Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £170 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SENNHEISER.COM Sennheiser explains that its new HD 560S headphone is: “tailor-made for listeners who need to understand a tune in all its detail, from the recording studio to the sound file.” Its transducers are specifically tuned for accuracy to off er A/B comparisons of mixes, sources and media formats and the HD 560S features open-back ear-cups angled at the optimal triangular listening position of loudspeakers for a wide, articulate soundstage. Off ering a frequency response of 6Hz–38kHz, the headphone has a quoted 110dB/1V sensitivity and <0.05 percent THD (at 90dB). The HD 560S uses an ultra-light chassis for comfortable long-term listening, the voice coil has been developed to work well regardless of the playback system, while the quoted 120ohm impedance allows it to be used…

PRICE: £500-£3,200 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: DENON.COM IN CELEBRATION OF its 110th anniversary, Denon is launching three new hi-fi products: the PMA-A110 integrated amplifier, the DCD-A110 SACD player and DL-A110 MC phono cartridge. The £3,200 PMA-A110 amp is powered by Denon’s patented 7th generation advanced Ultra High Current topology to deliver 80W (8ohm) of power per channel and claims to be able to secure a frequency response of up to 100kHz during applied use. The PMAA110 utilises a quad digital-to-analogue converter with four Burr-Brown PCM1795 chips operating in a quadruple configuration for optimal high-grade sound. Each channel has two PCM1795 chips working in a differential mode, which the company claims achieves the highest accuracy and best signal-to-noise ratio. The PMA-A110 is also equipped with Ultra AL32 Processing, Denon’s latest analogue waveform…

PRICE: £400-£2,250 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: KEF.COM UK SPECIALIST KEF has unveiled its LS50 Wireless II speaker, which comes with advanced Digital Signal Processing – KEF’s Music Integrity Engine and a claimed 380W of amplification. A new 100W class A/B amplifier powers the tweeter and a 280W Class D amplifier powers the mid/bass driver. The KEF Connect app means that you can tailor the sound to your chosen environment and the left and right speakers are connected wirelessly, with 24-bit/96kHz resolution. Alternatively, users can connect with the supplied interspeaker cable for 24-bit/192kHz resolution. The KEF Connect app allows for streaming of Tidal, Amazon Music, Qobuz, Deezer, internet radio stations and podcasts. And you can stream directly from the native app with Spotify Connect. The LS50 Wireless II also supports streaming music…

PRICE: £7,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BRYSTON.CO.UK PMC DISTRIBUTION UK is introducing the Bryston BR-20 preamplifier/DAC, allowing connection of up to 14 analogue and digital sources combined with built-in hi-res streaming. Named in honour of Bryston president Brian Russell, who passed away in September, the BR-20 is claimed to deliver total harmonic distortion below 0.0006 percent, while the analogue signal path is fully balanced to achieve the lowest possible noise and superior common mode rejection. The BR-20 is compatible with PCM files up to 24-bit/384kHz and up to DSD256 and can decode DSD over HDMI via an optional four-input plug-in HDMI card (£1,200). The optional card also enables connection to SACD players for the purest signal reproduction. Furthermore, users can connect 4K and HDR sources such as Apple TV and Blu-ray…

Generally speaking, the hi-fi industry doesn’t often go in for much in the way of big surprises: most new product announcements are more evolutionary than revolutionary, more often than not early samples are snuck out to selected outlets and–given that there seems to be little awareness of the ability of social media to ensure that even the biggest secrets leak like a sieve – it’s surprisingly rare that something truly comes from out of leftfield when you’re least expecting it. Yet that’s precisely what Rotel managed to do with its Tribute models – tuned versions of its existing CD 11 CD player and A11 amplifier. They certainly weren’t what those of us logging into a Bowers & Wilkins online press conference were anticipating. The meat of the event was the…

WHILE UNDOUBTEDLY TRUE that if neither your amplifier nor turntable has a built-in phono stage, you’ll need to buy one to play records, it won’t (or shouldn’t) be a merely functional purchase. All right, there are some very inexpensive standalone phono stages out there which are just that – simple enablers that exist chiefly to get you going. But you need only set your sights a little higher to enter a highly specialised market sector where the ability to fine-tune and realise the full performance potential of your turntable and cartridge become the raison d’etre of the separate phono stage. Indeed, you could argue – and Tom Evans of MicroGroove+ X mkII fame featured here does with some passion – that a separate phono stage is the most important part…

