Innholdsfortegnelse for Yearbook 2021 i Hi-Fi Choice

Designed by Paul Klipsch for his friend Winthrop Rockefeller, to be used as a public address speaker for his Arkansas gubernatorial campaign, the original the Klipsch La Scala made its debut back in 1963. Yet it soon became an official Klipsch product, selling as an ‘auditorium speaker’. The La Scala AL5 is the latest and greatest incarnation of this. It visually dominates even a medium-sized listening room, so you have to be a fan of its functional retro looks to live with it on a daily basis. It comes with a choice of natural cherry, satin black ash or American walnut book-matched wood veneers, all hand finished in Klipsch’s factory from veneered birch plywood and MDF, with 25mm-thick walls. The upper section comes with a magnetically affixed grille, which tones…

As a classic two-way design, the SCM19 is something of a rarity in the standmount sector as it boasts a closed box or infinite baffle type box. This means the cabinet has no bass port, which generally comes at the expense of both sensitivity and bass extension. Yet fans of this design argue that it confers some domain benefits, most notable of which is tighter and tauter lower frequencies. Bass is seriously impressive, not due to its quantity, but its overall quality ATC is famous for making its own drive units, and in the case of the SC19, has opted for its 25mm SH25-76 tweeter, which is a tough soft dome design with a dual suspension system to suppress resonance. A powerful neodymium magnet is specified, and there’s a 5.5mm…

Part of Klipsch’s Heritage Wireless series, The Fives sets out to give a tiny taste of what it’s like to own a grown-up Klipsch without having to drop £12,000 on the La Scala AL5. Whether you’re an old-school wired-for-sound audiophile touting a 3.5mm-to-RCA phono lead, a smartphone-wielding Bluetooth dude, or a digital fanatic with a Toslink cable, you can make music play through this speaker. Plus The Fives connects to your TV via HDMI-ARC (Audio Return Channel), so you can switch between the audio sources hooked up to your screen (like games consoles, etc.) – in effect making it a superior soundbar. There’s even an RCA line input with a switchable moving-magnet phono stage. Oh, and don’t forget the USB input, letting you play music from a computer at up…

Where most loudspeakers show off traditional cones employing a central phase plug, the Persona B instead covers both drivers with a Perforated Phase Aligning (PPA) lens, featuring precisely defined holes to allow more sound to propagate from the edge of the drivers and to increase treble dispersion for a wider sweet spot. The unique drivers include a 25mm tweeter and 178mm mid/bass both crafted from 99 percent pure beryllium foil. This rare metallic element is considered significantly lighter and stiffer than all other driver materials with extraordinary self-damping qualities. Furthermore, the Persona B uses voice coil designs said to increase linearity and improve clarity and control across the entire frequency range. Our review pair has a metallic silver finish, but is also available in metallic blue or high gloss white…

A development of the Concept that forms the entry point of Clearaudio’s range, the Concept Active has electronic speed control – including 78rpm – and comes supplied with either a Concept MM or MC cartridge depending on your preference. Priced from £2,000 fitted with its MM cartridge, adding the MC option will set you back £2,410. Our review sample comes pre-fitted with the Concept V2 moving-magnet version. An internal MM/MC phono stage is also built in and claims 52dB and 72dB gain respectively. You can set it to provide a line-level output to your amplifier and leave it at that if you wish, although the Active offers some intriguing extra options. For starters, there’s a rotary volume control that can be used to adjust the level of the rear-panel RCA…

Back in the early days of music reproduction, it was common to see the same name on your vinyl as on your replay equipment. RCA, Decca, EMI, Philips and many others operated successfully as producers of audio components/systems as well as recording labels. Although several hardware manufacturers have made steps into recorded media with music labels such as Naim and Linn, today it’s relatively uncommon for a record label to move the other way. In 2016 record label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab announced it was to introduce a line of turntables, tonearms, cartridges and accessories under the MoFi Electronics brand. The UltraDeck+M is the flagship turntable package. The design has considerable input from Allen Perkins of Spiral Groove and comes with a MasterTracker moving-magnet cartridge for £2,500. Also available are…

In 2006, Touraj Moghaddam left Roksan to set up Vertere and initially focussed on audio cables. But the lure of vinyl was too strong and in 2013 the company released its first record player, the RG-1, which currently retails for £21,500. More affordable models followed and the DG-1 is the new baby of the range, coming in at £2,750 complete with dedicated arm and a Vertere D-Fi interconnect cable. An extra £100 adds the Vertere Magneto cartridge. The DG-1’s distinctive platter consists of three layers – the central core is machined aluminium alloy, which has bonded to its underside a layer of material that is a mixture of cork, Neoprene and nitrile rubber. This controls resonance and damps the platter, which is then topped by a thermoplastic polymer layer that…

Unlike the Copland amps we’ve featured in the past – all valve designs – this is a hybrid offering that cunningly combines a preamp that utilises a valve circuit with a solid-state power amp stage. The level of valve involvement in the preamp isn’t that high with a solitary Electro-harmonix 6922 dual-triode in the circuit. The power amp is a MOSFET design comprised of bipolar transistors. This is the first time that the company has combined these with valves in the same chassis. The CSA 100 produces 100W into an 8ohm load and this figure rises to 180W into four. There are three RCA line-level and a single XLR balanced input, which are partnered with a moving-magnet phono stage and a single tape out and variable pre out. The CSA…

