Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2023 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £360-£1,050 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: PROJECT-AUDIO.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK PRO-JECT HAS JUST released two new amplifiers – the Stereo Box S3 BT and MaiA DS3. The Stereo Box boasts a claimed 2x 40W output power into 4ohm loads as well as Bluetooth V5.0 with aptX HD (for compatibility with up to 24-bit/48kHz files) and an analogue volume control with motor driven potentiometer. Connectivity includes two pairs of RCA line inputs, variable output for subwoofer or second zone amp, gold plated RCA connectors and isolated speaker outputs, plus it comes with an IR remote control. Built within a rigid aluminium casing, which the company claims protects against interference, the Stereo Box S3 BT is available in black or silver and is priced at £360.  The MaiA DS3 offers 140W per channel at 4…

PRICE: £5,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MISSION.CO.UK BRITISH COMPANY MISSION has launched its first new integrated amplifier in 40 years – the 778X, a substantial upgrade of 1983’s 778. Inputs for digital sources comprise asynchronous USB Type B, one coaxial and two optical, while digital outputs are provided in optical and coaxial flavours. Analogue signals are catered for by three stereo RCA inputs – two line-level plus a moving-magnet phono input for turntables – while pre-out sockets permit the addition of an external power amplifier. Bluetooth reception facilitates wireless audio streaming from smartphones, tablets and the like, with support for multiple codecs including aptX and AAC. The front of the amp sports a pair of rotary controls – one for source selection, the other for volume – surrounded by white LEDs…

PRICE: £1,100-£1,250 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: LEAK-HIFI.CO.UK FOLLOWING ON FROM the recent release of Leak’s Stereo 130 integrated amplifier and Leak CDT CD transport comes the company’s Stereo 230 integrated amp. Designed as a step-up model from the Stereo 130, the new amp features upgraded circuitry, delivers more power and features an enhanced DAC stage for digital source components, while sporting the same vintage aesthetic. From the front, the Stereo 230 looks almost identical to the previous Stereo 130 – the same aluminium front panel and tactile controls, and the same optional walnut wood enclosure adorning its aluminium chassis. Its width and height are also unchanged, but the new amp is 14cm deeper, reflecting its enhanced circuitry and greater power. Like the Stereo 130, its built-in DAC circuitry caters for digital…

PRICE: £16,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MCINTOSHLABS.COM FINESOUNDS.UK NEW YORK COMPANY McIntosh has unveiled its MC451 Dual Mono Power Amplifier, a compact mono amp that benefits from the manufacturer’s proprietary Hybrid Drive technology, where valve and solid-state amplification is combined in one unit. McIntosh says its: “Hybrid Drive enables users to drive a loudspeaker’s critical tweeter and midrange drivers with lush valves, yet provides the more demanding bass drivers with the power, control and dynamics of solid state”. The new MC451 follows on from the MC901 Dual Mono Power Amplifier with a more compact design built in one chassis and offering a claimed 150W from its valve section and 300W from solid state. The MC451 benefits from user-selectable solid-state and valve output stages that can be selected using a balance control…

For many audiophiles the transition from using a moving-magnet cartridge in a ‘starter’ system to a moving-coil by way of upgrade is something of a rite of passage. However, as Japanese specialist Nagaoka is keen to remind us, other options are available. The debate goes something like this: given that some superb MCs can be had from around £300 and up, one might ask who is going to buy an MM that costs nearly double this, such as the Nagaoka MP-500. This flagship pick-up retails for £800 or £900 in MP-500H guise, the latter pre-mounted into a rather swish Nagaoka-branded headshell. The fact is, though, MCs are not for everyone. You may need to change your tonearm to better match the lower compliance of a new MC while also investing…

DETAILS PRODUCT Bluesound Pulse 2i ORIGIN Canada/China TYPE All-in-one streaming speaker WEIGHT 5.1kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 420 x 198 x 192mm FEATURES ● 24-bit/192kHz capable streamer ● AirPlay 2 ● Inputs: optical; analogue line-in ● Multi-room DISTRIBUTOR Sevenoaks Sound & Vision Bluesound’s comprehensive family of devices has been contesting in this market category for longer than most and the 2i is one of the older models in the group. This is the largest standalone speaker in the company’s current range and is complemented by smaller options, soundbars and subwoofers. The driver complement is a true stereo one, with a pair of 133mm mid/bass drivers and 25mm tweeters mounted at the front of the chassis. Total power is quoted at 150W, but like most of the speakers in the group this breaks…

