What is it though? That was my response to the press release for this compact and inexpensive device. It’s described as a source of hi-res multi-room streaming and is the size of a Nokia from 20 years ago or a box of 10 cigarettes perhaps, not big anyway and largely devoid of connections and displays. […]
Marantz SACD 30n & Model 30 With the Marantz SACD 30n this classic brand has its eyes firmly set on the quality conscious consumer, the people who are prepared to pay more for things that are well built and well designed. We’re talking upper end BMWs and Audis, Apple products and Santa Cruz mountain bikes […]
Turntables come and turntables go, and so do arms, cartridges and the other paraphernalia surrounding vinyl replay. However, unlike the majority of ‘me too’ CD or digital replay systems, many vinyl replay products still manage to have an enduring place in people’s memories, almost regardless of when they were encountered. For my sins I hold […]
Transmission line loudspeakers have a lot to answer for, at the tender age of 20 my audio expectations were reset when I heard a pair of IMF TLS 80. I genuinely thought I’d reached audio nirvana with this chunky floorstander. A subsequent downsizing of rooms forced me to explore other options, but I often wondered […]
A landmark speaker to mark British brand Neat’s 30th birthday is something to celebrate as they launch a new version of the popular Petite compact. I like celebratory products and was excited when Neat announced a special-edition of its shoebox-sized Petite two-way to mark the company’s anniversary. The product has special memories for me because […]
Auralic is a small company with plenty of ideas, especially with regard to adding functionality to their range of streamers, DACs and associated components. They have been making these since launching the compact, curvy Aries nearly a decade ago, in that time their casework design has become more uniform and now there is only one […]
It must be tough to introduce audio electronics into such a crowded market, especially in the circa £2,000 DAC sector where there are a lot of strong contenders. Nuprime emerged from Nuforce in 2014 and have been making an impression on audio critics ever since, but the brand only gained serious distribution in the UK […]
Tiglon’s 47-year-old founder, Kentaro Okino, became fascinated with the sonic properties of magnesium during his mechanical engineering studies and, after using it to suppress vibrations in loudspeaker stands and component isolation platforms, obtained an international patent in 2009 for its use as an electromagnetic wave shield in hi-fi cables. The Japanese company has been making […]
It seems a little strange that a relatively new company that specialises in streaming audio should be taking the same approach that Naim Audio did nearly 50 years ago, but it’s a sonic and business model that has served them well so why not. Silent Angel offer a range of streamers, network switches and a […]
Since purchasing my first dedicated audio rack in the late ‘80s I have never underestimated the influence of support systems on the equipment they support. I still recall the impact of taking the system from a wobbly cabinet and placing it on my first rack; it was akin to a significant component upgrade. Since that […]
More than one fellow reviewer has suggested that I find some noise-cancelling headphones to to use on my travels. Goodness knows who’s previously used the ones supplied on long-haul aircraft and, as far as European travel is concerned, passengers are left to their own devices. That in mind, I was very excited to read the […]
The Coppice X1 gave me considerable pleasure with both the beauty of its English oak cabinet and also a highly-competent application of Peerless driver units when I reviewed it earlier in the year. Those same drivers feature in the new X2 floorstander which turns out to be something of an audiophile bargain. Without repeating the […]