Linn has revived the Isobaric principle in its latest floorstander the actively driven Akubarik. With its Aktiv power pack cunningly blended into the tapered back of the speaker this is an extremely neat looking design given its inherent firepower and bandwidth. The isobaric element consists of two bass drivers placed face to face and venting […]
The headphone market is the biggest thing in audio right now so it’s hardly surprising that loudspeaker brands are getting in on the act. Latest entrant is KEF which hopes that its 50 year heritage will give it some profile in a crowded market place. KEF has released two models, the closed-back M500 at £250 […]
Slovakia’s premium tube electronics manufacturer has released the TP306VR+, a phono stage with distinctly high end sensibilities. For starters it’s an MM/MC stage with tube regulation and Lundahl step-up transformers for moving coil cartridges, all signal path capacitors are Mundorf polypropylenes and it sits in a resonance damped chassis with separate chambers for the power […]
Tomorrow’s the day when the remaining record shops of the western world will be overflowing with new vinyl releases put out to celebrate their continued existence. There are hundreds of special releases on 7, 10 and 12inch vinyl to pick up, some are re-releases others rare recordings that have not previously been pressed, see the […]
Avid has introduced black versions of its range topping Acutus turntables. Previously available in chrome the Acutus SP and Reference SP have now been released in a ‘lustrous’ black finish. This is apparently in response to demand and a result of technological improvements and bespoke tooling which has given the company the opportunity to produce […]
Easter Friday was cold and gloomy which made a good excuse to visit John Howes (above right) for the launch of Howes Acoustics, his new listening room and museum near Heathfield in East Sussex. This is where John and Mike Blackmore demonstrate many advantages of high efficiency loudspeakers and tube amplifiers with single figure outputs, […]
Ladies and gentleman I give you the Pivetta Opera Only. Probably the largest amplifier in the world, this will undoubtedly be the highest light at the forthcoming High End show in Munich between the 9th and 12th of May. Technical data:Power input: Power supply: Power output:Dimensions:230/400V 50/60 Hz 800 A 6400 amps – 1,000,000 mF6 […]
The Linn Sneaky DSM represents a new entry level product in its DSM (digital stream multi-source) range of integrated streaming components. The Sneaky DSM is a streamer, preamp and power amp in a slimline case that comes in at £1,750 in black, silver or white finishes.As with the existing Majik DSM this will stream music […]
Acoustic Energy has a new flagship speaker in the Reference Three floorstander. Running a ring radiator tweeter, metal midrange and pair of five inch metal bass drivers this three-way is as sophisticated under the skin as it is glossy on top. The cabinet is made out of two skins of MDF sandwiching a composite rubber […]
Krell’s latest integrated isn’t an amplifier it’s a beast. Even by the company’s high power standards an integrated that delivers 275 watts into eight Ohms and twice that into four is a powerhouse. The preamp is based on circuitry from in the Phantom range topper with surface mount devices (SMD) providing gain and zero negative […]
This Japanese phono stage is being brought to the UK by Pure Sound but appears to have no tubes. Pure Sound is synonymous with tube amps so this must be a special piece of kit. It’s an MM/MC stage that uses an LCR network for RIAA equalisation, an approach that works well with tube circuits […]
I admit that this made the cut purely on aesthetic grounds, I like Geneva products and this one is particularly nice. It’s a DAB/DAB+ and FM wireless that also has a Bluetooth receiver so you can stream net radio to it from your phone or computer. It has rotary tuning and volume knobs, a carry […]