Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £375-£4,000 AVAILABLE: Q2 AND Q3 WEB: HARMANLUXURYAUDIO.COM THEY’VE BEEN PRETTY busy over at JBL. Part of the Harman Luxury Audio Group, the company has just launched a suite of new products including the new JBL 4329P Studio Monitor powered loudspeaker. Marketed as a completely self contained, amplified system, the 4329P includes two speakers, each featuring a patented JBL 2409H 25mm compression driver, High-Definition Imaging horn and JW200P-4 205mm pure-pulp black paper cone mid/bass driver with a cast frame. Each speaker is powered by a 300W amplifier, with a claimed 250W delivered to the mid/ bass and 50W to the compression driver. Both are controlled by a digital signal processor (DSP) to ensure that each driver blends seamlessly. The speaker’s integrated streaming engine provides wired and wireless network audio capabilities…

PRICE: £350 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SONY.CO.UK SONY HAS ADDED a new digital music player to its Walkman range: the NW-A306, which offers full wi-fi compatibility, weighs 113g and features a 9.14cm touchscreen and tactile physical music controls. The body is milled from premium aluminium and utilises S-Master HX digital amp technology, which has been independently developed for Walkman and is compatible with the native DSD format. The company claims that this: “reduces distortion and noise across a wide range of frequencies for rich and full-bodied sound, further enhanced by new high-quality sound lead-free solder.  The NW-A306 claims 36 hours of battery life and uses Edge-AI (Artificial Intelligence) and DSEE Ultimate (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) with a view to upscaling compressed digital music files to higher quality. Sony claims that the…

CD PLAYERS £2,000-£3,200 THE VENERABLE COMPACT disc. Forty years old and still going, well, downhill to be blunt. Squeezed on one side by the ubiquity of streaming and, on the other, the much celebrated, though slightly sagging, vinyl revival, words like ‘moribund’ and ‘legacy’ often support the sorry tale of the CD’s gradual and seemingly irreversible demise. But let’s just take stock for a moment. We’re talking here about arguably the most successful music replay format in history, progenitor of the Red Book 16 bit/44.1kHz ‘lossless’ digital standard on which most of the world’s music is stored and played. It’s the format largely responsible for killing off the miserable compact cassette and, ironically, triggering the vinyl revival. No, not perfect, but the players – understandably fewer in number – have…

DETAILS PRODUCT Musical Fidelity M6scd ORIGIN Austria TYPE CD player WEIGHT 11.2kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 440 x 125 x 385mm FEATURES ● 32-bit Delta Sigma DAC ● Inputs: 2x coaxial; 2x optical ● Outputs: USB-A; RCA; 1x balanced XLR; 1x coaxial; 1x optical DISTRIBUTOR Musical Fidelity Taking over from the fine-sounding M6cd and a blood relative of the M6S DAC, the M6scd lands as a potentially formidable force in this roundup. Not quite the largest chassis in the group and falling just a whisker short of being the most fastidiously built, it’s nevertheless a strapping presence that’s bristling with features and more than its fair share of technical braggadocio, so let’s go there first. The M6scd quotes stereo separation better than 105dB 20Hz to 20kHz while jitter, noise and distortion artefacts…

DETAILS PRODUCT Roksan blak CD Player ORIGIN UK TYPE CD player WEIGHT 8kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 440 x 140 x 309mm FEATURES ● Texas Instruments’ PCM1798 DAC ● Outputs: RCA; 1x optical; 1x coaxial; balanced XLR; 1x AES/EBU XLR DISTRIBUTOR Sofar we’ve seen a range of different versatility-led silver disc spinners offering digital hub functionality by allowing their DACs to operate independently of their compact disc-spinning transports. But there are no such concessions to hub-think modernity here. In principle, the Roksan blak is very much a CD player of the old school. It plays compact discs, will feed an external DAC if you wish and... well, that’s pretty much it. The form factor is unusual and distinctive with a tall build made taller still by the oversized front panel, and yet…

