HI-FI WORLD

OL ENTERPRISE ARM * ECS PREAMPLIFIER * HARBETH HL-COMPACT 7ES-3 SPEAKERS

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

MAY 2007

UK 3.80

www.hi-world.co.uk

FREE READER CLASSIFIED ADS IN THIS ISSUE!

COMPETITION
SIMON YORKE S9 TURNTABLE, CD PLAYER GROUP TEST

WIN A FANTASTIC
ROTEL RB-1092
WORTH 1,595!

MERIDIAN F80
compact system

SIMON YORKE S9
turntable

MAY 2007

VOL. 17 No. 03

CD PLAYER
SUPERTEST:

>
>
>
>

Cambridge Audio 740C

Creek Classic CD
Roksan Caspian CD
ISOPHON CASSIANO
Vincent CD-S6 MK
loudspeaker

8 PAGES OF YOUR HI-FI QUESTIONS ANSWERED

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10549 - Stereo component Ad 5mm bleed

8/2/07

12:31 pm

Page 1

Meet the new breed of 2-channel amplifiers and Super Audio CD player
Based on the acclaimed A-400 amplifier, these new models have been
redesigned for the 21st Century. Uncomplicated features and simple linear
circuit design are encased in a stylish but rigid construction, giving pure
unadulterated sound for your enjoyment.

www.pioneer.co.uk/evolution

welcome
EDITOR
David Price
tel/fax
+44 (0) 1275 371 386
e-mail:
[email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITOR
Adam Smith
[email protected]
e-mail:

DESIGN EDITOR
Faiza Chunara
tel:
+44 (0) 20 7625 3129
fax:
+44 (0) 20 7328 1844
[email protected]
e-mail:

PRODUCTION EDITOR
David Noble
tel:
+44 (0) 20 7625 3134
fax:
+44 (0) 20 7328 1844
[email protected]
e-mail:

ADVERTISING
tel:
fax:
e-mail:

+44 (0) 20 7372 6018

+44 (0) 20 7328 1844
[email protected]

ACCOUNTS
Sharon Mehlhorn
tel:
+44 (0) 20 8841 8892
fax:
+44 (0) 20 8841 9144
[email protected]
e-mail:

PUBLISHER
Noel Keywood
e-mail:
[email protected]

FREE READERS CLASSIFIEDS

tel:
fax:
e-mail:

+44 (0) 20 7625 3134

+44 (0) 20 7328 1844
[email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONS
tel:
fax:
e-mail:

+ 44 (0) 1442 879097

+ 44 (0) 1442 872279
[email protected]

WRITERS
Dominic Todd, Patrick Cleasby,
Steven Green, Channa Vithana,
Paul Rigby, David Allcock,
Martin Wolszczak.

hi-fi world

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verdicts

Packed as this issue is with superb sounding separates, the most

interesting product Ive come across in a long time is the new
Meridian F80 reviewed on p52. And strangely, it being a humble
portable music system, it isnt even real hi-fi at all, nor does it
pretend to be. But I happen to believe its an extremely significant
product - not just for what it is, but for what it represents...
My formative hi-fi years were the nineteen
seventies. This was when high fidelity music reproduction grew
from being a hobby pursued by those with soldering irons and
circuit diagrams, to a mass market consumer phenomenon that
became for a time the third most expensive purchase a family
would make after a house and a car.
Back then, separates hi-fi was the only place to go for music
fans such as myself who'd grown up with a humble Philips cassette
portable. And ten years after I bought my first BSR record player, I
had upgraded all the way to a Linn Sondek.
Now though, any music-obsessed fifteen year old with a passion
to hear his favourites outside his portable (which is invariably an
iPod) has a vast range of docks and PC speakers to choose from,
not to mention Apples own iPod Hi-Fi. So how is he (or she)
supposed to come across real hi-fi equipment from the likes of Linn,
Naim, Arcam, Cyrus or Meridian?
Thanks to the F80, he now has an aspirational entry point. He'll
never have heard of Meridian before (or seen any of the stunning
designs Allan Boothroyd and Bob Stuart have come up with since
the mid-seventies), but you can bet your big end he knows Ferrari. Hell see this
new Meridian in magazines and say to himself, I want one...
Avidly scanning every review in his local newsagent, our embryonic audiophile
will begin to realise it was designed by Meridian together with Ferrari. Hell want to
read more about the British hi-fi specialist, and will start looking at their serious hifi systems. Suddenly, he will find a way to hear music beatifully reproduced.
Thats why I welcome the Meridian F80 with open arms. Cynics on internet
forums will say its a sell out, but I pray for them in their darkness. What the hi-fi
industry needs is products like this, that appeal to a broad audience. Not everyone
will approve of Meridians Ferrari tie-up, but Im all for taking the racing line.
David Price, editor

testing
To ensure the upmost accuracy in our product reviews,
Hi-Fi World has extremely comprehensive in-house test
facilities, and our test equipment - from big names like
Rohde & Schwarz and Hewlett Packard - is amongst the
most advanced in the world.
Loudspeakers are measured using a calibrated Bruel
& Kjaer microphone feeding a Clio-based computer

OUTSTANDING

simply the best

EXCELLENT

extremely capable

GOOD

worth auditioning

MEDIOCRE

unremarkable

POOR

seriously flawed

VALUE

keenly priced

analyser, using pulsed and gated sinewaves, in a large

room to eliminate the rooms influence. Pickup arm
vibration is measured with a Bruel & Kjaer accelerometer.
No other UK hi-fi magazine has in-house testing, and
none has access to such advanced tests across all types
of equipment. That's why you can depend on Hi-Fi World
reviews.

ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE
Go to our website www.hi-world.co.uk to buy an electronic version of this magazine, individual issues or a
subscription. At present we do not offer back issues, but
hope to soon.
Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd 86 Newman Street London, W1T 3EX Tel: +44 (0) 20 7396 8000 Printed by St.Ives, Plymouth Tel: +44 (0) 1752 345 411
Our Agents in Malaysia Millennium Hi-Fi & AV Simon Chang Showroom & office, 500-1-3 First Floor Wisma Indah (Shen Court), Jalan Tun Razak 50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 603 9283 8171 Fax: 603 9281 3762 e-mail: [email protected]
All unsolicited submissions and goods are at the owners risk. We accept no responsibility for such submissions, nor do we undertake to return them.
No material may be reproduced from this magazine without the publishers written permission. Audio Publishing Ltd
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

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10

Simon Yorke's beautiful S9 joins the

ranks of our favourite high end designs.

20

32

50
4
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Leema
Acoustics Tucana - a
.
superb high end integrated.

14

Shanling's statuesque SCD-T2000

is a great way to play SACD.

66

Isophon's Cassiano loudspeakers are

serious high end floorstanders...

Cambridge Audio's brand new 740C

distinguishes itself in our CD supertest.

Origin Live's Enterprise tonearm is a great

place to park your pickup cartridge.

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

20/3/07 15:35:37

hi-fi world
MAY 2007

contents

VOLUME 17 : NO. 03

DIGITAL

SHANLING SCD-T2000 14

Few digital disc players offer as much insight as this, says Martin Wolszczak.

CD PLAYER SUPERTEST 32

Noel Keywood auditions new mid-price machines from

Cambridge Audio, Creek, Roksan and Vincent.

MARANTZ DV-9600 43

Patrick Cleasby takes a mid-price DVD universal player for a spin.

RUSS ANDREWS DAC-1 USB 47

A superb 600 digital-to-analogue convertor is reviewed by David Price.

VINYL

SIMON YORKE S9 10

Adam Smith tries a striking new transcription turntable.

BLUE ANGEL MANTIS 19

This handmade high end MC cartridge gets the treatment from David Allcock.

AESTHETIX RHEA 40

A monster US high end tube phono stage is reviewed by Noel Keywood.

ORIGIN LIVE ENTERPRISE 50

David Price auditions Mark Baker's latest and greatest flagship pickup arm.

ORTOFON 2M RED AND BLUE 62

Noel Keywood auditions Ortofon's first new moving magnet cartridges

for decades, and compares them to Nagaoka's classic MP11.

7 NEWS

News of the hi-fi world...

27, 87 SOUNDBITES

Adam Smith tries some affordable Oehlbach interconnects and

David Price plays with Timester's cute little T-200 MkII tube integrated
amplifier.

18 COMPETITION

Your chance to win a superb sounding Rotel RB-1092

stereo power amplifier worth 1,595!

54 ON-LINE SUBSCRIPTIONS
50% discount for on-line copy subscription.

AMPLIFICATION

LEEMA TUCANA 20

This swish new high end British integrated is reviewed by David Allcock.

ECS PRE 58

David Price tries a massive high end preamplifier from European Circuit
Solutions.

68 SUBSCRIPTIONS

Ensure your copy every month and save money too!

73, 75, 77, 79, 81 OPINION

The team get to grips with matters music, hi-fi and life.

82 AUDIOPHILE VINYL

Paul Rigby rounds up the latest vinyl releases.

LOUDSPEAKERS

HARBETH HL COMPACT 7ES-3 22

Channa Vithana reviews the latest incarnation of this classic monitor

loudspeaker.

ISOPHON CASSIANO 66

A German high end loudspeaker gets its first UK review from Adam Smith.

EGGLESTON WORKS ISABEL 70

Adam Smith auditions these impressive American rockers.

98 KIT & COMPONENTS

Suppliers of kit and components.

99 MAIL

Eight pages of your thoughts, views and queries.

118 DIAL-A-DEALER

A comprehensive guide to UK hi-fi retailers.

119 MEET YOUR MAKER

Who makes what and how to get in touch.

RADIO

MAGICBOX IMP 85

Steve Green tunes in to a fiendishly clever Wi-Fi Internet Radio

SYSTEMS

MERIDIAN F80 52

David Price auditions Meridian's new Ferrari-badged DVD portable.

FEATURES

EVOLUTION RUSH 55

Channa Vithana assembles a 3,000 system from Creek, Design e and B&W.