Essentially a monstrous chassis housing a separate preamp with a pair of monoblock power amplifiers, the M8xi weighs in at a back-breaking 46kg. All this heft adds up to a rather beefy quoted power output of 550W per channel into 8ohm loads – although the reality is it’s actually capable of more. Power aside, it packs a TI/Burr-Brown PCM5242 DAC which handles 24-bit/192kHz digital files via its pairs of coaxial and optical inputs and single asynchronous USB-B port around the back. DSD, a headphone output and moving-magnet or coil phono inputs are absent. Additional connectivity includes four line-level RCA inputs, two balanced XLRs and both coaxial and optical outputs. The preamp outputs are single-ended and balanced and there’s also a fixed line out. Sound quality The only place to kick…

AS SUPPLIED THE Evo 200 is fitted with four EL34 valves for the output stage and a matching quartet of 12A7s for the preamp stage. It claims 2x 44W power output into 8ohm and allows you to swap the EL34 output stage valves for a variety of other alternatives. Sound quality The PrimaLuna behaves in a manner that won’t unsettle those embarking on their first valve amp experience. It is completely silent at idle and there aren’t any thumps or pops when it’s switched on or off. A 16/44.1 rip of Gary Jules’ No Poetry is vibrant and engaging as the Evo 200 takes the accurate and spacious presentation and adds a controlled dose of richness and tonal vibrancy. Jules’ vocals carry a little more emphasis than is usually the…

TUNED BY FORMER Marantz Brand Ambassador Ken Ishiwata, the A11 Tribute is mainly designed as an analogue model, with four line-ins and a decent moving-magnet phono stage, plus switchable outputs for two sets of speakers and pre-out sockets. It also has Bluetooth aptX capability, feeding a 24-bit/192kHz Texas Instruments DAC. Sound quality Playing Oleta Adams’ Get Here it’s easy to hear the shaping of the voice, the reverberation and the simple instrumentation, with the piano and bass especially vibrant. In essence, what it has is that very Ken Ishiwata thing: whatever you throw at it just sounds special, from full-orchestral music to driving rock. We have a blast playing Rory Gallagher’s 1977 Check Shirt Wizard and the Queen/Adam Lambert Live Around The World set is full of pomp and swagger,…

In its base form, Primare’s I25 integrated (HFC 459) is a straightforward 100W design furnished with the company’s second-generation UFPD 2 Class D amplifier modules. There are five line-level RCA inputs and two outputs. The I25 thus specified is an analogue integrated amp pure and simple, clean and understated in design and very nicely put together. But it has also been designed to be modular, with room for two upgrade components either pre-installed at the factory or retro fitted as and when. The first is the DM35 DAC module, which links up to the rear panel’s USB and S/PDIF sockets (two coaxial and four optical) and uses the AKM AK4497 chip enabling up to 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD256 conversion. The DAC module must be in place before the second (SM35)…

Building a reputation as one of the go-to brands for audiophile music servers, Melco Syncrets – the company behind the ‘Music Library’ series – was founded as part of Melco Holdings, the parent of storage manufacturer, Buffalo. That heritage means the brand started off with a distinct advantage: it could make – and optimise for audio use – its own hard drives, rather than having to work with third-party components originally built for general data use. Audio storage tends to be a case of write once, read many times, and Melco majors on isolating its drives, both electrically and physically, using its HS-S² (Highly Stable Storage System). And yes, it still uses hard drives. Not the solid-state drives some other brands champion, because it believes its 2.5in HDDs sound best.…

Everything the Novafidelity overleaf is, the Stream Box S2 Ultra isn’t. You may find yourself asking how Pro-Ject justifies the modest price of this unit, given that inside is basically a Raspberry Pi mini-computer board (the quad-core CM3 version) running open-source Volumio software, all wrapped in the same case of many of Pro-Ject’s Box Design components. The company has instead spent its budget on optimising and improving the basic platform, by employing the services of renowned digital designer John Westlake. Westlake explains that, having set the parameters for the streaming design here – bit-perfect, DSD capability and the ability to use the connected DAC as the master clock – he went back and worked with Volumio to create a custom version of the software to work on the chosen platform.…

As one of the latest additions to iFi’s digital-to-analogue converter range, the Zen Blue is a dedicated Bluetooth DAC. With no other input connectivity, it initially looks a little parsimonious but there is a matching Zen DAC also priced at £130 to cover USB connectivity needs. Built around a Qualcomm 5100 series chip running a Bluetooth 5.0 implementation, the Zen Blue is considerably more energy efficient than older Bluetooth versions. Codec support includes SBC, Apple devices can use AAC, Android users get aptX and aptX HD and there’s LDAC and HWA; pair a device with the Zen Blue and it will work out the best connection standard available to it and stream at the highest quality. Meanwhile an ESS Sabre chipset ensures that jitter – an unavoidable part of Bluetooth…

THE SACD 30N combines network playback, USB DAC functionality, USB DAC facility and CD playback with an SACD/CD transport and compatibility with file formats all the way up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 via USB and 24-bit/192kHz and DSD128. Streaming capability includes the likes of Amazon Music HD, Spotify and Tidal, both Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay2 are built-in, and the Heos implementation brings multi-room capability and the ability for some functions to be accessed by voice control using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Sound quality What Marantz has always majored on is all that hi-fi cleverness going on below the surface, while the presentation glides serenely from the speakers, and that’s as true whether you ask this do-it-all disc player to crash out some rock or pop on CD, or…

