Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2023 i Hi-Fi Choice

TECHNICS HAS UNVEILED its new SL-G700M2, the successor to the SL-G700 network/Super Audio CD player. The company describes it as a multi-digital player that: “supports a plethora of digital audio media including MQA, hi-res audio sources and music streaming services,” and claims its goal in developing digital audio signal processing technology was: “to achieve phase alignment and ideal impulse response – characteristics that are essential for faithful music reproduction with an accurate soundstage”. The SL-G700M2 is equipped with a High Precision Coherent D/A Converter, which Technics says converts digital values to analogue signals with the utmost accuracy before outputting them to an amplifier. It is composed of three elements: coherent processing, a high-performance D/A converter in dual monaural configuration and a proprietary discrete amplifier circuit. This technology has been developed…

IFI AUDIO HAS introduced The Uno, which it describes as a first-rung audio upgrade: “a DAC/headphone amp for people who may not know what a DAC is, but know they want better sound quality when they listen to music, stream movies and TV shows, and enjoy other audio”. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the Uno is made from a mineral-filled polymer and its USB-C input connects to Windows PCs, Apple Macs, smartphones and tablets. It doesn’t require its own power source, receiving both power and audio data from the device it’s connected to. The Uno utilises a high-performance DAC chip from ESS Technology’s Sabre HiFi series – the ES9219MQ/Q – benefiting from 32-bit HyperStream III architecture. This combines with Quad DAC+ and Time Domain Jitter…

US AUDIO INTERFACE specialist Apogee Electronics has introduced BOOM, its 2x 2 USB-C audio interface for macOS, iOS and Windows, designed to kickstart any music or content creation project in the studio or on the go. The company explains: “With BOOM, you can record, monitor and mix through class-leading mic preamps and pristine digital conversion. Capture any source from guitar, keyboard and percussion to voice and vocals at 24-bit/192kHz resolution. BOOM is the only interface in its class that lets you fine-tune your input sources with premium built-in hardware DSP FX. If you are a creator on the go, your device powers BOOM – just connect it directly to your Mac, iPad Pro or Windows laptop.” The company continues: “BOOM’s conversion stages employ high-end analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue conversion components, not…

KARMA-AV IS INTRODUCING American company SVS’ wireless all-in-one setup to the UK. The next-gen Prime Wireless Pro system comprises a two-channel powered speaker array integrating a 200W (4x 50W) Class D amplifier, 24-bit/192kHz DAC, 25mm aluminium dome tweeter and digital crossover for what the company claims is: “Best-in-class dynamics, bass and clarity”. The system streams hi-res audio wirelessly via wi-fi, Airplay 2 and Google Cast. Bluetooth enabled, it also features HDMI, line-level, optical and Ethernet inputs as well as a subwoofer out. It’s controlled via smartphone or desktop app, IR remote, voice commands or the front panel OLED interface and allows playback from all streaming services including Amazon Music, Qobuz, iHeart, Pandora, Youtube, Sirius XM, Tidal, Pandora and Audible through the DTS Play-Fi app with native control via Apple Airplay…

Hi-Fi Choice employs the most methodical test and measurement regime in the business. Here’s how we do it... MUSIC SERVER GROUP TEST WITH SUCH A diverse selection of specifications on offer from this month’s group, comparing the music servers is a surprisingly complicated affair. Each full-sized server and the A&K DAP are assessed for boot-up time from cold and noise level when running. The process by which material is added and removed from the internal drive is evaluated and the test music programme is then added to the library. Those servers that don’t have any internal streaming or DACs are connected via Ethernet to Primare’s NP5 Prisma MK2 (HFC 494) streaming transport and, from there, to a Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 (HFC 468) preamp/DAC and matching Chord Electronics Ttoby (HFC…

DETAILS PRODUCT Bluesound Vault 2i ORIGIN Canada/China TYPE Network CD ripper/server WEIGHT 1.84kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 220 x 90 x 192mm FEATURES ● Inputs: CD drive; 2x USB-A; Ethernet ● Outputs: RCA; coaxial via RCA; optical; 3.5mm headphone; sub DISTRIBUTOR Sevenoaks Sound and Vision With the Vault 2i, Bluesound hasn’t chased the badge of audiophile certification so much as a broader consumer sweet spot where style and ease of use share equal billing with sonic ambition. It’s a balancing act that sits comfortably with the slick Bluesound/NAD BluOS ecosystem and its multi-room potential. Along with the Naim Core, it’s cut from a more distinctive aesthetic cloth, too, looking like two shallow rectangular stacked boxes. In either black or white it’s quite a contrast with the old-school, knob-festooned Novafidelity. Reduced to basics,…