120 SPECIALIST HI-FI DEALERS

Purveyors of specialist hi-fi services.

123 FREE READERS CLASSIFIEDS

Find your second-hand bargains here!

128 NEXT MONTH

What we hope to bring you in the next great issue.

129 ADVERTISERS INDEX

130 CLASSIC CUTS

Paul Rigby checks out Ella Fitzgerald's 1963 classic 'Jerome Kern Songbook'.

OLDE WORLDE 88

Dominic Todd remembers his favourite classic loudspeaker, Celestion's SL-600.

BRISTOL SHOW REPORT 90

David Price and Adam Smith pick their favourites
from February's Bristol Sound and Vision show.

DIY SECTION

DIY FEATURE PART 6 93

Peter Comeau explores the complex world of loudspeaker crossover design.

WORLD DESIGNS PREAMPLIFIER PART 5 97

Peter Comeau looks at the MC stage of the new WDPhono3.

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

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Whats remarkable about the new series of LP12 SE upgrades is not that
its taken 35 years to develop them, or that they can be retro-fitted to any
Sondek LP12 turntable, but the fact that they retrieve even more music
from your vinyl collection than ever before.

Experience a revelation in turntable performance.

For more information and details of demonstration events in your area visit
www.linn.co.uk, or call 08000 277 181.

HiFi_world_Linn_LP12_ad.indd 1

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NEWS

news
[email protected]

SUPER, MAN!

Launched at the Sound & Vision Show, Bristol, the

2,350 Naim SUPERNAIT is the latest addition
to Naims reference series, and is claimed to
deliver, a stunningly realistic performance from its
compact case. With 80W per channel and 400VA
output transient capability, it can drive difficult
loads, but also brings flexibility and convenience,
says Naim. In addition to six analogue inputs, it
includes five digital inputs with an onboard DAC
accepting sampling rates between 32kHz and
96kHz. Six analogue inputs are fitted, and any input
can be assigned to one of the six input buttons.
The digital board is powered off when using an
analogue input, and theres a combination minijack/ mini-Toslink input on the front panel that is
auto-switching. Theres also a full remote control
and a front panel headphone socket. For more
details, call Naim Audio on +44 (0)1722 332266
or click on www.naim-audio.com.

INTERSTELLAR

This is the new Leema Acoustics Antila,

a new 2,495 CD player featuring
the companys unique MD2 Active
Differential Multi-DAC technology,
employing twenty 24bit/192kHz multibit
Delta-Sigma converters, and data
pipelining to eliminate jitter. The Leemadesigned FPGA (Field Programmable
Gate Array) generates a fully balanced
signal entirely within the digital domain.
The machine is fully LIPS (Leema
Intelligent Protocol System) compliant,
allowing a press of the play button
to power up a Leema amplifier from
standby and select the CD input. For
more details, contact Activ Distribution
on +44(0)1635 291357 or click on
www.leema-acoustics.com.

KICK OUT THE JAMS!

Roth Audios Music Cocoon MC4 is a new 399

valve amplifier and iPod dock, pushing out a claimed
13W per channel. When an iPod is installed, it offers
full remote control and iPod charging, or it will
also accept any portable device through its 3.5mm
mini-jack input, or any line level hi-fi source via the
standard stereo RCA phono inputs. Overheating
protection, speaker protection and fuse protection
in the adaptor is provided. Vital statistics are
187x174x108mm and 1.8kg. For more information,
click on www.rothaudio.co.uk.

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

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NEWS

BLUE FOR YOU

Marantzs 699 ST-15S1 hybrid DAB/FM

tuner is described as beautifully built
and finished. A high-performance
24bit/192kHz multibit, Delta-Sigma
Analog Devices DAC is fitted and circuit
architecture includes mirror imaged, short signal
paths for minimum sound degradation. A display dimmer is
fitted and theres a proprietary filter circuit that removes interference that
often plagues analogue broadcasts. The dual band design uses the neat Gyro Touch
dial, allied to an easy-to-read display which shows station, artist and track names, as well as
additional information such as lyrics. The model exploits Marantzs low resonance, acoustically damped
all-metal 15 series chassis - no screws are visible, a thick anodised aluminium front panel is fitted and also doublelayer bottom plate and substantial shock-absorbing feet. Even the subtle Marantz blue backlighting operates
on its own independent power supply to ensure no electrical noise interference. Both optical and coaxial digital
outputs are fitted, plus a Radio Data Interface optical digital output which, it is claimed, effectively future-proofs
the ST7001, allowing reception and decoding of future text, graphics and video data when connected to a suitable
PC or set-top box. For more information, click on www.marantz.co.uk.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

NADs new T585 Universal DVD

player offers both DVD-Audio and
SACD decoding, plus processing of
Dolby Digital and Dolby ProLogic
and support for MP3, HDCD and
Windows Media Audio formats. It
also supports most popular blank
media such as DVD+R, DVD-R,
CD, CD-R and CD-RW. Audiophile-quality 24bit, 192kHz audio D/A converters are used with high-speed FET
output devices. Digital audio outputs are available in both coaxial, and optical (TOSlink) SPDIF formats, as well as
I/2 S digital format via the HDMI output. The NAD T585 is also equipped with SRSs True Surround circuit, a highgrade surround virtualiser, and features a Dual Discrete Video Circuit for the highest possible picture quality via
the Component Video output and a high-speed dual 12bit, 216-MHz video D/A converter. Price is 800, and its
available now in either grey or titanium finish. For more information, click on http://nadelectronics.com.

TEAC TIDBITS

NEM RACKS

Teacs new 229 MC-DX220iDAB is a slimline hi-fi system which

combines DAB and an iPod dock, includes a CD player and plays through
ultra thin NXT loudspeakers. A powered sub woofer delivers an extra 15
watts of extended bass. It sports a vertical CD load system with motorised
door, and the remote has an LC display. The new RX-1 is the first radio
from TEAC to employ NXT loudspeaker technology, bringing the product a
futuristic appearance and fine sound to match. The side-mounted Aux input
permits connection of any device with a standard 3.5mm output including
iPods, MP3 players and other portable digital players. Power is 15W RMS
and the RX-1 comes equipped with both DAB and AM/FM tuners. Available
from leading electronics retailers now, the TEAC RX-1 is available in a
choice of matt black and matt white finishes, priced around 149. For more
information, click on www.teac.co.uk.

Looking very
impressive
at Januarys
Manchester Sound
and Vision show were new equipment racks from NEM Hi-Fi.
These make use of solid cherry wood for the frames, which are
mortice and tennon jointed and glued. Each isolation shelf is made
of 30mm thick polished and profiled granite 30mm thick which
is supported by spiked dampers mounted in compliant rubber
inserted in gold-plated bases. The three basic models consist of
a four shelf rack with four legs, and three shelf units with either
three or four legs. Prices range from 1,500 to 2,000 - we hope
to bring you a review soon. For further details lease contact Steve
Nemeth on 01623 740521 or visit
http://nem-hi-fi.mysite.orange.co.uk.

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14/3/07 09:08:07

NEWS

ESOTERIC STUFF

P-03
Fans of the brand that many believe make the best optical disc devices around right
now will be interested to hear of the new P-03/D-03 transport/DAC combination.
Taking the design concepts from the flagship P-01/D-01 system, Esoteric have
applied new DSD signal processing to create the more affordable P-03/D03 CD/SACD player combo. Said to be extremely versatile, it features multiple
user selectable playback modes including CD audio (Red Book) playback, native
DSD decoding, PCM upconversion and Esoterics advanced PCM to DSD signal
conversion. Digital signal transfer of DSD signals is now offered with an i.LINK
interface, in addition to Esoterics proprietary ES-LINK format. The heart of the
P-03 is the state-of-the-art VRDS-NEO mechanism, a new version of which
was developed exclusively for the P-03. A new Disc Tray Shutter mechanism was
designed to shield the internal mechanism, reducing any mechanical vibration.
The dual chassis design of the Model P-03 forms an
integrated one-piece body, which contains separate
D-03
power supply and transport compartments. As for the
Model D-03 Stereo DAC, it was developed from the
Esoteric monoblock D-01 design and sports completely
separate L/R channel components for power, analogue
audio circuits, etc. Featuring AD1955 DAC devices,
D-03 is capable of processing both DSD and PCM
signal formats. Compatible with various source formats
including CD, SACD and DVD-A, it can operate as high
as 192kHz. For information, call Symmetry on
01727 865 488 or click on www.symmetry-systems.co.uk.

TIP TOP

Designed by Jonathon Carr and handcrafted by

Yoshinori Mishima in Japan, the new Lyra Skala
moving coil cartridge is the companys fifth
generation product, and includes a new patent
(pending). The MC has a brand new non-conductive
and non-magnetic front magnet carrier, a new
cantilever system, output pin design and output-pin
carrier. The stylus guard is the same grooved easy
slide-on affair seen on the Helikon and Titan, which
allows the Skala to run permanently nude. While
tracking ability has been improved over the Helikon,
both output voltage and internal impedance should
be the same. For more information, call +44(0)1727
865 488 or click on www.symmetry-systems.co.uk.

SPOTTED!

After three days of spinning discs in the Henley Designs room

at the Bristol hi-fi show, superstar DJ Laurence Armstrong
gets a little 'tired and emotional'... Nurse!

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION!

After a considerable absence, AAPTech has announced the return

of the Russian firm RRR and their
range of loudspeakers to the UK.
Founded in Latvia in 1927, RRR
started out making radios, but were
later responsible for the first Soviet
record player, first stereo record
player and made their first transistor
radio in 1961. Their loudspeaker line
up comprises both surround sound
setups and dedicated two-channel
items. All components are built
in-house, including speaker cones
that are made using a special, timeconsuming process that has been in
use since 1940! The range culminates
in the range-topping FS100, at the
reasonable price of 1,055 and we
hope to be reviewing these soon.
For further information, please
contact Arnis or Henry at AAPTech on www.aap-tech.co.uk or on
+44(0)141 334 0294.