AS THE FLAGSHIP pick-up, the MP-500 sports the combination of a super-fine polished line contact stylus and a boron cantilever. It puts out a fairly average 3mV and load resistance is a standard 47k ohms, so it should work with pretty much any MM phono stage. The body weighs a highish 8g. The stylus is-replaceable and is locked in place by a small Allen bolt for extra rigidity and tracks between 1.3g and 1.8g; we run it at the upper limit and it proves most secure. The boxy oblong body makes alignment easier than some and the general fit and finish is impressive. Sadly, it’s inevitable that the shiny gold body ends up covered in our grubby fingerprints. Sound quality The MP-500 has a lot of everything; it’s tonally warm…

AS THE LATEST incarnation of the long-standing Blue Point Special moving-coil range, this is the Japanese manufacturer’s lowestcost, high-output MC offering. It is available as either low or high-output and weighs in at 8.3g. The EVO III is the most affordable Sumiko offering to utilise an ultra-low resonance open generator design. This features a resonancecontrolled mounting plate in order to offer the lowest possible mechanical impedance. It is ideally suited to tonearms of effective mass between 11g and 25g. Sound quality We start off listening to Lyn Stanley and her Jazz Mavericks’ London With A Twist. Stanley’s sultry jazz style is smooth, effortless, yet highly detailed. The performance is scarily realistic, with a soundstage that extends well beyond the confines of the speakers with great depth and superb instrument focus.…

ATH-CKS5TW LOOKING BIG AND chunky and weighing in at 8g, there’s a reason for the size and weight as this in-ear is packed with features. The 10mm driver boasts a frequency range of 5Hz-40kHz while the battery offers 15 hours of playback. The charging case allows you to recharge the earbuds twice before needing a boost itself. The bundled carry case is pretty compact and has a USB-C port for charging so that you can top it up from your laptop. Sound Quality One of the standout features of the ATH-CKS5TW is the far-reaching frequency range, which immediately makes itself apparent with the ambient soundscape of Max Richter’s Shadow Journal. The earbud is able to embrace the deep, electronic bass far more effectively than many larger rivals at this price…

Momentum 3 Wireless THIS LATEST VERSION updates the Momentum 2 Wireless, which is still on sale at £300. The 3 focuses on recent technical updates, such as the use of a USB-C connector for charging and audio input and a conventional 2.5mm connector (with a 2.5mm-to-3.5mm cable included). Bluetooth wireless features have been updated too, adding AAC and aptX Low Latency for improved syncing of audio and video in addition to the existing aptX codec. It’s a shame the Momentum 3 Wireless hasn’t been bought up to date with aptX HD or aptX Adaptive. The Momentum 3 Wireless also offers a shorter battery life than its predecessor, reduced from 22 hours to just 17. Admittedly, that’s long enough to see you halfway around the world on a flight, but it…

Beautiful Systems has been a staple of HFC for well over a decade and in that time, it has covered a fantastically bewildering variety of equipment. For more than five years, I’ve been the lucky soul who has sat down in front of these wildly disparate setups and dusted off my most enthusiastic language to try and convey some of that experience. At times, I’ve touched on the nature of what it is that makes these endlessly variable systems just so enchanting and so, with the small hiatus brought about by Coronavirus and the difficulties of moving and shipping equipment around, I’ve got the perfect opportunity to take stock and expand on that notion. At first glance, the constituent parts that make up the various systems look completely disparate without…

It should not come as any great surprise to find that the audio industry thrives on specialisation. Within the church of hi-fi there are, of course, manufacturers that only produce components in a single category and do very well out of it. There are also those that take pride in being able to make a complete system, keeping the entire process inhouse. Between the two exist infinite variations on the theme, but the setup here is sufficiently unusual to be worthy of comment. Mention PMC to anybody with at least a passing understanding of the hi-fi sphere and they’ll talk about speakers. The company has a superlative track record in the construction of both domestic and professional audio monitors, all tied together by the use of transmission lines to augment…

Loudspeaker manufacturers with a product lineup that runs from three to six figures are few and far between. Focal is one such example, however, and after a few years where the bulk of its new arrivals have been at the more premium end of the scale, the focus has shifted back to being affordable. The Chora series is the second tier of the company’s range and comprises two floorstanders and the 806 standmount you see here. It follows the basic pattern of Focal standmount speakers. It’s a relatively large, two-way design that’s front ported and single wired. While the formula hasn’t significantly changed, the ingredients have. The 25mm aluminium and magnesium tweeter has been seen before, but it now uses a surround made from a material called poron which has…

Making its name back in the seventies with its (then) highly innovative BC1 and a BBC-licensed version of the famed LS3/5a compact monitor, Spendor has always been voiced to be subtle yet revealing, rather than to machine-gun the sound out at you. This might be the company’s entry level standmount, but its appeal hasn’t been diluted one little bit. What there is in the way of bass is carried in a tuneful way that sounds fast and agile The A1 is tiny, modestly presented and doesn’t go in for gimmicks. At its heart is a 150mm EP77 ‘engineering polymer’ mid/bass unit that’s paired with a 22mm fabric dome tweeter. These are set in a compact sealed enclosure that comes in a choice of three real-wood veneer finishes – black ash,…

