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 […]
Neat Momentum JS: simply delicious speakers
Neat Acoustics Momentum JS speakers A new loudspeaker from Neat Acoustics is always something I get excited about and none more so when it’s a two-way that draws on the company’s top-of-the range Ultimatum range. The Momentum Jet Series is born, of which the Momentum JS stand-mount is the only bookshelf model. Neat Acoustics In […]
Perlisten S4b speakers must be heard to be believed
Perlisten S4b loudspeakers Few new speaker brands have enjoyed the universal acclaim of Perlisten, and after a cursory listen, it’s obvious the critical acclaim heaped on its £7,000 S4b flagship standmount isn’t merely generous encouragement for a fledgling brand from Wisconsin, USA. Founded by acoustical engineer Daniel Roemer and former M&K Sound president Lars Johansen […]
Avid Evo Four small speaker huge dynamics
Avid Evo Four loudspeakers Since first hearing Reference Series loudspeakers from Avid I’ve wanted to try some of their designs in my own system. When the Evo range was launched the designs became more affordable and I was delighted to be offered the Evo Four two-way to audition the Avid sound. Turntables and more Avid […]
Oephi Immanence 2 no compromise musical veracity
Oephi Immanence 2 loudspeakers A red pill kind of speaker. Anyone who’s seen the film The Matrix probably won’t need further explanation but here goes anyway. Protagonist Neo is given a choice: take the blue pill and continue with the safe, unremarkable, comfortable life that’s being fed to you; take the red pill, though, and […]
Monitor Audio Studio 89 sound and style
Monitor Audio Studio 89 loudspeakers It was back I the ‘80s, I recall, when Monitor Audio launched its Studio Series of loudspeakers. Now, taking its name from that now fashionable time, the Studio 89 has launched and I was excited to put this compact two-way through its paces, especially as it borrows some technology from […]
Tannoy SGM 10 for the glory days
Tannoy SGM 10 speakers Given that the very first loudspeaker I reviewed, back in 1988, was a Tannoy I was interested to hear how a modern iteration from the same marque sounds. Many millions of published words later and I received the first UK samples of the brand-new two-way standmount 10-inch dual concentric design, the […]
Fischer and Fischer SN70: hard rock speakers
Fischer and Fischer SN70 loudspeakers I was very excited to hear that renowned German loudspeaker brand Fischer & Fischer has new UK distribution. The move was mooted when I met MD Thomas Fischer at the Dutch Audio Event last autumn and admired his small monitors with their external crossovers, which were managing to create a […]
Development Audio Cymatics 6 takes the stage
Development Audio Cymatics 6 speakers A product launch usually generates interest but when it comes from a whole new audio brand then it’s time to really get excited, especially when its founder has such a solid pedigree in the business. The Cymatics 6 is a two-way stand-mount loudspeaker from Development Audio, the brand’s inaugural product […]
Dali Rubikore 2 speakers: clean, clear and crisp
Dali Rubikore 2 speakers Dali, or Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries, has something of a cult following judging by their crowded rooms at hi-fi shows. So popular is the brand that it’s often impossible to find space at these events. I was therefore very excited to be offered their latest two-way bookshelf to try in my […]
Quested OLY-208 magic from the studio
Quested OLY-208 loudspeakers Quested is one of those names that seems familiar for some reason but it’s not until you look into its background that you find out why this might be. Roger Quested started his career in the studio world at Olympic studios in the late sixties, he worked with Glynn Johns on the […]
Elipson XLS 7 speaker is a retro bargain
Elipson Heritage XLS 7 loudspeakers I have enjoyed several Elipson models over the years albeit not all of the company’s creations are to my taste, either aesthetically or sonically. Having been brought up on BBC monitors, and still admiring their tonal balance, the Editor thought I might like Elipson’s latest and smallest addition to its […]