DETAILS PRODUCT Elipson W35+ ORIGIN France/China TYPE Wireless active loudspeaker WEIGHT 7.6kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 350 x 350 x 350mm FEATURES ● 24-bit/44.1kHz capable streamer ● Inputs: optical; analogue line-in ● Multi-room DISTRIBUTOR Avoke Ltd. Given that Elipson is usually associated with the construction of spherical speakers – most famously for the French broadcasting industry – it perhaps isn’t too surprising to find the W35+ following suit. A central ‘spine’ contains the electronics while two 165mm mid/bass drivers and a pair of 25mm silk dome tweeters are mounted to the sides. A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) is then employed to push a stereo image forwards. This has been the source of some attention over the original W35 for Elipson’s engineers, with the aim being to push the stereo image further out…

THIS IS A fascinating roundup as no one speaker delivers a perfect performance, so – depending on your requirements – your ‘winner’ may be further down the rankings. Case in point, the Elipson W35+ and B&W Zeppelin. The former has interesting features, looks cool and delivers a spacious sound, but its size, high price and slightly forward sound counts against it. The latter by contrast, is one of the best-sounding speakers here, but its limited connectivity is an issue as is integrating it with other multi-room products. If you want one wireless speaker, it’s a solid choice. Combining the Denon Home 350, Technics Ottava F SC-C70MK2 and Bluesound Pulse 2i would realistically give the perfect wireless speaker. The Denon’s weight, scale and authority is excellent. It goes on to look…

I really liked the compact USB Dual DAC that Astell&Kern released in 2021. It provided a usefully portable option for boosting the audio performance of standard 3.5mm headphones. For some reason it has retroactively been given the ‘HC1’ model number as part of a new range of DAC products. That range begins with the new AK HC2 Dual DAC, which focuses specifically on 4.4mm balanced output for headphones. An HC3 model – due soon – will provide a 3.5mm replacement for the HC1. The HC2 is a little chunkier than its predecessor, with the familiar angular edges that A&K tends to favour. Even so, it’s small and light enough to easily carry around in your pocket when travelling. The fixed USB-C cable that connects the DAC to your computer or…

Although most famous for its amplifiers – the Cyrus name first appeared on the mid-eighties Mission Cyrus 1 and 2 integrateds, lest we forget – by the end of the Eighties the company was making Compact Disc players, too. Initially badged as a ‘Mission Cyrus’, the PCM II was a largely Philips-based machine that used the popular CDM4/11 swingarm disc mechanism, plus the now legendary Philips TDA1541 digital-toanalogue conversion chip. In the years since it was discontinued in 1989, this little slice of silicon has gone on to acquire a cult reputation. It sounded fast and feisty, and very ‘Eighties’, but the new Cyrus Audio brand decided to abandon practically everything about it for its first ‘clean sheet’ CD product – the Discmaster/ DACmaster transport and DAC combo that followed…

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) joined TikTok in January 2021 in an effort to keep audiences engaged during the COVID-19 lockdown. In the following 12 months, the account had amassed 32,000 followers and its posts had been viewed more than 200,000 times. For the uninitiated, TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service used to create short videos and was the fastest growing social media in 2019. According to an article in The Drum, the orchestra’s digital and residencies marketing manager Sophie Harvey, who leads its social strategy, said the LPO’s TikTok approach has been all about experimentation. Harvey admitted that its first foray on to the platform was not particularly successful. The LPO made the mistake of producing ‘TikTok-style’ content, such as posting videos entitled ‘Top Tips for Performance Anxiety’.…

PRICE: £1,000-£1,100 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AUDIOLAB.CO.UK AUDIOLAB HAS INTRODUCED its 9000A integrated amplifier, the first component in the UK company’s new flagship 9000 Series. It boasts three rotary controls, an absence of buttons (except for the power switch) and a 4.3in colour screen, which displays a variety of information including volume level, input selection, format data and more. This gives access to the amp’s menu system, which features such options as digital upsampling, input sensitivity adjustment, balance control, automatic standby switching and volume curtailment when the amp is powered up. It can also be set to display a VU meter in either ‘analogue’ or ‘digital’ form, showing real-time decibel levels for the left and right channels and can be dimmed or turned off. The 9000A builds upon the previous 6000A…

