Chario Aviator Amelia, a highly musical loudspeaker
Chario Aviator Amelia speakers Readers will often see the term ‘musical’ used to describe a product—surely, every hi-fi component should produce music? This beautiful speaker from the Italian brand Chario could perhaps be the ideal foil with which to demonstrate this term. It is not a speaker that grabs your attention and impresses at the […]
The Monitor Audio Gold 500 6G raises standards
Monitor Audio Gold 500 6G speakers I had not long read Trevor Butler’s review of the Monitor Audio Studio 89 speaker in this publication when I was asked if I would take a look at the top-of-the-range model from the newly launched range. This request was timely, as it caught me pondering that I had […]
Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature shines bright
Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature Bowers & Wilkins have established a working pattern over the last decade or so that sees certain models from their upper ranges upgraded to Signature status after they have been on the market for a while. We saw this most recently with the 801 Signature and this year the […]
Ophidian Ffion: dare to be different
Ophidian Ffion speakers As a reviewer who has form for turning the spotlight on less well-known brands, I find a particular pathology often on display in audio dealer showrooms really quite fascinating. Say a customer auditions three contending models of speakers; among them is one that isn’t the creature of a big brand A or […]
Morel Avyra 633: big sound for a small price
Morel Avyra 633 loudspeakers Having enjoyed so much the new Morel two-way Avyra 622 stand-mounts I was very excited at the prospect of trying the larger Avyra floorstanding loudspeakers. I had heard them in the Editor’s room and was impressed by what they could do on the end of some pretty heavyweight electronics that he […]
Acoustic Energy unleashes Corinium
Acoustic Energy Corinium loudspeakers The name Corinium derives from way back in the day, when the Romans were in power and used it for what is now Cirencester,. Apparently it was a significant place at the time, a Londinium of the west according to those in the know. Acoustic Energy have been in and around […]
Etude 5 BMR line array with attitude
Etude 5 loudspeakers Regular readers may recall Chris Beeching’s review of a rather unique speaker design called the Curvi BMR Mk2. The Curvi is designed and sold by materials scientist and former fellow and lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, Dr Christopher Liauw. The key feature of the Curvi BMR Mk2 is that it is based […]
Moor Amps Ascalon-8: audiophile credentials
Moor Amps Ascalon-8 loudspeakers Moor Amps is a small, family company derived from a shared passion for music and dedicated to high-quality, British-built audio equipment. At its helm are Tim and Ruth Narramore with relations also involved, making this a real family affair. Behind the brand is a passion for music along with a desire […]
B&W 801 Signature goes the extra mile
Bowers & Wilkins 801 Signature The engineers at Bowers & Wilkins research and development department have been taking their jobs home with them again. It only seems like yesterday that the 800 series was launched in D4 form (apparently it was 2021) yet this summer they unveiled two Signature versions of the smallest and biggest […]
Vestia No2 hits a high for Focal
Focal Vestia No2 loudspeakers It is the magical moments that make the life of an audio reviewer so special, such as my encounter with the Vestia No2 floor-standing loudspeaker from French manufacturer Focal. My heart initially sank when I spied a pre-production version of the Vestia No2 three-way at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. In the […]
Sonus faber Amati G5: sounds better than it looks
Sonus faber Amati G5 loudspeakers The Amati G5 is very much a modern Sonus faber that while it’s part of the Italian company’s Homage range does not seem have a lot in common with the models that it was created to honour. The Sonus faber Guarneri was first made in 1993 and while it had […]
Børresen X3 is a smooth operator
Børresen X3 loudspeakers The Børresen X3 followed the mighty Stratton Acoustics Elypsis 1512s into the listening room, it would be hard to imagine two such different designs. The Stratton is a metre wide, has ten and 12 inch drive units and costs over £80,000, the X3 is 34.5cm wide, has drivers that do not exceed […]