With the exception of its Ortofon cartridges, Elipson’s turntables are bespoke and do not share parts with any other model. This means they have the interesting Orbital Torsion tonearm, which combines the bearings into a ‘knuckle’ in the centre of a circular housing that has the antiskate applied through the axis of the two bearings. Elipson has added an armlift and made the counterweight easier to adjust for different cartridges. The motor benefits from improved mounting to reduce interference and vibration, and includes an electronic speed control. The phono stage cannot be switched out of the circuit, but alternates between moving-magnet and coil operation. The Bluetooth transmitter can send an aptX HD line-level signal to a suitable receiver. Sound quality The phono stage meets all the criteria for good performance…

Over the course of its more than 20 years of existence, the Pro-Ject Debut has transformed from plucky upstart into a 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’ when you fancy it. The EVO improves upon the spec of the earlier Debut Carbon (HFC 361). All the defining characteristics of the Debut line; 8.6in tonearm, belt drive and unsuspended plinth are present as they have been in the past, but each has been tweaked in the pursuit of an improved performance. The tonearm is the same effective length as before, but the single-piece carbon armtube now has sapphire bearings and upgraded…

Notably tall and deep, the STR is the very epitome of no-nonsense styling, but while the plain casework doesn’t exactly shout high-end stereo amplifier, it is reassuringly beefy. The complexity of the rear panel is in stark contrast to the simplicity of the front. Connectivity is generous with analogue inputs running to four unbalanced RCAs and a single balanced stereo via XLRs, plus dedicated MM and MC phono inputs. Digital inputs include a USB-B, two optical, two coaxial and an AES/EBU along with further digital choices for updates and software control. There are fixed and variable line-level outputs plus dedicated left and right preamp outputs for subwoofers, while the sturdy speaker terminals accept all common connectors and power output is rated at 2x 200W into 8ohm. Anthem Room Correction (ARC)…

Features relating to digital streaming have moved on somewhat since Hegel introduced the H90 three years ago. Consequently Spotify Connect and an update for AirPlay2 that the H120 and H190 enjoyed have been carried over to the H95. Specified at a claimed 60W into 8ohm loads, improvements have also been made to the power supplies and headphone output in an effort to reduce noise. Network connectivity comes via the Ethernet input and there is an asynchronous USB-B port plus three optical digital and a single coaxial (RCA) in. Though the balanced analogue inputs that appear further up the range have been eschewed, there is a brace of RCA line inputs alongside a pair for its variable preamp out – so the H95 can be hooked up to an external power…

s the name suggests, the Nait XS 3 is an ongoing evolution of the original Nait XS integrated and compared with several amplifier designs currently available on the market, this third-generation model looks a little on the simplistic side. The power output is quoted at 2x 70W into 8ohm and it provides four line-level inputs via RCA as well as DIN connections for use with Naim sources. There are no digital inputs and unlike some rivals at this price, no option to add them as an upgrade further down the line. There is, however, a headphone amp via a 6.35mm socket on the front panel. The deep, clean bass perfectly matches the smooth, spacious upper registers Unlike its predecessor, the XS 3 incorporates a moving-magnet phono stage and Naim is…

Unlike so many of its price rivals, the A-S3200 is totally devoid of streaming or even DAC functionality. This is an unapologetically old-school integrated, complete with MM/MC phono input and headphone out. Yamaha claims a punchy 100W RMS per channel into 8ohm and 150W into 4, for this Class AB design – which is more than most people will ever need. The power comes not via discrete transistors, but by MOSFET power modules. Interestingly, the phono preamplifier does use discrete transistors, and is very neatly laid out in a separate circuit board using good-quality components. Sound quality Standout facets are a crisp, detailed and precise midband along with effortless and authoritative power delivery. Feed it some punchy eighties pop from Duran Duran, and Last Chance On The Stairway comes over…

Quad clearly felt there was room for improvement on the original Vena II (HFC 448) and so has augmented it with a full suite of network music streaming functionality provided by DTS Play-Fi for an additional £150. This changes the Vena II into a smart integrated amplifier. Quad’s parent company IAG is committed to the DTS streaming platform, which delivers the ability to network with other Play-Fi products, regardless of who they are manufactured by. The only physical differences between the Vena II Play and the ‘basic’ version is that the new model loses an optical input while the digital outputs have been removed. You still get single coaxial, optical and USB ins making use of an ESS ES9018K2M DAC, while analogue connectivity runs to a pair of RCA line…

It’s tempting to see the Uniti Core as little more than a refreshed version of the original UnitiServe, which first saw the light of day a decade ago. At first glance they seem to do the same thing – ripping discs to internal storage, then serving them up to the likes of the Uniti, ND- and Mu-so models over a home network. However, to see the Uniti Core as no more than a server in ‘new Uniti’ clothing is to sell it short: sure, it comes in casework to match the Uniti Atom, Star (HFC 433) and Nova, complete with an acrylic plinth, but there’s rather more going on here than just a cosmetic refresh. The Uniti Core is sold ‘bare bones’: in other words, it comes without a hard…

