Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Hi-Fi Choice

www.hifichoice.com I don’t know about yours but my lockdown’s a cacophony. Right now, upstairs in her bedroom, the eldest, in enforced exile from Uni, is blasting out The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead. Simultaneously the youngest, having just survived several tedious hours of online schooling, is cranking up some gloriously nasty Tyler, The Creator. In the room next door the boy, 17 and livid he can’t be out rehearsing with his new bandmates, is roaring along to Korn at an obscene volume. And, most heinous of all, the wife’s in the kitchen with Alexa and seemingly endless re-runs of The Archers. Me? I’m trying to deny the disturbance and write this equipped with my noise-cancellers of choice in the fabulous company of Lana Del Rey. Thank heavens, then, for the…

PRICE: £3,700 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FOCAL.COM FOCAL, FROM ST. Etienne, France, is launching its latest three-way floorstanding loudspeaker, the Aria K2 936 – a new and improved version of the Aria 936. The K2 936 combines a 25mm aluminium/magnesium TNF inverted dome tweeter with a 165mm mid/bass and three 165mm low-frequency drivers. The four aramid fibre K2 sandwich cone drivers are finished in trademark yellow – first used by the company back in 1986. In addition there’s a multi-port PowerFlow system, downward-firing vent and an ultralight foam core sandwiched between a layer of aramid fibres and a layer of glass fibres, which the company claims: “guarantees a pure and precise sound, with no colouration.” With a claimed frequency response of 39Hz-28kHz (+/-3dB), 92dB (2.83V/1m) sensitivity and crossover frequency of 260Hz/3,100Hz,…

Now one of the elder statesmen of on-demand streaming, Deezer has had a lossless tier for some years, running alongside a cheaper compressed-only option. Unlike all the other services here, it’s exclusively lossless with no hi-res option. All content is available in 16/44.1 FLAC and the library of a quoted 52-million tracks seems to have very few holes in it. Where it also differs from the other contenders is its curated content. As well as playlists, the Flow system examines your listening habits and compiles material it thinks you might like that can be accessed as discrete playlists or an endless stream. Once it has some data to go on, it’s surprisingly effective at finding appealing new material you haven’t heard before. Like others here, the desktop and web browser…

With its rather tighter focus on high-resolution material and the supporting download store, High Res Audio makes great play of the rigour with which it seeks out its content. The argument is that some of the ‘hi-res’ content available on rivals is little more than (well) upsampled versions of existing lossless content. By contrast, High Res Audio says that it only includes material that is natively sampled, preferably, as it came from the studio desk. The good news for both High Res Audio and its subscribers is that there is more and more of this material being made available on launch titles, which is why the library of albums released in the last few years isn’t significantly less comprehensive than what’s found on more mainstream rivals. The catch remains that…

Another French service and another one of the longer running offerings, Qobuz launched as a lossless service before adding hi-res content more recently. The library of “over 50 million” tracks has been bolstered since the last time we tested it. In specialised areas, Qobuz still comes up short against Tidal and Deezer, but the gap is narrowing. The library is 16/44.1 as a baseline with material up to 24/192 available too. The desktop app is little changed, but that’s no bad thing. The sample rate is always clearly marked and there is USB audio management that allows for a direct connection to be set on the output device. The mobile apps are also very good and have the ability to run anything between full hi-res and compressed audio depending on…

As well as its increasing integration with MQA, Tidal has been introducing material mixed for Dolby Atmos over the last year. This surround format is designed for multi-channel setups rather than headphones. Audio information is sent to five or seven surround channels and between two and four ‘height’ channels above the listener. Material can be moved around these channels to suit. This includes things like the audience in live recordings, which can be shifted to the ‘correct’ location in the mix. To access this content you’ll need a HiFitier subscription, an Atmos capable receiver and a multi-channel system. Then, to get to the content itself, you’ll need a Tidal-enabled device that supports outputting the streams. At the moment, the most cost-effective solution seems to be Apple TV, but it’s likely…

A young loudspeaker company can dream of endless innovation, but it can’t hope to roll out freshly designed new product forever. With proprietary tech, model span and price boundaries established, there comes a point where the potentially open-ended process of evolution begins. For Fyne Audio, the launch in 2020 of the F502SP we’re reviewing here was its very own ‘return to go’ moment. From a standing start in 2017, the fledgling operation, formed by key personnel from a recently bought-out Tannoy, hit the ground running and extended its portfolio to seven model lines in under two years – remarkable, and certainly enough ‘all pockets’ breadth to stand comparison with veteran British rivals like B&W, KEF and Monitor Audio. Echoes of Tannoy were, perhaps, inevitable and nowhere better illustrated than the…

