March was Hegel month in the Kelly household, not only did I spend many happy hours with their excellent V10 phono stage but I also enjoyed some quality time with its stablemate, the Hegel H390 integrated amplifier, which was here at my request, as the obvious companion. Actually, calling the H390 an integrated amplifier sells […]
Auralic products can be idiosyncratic at times, the Vega streaming DAC doesn’t have the Lightning Server onboard for instance so isn’t as complete a streamer as an Aries, but it is admirable for its commitment to product improvements and its unequivocal stance on the thorny subject of MQA. Those unfamiliar with this acronym should know […]
Simaudio’s software engineers had a busy lockdown if the recent announcement of Spotify Connect integration is anything to go by. Unlike streaming services that will be familiar to the sonically aware such as Qobuz and Tidal which can be integrated into an audio company’s control app Spotify Connect works rather differently. In fact it works […]
If you had told me even a couple of years ago that I would start to consider the network switch to be as critical a part of a streaming system as the DAC I would have presumed you had a screw loose. Yet today having first tested the Melco S100 and now the Ansuz X-TC […]
The Hegel story begins in 1988 when Bent Holter, a student at the Technical University in Trondheim, prepared his thesis on transistor amplifier design. He quickly discovered that enemy number one was distortion. Holter could not accept the fact that when we supply a simple signal to an amplifier, the output reproduces that signal plus […]
2020 has been an eventful year to say the least but also one in which many have turned to music as an escape from the madness of the world around them. Music is a meditation that allows you to escape from the problems of life, whose powers are not to be underestimated, and having a […]
I don’t suppose I was alone in thinking that Melco had gone too far when they announced the S100, a network switch with a £2,000 price tag. How on earth could a switch make enough difference to warrant that kind of expense, especially when Melco’s music servers already have a dedicated output for streamers that […]
It’s only been a year since I reviewed the original Stack Audio Link but the streaming world runs a little faster than most so it’s not surprising that Theo Stack has managed to make some important changes to his small but beautifully formed streaming bridge. It’s probably worth reiterating why this is called a bridge […]
In the interests of transparency, I must preface this review by saying that one of the principals of the recently formed Network Acoustics is a friend of mine called Richard Trussell, and that I have been in regular contact with him while he has taken the long road from ‘good idea’ to ‘finished product’. However, […]
As recently reported this combination of Focal Chora 806 loudspeakers and Naim Uniti Atom integrated amplifier, network streamer and DAC plus a four metre pair of Naim NAC A5 speaker cable is one of five specially priced and sonically matched systems featuring kit from the two brands that will be available for the remainder of 2020. The […]
The Chord 2go is quite literally a bolt-on box that transforms the company’s Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amp into an app-controlled, portable WiFi- and ethernet-enabled streamer/server. Its two captive micro-USB plugs seat into Hugo’s corresponding sockets for data and power, while two locating screws lock the two devices together. Available in silver or black, weighing 160g […]
Back in June of this year I wrote a review of the Lyngdorf TDAI 1120, which was sufficiently enthusiastic that, after a discussion with me, our editor awarded it our coveted Best Buy award. As part of that discussion we wondered how it would fare in a comparison with some of its rivals in what […]