vinyl-frontier-singles

September means many things to many people but to the audio enthusiast it means show time. The first date of the season in the UK is the National Audio Show at Whittlebury Hall not far from the Silverstone F1 race track. This large and warren like hotel has rooms great and small, some of which […]

scene setter-820

In 2013 this show was branded as the Signals 20th Anniversary show, it featured all the major brands stocked by the Suffolk retailer. This year the doors have been opened to all brands which has widened the array of kit on demonstration.  The venue is by far the best of any hi-fi show I’ve visited; […]

primary-control

Primary ControlThis elegant German arm allows VTA adjustment on the fly, azimuth variation, has magnetic anti-skate and offers variable damping. The bearing is an inverted unipivot that leans on its sapphire bearings as it traverses the LP. Prices start at €6,000. Marantz NA8005Most affordable network player yet in the Marantz range the NA8005 (top of […]


Corum-audio

Corum AudioIt wouldn’t be Munich without an over the top loudspeaker and this year the hotly contested title goes to Corum Audio from Venice, Italy. The solid wood Sinatra consists of a horn midrange (the sphere) which is 900mm in diameter and the 900mm square bass speaker, both are solid wood and claim a combined […]

devialet-sam

Devialet votes for SAMDevialet has come up with a way to match its amplifiers to specific loudspeaker models so that each pairing delivers linear phase at low frequencies. Speaker Active Matching (SAM) is achieved by Devialet measuring individual loudspeakers and creating software that its amplifiers can use to compensate for abberations in phase response “up […]

odyssey-arm

I bumped into John Gordon at Audio World 14, he has been quietly making Odyssey tonearms on a custom basis for several decades but you rarely see his work. I’m told they sound as good as this RP1 looks, which for £1,600 seems like a great deal. Vivid Audio decided to put on a show […]


Wb-circle-25

Wilson benesch’s Circle 25 Anniversary turntable has a Delrin plinth rather than the usual MDF and comes in white for £1,995, the ACT 0.5 Anniversary arm is the same again. PMC unveiled the biggest member of the twenty series to date. The three-way twenty.26 has a 50mm midrange dome and 7inch bass alongside a dome […]

Lenco-L833-DD

Lenco L 830 DD. Beige, direct drive, Swiss: what's not to like? £100, should have bought it! Beard P100, 77lbs of British steel; £450 Formats of yore No.21 the 8-track casseete Alan Sugar's remarkably Rega Planet like Amstrad TP12 with Jelco arm. Purportedly a B&W creation in clear acrylic with wooden edging added by the […]

emmlabs-mtrx

EMM Labs MTXREven by CES standards the MTRX is a monster amp. They didn’t give me the figures but the CD cases are a clue, apparently the production units will be 4inches shorter, but still weighing 300lbs, each. EMM Labs blames the size of the transformers, chokes and caps for the scale and claims that […]


primaluna-dialogueP-HP-amp

PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HPDutch tube amp specialist PrimaLuna showed HP or high power versions of its Dialogue Premium integrated and power amplifier. The new amps have twice as many output tubes as the standard versions so that they deliver 72 watts in ultralinear mode or 42 watts when set for triode operation. The integrated is […]

IMG_1374

D'Agostino Momentum IntegratedApparently integrated amplifiers are always compromised. That's why Dan D'Agostino decided to build one that isn't. The Momentum Integrated may not be as deep as the Momentum separates but it's just as substantial thanks the power supply underneath the main chassis. It retains the 'thermal engine' copper cooling system seen on the Momentum […]

Rega RP10

Rega RP10Seriously turbocharged version of the RP8 or a halfway step between that model and the elusive Naiad, the RP10 has a ceramic platter, upgraded bearing and inner hub plus a Rega DAC size power supply for £3,000. The RB2000 arm is completely new with all metal parts, the best bearings in a Rega yet […]