+44 (0)118 981 9891 www.audioconsultants.co.uk FINE TWO CHANNEL AUDIO SYSTEMS Amphion Designed and made in Finland with a unique controlled dispersion technology enabling their speakers to achieve a high-quality sound repeatable in a variety of rooms. The Argon range is well made and offers exceptional value. They are very natural in tone and timbre with no excessive brightness. Bass is extended, well controlled and without exaggeration. A passive radiator design used from the mid-way up the model range offers excellent room integration. Eggleston Works A renowned US company making high quality loudspeakers with curved sided cabinets and facets that reduce resonances, finished with a durable metallic polyester paint. An immediately engaging sound, delivering a large-scale sound, wide beyond the outer edges of the speakers, and layering rearwards for a deep…

Nils Frahm Empty 180g vinyl Erased Tapes NILS FRAHM’S MUSIC has been described as neo classical, but it’s really minimal serialism. He is a master of the less-is-more credo. This release is not quite as empty as the name suggests. The pieces start and end in near silence, but the piano notes emerge from a pool of tape hiss and sounds that might be the wooden mechanisms of his pipe organ, and this background gives them added poignancy. Empty consists of eight pieces that start out quietly and rarely seem to approach anything like a crescendo, yet Roon specifies a wide dynamic range for the digital version. The vinyl has a far more interesting sound with greater depth of reverberation that pulls you into a full immersion experience. It’s only by…

HURRY OFFER CLOSES 25TH FEBRUARY 2021 PRINT + DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION One year’s worth delivered to your door Great savings on the shop price Download each new issue to your device A 75% discount on your Digital subscription Access your subscription on multiple devices PRINT SUBSCRIPTION One year’s worth delivered to your door Great savings on the shop price Never miss an issue IN EVERY ISSUE: Reviews of all the latest turntables, amplifiers, loudspeakers, DACs, CD players, streamers and hi-fiaccessories. Plus: group tests, music reviews, opinions, news and all your hi-fiwoes answered TERMS & CONDITIONS: Offer ends 25th February 2021. *This digital discount is only available when you subscribe to the ‘Print + Digital’ package. You still get a great discount on the digital package, please visit the URL stated below…

Audiolab 6000A PRICE: £600 REVIEWED: HFC 444 A cracking budget integrated amplifier with just the right mix of features and high-quality performance. The 6000A boasts a snappy and engaging sound with sufficient power and fine build quality. It’s a great buy for the more discerning music enthusiast that demands plenty of flexibility at the heart of their system. Copland CSA 100 PRICE: £3,500 REVIEWED: HFC 465 Combining a preamp that utilises a valve circuit with a solid-state power amp, this supreme hybrid integrated rarely fails to delight across its many inputs and a very broad spectrum of music. With a sublime performance, excellent spec and rock-solid build, it’s a must-audition at the price. Hegel H120 PRICE: £2,200 REVIEWED: HFC 460 The versatile talent that was the Rőst may have left the building, but its star quality…

Atlas Cables Eos dd PRICE: £145 for 1m REVIEWED: HFC 452 Referring to ‘dual drain’ technology, the Eos dd is designed to act as a filter against incoming contamination. The result is an inky blackness between musical phrases and a supremely low noise floor, while detail and imaging improve as interference is banished. Black Rhodium Stream PRICE: £450 for 1.7m REVIEWED: HFC 430 Black Rhodium has discovered that optimum sound quality is obtained from cables of 1.7m, hence this offering featuring silver-plated copper conductors. And who are we to argue, considering the impressive clarity and focus of instruments combined with a noise floor displaying an impressive lack of interference. Chord Company Shawline PRICE: £200 for 1m REVIEWED: HFC 438 Available at a variety of lengths, the Shawline mains cable is made from three lots of 14…

Alpha Design Labs Stratos PRICE: £1,315 REVIEWED: HFC 455 Remarkably flexible at the price, the Stratos offers an impressively wide-reaching range of features without compromising sound quality. The soundstage is wide and open with a refined presentation, delicate details are reproduced with breath-taking accuracy and instrument separation and location are absolutely spot on. Audiolab M-DAC+ PRICE: £800 REVIEWED: HFC 449 While some DACs can dive deeper into a recording, what’s so likeable about the M-DAC+ is its poise, control and command of the bigger musical picture. With its stunning grasp of flow and tempo, there’s a welcome warmth to its presentation and its solid three dimensional imaging is second to none. Chord Electronics TT2 PRICE: £3,400 REVIEWED: HFC 468 We could talk about dynamic range and noise floor modulation, but the TT2 simply creates a more…

