Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2024 i Hi-Fi Choice

PRICE: £1,300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: GOLDRING.CO.UK GOLDRING HAS ANNOUNCED the release of its Ethos SE – a special edition of its Ethos moving-coil cartridge. It boasts a raft of upgrades – including new pure silver coils, which the company says feature fewer windings with higher conductivity, reducing the effective tip mass and internal impedance of the pick-up for improved tracking and greater transient response. Then there’s the low-mass cross-armature core made from Swedish iron in a bid to improve channel separation and produce a more realistic soundstage and a vital line-contact diamond stylus featuring a narrow, low-tip mass, large contact area designed to enhance high-frequency response and minimise distortion and colouration. There are new low reluctance pole-shoes too in an effort to ensure smooth and extended frequency response via an…

PRICE: £9,950-£105,200 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: FERGUSONHILL.CO.UK KENT COMPANY FERGUSON Hill has launched its Jetstream Loudspeaker System, which builds on its 20-year-old FH001. It’s a pricey piece of business – so much so that Apple co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, was rumoured to be the USA’s first FH001 buyer. The new Jetstream comprises a pair of Jetstream Horn Loudspeakers, a pair of Jetstream Bass Speakers and a Jetstream Bass Amplifier. Of the reworkings, FH reveals the horn speakers now feature the company’s own manufactured semi-full range drive unit, created in conjunction with Cube Audio of Poland. Improvements to the interface between the acrylic horn and the metal ring, it claims, result in a more even sound wave expansion from the circular drive unit diaphragm to the oval mouth of the horn.…

PRICE: £1,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SONOS.COM DIRECT FROM CALIFORNIA comes the 205mm In-Ceiling Speaker by Sonos and Sonance, extending the Sonos Architectural line of passive speakers. This new one provides installers and customers with a fresh size option that the company says sits: “discreetly within the ceiling and delivers powerful, balanced and clear sound”. Designed and tuned by Sonos and custom-built by Sonance, the 205mm In-Ceiling Speaker features an enlarged driver and high-excursion motor: “for a smooth midrange, stunning deep bass down to 32Hz, and a greater listening area. A 30mm tweeter and newly optimised waveguide ensures natural-sounding vocals and improved high-frequency dispersion, for wide and even coverage that fills the room with sound.” While the 205mm In-Ceiling Speaker is bigger in size than the previous 152mm version, the aesthetics…

IT WOULDN’T BE a February without the audio industry decamping to the curious environs of the Delta Marriot Hotel for another Bristol HiFi Show. Given its rather less-than-central location and the proximity of some rather larger shows, it is something of a surprise that Bristol still serves as a launch event for companies but indeed it does and some very interesting new arrivals broke cover. One aspect of Bristol that separates it from most other shows in the calendar is that the focus on sales (it is still possible to buy most things exhibited at the show) means that many companies (although not all as we shall discover) focus on more terrestrial offerings than is often the case at events like this. If you don’t have a notional budget that could…

Acoustic Energy’s first ever product was the AE1. Back in 1987, this practically wrote the rule book for small, high-performing standmounts. It was so good that it made the whole genre fashionable, in a world previously dominated by large, tall standmounts. The AE500 shares no parts with this, but the design DNA is clear. The company’s design engineers Mat Spandl and James Luce know how to engineer a small box for good sound. When launched a few years back, this speaker introduced carbon fibre drivers to the brand. The material is well-suited to the application, being light and stiff. Although not new to the genre – Sony was using it in the Seventies. Not only does it have half the mass of AE’s previous ceramic/aluminium cone, but it has superior…

PMC has carved out a major niche for itself in domestic hi-fi, thanks to its use of transmission line loading. This employs a cabinet enclosure that’s distinct from conventional bass reflex types, where there’s a hole in the cabinet to vent the drive units to atmospheric pressure. Instead, PMC uses a 1.91m-long ‘bass tunnel’ inside the enclosure that’s carefully tuned to deliver a deep yet controlled low-frequency response. The prodigy series is PMC’s entry-level speaker line and an attempt to ‘distil down’ the company’s design philosophy. So naturally you get transmission line loading plus two bespoke, high-quality drive units in a small but carefully designed cabinet. When done properly, transmission lines give tighter and more extended bass than bass reflex designs, but are tricky to get right and can make…

