cutter-head

Back in the summer I went up to Air Studios to see Mike Valentine who was overseeing the second stage of making his latest Chasing the Dragon release. This is a live recording of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra playing a selection of classic swing era pieces. What makes it different is that the vinyl only […]

Roy-Gandy-820

Not many companies in this business have received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, but on Friday October 9th Rega Research celebrated becoming one of that select band. They celebrated with a party for employees, suppliers and friends where the Queen’s representative, the Lord Petre, read out the customary speech and mentioned that Rega was only […]

Charlie_MXR

For the purpose of gaining some insight into the Ayre QB-9DSD DAC I asked company president Charles Hansen a few apparently innocuous questions. I was therefore surprised to receive the following response, which makes fascinating reading. Especially for fans of DSD.   JK: Is there any benefit in 2x, 4x or greater upsampling of DSD and […]


naiad-full

Last week I was honoured by a visit from Rega’s namesake and founder Roy Gandy. Rumours had been circulating that the long awaited Naiad turntable is as good as a turntable could possibly be and I could wait no longer. So I asked if I could hear it and was surprised when he offered to […]

Stoke seismograms 10

Have you ever noticed that your system sounds better later in the evening, that it becomes more revealing and effortless ‘round about midnight’? If so you may have wondered why and you wouldn’t be the first. There are a number of possible causes, the most often cited being that most people turn off their TVs […]

sony-hi-res

Having read many articles on the credibility of high resolution audio, I am left frustrated. Whether for or against, few acknowledge reality and present a plain enough case to reach what needs to be a wide and receptive audience. Both camps bog themselves down in either promoting or undermining the technical attributes of hi-res formats, […]


jonathan-billington

JASON KENNEDY VISITS THE HASTINGS HOME OF MUSIC FIRST AUDIO AND FINDS A SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN AROUND LONGER THAN YOU THINK. Stevens & Billington made a cult name for itself when people started using its products to build TVC or transformer volume controls with its products in the late nineties. […]

Roy-Gandy-with-Apheta

We asked Rega founder Roy Gandy a few questions about the remarkable RP10 turntable. Jason Kennedy: Does the arm have better bearings than an RB1000? Roy Gandy: The arms have evolved continuously over the 30 plus years we have been making them. We can now get much better bearings with finer tolerances which mean that […]

SONOS

Music it is said is part and parcel of every audiophile's raison d'être. It is the reason for large speakers and annoying electronics that occupy living space and endanger peace, happiness and in some cases marital bliss. And yet it would appear that less of us are parking our ears in front of the audio […]


600-tweeter

Bowers & Wilkins most affordable ‘proper’ speakers, the 600, series has been totally revamped for its fifth incarnation. The series has been in the company’s range for 19 years now and was last revised back in 2007 when the FST midrange was introduced in the three-way 683. The new 600 series continues to trickle down […]

2013-index

To round off the year René and Jason have picked out their three favourite products. The components that have brought them the greatest musical thrills and the ones that they feel will stand the test of time in any well put together system. There was one product that both reviewers fell in love with but […]

Eddie-Kramer-for-Waves-by-Brian-Petersen

After forty plus years producer/engineer Eddie Kramer is finally getting the appreciation that he’s due for the work he did ‘capturing lighting in a bottle’ with rock legend Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix is experiencing something of a renaissance today not least because of the documentary aired by the BBC in October. Eddie was at Metropolis Studios […]