Amphion Helium510 PRICE: £720 REVIEWED: HFC 454 Amphion’s stated aim of avoiding a clear sweetspot is achieved with ridiculous ease while its delivery is spacious with wholly convincing tonality and rich and smooth vocals. Piano shows excellent decay and though bass extension isn’t the deepest, it is detailed, fast and superbly integrated with the other frequencies. Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary PRICE: £450 REVIEWED: HFC 470 More than just a range refresh, this baby box has had new life breathed into it in a rather skilful and expert way. So much more than the sum of its parts, the 607 S2 Anniversary Edition is highly engaging across all types of music, has a super classy treble and is the best B&W entry-level standmout yet. ELAC Vela BS 403 PRICE: £1,750 REVIEWED: HFC 447 The Vela…

NAD M10 £2,200 HFC 451 With its super flexibility, powerful amplifier design, big front panel touchscreen and impressive BluOS platform, this is a supremely stylish offering. Sonically it’s a very powerful and refined system while its definition and precision is in ample supply. Naim Uniti Star £3,500 HFC 433 Fast, powerful and grippy with oodles of emotion and a pleasingly expressive tonality, the Uniti Star might not have the forensic detail resolution of some similarly priced rivals, but it isn’t far off. Otherwise it’s practically impossible to find fault at the price. Novafidelity X14 £690 HFC 446 Deserving of praise for the functionality it manages to squeeze into such a compact and elegant chassis, the X14’s well thought out and practical approach will attract those looking to take their first steps into network audio and it…

PRICE: £900-£2,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: OPHIDIAN.CO.UK BRITISH MANUFACTURER OPHIDIAN has launched its second-generation M-Series compact loudspeakers: the Minimo, Mojo and Mambo, and the company says they’ve been completely revised from the ground up. The M-Series 2 speakers take the same formula as the originals with a 27mm fabric dome tweeter from SEAS, Norway, but all three models now utilise a larger 115mm mid/bass driver up from the original 90mm. The new driver utilises a coated paper cone with 65 percent greater surface area and features a 25mm four-layer voice coil that is kept cool by an aluminium former. A magnet and motor system coupled to the company’s Aeroflex bass loading topology allow the speakers to create what’s described by the company as: “truly room-filling sound that belies their compact size.”…

Over the years Nelson Pass’ designs have focussed around FET power devices utilising the absolute minimum number of components, in turn implemented with minimum corrective feedback. Arguably his first product to make audiophiles sit up and take notice was the Stasis, which was the core technology of Threshold Electronics, founded in 1974. The S500 and monoblock S1000 Stasis power amplifiers were the flagship models of the range and were imported into the UK by Absolute Sounds in the early Eighties before the likes of Krell’s Class A monsters became the go-to option. Employing a limited-gain stage, the Stasis amps operated with as near constant-voltage/constant-current conditions as possible. This in turn defined the low distortion (or linearity) of the amplifier, while a currentmirror bootstrap did all the hard work, driving the…

Amazon’s initial streaming offerings concentrated firmly on compressed audio and convenience, and these continue to be available should you wish. The lossless and hi-res service launched unexpectedly in 2019 and when we tested it shortly afterwards we felt it had huge potential. None of this innate potential has been eroded in the meantime either. Amazon claims a track library in the 50-million range (and your reminder here and for all services that follow: this does include plenty of repetition and does not reflect 50-million unique tracks) and these are available as a minimum in 16/44.1 lossless. A significant proportion is also available in resolutions up to 24/192. The good news doesn’t end there either. Amazon knows its way around apps and both the iOS and Android versions are very good…

Instead of heading down the rabbit hole of high resolution, Deezer has spent the last 12 months polishing its existing offering. As noted, the apps have been improved with lossless support and gapless playback added (in fairness to Deezer, the apps were never especially gappy before) and the interface has been tidied up. This doesn’t sound terribly exciting, but it does makes Deezer great to use. One thing that is new is ‘360 by Deezer’. This uses spacial audio for a more immersive experience. Instead of having two channels, the mix is broken down into ‘objects’ (the vocal track, specific instruments etc). This can be sent to supporting hardware and these objects moved around the soundstage in a manner that isn’t possible with conventional stereo. At the moment it only…

As the other ‘specialist’ service in the group, Primephonic is optimised for classical music fans, offering content, curated material and, crucially, search facilities designed to make accessing the genre easier. Primephonic does a better job of understanding the differences between the piece of music, person or group performing it and conductor, which makes locating a specific version of a well-known piece easier here than it is on rivals. The library of “over a million” tracks is available in a mix of lossless and ‘24-bit’ resolution. The vagueness of that statement is a clue to one of the major issues that affects Primephonic as a hi-fioffering. There is no desktop app, which limits PC and Mac users to a web browser app. This has no USB management, which means it is…