BEARING UP

Clearaudios brand new Ceramic Magnetic Bearing

design is claimed to avoid any point of load within a
turntable, and so eliminates bearing friction, wear and
noise. All existing and previous Clearaudio turntables,
except the Clearaudio Emotion, can be upgraded
with a Clearaudio Ceramic Magnetic Bearing. New
Clearaudio turntables may be ordered ready fitted
with Ceramic Magnetic Bearings, replacement
bearings can be purchased separately or the exchange
scheme can be used to receive a refund upon return
of the old bearing. Prices range from 215 for the
Revolution to 725 for the Master Reference, and
a refund of 100 is available upon return of the old
bearing. For more information, call Audio Reference
on +44(0)1252 702705.
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

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REVIEW

New Yorke

The S9 turntable package is the latest creation from the Simon Yorke Designs
stable. Handmade by a passionate and committed designer, it promises a
unique musical experience says Adam Smith...

efore I begin, I have a

confession to make, and
it is a rather shocking
one for a vinyl addict
such as me. When speaking to Jack Lawson of
the Audio Salon a couple of months
back and hearing of a new Simon
Yorke turntable, I made a comment
along the lines that I was pleased
to hear that he was returning to
the production of hi-fi turntables,
only to be told that he had never
stopped - oops!
The reason for this is that Simon
Yorke Designs (SYD) have possibly
become best known over recent
years for their serious transcription
turntables. These are used in professional institutions for transcribing
and archiving huge collections of
irreplaceable analogue material from
vinyl and shellac records of all sizes
and speeds, and are quite different
from the domestic units, which have
been quietly racking up sales in the
background.
To give an idea of their
complexity, the models that are
used exclusively by the Library of
Congress in Washington are the S7
professional transcription model and
incorporate such features as platters

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HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

up to twenty inches in diameter;

variable speed, bi-directional drive
systems that are variable from 10 to
120rpm, adjustable via an external
computer and are housed in a
separate enclosure on which the
main turntable sits; a detachable
record spindle to permit different
items to be fitted to suit specific
records; an Italian slate baseboard
that acts as a high mass energy sink
and the option of fitting up to two
S7 tonearms, which are available in
lengths of nine and twelve inches.
Clearly these are serious units,
so much so that Simon Yorke himself
is shortly embarking on a trip to
Washington to supervise the move of
his S7 units to a new location. To me,
it seems something of a shame that
these units are not available to the
general public, but I dread to think
how much they would cost if they
were...
My first encounter with a Simon
Yorke design was on the pages
of a high end audio supplement
around fifteen years ago and was
the S4 model. According to the SYD
website, this was in production from
1988 to 1994 and 110 units were
produced. The lineage can be clearly
seen in the simple but stunning

styling of the S9 but it has been

comprehensively updated to bring it
to the exacting standards required
for an all-new model.
The turntable and arm are
supplied as a single unit and are not
currently available separately. The
weighty platter is driven around
its periphery by a polyurethane
elastomer drive belt from a
freestanding motor assembly that
can be positioned as required around
the deck. This takes its power from
a supplied DC adaptor but the S9 is
also provided with a 9 Volt battery
fitted with a suitable connector
so that it can be driven from a
completely isolated power supply if
required. Switchable speeds of 33 and
45rpm are provided, together with
screwdriver-adjustable pots for fine
speed setting.
A particularly nice touch is that
these are of the multi-turn variety,
allowing very fine control and
eliminating that 'bit slower... whoops,
too far, back a bit' element of fiddling
that I have experienced on far too
many occasions. The unit is supplied
with a graphite mat for record
support, and a weighty and beautifully
machined record clamp that simply
sits over the spindle to locate the

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15/3/07 11:32:11

REVIEW

"...the S9 picked out every last

nuance and minute detail..."
record securely to the mat.
The S9 tonearm is a unipivot
device that has an elegantly simple
design. The arm tube is straight
and the 'headshell' consists of two
circular plates - the cartridge is
fitted to the lower part and secured
around the arm tube to the upper
item. This is free to move up and
down the armtube and also permits
a small degree of horizontal rotation
before tightening to set the required
tracking angle. Tracking weight is
easily set using the rear weight and
a tracking force gauge, and both
arm and cue lever height are easily
adjustable.
Bias is applied via the good old
(and best, in my opinion) thread and
weight method, but the length of
purple cotton thread and crimpable
weights provided for this are the
only less-than-high-tech aspect of
the design, and I felt looked a little
out of place on the unit. Whilst
being picky, the lack of an arm rest is
rather unnerving at times and means
a stylus guard is an absolute necessity
when the unit is not in use. It should
also be kept well away from any
inquisitive young fingers!
Needless to say, fit and finish
of the whole deck is breathtaking
(bias weight excepted) and it is
clear that this is an item that has

been designed and made with true

passion. I sincerely hoped this would
be reflected in the sound and so
connected it up to our system
consisting of Eastern Electric Minimax
phono stage, Quad QC24 and IIForty amplifiers, and Spendor S8e
loudspeakers. The S9 was auditioned
with both the supplied van den Hul
Frog cartridge as well as our Ortofon
Rondo Bronze, and the Slatedeck
Garrard 401/SME312 combo was also
on hand for comparison purposes.

SOUND QUALITY
The S9 is not a cheap turntable, both
in terms of price and construction
quality, and this is immediately
obvious as soon as the stylus hits the
groove. The sound that immediately
leaps forth from the loudspeakers
is very polished and 'grown-up' for
want of a better expression.
The first main thing that struck
me was the superb sense of space
and atmosphere around everything in
the mid and upper registers. This was
exactly the same effect that I noticed
in April 2007s edition of Hi-Fi World
when testing the Roksan Nima arm
and it would seem to be that this is
a common feature of unipivot arms.
This is most definitely a good thing as
it imparts the S9 with a grand sense
of scale and depth to the soundstage.

Orchestral material such as 'Mars

- The Bringer of War' from Holst's
'Planets' Suite offered a spaciousness
to instruments that is seldom heard
outside a concert hall. As the main
shift of the music moved between
instruments, the basis of the piece
could be heard swapping between
them with excellent precision. Detail
retrieval from the groove was highly
impressive and swift changes from
soft to loud in either direction were
impeccably handled. With many a
modern television channel, it seems
necessary to increase the volume
during programmes in order to be
able to hear dialogue, only to have to
turn things down again very promptly
when the advertisements come
blaring out in between - listening to
classical music on a lesser turntable
can have the same effect, but the
S9 coped with everything admirably,
moving from a shout to a whisper
with ease.
Next onto the turntable was
Diana Krall's 'Christmas Songs' album
and, yes I know it is spring, but this
was a recent purchase and I refuse to
wait another nine months in order
to enjoy it! Spinning 'Have Yourself
a Merry Little Christmas' had me
sliding down the rear of the Hi-Fi
World sofa in a haze of utter bliss, as
Miss Krall's sublime vocals caressed

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MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

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P12.indd 12

12/2/07 10:57:59

REVIEW
was quite uncanny to hear how, as
the strings were plucked, the leading
edges of the notes were stunningly
presented. Shutting my eyes it was
easily possible to perceive that there
was a large harp right in front of me,
where the review system had been
moments before.
Finally, comparisons to the
Slatedeck 401/SME setup proved
interesting. Whilst the S9 could not
match the sheer impact and stunning
transient abilities of the Garrard in
the bass department (I have yet to
hear a deck that can...) the S9 offered
noticeable improvements in terms of
spatial abilities and soundstaging. The
Slatedeck combo is not 'shut-in' at all,
far from it, but it has a slightly more
polite midrange and treble compared
to the effortless atmospherics
developed by the S9.

CONCLUSION
The best turntables I have ever
heard always seem to have a definite
design rationale behind them that
makes them succeed, albeit usually
in different areas. With the Garrard
301 and 401, I would say that their
strengths come from the quality and
scale of build that they incorporate;
for the Michell Orbe, another of
my favourites, it is the attention to
detail and engineering excellence.
The Simon Yorke
S9 is a new arrival
to the list and this
time it is the sheer

"the S9 is a very capable

rhythm machine"
lacking only the final degree of the
astonishing grip of the Garrard.
For the final part of the listening
session, and in order to wind things
down a little, I dug out a Windham
Hill Records sampler from 1989 and
played Therese Schroeder-Sheker's
track 'Credo of Ballymacoda'. This is
an instrumental featuring solo harp
and the level of insight that the S9
offered to this was impeccable. It

passion and conviction

of the designer that
makes it what it is.
The S9 is a
fabulously conceived,
designed and
constructed unit that
offers a whole new
level of insight into
music. Simon Yorke
prefers to refer to his

decks as "record players" rather

than turntables, and this would seem
highly appropriate given that it excels
at purely making music. Although
an oft-used (and misunderstood)
phrase, what I take it to mean is
that it inspires you to dig through
your record collection rather that
sitting and analysing the sounds you
are hearing. On this level, the S9
succeeds completely.
In 1998 Simon Yorke was quoted
as saying that he felt his achievements
were based on, a small amount of
talent coupled with a large amount
of bloodymindedness". Listening to
the S9, I would say he has the balance
spot on.

A superbly designed and engineered

record player with formidable
musical abilities, the S9 is a seminal
combination of style and performance.

SIMON YORKE S9
4,995
Distributed by The Audio Salon
+44 (0)845 4000 400
www.recordplayer.com

FOR
- design and engineering
- superlative sound
- consistent musicality
- styling

AGAINST
- bias weight!

