APL is a Bulgarian company founded over 30 years ago by Alex Peychev. He started out in the fashion of a few other companies by modifying and upgrading products from established brands but now concentrates solely on building a range of components that he dubs Illumi-Fi. These consist of digital source components, pre- and power […]
Back in September 2020 we published a shootout review between three one-box amplifier/streamers: the Naim Uniti Atom, Lyngdorf TDAI3400 and the NAD M10 Master. More than a year later the opportunity arose for me to spend some time with the M10’s more affordable sibling, the NAD C 700, which I was very pleased to do. All I […]
Even if we like to style ourselves as purists, and in the main regard audio separates as the only way, there is still a lot to be said for the well-conceived all-in-one box. Take the Moon 340i D3PX for example. No, the product name doesn’t trip off of the tongue very elegantly, but this integrated amplifier […]
Aavik is part of the same Danish company that makes Borresen loudspeakers and Ansuz electronics, cables and vibration control devices and the motto within this triumvirate appears to be: kill noise. They see noise as the enemy of good sound and there’s a very strong argument for this theory in my book. Noise that’s produced […]
If there’s something that almost everyone thinks they can make in hi-fi it’s cables. Before I worked in reviewing I made cables of my own and they sounded better than the cheap ones I had at the time, but I didn’t feel the urge to go out and sell them to the world, maybe I […]
My name is Chris and I am a slot-a-holic. There, my anonymity is blown but I feel better for sharing this dark secret. What is a slot-a-holic? Don’t waste energy looking it up because I invented the word. Here is my definition: a person who, when presented with a device containing a CD ripper, feels […]
One not insignificant barrier to the uptake of streaming in a hi-fi system (as opposed to on a phone) is the perceived issue of software problems. Rather too many streamers rely on rebadged control software that is fine while it works but a pain when it doesn’t. This is why Roon is able to sell […]
2021 may not have been the year that many of us had hoped for, there was only one hi-fi show in the UK and not many more elsewhere, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers both large and small who have produced some absolutely outstanding audio components in that time. Our best of the year round up […]
Chord Electronics’ much anticipated 2yu network bridge started shipping proper this summer, more than a year after its big reveal in early 2020 just before Covid put a rather big dampener on things. 2yu is built specifically to partner 2go and allows the bolt-on streamer/server originally designed for Chord’s award-winning Hugo2 portable DAC/headphone amp to […]
Newcomers to the Auralic brand can be forgiven for finding their range of near identical components a little confusing, the external differences come down to details of construction and the colour of controls. In essence it seems that the more ambitious products are entirely black and weigh more than the more affordable options. All of […]
Chord Co’s electronics division English Electric launched with the 8Switch network/data switch two years ago, the company has now followed that with two 8Switches in one box aptly named the 16Switch. It costs a bit more than a pair of 8Switches and contains pretty much exactly that but inhabits a full width steel case and […]
When it comes to streaming there is more to life than UPnP. That protocol might be the most popular game in town but as MPD, Roon and latterly Squeezebox have shown alternatives do exist and Italian digital audio specialist Aqua Acoustics is the first to build a modular streamer than can accommodate more than one. […]