Qobuz has always placed great emphasis on its download store – it sold downloads before it offered streaming – but the scope of the service is now one of the most impressive of its type. As well as offering a considerable selection of hi-res material, the vast majority of the library can be purchased in lossless with the option of choosing FLAC, ALAC, WAV and AIFF to integrate effectively with your existing library. If you see yourself making many purchases, the Sublime tier might make more sense. Available only as an annual subscription for £249.99, your extra £100 of outlay secures a block discount in the store so that any hi-res album is available for the same price as the compressed version. The break-even point for this to make sense…

Up until this point, the products we’ve seen from Titan Audio have been examples of relatively conventional engineering thinking carefully applied to good-quality ingredients rather than anything decidedly radical, but this is something of a break with tradition. The FFT Module is designed to work with Titan’s mains cables, all of which will be updated with the means to make use of it as a rolling change beginning with the Helios and Eros ranges. FFT stands for Force Field Technology and marks a step-change in the handling of RFIand other airborne interference that affects mains performance. The cables still make use of shielding and dielectric technology as they did before, but Titan Audio says these are a ‘passive’ defence against interference. A compact block, the FFT attaches to a connector…

Just as Q Acoustics’ 3020i standmount speaker (HFC 441) is a larger version of the 3010i, so the 3030i is an XL, possibly XXL, incarnation of the 3020i. You’d think the upshot would be easy to predict – a brand-familiar smooth, cohesive, easy-going character writ a little larger with more bass, blood and body. In theory, for anyone used to the sound of the 3020i, we could wrap the review right here. Thankfully, the ‘up-scaled’ 3030i has been bestowed sonic benefits that far exceed the anticipated extra heft. It’s a big deal in more ways than one. But big is a good place to start. In completing the 3000i series lineup of standmounts, the 3030i stretches the soft-cornered form factor established a couple of years ago by the dinky 3010i…

Typical Denon buyers of the late Seventies and early Eighties were people who weren’t impressed with the ‘flavour of the month’. As a result, DP-55Ks often turn up on sale from the original owner. They’re not widely traded, chopped and changed or messed around with. This is good news from a secondhand point of view as condition is everything with decks like this. They’re in no way particularly fragile, but don’t withstand serial abuse as well as Technics decks of the day, for example. Most came with SME cut-outs in their armboards, which is good news because a range of adaptors that are on sale that allow, for example, the fitting of Rega-based arms without you having to hack the armboard around. Another piece of good news is that the…

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

92 Liszt/Schubert Schwanengesang Can Çakmur 94 The Notwist Vertigo Days 96 Sleaford Mods Spare Ribs Made Kuti For(E)Ward Femi Kuti Stop The Hate CD Partisan THE LATE FELA Kuti was to African music what Bob Marley was to reggae: an innovator and revolutionary whose music changed the way our world sounds. As the inventor of Afrobeat, Kuti stands unrivalled as the most influential musician ever to come out of Africa and his death in 1997 robbed the world of a singular voice. Yet The Nigerian bandleader leaves a mighty legacy. Sons, Femi and Seun Kuti have propelled Afrobeat into the 21st century with Grammynominated albums of their own. Now a third generation arrives with the debut album from Made, grandson of Fela and son of Femi. The youngest of the Kutis…

With his band Foo Fighters’ 10th LP, Medicine At Midnight, scheduled for release on 5 February, what better time to pick the brain of Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and all-round good guy to discover which sounds helped shape his illustrious career? Bad Brains Rock For Light PVC (1983) “This might be my all-time favourite record,” says Grohl. “It was the first time I’d heard a hardcore band that had that supreme musicianship, but kept it kind of simple – four black guys from Washington DC who laid every other hardcore punk rock band to waste. They were amazing. They were Rastafarians, so they’d throw in a little bit of reggae just to mellow out the punks or something. And they were the most amazing live band in the world. They’re just…

1983 MURMUR Ringing guitars and some intriguingly cryptic lyrics on a spectacular debut that combined folk-rock, postpunk and garage-rock into something entirely fresh and invigoratingly new. Key tracks include Radio Free Europe and Perfect Circle. 1984 RECKONING A winning combination of exquisite jangle-pop and wonderful, melodic songs from the ringing arpeggios of So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry) to the toe-tapping countryrocker (Don’t Go Back to) Rockville via the pulsating 7 Chinese Brothers. 1985 FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION Recorded in the UK with Joe Boyd in the producer’s chair, there’s a more eerie and sinister feel to these Southern Gothic tales of the ‘old weird America’. Best moment: Driver 8, an all-time REM classic. 1986 LIFE’S RICH PAGEANT Without doubt the hardest rocking of REM’s early albums, in part thanks to…

Audiolab 6000CDT 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 half-width compact disc player that…