MEASURED PERFORMANCE
The results of vibration analysis on this
arm, using a B&K accelerometer, clearly
show it suffers significantly less from
vibrational modes than most arms - a
very interesting result considering its
unusual construction. The main arm
tube mode is at 700Hz, a very high
frequency, suggesting this is a very stiff
structure, in addition to being of low
mass. The narrowness of the peak and
its low amplitude both also suggest
the tube is well damped. Generally,
the absence of vibrational peaks up
to 3kHz - main arm tube mode apart
- suggest the Simon Yorke arm will give
an exceptionally clean sound, likely
with firm bass and a great stereo sound
stage. It will time well too, lacking
overhang, and is likely to deliver much
well differentiated fine detail, as the
high frequency spectrum above 3kHz is
also relatively well controlled.
The belt drive platter produced
a low 0.07% IEC weighted Wow and
Flutter figure. There is a peak at 1.5Hz
which is a small mystery, as this is
not a cyclic eccentric platter/disc
component at 0.55Hz, nor a pulley
component at much higher frequency.
All the same it is at low level and
low frequency so is unlikely to have
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P10-P13 subbed.indd 13

VERDICT

my ears in a superb aural massage

[ooh er! Ed.]. Her backing band
sounded soft and subtle, yet the S9
picked out absolutely every nuance
and minute detail offered by the
album, and wrapped them around her,
and me, like a big fluffy blanket.
Realising I was highly likely
to lose most of the afternoon if
I continued this way, I reluctantly
removed Miss Krall from the platter,
assuring her that I would return later,
and cued up another new purchase,
namely the 180 gram, 45rpm reissue
of Dire Straits' 'Brothers in Arms'.
The opening drums of 'Money for
Nothing' were exactly what was
required to bring me out of my
reverie and they struck home with
effortless impact. Once the main part
of the track started, the S9 showed
that it can do bass properly as well,
and swept along with great gusto.
The S9 is a very capable rhythm
machine on faster paced material and
has a detailed and tuneful bass that
digs pleasingly deep. Spinning Primal
Scream's 'Screamadelica', I played
'Loaded', well aware that, when the
bass guitar commences, the low
frequency elements of the track can
tend to become something of a blur
on a less than capable turntable.
Fortunately the S9 romped through,
offering up depth, pace and detail,

much subjective impact, hence the

good weighted W&F result. Speed was
accurate too.
All in all then, the Simon Yorke
turntable and arm deliver a fine
measured performance, better than
usual. NK
ARM VIBRATION
0.3

Arm vibration behaviour

Accel.
(g)
0.2

Main arm
tube mode
I

0.1

15Hz

frequency (Hz)

6kHz

WOW AND FLUTTER

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

13
15/3/07 13:17:52

REVIEW

New Resolution

Few digital disc players offer as much insight into both CD and SACD formats as
Shanling's new SCD-T2000, says Martin Wolszczak...

ACD has the ability to

reproduce music with a
high degree of realism,
resolution and detail. I
dont own a turntable, but
I have racks of SACDs
- theyre wonderful. So needless to
say, when I was asked to evaluate the
latest incarnation of the 3D Shanling
SCD-T2000 Vacuum Tube two-channel Super Audio CD Player, I greeted
it with enthusiasm.
The first generation of Shanling's
Vacuum Tube Two-Channel SACD/

14
P14-P17 Shanling final.indd 14

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

CD, the model SCD-T200C was

reviewed thoroughly back in
November 2004 by Editor David
Price. The new 3D SCD-T2000
model is similar to the old one as
far as looks, build quality, standard
of finish and components are
concerned. Nevertheless, there are
several differences between them.
The Shanling SCD-T2000 still relies
on Sony key parts, like the latest
edition KHM-280AAA laser, as well
as Sony CXD2753R decoding chip.
The new player SCD-T2000 sports

one hundred and twenty ventilation

holes on the top of the chassis which,
according to Shanling, improves
cooling and aids long-term reliability.
The previous model used a
dual-layer servo-board, where one
layer was made by Sony, the other
by Shanling. The new model uses a
single 100% Shanling servo-board
that allegedly improves reliability,
readability and sonics. However,
during my audition I came across a
minor problem regarding this players
readability. I found out the Shanling

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

19/3/07 16:34:19

REVIEW
would not play a couple of tracks
from various SACD albums at all
and on a few other occasions was
skipping them, while with the same
tracks my Sony SACD/DVD Swoboda
Mod DVP-NS 9100ES did not have
any problems at all, nor the other
players I have had at my disposal.
As far as looks are concerned
SCD-T2000 reminds me of products
of the prestige audio marque from
Germany called T+A. Shanlings build
quality and aesthetics are superb. For
a full description, see David Prices
original review of the SCD-T200C
in the November 2004 issue of Hi-Fi
World.
The original SCD-T200C and
the new SCD-T2000 look almost
identical. The new version is still
finished in brushed aluminium, but
Shanling gave up on the gold touches
of some parts. At the front, there
is an overly small display, this time
in green, instead of blue. The rear
panel remains unchanged. There are
two RCA unbalanced outputs for
the vacuum tube output stage, and
two RCA unbalanced outputs for
the solid-state stage, plus one coaxial
digital output terminal. Both sets of
unbalanced outputs, along with the
headphone jack are situated on the
right side of unit; they are attenuated
by high-precision, digitally controlled
analogue volume control. In the box
I found - apart from nicely metalcrafted remote and impressive power
cord - an interesting compilation
SACD sampler disc.
The sole UK distributor of
the hybrid Shanling SCD-T2000
is Matthew Jameson of Real Hi-Fi.
Using a stock SCD-T2000 player
manufactured by Shenzhen Shanling
Electronic Co. Ltd of China, the 3D
Acoustics modification incorporates a
few vital key improvements, including
240V power transformers, Schottky
fast-recovery diodes, Os-Con
capacitors and tantalum resistors
applied in crucial parts of the circuit.
Above all the spinner comes with full
factory one year UK warranty.
Straight out the box this player
proved easy to use and great to look
at. It gives you feeling of money well
spent. So what about the sound then?

SOUND QUALITY
Since I began my journey with SACD
I have collected about 170 discs.
During my audition of this player, I
spent a significant amount of time
going back and forth between the
vacuum tube and solid-state outputs
listening mainly to Super Audio discs.
As I did not audition the old Shanling
SCD-T200C, I am relying on DPs
view here. So although I cannot
determine whether the new spinner

is a step forward or not, I can say the

new Shanling SCD-T2000 is excellent.
Listening to a wide variety
of SACDs, I found that with my
amplifier and speaker combination, I
consistently preferred the solid-state
stage to vacuum tube output. There
was a greater degree of articulation
when listening through the solid-state
output, with no loss of midrange
magical presence or purity. The
sound remained coherent and liquid
throughout a whole audible range.
The vacuum tube section seemed
to soften both extremes, which did
not complement my current set-up.
The bottom end of the frequency
spectrum was too relaxed and laidback, if you like, via the tube output.
I would only suggest that anyone
interested in the Shanling audition
both outputs to see what suits their
system and tastes best. The great
thing about this player is that you can
select your preference with every
disc as both outputs can be run to an
amplifier or power amp at the same
time. As DP said in his original review,
you get two players in one.
On SACDs, the Shanling revealed
its outstanding sound quality. In
fact, this was one of the best
SACD players I have ever heard.
The SCD-T2000 delivered a deep
and well-defined soundstage, with
wonderful dimensionality, bloom and
sense of air between instruments.
Listening to Warren Bernhardt
accompanied by Jay Anderson
and Peter Erskine from the album
'So Real' (DMP SACD-15) I was
impressed by the Shanlings ability to
resolve individual instrumental lines
during complex passages. Whether
you concentrate on piano, bass or
drums you hear a totally natural
spatial presentation.
One of my favourite SACD
recordings of all time, BluesQuest
by Audioquest Music (SACD1052), demonstrated the Shanlings
musicality. Joe Beard was soulful
beyond words and Sam McClain
performing 'Too Proud' was just
perfect - the powerful and fulsome

about openness, clarity and detail this is top drawer in every way.
Relaxing to the SACD version of
Norah Joness 'Come Away With Me'
(BlueNote 724354174728) proved
to a blissful and tranquil experience
through the Shanling SCD-T2000.
Its ability to convey her distinctive
sultry voice was captured with a
liquidity that was transparent and
pure. Norahs impassioned 'Turn Me

"the Shanling gives effortless

insight into the capabilities of
the SACD format..."
bass, the sparkling, lightning-quick top
end, a midrange full of texture and
flavour, and Sams voice so smooth,
intimate and palpable, hanging there
between speakers. It was really
wonderful. That Sam sings this
number a little in his throat, as it
were, is so evident via the SACD. Talk

On' had a lush, enjoyable portrayal

through the Shanling, drawing out
each element of the recording with
a realism and ease that captivated
my intellect and emotions. The
Shanling gives effortless insight into
the capabilities of this high-resolution
digital medium.

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P14-P17 Shanling final.indd 15

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

15
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P16.indd 16

20/3/07 09:50:16

REVIEW

"With its high-tech appearance

and exquisite attention to fit and
finish, this is a stunning piece of
work..."