For some audiophiles, valves and vinyl are very much the fine dining experience of hi-fi. I think it’s an apt analogy. A sense of occasion every time with the seductive theatre of glowing tubes and VU meters thrown in. The stuff of which purist high-end dreams are made and, well, a world away from the streamlined, endlessly converged convenience of solid-state power. But what if you just fancy a valve amp without the attendant cultural baggage and inevitable need for special measures? One that slots straight into your system as a gently radiating point of interest with the implicit promise of sonic chops to die for. Not all valve amps are up for it, of course, especially delicate single-ended triode (SET) types around which sympathetically matched components must be meticulously…

THE SPRING DROP for Record Store Day’s first event of 2024 has just been announced. Over 270 independent record shops will be taking part on Saturday 20 April 2024 so, to whet your appetite, we’ve cherry-picked through the long list of exclusive releases to recommend some of the gems on offer… Kate Bush, Eat The Music Ms Bush has been announced as the 2024 RSD UK ambassador, so it’s only right and proper we should begin with her offering – a special 10in vinyl edition of Eat The Music which originally appeared on her 1993 album The Red Shoes. It’ll boast the original artwork, printed onto the disc. “The design echoes the cancelled release of Eat The Music as the first single from The Red Shoes,” she explains in the…

AS PART OF the entry-level range of cables from Black Rhodium, this is an upgrade to the company’s previous INTRO speaker cable that uses the interference-reduction qualities of a large ferrite core to reduce audible distortion caused by external radio frequency interference. Black Rhodium has used an alternative base cable compared with the original to minimise the increase in price. The cable is available in a choice of red, blue, black and white and in pairs of 2, 3 or 5m lengths. It is terminated in high-quality, gold-plated Z plugs chosen by the company to offer good connection properties at a relatively low cost. The cable is flexible and not too thick, making it nice and easy to inconspicuously route it around the corners of my room. After connecting the…

1 RINGO’S PICS The Photograph Portfolio 2024 is a new, limited-edition collection of 12 pics taken by Ringo Starr and now up for sale via Genesis Publications. They all cost £1,900 and are being reproduced from the negative for the first time as large-format, museum-quality prints. Only 25 numbered copies of each image will be created worldwide. The portfolio includes images of John Lennon and Paul McCartney recording at Abbey Road Studios, George Harrison on a yacht in Cannes and the first-ever photo of Ringo on drums at the Cavern Club, Liverpool. Each print is signed by Ringo. A certificate of authenticity accompanies the final framed artwork. All proceeds will go to benefit the Lotus Foundation, the charity Starr founded with his wife Barbara Starkey. The publishers are also making…

PRICE: £900 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: KEF.COM KEF HAS LAUNCHED its LSX II LT, a streamlined version of the company’s LSX II wireless speaker, which offers the same key technological innovations at a lower price point. Part of the LS wireless plug-and-play speaker systems, the W2 Wireless platform the LSX II LT uses allows listeners to stream from major music services including Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and Amazon Music. The inclusion of the KEF Connect app and Bluetooth expand the choices even further. With extensive connectivity options including HDMI ARC, USB-C and optical inputs, customers can plug into a TV, desktop, laptop or console, while bass can be dialled up via a dedicated output to connect a compact KEF subwoofer. The company says: “Users can seamlessly integrate LSX II LT into…

PRICE: £4,800-£10,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: JADIS-ELECTRONICS.COM/EN ABSOLUTESOUNDS.COM FRENCH COMPANY JADIS is making its new preamplifier and power amplifier available in the UK via Absolute Sounds. Designed to work individually or as a pair, the PA70 power amplifier and JP7 preamplifier come designed in polished stainless steel and 24-carat gold plate with glowing glass valves. The PA70 incorporates eight valves: two ECC82s, two ECC83s and four KT170s – the latter delivering 50W of Class A power per channel. Although it’s possible to configure four KT170s to deliver even greater power, Jadis says its implementation prioritises extremely low distortion to maximise fidelity and make the most of the amp’s sonic ability. Power to the people Jadis explains: “A huge, newly designed power transformer delivers prodigious dynamic and pulse power. This enables the…