It seems Musical Fidelity isn’t averse to scoring easy wins when it comes to phono stages. For a start, the MX-Vynl has no fiddly DIP switches. Nailing the correct load setting is instead accomplished via a calibrated rotary control on the front and, usefully, adjustments can be made on the fly. Second, this is the only fully balanced phono preamp in the group, despite having the lowest price. That means balanced XLR connections for both input and output, as well as single-ended RCA sockets. You can hook up two turntables at once if you want. And third, it looks and feels great – half-width like the Rega and Leema, but very nearly half-depth and half-height as well. Its machined casework and crisp-acting controls add to the attractive compact, nuggety, up-market…

om Evans is probably the closest thing Britain has to a phono stage guru. The MicroGroove+ X mkII (one up from the £600 entry-level MicroGroove X mkII D/S) is, in effect, a latter-day Iso, based on the original signal circuit he designed for Michell in August 1989, but with “the latest in IC technology adapted into the circuits”. In fact, all his phono stages, even the £20k MasterGroove mkII, are based on that seminal circuit. In a nutshell, it’s about lowering the noise floor. Seriously lowering it. Evans isn’t alone in believing this is the Holy Grail of phono stage design and like minds place similar faith in the superiority of their approaches. Evans’ principle weapon is distortion cancelling input circuitry incorporating Lithos 7 Class A regulator chips. The MicroGroove+…

It’s become clear over the past few years, that it’s possible to have network-streamed audio in just about any kind of device. From wireless multi-room speakers to inexpensive DIY computers and from high-end players to all-in-one systems, however you want to access music stored in a home library or stream from an online service, it can be done. And it’s not hard to see why: at its very simplest, a manufacturer can buy a complete off-the-shelf streaming solution and simply plug that into anything it chooses to design. From that has sprung one of the great myths of network audio, ranking alongside ‘bits is bits’ and ‘all properly designed amplifiers/DACs/CD players will sound the same’: it suggests that there’s no point in spending more than the absolute minimum on network…

Ruark’s transition from speaker manufacturer to purveyor of sleek all-inones ranks as one of the more surprising, but it has been extremely successful. The R3 is its latest and boasts CD, DAB, FM and a choice of analogue and digital inputs joined by network audio functionality and aptX Bluetooth It supports a comprehensive spread of streaming services and has a decent internet radio installation too. 24-bit/96kHz playback is possible but only via AAC. Other formats are only supported up to 48kHz while AIFF isn’t at all. The control app is stable but devotes a significant amount of space to showing art, compressing the search and browse options into a small area of the screen. The more traditional functions are better, though. The CD mechanism is silent and quick, the radio…

On a rare day out, I recently visited the Museum of London to take in the pleasures of its Dub London: Bassline Of A City exhibition. The first pleasure was simply to set foot again in one of our great cultural spaces for the first time in months. The second was the sight of the hulking stack of battered speaker cabinets that greets us as we enter – a ‘wall of sound’ some 10 feet high and almost as wide. This monstrous installation is the Channel One sound system, which has been pumping out music at the Notting Hill Carnival since 1983. As you gaze up at the stacks, you can almost feel the bass frequencies and imagine it’s a sunny August bank holiday on the streets of West London,…

He seemed like a guy who could have sprung from the head of Zeus in full armour,” Bob Dylan recalled of the moment of epiphany when he first heard the evocative, haunting voice of Robert Johnson. The year was 1961. Dylan was 20 years old and Johnson had died before he was born – the most mysterious and exotic practitioner of the blues that came out of the Mississippi Delta in the early decades of the 20th century and remains part of the DNA of popular culture. Today it seems as if the blues have been around forever, as primal as life itself. Yet in one of the less noted anniversaries of the year, 2020 marks the centenary of the first black blues recording. Released in November 1920, the record…