REFERENCE SYSTEM:
YBA Passion 300 amplifier
JM LAB Focal Micro Utopia Be loudspeakers
LFD Spirolink IV interconnects
Isotek Super Supreme power cables
Townshend Isolda DCT speaker cables

tional CDs, performance is equally

Stepping away from SACD to
impressive considering the confines
conventional CDs, I was pleasantly
teristics. Connecting this player to
of the format. Moreover the SCDsurprised at how well the Shanling
a natural sounding amplifier will
T2000 gives the user welcome
reproduced 16bit/44.1kHz format.
give you world-class performance
flexibility with two output stages,
Red Book discs were rendered with
at the price, and is thus an essential
vacuum tube and solid-state each
an extremely smooth, extended highwith its own strengths and characfrequency response, maintaining that
audition.
palpable midrange I enjoyed
during my sessions with various
Super Audio discs. These
attributes were apparent while
With CD the SCD-T2000s frequency
SACD
2Hz-36kHz
listening to Dire Straits 'On
response reaches smoothly up to
Every Street' (Vertigo 3426788
21.125kHz and you can see the
Distortion (%)
CD/SACD
). Mark Knopflers vocals are
smoothness of the characteristic in
0dB
0.0014/0.0009
the focus here and the Shanling
our high resolution convolved impulse
-6dB
0.0008/0.0007
reproduced the depth and
analysis. With SACD the upper limit
-60dB
0.24/0.04
subtlety of his performances
extended out to 36kHz (-1dB), whilst
-80dB
2.8/0.81
magnificently; it was possibly the the lower limit stayed at a low 2Hz.
-100dB
- /9.6
best I have ever heard from this The valve output made little difference
to these figures and as CD and SACD
Separation (1kHz)
106dB
recording. One predominant
technology goes they are a good result.
Noise (CD, IEC A)
-110dB
attribute of the Shanling is its
Distortion
levels
were
low
on
CD
Dynamic
range
(EIAJ,
CD)
111dB
ability to accurately replicate
and - as expected - very low on SACD.
Output
2.13V
the attack and decay of
The SCD-T2000 resolves signals down
various strings and percussive
at -100dB with SACD, a level below
instruments. 'Heavy Fuel' was
that possible from CD. You can see from FREQUENCY RESPONSE
reincarnated with impressive
our figures that SACD is very linear.
power, dynamics, punch and
Our analysis shows a -30dB signal on
speed. This is a common trait of CD, as usual, where a low 0.00073%
was measured. The valve output stage
the Shanling when playing back
inevitably introduces degradation, with
both CDs and SACDs formats.
0.3% distortion at peak level (0dB)
comprising mainly second harmonic,
CONCLUSION
and a little more distortion lower down
To say the 3D Acoustic Shanling
too, 0.18% at -60dB for example, but
SCD-T2000 player is attractive
this comprised low order harmonics
would be an understatement.
that should be aurally innocuous.
DISTORTION
With its high-tech appearance,
In terms of noise, channel
utilisation of superior parts
separation, output and dynamic range
and materials, and exquisite
this player was up with the best.
The SCD-T2000 measures
attention to fit and finish, this
well in all areas, on CD and SACD.
Shanling is simply a stunning
Measurement suggests it will have a
piece of work. With both
largely neutral tonal balance and SACD
SACDs and CDs, the SCDin particular should come across as
T2000 is a reference quality
smooth and pure. NK
performer. SACDs sound
superb, lending the music a
Frequency response (-1dB)
sense of realism and palpability
CD
2Hz-21.125kHz
that is enthralling. On conven-

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

P14-P17 Shanling final.indd 17

A stylish and very well made player that

offer superlative performance on both
CDs and SACDs.

FOR
- soundstaging and dynamics
- build quality
- CD performance

AGAINST
- some SACD readability
issues
SHANLING SCD-T2000 2,250
Distributed by Real Hi-Fi
+44 (0)870 909 6777
www.realhi-fi.com

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

VERDICT

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

17
19/3/07 16:35:03

COMPETITION

WIN A FANTASTIC ROTEL RB-1092

STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER WORTH 1,595
IN THIS MONTHS GREAT COMPETITION!

QUESTIONS
[1] Which class of
operation does the
Rotel use?
[a] CLASS A
[b] CLASS B
[c] CLASS AB
[d] CLASS D
[2] What is the name
of the power technology used by the RB1092?
[a] Cold Running
[b] Chill Thrill
[c] Draft Performance
[d] ICE power
[3] What is the
claimed output power
of the RB-1092?
[a] 5mW
[b] 5W
[c] 50W
[d] 500W
[4] DP says its a
genuinely what
sounding bit of kit?
[a] cool
[b] hot
[c] rough
[d] svelte
May Competition
Hi-Fi World Magazine
Unit G4 Argo House
The Park Business Centre
Kilburn Park Rd.
London NW6 5LF

eres your chance to

win one of the best sub2,000 power amplifiers
weve heard in a long
time. The Rotel RB-1092
is an absolutely cracking
product, and you can win it with Hi-Fi
World. Heres what David Price said in
his review in the April 2007 issue:
Rotel is the latest big name to
go the Class D way, the RB-1092
using the ICEpower technology first
seen on its RMB-1077 amplifier. At
1,595 its not cheap, but it promises
a massive 500W per channel into
8 Ohms. Theres also the RB-1091
monoblock design, retailing for
just 995. Both are available in
either silver/black, or black finishes.
Measuring 432x92x407mm, the RB1092 is sizeable device. Much of the
Rotels bulk (and weight) is actually
taken by the visually impressive matt
black heatsinking. Kicking off with
Supertramps Breakfast in America
CD, the Rotel showed itself to be
a quintessentially Class D sounding
device. The phrase massive reserves
of clean power springs to mind
the RB-1092 goes very loud, just
as its spec suggests. Furthermore, it
sounds smooth and even right across
the frequency band. Bass is dry and
strong and well articulated, midband
expansive, detailed and dimensional

and treble was crisp and clean. Bass

was very promising. It isnt overtly
imposing the amplifier doesnt
keep reminding you of its barrelchestedness but was never less than
strong and insistent.
The midband was superb. Kate
Bushs The Sensual World was a joy,
with oodles of detail, fantastic control
and composure, impressive dynamics
and a strong stereo soundstage.
Moving back to Supertramp, and
Rodger Hodgsons voice (a tad shrill,
through the wrong equipment) was
very clearly depicted, lacking little in
detail... Still, with its lovely taut and
gutsy bass and smooth and expansive
midband, the Rotel proved very
satisfying to listen to. Even Dave
Brubecks Take Five on vinyl was a
warm and engrossing experience. It is
a genuinely musically communicative
bit of kit... a brilliant buy it has an

extremely accomplished sound and

massive reserves of power. I suspect
that half a kilowatt is too much for
any normal mortal, but its the grace
under pressure that the Rotel displays
at lower levels than makes having this
extra cubic capacity under the hood
worth having. Its a genuinely svelte
sounding bit of kit, capable of making
very nice noises with even the most
demanding of loudspeakers. To do so
much for 1,595 means it represents
excellent value".
If youd like the chance to win this
great stereo power amplifier, then all
you have to do is answer the following
four easy questions. Send your entries
by 30th April 2007 on a postcard
to: May 2007 Competition, Hi-Fi
World magazine, Unit G4, Argo
House, The Park Business Centre,
Kilburn Park Road, London
NW6 5LF.

RULES AND CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

- ONLY ONE ENTRY PER HOUSEHOLD
- MULTIPLE ENTRIES WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED
- PURCHASE OF THE MAGAZINE IS NOT A PRE-CONDITION OF ENTRY
- NO CORRESPONDENCE WILL BE ENTERED INTO
- THE EDITOR'S DECISION IS FINAL
- NO EMPLOYEES OF AUDIO PUBLISHING LIMITED, OR OF ANY COMPANIES
ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRIZES,
MAY ENTER

entries will be accepted on a postcard only

FEBRUARY 2007 MARANTZ PM700KI SIGNATURE CD,
SA7001 KI SIGNATURE INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER WINNER:
Alan Roberts of Newcastle
18
P18 subbed.indd 18

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 11:25:35

REVIEW

Heavenly
David Allcock finds the Blue Angel Mantis moving
coil cartridge makes music in an other worldly
way...

SOUND QUALITY
Handling the Mantis requires delicacy,
as you might imagine, but installation
was aided by the square body shape.
Tracking weight is quoted between
1.8 and 2.0gms, and on my Graham
tonearm I found 1.85gms offered
the best sound balance. The Mantis
sounds very good at 47k Ohm input
loading, but I found the midrange was
a little richer and vocals had more
body at 2.5k or 1k Ohm.
Once optimised, this cartridge
quickly established itself as being an
outstanding musical performer. The
high frequencies were notable for
their astonishingly smooth, detailed
presentation. Whilst obviously
capable of very high resolution, the
Mantis MC was very refined in how
it presented this information, it
just let the information flow, rather

than force it upon the

listener. Cymbals and
tambourines were
smooth and focused,
with just a hint of
metallic shimmer.
The
midrange
showed
richness in
the lower
range,
VERDICT
whilst
Superbly engaging and fluid sounding
high end moving coil, with a very
the
Imaging
endearing nature.
is superbly
upper
focused,
midrange
BLUE ANGEL MANTIS 2,495
transients are
was superbly
Distributed by RPM Audio
lightning-fast and the
balanced, with
+44 (0)1323 846410
balance across the frequency
excellent resolving ability,
www.blueangelaudio.com
range is excellent. Apart from lacking
making this a super cartridge for
the last ounce of bass extension, and FOR
vocals, offering stunning insight into
not quite having the massive dynamic - Excellent insight and detail
the performance and the recording.
range of the very best, the Blue Angel - Refined performance
Bass was very good. Whilst not
- Build quality
is a cartridge which is capable of a
quite as extended as the Condor
XCM, it was incredibly fast and tightly musical, fluid performance which is
AGAINST
sure to capture your attention as it
controlled, offering a level of agility
- Bass extension
did mine.
Ive only heard from one or two very
high end cartridges in
the 4,000 arena.
Dynamics were
limitations. It works satisfactorily and
The Blue Angel has a smoothly rising
also good, as the
may sound interesting, but rivals lack
frequency response on outer grooves,
Mantis could shift from
its drawbacks. NK
as the red trace in our analysis shows.
a whisper to ground
Output peaks at +2.5dB around 12kHz,
shaking loudness very
Tracking force
2gms
and this will ensure a bright balance.
quickly, and whilst not
Weight
5.5gms
On inner grooves, where tracing loss
quite as unrestrained
Vert.tracking angle
>38degrees
takes effect, the Gyger II stylus shape
as the Lyra Titan, this
Frequency resp.
20Hz - 20kHz
introduces -1dB loss, reducing the peak
cartridge is more than
Channel separation
12dB
somewhat, as the white trace shows.
capable of shocking the
Tracking ability (300Hz)
Like all moving coils, there is no upper
listener on rim shots.
lateral
63m
midband generator loss, meaning the
vertical
45m
sound will have no artificial warmth
Imaging was
lateral (1kHz)
25cms/sec.
and detailing will be strong.
superbly focused, with
Distortion (45m)
Tracking ability was good, if not
a fine rendition of stage
lateral
1%
a
match
for
the
best;
the
cartridge
depth, images precisely
vertical
10%
remains in the groove but distorts.
placed on a stage
Output (5cms/sec rms)
0.22mV
Channel separation was unusually low
which laterally filled the
at 12dB, which will likely contract the
listening room, whilst
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
sound stage in terms of width, but this
the rear of the stage
effect can also subjectively strengthen
extended far beyond the images.
physical wall.
Vertical tracking angle was way
too high at something like 40degrees out of range of the DIN 45550 test disc.
CONCLUSION
Distortion on vertical modulation (left
The Blue Angel
and right images) was excessive as a
Mantis MC is an
result, reaching 10% (corrected) with
excellent cartridge, its
CBS-STR110 at 45um.
Red - Outer grooves
performance justifying
The Mantis has quite a few
White - Inner grooves
its 2,495 price tag.