PRICE: £700 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: KESTRELAUDIO.COM KESTREL AUDIO HAS introduced its new KT-100 Turntable, which the company describes as: “striking a perfect balance between affordability and performance, making it an ideal choice for discerning audiophiles seeking an upgrade from their entry-level setup”. Boasting a 9.5in unipivot carbon fibre tonearm selected to suit its smaller format plinth, it’s available in a choice of nine finishes: Black, White, Oak, Walnut, Red, Navy Blue, Olive Green, Slate Grey and Saffron Yellow. A new feature is the electronic speed change between 33 and 45rpm, while buyers can additionally purchase the KT-100 with a built-in MM phono stage module (available for purchase later should you wish for £50) and/or a KISO isolation platform in matching finishes as a package deal for £800 (£130 when bought…

PRICE: £11,000-£12,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SIMAUDIO.COM/EN RENAISSANCEAUDIO.CO.UK MOON BY SIM Audio has unveiled its new North Collection of components. First out of the blocks is the £11,000 MOON 641 integrated, which the Canadian company says will drive: “even the most demanding of loudspeakers”. Boasting a new MDCA (MOON Distortion-Cancelling Amplifier) design, it features an independent circuit with precise signal correction to significantly lower noise and distortion, with a claimed 125W into 8ohm loads and 250W into 4. Next up is the MOON 681 Network player/digital-to-analogue converter, which boasts a 4.3in OLED screen to display cover art with song and artist names, operated by the BRM-1 remote control. The company explains: “MHV (MOON Hybrid Volume) technology employs a clever combination of digital attenuation and analogue gain levels to allow for high-performance…

Hi-Fi Choice employs the most methodical test and measurement regime in the business. Here’s how we do it… STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKER GROUP TEST IN EVERY HFC loudspeaker Group Test we have to ensure each contender is properly run-in. Naturally, most manufacturers endeavour to do this before they are submitted, but it’s important to continue this process to ensure the drivers are as close to being representative as possible. Each is given 24 hours on an IsoTek Test and Burn-In CD, and then played in the background for a few days in our reference system. Before comparative listening begins, each speaker is carefully positioned in the listening room. All are bass-reflex ported, aside from the transmission-line PMC. The position of the reflex port on the former influences the optimal location of the…

Inspired by greatness”, is how Bowers & Wilkins describes its latest S3 700 Series, rather immodestly as it turns out. Why, because the “greatness” being referred to is the company’s very own 800 Series! That’s fair enough I suppose, if you take into account the popularity and all-round ability of the latter. Anyhow, the idea of the 700 Series 3 is that it offers up a substantially more affordable alternative to the 800 Series. Pleasingly, the bespoke B&W technology that’s gone into it comes directly from the more expensive range – including driver, crossover and cabinet design The 707 S3 is the range’s entry-level design, being a smallish standmount with a conventional bass-reflex-loaded cabinet. It houses two drivers – B&W’s 25mm Carbon Dome tweeter and 130mm Continuum cone mid/bass driver.…

Q Acoustics seemingly arrived out of the blue back in 2006 and quickly set about making serious inroads into Britain’s affordable speaker market. Offering a combination of clean and modern design with an enjoyable, musically satisfying sound, the brand has gone from strength to strength. The Concept 30 you see here is the latest in the company’s ‘premium’ range, which first appeared with the Concept 20 (HFC 372), back in 2013. It’s a simple formula – do the best within the constraints of a relatively modest budget – beautifully executed. The Concept 30 is the cheapest offering in this test by some way, but you wouldn’t really know it. It’s not quite as beautifully detailed in aesthetic terms as the Quad and Monitor Audio for example, but still looks nice…

