purity copper speaker connections are also used to ensure signal purity is maintained. Boasting a completely analogue design, the PM-12 SE draws on the PM-10 and PM-KI Ruby amplifiers that have…

PRICE: £350-£3,300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: REL.NET REL has introduced two new subs: the Carbon Special, a new limited availability front-firing active woofer with down-firing passive radiator, and the Tzero MKIII, closed-box with down-firing driver. Featuring the company’s thirdgeneration carbon fibre 305mm driver with a new CSP passive driver that delivers 50 percent longer stroke, the Carbon Special has highly polished metal and carbon fibre touches. Where previous special editions from REL have used existing cabinets, drivers and filters, the Carbon Special has new elements and employs REL’s NextGen 5 1,000W amplifier, features a customdesigned CS PerfectFilter and comes in a gloss piano black finish. Price: £3,300. The Tzero MKIII includes the full REL connectivity suite along with an all-new aluminium cone and 100W Class D amplification. The smallest model in…

PRICE: £170 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SENNHEISER.COM SENNHEISER HAS UNVEILED its new CX 400BT True Wireless earbuds with customisable controls and a seven-hour battery life that can be extended to up to 20 hours using the supplied charging case. With the same 7mm dynamic drivers featured in the Momentum True Wireless 2 earphones that were introduced earlier this year, the CX 400BT boasts a Smart Control app so it’s possible to tailor the sound using the built-in equaliser. Meanwhile, supported codecs include SBC, AAC and aptX for both iOS and Android mobile devices. The earbuds feature ambient noise reduction microphones for making phone calls, while wireless compatibility comes in the shape of Bluetooth 5.1. Fashioned in black or white, the CX 400BT comes with a choice of four sizes of buds.…

PRICE: £280 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: HARMANKARDON.COM Scandinavian company Harman Kardon has added to its Citation series with the introduction of the new Citation 200, a smart speaker that’s been designed for portability and immersive sound both inside and outside the home. Streaming music in HD quality using wi-fi or Bluetooth, the Citation 200 boasts a 25mm tweeter, 127mm midrange driver and two passive radiators. Fully charged, it provides a claimed eight hours of continuous playback and recharges via a USB type C port. Featuring a premium blended wool fabric finish produced by Kvadrat with a special coating for easy cleaning, the Citation 200 is also IPX4 splashproof and runs on AirPlay and Chromecast built-in for easy access to more than 300 music streaming services. Finishes come in Winter Gray and…

WHEN BRITAIN’S A&R Cambridge (Arcam) launched the world’s first standalone digital-to-analogue converter, the Delta Black Box, back in 1988, it was seen as something of a curiosity. Fast forward 32 years and, boy, how things have changed. Modern digital systems have become DAC-centric, the more sophisticated toting preamp functionality and on-board network streaming, cutting down the component count the Black Box was accused of compounding. More than that, and rather like competing brands of up-market wristwatch, the pedigree of a system’s outboard DAC has come to be regarded as a measure of performance and prestige. And given the opposing versions of technology poured into them by the likes of the UK’s Chord Electronics and America’s PS Audio, it isn’t hard to understand a degree of tribalism when it comes to…

DETAILS PRODUCT Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 ORIGIN UK TYPE DSD-capable DAC/preamplifier/headphone amplifier WEIGHT 2.5kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 235 x 52 x 238mm FEATURES Supports sample rates up to: 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512 Digital inputs: 2x coaxial (BNC); 2x optical; 1x USB Analogue outputs: balanced XLR; single-ended RCA; 2x 6.35mm and 1x 3.5mm headphone DISTRIBUTOR Chord Electronics Ltd. TELEPHONE 01622 721444 WEBSITE chordelectronics.co.uk Even in the spirit of stoking up some tension, it would be unwise of me to suggest that the Hugo TT2 DAC/headphone amp – minus Chord’s partnering performance-enhancing, million-tap M-Scaler – is in any way deprived of tools to put the frighteners on the rest of the DACs in this group. When it comes to its standard upscaling and processing power, this is a Bugatti Chiron in a field of Golf GTIs.…

