High End 14 pt.2
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 […]
High End 14 pt.1
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 […]
Audioworld 14 & 15 Audio
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 […]
Bristol Sound & Vision 2014
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 […]
Audiojumble winter 2014
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 […]
CES 14 day 4
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 […]
CES 14 day 3
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 […]
CES 14 day 2
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 […]
CES 14 day 1
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 […]
High End on Tour, Dortmund
The German High End Society organises the High End Show in Munich and spin-off local shows various towns in Germany. We visited one in Dortmund, not too far away from the Dutch border, to see what is on offer at the mini High End Show called High End on Tour. The show is held in […]
Audiofest 13
Since its launch four years ago, the Bath Audiofest has grown to become one of the highlights of the high-end audio industry’s calendar. Organised by Ivan Kursar (above) of high-end audio specialist Cool Gales, it’s an opportunity for customers to meet the select group of high-end manufacturers that Cool Gales represents. Held across two venues […]
National Audio Show 13 pt.2
Abyss AB-1266Abyss Headphones is a US company with a rock’n’roll take on the panel headphone. The AB-1266 is a substantial, black, leather clad headphone with planar magnetic transducers ostensibly akin to those found in Magneplanar speakers, these sit in a steel and aluminium case with lambskin ear pads. Width adjustment is by a large bolt […]