As the latest addition to the DragonFly family, the Cobalt is designed to augment the existing Black and Red versions (HFC 414). And it must be said, it is a bit of a head scratcher at first as there appears to be no difference between it and the Black, which is £180 cheaper. Plus the maximum sample rate supported is a relatively low 24-bit/96kHz, although native MQA decoding is supported. Where the Cobalt differs, however, is internally. It is still built around an ESS Sabre DAC, but the higher spec ES9038Q2M is used with an ESS 9601 volume controller. There’s also a new filter arrangement that uses a minimum phase, slow roll-off filter claimed to make it more satisfying to listen to long term. These refinements are partnered with a…

Mytek’s original Brooklyn DAC/preamplifier first impressed us back in HFC 416, before the Brooklyn DAC+ follow-up in HFC 449. The Brooklyn Bridge takes the Brooklyn DAC+ and swaps out the AES/EBU digital input in favour of USB-A port for an external hard drive and Ethernet input along with a wi-fiantenna. While the same Sabre ES9028PRO 32-bit DAC is still employed (enabling sample rates up to 384kHz and DSD256), a new network card transforms the DAC into a network-capable music playing solution. Supported services include Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and Deezer, it can stream directly from a UPnP server/NAS drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive or USB device and it’s compatible with FLAC, Apple Lossless, AAC, AIFF, MP3, WAV, WMA and Ogg Vorbis. Digital connectivity includes an optical and two S/PDIF inputs (supporting up…

NAMED AFTER OPERA diva Anna Netrebko, the MC Anna ditches the rigid boron cantilever of its predecessor in favour of an even more rigid diamond rod. Weighing in at 16g, it requires a tonearm with medium-to-high effective mass. It has a quoted compliance of 9cu and is claimed to track optimally at 2.4g. Output is said to be 0.2mV, which is low for a modern moving-coil. Sound quality This is one of the very best movingcoil cartridges to pass through HFC and it excels at pretty much everything it turns its hand to. If forced to be super pedantic, we might suggest vinylistas that maintain that analogue sound should be sweet, warm and romantic might want to look elsewhere as the MC Anna Diamond does not attempt to add or…

THE HA500H IS both a headphone amp and a DAC, and with its built-in volume control can also be used as a preamp straight into a power amplifier or even active speakers. Headphone outputs include a choice of balanced or unbalanced sockets and low and high outputs. With two user-selectable output stages – instead of just solid–state – you can opt to bring into play a valve-powered stage. Sound quality This is an exceptional product that delivers a sound as big boned and powerful as it is detailed and sharply focused. With the many varied styles and influences of Coldplay’s Everyday Life in 24-bit/96kHz, the way nuances of the recording spring out is as persuasive as the overall rhythmic drive and the way the catchier tracks work their way into…

PX7 WIRELESS HEADPHONES ONLY sound as good as the transmission protocol that’s employed. The PX7 has aptX Adaptive, offering aptX HD’s sound but with low latency and high error resilience. With data rates of between 279kbps and 420kbps, this compressed format is still far from bit-perfect CD but does now beat top-quality AAC. Its noise-cancelling functionality, uses digital processing and four microphones to shut out much of the outside sound. The battery claims nearly 30 hours use in Bluetooth noise-cancelling mode or five hours from a 15-minute charge. Sound quality Tethering the PX7 to an iPhone, we’re more than a little surprised by what greets us – a big, punchy and fulsome sound, with real body and impact. At the same time, there’s no sense of it sounding leaden; it’s…

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 from Born To Run.…

Rejoice CD World Circuit WHEN TONY ALLEN and Hugh Masekela first met in the seventies they were in their early thirties, but were already giants of African music. Forced into exile by the apartheid regime, Masekela was the pre-eminent ambassador of black South African music, his jazzy trumpet-playing instantly recognisable for its burnished sound and indestructible groove. As the drummer with Africa 70, the Nigerian-born Allen was the co-inventor of the mighty sound of Afrobeat alongside Fela Kuti, with whom he recorded more than 30 albums. Over the next four decades, their paths crossed regularly at jazz and world music festivals and every time they met they talked about recording an album together. Busy schedules meant the idea stayed on the backburner until 2009, when Allen was recording a solo album…

CD Columbia LATE 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 hugely 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 Source is a…

There are many iconic loudspeakers in the great hi-fi firmament. From the original Klipschorn and Quad ESL-57, to the BBC LS3/5a, Spendor BC1, KEF 104ab, Mission 770, Yamaha NS-1000M and B&W 801. And let’s not forget the Wharfedale Diamond, Celestion SL6, Acoustic Energy AE1 and Epos ES14. I’m sure you could name many more. Every last one of them to my ears is flawed, some terribly by modern standards others only surprisingly slightly. But what hearing – and owning – some of them over the years tells me is that there’s no such thing as a perfect loudspeaker. This isn’t just down to the limited materials science of the time or the lack of computer-aided design software, it is as much a philosophical issue. For me, the greats that stand…

