Let me start by asking a question. Which component in your audio system has been with you the longest? For me, that’s an easy one – my rack. Since I bought it in 2009 every single other item in my system has changed, from all the cables to all the electronic components and loudspeakers. It […]
There is more than one way of getting data from A to B as Openreach employees know only too well, they are the people who are changing the copper wire connections installed for telephone landlines (and invaded for internet) to fibre optic cables that are capable of significantly higher bandwidth and speed. Inside the home […]
Back in November 2020 I reviewed the Network Acoustics ENO in these pages, and the Editor awarded it an Innovation award, I nominated it as one of my Best of the Year products. In the ensuing months Network Acoustics have supplied a lot of ENOs to customers around the world, and the overwhelming feedback seems to be, in broad […]
How’s this for Japanese logic, the smaller a Melco music library is in purely physical terms, the more expensive it can be, less is clearly is more in Nagoya. The N10 is the most expensive HDD equipped music server that Melco makes, yet it inhabits the same size chassis as the N100 (the entry level […]
The Danes appear to have a knack for building hi-fi, maybe it’s because they have been doing it for a long time what with brands like Bang & Olufsen and Ortofon being in the business for so long. Michael Børresen was formerly with high end specialists Raidho but started to build loudspeakers under his own […]
Vinyl is easily the most fabulous medium for recorded music ever created. It may not sound quite as good as tape nor have the potential for dynamic range and bass power available with digital but on the one hand most of the music ever produced is available on vinyl and on the other sound quality […]
We have seen an increasing number of one-box solution devices entering the market in recent times, even music enthusiasts want fewer boxes in their homes and brands including Naim, Hegel and NAD among others are competing in this sector. Recently I have been lucky enough to play host to the NAD Masters M33 BluOS streaming […]
Over the years I have experimented with various types of audio isolation system, with a view to eradicating the unwelcome effect of mechanical vibration and microphony on various parts of my audio set up. I have tried everything from squash balls cut in half (less mad than it sounds), through Sorbothane in various thicknesses and […]
I have reviewed a few integrated amplifiers in my time, many of them involving vacuum tubes (valves), but none has had the weight and physical presence of the Line Magnetic LM-845 Premium. For a start you have the main chassis with its plethora of tubes on the top and a dizzying array of knobs and […]
It is so appropriate to be testing a Rogers-made BBC loudspeaker design since the company was so closely linked with the broadcaster’s transducer development and manufacture decades ago. Indeed, the original bass unit of the LS5/9 (under scrutiny here) was a collaboration between BBC engineers and Rogers at a time when the Corporation had lost […]
Back when I started my stint in hi-fi retail, the national chain for whom I worked sold a lot of Cyrus kit, and it was not hard to see why. The unique form factor made it partner-friendly, and it offered very good value for money. Somehow though, I (and quite a few colleagues, truth be […]
There are creepy moments in the Aphex Twin’s dark and atmospheric electronic tracks that, when played back through headphones, have you turning around to see where those unsettling sounds are coming from. The Bowers & Wilkins 603 Series 2 Anniversary Editions have an uncanny ability to reproduce that effect. I am not talking about any kind […]