PRICE: £134 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: RXREELS.COM US-BASED RX REELS has introduced a new 7in reel composed of upcycled aviation-grade carbon fibre which, the company says, is more hard-wearing than plastic or aluminium. “Carbon fibre comes in many grades,” RX explains, “the highest quality being aviation grade, which offers superior strength and durability. Normally, the cost of such a material would be prohibitive, but our location in the USA’s Pacific Northwest gives us ready access to carbon fibre material discarded by local military and aviation manufacturing industries. The material is new, unused and high grade, but it’s often not big enough for their purposes and gets scrapped. But it’s absolutely perfect for ours, so we upcycle it to make our reels.  “RX Reels’ carbon fibre flanges are dense and strong, yet…

PRICE: £250 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: GRADO.CO.UK US HEADPHONE SPECIALIST Grado has introduced its GW100x Bluetooth open-back headphone – the third edition of its wireless series offering a newly enhanced fourth-generation X series driver design and superior Bluetooth V5.2 wireless technology compatible with aptX Adaptive, AAC and SBC codecs. The improved battery claims to offer 46 hours of use from just a two-hour charge. The new driver design features a more powerful magnetic circuit, a voice coil with decreased effective mass and a reconfigured diaphragm. Grado claims the re-engineering of these components for the 44mm drivers improves the efficiency while reducing distortion and preserving the harmonic integrity of music.  Based on the original GW100 design, the speaker housings and internals have been designed in a bid to diminish escaping sound by…

WIRELESS SPEAKERS GROUP TEST A UNIQUE CONSIDERATION when testing loudspeakers of this nature is to not make the conditions of the test too ‘hi-fi.’ While a large and very stable Quadraspire rack is usually employed for testing, on this occasion our six contenders are put through their paces on a small table of the sort that seems to feature repeatedly in their marketing material. Also, while five of our six test subjects work over wired Ethernet connection (Bowers & Wilkins’ Zeppelin being the contender which is wireless only), the speakers are given a thorough workout wirelessly, both to see how easy it is to connect to them and to judge their stability during an extended listening session. The test programme is accessed from a Melco N1A NAS drive on the…

DETAILS PRODUCT Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin ORIGIN UK/China TYPE Wireless active loudspeaker WEIGHT 6.5kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 650 x 210 x 194mm FEATURES ● 24-bit/192kHz capable streamer ● AirPlay 2 ● Multi-room DISTRIBUTOR Bowers & Wilkins This might just be the nearest thing that the wireless speaker category has to an iconic shape. Originally an iPod dock, the Zeppelin reinvented itself as a self-contained wireless speaker and this latest generation was launched last year. Its distinctive shape is borne of function; the argument goes that by placing the tweeters at the ‘points’ of the Zeppelin, a more convincing stereo image can be achieved. The tweeters lurking at the outer edges are 25mm in size, each with a 90mm midrange unit further inboard, and they operate as left and right channels with…

Every hi-fi era has its own buzzwords, and while variations on the theme of ‘digital’ and ‘hi-res’ have largely permeated our collective consciousness over the past few decades, the 2020s have so far proved thick with references to ‘trickle-down technology’. Brands have always launched flagship products to showcase innovations that eventually ‘trickle-down’ to middle and entrylevel ranges, but nowadays there’s almost an expectation that this osmosis of tech will happen both swiftly and wholesale. Following the launch of SME’s fabulous Model 60 turntable (HFC 491) the ‘trickle down’ has begun within a mere six months, across the range, and makes its debut in the replacement for its Model 12A. The unveiling of the unannounced, non-press-released £10,475 Model 12 MK2 turntable has been an exercise in stealth marketing, but the first…

Hi-fi fascinating fact of the day: Jamo is an amalgam of the names of the company’s founders, Jacobsen and Mortensen. Not a lot of people know that, as someone once said. The reason I’m telling you this is that it’s in the strange position of being a long-established speaker brand that – in the UK at least – isn’t as well-known as perhaps it should be. Now a member of Premium Audio Company, established in 2020, it’s a sister brand of Klipsch, Magnat, Heco, Onkyo, Pioneer and Integra – having previously been acquired by Klipsch in 2005. The new mission statement is: “to offer contemporary speakers that are easy to use and deliver high-performance sound in a package that will seamlessly find its place in your home,” according to Jamo…