Let me start by presenting two contradictory statements. The system you see here represents the entry level for the brands involved. It also costs £19,000. This might seem rather peculiar, but it is the asking price to join two very exclusive clubs and while the cost might feel high, it is what’s required when the engineering is this involved. Take the Magico A1 standmount speaker. This is the most affordable stereo model that the company makes in a range that extends to the point where “POA” begins to appear in the price list in lieu of a number. You might question why a two-way standmount can ever cost £10,000, but even though the A1 is the simplest speaker Magico makes it possesses some extraordinary engineering. The tweeter is a 28mm…

one of the most commonly recurring formulaic lines in cinema is someone yelling: “I should have killed you when I had the chance!” at a moment of high tension. Cliché or not, it holds some truth for the two-channel audio market. In the early part of this century, there was a belief in some industry circles that multi-channel audio had effectively beaten two-channel with components offering greater flexibility at more affordable prices. If listeners wanted stereo from these versatile AV hubs, they could select the appropriate setting on their multi-channel amplifier or receiver. As the brave new world of multi-channel caught on, many companies very publicly wound down their two-channel product lines and retailers adjusted their stock and priorities accordingly. As sales increased, it looked like affordable two-channel was finally…

There has been one beneficiary in the devastating health crisis laying waste to our lives – and that’s the environment. As COVID-19 has decimated livelihoods and the normal functioning of society, CO2 emissions have plummeted during the economic meltdown. The absence of summer music festivals and the cancellation of world tours by big-named acts has made its contribution to this planetary breathing space, so it’s ironic to recall that before lockdown, the music industry was engaged in a serious debate about how touring musicians can reduce their carbon footprint and how festivals and concerts can limit the waste they generate, 80 percent of which is non-recyclable. In February, Dan Snaith – who records as Caribou – told The New Yorker magazine that musicians and fans would have to reduce the…

Think of brands famous for small loudspeakers, and Acoustic Energy is bound to ping up on the radar. Its iconic AE1 from the late eighties pretty much made the case for the existence of the breed. Coming bang up to date, the AE500 that’s before you has little in common with this icon in technical terms, aside from its clear philosophical approach. Despite being relatively affordable, this is one of the most technologically interesting standmounts in its price range due to its use of carbon fibre in both the mid/bass driver cone and the dome tweeter. This means big weight savings – the former is only half as heavy as its predecessor. The AE500 mates a small 125mm mid/bass to a 25mm tweeter, via a simple crossover made up of…

Starting a new loudspeaker company in a competitive, over-crowded market is a risky business with the very real prospect of suffering the odd misfire or, worse, spluttering to a stall. Fyne Audio hasn’t just kept up the momentum, but made it look easy. Its debut entry-level and midrange F300 and F500 lines are attractive, cannily conceived alternatives to the usual suspects and quickly put the fledgling Scottish brand on the map. That early success has been reinforced with the introduction of significantly more ambitious fare in the shape of the F700 and F1 flagship ranges, first seen at the Munich High End show in 2019. It helps, of course, if your new venture has an experienced crew and, in this case, ex-Tannoy talent has steered the enterprise from the start.…

Following in the wake of Neat’s floorstanding Ekstra comes the standmount version. Standing out from the crowd of bookshelf models thanks to its ribbon tweeter, the Ministra’s distinctive cabinet also boasts isobaric bass loading – not that you’d necessarily know from looking at it. On the smaller side of the standmount speaker spectrum, it marries a 50mm true-ribbon tweeter with two 134mm treated paper cone mid/bass drivers – the second sat directly behind the first in the rugged cabinet that additionally sports a tiny reflex port around the back. You might think this odd in an isobaric arrangement, but its designer sees it less of a port and more of a: “controlled leak”. The enclosure is 18mm-thick MDF with natural oak, American walnut, black oak or satin white veneer finishes;…

As Wharfedale’s latest range the Evo4 Series is intended to bring some of the tech and thinking developed for its flagship Elysian family to a more affordable price point. The most notable is the use of an Air Motion Transfomer-type tweeter. AMT-type drivers offer a tweeter design with the mix of large radiating area and low overall mass for wide dispersion and excellent high-frequency performance. The Evo4.2 has a rare three-way configuration of an AMT tweeter, 50mm soft dome midrange driver and a 165mm woven Kevlar bass driver. Another interesting aspect is the bass port arrangement. This is called SLPP (Slot Loaded Profile Port). It’s built into the base of the cabinet and helps control and regulate the flow of air in such a way as to permit placement where…

As the flagship offering from Gold Notes’s five-strong turntable range, the Mediterraneo is sleek looking, superbly crafted and exudes precisely the sort of good looks that Italy is traditionally known for. Its platter is 45mm thick and produced from a Delrin/POM-type polymer Gold Note calls Sustarin to dampen unwanted vibrations. A good-quality felt mat is provided, while minor vinyl warps can be gently teased using an unthreaded but heavy LP weight. The bearing comprises a hardened chrome steel spindle supported on a 5mm tungsten ball-bearing on a brass seat. The plinth comprises three layers, the base section being a 60mm-deep, curvaceous laminate of Italian walnut, selected according to the manufacturer for its elasticity, strength and high density. A 3mmthick steel plate is placed on top of this, designed both to…

Originally built to celebrate Pro-Ject’s 25th anniversary, The Classic has evolved into the Evo, delivering a selection of improvements without changing its overall design principles. It utilises a suspended sub-chassis, which keeps the motor detached from the playing surface to reduce noise and interference. The downside is that traditionally the two separate chassis needed a complex suspension to keep them apart – making for an arduous setup process. Pro-Ject has managed to neatly side step this by using a sextet of Thermo Plastic Elastomer (TPE) spheres, which offer the isolation needed. The sub-platter is now made of the same aluminium alloy as the main platter, which rests on it via a layer of TPE damping. This effectively controls resonance between the two sections and results in an impressively inert playing…