Replacing iFi Audio’s iDSD Diablo (HFC 474) of 2021, the iDSD Diablo 2 pushes the envelope of the mobile DAC/amp genre, both by being far from budget in price and large enough for its manufacturer to deem it more ‘transportable’ than ‘pocket-size’. It also offers a surprisingly powerful output, switchable in three modes (Normal, Turbo and Nitro) to use with everything from sensitive in-ears to hard-to-drive over-ears. A new metallic red finish covering most of the unit projects a more distinguished air, as do the multiple grooves running the length of the aluminium chassis. These are claimed to aid heat dissipation, but their more obvious function is to facilitate desktop use. When using the amp at your computer, included clip-on ‘bat wings’ let you position it at different angles, making…

Every once in a while a product will show up with little fanfare and proceed to surpass every expectation you have of it. For me, there was no better example of this last year than the Eversolo DMP-A6 (HFC 506). A spin-off from Zidoo, which is best known for its media boxes, it arrived and proceeded to demonstrate a specification and level of performance that nothing under £1,000 has been able to get near. This impressive showing means that the expectation around what comes next is sky high. The A8 is that next offering and, in terms of the streaming front-end it offers, there are few changes from the A6 – which is as much a reflection of how much it offers as any laziness on Eversolo’s part. External libraries…

If you roll the clock back to November 1979, one of the tunes that devotees of Pink Floyd had running through their minds was Another Brick In The Wall from the band’s rock opera album The Wall. The song’s catchy disco-inspired sound and lyrics were easy to remember and this makes the music fall into the category of an ‘earworm’ – a psychological phenomenon where a tune keeps playing in the mind long after the listening experience is over. It tends to keep playing over and over again, particularly when you find yourself in a quiet environment. This raises the question of how the music is stored in the brain to cause these earworms to occur. After all, most of us don’t have a little tape recorder tucked away within…

Julia Holter Something In The Room She Moves CD Domino BEFORE WE START, let’s get the elephant out of the room first. If you like your rock and roll straight out of the garage with a snarl and a stomp, a howl and a sneer, then Julia Holter’s latest long player probably isn’t for you. The 39-year-old Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is classically trained with not one but two degrees in composition and continues to work as a music teacher and lecturer. One of her earlier albums was inspired by Euripides’ Hippolytus and another by the French novelist Colette. Her songs have referenced the 12th century tale of Abelard and Heloise, the writings of Virginia Woolf and the arthouse films of Andrei Tarkovsky. Her last album, 2018’s Aviary, was an epic…

AS A DEVICE that relies on physical vibrations to reproduce music, a turntable can be very susceptible to unwanted noise that can pollute the sound. These can emanate from external sources and be generated by the deck itself. The RG-1 Reference Groove ISO Shelf from Vertere is designed to address both of these issues by providing isolation from external sources and dissipating unwanted vibrations away from the deck. The shelf is primarily designed to support Vertere’s own turntables, but should also be suitable for use with any others with three feet. It comes supplied as standard with six ‘ISO-Balls’ to provide support, but can alternatively be fitted with three SilenceR feet as an upgrade – as seen here. The Shelf is really well made and available in other finishes including…

AUSTRIAN AUDIO THE COMPOSER Our reviewer reckons: “This headphone is in a whole different league… If you’re looking for an open-back headphone that combines clarity, range and spacious detail, The Composer lives up to its name.” Read all about it in our May issue ALSO: REVIEWS Audio-Technica AT-SB727 Sound Burger portable turntable, OePhi Transcendence 2 speaker, Audiolab 9000N network streamer, Neat Mystique Classic speaker, Creative Labs Ace 2 earbuds and a reasonably priced preamplifiers Group Test. FEATURES Music Legends, Music Reviews, Reasons To Be Cheerful, our comprehensive Buyer’s Guide and sharp-as-nails Opinions pieces, the Flashback interview, Beginner’s Guide all the latest kit release news in Audiofile and your hi-fi queries answered by our experts. MAY ISSUE ON SALE 18 APRIL…