Cambridge Audio Edge W £2,500 HFC 447 The Edge W power amplifier quotes 2x 100W RMS output and has oodles of power to drive pretty much any speaker. It has a neutral sound with a hint of sweetness and an upbeat nature underwritten by plenty of insight that’s seriously good for the money. Longdog Audio P6100M £3,500 HFC 469 They may look and feel old-fashioned, but the P6100Ms are one of those rare but happy hi-fisurprises: seriously highend sound for mid-price money. More transparent than they have any right to be, they have a fluid and mellifluous midband and pack one hell of a punch. Exposure XM7/XM9 £1,240/£1,390 HFC 429 Fast, open and three dimensional, the XM9 pairing is capable of driving more awkward speaker loads to high levels without any complaint. Partnered with the XM7…

Audiolab 6000N Play PRICE: £450 REVIEWED: HFC 453 Employing the DTS Play-Fiplatform (which is not without its foibles), the Audiolab beautifully balances refinement and engagement with an impressive bass response and tonality. Given an operating system update, this has the potential to be class leading. Even so, it still remains the best-sounding streamer available under ?500. Auralic Aries G2.1 PRICE: £4,200 REVIEWED: HFC 469 This “wireless streaming transport” is designed to sit at the heart of a complex digital music setup to play music from local storage, over network, via a USB device or from online streaming services. Simply add your own DAC and revel in one of the most compelling streaming options available. Cambridge Audio Edge NQ PRICE: £3,500 REVIEWED: HFC 447 Something of a departure from CA’s usual fare, this network music player also…

Acoustic Energy AE509 PRICE: £2,300 REVIEWED: HFC 456 Employing a carbon tweeter to shun shrill brightness, the AE509 allows you to listen into instruments on your favourite recordings, sounding dazzlingly fast and frenetic without the slightest hint of grain or sibilance. Meanwhile its curious conjunction of tonal grace and transient pace; handling of lower frequencies; and taut bass from the matching carbon mid/bass drivers make this floorstander a worthy flagship. Bowers & Wilkins 603 PRICE: £1,250 REVIEWED: HFC 448 Regardless of what you play, here’s a speaker with the power, bandwidth and bass heft to do full-scale justice to Muse, Mozart and Motorhead. Its lowdistortion transparency and 3D imaging conjure up the ambience and atmosphere of the most intimate gig with a tonal palette that’s believable rather than manipulative. And all underpinned by a…

Atacama Audio Apollo Cyclone 6 £100 HFC 455 Available in a choice of three sizes so you can get the height of your cabinets correctly positioned to suit your listening position, this stand removes unwanted vibrations from the performance sharpening imaging and instrument focus for a full, refined sound. Hi-FiRacks X50 From £180.48 HFC 453 Solidly built, these elegant yet classy speaker stands are available in a choice of flexible customisation options, removing all colouration from the performance and giving the impression the cabinet is floating in mid-air. Great value for money and a simple upgrade. IsoAcoustics GAIA II £300 HFC 427 Attaching the GAIA II feet to the underside of your speaker provides a high degree of isolation that gives it the opportunity to breath and display a level of clarity and openness that’s easy…

AnalogueWorks TT Zero PRICE: £1,500 REVIEWED: HFC 453 Pristine without being bright, the TT Zero has fine tonal discrimination and starts and stops precisely where it should. It is able to unpick all the audio strands with ease, sounding, open and airy with plenty of sparkle and bite, a low noise floor, lucid rhythmic gait and impressively clean, controlled and tuneful bass. Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO PRICE: £450 REVIEWED: HFC 468 Easy to setup and unfussy in use, the Debut Carbon EVO’s extremely well-balanced sonic performance is comfortably the equal of any price rival, while the spaciousness of its soundstage and the unblemished nature of its performance make this one of the best sub-?500 turntable offerings period. Rega Planar 6 PRICE: £1,400 REVIEWED: HFC 427 Partnered with Rega’s Ania moving-coil cartridge, the Planar 6 delivers a…

Chord Electronics Huei PRICE: £900 REVIEWED: HFC 459 The Huei’s appeal extends from its rocksolid build and playful, sphere-based control system to its impressive knack of extracting the best from a turntable/cartridge combo without being too painfully honest about the ropier aspects of less-than-pristine recordings. Cyrus Phono Signature PRICE: £1,200 REVIEWED: HFC 408 A welcome addition to the ranks of high-end phono stages, the Phono Signature is something of a bargain. It delivers on the promise of vinyl as a high-resolution format and the fact it does so while offering class-leading functionality and flexibility makes it very special indeed. Lindemann Limetree Phono PRICE: £600 REVIEWED: HFC 441 Offering outstanding levels of performance with moving-magnet cartridges alongside a more than respectable showing with moving-coil options, this engaging performer offers up wonderful tonal richness, propulsive energy and a…

Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT PRICE: £180 REVIEWED: HFC 450 Taking its M50x and turning it into a very capable wireless design (thanks to Bluetooth v5.0) without altering its sonic character, Audio-Technica has come up trumps here. Balance and refinement join crunching bass, impressive three dimensionality and decent noisecancelling to seal the deal. Bowers & Wilkins PX7 PRICE: £350 REVIEWED: HFC 459 Although it’s no match for a high-end wired design, the noise-cancelling abilities of this wireless closed-back model are ideal for music on the move – offering an elevated listening experience amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. An essential audition if you’re serious about enjoying your music out and about. Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Closed PRICE: £900 REVIEWED: HFC 462 Available as both open (warmer, fuller tone) and closed options (leaner midrange), the Aeon 2…

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt £270 HFC 463 With a relatively low 24-bit/96kHz sample rate, expectations for the Cobalt aren′t high until realising it means there′s no need for USB driver software. Native MQA decoding is also supported and the open and richly detailed sound make this the best DragonFly offering yet. Chord Electronics Hugo 2 £1,800 HFC 428 An essential audition, the Hugo 2 is not just a portable DAC/headphone amp, but the best hi-fidigital converter available at or near the price. Music ebbs and flows along in an organic and unforced way and it images with stunning pinpoint precision. Chord Electronics Mojo £400 HFC 423 It might be small and have no gain setting adjustment, but the Mojo takes some beating. Its scrupulous accuracy presents what is contained in a recording with no embellishment so that…

PMC TWENTY5.23I “An impressive step forward. It isn’t very big, but it is rather clever…” We get to grips with the latest update in this popular line of floorstanders ALSO: REVIEWS Cyrus i7-XR amplifier, Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch wireless earbuds, Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 cartridge, Electrocompaniet ECI 80D integrated amplifier and Scansonic M20 floorstanding speakers. FEATURES Music Legends, Music Reviews, Audiophile News, our comprehensive Buyer’s Guide and sharp-as-nails Opinions section, and all your hi-fiquestions answered by our team of experts MARCH ISSUE ON SALE 25 FEBRUARY…

PRICE: £2,800-£3,220 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FYNEAUDIO.COM SCOTTISH COMPANY FYNE Audio has launched the F501SP, its second Special Production loudspeaker, following the F502SP that was unveiled last year and is on review on p44. According to Fyne, the F501SP brings much of the driver, crossover and bass tuning expertise from the F700 Series into the more compact and affordable F501 cabinet design. At its heart is a 150mm IsoFlare driver using the technology and engineering developed for the premium F701 IsoFlare unit. This driver features a multi-fibre mid/bass cone terminated with FyneFlute roll surround and a 25mm magnesium dome compression tweeter with unique waveguide set at its centre. To deliver floorstanding scale musical reproduction, the F501SP adds a 150mm low-frequency bass driver to extend the lowest output of the IsoFlare unit.…

Amazon is realistically less motivated to add third-party integration than most other services here because it has its own ecosystem of devices that it would like you to use. If you upgrade to Music HD it will automatically be sent to Echo and Dot speakers and – although it’s not the easiest thing to confirm – it is likely that when you use Music HD this way, some of the juggling with sample rates will be avoided. As this is the largest user group for the whole Amazon Music platform, it makes sense that this is being prioritised. Perhaps as a result of being designed with voice assistant speakers in mind, it’s worth noting the voice search and prompt function is actually pretty good. Like most systems of this type,…

Originally a store just for purchasing hi-res content, High Res Audio took the decision to move into on-demand streaming a few years ago. As the name suggests, it is a quality-orientated offering rather than the ‘all you can eat’ ethos of rivals. The library is exclusively available in 24/44.1 or higher and material up to 192kHz is available. As there is no ‘ordinary’ lossless content in the library, the amount of content on offer to listeners is less than the mainstream services. But even with it being deliberately picky about the material it chooses, its new releases are barely less comprehensive than rivals, although the depth of its back catalogue suffers a little. There are desktop and web browser apps available and the latter is a good example of the…

One of the most impressive aspects of Primephonic is unrelated to its sound quality. One of the ongoing issues of classical music is the level at which it is pitched to correctly meet the needs of the audience. Too simple and it will be of no interest to those who already have an understanding of the medium and a working knowledge of the main composers in a given genre. Too complex and newcomers will be put off. Primephonic has three levels that its app can be set to. These equate to beginner, intermediate and expert and selecting each alters the curated content and recommendations that the app generates for you. This is a great idea and one that rivals – be they classical or not – would do well to…

As the first lossless service to launch in the UK and a regular winner of this test, Tidal has been one of the most consistent options in terms of its offering. Your £20 a month originally secured access to a library of 16/44.1 material, but in 2017 it announced that high-resolution content would be made available at no extra cost. Unique to the services here, the hi-res content is encoded with MQA. A partial ‘unpack’ can be done by the app, but you’ll need an MQA-capable device to completely unlock it. Since we last ran the test, MQA content has increased considerably to the point where it would be positively advantageous to have hardware support for it if you are a subscriber. There is much more hi-res content available as…