For its premium integrated, Arcam has borrowed a trick from its home cinema products. Dirac Live is a room optimisation/EQ tool that adds a layer of complexity to setup, but hopes to balance that with a boost in performance. In addition, there’s 120W per channel (delivered by Arcam’s Class G amplification), and an expanded skillset. The SA30 integrates Chromecast and Apple AirPlay 2, UPnP streaming via the MusicLife app and MQA playback – all handled by a 32-bit Sabre ESS9038K2M DAC – but turns its nose up at Bluetooth. Connectivity is generous. On the front are a 3.5mm headphone jack and 3.5mm analogue input; around the rear there’s a bank of three stereo audio inputs, MM and MC phono ins, pairs of digital optical and coaxial inputs and Ethernet and…

Replacing Röst (HFC 418), the new H120’s price stays the same, likewise the Class AB configuration rated at 2x 75W and the minimalist aesthetic. Nothing is changed for the sake of it; Hegel just isn’t that kind of company. That’s not to say Röst wasn’t due a digital upgrade. In the Hegel hierarchy, the H120 slots in between the entry-level H90 (HFC 427) and ‘next level’ H190, just as the Röst did. It has a strategically breathed-on version of the Röst’s analogue output stage, but its DAC and digital electronics come from the more powerful and expensive H190 and are described as “reference class”. The rear-panel socketry comprises one coaxial and three optical inputs, a USB-B port for connection to a computer, a pair of balanced XLRs, two pairs of…

Claiming 140W into 8ohm from six MOSFETs per channel, this integrated is effectively a fully dual mono configuration of the Revo IPA-70B(HFC 455). Alongside extra power, it also boasts discrete power supplies for gain, driver and output stages. Connectivity includes four line-level RCA inputs, one RCA out and a single XLR balanced input, while the optional DAC module with a USB-B input has been included. The optional phono stage is also here and comes set for MM, but can be reconfigured for a variety of MC carts. Sound quality Playing Vivaldi’s Gloria in D major by the Choir of Kings College Cambridge, the opening strings create a rich backdrop full of dynamic energy and warmth that paints a compelling image of the vast acoustic space. The chorus rises from the…

HARKING BACK TO the days of simple, compact budget giant killers, the io sees Rega attempting to cut costs to hit a lower price without compromising performance. This means it offers a power output of 30W per channel into 8ohm plus two line-level inputs and one for MM phono. A 3.5mm headphone socket is also incorporated on the front panel. Sound quality From the first bars of music it is clear that the io is something rather special at its price point. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the top end – the treble is delightful. There is no shortage of detail at all and the unit has plenty of insight to offer, but the smoothness, clarity and lack of sibilance, even in less worthy recordings, is the real…

Designed to sit at the heart of a complex digital music system, the Aries G2.1 is able to play music from local storage, over a network or on a connected USB store or online streaming services. But it goes further than that: for a £400 premium over the £4,200 price-tag, it can be supplied with 2TB of internal storage, enabling it either to play music stored within or serve that content to external devices. And thanks to the new Lightning OS7.0 on which the unit runs, you can also use it as a CD ripper: connect a USB CD drive and copy the contents of your discs to its internal library, with a multi-read/memory system to ensure an accurate rip. What’s more, you can use the drive to listen to…

You’d be forgiven for being baffled by the Novafidelity range of network audio products due to the fact there seem to be five models further up the line that look similar and appear to do the same thing. The X50D is the more affordable of its two digital-output-only offerings and it comes pretty much fully loaded. Not content with being able to rip and store CDs, it has loaded up this unit with the ability to act as a network audio player able to take content from other stores or online services, including Qobuz, Spotify Connect and Tidal (with MQA) as well as internet radio (it has a DAB+/FM tuner) and it’s also Roon Ready. In addition to CD ripping, it can be loaded up with hi-res content including up…

Even in the spirit of stoking up some tension, it would be unwise to suggest that the Hugo TT2 DAC/headphone amp – minus Chord’s partnering performance-enhancing, million-tap M-Scaler – is deprived of tools to put the frighteners on its rivals in a congested marketplace. When it comes to its upscaling and processing power, this is a Bugatti Chiron in a field of Golf GTIs. Compared with the 256-tap filters most traditional DAC chips run, the Hugo TT2 employs a Xilinx Artix 7 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), custom-coded by Rob Watts, with 86x 208MHz cores running in parallel to create an advanced 16FS Watts Time Aligned (WTA) filter with 98,304-taps, double that of the Hugo 2. Other DACs sound softer and more impressionistic in direct comparison A new high-power discreet…

Perhaps the only DAC that’s big and ugly enough to return an intimidating snarl to the Chord Hugo TT2 overleaf is this: PS Audio’s DirectStream 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 stream. It’s a DSD stream dream machine and, if the claims made by PS Audio are anything to go by, that’s putting it mildly. The music sounds so seamless with a smooth, neutral, grain-less tonality The point here is that, thus converted, compact disc (or any Redbook 16-bit/44.1kHz file) sounds like pure 1-bit DSD because, well, that’s what it is. And if, as some argue, the best DSD is…

