The name of this amplifier tells you that there has been quite a bit of evolution in the Nord Acoustics range, something that a brief look at the website backs up, Colin North has been making class D amplifiers for some time now and the sheer variety of options on offer is quite an eye […]
It’s hard to believe that it has been eight years since the release of Audioquest’s ingenious Dragonfly, the memory stick-sized USB DAC/preamp/headphone amp that provides a simple, effective and affordable solution to the problem of mediocre sound quality from computers. The original Dragonfly was supplanted in 2016 by two new models; the even more affordable […]
Grimm Audio is a Dutch company with studio connections that entered the hi-fi market with the LS1, a DSP active loudspeaker system with bass and mid/treble sections separated by a stand. The MU1 is Grimm’s first entry into the streaming market and it’s equally if not more distinctive than the LS1. In essence it’s a digital […]
Last year I was lucky enough to be sent some Shunyata Venom NR mains cables to review, along with a Venom UK6 power distribution block and as some of you may recall, I thought they were excellent, to the point where they continue to be my primary power cables across all my audio components. Therefore when […]
Where would we be without vinyl? Whether you love it or hate it, it’s been a major element of home music replay for many decades from its earliest beginnings in the heady days of acoustic shellac discs to the refined electronics and modern pressings we can enjoy today. Not that it’s without its foibles. Talk […]
Semantics are particularly problematic in the niche within a niche that is ‘serious’ hi-fi. The word streamer is a classic example, is it something that delivers music from cloud based services such as Spotify or Tidal, or does it deliver music that you have stored on a hard drive on your network. Furthermore does it […]
You wouldn’t think that attenuating or reducing a signal would be all that difficult, yet this is essentially what preamplifiers do most of the time. Active ones complicate matters by adding gain, which in essence is increasing the signal, but with modern sources there is rarely any need to actually increase it by much unless […]
I have been aware of the Swiss loudspeakers brand Piega for a few years now but had never previously had the opportunity to hear a pair, so jumped at the chance to review the Coax 311, a handsome stand (or shelf) mount model, which sits in the second tier of Piega’s hierrachy, below the Master […]
As a long term fact.8 user I was excited to hear that an upgraded version of the fact range was launching at the High End show in Munich last year but it wasn’t until a month or so back that I managed to get my hands on a pair of the new Signature facts. One […]
At first glance the Node Hylixa is a variation on loudspeakers we’ve seen from Bowers & Wilkins, Eclipse and a few others, an aerodynamic ‘head’ style cabinet with a pair of drivers at the front. The difference here is that not only is there a third driver in the Hylixa but it also has a […]
Readers may recall that I wrote enthusiastically about Hegel’s entry-level Röst integrated amplifier/DAC back in 2017 and was very excited when an upgraded replacement was announced late last year. The Hegel H120 is born and, to all intents and purposes, looks almost identical to the Röst which I have continued to use with great satisfaction. For those […]
I left hi-fi retail in 2015 and moved to Devon, bringing with me the best system that our limited budget would allow, and made a few purchases on the advice of respected industry friends to ensure that I could continue to enjoy my record collection for as long as possible. Included in the equipment which […]