DETAILS PRODUCT T+A DAC 8 DSD ORIGIN Germany TYPE DAC/preamplifier WEIGHT 4kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 270 x 95 x 270mm FEATURES Supports sample rates up to: 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD512 Digital inputs: 4x coaxial; 1x optical; 1x USB; AES/EBU; BNC Analogue outputs: single-ended RCA; balanced XLR Roon compatible DISTRIBUTOR The Audio Business Ltd. TELEPHONE 01249 704669 WEBSITE ta-hifi.de/en n contrast to the buttonless fascia of the full-width PS Audio DAC, the much narrower and lighter T+A DAC 8 DSD has a busy-looking 11 plastic tabs arranged under a small, monochromatic display. Then again, touchscreens aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and this German DAC can be excused for wearing news of its very complete feature set up front. Most of them have doubled-up functions. The DAC’s eight inputs are handled by the first group of four.…

Did you see those strange photos of Sam Fender’s recent gig at Gosforth Park in Newcastle? It was billed as the UK’s first socially distanced outdoor concert since lockdown and, although it’s great that live music is starting to return in any form, the setup looked most peculiar. Not only were there just 2,500 in a space that would usually hold 40,000, but fans were segregated into 500 individual mini pens, each holding a maximum of five people in a Covid-secure bubble and sited two metres apart. More such events are now planned, but the problem is that running concerts at a fraction of audience capacity is not economically viable. Van Morrison, who is playing his own series of socially distanced, money-losing gigs around Britain to get his band “up…

Nubya Garcia Source CD Columbia THIS TIME LAST year I wrote a column about the dramatic rebirth of British jazz around a group of progressive artists in their twenties and early thirties from diverse backgrounds who have developed their own dynamic alternative scene. This new jazz scene operates on a democratic, open-door principle that says: “If you can blow, come and join us.” I wrote, and proceeded to drop a few names – Moses Boyd, Shabaka Hutchings, Joe Armon-Jones, Zara McFarlane, Sons Of Kemet and Ezra Collective among them. The piece also quoted the exciting tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia. “I’m paying homage to modal jazz, which I love, but there’s loads of other influences in there, too,” she told HFC. Now comes her debut solo album and she wasn’t kidding for…

NOW THAT AKG is owned by Samsung, it’s not that surprising to see its headphones primarily designed for use with its Galaxy smartphones. But despite the “designed for Samsung” headline, the Y400 is a fairly conventional Bluetooth on-ear that also supports Apple’s favoured AAC codec, as well as Samsung’s own UHQ. Available in a variety of colours, the Y400 is sturdily built, with an adjustable metal headband and compact on-ear design that houses 36mm drivers with 20Hz-20kHz frequency response. It weighs just 170g and the padded earpieces fold inwards when not in use. AKG also includes a carrying pouch, USB charging cable and 2.5mm-to-3.5mm cable for wired listening. Though the Y400 doesn’t come with noise cancellation, it does provide two additional listening modes that are normally associated with the technology.…

DETAILS PRICE £25 TELEPHONE 01539 797300 WEBSITE russandrews.com WHAT IS THERE in a fuse to make it worthy of consideration as an upgrade for an audio system? Its primary function is to be the weak link in the power supply that breaks the circuit in the event of a fault. The problem is that in order to function, it has to be in series with the circuit while not adversely affecting the quality of the power supply. The journey that the electricity takes from the electrical outlet through to the hi-fi power supply, which converts the AC mains into DC, is littered with impediments such as noise that is picked up and generated by the cables and fuses or created by poor contacts between plugs, sockets and fuse holders. The…

PRICE: £35-£400 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: UK.JBL.COM JBL IS LAUNCHING a slew of new products including two new wireless earbuds – the Live Free NC+ and Reflect Mini TWS – two new mobile speaker systems – the JBL PartyBox On-The-Go and PartyBox 310 – and three new portable speakers – the Xtreme 3, Go 3 and Clip 4. Beginning with the buds, the Live Free NC+ and Reflect Mini TWS both feature active noise cancelling and JBL’s Smart Ambient technology, designed to keep the listener aware of their surroundings when out and about. They also introduce the company’s new Dual Connect + Sync technology, which pairs with your device when the case is opened, each earbud connecting, “immediately and independently, allowing you to take calls with either side and assign unique…