WITH THE 3.5MM headphone socket on smartphones firmly on the endangered species list, the rise of the wireless earphone has been a swift one. The NuraLoop – the second product to be released by Australian company Nura – uses enclosures linked by an umbilical cable that each contain a single 15mm dynamic driver. Where it takes a distinct swerve into unknown territory is what else is in each enclosure. A pair of microphones are able to measure the response from bouncing sounds at your eardrum and charting what comes back. The NuraLoop then customises its performance in light of the data received. The process is controlled by an app and enables you to hear the uncustomised performance versus the original one. The rest of the NuraLoop’s spec is more conventional,…

PRICE: £200-£700 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB:WHARFEDALE.CO.UK WHARFEDALE HAS LAUNCHED a new Diamond 12 range comprising three standmount loudspeakers, two floorstanding models and a centre cabinet specifically for home cinema configurations. The company explains that since its Diamond 8 Series in 2001, it has constructed its mid/bass cones for every Diamond generation from Kevlar, but it has now developed a new composite called Klarity. Its chief ingredient is polypropylene, a material that’s been used to make speaker cones since the BBC researched its use for this very purpose in the seventies. Polypropylene cones are renowned for their characteristically low distortion and controlled break-up, as well as their resistance to moisture in the air. To make Klarity, Wharfedale has added mica to the formulation. The company claims that this: “increases stiffness compared with…

PRICE: £4,500-£6,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: RENAISSANCEAUDIO.CO.UK VPI INDUSTRIES HAS unveiled two new Prime 21 turntables – the Prime 21 and 21+ – designed with a focus on ease of setup so that they can be removed from their box, calibrated and connected in under 20 minutes. The company says: “No specialist hi-fi assembly skills are required and all set-up tools are supplied. An instructional video is supplied on a USB stick for those owners who would like assistance.” A step up from the outgoing Prime predecessor, the new models boast a redesign of the deck and upgrades to the components. A new aluminium top plate braces the chassis to deaden any unwanted resonance while a high-mass aluminium casework to the motor aims to improve the damping for a steadier performance.…

Denon is also launching its first soundbar with Google Chromecast built in – the £300 DHT-S416 – allowing users to stream hi-res audio over wi-fi from music services including Google Play Music, Youtube Music, Amazon Music HD, Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz and more. Voice control is also possible via a Google Assistant device. The DHT-S416 can additionally be grouped with other Chromecast-enabled speakers to create a wireless multi-room system. At 5.6cm tall, the DHT-S416 is slimline enough to sit comfortably below most TV screens, yet still houses a pair of 32 x 122mm full-range oval drivers and two 25mm tweeters. A separate subwoofer features a 133mm low-frequency driver in a ported enclosure to extend bass to low-end levels, while its wireless connection to the soundbar enables it to be tucked…

PRICE: £9,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BANG-OLUFSEN.COM BANG & OLUFSEN has announced the “rebirth” of one of its most iconic turntables with the launch of its Beogram 4000c Recreated Limited Edition. Originally introduced in the early seventies, the 4000c is the first product to be released from the company’s new initiative: restoring and reimagining classic products. B&O has located 95 units of the original Beogram 4000 series turntable and brought them back to the same facility where they were first created nearly five decades ago. There they have been disassembled, all components cleaned, new parts added where needed, then each Beogram is rebuilt, the aluminium polished and anodised in a champagne tone and surrounded by a new hand-crafted solid-oak frame. Other upgrades include an RIAA phono preamplifier, allowing the turntable to…

At first glance, the Elements Ultra looks promisingly uncomplicated. On the front there’s a toggle for flicking from stereo to mono and a small, blue LED to tell you the power’s on, leaving plenty of space for the Leema logo in the middle. At the other end things are fairly routine, too, with single-ended, gold-plated RCA sockets for input and output, the option of balanced XLR output sockets and an inexplicably weedy grounding post that can barely bite down on a decently sized spade connector. Also neat and out of harm’s way, the MM/MC selector is accessed through a small hole. Don’t be fooled. The underside of the Elements Ultra is likely to strike fear into the heart of anyone with a phobia of super-fiddly DIP switches as a third…

