Named after the reggae legend, the Marley MkII headphone amplifier is a paid-up member of the latest Rockstar series from M2Tech and designed by innovative Italian duo Marco Manunta and Fabio Elia. Rockstar compartmentalises the functions of a hi-fi system into a number of smaller boxes to provide a higher level of performance and more […]
Linn is one of the few hi-fi manufacturers that makes its own metalwork in house, this is because the company’s founder worked at his father’s engineering business before creating the legendary LP12 turntable and discovered a way to make a mark on the audio world. This is possibly why the latest incarnation of Linn’s ultimate […]
Let me start with what I believe is a full disclosure statement. I was the very happy owner of a MkI version of this cartridge for several years after I joined the sales staff of a UK retailer back in 2009. It was bought on the strong recommendation of the store manager who described it […]
I first heard an Astell & Kern player back in 2014 whilst auditioning a pair of headphones. I remember the dealer raving about it being so good that he had sold his CD player and replaced it with an Astell & Kern AK240, which from memory, was the player used for the demo. It was […]
I have always enjoyed French electronics so, when news broke that the Atoll range was available in the UK, I jumped at the chance to take a listen to the company’s SDA200 Signature, an all-in-one streamer, DAC and integrated amplifier. It’s a concept I have grown very fond of over the years, so much so […]
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 […]
My first review of the Vertere Acoustics MG-1 MkII turntable was published here in The Ear back on 8 October 2019. It was awarded a well-deserved 5 Stars by our esteemed editor and I subsequently nominated it as one of my products of the year. So why, a reasonable person might ask, do we need […]
Celebrations are always exciting and we have a double one in the shape of Triangle’s 40th anniversary two-way standmount speaker, the £1,500 Comète. It has been created to mark the founding, by Renaud de Vergnette, of the brand and is a very special edition of a model which has survived 25 years of constant production. Rather […]
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 […]
This review has been a little emotional for reasons other than musical. Although Meze is a Romanian company, Rinaro Isodynamics, their drive-unit partner, is based in Lviv, Ukraine. I am informed by the distributor that they have not been attacked so far, I pray this remains the case as events are developing quickly. Rinaro Isodynamics […]
Cesare Sanavio founded Mastersound in 1994 with his two sons, Lorenzo and Luciano, channelling five decades’ experience building output transformers for other companies into the design of his own tube amplifiers. With Luciano Sanavio now at the helm, their portfolio has expanded and comprises three preamps, three power amps and no fewer than nine integrated […]
Atlas is first and foremost an engineering company, but one which directs its efforts towards making audio components which perform well and are built to last. Main man Kevin Kelly describes the thinking behind the Eos2.5 mains block thus: “We live in an electrically noisy soup, permeated by all manner of potential interference. The ‘household’ mains distribution blocks […]