Lampizator Baltic 4 natural digital
Lampizator Baltic 4 valve DAC I have been using solid-state electronics for years but have always been intrigued by valve or tube based components. The Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista products, which were very impressive when I reviewed them for The Ear qualify as hybrid tube products, but the Nuvistor tubes used in them are a niche […]
Zinamp Z-Act for better vinyl sound
Zinamp Z-Act MM cartridge enhancement system A good number of us absolutely love vinyl replay. It’s not only that the sound is so good, but also there’s something comforting about the ritual of putting a record on, of tailoring the sound to suit your ears with the vast range of different cartridge types or choice […]
Leema Neutron & Graviton entry level amp stars
Leema Neutron & Graviton pre & power amplifiers Leema Acoustics launched its Quantum range of entry level electronics late last year, the first to come our way are the Neutron, an analogue and digital preamplifier bristling with input options and boasting onboard DAC and MM/MC phono stage, and the matching Graviton is a 150 Watt […]
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 […]
Enleum HPA-23RM: the ultimate portable amp?
Enleum HPA-23RM headphone amplifier Brands seldom hit the big time with their first product but Enleum’s AMP-23R integrated amplifier that Kevin Fiske reviewed in 2021 immediately earned the respect of hi-fi and head-fi enthusiasts alike and is no less revered three years on. Such an achievement is rarely the result of happenstance and the apparent […]
Fyne Audio F703SP: more is more
Fyne Audio F703SP loudspeakers Surface area equals pi times the square of the radius is one of the equations that imposes immutable constraints on passive loudspeakers. Forgive the maths refresher, but the size of the driver or drivers has an effect on the lowest bass notes a speaker can produce, together with other parameters the […]
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 […]
Stack Audio Smooth-LAN for clean streaming
Stack Audio Smooth-LAN network Filter LAN/Ethernet filters are becoming the latest ‘must-have’ for our networked audio systems, and many have been launched over the last few years. The first I became aware of was the ENO from Network Acoustics, which greatly impressed me when I reviewed it a couple of years ago. Since then, I […]
Audio Physic Codex reveals hidden depths
Audio Physic Codex loudspeakers I last reviewed Audio Physic speakers some twenty-odd years ago. I remember that this German company had novel ways of solving problems, and the speakers were so good I was sad to see them go. In the intervening years their presence had all but faded away in the UK, so they […]
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 […]