Weighing a hefty 9.5kg, the full-width R35 would be a big boy even if it were an integrated amplifier. As a phono stage in this company, it’s a strapping Swede in the most striking terms possible, especially as supplied in bulk-enhancing black (titanium is the alternative finish). Befitting its size and flagship status, it boasts a generous 29 gain and loading steps across its inputs. Its predecessor, the R32, had just seven impedance settings and three gain. I doubt you’d find a cartridge that would out-fumble the plethora of settings. Also, given so much chassis real estate, it has been easier for Primare to fully isolate the power supply, meaning slightly lower noise and the chance to dial in a little more gain than the smaller R15 phono stage. Once…

THIS HAS BEEN something of an eye-opener. Like many of you, I’d aligned myself with the view that turntable and cartridge were the stars of the show and the phono stage a mere facilitator. Not now. The influence a specialist phono stage can have over vinyl performance is startling. Any one of the six here is capable, with a little experimentation, of making a modest deck/cartridge combo sound fabulous. But there has to be a final countdown. It begins with the Musical Fidelity MX-Vynl. Don’t get the wrong idea. It sounds very good indeed and is a dream to use (no DIP switches). A bit of a bargain, too. Its only misfortune is the cruel light of comparison and, although nearly twice the price, the Elements Ultra clearly has its…

AS AN UPGRADE to the ‘kettle leads’ usually supplied with audio equipment, the Herald Constrictor is TCI’s entry-level mains cable from its Constrictor range. The company has been making reasonably priced audio equipment cables since 1997 and the Herald offers a degree of filtering due to its design, which uses eight cores of PE-insulated, silver-plated, oxygen-free copper conductors to act as a natural filter to eliminate mains interference. The cable is finished in a brown protective PVC outer jacket and terminated with high-quality TCI-engineered UK mains and IEC connectors. Connecting the Herald to the power supply of my valve preamp and phono stage, I spin an LP of Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The drum roll during the opening sequence is noticeably fuller and deeper…

FOUNDER AND CEO of Vertere Acoustics, Touraj Moghaddam, considers that every interconnect degrades the audio signal to a greater or lesser extent. In his view, the best cable is the one that degrades the signal least as it will preserve the dynamics, harmonic structure and detail of the music. The Redline RCA interconnect is double shielded with an outer screen braid and a conductive foil, resulting in a very low noise cable. Each channel utilises seven independent high-purity copper conductors of different thicknesses and plating surrounded by low-dielectric constant FEP insulation. The six (two thin and four thick) signal conductors are silver plated and the thicker dedicated ground conductor is tin plated. The cable connectors are bespoke and all contacts are gold plated with three times the standard plating thickness.…

Recommends ESSENTIAL HI-FI YOU’LL WANT TO OWN 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. Métronome Technologie Le Player 2S PRICE: £5,100 REVIEWED: HFC 449 As good as the sweet treble and rich bass are, what really impresses here is how when fed weaker CDs and impoverished MP3s the delivery remains unflappable and composed as layers of detail are locked into sharp focus. Cambridge Audio AXC35 PRICE: £300 REVIEWED: HFC 454 Something…

PRICE: £1,600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SPENDORAUDIO.COM SPENDOR IS LAUNCHING a new two-way standmount loudspeaker – the Classic ⅘ – which the company claims to be: “the most charming and beautifully balanced-sounding small Spendor Classic ever.” The Classic ⅘’s mid/bass drive unit features a high-linearity, high-excursion, motor-magnet system, 15cm diameter pressure die-cast magnesium alloy chassis, EP77 polymer cone and new surround and suspension materials with thermal and mechanical stability. Key electrical, mechanical and damping parameters have been optimised to suit the sealed enclosure so, whether placed on a stand or open shelf, the Classic ⅘ is claimed to deliver low frequencies: “with fine articulation and a natural sense of depth and musical timing.” A 22mm wide-surround tweeter combines the extended frequency response of a small diaphragm with the low-frequency characteristics of…

PRICE: £40-£27,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: KARMA-AV.CO.UK Karma-AV is introducing German manufacturer inakustik’s cables to the UK. The range includes the Reference Air speaker cables and interconnects, the Excellence digital, XLR and speaker cables, Premium optical and phono leads and a collection of specialised subwoofer umbilicals. The cable specialist says its singular focus is on minimising signal loss by using pure silver (in the flagship Reference Air Series) and the purest OFC for highest conductivity; the application of multi-layer shielding to counteract electromagnetic interference and the adoption of high-quality polyethelene (PE) insulation preventing corrosion and damage while reducing energy storage (capacitance) by a factor of two over PVC. In addition, the design of larger cross-sections reduces conductor resistance across the range and accommodates the brand’s air-helix structure – available on its…