DETAILS PRODUCT Naim Audio Uniti Core ORIGIN UK TYPE Music server/ CD ripper WEIGHT 7kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 214 x 95 x 265mm FEATURES ● Inputs: CD ripper; 2x USB-A; Ethernet: ● Output: BNC coax DISTRIBUTOR Naim Audio Ltd. You’ve really got to hand it to Naim Audio. It’s been around quite a few years now, but the Uniti Core still rocks. An impressive-looking weighty, dense and inscrutable black half-width slab with lateral heat sinks that are even sharper than the Leema’s, it’s precisely the kind of kit you fall for before you’ve even plugged it in or fed it a CD to rip. Unlike some of its server-library rivals, it’s disarmingly straightforward in use, every bit as un-fiddly as it looks to operate and naturally, should you have bought into…

Such is the depth and number of models in the Pro-Ject range, you might be forgiven for thinking that pretty much every evolutionary niche of turntable design has long since been covered. In reality, it still has a few more gaps to fill. The X8 is outwardly conventional, but has been developed to employ a specific feature rarely seen at this price point. It is fully balanced in operation. This is rarer to encounter in analogue than it is in digital front ends, which is all the more puzzling considering all turntables are inherently balanced. The four-pin arrangement on the back of a phono cartridge, where each channel has its own ground, is a balanced audio out and it is only when this is recombined in an RCA connection that…

Cyrus Audio’s recent releases have focused on fleshing out its impressive XR range and, before that, creating the ONE Series of amplifiers. Between these two points, the Six and Eight series have continued with only detail revisions for some years, and it is only now that Cyrus has turned its attention back to them. Where there were two ranges, the replacements will be a single lineup of Classic components of which the Classic AMP is one of the first to go on sale. Its name speaks to a certain ‘does what it says on the tin’ intent from Cyrus towards the range, but there is a flexibility to the Classic AMP that befits the requirements of the moment. At its core it offers four RCA line inputs and a moving-magnet…

Radio Gaga Hi gang, thanks for a great magazine! I love reading the expert reviews, the vintage section and all-round technical knowledge (I also subscribe to HiFi News and HCC). Could you do a Group Test of internet tuners? There don’t seem to be many dedicated ones on the market and even though I still listen to FM (and AM for football commentary) on my Sony S770ES and Denon TU-S10, I’d like to compare the quality of internet radio and access the thousands of stations from around the world. Having looked, in this world of streaming there doesn’t seem to be many dedicated internet tuners. A gap in the market? I think so. There’s still a massive radio audience out there and I think a number of readers would be…

R egular readers will be familiar with my raging antipathy towards secondary ticket agencies who fleece music fans by selling gig tickets at obscenely inflated prices. For example, just recently Steve Lacy announced a date at the Roundhouse in London. I logged on to Ticketmaster well in advance of the appropriate time the tickets had been announced to go on sale and when that time came Ticketmaster informed me that I was in a queue and that over 28,000 people were ahead of me. I was encouraged to hang on in there, which I did, and half an hour later I made it to the front at which point I was informed there were no tickets left. Strangely enough, though, a quick hop across to Viagogo found tickets immediately on…

1 QUEEN LIZZO THE FIRST Hot on the heels of Lizzo’s Amazon Prime Video reality series Watch Out For The Big Grrrls comes Love, Lizzo a documentary released via HBO Max. According to the bumf, it will explore: “the journey of a trailblazing superstar who has become the movement the world desperately needed just by being herself… The film will chronicle the inspirational story behind her humble beginnings to her meteoric rise with an intimate look into the moments that shaped her hard-earned rise to fame, success, love and international stardom.” 2 ’HORSE SENSE This Is Sparklehorse is a new feature-length documentary about the music of the late Mark Linkous, just released on Vimeo. It features David Lynch, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle, Portishead’s Adrian Utley and more discussing the life and…

THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS… DANISH COMPANY JAMO has announced it is having a “rebirth”, with a mission to: “offer contemporary speakers that are easy to use and deliver highperformance sound in a package that will seamlessly find its place in your home… with a timeless Nordic design, attention to detail and sustainability.” Boasting a brand new company logo, the first products released by the revitalised company is the Studio7 range of passive loudspeakers designed with a signature 7° tilt. There are six models in the new series – two floorstanders (the S7-27F and S7-25F), two bookshelf cabinets (the S7-17B and S7-15B) and a pair of centre channel speakers (the S7-25C and S7-43C). They boast an all-new 25mm tweeter featuring a copper Faraday ring, which the company claims: “increases sensitivity and…

FALCON ACOUSTICS HAS released two new M-range loudspeaker designs: the M10 two-way standmount and the top-of-the-range M50 three-way floorstander – the first of five new models scheduled for launch within the next six months. Both are hand-made in Italy. The two-way vented M10 cabinet features a 127mm Falcon B110 bass unit – which exclusively replicates the original KEF B110 used by the company’s LS3/5a monitor – and a 25mm ‘M’ range custom soft dome tweeter made to Falcon spec by SEAS. Available in natural Walnut veneer (with Rosewood as a special option), the company says the compact M10: “will supply the signature sound of a classic British two-way speaker to hi-fi enthusiasts seeking to upgrade their systems or build a second system”. It’s priced at £2,400. The three-way vented M50…

HENLEY AUDIO IS handling the UK distribution of HiFi Rose’s RS520, the Korean company’s brand-new all-in-one network audio streamer. Taking design and technical inspiration from the flagship RS150 network streamer and the RA180 integrated amplifier (HFC 477 and 491 respectively), released in 2022, the new all-in-one is being marketed as: “a true high-end solution with enviable flexibility and one-box convenience”. The RS520 includes a built-in network player, DAC and integrated amplifier in an aluminium chassis. It’s designed as a; “just add speakers” solution and its key features include a complete all-in-one streaming amplifier with 250W per-channel output, and connection to streaming services such as Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music, Spotify and Roon. Playing is facilitated via USB, SD or internal storage, or over the local network and it boasts a full…

TO CELEBRATE ITS 50th anniversary NAD is launching its limited-edition C 3050 LE Stereophonic Amplifier. With only 1,972 being manufactured, the retro-look integrated amplifier harks back to the heyday of hi-fi and incorporates LED illuminated left and right VU meters, as well as a satin walnut veneer wooden case that conceals fully modern features like hi-res multi-room streaming, the ability to decode MQA studio master recordings and Dirac Room Correction via the included BluOS-D MDC2 module. Hook-up options incorporate AirPlay 2, two-way aptX HD Bluetooth and HDMI eARC. Additional connections include a phono stage and dedicated headphone amplifier. It is powered by the latest version of NAD’s HybridDigital amplifier rated at 100W per channel of Full Disclosure Power and features a high-resolution audiophile-grade DAC.  Each unit is uniquely numbered from…

FRENCH-BASED REVIVAL AUDIO is bringing its Atalante range of speakers to the UK. The Atalante 3 is a two-way standmount equipped with a 28mm soft-dome tweeter and built-in ARID (Anti Reflection Inner Dome) patented technology along with specialised back-chamber design, which the company says can absorb 95+ percent resonances. Revival also claims its first-in-industry BSC (Basalt Sandwich Construction) 178mn mid/ bass driver is: “the best balance found between rigid and light-weight, with its great damping construction, providing fast and smooth response with tight bass dynamics”. The Atalante 3 measures 240 x 390 x 270mm (WxHxD)and weighs 11kg. It comes in a Walnut wood veneer, with belt & knot design and crafted burned logos and is priced at £2,390. A dedicated Revival Audio Stand 3 is sold separately for £400. The…

IF THERE ARE any die-hard physical media fans reading, I’d advise caution before going any further. Digital singularity. Sounds vaguely dystopian, doesn’t it? A time and a place where swivelling vinyl between your palms or prising a CD from its jewel case are but holographic art installations in a museum. Not today, maybe, but digital end points seem to be where the centre of hi-fi gravity is headed. Naim with its Uniti Core and Bluesound’s Vault 2i are names that best embrace the emerging zeitgeist, invoking the idea of one-stop destinations for all our musical needs, abruptly dismissing the requirement for wall-to-wall shelving to house thousands of CDs, consigning the untangling and configuring of disparate digital strands to activities of the new frontier where early adopters with laptops and NAS…