ew entrants in the
world of high end cartridges are rare. The
new Blue Angel Mantis
moving coil has caused
quite a stir due to the
obsessive attention to detail paid to
each and every cartridge by designer
Andre Hanekom. Virtually everything,
bar the cantilever/stylus assembly and
the wooden packing box, is manufactured from scratch by its designer,
who also builds and tests every cartridge. To do this, Andre had to install
his own lathe and milling facilities,
then build his own tooling to facilitate manufacture.
The Mantis uses a wooden
body into which is installed a
plastic carrier, and it is within this
carrier that the cartridge generator
mechanism is located. This carrier
is highly specialised, as the plastic
used has been carefully selected for
both environmental stability and
resonant behaviour. The coils are
very high purity copper, whilst high
power neodymium magnets are used
to ensure a healthy 0.35mv output.
The cantilever/stylus assembly is
brought in from Swiss specialist Fritz
Gyger and uses a hollow aluminium
cantilever to reduce moving mass,
plus a fine line FG II profile stylus tip.

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

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REVIEW

Star Quality

Leema Acoustics is very much in the ascendant, with a range of impressive looking
electronics to match their established loudspeaker line. The new Tucana integrated amplifier
shines brightly, says David Allcock...

eema Acoustics has, over the

past five years, gone from a
small loudspeaker company
to a significant manufacturer
in the British hi-fi constellation. The Tucana is their first
electronics product, and makes an
excellent first impression. Out of the
box it is clear this is an exceptionally
well built product, the chassis is very
solid and even the heatsinks down
each side are sufficiently substantial
as to ensure they dont ring.
The front panel has only two
large controls, a volume control on
the left and an input selection on
the right which allows three line
inputs, a pair of multichannel inputs,
a tape loop and an A/V direct input,
which acts as a unity gain input for
integration with a surround sound
processor. Around the back are two
pairs of heavy duty five way binding
posts on the outer edge of the panel,

a single, centrally mounted IEC,

nine pairs of inputs and outputs on
high quality, gold plated RCA phono
connectors, and a pair of connectors
for Leemas LIPS system - an
intelligent control protocol conceived
and written in-house to make their
systems very user friendly.
The Tucana is a full dual mono
design utilising three transformers,
one each for the left and right
channels and a third which powers
the control circuits, only sharing
the power inlet to prevent any
interference between channels and
the digital data from the microprocessor control system. The output
stage is said to be capable of massive
current swings, up to 45 amps. By no
means compact, the Tucana measures
106x440x305mm and weighs a hefty
19.4kg.

SOUND QUALITY

"I can confidently recommend this

amplifier to anyone who wants a
sonically superb, fit and forget integrated..."
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HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

The Leema Tucana

proved an excellent
amplifier - period.
The first thing
that captured my
attention was
its transparency.
Given the right
combination of

source and material, it provided the

listener with a connection to the
musical event which few designs at
any price are capable of - my only
wish being I could have tried it with a
fully balanced source. Give it a vocal
performance like the under rated
Nina Persson of The Cardigans, and
it startles with its ability to place a
vocalist in the room. The intimacy of
her voice on Starter was stunning,
the close-miked vocals allowed every
nuance of her breathy performance
through. Given a similarly intimate,
but very different, recording such
as Diana Kralls Ive Got You Under
My Skin, the sumptuous richness of
Kralls voice was almost tactile, such
was its presence in the room.
Soundstaging was a little more
forward than I hear from my usual
Krell KRC-3/Bryston combination,
generally a couple of rows closer
to the stage. It was still natural,
that subtle change in perspective
combined with the transparency to
draw the listener into the original
recording in a way few amplifiers are
capable of doing. In this respect the
Tucana surpassed the performance
of any integrated amplifier Ive
heard to date, as it was unnervingly
close to my Krell/Bryston duo, and

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 11:11:51

REVIEW

VERDICT
Powerful, detailed and engrossingly
musical sound allied to superlative build
makes this is a great British integrated
amplifier.

LEEMA TUCANA
2,995
Activ Distribution
+44(0)1635 291357
www.leema-acoustics.com

FOR
- dynamic range
- smooth yet resolved sound
- current drive
- build and finish
whilst I could hear a little more
stage depth with additional air and
focus with my established reference
combination, the Tucana had a rare
ability to convince the listener they
were listening to a real performance,
even using a digital source. The Diana
Krall recording is outstanding, but the
Tucana was able to lift it to another
level above any other integrated.
Spatial relationships between the
performers on Devil May Care were
precise and completely natural. The
Tucana was also sensitive to the scale
of the acoustic, and did not try to
impose itself on every recording.
Able to drive most loudspeakers
to very high levels without a hint of
compression, this integrated proved
crushingly powerful. And whilst the
Audiolab 8000S I reviewed a few
months ago was capable of very
fast transient response, the Tucana
surpassed this with ease, requiring
the likes of the NuForce Reference
9SE and Bryston 14B-SST to substantially better it. It was the perfect
partner for the unique vocal ability
of Kate Bush, whose performance on
Man with the Child in his Eyes not
only moves around in the frequency
domain, but also dynamically, leaving
most amplifiers at best merely hinting
at her true ability. The Tucana proved
itself more than capable of keeping
up with the shifts in Kates voice with
remarkable ease and with the kind of
easy, effortless style heard from very
few standalone power amplifiers, it
tracked the shifts like a bloodhound
following even the smallest variations
in dynamics with ease.
The bass registers of this
amplifier, even with a demanding load,
are excellent. Whilst the ML Vantage
uses an active bass driver, both the
Leema Xavier and Hyperion HPS938 loudspeakers demand a firm
hand to get the best out of their
respective bass drivers. The Tucana
succeeded in extracting greater levels

of performance out of these speakers transparent midrange, whilst high

than almost any other amplifier Ive
frequencies are smooth and highly
AGAINST
heard, grabbing their bass drivers
resolving. As such, I can confidently
- no balanced inputs
with absolute control. The HPSrecommend this amplifier to anyone
938s reproduction of kick drums
who wants a
MUSIC
on Marillions Uninvited Guest was
sonically superb,
The Cardigans, Gran Tourismo
outstanding, you could not only hear
fit and forget
Diana Krall, When I Look in Your Eyes
the beater hitting the drum skin, but
integrated.
Marillion, Six of One
you could feel the bass note through
Kate Bush, Hounds of Love
the seat and floor, however the bass
control was outstanding.
REFERENCE SYSTEM:
With all this sledgehammer
Basis Gold Debut Standard/Graham 2.0/Benz Glider L2 turntable
wallop, the Leema was more subtle
Klyne System 7 PX 3.5 phono stage
than you might imagine, allowing
Shanling CD-T300 Omega Drive CD player
the delicacy of Diana Kralls vocals
Krell KRC-3 preamplifier
to come through unabridged. Kate
Bryston 3B-SST and 14B-SST power amplifiers
Bushs voice on Running up That Hill
Martin Logan Vantage loudspeakers
had stunning immediacy and speed,
Hyperion Sound Design HPS-938 loudspeakers
and her astonishing upper range
Leema Acoustics Xavier speakers
brings us to the high frequency range,
Isotek Titan and Nova mains filters
often a problem with integrated
amplifiers. The big Leema was
delightfully smooth and
detailed, with triangles
and cymbals having
just a hint of metallic
The Tucana produces 162 Watts into
is slightly worrying, but assure that
shimmer without
8 Ohms and 272 Watts into 4 Ohms,
internal fuses prevent output stage
undue prominence or
goodly amounts of power and plenty
damage and a trip circuit protects
exaggeration, whilst
enough for most loudspeakers and
loudspeakers. NK
maintaining control and
rooms. Distortion levels were low at all
power outputs and frequencies, a little
Power
162watts
focus.
third harmonic appearing as the amp
was pushed to produce high power at
CD/tuner/aux.
CONCLUSION
10kHz.
However,
measuring
just
0.05%
Frequency response
5Hz-50kHz
An outstanding design
Separation
71dB
worst case, delivering full power into
from a connecNoise
-90dB
4ohms, the Tucana behaves well in this
tivity, versatility and
0.005%
area. At low outputs, output stage noise Distortion
performance perspective, dominated, but this was low enough to
Sensitivity
600mV
the Leema Tucana should be inaudible.
integrate easily into any
Frequency response was wide,
DISTORTION
measuring 5Hz to 50kHz at -1dB limits,
system. This amplifier
wide enough to do justice to SACD and
has outstanding drive
DVD-A sources. Sensitivity was very
capability for even
low at 600mV and here the Tucana
the most challenging
may not be the best choice with phono
speaker loads, and
stages having limited gain, or old
avoids imparting its
sources such as cassette decks. It has
own personality on
been modelled for CD players and such
the music, allowing the
like.
source to speak for
The Tucana measures well. Leema
itself. A powerful bass
say it has no protection circuits and
the output must not be shorted, which
performance is mated
to a superbly balanced,