DETAILS PRODUCT Oppo Enco X2 ORIGIN China TYPE True wireless Bluetooth earbuds FEATURES ● 11mm full-range driver with 6mm planar diaphragm ● Bluetooth 5.2; SBC; AAC; LHDC ● Battery life: up to 40 hours with case DISTRIBUTOR Oppo WEBSITE oppo.com/uk It looked as though Oppo was getting out of the audio business a few years ago, leaping onto the smartphone bandwagon instead. But smartphones always need accessories, and the company has returned to the audio market with its Enco range of wireless earbuds. Available in black or white, the X2 is clearly imitating the design of Apple’s AirPods (HFC 485), with compact earpieces that rest lightly inside the ear and a small stalk that hangs down and houses its touch-sensitive controls. I always have problems getting AirPods to fit properly,…

Trading for half a century is no mean feat in any product category but in the world of hi-fi where some companies have the lifespan of a mayfly, it’s a notable achievement. Not only has PSB reached the 50-year mark, it has done so with owner and founder Paul Barton at the helm throughout. To celebrate, Barton has released the Passif 50; a speaker that borrows design thinking from the Seventies, but mixes it with many far more modern attributes. For accuracy or pedantry purposes, the Passif 50 is based on the Passif II, which did not appear until 1974 but is historically important as it represented the first collaboration between Barton and Floyd Toole of the National Research Council of Canada – agovernment body and thinktank that has helped…

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I recently finished reading Dylan Jones’ Faster Than A Cannonball, 1995 And All That, quite a hefty tome dedicated to reminiscing over and contextualising Britpop and Cool Britannia. It’s a pretty decent, well-balanced read, one of those aural history thingies packed with quotes from the relevant movers and shakers. The reason I mention it is that, one quote in the book really stood out for me. In the chapter dedicated to the late-Nineties infatuation with – for want of a better phrase – Easy Listening, the once-upon-a-time hip young gunslinger Tony Parsons says: “The soundtrack of your youth and young manhood will slip away with passing time, like some half-remembered ex-girlfriend. You wake up one day and wonder what you ever saw in Oasis or Tupac Shakur, Springsteen or Frankie…

ALTHOUGH SHARING THE same construction as the lower-cost Sidewinder speaker cable from TCI, the Anaconda is intended to offer a significant improvement in sound quality thanks to the introduction of higher grades of materials. The four conductors of 76/0.20mm wire are aerospace-grade 99.999 percent silver-plated, oxygen-free copper. The cable is insulated with a flame retardant Superthane outer jacket and has a flat profile so it can easily be placed underneath or around the edges of a carpet. It is available as a standard pre-terminated stereo cable and also as a 4-conductor pre-terminated bi-wire. I connect the Anaconda between my valve monoblocks and my transmission line speakers, and kick off my listening with Mendelssohn’s Octet performed by The Locrian Ensemble on Chasing The Dragon. One of the stated aims of the…

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. ★★★★★ 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…

Copland CSA150 PRICE: £4,988 REVIEWED: HFC 479 A tube/transistor hybrid that’s more than the sum of its parts, the CSA150 is not just a fine all-rounder as it also excels sonically with a big, strong, engaging performance that’s also surprisingly subtle and detailed for such a muscular thing. Well worth an audition, it’s a bargain at the price considering all that it does. ★★★★★ Cyrus Classic AMP PRICE: £2,000 REVIEWED: HFC 496 As the name suggests, this is classic Cyrus. The AMP partners four RCA line inputs, an MM phono stage and pre-out with two coaxial and two optical ins with 24-bit/192kHz sampling. The result is top-class refinement and realism to its fast, lively and highly forgiving sound. Ideal if you already have source components. ★★★★★ Exposure 3510…

Auralic Altair G2.1 PRICE: £4,600 REVIEWED: HFC 482 Not just a network-attached DAC/preamp, with the addition of onboard storage the Altair G2.1 morphs into a self-contained music hub that reveals itself to be a deliciously neutral and clean source. It presents high levels of detail without sounding mechanical or artificial and musical involvement is top notch across all genres. ★★★★★ Cambridge Audio Edge NQ PRICE: £3,500 REVIEWED: HFC 447 Something of a departure from CA’s usual fare, this network music player also combines the additional versatility of a DAC and preamp to serve up a sumptuously wide recorded acoustic, with a hugely expansive sound that partners massive punch with great precision for a clean, direct and enjoyable sound. ★★★★★ Matrix Audio Element X PRICE: £2,800 REVIEWED: HFC…