Designed to be a more affordable ‘everyday’ alternative to Sennheiser’s Momentum range, the CX 400BT True Wireless hasn’t made too many compromises to bring the price down. The design is similar to the Momentum 2 (HFC 410) and is available in black or white with a rather chunky earpiece that protrudes quite noticeably from the ear. I always seem to have trouble getting earbuds to stay in my ears, but Sennheiser provides four sizes of eartips to help create a good fit. Internally, the in-ear uses the same 7mm drivers as the Momentum 2, and shares the same 5Hz-21kHz frequency response, which is quite impressive at the price. It supports both aptX and AAC codecs for Bluetooth, making it suitable for a wide variety of Android and Apple devices. There…

Magic Mirror CD Kanine Records A NEW NAME for a new year, although it transpires that the velvet-voiced Southern Californian has paid her dues in varied styles, from playing autoharp in a country duo to drumming in a garage rock band. She’s emerged on the other side as a sophisticated singer-songwriter with a blissed-out canyon rock vibe and a classic pop-rock sound evoking Fleetwood Mac. With a voice that sounds like a perfect amalgam of Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie laced with a touch of Lana del Ray, her songs drip with infectious melodies and irresistible hooks, from the breezy country-rock of What I Need to the haunting piano ballad that is the title track via the sunshine-pop of Sweet Sunshine Wine and the late-night blues groove of As Long As…

Silver Age Music by Prokofiev, Scriabin and Stravinsky 2x CD Deutsche Grammophon “THE SILVER AGE period of art in Russian history is not a single aesthetic, but describes an increasingly fractured social, political and intellectual environment – a cocktail of different artistic expressions, in agitated interaction”. So writes Trifonov about these piano works by three Russian composers. The first CD of solo pieces includes Prokofiev’s 8th Sonata and three movements from Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet. The second disc contains a stunning account of Prokofiev’s brooding second concerto, followed by Stravinsky’s three movements from Petrouchka and Scriabin’s concerto. Trifonov’s playing has amazing clarity and dexterity, and he produces a full, rich burnished tone. He makes the most difficult passages sound easy – even the challenging Petrouchka excerpts. The marauding cadenza in the first…

HD 560S open-back headphone AIMED SQUARELY AT the audio enthusiast, Sennheiser’s HD 560S isn’t exactly awash with modern features – there’s no Bluetooth or noise cancellation, no smartphone app or microphone for taking calls. The earpieces can be adjusted to get a good fit, but they don’t fold flat for travelling and you don’t even get a carry case. In fact, the only accessories included are a 3m cable with a 2.5mm connector for attaching to the left earpiece and 6.3mm for an amp along with a 3.5mm adaptor for other audio devices. Sennheiser gets the basics right, however. The large, padded earpieces fit right around the ears, with the adjustable headband providing a firm but comfortable fit. The earpieces house a pair of 38mm drivers, and while the design…

Ultra Low Noise Feet OWNERS OF MOFI’S UltraDeck or StudioDeck turntables will already have experienced the effect of its Ultra Low Noise Feet (ULNF) as both have them fitted as standard. Answering what it perceives to be a collective ‘wouldn’t it be great?’, however, MoFi’s UK distributor Karma AV has decided to market these ‘magic feet’ separately, including a tiny bubble spirit level to aid setup. Conveniently small at just 4cm high, they can be placed under CD players, DACs, amplifiers, power supplies, standmount speakers and, indeed, other turntables. To cater for a span of component weights, there are three sizes to choose from: 3.6 to 7.2kg, 7.2 to 10.9kg and 10.9 to 14.5kg. Developed in conjunction with Harmonic Resolution Systems, the ULNFs are internally sprung and damped and feature…

Audiolab 8300CDQ £1,100 HFC 448 Taking the winning recipe of the 8200CDQ and adding an upgraded DAC with DSD playback, the accurate and uncoloured sound of the Audiolab is unmistakable. Vast amounts of detail are extracted from the mix, soundstaging is incredible and music flows naturally. Leema Acoustics Stream IV £2,300 HFC 456 The latest update to this long-established player feels a considerable step forward. CD playback is highly refined, assured and transparent, bass is rock solid with visceral depth that positively grips your solar plexus and streaming shares all these qualities for the best of both worlds. Marantz SACD 30n £2,700 HFC 468 While its styling might be a touch divisive, the SACD 30n’s involving, detailed and highly refined sound is beyond dispute whether it be with SACD or CD. Meanwhile, its neat supreme streaming…

