About ten years ago when I was working in the retail side of the audio industry, the original PMC Twenty series was launched and we sold a good few of them. They seemed especially well suited to Naim amplification and we sold that combination regularly. Indeed, I liked them so much that when the shop […]
Never having had any of the well-respected ELAC loudspeakers in my own system, but having heard many at various shows and not least in their home territory across Germany, I was more than a little excited when a heavyweight box arrived containing their latest standmounts, all 16kg of it. Inside was a pair of well-packed […]
The Danes appear to have a knack for building hi-fi, maybe it’s because they have been doing it for a long time what with brands like Bang & Olufsen and Ortofon being in the business for so long. Michael Børresen was formerly with high end specialists Raidho but started to build loudspeakers under his own […]
It is so appropriate to be testing a Rogers-made BBC loudspeaker design since the company was so closely linked with the broadcaster’s transducer development and manufacture decades ago. Indeed, the original bass unit of the LS5/9 (under scrutiny here) was a collaboration between BBC engineers and Rogers at a time when the Corporation had lost […]
There are creepy moments in the Aphex Twin’s dark and atmospheric electronic tracks that, when played back through headphones, have you turning around to see where those unsettling sounds are coming from. The Bowers & Wilkins 603 Series 2 Anniversary Editions have an uncanny ability to reproduce that effect. I am not talking about any kind […]
Kerr Acoustic K320 mk.3 speakers Hi-fi as a hobby had its heyday in the 50s, 60s and 70s, an era when there were fewer luxuries to indulge in for the average man and large loudspeakers were not considered to be an obstacle to domestic bliss. As a result most of the people who appreciate good […]
This is a review I have delayed writing for the simple reason that I did not want to return the product to the manufacturer because I was enjoying it so much. But that procrastination is preventing me from sharing news of how great a product Acoustic Energy have created in their AE500 two-way stand-mount loudspeaker. […]
A couple of years back I moved into a larger listening room with timber framed walls, lots of insulation and cement panel and wooden cladding. It doesn’t have the tendency found in brick builds to bounce the bass back at you which means no bass boom and pretty even low end. The drawback is that […]
One of my more enjoyable reviewing experiences last year was listening to the Kudos Titan 505 stand-mount loudspeakers, which are the smallest of the company’s flagship range. However, they are not inexpensive and face very stiff competition at their price point. I was therefore more than a little intrigued when offered the chance to play […]
Released in January, the Q7 Mini Monitor is the latest addition to Falcon Acoustics’ Complete at Home range of loudspeakers that’s making high-end audio more affordable by selling kits directly to the customer. An updated version of the original Q7 that Malcolm Jones designed and sold for many years, the new model exploits improvements in […]
Italian speaker makers have always had a thing for solid walnut, the stuff must grow on trees over there, and it certainly makes for a beautiful and extremely solid cabinet, as a rule it’s used on standmounts but for the first time in its extensive history Sonus faber have built a floorstander from this lovely […]
Neat Acoustics Orkestra loudspeakers A new speaker from Bob Surgeoner at Neat is not an everyday occurrence. Unlike the increasing number of manufacturers who feel a marketing necessity to churn out new models with alacrity, this County Durham company spends hundreds of hours listening and honing new designs before releasing them. Each new concept must […]