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. ★★★★★ Hegel V10 PRICE: £1,300 REVIEWED: HFC 474 It might be fiddly to setup and ensuring you pick the best combination of DIP switches for your cartridge isn’t the most of intuitive of processes, but the V10 is effortlessly smooth, gloriously insightful and impeccably voiced for a crystal-clear performance with a wide range of different MM or MC pick-ups. ★★★★★ iFi Audio ZEN Phono PRICE: £150 REVIEWED: HFC 495 An astonishing performance and superb flexibility. Until you find yourself at the…

1 SHADES OF GREY KEF is adding a Titanium Grey colourway to the existing Mineral White and Carbon Black finishes on its ultra-compact KC62 Uni-Core Force-Cancelling Subwoofer. To grab yourself one of the new models, priced at £1,700, visit uk.kef.com and register for a myKEF account. 2 STORM BRINGER Paul McCartney is releasing a photography book compiling 275 of his snapshots taken between the end of 1963 and the beginning of 1964 at the height of Beatlemania. 1964: Eyes Of The Storm will be published on 13 June by Liveright/WW Norton. The 35mm images are McCartney’s personal record of the time and capture The Beatles’ travels through Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Washington, DC and Miami. “Anyone who rediscovers a personal relic or family treasure is instantly flooded with memories…

PRICE: £200 AVAILABLE: TBC WEB: AUDIO-TECHNICA.COM TO COMMEMORATE ITS 60th anniversary, Audio-Technica released a limited-edition Sound Burger portable turntable last November – four decades after its original debut. That limited-edition AT-SB2022 retro red Sound Burger sold out really quickly worldwide so now, in response, the company has announced that the Sound Burger will return this spring. A-T says that, while the new model will not feature the 60th anniversary numbered badge, colour and packaging of the limited-edition version, it will be more widely accessible; an affordable entry-level machine in terms of both features and price. A-T continues: “For those who are new to vinyl records, it is a doorway to a deeper knowledge of analogue music. Thanks to its Bluetooth connection and compact, lightweight design, the Sound Burger is the…

PRICE: £20,500-£22,000 AVAILABLE: Q1 WEB: MUSICALFIDELITY.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK THE NEW, RE-ENGINEERED Nu-Vista by Musical Fidelity range is due for release this year featuring the PRE preamp, PAS stereo power amp and PAM mono power amps. They will begin shipping in black or silver from specially selected retail partners chosen by the company for their capacity to exhibit: “the true high-end performance these devices have to offer”. Additional models will join the Nu-Vista by Musical Fidelity range later in the year and during 2024. The Nu-Vista PRE is a fully balanced, Class A preamplifier that combines fully discrete circuitry with Musical Fidelity’s nuvistor valve stage and a separate power supply in a matching chassis. This involves eight (four per-channel) 6S51N nuvistor valves in a discrete, Class A amplifier buffer stage plus fully…

PRICE: £450-£550 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CAMBRIDGEAUDIO.COM CAMBRIDGE AUDIO HAS added two new network players, the AXN10 and MXN10, to its range. The limited edition AXN10 features the latest StreamMagic Gen 4 module and software, and joins the company’s entry-level AX Series of separates, adding a dedicated music streaming option alongside the AX series’ integrated amplifier, CD player and tuner models. The AXN10 offers wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity, Ethernet and USB (mass storage) input, plus unbalanced RCA line out and digital coaxial and optical outputs. It features an ESS Sabre ES9033Q DAC chipset and additionally offers UPnP, Local USB media, Internet Radio, Chromecast, Spotify connect, Tidal, Qobuz and is Roon Ready. It accepts PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and up to DSD512 files, while Bluetooth is V5.0 (A2DP/AVRCP supporting SBC and AAC)…

DETAILS PRODUCT Auralic Altair G1.1 ORIGIN China TYPE Network-attached DAC/music library WEIGHT 7.4kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 340 x 80 x 320mm FEATURES ● Optional 2TB SSD storage ● Inputs: Toslink optical; coaxial; AES/EBU; USB-B; USB-A; Ethernet ● Outputs: balanced XLR; RCA; 6.35mm headphone DISTRIBUTOR Auralic Netherlands WEBSITE auralic.com Although Auralic (promoted as AURALiC) launched the Altair G1 (HFC 455) relatively recently, the Chinese manufacturer already has its G1.1 update ready to roll. It appears together with the Aries G1.1 as the new and more affordable models within its respective tiers, with the Altair and Aries G2.1 (HFC 482 and 469 respectively) being the more expensive options. However, as all Auralic products share a very similar chassis design and carry names that are easily confused, it’s sometimes difficult to discern precisely which…