PRICE: £150 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: IFI-AUDIO.COM Adding to its Zen Series – the Zen Blue (HFC 460) and Zen DAC – iFi introduces the Zen Can headphone amplifier. All-analogue, it connects to any audio source with an analogue output – such as the headphone output from a DAP, laptop, tablet, smartphone or the RCA outputs from a CD player or phono stage. It can then be paired with the Zen Blue to add Bluetooth connection or combined with the Zen DAC to upgrade its headphone amplifier stage. As well as offering headphone amplification, it can double up as a preamp to feed a power amp and speakers or a pair of active speakers. Headphone outputs include a 6.35mm jack for cans with a standard single-ended connector plus a 4.4 Pentaconn…

PRICE: £150-£200 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: QED.CO.UK QED HAS ANNOUNCED the introduction of its XT5 power cable, the first of a new generation of audiophile mains leads made to complement its range of speaker cables and audio interconnects. The XT5 features a specially adapted version of X-Tube Technology similar to that used in QED’s speaker cables, but specifically tuned to be appropriate for this new application. The company claims the braided individual cores in the live and neutral conductors are made small enough that they are not affected by the eddy currents from adjacent cores, which helps contribute to the proximity effect. Because they are effectively isolated from one another, the twist rate of the strands means no two conductors are next to each other in the parallel configuration for more…

PRICE: £150 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: IFI-AUDIO.COM iFi Audio is promising high-end performance at an entry-level price with the latest addition to its Zen Series of desktop-sized devices, the Zen Phono. Following the iPhono3 Black Label, (HFC 467), the Zen Phono is the fourth in the series, the first sub-£200 phono stage iFi has made. Its circuitry is of balanced, symmetrical dual-mono design – a topology usually reserved for high-end products. iFi says the design has the ability to reduce noise and crosstalk, increasing sonic clarity. The Zen Phono also incorporates a custom OV Series op-amp – the OVA2637 – and a power supply with an oscillation frequency of 1.2MHz, which is 20,000 times that of mains electricity. In the circuit, a filtering capacitor with a 10uF rating is equivalent to…

DETAILS PRODUCT Hegel H95 ORIGIN Norway TYPE Network-attached integrated amplifier WEIGHT 11kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 430 x 100 x 350mm FEATURES Quoted power output: 2x 60W (8ohm) Digital inputs: 1x coaxial (RCA); 3x optical; 1x USB-B; Ethernet port Analogue inputs: 2x stereo RCAs 6.35mm headphone output DISTRIBUTOR Hegel Music Systems AS TELEPHONE 07917 685759 WEBSITE hegel.com Before we get started, let’s lay a commonly held misnomer to rest. Norwegian maverick manufacturer Hegel is named not after the German philosopher who along with Kant shaped Western philosophy as we know it today, but instead a metal band that company founder Bent Holter played in during the nineties. At the time Holter was a student at the Technical University in Trondheim working on a thesis to solve the issue of distortion. Eschewing traditional schematics, he developed a…

DETAILS PRODUCT Auralic Vega G1 ORIGIN USA/China TYPE DSD-capable streaming DAC/preamplifier/headphone amp WEIGHT 7kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 340 x 80 x 320mm FEATURES Supports sample rates up to: 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD512 Digital inputs: 1x coaxial; 1x optical; 1x USB; AES/EBU Roon compatible DISTRIBUTOR Auralic Europe TELEPHONE 075901 06105 WEBSITE auralic.com Some products inspire confidence the moment you liberate them from their packaging. Some ignite a frisson of excitement. The Auralic Vega G1 does both. The crisp-contoured, cold-to-touch solidity of the matt-black aluminium casework, the hefty weight-for-size ratio, the inscrutable simplicity of its single control and display screen fascia all ramp-up the sense of anticipation. In these respects, it shares much with Auralic’s considerably pricier Vega G2 streamer DAC, including the company’s so-called Tesla platform which allows it to connect to uPnP/DLNA local network media…