PRICE: £900 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: CAMBRIDGEAUDIO.COM CAMBRIDGE AUDIO HAS launched its CXN100 Network Player, successor to the CXN V2 (HFC 437). Utilising an ESS ES9028Q2M SABRE32 Reference DAC, the CXN100 features the latest StreamMagic Gen4 module and MQA compatibility with Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz and Deezer built in. It offers hi-res Internet Radio courtesy of MPEG-DASH support, while digital connectivity includes USB, coaxial, and optical inputs. For wireless connection there’s Chromecast, AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth. It’s compatible with Google Home, Apple and AirPlay multi-room systems as well as Roon. It additionally boasts a 4.76in hi-res screen for displaying album artwork. Designed, engineered and acoustically optimised at Cambridge Audio’s own London-based music venue and HQ, Melomania, the company says the result is: “a true generational step up in sound quality,…

PRICE: £600-£800 (SET) AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK PRO-JECT HAS INTRODUCED its upgraded Juke Box E1 belt-drive turntable which builds on the original Juke Box E by adding a new tonearm, sub-platter drive system and more convenient switching between 33 and 45rpm. A plug-and-play turntable setup, the E1 boasts a top-mounted high-contrast display, built-in Bluetooth and additional line-level input. With a 50W per-channel Class D built-in amplifier, it can also come as part of a SET with matching Speaker Box 5 speakers and accessories. The company explains: “From the CNC-machined wood chassis, through the aluminium tonearm and on to the reputable Ortofon OM 5E cartridge, every part of the design is intended to deliver high-quality sound… Simply attach the Juke Box E1’s drive belt to the DC motor and sub-platter, install the…

PRICE: £3,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: HIFIROSE.COM HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK HENLEY AUDIO HAS announced the UK availability of HiFi Rose’s new RA280 integrated amplifier, which takes its lead from the Korean brand’s flagship RA180 amplifier (HFC 491), first released in 2022. Employing HiFi Rose’s Class AD design, the company explains: “Class D amplification provides higher efficiency and higher output, as well as improved noise and distortion measurements, compared with more traditional Class AB designs. However, many Class D designs in the past have suffered in sound quality due to limitations in their circuitry. HiFi Rose’s state-of-the-art Class AD (“Advanced D”) amplifier resolves these problems with the use of innovative new materials. The RA280’s Class AD amplifier boasts Gallium Nitride FETs as opposed to more common Silicon FET technology. The result of this design…

PRICE: £1,000-£1,600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: JBL.COM US DISTRIBUTOR HARMAN Luxury Audio Group has confirmed its new JBL DA Series distribution amplifiers are about to go on sale in the UK. Engineered to work with any existing JBL architectural loudspeaker, the 8-channel DA850 and 16-channel DA1650 provide four and eight zones of audio, respectively, in a compact 1U design while offering bridgeable outputs to meet high-power requirements. Both the DA850 and DA1650 offer a claimed 50W for each of their Class D channels into 8ohm loads and 110W into 4ohm. By bridging their outputs, rated power increases to 185W into 8ohm loads. For additional flexibility, each audio zone can feature an independent source or a single source can be shared across all zones using the global audio input. In addition, zones…

PRICE: £1,000-£2,300 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: LEAK-HIFI.CO.UK SOME 63 YEARS after its debut, the Sandwich 150 and Sandwich 250 take the blueprint established by the original Leak speaker. Debuted in 1961 to tackle the problem of how to make driver cones both very light and extremely stiff, Leak claims its sandwich cone construction is as relevant now as it was in the Sixties. The Sandwich 150 and 250 speakers update the concept using modern materials, design technologies and manufacturing techniques, incorporating a stiff aluminium skin for the outer surfaces (where the stresses are greatest) bonded to a core of aircraft-grade polymethacrylimide structural foam. The Sandwich 150 and Sandwich 250 are both standmounts, the former a two-way design with a height of 415mm and the latter a larger three-way model standing 655mm…

