Project Stereo Set E1 for instant vinyl action
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 […]
Best hi-fi of 2024
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 […]
PMC active twenty5.22i power packed tight
PMC active twenty5.22i loudspeakers Active or powered speakers are finally having their hay day, the demand for smaller wireless audio systems is largely why this is happening now but incorporating amplifiers and electronic crossovers into the speaker cabinet has advantages way beyond space and cost saving. The main advantage and the one for which active […]
Buchardt Anniversary 10 solid wireless winners
Buchardt Anniversary 10 wireless active speakers Danish company Buchardt made a good impression with the S400 passive two-way that I reviewed last year so when the active Anniversary 10 became available it didn’t take long to get a pair in. Key features, alongside the onboard amps, are the use of the much-talked about Purifi woofers, […]
Dutch & Dutch 8c expands sound with BACCH
Dutch & Dutch 8c active DSP loudspeakers I first encountered Dutch & Dutch when they were still in development mode and visited their Rotterdam factory early in 2017 to see what this dynamic company were up to ahead of their monitor loudspeaker launch a year later. The work was certainly breaking new ground in cardioid […]
Wireless Borea BR02 Connect leads the class
Triangle Borea BR02 Connect powered loudspeakers French hi-fi brand Triangle’s catalogue is not short on compact active loudspeakers, and now we have new additions in the shape of the Borea Connect range, based on passive variants. There are two models: the larger Borea 03, with 160cm main drive units and two 60W amplifiers, and the […]
AE1 Active blows us away
Acoustic Energy AE1 Active Since I got involved with this reviewing malarkey some years ago now, I have been privileged to host some very fine components in my system. Included in that list are at least two pairs of Acoustic Energy floorstanding loudspeakers. I thoroughly enjoyed them and wrote about them with enthusiasm. Thus when […]
Sonus faber Duetto: style without wires
Sonus faber Duetto wireless speakers With a four-decade pedigree of Italian-designed loudspeakers, Sonus faber has produced its first streaming active speaker system, following the success of its Omnia wireless speaker. The Duetto is clearly an effort to make inroads into a new market segment for an audience demanding high quality with as few boxes as […]
Eclipse TD307MK3 desktop delight
Eclipse TD307MK3 compact loudspeaker If you are going to enjoy your music while you work there are plenty of good reasons to use a speaker like the Eclipse TD307MK3. Eclipse makes single drive unit speakers, it always has and always will. The Japanese company likes this approach because you get a genuine point source, that […]
Proac Response DB3: very special indeed
Proac Response DB3 loudspeakers Up until the DB3s arrived it had been several decades since I used a Proac loudspeaker; in fact, it would have been around 1997 when I began freelance work at a radio station which used the highly-respected Proac Studio to make promotions and commercials. Having lived only with BBC designs until […]
Revival Audio Atalante 5
Revival Audio Atalante 5 loudspeakers French company Revival Audio may be a freshly launched brand, but the two main protagonists have decades of experience in the audio industry behind them. Principle designer Daniel Emonts has an impressive portfolio, being part of design teams responsible for many acclaimed models, in particular from Focal and Dynaudio. Strategic […]
Care Orchestra Deep Breath Evo
The Italians have always had a certain flair when it comes to things cultural and artistic; from da Vinci to Michelangelo, Monteverdi to Vivaldi, Versace to Enzo Ferrari. And that extends to contemporary loudspeaker design as well, as we shall see. At various hi-fi shows around the world, I have been wooed by the sounds […]