DETAILS PRODUCT Cyrus CDi-XR Phantom Black ORIGIN UK TYPE CD player WEIGHT 3.8kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 215 x 73 x 360mm FEATURES ● Slot-loading CD mechanism ● 32-bit second-gen QXR DAC ● Outputs: RCA; 1x optical; 1x coaxial DISTRIBUTOR Cyrus Audio Ltd. Currently, this is the most ambitious all-in-one CD player that Cyrus Audio makes and given the company’s enviable hit rate in this arena over the years, summoning the sonic talent to hold its own in this group shouldn’t be a problem. The relatively recent introduction of the XR range sees the CDi-XR sitting above the existing Classic CDi. It sports the same half-width casing the brand has been using for decades and for good reason – it’s light but remarkably solid, low in resonance and, of course, very distinctive…

DETAILS PRODUCT Primare CD35 ORIGIN Sweden TYPE CD player WEIGHT 10.8kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 430 x 106 x 385mm FEATURES ● ESS Sabre ES9028PRO DAC ● Outputs: RCA; 1x coaxial; 1x optical; balanced XLR DISTRIBUTOR Primare Aswell as clean, minimalist design and meticulous build quality, Sweden’s Primare is all over the idea of modularity, a philosophy that invites system flexibility and, very Scandi this, internal harmony. For example, buy its flagship CD35 CD player and you can add its SM35 Prisma network player module at any point. There’s also the DD25 transport – essentially the CD35 sans DAC – to consider in a wider system context. Whichever way you cut it, all bases are covered. A strong inkling of the CD35’s intentions starts with the classy, isolated TEAC CD502A-AT transport mechanism…

DESPITE OR MAYBE because of all the legwork, I really enjoy this month’s roundup. My CD collection has always grown, never flown, and to enjoy a handful of favourite discs in the presence of six cracking premium players – some madly talented and all packing serious DAC tech – is a rare joy. And, once again, top-drawer CD replay simply sounds better and more substantial to my ears. We’ll start with the Roksan, a stylish player of which I had high hopes. They aren’t quite realised, the luxurious-sounding blak CD Player never quite getting its rocks off when required. A refined and sophisticated low-fatigue listen, nonetheless that can frequently sound charming with the right material and never offends. I’m going to declare a draw between the Marantz and Musical Fidelity…

DETAILS PRODUCT Vertere Mystic ORIGIN UK TYPE Moving-coil cartridge WEIGHT 9.1g (including cable) FEATURES ● Micro elliptical diamond stylus ● Aluminium tube cantilever ● Recommended tracking weight: 2g DISTRIBUTOR Vertere Ltd. WEBSITE vertereacoustics. com Sitting at the top of Vertere’s cartridge range, the Mystic is the company’s sole moving-coil offering. The striking blue body is machined from solid aluminium alloy. This is an important part of the cartridge’s construction – afact that has not escaped consideration by Vertere founder and CEO Touraj Moghaddam. The mass of the body has been tuned to the internal generator to offer optimum support and control of unwanted mechanical vibrations. The top of the body has three specifically designed contact points to provide the exact mechanical coupling to the headshell required by the Mystic cartridge.…

In 1968 in a laboratory in the US midwestern state of Minnesota, a researcher was trying to develop an extra-strong adhesive for his employer, 3M, which was then called the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. Of course, 3M was one of the premier open-reel recording tape manufacturers and launched its famous 111 ‘Scotch’ standard play tape back in 1948. A researcher and scientist called Dr Spencer Silver was experimenting with a view to creating a super-sticky adhesive, but he ended up producing a low-tack, reusable one which could be stuck and unstuck when pressure was applied. What Silver had discovered was something called microspheres – which retain their stickiness but with a removability characteristic, allowing attached surfaces to peel apart easily. However, Silver was keen not to let his time…