DETAILS PRODUCT Hegel HD30 ORIGIN Norway TYPE DSD-capable streaming DAC/preamplifier WEIGHT 6.5kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 430 x 100 x 310mm FEATURES Supports sample rates up to: 32-bit/192kHz PCM and DSD128 Digital inputs: 1x coaxial; 3x optical; 1x USB; AES/EBU; BNC Analogue outputs: single-ended RCA; balanced XLR DISTRIBUTOR Hegel Music Systems TELEPHONE 07917 685759 WEBSITE hegel.com When designing a digital-toanalogue converter of world class,” explains Hegel in the blurb for its HD30 streaming DAC, “you are essentially making a masterpiece… you must question if you can make it better than the best.” Well, no time like the present to put that theory to the test. If it’s a tools and talent thing, the runes are looking pretty positive given the Norwegian brand’s enviable track record for getting stuff right. It’s a densely featured beast with…

DETAILS PRODUCT Marantz SACD 30n ORIGIN Japan TYPE SACD/network player/DAC WEIGHT 13.5kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 443 x 130 x 424mm FEATURES File formats up to: 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 Inputs: USB-B; 2x optical; 1x coaxial Networking: wi-fi; Ethernet; Bluetooth; AirPlay2; Heos DISTRIBUTOR Sound United TELEPHONE 0208 1034770 WEBSITE marantz.com PRODUCT Marantz Model 30 ORIGIN Japan TYPE Integrated amplifier WEIGHT 14.8kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 443 x 130 x 431mm FEATURES File formats up to: 32-bit/384kHz and DSD128 Quoted power output: 2x 100W (8ohm) Inputs: 5 stereo RCAs; power amp direct; MM/MC phono stage Outputs: headphone; line out; pre-out DISTRIBUTOR Sound United TELEPHONE 0208 1034770 WEBSITE marantz.com What we have here is no less than a reinvention. The Marantz 30 Series is new, from the looks to the tag-line on the products. No, the famous Marantz: “Because music matters” line hasn’t been…

DETAILS PRODUCT Harman Kardon Citation MultiBeam 700 ORIGIN US/China TYPE Soundbar WEIGHT 3.7kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 790 x 65 x 130mm FEATURES 2x 25mm tweeters; 5x 50mm bass drivers; Connectivity: 1x optical in; 1x 3.5mm Aux input; 1x HDMI (ARC) out; Bluetooth; Google Chromecast; Apple AirPlay 2 DISTRIBUTOR Harmon Kardon TELEPHONE 0161 2223325 WEBSITE harmankardon.co.uk Harman’s Citation range primarily focuses on stylishly designed speakers with multi-room features for listening all around the home. However, it has a number of soundbars and the Citation MultiBeam 700 is the baby of the range, with a compact design that is about half the size and price of its big brother, the imposing 13-channel Enchant 1300. It’s attractively designed, available in either black or grey and finished off with a smart Kvadrat woollen cover claimed to be…

Considering our government appears to be running the country on a series of random handbrake turns, it really came as no surprise when the BBC followed suit and pulled an abrupt about-face in the Proms debacle. The issue, should it have escaped your notice, was that a large number of sentient beings found the notion of singing Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory an affront to human dignity and called for the offending ancient anthems to be dropped from the ceremony. Lest we forget, Rule Britannia – based on a poem by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740 – claims “Britons never will be slaves” which, considering its emphasis on the might of the British Empire in the days of colonialism and slavery,…

On 8 December, 1980 at around 10.50pm, John Lennon and Yoko Ono arrived back at their home in New York’s Dakota building from a recording session at the Record Plant. As they walked through the archway of the building a demented fan named Mark David Chapman – who earlier in the day had asked Lennon to autograph his copy of the Double Fantasy album – stepped from the shadows and shot him four times in the back from close range. Lennon was rushed to the Roosevelt Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Had he lived he would have turned 80 on 9 October this year and as we prepare to mark the 40th anniversary of his premature death, it’s indicative of his enduring influence that Lennon has become a…