PRICE: £1,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FALCONACOUSTICS.CO.UK FALCON ACOUSTICS HAS released the first of six models in its Complete@Home range of loudspeaker systems for home assembly. The IMF100 is a two-way 1/8th wave transmission line system, featuring matched pairs of 127mm Falcon B110 bextrene bass drivers and 19mm T27 mylar dome tweeter units (as used by the Falcon LS3/5a), precision CNC-engineered B110 retaining rings and precision-matched Falcon crossovers. Featuring full production-grade 12mm and 9mm-graded birch ply cabinets, made in Italy from natural walnut or rosewood veneers with a magnetic attached cloth grille, created in the same factory as the famed Falcon Acoustics BBC LS3/5a, the IMF100 is described as sharing similar voicing to its illustrious predecessor, but with extra bass extension. Measuring 225 x 460 x 275mm (WxHxD) – +12mm for…

PRICE: £650 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: IFI-AUDIO.COM iFi Audio has redesigned its Micro iDSD Black Label to create the Micro iDSD Signature DAC/headphone amplifier. The Signature edition comes equipped with enhanced circuitry and a new 4.4mm Pentaconn headphone output. Housed in the same 177 x 67 x 28mm extruded aluminium enclosure, but sporting a Space Blue finish, the Micro iDSD Signature is a transportable DAC/headphone amplifier that can be moved around without requiring a mains socket. The battery delivers a claimed six to 12 hours of playing time, depending on the type of headphone connected and the performance mode engaged. If the battery runs low while in use, it can be plugged into a power source to charge and play at the same time. Two Burr-Brown DAC chipsets can handle PCM…

PRICE: £4,300-£5,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FINESOUNDS.UK Following the release of its retro-styled MA252 and MA352 integrated amplifiers, New York-based McIntosh has launched two ‘open chassis’ amplifiers, the C8 vacuum tube preamplifier and MC830 solid-state amplifier. With style cues taken from its fifties and sixties aesthetic design heritage, McIntosh’s C8 and MC830 off er turntable connectivity via MM and MC phono inputs, digital readiness for the company’s (optional) multi-input DA2 DAC module, plus a headphone amp. The £4,300 C8 vacuum tube preamplifier is powered by four 12AX7a valves and benefits from balanced and unbalanced inputs, plus moving-coil and magnet phono inputs with adjustable loading. McIntosh’s optional DA2 Digital Audio Module can be installed by its specialist dealers for a supplement, bringing seven digital inputs: two coaxial, two optical, one USB, one…

PHONO STAGE GROUP TEST AS ONE OF the companies participating in this roundup also produces its own range of turntables and cartridges, it’s important that the cartridge that’s selected for testing is from a brand that has no association with any of the participating models. Ortofon’s £250 Quintet entry-level moving-coil, fitted as standard to our turntable of choice, Pro-Ject’s The Classic EVO, (HFC 462) gives us the desired level playing field. The Pro-Ject sits on a BASE 430 vibration control platform, itself placed on top of an Atacama equipment rack. It is partnered with a Hegel H120 integrated amplifier (HFC 460) and a pair of Amphion Argon 3LS floorstanders (HFC 460). Nordost’s QBase distribution block with QKore grounding system allows for the bulk of the test phono stages to be…

hough the Black Cube SE II’s separate power supply is bigger and heavier than the unit itself, as a package this is still a relatively bijou combo with a modest footprint that’s easy to accommodate. Indeed, because of the small form factor, Lehmann Audio recommends the SE II’s audio section can be placed next to the turntable, minimising loss due to cable length. But size is no guide to sophistication and, although the Black Cube in its various forms has been around for a few years now, it packs a lot into its diminutive form, including the option to accommodate custom-specified resistors for ultra-fine system matching, which Lehmann Audio will supply at no extra cost. Out of the box, however, the nine DIP switches per channel on the unit’s belly…