DESIGNED TO BRIDGE the gap between Rega’s £500 Ania (HFC 452) and the recently introduced Apheta 3 priced at £1,250, the Ania Pro adopts the original vital profile stylus and tapered aluminium cantilever used by the Apheta to provide higher performance, combined with the simpler body construction that’s found on the Ania. Three-point fitting ensures that the cartridge naturally aligns and sets the overhang in a Rega tonearm and with a weight of 6g and a tracking force of between 1.75 and 2g, it should be easy to accommodate. Sound quality Like the standard Ania, the PPS body of the Pro has the effect of softening and sweetening the presentation. The result is that Arcade Fire’s Keep The Car Running has a warmth that’s not displayed by either Apheta design…

THIS MARKS T+A’S first ever foray into headphone amplifiers and throws in network connectivity and a DAC for good measure. Outputs including a standard 6.35mm jack, balanced 4.4mm Pentaconn and four-pin XLR socket cater to a wide range of listeners. Each output has its own individual selector so you can have three headsets connected at once, although you’ll only actually be able to use two of them. Sound quality The HA 200 can comfortably drive pretty much any headphone you care to match it up with. Regardless of the cans partnering it, it doesn’t hesitate to drive them in an entirely convincing manner, irrespective of whether it’s using conventional unbalanced or balanced connectors. Kicking off listening with Dana Zemstov and Anna Fedorova’s Silhouettes in DXD, it’s not so much the…

Aeon 2 Closed A TIMELY UPDATE to the Aeon Flow (HFC 435), the Aeon 2 has a new plannar driver structure that flips the original design 180° in an effort to remove flow disturbance from the magnets between the diaphragm and the ear. Available in either closed or open-backed guises (both costing £900), the former provides a claimed “warmer, fuller tone” while the latter opts for a “leaner midrange”. Sound quality The most immediate characteristic is the pinpoint and detailed soundstaging, albeit imaging very much within the head with no impression of spanning out further. Listening to the Storm movement of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, the drums have a huge impact. Every tiny inflection in the violins is clean and distinct, while it’s easy to follow the interplay between the different…

Carmen Berganza, Domingo, Cotrubas, Milnes, London Symphony Orchestra Claudio Abbado 2x CD, 1 Blu-ray Deutsche Grammophon THIS FAMOUS RECORDING was made in 1977, following a run of performances at the Edinburgh Festival. It’s a vivid exciting account, and those who caught it live describe the experience as unforgettable. Teresa Berganza plays Carmen as a strong-willed woman – passionate, fearless and independent – rather than a cheap, slutty vamp. Domingo impresses as the doomed besotted Jose; Milnes swaggers as Escamilio and Cotrubas is a sympathetic Micaela. But the real stars are Abbado and the LSO who bring burning intensity to every note. For Blu-ray Pure Audio, DG has newly remastered the analogue tapes at 24-bit/192kHz (two-channel stereo and 5.1 surround), plus a Dolby Atmos remix at 24-bit/96kHz. The sound is even more…

emember the good old days when it was us against them and you knew whose side you were on? The BBC would get its knickers in a twist over Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s pervy Relax and all the other naughty, “tasteless” tunes that it banned from the airwaves and we’d snigger with glee. The music industry fixing it so that Rod Stewart’s I Don’t Want To Talk About It pipped The Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen to number one despite selling way less copies just to save her Madge from embarrassment! Ah, those bumbling fools, so easy to ridicule and rebel against. When The Rolling Stones were invited to perform Let’s Spend The Night Together during The Ed Sullivan Show on American TV, they were told to change the…

recurring theme in the origin stories of many hi-fi manufacturers is that they stem from a dissatisfaction with how existing rivals dealt with something that was of prime concern to the person who founded the company. Spurred to correct this imbalance, many have gone on to carve a very successful business out of doing just that. What happens when you combine two such brands to form a system though? Is the result harmonious or do the opinions end up cancelling each other out? Alluxity came into being over quibbles with design. It argues that high-end hi-fi is frequently a giant, room-dominating mass that makes no attempt to blend into a space… And much as I love an amplifier big enough to jump start a planet, it has a point. The…

Music is ancient, but is it eternal? Way before prehistoric man, mankind was appreciative of sound. Academics now hypothesise that the reason we find early paintings in caves is that ancient humans were drawn to these acoustic spaces, where the quality of reverb and echoes created places suitable for the spirits of slain animals to live on. Jump forward a few millennia and Monteverdi plays with multiple voices, echoes and reverb in churches to bolster the power of religion. What goes around comes around. It’s easy to look at the progression of music in simplistic terms, developing from the primeval to the tribal, the religious to the militaristic, on to a rarified classical preserve of the wealthy, then democratised in the twentieth century through the invention of affordable playback software…

I suspect that for a few people who have turned the page to be confronted by a portable audio system, the idea of featuring equipment designed for use on the move after a sustained period of being invited to sit around going nowhere might seem a little perverse. Surely, this would have been the point where a veritable monolith, a no-holdsbarred tribute to the high-end might make more sense? My response is to invite you to hear me out on this one. For many of us, the reality of our enforced period of sitting around at home hasn’t completely matched expectations, particularly if your setup is in your living room and you share your space with others. Sure, you have had more time to listen to your system, but if…