THE QUALITY OF an audio signal is influenced by many factors, and although the issues associated with digital cables are different from analogue, the impact on the audio signal is just as important. An Ethernet cable designed for computers is most probably not up to the job in terms of bandwidth and crosstalk. Most are constructed to the CAT 5e standard and are only specified for a bandwidth up to 150MHz. The new Reference from QED is an over specified Class I Category 8.1 cable with a bandwidth of 2,000MHz, which supports speeds up to 40Gb/s. This should easily accommodate today’s PCM streams of 32/384 kHz or up to DSD512. The Reference features four 24AWG 99.999 percent OFC copper twisted pairs with different twist rates to cut down crosstalk and…

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…

Atlas Cables Element Achromatic PRICE: £86 for 1m REVIEWED: HFC 485 Achromatic means without colour and that’s very much what you get with this affordable offering. Compared with previous Atlas Element cables this has increased OCC copper content on the conductors and a new process for reduced distortion. The result is great spaciousness to the soundstage and imaging plus powerful bass. ★★★★★ Black Rhodium Minuet S PRICE: £240 for 1m REVIEWED: HFC 492 Replacing the original Minuet (HFC 453), this RCA interconnect is screened to shield against extraneous RFI and EMI interference. The result is improved intimacy in quieter sections of music and great dynamics in the louder passages. The soundstage reveals new breadth and depth coupled with great mids. ★★★★★ Chord Company Clearway PRICE: £100 for 1m…

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…

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…

Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo PRICE: £4,000 REVIEWED: HFC 488 It might offer relatively poor connectivity without the Formation Audio hub (an extra £650), but otherwise this is one of the best wireless speakers around thanks to its stunning design and class-leading sound which reveals impressive levels of power and poise under pressure regardless of source. ★★★★★ Cabasse Pearl Akoya PRICE: £2,950 REVIEWED: HFC 488 Bringing a retro futuristic touch of glamour to the wireless world, the Pearl Akoya is sold as a single speaker only – so doesn’t come cheap. HDMI aside, it ticks most boxes connectivitywise and its crisp, expansive sound ensures it will prove more than capable for audiophiles. Superlative space-age stereo at its best. ★★★★★ KEF LS50 Wireless II PRICE: £2,250 REVIEWED: HFC…

AVID Volvere SP PRICE: From £5,500 REVIEWED: HFC 472 With its dynamic, detailed and confident presentation, the Volvere SP delivers all of the thrills hidden in your vinyl's grooves and adds a few more just for good measure. Rock solid, unerringly precise and gloriously natural, it’s a triumph that combines the joys of a belt drive with the accuracy of a direct drive. ★★★★★ Linn Majik LP12/Krane PRICE: £3,500 REVIEWED: HFC 477 For such an old design, this Group Test winner sounds surprisingly modern. It’s not as soft and rounded as it used to be, but still retains enough of the traditional Sondek character for it to charm listeners. The result is a big, confident and enjoyable sound that’s tonally a little warm but with high levels of…

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-fi digital 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 2 £450 HFC 488 It might be £50 more than its predecessor, but the follow-up Mojo makes the superb original sound opaque, coloured and closed-in by comparison. Prepare to experience complex textures, limpid transparency, striking stereo and unnoticed details like never before. ★★★★★ iFi Audio GO bar £330 HFC 494 A near technically perfect example of a portable DAC, the GO bar sets new standards of for the breed with functionality for every…

The April issue sees HFC clock up its 500th copy and in celebration we’ll be looking back over our illustrious history at some of the key kit we’ve championed down the years. Plus our 500 Special will also see the introduction of several new features – currently under wraps so as not to spoil the surprise! ALSO: REVIEWS Rega Elex MK4 integrated amplifier, Tangent PreAmp II and PowerAmpster II pre and power amplifiers, Grado GW100x wireless open-back headphone, Elipson’s stylish BS50 Tribute loudspeaker plus a Group Test of high-end over-ear headphones 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 experts. APRIL ISSUE ON SALE 23…

PRICE: £450 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FREDPERRY.COM MODS AND FASHIONISTAS rejoice as Fred Perry and Pro-Ject Audio Systems have come together to release an exclusive turntable, the Fred Perry x Pro-Ject Record Deck. Featuring an all-new design, which Pro-Ject says takes its inspiration from its Essential III and Debut Carbon EVO (HFC 468), the FP is: “a handsomely equipped premium turntable, complete with built-in adjustable phono preamp, pre-set aluminium tonearm, pre-installed Ortofon OM 10 cartridge with an elliptical diamond stylus and speed adjustments of 33 and 45rpm”. The new model comes in three colourways, based on a trio of classic Fred Perry shirts: Black/Champagne, Maroon/White/Ice and White/Ice/Navy, and the acrylic platter mats sport the famous Fred Perry laurel wreath.…