Hõjicha or Oolong?” Klang Tone’s owner Sean Roe – aVan de Graaff generator of enthusiasm, ideas and recommendations – lays out his mission statement from behind a music poster-decorated counter over a cup of tea. “I’m trying to create a great shopping environment,” he explains. “Records are tactile things. Second-hand records in particular need to be inspected, and I much prefer talking directly to customers both about the record they’re interested in purchasing and to them as individuals. It’s probably the way I most enjoy finding out about new music.” Welcome to Klang (German for sound) Tone, which opened its doors in early October – Stroud’s ‘Music Freak Zone’. Pass through an exhibition space on the ground floor and ascend jazz icon-lined stairs to a treasure trove of adventurous music…

The most played ‘new’ record in my house in recent months has been the remixed version of an album I’ve loved since first hearing it as a 12 year-old more than half a century ago. I’m talking about The Beatles’ Revolver. Listening to it again, I was struck that despite the instruments squeezed into four tracks and all the other technological limitations of the era, records made in the Sixties sound warmer to me than almost any of the auto-tuned music we hear today. I’m not talking about here is the quality of the songs or whether I prefer John Lennon’s voice to Ed Sheeran or Janis Joplin to Adele. I’m talking purely about the sonic texture of the recordings. I mentioned this to a friend who works in the…

1 IT’S ALL WHITE Pro-Ject Audio Systems has launched its Pro-Ject Debut PRO turntable in a limited All White edition. Featuring a near identical spec to the original Debut PRO, the All White boasts Ortofon’s 2M White cartridge in place of the 2M Red and comes in at the same price – £700 – as the original satin black version, via Henley Audio: henleyaudio.co.uk 2 BIG SOFTIES Guilty pleasures fans rejoice for a new three-part documentary about soft rock is showing on Paramount+. It’s called Sometimes When We Touch, subtitled The Reign, Ruin And Resurrection Of Soft Rock, and focuses on MOR heroes such as Hall & Oates, Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie, Air Supply and Michael McDonald, and features commentary from Kenny Loggins, LA Reid, Sheryl Crow, Susanna Hoffs and…

PRICE: £150 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: BOOMBOCS.COM British company BoomBocs has launched its new STUDIO portable speaker. Made by the brand’s founder, sound engineer Jonny Williams, STUDIO has a built-in amplifier and stereo full-range drivers tuned to deliver: “true pro-audio sound quality, wherever you are.” Boasting a battery life of up to 15 hours, STUDIO is available in pink, orange, green, black and white – and pays homage to retro portable speakers of the past with its large, stereo speaker drivers on full show. The drivers use aluminium cones for their high-power handling and moisture/impact resistance. STUDIO has dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth V5.0 connectivity, and has built-in Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music and Internet Radio, all controlled via the top panel buttons and the built-in LCD display or through the UNDOK app…

PRICE: £1,200 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: REGA.CO.UK REGA HAS UPDATED its Elex-R stereo integrated amplifier to MK4 status and housed it in a brand-new case to match the rest of its range. Building on previous designs using the British company’s Class A/B power amplifier circuit, it delivers a claimed 72W per channel into 8ohm loads (90W into 6ohm). New rear connectivity options include two digital inputs (for the built-in DAC) and a headphone output that’s located on the front panel. Rega says the entire Elex-R circuit board has been redesigned to optimise performance, the power provided by a multi-stage linear supply while supply rails for digital and analogue sections are galvanically isolated. The DAC is based on the Rega DAC-R circuit. The galvanically/ optically isolated digital inputs utilise a Wolfson S/PDIF…

PRICE: £150-£220 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AMAZON.CO.UK SIVGA HAS ANNOUNCED two new closed-back wooden headphones: the Robin and the Oriole. Both come with 50mm drivers, a braided cable (with a 6.3mm adapter) colour matched to each model, an optional balanced cable for listening on high-end personal media players and memory foam ear pads. The Oriole is available in either a light or dark brown high-gloss finish and the company says: “it delivers a sound signature that is balanced and wide, ideal for classical and jazz music”. Meanwhile, the Robin comes in either a light or dark brown matt finish and, according to Sivga: “delivers a lively, forward sound, ideal for rock, pop and dance music”.  Both models come with a hemp bag and boast the same lightweight design (Oriole 280g, Robin…

NOT TOO LONG ago, the idea that a single-chassis speaker could be a viable alternative to a more conventional separates system would have been seen as absurd. The whole premise of such products was convenience; the notion that they could even come close to rivalling equipment that could be chosen and assembled for the task seemed fanciful. It is a mark of how far things have come in a relatively short space of time that this is no longer seen as an absolute. The reason for this progress has come from two different directions. The first has nothing to do with wireless speakers at all. Inflation – in the last two years especially – has lifted the price of separates systems to the point where assembling something in the £600-800…