DETAILS PRODUCT Novafidelity X45 ORIGIN South Korea TYPE Music server/DAC/ streamer/CD ripper WEIGHT 7.8kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 441 x 100 x 330mm FEATURES ● Up to 8TB HDD storage ● 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256- capable DAC ● Digital inputs: 1x optical; 1x coaxial; 1x AES/EBU; USB-B DISTRIBUTOR SCV Distribution South Korea’s Novafidelity, formerly Cocktail Audio in the UK, has always been keen on the fuller-figured product, summoning the spirit of universality in stout, full-width audio form. There’s not really enough space here to do justice to the sheer breadth of the X45’s feature set, but we can at least try to cover its salient functions as a server, ripper, streamer and DAC with add-on storage. The X45 builds on the fine work of the now discontinued X40 (HFC 399), and benefits…

Many of a certain age have seen the transition from physical media to digital storage happen within a relatively short space of time. LPs, 78s, magnetic tapes, CDs, books and magazines have all shed their physical form to be replaced by electronic files. Physical storage is expensive and has led television, recording companies and other music libraries to discard older recordings to make way for the new material. The problem is that much of our history has ended up in a skip somewhere. Fortunately, digital storage requires a fraction of the space needed to hold an equivalent amount of physical media, so our musical heritage is now safe for others to enjoy – or is it? When what was considered to be the greatest archive of the ancient world, the…

ALBUM OF THE MONTH CD Topic ★★★★★ BORN IN BIRMINGHAM to a Jamaican immigrant mother and a Scottish father, Morrison fell in love with English folk music as a young girl. At 17 she attended a folk club for the first time and was shocked to find she was the only non-white person in the room. It set her wondering why the experience of enslaved black people and their descendants is so richly chronicled in song in America and yet there are no references to people of colour in traditional British folk music – though there have been black people here since Roman times. She posed the question to the Arts Council, which funded her to research the largely secret history of Britain’s pre-Windrush black population and to turn their…

MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS HAVE adverse effects on a hi-fi. They can affect cartridges, valves and other electronic components, and even the interconnect and mains cables. Vibrations can come from speakers, motors, transformers and other electronic components – all of which can cause problems. Hope floats There are several ways to deal with unwanted vibrations and one is to isolate components from the external environment, such as with rubber, silicone or spring supports. These provide the necessary stability for the equipment, while dissipating unwanted vibrational energy as heat. However, the principle used here is different. These pucks don’t use compliant or damping materials, but an arrangement of ‘floating’ spheres held within two circular cup-shaped channels. Inside the body is a chromium steel ball race within a non-resonant material cage to hold the…

GERMAN HI-FI SPECIALIST ELAC has announced the launch of its Miracord 80 Turntable, a high-mass belt-driven vinyl spinner featuring a new 10in carbon fibre tonearm, solid wood plinth and optional dedicated moving-magnet cartridge that’s manufactured by Clearaudio. Finished in high-gloss black or walnut veneer, the plinth is complemented by anodised aluminium panels which the company says adds further stability and mass. The steel platter weighs 5.6kg with the aim of providing the necessary inertia for the system and this is supported on what ELAC describes as: “a complex bearing design”. The platter is belt-driven by a PID servo-controlled DC motor whose optical control is designed with a view to ensuring perfect speed stability. The newly developed 10in tonearm is made from carbon fibre to offer both strength and relative light…

Tangent has introduced its Pebble Max Bluetooth speaker boasting a claimed 2x 30W of power and equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 for streaming music from a suitably equipped computer, tablet or smartphone. If the user is not connecting via Bluetooth, included on the Pebble Max is a micro-SD card reader for playing music held on a memory card. There’s an option to physically connect via its 3.5mm mini-jack input and it has a built-in microphone. Capable of multi-directional sound, it is IPX5-rated water and dust resistant and measures: 220 x 95 x 72mm (WxHxD).…

DETAILS PRODUCT Canor Precision Tube DAC 2.10 ORIGIN Slovakia TYPE USB DAC with triode tube output WEIGHT 11kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 435 x 120 x 405mm FEATURES ● 2 xESS9038Q2M (dual mono) DAC ● Supports up to: 768kHz; DSD512 ● Full MQA decoding ● Outputs: RCA; XLR ● Inputs: optical; 2x coaxial; AES/ EBU; USB-B DISTRIBUTOR Signature Audio Systems WEBSITE canor-audio.com signaturesystems. co.uk Many of the manufacturers that choose to create tube-based components seem to prefer taking the retro-nostalgic design route, but Slovakia’s Canor ploughs its own furrow, instead favouring a more modern, progressive aesthetic. Not content with limiting itself to tube amplifiers, the company also likes to integrate line-level tube stages into its source products, such as the CD 2.10 compact disc spinner. The partnering DAC 2.10 also marries an…