PRICE: £80-£2,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AUDIO-TECHNICA.COM ALSO, FROM AUDIO-TECHNICA, the busy little bees, comes the new ATH-M50xSTS and ATH-M50xSTS-USB streaming headsets. The company says these are the world’s first specifically developed to address the needs of live-streaming content creators and are equipped with the same 45mm large-aperture drivers used in its M50x (HFC 485) headphones: “to provide exceptional clarity throughout an extended frequency range, with a deep, accurate bass response”. The cans come with two sets of earpads: M50x earpads designed to enhance audio quality and sound isolation, plus mesh and leatherette earpads to emphasise breathability and comfort. The ATH-M50xSTS is priced at £169 and is outfitted with a 2m cable with 3.5mm headphone jack and XLR mic connector. The ATH-M50xSTS-USB is priced at £200 and comes with a 2m…

PRICE: £350 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: MITCHELLACOUSTICS.CO.UK UK BRAND MITCHELL Acoustics has launched its uStream Go wireless Bluetooth speakers, the latest addition to its u Stream line. The company says that: “together, the two aluminium alloy, hand-sized speakers – using the latest TWS wireless Bluetooth technology – create a complete, rechargeable stereo music system. In addition to their incredible stereo sound, the uStream Gos are truly wireless. Their small footprint allows the user to easily ‘Go Anywhere’ and have great stereo sound. Plus, the rich bass output eliminates the need for additional equipment like subwoofers.” After charging them via USB-C, the user powers on each speaker and, MA says, within seconds they connect to each other and are then ready for connection to any Bluetooth playback source. The 8000mAh built-in, lithium-ion…

PRICE: £2,400 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CYRUSAUDIO.COM CYRUS HAS RELEASED what it’s calling: “the most intelligent power supply” it has ever designed. It’s called the PSU-XR (pictured third down from top) and is the first power supply from the UK company to have its own built-in microprocessor, which it claims: “enables it to talk to the product it is connected to, providing the best configuration of power sources demanded by the host product”. It has been designed to work with all of the current XR range and was developed to be futureproof with all XR products still to come – including the Blu-OS XR streamer – which will require a simple software update to enable it to talk to the PSU-XR. Output voltages from the PSU-XR are all digitally controlled with…

CD PL AYERS GROUP TEST IT’S NO SMALL logistical feat to reliably audition six compact disc players at a time. The key thing is to level the playing field as much as possible by ensuring that each one gets to have a long soak test before any auditioning actually commences. This is because the machines all arrive from manufacturers in different states; some are box-fresh and not run in, others are well-campaigned demo models that will have seen a lot of action before they reach our listening room. Powering all the machines up at the same time and leaving them on repeat for an extended period prior to listening ensures that they’re properly run-in and warmed through. During the listening process, each machine is put on the same equipment support…

DETAILS PRODUCT Marantz SA-12SE ORIGIN Japan TYPE CD/SACD player WEIGHT 16.4kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 440 x 123 x 419mm FEATURES ● Inputs: 1x optical; 1x coaxial ● Outputs: RCA; 1x optical; 1x coaxial; USB-A/USB-B ● DSP filters/noise shapers DISTRIBUTOR Marantz This big, heavy and rather glamorous player seems to have everything going for it, not least an in-house (rather than bought-in) transport that also handles SACD. It’s the one lifted from the Marantz SA-KI Ruby SACD player that also served in the late Ken Ishiwata’s lauded Signature model. SACD? A bonus if you have any but of academic interest here, not that the SA-12SE has cause for any excuses when it comes to plain 16/44.1. It might even hold an advantage simply because SACD mechs are thought to extract data from…