DETAILS PRICE £230 TELEPHONE 03301 222500 WEBSITE isoacoustics.com DEDICATED ISOLATION FURNITURE has been a growth category in recent years. As the number of high-quality all-in-ones has increased, the need to invest in a complete equipment rack has reduced, with a platform placed on a piece of furniture being all many people need. They can also be used to provide a degree of additional isolation for a turntable; a device that always benefits from as much sequestration of the playing surface as you can provide. IsoAcoustics has an extensive range of isolation products and the ZaZen range is it most affordable platform yet. There are two, almost visually identical, versions available. The ZaZen I is designed for devices weighing up to 11.3kg while the slightly thicker ZaZen II seen here is…

PRICE: £190-£600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MISSION.CO.UK THE ORIGINAL LX speaker range was launched in 2016 and now comes in a new, improved version – the LX MkII Series. The fresh lineup utilises design elements evolved from the company’s upmarket QX Series to build on the already successful formula of the first-generation LX series. The LX range consisted of six models – two standmounts, three floorstanders and a centre for home cinema systems. The LX MkII range comprises nine. There is an additional standmount, a choice of two centres and a dedicated surround. For the LX MkII Series, Mission has designed a tweeter with a neodymium magnet, selected for maximum magnetic force in a small space, and a 25mm microfibre dome. It also features a new version of the company’s DiaDrive…

DESKTOP DAC GROUP TEST THE PROCESS OF reliably auditioning six USB-equipped digital-to-analogue converters isn’t quite as straightforward as it is when carrying out a single standalone review. Each DAC is tried with two source components – an (Ethernet-connected) Hewlett Packard Pavilion PC laptop via its USB output and an Audiolab 6000 CDT CD transport (HFC 447) via its coaxial output with Nordost Blue Heaven, Red Dawn and Heimdall 2 cabling used throughout. Fully warmed up and run-in, all models have reasonable use before any serious listening begins, and are all kept powered up throughout the comparative listening test process. The converters are then, one by one, connected to Hegel H120 integrated amp (HFC 460). The Hegel offers a clear numerical display along with the ability to individually level trim inputs…

DETAILS PRODUCT Bel Canto DAC 2.7 ORIGIN USA TYPE DAC/preamplifier WEIGHT 6.5kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 216 x 88 x 318mm FEATURES Supports sample rates up to: 24-bit/192kHz PCM Digital inputs: 2x coaxial; 1x optical; 2x singleended RCA; 1x USB; AES/EBU; Analogue outputs: single-ended RCA; balanced XLR DISTRIBUTOR Padood TELEPHONE 01223 653199 WEBSITE belcantodesign.com Minneapolis-based Bel Canto makes no bones about the components it believes constitute a great-sounding DAC: low and ultra-low noise master clocks, advanced asynchronous interfaces and dual-mode, low-noise high-efficiency power supplies. It lumps these assets under its ‘HDR Core technology’ heading, which it claims has taken 20 years of evolution to reach its current state of play. The DAC 2.7 (pure breed, no internal streaming) has an attractive shoebox form factor with a large display taking up most of the fascia,…

DETAILS PRODUCT PS Audio DirectStream ORIGIN USA TYPE DSD-core streaming DAC/preamplifier WEIGHT 10kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 430 x 100 x 360mm FEATURES Supports sample rates up to: 24-bit/352.8kHz PCM and DSD128 Digital inputs: 1x coaxial; 1x optical; 2x I2S (HDMI); XLR balanced; 1x USB; Network Bridge slot Analogue outputs: single-ended RCA; balanced XLR DISTRIBUTOR Signature Audio Systems TELEPHONE 07738 007776 WEBSITE psaudio.com There are some of digital audio’s big beasts in this Group Test, but perhaps the only one big and ugly enough to return an intimidating snarl to the Chord Hugo TT2 is this: PS Audio’s Direct Stream DAC. The company refers to it as a DSD DAC not for its ability to play DSD files, but because whatever you put into it – PCM or DSD – comes out as a pure DSD…