THERE ONCE WAS a time when small bookshelf loudspeakers were regarded as the poor relation to ‘proper’, full-size designs. The received wisdom in audiophile circles was that such things were an unlovely breed, which made a crude sound that no real music lover could possibly take seriously. Then, 50 or so years ago, the BBC LS3/5a appeared on the scene. This tiny but expensive design was purpose-built for professional audio applications – specifically near-field studio monitoring. Soon, vast numbers of the things found themselves in studio control rooms and outside broadcast vans. And then the word spread around purist audiophile circles that they weren’t half bad for hi-fi use, either. This created the template for a number of small, high-quality loudspeakers that weren’t necessarily something you bought if you couldn’t…

Monitor Audio has been going for around half a century, and began by producing classy and expensive products that catered for well-heeled audiophiles. These days, it makes a large range of modern-looking speakers bursting with clever technology. The Gold 100, along with the Quad, uses a ribbon tweeter – what the company calls its MPD high-frequency transducer. At 2.5kHz this crosses over to the large 165mm mid/bass driver with its bespoke RDT cone design and Nomex honeycomb core with woven carbon fibre back skin. This is said to be light and well damped, yet ultra-stiff. Monitor Audio tends to fit wider diameter mid/bass drivers to its standmounts than most and this is no exception. Pureflow silver-plated OFC copper is used internally, including to the crossover which has premium components such…

Despite Quad being an acronym for ‘Quality Unit Amplifier Domestic’, this historic British brand was making speakers very early on in its history. Readers may have heard of the ESL-57 electrostatic and its many descendants. The Revela 1 is the latest in a long line of speakers and indeed the company’s first new design for seven years. It comes with a floorstanding sibling unsurprisingly called the Revela 2, by the way The biggest and most expensive design here, its standout feature is its 27 x 60mm true ribbon tweeter; not quite the same as an electrostatic panel, but the aim is identical. With any speaker, the lighter the drive unit is, the better it should sound. Its ribbon of thin aluminium foil sits in a high-strength magnetic field and makes…

All-new product ranges from Arcam do not happen terribly often. It has been six years since the HDA series appeared and this counts as one of the shorter lifespans of one of these generations of product. Each time the company has seen fit to update the range, it’s been in response to changes in the market and how we assemble audio systems. The Radia series is intended to reflect the current state of play. The A25 – the flagship of the three integrated amps in the new range – features a thoroughly modern set of connections. Three line-level RCA inputs, plus a moving-magnet phono stage. This latter connection is something that Arcam has always fitted and that, over the course of the time the company has been building integrated amps,…

HURRY OFFER CLOSES 31ST DECEMBER 2024 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 SAVE 75% ON YOUR DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION* IN EVERY ISSUE: Reviews of all the latest turntables, amplifiers, loudspeakers, DACs, CD players, streamers and hi-fi accessories. Plus: group tests, music reviews, opinions, news and all your hi-fi woes answered TERMS & CONDITIONS: Offer ends 31st December 2024. *This digital discount is only available when you subscribe to the ‘Print + Digital’ package. You still get a great discount on the digital…

What do Adele, Aerosmith and Bruce Springsteen have in common with Elton John, The Smiths and Neil Young? Or, say, Phil Collins, the Rolling Stones and Rhianna? The answer is that all have protested at the unauthorised use of their songs at Donald Trump’s rallies. You can also add to the list Guns N’ Roses, Linkin Park, Ozzy Osborne, Panic! At The Disco, Everlast, The White Stripes, Pharrell Williams, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Queen, R.E.M., Nickelback, Village People and the estates of Isaac Hayes and Tom Petty. ‘Donald Trump stole our song’ would make a mighty fine Spotify playlist – and it seems Trump has strong opinions about music. “I actually gave a teacher a black eye because I didn’t think he knew anything about music,” he wrote in his 1987…

Hi-Fi Choice Recommends ESSENTIAL HI-FI YOU’LL WANT TO OWN 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 M6scd PRICE: £2,500 REVIEWED: HFC 499 An exemplary player with more than a hint of star quality to it, the M6scd paints a broad and deep soundstage populated with solid, well-focused and perfectly placed images. Regardless of genre of music or production standard, its handling of spatial elements is among the very best in the…