DETAILS PRODUCT Rega Saturn MK3 ORIGIN UK TYPE CD player WEIGHT 9.7kg DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 432 x 82 x 320mm FEATURES ● Top-loading mechanism ● Inputs: 2x optical; 2x coaxial; USB ● Outputs: RCA; 2x optical; 2x coaxial DISTRIBUTOR Rega Research Ltd. Like other recent Rega model refreshes, the MK3 Saturn CD player arrives with a fresh set of clothes. Well, a new front panel, anyway – this to pull it in line with the latest Rega electronics house aesthetic. Under the skin very little has changed and, given the previous Saturn R’s redoubtable sonic chops, the route to better for the asking price wasn’t obvious. So, as before, the DAC is built around twin Wolfson WM8742 chips that are used in conjunction with a high stability master clock and high-capacity…

The rate at which iFi Audio generates new products would allow for most pages of HFC to be dedicated over to them if we felt so inclined. But the quantity of products does conceal that some categories you might expect to find the company active in have hitherto not been contested. We have seen the ZEN Stream (HFC 485), which turns any DAC into a streamer – but until now we’ve not seen a one-box streamer. Enter the NEO Stream. The long-awaited one-stop solution combines the company’s decoding with a streaming platform in a single, usefully compact chassis. The decoding is closely related to the NEO iDSD DAC, which acquitted itself well in the Group Test in HFC 494 and is built around a Texas Instruments DAC combined with an…

Whether intentionally or not, some hi-fi components simply exude industrial chic. It isn’t just a good looks thing. Myriad factors play their part on the short journey from packaging box to kit rack shelf: size, form, tactility, design honesty (only subtle frills, if any at all), functional transparency and perceived tech density – all contribute to that can’t-wait-to-plug-it-in frisson. In the case of the Wattson Audio Madison streamer/DAC the feel-good vibe is further finessed by its Swiss provenance. On a psychological level at least, that country’s reputation for watch maker’s precision, meticulous attention to detail and flawless quality control weigh into the mix as well. Working out of Yverdon-les-Bains, in the heart of the Swiss Romandie, Wattson Audio styles itself as a company still steeped in the initiatives of its…

Reading through the names of those tipped by critics to be big in 2023, I considered sharing with you my own predictions for future musical stardom. But rather than bang on about a bunch of acts that you’ve no doubt not yet heard of yet – and whom you can read about in numerous other places – my train of thought was launched in a different direction, namely by the presence on the lists of those tipped for the top by the band Automotion, led by singer-guitarist Lennon Gallagher. In case you haven’t guessed, Lennon is the 23-year-old son of Liam Gallagher, which set me wondering why anyone would try to follow in the footsteps of such a famous father when history tells us that it’s a path fraught with…

It’s early 1995 and Britpop is about to enter its imperial phase. Oasis have just scored their first number one with Some Might Say while Blur have enjoyed a run of hit singles from their Parklife album. The two big beasts of Britpop will shortly go head-to-head when Roll With It and Country House are simultaneously released as singles on the same day in a battle for chart supremacy not seen since the heady days of The Beatles and Stones. And then along comes a speccy, lanky bloke from Sheffield already well into in his thirties named Jarvis Cocker to trump them both with a song called Common People that is destined to become the ultimate Britpop anthem. Cocker had first performed the song with Pulp at the Reading Festival…

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…

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. ★★★★★ Elipson P1 F/A2700 £2,800/£3,000 HFC 494 Elipson’s walk on the wild side from speakers to electronics is deeply impressive with this exceptional package far exceeding expectations at the price offering a great combination of power, smoothness, refinement and detail that’s highly alluring. ★★★★★ 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…

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…

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 standmount yet. ★★★★★ Fyne Audio F1-8 PRICE: £6,000 REVIEWED: HFC 473 If the F1-8 is anything to go by, size really does matter. If you’re short of space, look elsewhere as this is a beast that won’t melt into the background. But as a speaker that merges the strengths of the best standmounts and floorstanders, it is dynamic, dextrous and deeply…

Audiolab Omnia £1,600 HFC 490 Despite some operational foibles, the Omnia offers a level of performance that very little under £2,000 can get anywhere near. It combines excellent functionality and spec with a supreme level of performance across its wide spread of connections. ★★★★★ Cambridge Audio Evo 150 £2,250 HFC 477 In terms of functionality, the Evo 150 offers little over a dedicated streaming amp such as Hegel's H95. As an object of desire, however, it's on a different plane – as lovely to look at as it is to use and to listen to. There will be many takers for it. ★★★★★ 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…