Atlas Cables Equator Integra PRICE: £115 for 1m REVIEWED: HFC 438 Employing the same OCC copper conductors used in Atlas’ higher end interconnects, the Equator Integra transmits consistently sophisticated music and represents excellent value for money. Subtle nuances become elevated, while elegance, refinement and fine details adroitly come to the fore. Black Rhodium Minuet PRICE: £160 for 1m REVIEWED: HFC 453 Replacing the Prelude, this RCA interconnect is screened and employs silver-plated copper wire to improve clarity and high-frequency performance. The result is remarkably sophisticated for the money with detail, positioning of instruments, imaging and separation absolutely nailed on. Ecosse Cables Master Reference SE PRICE: £425 for 0.8m REVIEWED: HFC 455 Designed to convey an even greater degree of transparency, detail and three dimensionality than its rival interconnects, the Master Reference SE certainly doesn’t disappoint. Punchy…

Bluesound Vault 2i £1,100 HFC 452 If you see yourself buying into the BluOS ecosystem favoured by the Canadian brand and its cohorts, this 2TB, server, ripper and player compatible with up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM and MQA files, is a great way of starting off in one room and expanding as your system grows. Innuos Zenith Mk3 From £3,000 HFC 451 With one of the best interfaces going and a potently flexible spec, the 4TB, CD ripping Zenith can be used as a Roon Core and delivers an outstanding performance that inspires confidence even for those starting out. It should be right near the top of any shortlist. Melco N100 EX £2,000 HFC 462 Following a software update back in December 2019, the N100 became the EX so it’s now powered by the excellent Intelligent Music…

Chord Company Epic XL £600 1.5m, terminated HFC 450 Combining elements of Chord’s Signature Reference/XL with its Epic speaker cable, the XL bristles with energy and brings fantastic detail to the fore. Subtle elements are captivatingly clear, soundstage depth is enormous and clarity is supremely enhanced. Chord Company Odyssey X £150 1m, terminated HFC 451 Made from the same materials as the Rumour X (HFC 447), the Odyssey X is designed to bring more control to dynamics and definition, and boy does it deliver. Front-to-back imaging is superb, instruments are well focused and clearly positioned while piano is full and rich. QED XT25 £85 3m HFC 434 Claimed to achieve a lowering of impedance compared with a traditional large cross-sectional area twin-core cable, the XT25 offers up great refinement and engaging musicality. Vocals are clear and full…

Bluesound Pulse Flex 2i PRICE: £300 REVIEWED: HFC 453 With no shortage of lower frequencies, the Pulse Flex 2i’s bass extension is controlled, pleasantly quick and has an impressive level of clout to it. Used as a pair, the soundstage is large and effortless underpinned by the aforementioned bass while the connections and range of features provide impressive flexibility. Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo PRICE: £3,500 REVIEWED: HFC 453 The Formation Duo performs the magic trick of revealing new detail in familiar music while delivering a level of insight that’s more akin to a studio monitor. There’s stunning potency and immediacy; supreme bass speed and impact; rich and three-dimensional vocals; and everything feels unerringly accurate. Devialet Phantom Reactor 900 PRICE: £2,580 REVIEWED: HFC 456 Unlike any other wireless designs on the market, the distinctive Phantom boasts…

Audio-Technica AT-OC9XEN £300 HFC 452 This Group Test - winning moving-coil cart utilises an elliptical nude stylus mated to an assembly using two coils rather than one – which is something of an A-T trademark – and balances excellent performance with a useful boost to user friendliness, thanks to its threaded body. Hana ML £1,000 HFC 447 With a threaded insert to make fitting easy, the ML is a low-output moving-coil design sat right at the top of Hana’s range. Boasting a performance full of energy, presence and a believable sense of delay, it’s the depth and fine detail of bass that really impresses here. Nagaoka MP-500 £760 HFC 467 A brilliant MM that even shames some respected MC designs, the MP-500 is tonally warm without going over the top, has a slightly soft but strong and tuneful…

Audeze iSINE 10 £400 HFC 423 A must-have for Apple users, the world’s first planar magnetic in-ear is decent with a regular 3.5mm cable but comes into its own when used with iOS devices connected via Lightning, sounding faster and more cohesive than the best dynamic or multiple armature designs. Oriveti OH500 £500 HFC 451 Combining an airiness with low-end extension that most rivals can only dream of, the OH500’s stylish resin enclosures house four Knowles balanced armatures (two for bass and two for the midrange) with an 8mm dynamic bass driver for an enjoyably vivid performance. Sennheiser IE 80 S BT £440 HFC 456 An impressive combination of excellent performance, comprehensive Bluetooth aptX HD implementation and Sennheiser’s attention to comfort and build make this an exceptionally talented design that is likely to win over many…