Rekkord M600 vinyl pedigree
Rekkord Audio M600 turntable Let me start with a confession. I was totally unfamiliar with the Rekkord Audio brand until I received an email from our Editor a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in reviewing their top turntable. I was sufficiently intrigued to agree to doing the review and only then […]
Dynavector XX-2A: MC with a magnetic personality
Dynavector XX-2A moving coil cartridge Dynavector has a strong pedigree and reputation for producing high-quality and well-respected cartridges and when I heard there was a brand new XX-2A model making its debut, I was straight on the phone to secure a sample. Dynavector was founded in 1978 by Dr Noboru Tominari, who was previously a […]
Rega Nd3 redefines the budget MM cartridge
Rega Nd3 moving magnet cartridge The Nd3 is the first of a new generation of moving magnet cartridges from Rega. The company showed a prototype Nd7 range topper at the last Bristol hi-fi show and there will be an Nd5 in between in due course. Unlike the previous Rega MM range the Nd models use […]
Vertere Dark Sabre puts MMs on the high end cartridge map
Vertere Dark Sabre cartridge Back in October, just as Storm Babet was about to make landfall, a small group of audio writers gathered at Vertere’s North London headquarters to spend a day with the company’s founder and engineering leader Touraj Moghaddam. Regular readers will know that I have had the pleasure of reviewing several Vertere […]
Cyrus TTP turntable turns 40 at 33.3rpm
Cyrus TTP turntable and arm Turntables have been around for, seemingly, forever. And thanks to the resurgence of vinyl almost everyone has one in their portfolio of products today. At least, that’s the common perception. After all, can anything new be done with a turntable. Cyrus is celebrating some 40 years of existence. 40 years […]
Hana Umami Blue for the spice of vinyl life
Hana Umami Blue moving coil cartridge Hana is a relatively new name, but parent company Excel Sound Corp. has been making phono cartridges for reputable companies for over 50 years, (including their own Urushi brand) accumulating vast experience in design and manufacture along the way. Hana, which draws on that expertise, is the brainchild of […]
Best hi-fi of 2023
The Ear picks the best hi-fi of 2023 2023 has been a tough year for the hi-fi industry but that has done nothing to stem the flow of first class products coming to market. In fact there are even more extraordinary audio components to choose from than there were last year, with advances made in […]
Rega Naia: a vinyl revelation
Rega Naia turntable and arm Rumours about this turntable were circulating a couple of years or more before it was finally revealed at the Bristol show in February, it even had a phantom name, Planar 12, but it took Rega quite a while to nail the Naia (pronounced niya/nigher) down and put it into production […]
Quadratic MC-1: a positive step-up
Quadratic Audio MC-1 step-up transformer Step-up transformers can make or break a moving coil’s performance. Not necessarily its physical performance, but certainly at the aural end of things there can be some nasty surprises if you don’t get the matching right. Here I’m putting the Quadratic MC-1 SUT through its paces. The MC-1’s connections are […]
Origin Live Aurora & Onyx: entry level premium
Origin Live Aurora Mk5 turntable & Onyx Mk4 tonearm The Aurora turntable with Onyx arm was my introduction to Origin Live’s products, so I came to it with no preconceptions, but knowing that over the years they have garnered praise from respected fellow reviewers. I am not by any stretch of the imagination an engineer, […]
Vertere MG1 MkII to the power of Imperium
Vertere MG1 MkII, Imperium, Mystic and Phono 1 MkII L record player Hello again dear readers. Those of you who have been with us for a while may pick up on the fact that this is my third review of the Vertere MG1 MkII Magic Groove record player and the second of the MkII version. […]
Supatrac Blackbird lets the vinyl soar
Supatrac Blackbird tonearm Having experienced the Supatrac Blackbird my record playing world will never be the same again. My earliest memories of vinyl records are from my father’s system, which consisted of a Leak Dynamic moving-coil mono pick-up, Collaro 4T200 transcription turntable, Quad 22/II combination and a sand-filled corner cabinet housing a Wharfedale CS/AL Super […]