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

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REVIEW

Broadcast News
Channa Vithana reviews the latest iteration
of the Harbeth HL-Compact loudspeaker,
now in 7ES-3 form...

arbeth
are not a
conventional,
mainstream
British loudspeaker company.
Thanks in no small part to its
founder Dudley Harwoods BBC
engineering background, their biggest British customer is good old
auntie Beeb. Otherwise, they sell
well in Japan and China.
Based in Haywards Heath, West
Sussex, they can trace their roots
back into the nineteen sixties, and
have produced a range of quintessentially British sounding products,
a little conservative in presentation
perhaps, but still extremely able and
often far better than their more
popular rivals.
Now in 2007, Harbeth have
just released a new version of
their single-wired HL-Compact
loudspeaker, called the 7ES-3,
priced at 1,799. It has excellent
build and is finished in a beautifully
crafted light Cherry veneer as
standard. There are other veneers
available, including Eucalyptus, for
about 1,899 to special order.
Though called Compact, measuring
520x273x315mm and weighing
13.2kg apiece, the 7ES-3 by modern
standards is a large two-way frontported standmount loudspeaker, and
with its black cloth grill in place can
be easily mistaken for a new-oldstock classic monitor from the sixties
or seventies!
I quite like its chunky
proportions, but it would be nice to
see more of the front baffle the
grill looked difficult to remove, so
it was left in place (which Harbeth
recommend). Indeed, more attractive
silver hex-head fixings could have
been used instead of the ordinary
cross-head ones across the rear
panel, and those at the front baffle,
for the nail-free, glueless lossy
joint which suppresses resonances.
Additionally, it would have been more

22
P22-25 NK subbed.indd 22

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

attractive
if they
used a
circular
opening for
the mid/bass
driver. As such,
some will be
put off by this
traditional styling.
The 7ES-3
cabinet, says Harbeth,
quite literally
breathes at the very
lowest frequencies, as
do the finest wooden
instruments. A 25mm
aluminium dome tweeter,
which Harbeth have used for
twenty years, is utilised because
of its manufacturing consistency,
and needs no added damping
(unlike fabric). The classically BBC
proportioned 200mm (8inch) Radial
cone mid/bass driver is located into
a glass-reinforced nylon chassis with
a new rubber surround utilising a
softer smoother profile for improved
damping. The front-mounted port
has been tuned for better bass,
while the cabinet has better internal

wall-damping and the

new crossover has improved
the on-axis integration of the drive
units and enhanced the vertical
integration, so the speaker is less
critical of stand height.

SOUND QUALITY
In the Harbeth User Guide it is
recommended that the loudspeakers
are placed about 75cm away from the

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

12/3/07 16:54:16

REVIEW

"they are BBC-style monitors in

the classic and best sense of
the word..."
bass delivery. However, when the
composition got busier, with more
complex drum patterns and guitar
melodies vying for space with
crunching rhythm parts, I noticed
that the Harbeths could sound
too restrained. There was a slightly
controlled quality that took some
of the beautifully revealed timbral
enjoyment away. Contrast this to a
simpler composition like the midpaced thrash-metal of the next
track, Sad But True and there were
no such difficulties. Likewise, on
Fleetwood Macs Morrow Turning
Over In His Grave, the music
became a little more constrained, as
the complex guitar parts sounded a
little shut-in and less natural in their
phrasing.
Compared to my reference
floor standing Waterfall Victoria
loudspeakers, which cost approximately 2,000, the 1,799
Harbeths had superior instrumental timbre, which was
very convincing indeed. They
also appeared to go deeper in
the bass than the similarly specified
Victorias. However, the Waterfalls
sounded slightly less congested
in comparison, especially during

rear wall,
2.5m apart
and with a little
toe-in (about five to
ten degrees) - and I concur,
as this sounds the best. After
a relatively short listening period, it
was obvious to me that the Harbeths
have marked strengths what they
do well, they do very well. The key
is their delicately balanced sound,
with wonderful timbral acuity and
the ability to convey the emotional
impact of a recording. With the music
from the Vivaldi, LAmore per Elvira
recording by La Serenissima, the
violin and harpsichord had very good
phrasing, definition and clarity. The
music was nicely expressed, in a very
clear yet timbrally convincing manner,
and there was excellent body to each

instrument.
On Whats The
World Coming
MUSIC
To from Say You
La Serenissima, Vivaldi, LAmore per Elvira (2006)
Will by Fleetwood Mac, the
Depeche Mode, The Singles 86>98 (1998)
Harbeths sounded bold and
expressive, proving convincing Fleetwood Mac, Say You Will (2003)
and enjoyable. The groove-led Metallica, Metallica (1991)
bass lines were excellent in
their composure, feel and extension
REFERENCE SYSTEM:
while Mick Fleetwoods signature
Naim CDX2 CD player (3,000 approx.)
drum-track was a delight with crisp,
Unison Research Unico CD player, (1,250)
clear and deep timbres. The pulsating
Moon Audio i-3 integrated amplifier, (1,595)
opening bass line to Depeche Modes
Waterfall Victoria loudspeakers (2,000)
Behind The Wheel from The Singles
86>98 compilation was engagingly
tuneful in extension, control and
wayward or complex song structures,
feel. The music as a whole was
as on the Fleetwood Mac and
also superb with a powerful yet
Metallica recordings, and thus, the
articulated sound that was very
interplay of instrumental and vocal
communicative.
phrasing and timing of the music was
The eerie mix of beautiful
preferable with them. For this reason,
opening guitar melodies and
I think the Harbeths are ideal for
menacing, growling bass lines to
delicate, subtle acoustic music, but
Enter Sandman by Metallica
less successful on highly modulated
was sheer delight. And just like
complex rock music lovers of
Depeche Mode previously, the
heavy metal should look
Harbeths showed a superbly tuneful
elsewhere!
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High Fidelity, redefined.

www.thef80.com

meridian-f80-hi.indd 1

19/3/07 11:52:43

REVIEW

SHAW SPEAKS

Channa Vithana talks to Harbeth supremo Alan Shaw.

CV: HOW DID YOU START OUT IN THE SPEAKER INDUSTRY?
AS: I have been fascinated by loudspeakers (not really any other part of the hi-fi chain, I
must admit) since I was about six or seven. In my teens, I became involved with what were
the early days of BBC local radio, when it had a real community involvement. That experience showed me at a stroke, how a monitor speaker was a tool, not a consumer durable.
That led to me reading every scrap of information on the BBCs way of speaker design.
Despite my enthusiasm at being an amateur speaker fan, it was clear that I needed to get
a real career - but after some seven years at NEC, by fluke I was in London, had some free
time and went to see Dudley Harwood someone I considered famous from my BBC readings (he had been head of the department involved in BBC speaker development) - and I
walked away from his tiny lock-up and said I have to continue this pioneering work. That
was twenty years ago..."
WHY IS HARBETH SO POPULAR WITH THE BBC, AND IN JAPAN AND CHINA?
The Japanese and Chinese customers (our best two markets) took to us thirty years ago.
We are exceedingly well known in those markets - right up there with the biggest loudspeaker brands in the world. It is no coincidence that [1] oriental homes are generally small,
rather similar in size to a BBC control room, and [2] the listener is listening quite close to the
speakers which greatly amplifies speaker artefacts, so they have to be of a low order or they
are irritating and [3] oriental music, rather like speech and rather unlike electronic music is
complex with exceedingly subtle micro-tones which most speakers just cant resolve. As for
the BBC, the reason they like us is that our speakers tell it like it is and are based on the
BBCs idea of monitor speakers. This means that while they cant play super loud (like public
address equipment), and they dont have earth-shattering bass, in the all-critical middle frequencies working with them is not like listening to speakers at all. It is the original source
material that is listened to, not the equipment. Most speakers would be extremely fatiguing
if used as monitors, whereas at the end of an eight-hour shift the sound engineer has to be
completely fresh: with Harbeth monitors, he is."

Back in October 1976, Harbeth founder Dudley Harwood co-wrote a

BBC research department paper entitled, 'The Design Of The Miniature
Monitoring Loudspeaker Type LS3/5a', along with M.E. Whatton, C.Eng.,
M.I.E.E and R.W. Mills.
As well as this involvement with the renowned LS3/5a, Harwood
was also responsible for popularising and patenting the use of
Polypropylene drive units in loudspeakers. According to Harbeth,
Harwood, then a senior engineer, directed research work by the BBC
into a coated plastic called Bextrene for better drivers to outperform the
inconsistent manufacturing quality of paper units at the time. The need
for superior drive units, say Harbeth, was to adapt to the more demanding new stereo broadcasts.
In the mid-1960s, Spencer Hughes, who later formed loudspeaker
company Spendor, also worked on the BBC Bextrene project. According
to Hughes journal excerpts (see www.spendoraudio.com) his, part as
a laboratory technician in the operation, was to do most of the actual
work both on the plastic investigation, and the development of the
LS5/5 (monitor loudspeaker). Also, according to Hughes, after this the
200mm (8inch) mid/bass driver using Bextrene (plus a Celestion HF 1300
tweeter) was used in the original incarnation of the now legendary BC-1
monitor loudspeaker.
About ten years later Harwood discovered polypropylene. This
newer material says Harbeth was superior to Bextrene because it could
go louder and didnt need to be doped or coated, and was therefore lighter and for the first time, the drive unit could respond properly to rhythm
and timing.
During the late eighties, just before Harwood sold Harbeth to
Alan Shaw, he looked into a driver material bought from Audax called
TPX, which says Harbeth, was based on research into Bextrene and
Polypropylene but was deemed superior by Harwood. Alan Shaw
subsequently carried on further research which led into the formation of the patented Harbeth Radial cone drive units. Radial (Research
And Development In Advanced Loudspeakers) like its Bextrene and
Polypropylene predecessors is a type of plastic formation, and says Alan,
is a blend of four key ingredients that we, and the engineers from the
Science and Engineering Research Council, blended for their acoustic
properties. We conceived a material that had no discernible acoustic signature. That material is the Harbeth sound (or rather, lack of it!).

