The XS 3 is the middle model in Naims’ integrated amp series that began with the original and now iconic Nait in 1983. By then, Naim had already established itself as a highly acclaimed British hi-fi maker with a coveted range of preamps and power amps. Spurred by the success of integrated designs – notably […]
I first visited Monmouth County in central New Jersey in December 1981. I had joined a company called Perkin Elmer Data Systems which was based in Oceanport, New Jersey and was sent there, with a British colleague, for two weeks to learn all about the products which I was going to be selling. This was […]
I have been fortunate enough to have had two Vertere Acoustics turntables through my system for review, and found them both to be class leaders at their price point. I am a great admirer of Touraj Moghaddan, as a designer, as an engineer and as a brilliant ambassador for our sometimes erratic industry. Having founded […]
Spending time with MrSpeakers’ debut open-back headphone in 2015 convinced me that high-end earspeakers could rival the listening experience that had previously been the preserve of full-range loudspeakers in a well-appointed room. The extended frequency response, speed, detail retrieval, expansive soundstage and on-head comfort of the original Ether made it the most immersive headphone I’d encountered at […]
When is a streamer not really a streamer, in Auralic’s case that is when there is not Lightning DS operating system onboard. Auralic has been making the Aries which is purely a streamer with digital only outputs, and the Vega which is ostensibly a streamer with onboard DAC for some time now but the latter […]
With many of today’s audio components requiring external power supplies there is the potential to upgrade performance by replacing these often inexpensive wall-wart style supplies with better quality alternatives made by third party companies. This is nothing new of course but the variety of DACs, headphone amplifiers and other components that have low voltage external […]
Are you one of those people caught up in the headlong rush to abandon physical media? Are you now committed to only using your preferred streaming service to deliver all your music? has your local charity shop got boxes full of your old CDs because you discovered that they have no second hand value? Or […]
An offshoot of a better known speaker brand, the newest floorstander from 5degrees finds Trevor Butler enraptured by the finesse of a ribbon tweeter that he just can’t stop enjoying. This is my fifth, or possibly sixth attempt to commit this review to print. Why? Because before each one I thought I would just reacquaint […]
Despite Apple’s best efforts USB has become the de facto connection for everything from rechargeable torches to watches, computers and digital audio. It was never designed to send an audio signal but the fact that most laptops can send digital audio via this ubiquitous connection mean it has become the way that the majority stream […]
The reincarnation tale of a genuinely classic loudspeaker reads almost like a thriller. Two retired men started a project to bring back the BBC developed LS3/5a loudspeaker, originally designed for nearfield monitoring in mobile studios to judge voice recording during interviews. That little monitor somehow survived all others and in the Far East it has […]
Reclocking is not a new thing, it was around in the 90s when the first wave of standalone DACs started to become popular and a few companies have been making USB examples for a while, Ideon from Greece among them. This is a small company made up of enthusiasts and engineers who make a range […]
Regular readers of The Ear may remember that last year I gave a glowing review to the Shunyata Venom UK6 mains block and the Venom V12 and V10 NR mains cables, I have yet to hear anything at their price point which comes close to the performance offered. So when the good folk at Shunyata […]