Soulnote E-2 ver.2 phono equaliser When most companies call a phono stage an equaliser this is a reference to the RIAA EQ curve required to invert the response used to master a vinyl record, it’s a basic necessity for any phono preamp/stage, call it what you like. Soulnote’s phono equalisers go significantly beyond this and […]
D’Von Aurora SQ-40 speakers Unusually for me I’m going to start with a spoiler alert: these floorstanders from D’Von Audio are stunningly good. In fact, for the price, and the quality of the product I would be hard-pushed to find another speaker which delivered such performance at a similar price point. Especially one that combined […]
Gold Note DS-1000 Evo Line streaming DAC/preamp & PA-1175 MkII power amplifier Having enjoyed hosting the Gold Note IS 1000 MkII Deluxe integrated amplifier earlier this year, I had a hankering to try this popular Italian brand’s higher-end offering, especially as streaming files from both Qobuz and my dedicated server form the bread and butter […]
Eversolo T10 streaming transport Eversolo have carved out a competitive space for themselves in the streaming world, their DMP range of streamer/DACs play hard in the mid market while the Play streaming amp puts the fight to the likes of Wiim and and Bluesound at the cut throat end of the business. So a streaming […]
Quad Platina CDT & Integrated transport & amplifier There are very few manufacturers of audio equipment who can claim to have been around for 90 years, but Quad most certainly can. Legend is a lazy epithet these days (a bit like iconic), but I think that we can safely and accurately apply it to Peter […]
AVID Ingenium SE turntable & arm The AVID Ingenium SE is a belt driven, unsuspended turntable and the most affordable member of the AVID range. It represents the latest evolution of a design that has been on a longer and more varied journey than you might expect of a device designed to perform a single […]
Henry Audio DA 256 DAC Eleven years ago we were contacted by Norwegian programmer Borge Strand-Bergesen who had created the Henry USB DAC MkII, a compact single input converter that ran off the 5V provided by a USB connection. That DAC was surprisingly good for its €260 price at a time when there were few […]
Solen CV20-N integrated amplifier Solen is a typically French company, you can see as much in the quirkiness of the CV20-N valve amplifier’s casework and a quick peak at their website reveals even more distinctive designs such as the Tigre B50 from an age before they had accepted that rectilinear forms were the key to […]
Accuvoice Stream S3 wireless speakers Wires are out of fashion big time, the days when regular folk could ignore a cable are past and now the things are avoided like the pandemic in the modern home. Likewise in sound systems, I suspect that the rise of one box systems and Bluetooth speakers is as much […]
Arendal 1610 Bookshelf 8 speakers A relative newcomer to the audio scene, Norway’s Arendal has a burgeoning array of loudspeakers which are worthy of investigation. Newest to the line-up is the 1610 series which includes the compact three-way Bookshelf 8. From Norway with love Arendal is a historic port city located in Agder county, in […]
Tom Evans Audio Design Mastergroove SR Mk4 phono stage In the rarefied atmosphere inhaled by hard-core vinyl enthusiasts such as the Ear Editor Jason Kennedy, the phono stages made by maverick Welsh Valleys designer Tom Evans are seen as the stuff of aspiration, of legend even. The company’s flagship Mastergroove phono stage, the SR Mk4, […]
Moor Amps Angel-4 MkII power amplifier Picture it. It had been a long, exhausting day traipsing around the Deluxe show in Whittlebury earlier this year, when I was drawn into one of the smaller rooms by the sweet sounds emanating from within. It was not the biggest room and what was on dem was not […]