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 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 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 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 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 […]
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 […]
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 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 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 […]
It’s funny how, after all my years in evaluating both hardware and software in the home music replay industry, there are still some venerable (not old but respected and well-established) names that have not passed through my listening room. In the speaker line I’ve had most types here, including stats, planars, horns, infinite baffles, plasma […]
Historically at least priorities in audio have varied between the UK and the US. Americans hold that the loudspeaker is the most important part of any sound system, they tend to spend more on speakers than any other part of the audio chain. In Britain, ever since a certain Scotsman started preaching that the source […]
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 […]