What’s the difference between the Aria MK2 and the MK3? Well, you’re looking at it. On the inside, nothing. On the outside, what Rega calls its “latest half-width, custom-designed case to give the Aria a fresh new look”. Very smart it is, too, in a Planar 10 turntable PSU-matching kind of way. Not that the inside was in any need of updating – according to Rega – its celebrated expertise in phono stage engineering should be enough to send a shiver of trepidation down the spines of the opposition. As with the others here, this is an all-analogue MM/MC affair, eschewing the modernity of something like Chord Electronics Huei for old-school mechanical load switching. Configured via six DIP switches on the back, the choice of impedance loading runs from 70…

Since it started in 2009, Tellurium Q has always been reluctant to share any information about the materials used in its products. The company has, nevertheless, built up a reputation for producing high-quality cables that sound excellent. The company focuses on tackling phase distortion in cables, which it says smears audio frequencies. In order to address this, it employs special blends of materials for the conductors and insulators of its cables and connectors. It also uses multiple stranded conductors of slightly differing compositions and various dielectric materials and geometries. There are three families of Tellurium Q cables – Blue, Black and Silver – offering increased performance as you progress across them. The company believes that if it brings something to market, it is an enhancement on the previous model and…

In these days of networked this and smart that, wireless something and Class D something else, Longdog Audio’s P6100M monoblock power amplifiers feel gloriously old fashioned. They make a sort of negative style statement that only a certain type of hardcore (or purist, as I’d prefer to call them) audiophile would consider. Count me in, because I’m the sort of person who gets more excited about 100W RMS per side of MOSFET power for £3,500, than I do about any number of smart devices sporting fancy digital signal processing. This, it must be said, is not wholly out of character for Nick Gorham of Longdog Audio. Nick’s no fan of fancy marketing and his products are unashamedly utilitarian in appearance, but – if my experience of his PSUs is typical…

As the rather disparate combination of both dating websites and recruitment agencies never tires of reminding us, first impressions really count. It is highly likely that a few of you have looked at the pictures that accompany this piece and seen that, in a move that feels as retro as it being powered by steam, this system plays compact discs. With this in mind, me going on to add that this trio is both clever and exceptionally flexible might seem a little odd. I am saying that, though, because it is true… The Pulse IV and Stream IV from Leema Acoustics ostensibly look like one of the most traditional pairings that you can imagine. At the most basic level, this is an amplifier and CD player, but one of Leema’s…

I’ve always been keen to explore the technology used to make high-quality audio recordings and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a number of sessions with audiophile record label Chasing The Dragon. Some of these have been held at recording studios, where everything pertaining to the recording – from the acoustic environment through to the recording systems and microphone mixing – can easily be controlled. However, recording at remote locations poses its own challenges. Many venues in London are well known for having a slight background rumble of traffic, which can be heard in recordings made there. The legendary recordings of Vivaldi Opus 3 and 4 played by The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at Saint John’s, Smith Square London, between 1972 and 1974 exhibit audible…

ALBUM OF THE MONTH Bruce Springsteen Letter To You CD Columbia THE BOSS HAS made a habit of nailing the zeitgeist at critical moments in recent history. His 2002 album The Rising was a cogent message of resilience in response to 9/11. Five years later, Magic was another state-of-the-union address that confronted the disillusionment of the Bush years and the Iraq war, while 2012’s Wrecking Ball was a potent, angry response to the financial crash and corporate greed. However, his last album – 2019’s Western Stars – took a detour. Unlike almost anything else in his canon, its orchestral pop was elegant enough, yet seemed indulgent rather than essential. As Springsteen turned 70, you wondered if he would ever make the kind of finger-on-the-pulse, universal statement that had characterised his career…

THORENS TD 1601 TURNTABLE One of the oldest and most revered names in vinyl’s history has created a deck that mixes modern materials with classic design cues. HFC gives it a spin… ALSO: REVIEWS Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary speakers, Sonos Five soundbar, QED XT5 power cable, Sennheiser HD 560S headphone and a six-way Group Test of smart wireless loudspeakers. FEATURES Music Legends, Music Reviews, Audiophile News, our comprehensive Buyer’s Guide and sharp-as-nails Opinions section and all your hi-fi questions answered by our experts JANUARY ISSUE ON SALE 3 DECEMBER…