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. […]
Music First Audio Reference V2.1 preamplifier I’m getting worried about Music First main man Jonathan Billington. Each time I get one of his products it is, like him, modest, understated and goes far beyond what one might expect from such an understated yet finely crafted set of components. The worry is that I keep thinking […]
Custom Design FS 104 Signature XL speaker stands Positioning loudspeakers within a room is so vitally important to the sound they produce. Avoiding positions that are too close to walls (especially corners), are obvious, others less so. It’s vital to eliminate (or at least minimise) reflections from surfaces close to the speaker cabinets, from the […]
Innuos Pulsar streamer Having firmly established itself as a major player in the server market, last year Innuos finally announced its range of dedicated audio streamers with the Pulsar at its apex. Innuos Zen servers are now in their third generation and their flagship Statement is widely regarded as one of the best in the […]
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 […]
Buchardt S400 MkII loudspeakers I faced an awkward dichotomy in deciding when to pen this review because, while eager to share news of a very exciting product I am aware that, once published, the review samples will have to be shipped back to the manufacturer and I would like to enjoy them for as long […]
QED Golden Anniversary XT speaker cable Like thousands of other lovers of quality home music and cinema reproduction, QED’s 79 Strand cable was the first specialist speaker cable to grace one of my systems. This cable has been on sale for forty-seven years, with their 42 strand cable a year older again. From memory, my […]
Sonus faber Amati G5 loudspeakers The Amati G5 is very much a modern Sonus faber that while it’s part of the Italian company’s Homage range does not seem have a lot in common with the models that it was created to honour. The Sonus faber Guarneri was first made in 1993 and while it had […]
Quiescent Apex isolation devices The Quiescent Apex range of component Couplers is distinctly different from the isolating products found elsewhere. For a start they are asymmetrical and their surfaces are carved out with curved paths that are seemingly random, they are also pretty chunky, the smallest Apex40 is 127mm (5 inches) wide at the widest […]
Børresen X3 loudspeakers The Børresen X3 followed the mighty Stratton Acoustics Elypsis 1512s into the listening room, it would be hard to imagine two such different designs. The Stratton is a metre wide, has ten and 12 inch drive units and costs over £80,000, the X3 is 34.5cm wide, has drivers that do not exceed […]
Goldenear BRX loudspeakers It’s a bit of a novelty to have the Goldenear BRXs in my system, I can’t recall having had any of their loudspeakers through my hands before, although I’ve heard plenty and talked about Sandy Gross’ designs at various audio shows. Before establishing this label in 2010, he’s founded Polk back in […]
Melco N5-H50 music server When Melco launched the N5 in May I was excited to see a more affordable variation on the N1 flagship that appeared in March. But then it occurred to me that Melco’s product numbering system is like Canon cameras, the lower the number the better the product. As an N10 owner […]