DETAILS PRODUCT Melco N50-H60 ORIGIN Japan TYPE Music library/server with HDD storage WEIGHT 7kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 436 x 62 x 352mm FEATURES ● 6TB built-in HDD storage ● 3 xUSB 3.0 output ● Roon end point DISTRIBUTOR Melco According to Tokyo-based Melco Audio, its newest full-width HDD model perfectly bridges the gap between the entry-level N100 (HFC 444) and the compact N1Z while offering a sizeable 6TB of storage as standard. Another way to look at it is £2k cashback for a machine identical to the excellent £5k N50-S38 EX (HFC 495) except for a 6TB hard-disc drive (HDD) instead of a 3.84TB solid-state drive (SSD). Assuming sonic parity, it’s a no brainer. But it is an assumption, and then there’s the rest of the group to tussle with. As…

I’M GLAD WE included A&K’s remarkable SP2000T DAP. A little out of its depth in some areas, it shows you don’t need to make space for a stay-at-home box to enjoy the benefits of a do-it-all digital hub and more than holds its own sonically in what turns out to be a strong group. This isn’t the first Group Test outing for a couple of the contenders, but final ranking orders inevitably change and it’s Bluesound’s Vault 2i that starts us off this time. Best appreciated as part of a larger BluOS eco-system, it’s slightly hamstrung by its inability to work as a network client, but is easy to use and turns in a very decent standalone performance, nonetheless. In the final reckoning, Astell&Kern’s A&ultima SP2000T – an object of…

When the bulk of your products wear price tags positioned somewhere between healthy and mind blowing, producing an affordable introduction to what you do can be a challenge. Vertere’s decision to make a complete turntable that costs less than one of its high-end lead-out cables was the DG-1; a wholly novel approach that impressed us when we tested it back in HFC 463. The DG-1S doesn’t seek to drastically change the premise. Instead, it takes areas the company felt could be improved and works them into the design, while making use of an increasing ecosystem of its components. This begins with a higher quality polish and tighter tolerance to the bearing and the motor that combines with new software for the drive system to reduce noise and vibration. Elsewhere, the…

DETAILS PRICE £215 for 1m pair TELEPHONE 07580 6918031 WEBSITE ecossecables.co.uk OUR VERDICT ★★★★★ SUBJECTED TO A deep-cryogenic treatment, the NuDiva promises to be an interesting product. The signal conductors are made from silverplated Ultra Hi-Purity-OFC wire insulated with an air-foamed polyethylene dielectric. The wires are configured as a twisted pair, rope-lay construction and have a dual screen consisting of a conductive polymer tube surrounded by a close-lapped silver-plated braid. In addition, any modulation effects due to microphony are tackled by the use of a cotton fibre filler and the whole assembly is sheathed in a clear soft PVC 9mm diameter outer jacket. With the NuDiva connected between my valve preamp and monoblocks, I start with Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony No.3 by The Montreal Symphony Orchestra. It has a refined, deep…

Recommends ES SENTIAL HI-FI YOU’LL WANT TO OWN ■ CD players p110 ■ Amplifiers p111 ■ Pre/power amps p111 ■ Cables p112-113 ■ Network audio players p114 ■ Music servers p114 ■ DACs p115 ■ Loudspeakers p116-118 ■ One-box systems p118 ■ Turntables p119 ■ Cartridges p119 ■ Phono stages p120 ■ Headphones p120-121 ■ Portable DACs p121 CD PLAYERS Audiolab 6000CDT PRICE: £380 REVIEWED: HFC 447 The 6000CDT is exceptional at revealing what’s on your discs to deliver a great big soundstage with plenty of detail inside. It can dig down deep into the mix to eke out the different musical strands while dynamically and rhythmically it’s hard to beat at the price. In short, it’s a super, highly affordable audi ophile CD transport. ★★★★★ Musical Fidelity M3scd PRICE: £1,150 REVIEWED: HFC 450 Able to string together elements…