DETAILS PRODUCT Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO ORIGIN Austria/Czech Republic TYPE Unsuspended, belt-drive turntable WEIGHT 5.6kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 415 x 118 x 320mm FEATURES 33/45/78rpm 8.6in Carbon tonearm Ortofon 2M Red cartridge DISTRIBUTOR Henley Audio Ltd. TELEPHONE 01235 511166 WEBSITE project-audio.com Over the course of its more than 20 years of existence, the Pro-Ject Debut has transformed from plucky upstart into a complete range of turntables that no longer represent the most affordable members of the Pro-Ject range, but are instead affordable all-rounders that balance simplicity and ease of use with the scope for a bit of upgrade ‘stretch’ as and when you fancy it. The Debut Carbon EVO is the latest addition to the family to go on sale and, as the name suggests, improves upon the specification of the earlier Debut Carbon…

On the ‘almost but not quite English’ language of marketing, ‘brand identity’ is a very good thing. The idea that products you produce can be instantly recognised as one of your own is a desirable way of standing out. The hi-fi industry, consciously or otherwise, is rather good at this with many companies building product that is recognisable on sight as the work of one specific manufacturer. What happens, though, when your brand identity is ideal for a certain type of product, but you need to apply it to something outside that window? JBL has had to grapple with that particular question. It has a fine reputation for a particular breed of speaker that is generally on the hefty side. Its larger models are held in considerable reverence in many…

UK government guidance states that from 11 July live music concerts were permitted to take place outdoors with a socially distanced audience present. But what is the future for indoor concerts and how can a symphony orchestra perform and still adhere to any guidelines? According to the Musical Director of the Texas-based San Antonio Symphony, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, testing, Plexiglass shields for wind players and masks are the way forward. Lang-Lessing acknowledges that it’s not always possible to distance musicians two metres apart. In an orchestra pit there is simply not enough space. For a symphony orchestra, it would be possible to space the players further apart, but once they leave the stage and interface with each other, distancing is more difficult to manage. If, however, all the musicians are tested…

A couple of months back I was browsing the alphabetised used vinyl indie section at Just Dropped In when I noticed the prices took quite a hike when I came across anything by Yo La Tengo. Why, I wondered, should this be? Only one way to solve the mystery. I asked Alun Roberts, the owner. “Ah,” he replied happily. “That’s because I don’t really want to sell them!” A man after my own heart. Fan first, everything else comes after. Just Dropped In is a nice and airy one-manowned and mostly solo-run independent record store located in FarGo Village, Coventry’s very own mini Camden Market. There’s a cool bookstore here, some vintage clothing outlets, antique sellers, coffee shops and cafes, all gathered around an indoor market space that, when the…

SPORTING A SMART, translucent white outer covering, the ClearwayX speaker cable has 14 AWG multistranded, oxygen-free copper conductors. These are insulated with a new XLPE dielectric. The conductors are arranged in a twisted pair configuration inside a soft PVC internal jacket designed to minimise microphony effects or mechanicalinduced noise. This also serves to space the twin contra-wound foil shields away from the conductors. The shields protect the signal from external electrical interference. After connecting the ClearwayX between my transmission line speakers and valve monoblocks, I start off listening with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 in B flat major by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rudolf Kempe. The slow and tense opening is moving and very open. The instrument image placement is accurate and the soundstage is both wide and deep.…

CD PLAYERS Audiolab 6000CDT PRICE: £380 REVIEWED: HFC 447 The 6000CDT is exceptional at revealing what’s on your discs to deliver a great big soundstage with plenty of detail inside. It can dig down deep into the mix to eke out the different musical strands while dynamically and rhythmically it’s hard to beat at the price. In short, it’s a super, highly affordable audiophile CD transport. Cambridge Audio AXC35 PRICE: £300 REVIEWED: HFC 454 Something of a budget marvel, you’ll have to work extra hard to get the AXC35 to put a foot wrong. Bass is firm, detailed and blessed with excellent timing; the tonal palette is pleasingly broad and clean; and though the soundstage doesn’t extend much beyond the speakers, there’s great depth perspective. Exposure XM CD PRICE: £1,200 REVIEWED: HFC 455 A highly likeable…