Arcam rPAC
A&R Cambridge or Arcam as it's known these days is well established in the field of hi-fi proper, but it could be said that the rPAC represents a departure from their usual products. It's true that they've made DACs before, but not combined with headphone amplifiers, not USB powered portables and not this reasonably priced. […]
Townshend Audio Isolda EDCT speaker cable
I have been using Townshend Isolda EDCT for a number of years now and regard it to be one of if not the best speaker cable money can buy. So I was surprised when its maker told me that the current version, the enhanced deep cryogenic treated variant had never been reviewed, an oversight by […]
NAD M50 & M52
It seems strange that it has taken until now for me to find a truly high end digital music player that works well. One that bridges the gap between an Ethernet coupled NAS and a digital to analogue converter through a S/PDIF cable. You could either work with a Logitech Squeezebox or you had to […]
Kondo ACc-Persimmon
In October I visited Definitive Audio and took some pictures of the stunning finish on the latest example of the Living Voice Vox Olympian horn loudspeaker. At the time I spotted two new power cables from Audio Note Japan/Kondo the company that makes such fabulous single ended amplifiers, I couldn’t help but be drawn to […]
Rega Reference Ios & Apheta
With its range of half width cased components Rega has very shrewdly taken over the mantle that Naim created but which it has subsequently abandoned in favour of more conventionally sized components. Cyrus has been in this market for sometime but the distinctive styling of its components has meant that they have never really competed […]
47 Labs Shigaraki system
This review was written in 2005 when the world was a wealthier place and the Shigaraki System cost just over £5,000. Seven years later the system still exists albeit with an upgrade to the speakers and costs nearly £9,000 in total, so despite that fact that the Japanese have been in recession for so long […]
Classic components Rega Apollo
This section is dedicated to classic components, products that are not longer made but which warrant attention because they were excellent value in their time and are therefore a great second hand buy. The first example is Rega’s last entry level CD player the Apollo, its £475 price point was so modest that many enthusiasts […]
Decibel
The world of software players for the Mac is an ever expanding one and there isn’t time to try them all, so my system is to wait for someone with a good ear to recommend interesting options. This happened at CES in January when I met Steve Silberman of AudioQuest, he was keen to demonstrate […]
Zyx R50 Bloom H
A crazy science fiction name always draws me to a product, who could resist Krell amps when they first appeared? Significantly fewer than were drawn to the Tralfamador amplifier, a long lost Irish creation that disappeared into the cosmos shortly after its debut, chances are that only Vonnegut fans remember the planet of the same […]
DeVore Fidelity Orangutan 0/96
John DeVore makes a refreshing change from the American loudspeaker manufacturers that I often meet, he is not super slick and will not spout forth a well rehearsed monologue about the glories of his products at the slightest opportunity. OK so I exaggerate, there aren’t that many hard sellers in the high end loudspeaker business, […]
Aurender S10
I have been using my Mac as a digital transport for some time now and get spectacular results with a good USB DAC and the right software. I’ve worked through software from Pure Music, Audirvana Plus and Decibel and each change has delivered even greater sonic delights, so much so that it has got to […]