DETAILS PRODUCT Denon Home 350 ORIGIN Japan/China TYPE Wireless active loudspeaker WEIGHT 6.3kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 380 x 225 x 180mm FEATURES ● 24-bit/192kHz and DSD compatible ● AirPlay 2 ● 3.5mm analogue in ● Multi-room DISTRIBUTOR Sound United The 350 is the largest stereo model in Denon’s Home range, which includes both smaller stereo-type loudspeakers plus a soundbar and subwoofer that can in turn make use of the other speakers to create a full surround system. Mechanically, the Denon has a rather different configuration to any other offering in the group. A pair of 19mm tweeters and two 50mm midrange drivers are mounted in the front of the cabinet. These are boosted by a pair of 165mm bass units, although only one of these is on the same side as…

DETAILS PRODUCT Technics Ottava F SC-C70MK2 ORIGIN Japan/China TYPE All-in-one streaming speaker WEIGHT 8kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 450 x 143 x 280mm FEATURES ● 32-bit/384kHz and DSD 128 compatible ● AirPlay 2 and Chromecast ● Inputs: optical; analogue line-in ● Multi-room DISTRIBUTOR Technics UK Five of the six speakers here are identifiably of a type, with the same basic premise, differing only in detail areas. The Technics Ottava F SC-C70MK2 (hereon referred to as the Ottava F) is the one offering in the group that feels a little different. An update on the previous SC-C70, it is built around a pair of 80mm midrange drivers and 20mm tweeters that are mounted at either end of the front panel. These are underpinned by a single downward-firing 120mm bass driver. Total power is…

From the outside looking in, Grado can seem like the very model of engineering consistency. Its strong retro theme does well to convince it has decided on a set of design parameters and stuck to them religiously. In reality, it continues to develop its designs and this is a significant change over what has gone before. Key to this is a process that combines different woods to make use of their specific virtues. Each driver housing is a combination of Maple, Hemp and Cocobolo (a South American hardwood commonly used for musical instruments), arranged in layers. The Cocobolo section is the smallest and mounted right at the back of the housing. These housings contain an all new ‘X Series’ driver that, at 50mm across, is relatively large. Grado is customarily…

A statement. A focal point. A conversation stopper. I wonder how many hi-fi systems are built around a heavyweight eyeful of a component you simply can’t ignore. Two-person-lift amps that are too large to fit in a normal kit rack and therefore require their own floor-hugging isolation platforms are obvious options. We have one here. Fittingly huge and weighing in at a solid 33kg, it uses a pretty ensemble of room-warming valves and sports a pair of old-fashioned VU metres trained to rhythmically twitch in time to the music. For some audiophiles this is destination stuff, a necessarily expensive reward for years of playing hi-fi snakes ‘n’ ladders; an end game scenario where that itch to upgrade finally evaporates into the sunset. At £10,750, the Melody AN300B Max Western Electric…

By 2006 when Arctic Monkeys released their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, British rock music was not in great shape. A high tide had been reached a decade earlier in the era of ‘cool Britannia’ when Britpop reigned supreme; but it seemed that the battle for supremacy between Blur and Oasis might just have been the final time that guitar bands would hold a central place in the national conversation. America had produced a couple of classic bands in The Strokes and White Stripes to keep the flame burning, but in the UK the scene was dominated by the harmless but anodyne tunes of the likes of Travis and Keane. There was even a suitably disparaging name for this insipid musical landscape. It was…

Hi-Fi Choice Recommends ESSENTIAL 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 audiophile CD transport. ★★★★★ Musical Fidelity M3scd…

Our reviewer says: “This is a speaker that looks and feels like a refugee from the Seventies, but it really doesn’t sound like one. Instead, you are treated to a transparent and self-effacing performance... In some ways, this is a perfect summary of PSB’s 50 years of design; unfussy, accurate and user friendly.” Find out more in the March issue... ALSO: REVIEWS Oppo Enco X2 noise-cancelling earbuds, Vertere Mystic MC cartridge, iFi Audio NEO Stream network streamer, T+A Solitaire T Bluetooth headphone, Falcon Acoustics M10 loudspeaker, Wattson Audio Madison streaming DAC plus a CD player Group Test FEATURES Music Legends, Music Reviews, Reasons To Be Cheerful, our comprehensive Buyer’s Guide and sharp-as-nails Opinions pieces, all the latest kit release news in Audiofile and all your hi-fi questions answered by our…