DC blockers are not a new thing but two new examples have been launched in the last month or so from mainstream brands, what gives? DC on the mains or DC offset causes transformers to vibrate and buzz, and when those transformers are large enough this buzzing becomes audible. I have had a few power […]
In my younger days I would do it once or twice a week, then when I moved out of town it went down to once a month, and come lockdown listening to music with friends became a virtual affair (what else did you think I was talking about?). The virtual sesh has proved to be […]
Max Townshend is an engineer first and foremost, he doesn’t pay much heed to the marketing and styling which is part and parcel of selling audio equipment today. His components are very much in the form follows function camp and nowhere is this more obvious than in the Isolda speaker cables. These are made up […]
Falcon Acoustics have come up with a way to make their loudspeakers more affordable without compromising on quality. Complete at home is the name they have come up with for what are essentially kits containing the building blocks of a loudspeaker but which do not require any DIY skills to put together. Unlike kit form […]
A selection of accessories that help you get the most out of your turntable and thus make your records sound even better. Some of these devices are used every time I set up a turntable others are for routine maintenance while the rest are handy tools for refining turntable set up. At least one was […]
It’s been five years since I last visited the Rega factory in Southend and the place has changed markedly in that time. The main difference is the scale of the operation, there are now 140 people working there, so what was a newly built and quarter filled mezzanine floor in 2015 is now full of […]
Reader’s of Munich High End show reports will no doubt remember the room with vintage horn system that has appeared there every year for some time now, huge metal Western Electric horns have energy and immediacy that most speakers cannot compete with and while not exactly tonally neutral they can knock your socks off with the right […]
Richard Barclay concludes his explorations in the deep waters of headphone tech with an investigation into what really counts in a headphone amplifier. As a headphone is essentially a miniature loudspeaker, it shouldn’t be surprising that the interactions between headphones and headphone amplifiers are very similar to those between loudspeakers and power amplifiers. Many of […]
The power supply is a fundamental part of any piece of electronics, not least audio components where the quality of the power supply has a direct influence on the sound quality produced. An amplifier for instance uses electrical power to increase the strength (voltage) of a signal to the point where it can drive a […]
I am a relative newcomer to the world of Linn Sondek LP12 ownership, I bought a pre-loved example and rebuilt it with upgrades from Linn and from Tangerine Audio just last year. The LP12 seems to draw adulation and scorn in about equal measure in the audiophile community. If you ‘get’ what it does, there […]
John Burns explains stylus cleaning I’ve been working closely with records and cartridges for 40 years and am in particular debt to the expertise and knowledge of Dynavector Systems, Tokyo, the brand that my company, Pear Audio, distributes in the UK. There are two things in the design of most moving coil phono cartridges that […]
Richard Barclay continues his explorations in the deep waters of headphone tech with an investigation into what really counts in a headphone amplifier. As a headphone is essentially a miniature loudspeaker, it shouldn’t be surprising that the interactions between headphones and headphone amplifiers are very similar to those between loudspeakers and power amplifiers. Many of […]