Project Audio Stereo Set E1 system I have been listening to music via digital mediums exclusively since the mid-nineties. Prior to this, I was an avid record collector, albeit on a schoolboy budget. My migration to CD was forced by circumstances, namely that until recently I had neither the space nor suitable room in which […]
Vertere Calon phono preamplifier It’s about time that Vertere produced a phono preamp or stage to match their stunning turntables, arms and cartridges and in the spring of 2024 that finally happened with Calon. The word is apparently Welsh for heart, Vertere’s financial guy is from those parts and company founder/designer Touraj Moghaddam wanted something […]
Cambridge Audio EXA100 integrated amplifier Cambridge Audio’s marketing slogan proclaims, Sounding Great since 1968 and shows just how long the brand has been around. Originally a division of Cambridge Consultants, its first product was the 20W/ch P40 integrated amplifier (one of the first to use toroidal transformers). The firm became Cambridge Audio Labs based in […]
The Ear’s reviewers pick the best hi-fi of 2024 If you want to know the best hi-fi of 2024, the audio products that really wowed our reviewers this year look no further. These components that made a lasting impression, they are the ones reviewers would have held onto if they could and sometimes did. There […]
McIntosh C55 preamplifier McIntosh Laboratory Inc, to give the company its full name, has been designing and manufacturing high fidelity equipment in Binghamton New York since 1949, which means that when my family and I moved to Broome County (of which Binghamton is the largest town) in New York State in 1985, the brand was […]
Newontech DAC 08, Pre 08, Amp 10 Newontech’s founder, CEO and passionate music lover, Ole Nielsen, is clear about a mission that seems more like a declaration of obsession. It’s all about the sound (well, it always is) but he stresses that many thousands of hours are spent listening and trying out different components before […]
Wiim Ultra streamer DAC preamp Wiim has taken the budget end of the audiophile streaming market by storm since the launch of the Wiim Mini three years ago. Followed by the Wiim Pro and Wiim amp range, these products have formed the basis of many entry-level and secondary streaming systems. The company is a subsidiary […]
Audia Flight FLS1/FLS4 pre/power amplifiers Italy is a beautiful country in parts, and the Italians are no strangers to the high life. I have never been brave enough to provide a home for any of the many exotic cars I often find myself drooling over, and their racing bikes tend to be too small for […]
Sugden Audio Masterclass IA-4 integrated amplifier Sugden are survivors. There aren’t very many independent British electronics brands that have been around since the ark and Sugden go back further than Linn, Naim and Rega, all of the older brands have been bought up by international operations. Last year Sugden encountered a major set-back when MD […]
Circle Labs A200 integrated amplifier Circle Labs will be a new name to many, yet this Polish manufacturer has been producing high-end audio products since the latter part of the twentieth century. The two guys behind Circle Labs, Krzysztof Wilczyński and Krzystof Lichoń, took the company, whose core business is in the design and manufacture […]
Moonriver 505 Hybrid phono stage Regular readers may recognise the Moonriver brand name from two earlier reviews which I submitted for the company’s 404 integrated amplifier, in January 2021 and its more powerful sibling the 404 Reference integrated amplifier, in June of last year. To save you scrolling back through the archives let me summarise […]
Life-Changer Audio Icon 5 Balanced passive preamplifier It would gratuitously underplay Pál Nagy’s formidable intellectual and engineering skills to characterise his newly-launched Icon 5 line control unit as the result of global collaboration. Nonetheless, while the Icon 5 is designed and made by Nagy in Manchester, it has threads linking it to the wider world […]