Fine tonal accuracy and an engagingly

tuneful bass make these highly
accomplished monitors in the best BBC
tradition, but theyre not to all tastes.

CONCLUSION
No loudspeaker is a master of all trades, and the
Harbeth HL-Compact 7ES-3 is no exception, but
I found them exceptional in respect of their bass
control, tunefulness and general timbral accuracy
they are BBC-style monitors in the classic and best
sense of the word. The downside is that they are
not rhythmically as free flowing as some, and dont
flatter big, complex, over produced stadium rock
music. If a good tone in the archetypal BBC sense
of the word is paramount for you, then few if any
at the price can touch these loudspeakers.

FOR
- tonal accuracy
- tuneful bass
- build and finish

AGAINST
- traditional styling
- rhythmic flow

MEASURED PERFORMANCE
The HL Compact 7-ES 3s have a very
flat and well controlled frequency
response, as would be expected from
a traditional monitor type loudspeaker.
There are no unpleasant peaks or dips
anywhere in the frequency range and
the overall trend of the response is
downward with increasing frequency.
This will endow the Harbeths with a
warm sound and they will not be bright
or sharp.
Bass response is good for a
relatively compact cabinet with the
bass driver rolling off around 50Hz and
handing over to the port which is tuned
to 40Hz. This is a front panel-mounted
item and thus the Compact 7ES-3s
will be relatively uncritical of close
placement to a wall.
The impedance curve is smooth,
with a measured average of 8.6 Ohms,
dipping to a minimum of around 6
Ohms. The Harbeths are not a difficult
load and will work on an 8 Ohm
amplifier tap. Their measured sensitivity
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P22-25 NK subbed.indd 25

HARBETH HL-COMPACT
7ES-3
1,799
Harbeth Audio Ltd
+44 (0)870 803 4788
www.harbeth.co.uk

HARBETH HISTORY

VERDICT

of 86.5dB means that an amplifier of

around 50W is advisable for good sound
levels. AS
FREQUENCY RESPONSE

Green - driver output

Red - port output
IMPEDANCE

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

25
12/3/07 16:54:34

... the fourth dimension ...

Unlike traditional speakers, which create

an image that tends to recede between and
behind the speakers, the Planets provide
a soundstage that filled every inch of the
listening rooms width. Images outside the
speaker cabinets were the norm, providing
a truly exhilarating sonic panorama.
In short, the Planets offer a spatial
performance nothing less than revelatory
at the price, and its dispersion provides
a surprisingly coherent sound. It is an
excellent ambassador for the
(omni-directional) genre.

Ian Harris, Hi-Fi News, April 2007

I was intrigued to hear really vivid

soundstaging - the Planets painted a superb aural
picture and it was possible to shut my eyes and
hear my favourite band laid out before me.
I found the Planets eminently enjoyable to
audition and, returning back to normal
loudspeakers afterwards was a bit of a
comedown. They have superb abilities in terms
of imaging and lifelike presentation, cast a much
bigger soundscape than their size suggests and
offer a unique and enjoyable perspective on all
types of music...

Duevel Planets

Adam Smith, Hi-Fi World, April 2007

800 (pair)

: Silver, red, green, blue,

charcoal grey and black
900 (pair) : Maple (real wood veneer)
1000 (pair) : Piano Black
Other colour options available, please
call for details.

Real hi-

Shanling, Hyperion, Duevel, Horning, AMR, Supravox, A2T, Metaxas, Heart, Bias King, 3D Sonics
Tel: 0870 909 6777 [email protected] www.realhi-.com
To nd your nearest Real hi- Dealer visit www.realhi-.com or call us today.
Dealer enquiries very welcome.

RHF HFW May07 v1.indd 1

10/3/07 20:40:39

SOUNDBITES

Oehlbach NF214

Oehlbach NF14
Oehlbach NF12

ehlbach have been

manufacturing cables for
over 30 years now and
in that time have gained
considerable expertise in
the art of high end cable
materials and design, under the tutelage of founder Manfred Oehlbach.
Whatever your cable requirements,
be they audio, video, computer network, firewire or USB, there is an
excellent chance that Oehlbach will
have an item to suit your needs, and
your pocket.
All of Oehlbach's products come
under their star rating system, which
runs from three to five stars - the
three star items mark their more
entry level designs, although this
is relative as they still incorporate
high quality components including
silver plated OFC wires and 24 carat
gold plated contacts. At the top of
the tree, the five star items use the
highest possible technologies, such
as pure silver or mono-crystalline
HPOCC copper, along with diecast
connectors.
The three items we have
for review here come from the
middle ground, four star, category
and all three are phono to phono
interconnects with reasonable
price tags, considering their level
of construction quality. The leads in
question are the NF 214, NF 14 and
NF 12, and cost 63, 84 and 96 for
1m lengths items respectively.
The NF 214 uses 384 silver
plated inner conductors with
silver plated braid shielding, nicely
terminated into good quality gold
plated phono plugs. Moving up to
the NF 14 interconnects brings

better quality phono plugs and

a 'symmetrical design' cable that
features twin inner conductors plus
braiding, rather than the single run of
the NF 214.
Finally, the top step on the
ladder, the NF 12, uses the same
phono plugs as the NF 14 but uses
silver-free HPOCC single crystal
copper conductors. In fact, I found
it quite interesting that the most
expensive cables use no silver and
are the thinnest of the three samples
- clearly bigger is not always better!
Ever ready to suffer in the cause
of audio research, I calibrated my
ears using a pair of bog standard
interconnects of the kind supplied
with equipment as a 'get-you-going'
step and then substituted each cable
in turn between CD player and
preamplifier.
For the first step, moving from
the standard cables to the NF
214 proved how essential good
interconnects are. Out went the slow
and wallowing bass, to be replaced
by a much tighter and more tuneful
low end which made everything
much more lively. Vocalists had better
definition and instruments sounded
more realistic, and less like a poor
imitation of themselves. Oehlbach
also promise "wonderful staging"
for the NF 214 and this was indeed
the case, as the whole sound field
opened up considerably.
Changing to the NF 14 brought
even more air and realism around
vocals. Singers such as Norah Jones
appeared to have moved closer to
the microphone and sibilants were
less spitty. Slightly less enthusiastic
and dynamic than the NF 214, the

NF 14 is nevertheless a very smooth

character and adds a nice degree
of polish and sophistication to the
sound.
The final change introduced the
NF 12 and, for a mere 12 premium
over the NF 14, moved things onto
a different level. This time, bass
became deeper and much pacier
and allied itself to an exquisitely
smooth midrange. The finest details
in recordings were brought out
superbly by the NF 12 and performances came across with real
emotion and impact.
One final aspect that I should
probably mention concerns the fact
that Oehlbach state that both the
NF 14 and NF 12 are directional,
and mark the outer cable sleeves
accordingly. If this is important to
you then by all means follow the
directions. However, I did listen to
both items connected the 'wrong
way round' and...well, let's just say
my healthy scepticism regarding cable
directionality remains intact!
In summary, the NF 14 has a
rather smoother overall nature than
the NF 214, which is more inclined
to 'get down and boogie', albeit with
a slightly coarser character, but either
of their differing dispositions can be
used to effectively fine-tune your
system. The real star, however, is the
NF 12 which is magnificently neutral
and detailed and combines the pace
and rhythm of the NF 214 with the
sophistication and detail of the NF
14. Overall, then, all three of these
cables offer excellent performance at
reasonable prices.
Contact: Acoustat (UK) Ltd.
(+44 (0)20 8863 8979)

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P27 Oehlbach.indd 27

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

27
16/3/07 16:33:08

UPGRADE

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01 www.ssav.com
6890-91 HiFi Pgs 1&2 May 07.indd2 2

13.03.2007 16:06:56

HI-FI COMPONENTS
MARANTZ

Marantz products range from high-end hi-fi to HD-ready

DVD players and AV receivers. Its hi-fi range includes the
CD5000 and CD5001OSE CD players, the SA7001 SACD
player and the PM4001 amplifier, offering a taste of
high-end audio at an incredibly competitive price.

ROTEL 06 SERIES

Rotels 06 Series will give you years of enjoyment

and offers excellent value for money. This range of
separates creates a sound that, the more you hear it,
the better it gets.

PRIMARE

With class-leading build quality, and a unique blend of

sophisticated Scandinavian design, Primare build elegant,
reliable, easy-to-use systems that promise years of high
quality performance.

RA05 - Best stereo amplifier under

500 in Awards 2006

JANUARY 2006

Getting the most from your hi-fi system

Sevenoaks has 34 years experience in the hi-fi market - and nobody knows more about getting the most from music.
With the major brands in stock, Sevenoaks can help you choose individual components or design a complete system
from scratch. Just tell our in-store experts what you listen to, when and where.

For your local store

click www.ssav.com

The Experts in Home Entertainment

Any song. Any room. Anywhere. SONOS Wireless Music System

Sonos is the first wireless, multi-room digital music system that lets you play your favourite tunes all over
the house and control them from the palm of your hand. With a wireless Sonos Controller in hand,
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Familiar, simple user interface

Simple to set-up, great to use...

Sound quality is first-rate

Dont Forget! Accessories make the difference

The quality of sound and vision a system produces
is determined as much by its accessories as its main
components. At Sevenoaks, accessories are not
an afterthought - our staff can demonstrate the
difference the right accessories can make to your
home entertainment experience.

ARCAM
SOLO MUSIC SYSTEM

Amazing sound from an integrated system

Exceptional quality CD, FM and DAB radio
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From Arcam, a great British company

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Arcam believes that superb sound quality is vital

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Revive
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collection
PROJECT DEBUT III
Two speed, belt drive turntable complete with cartridge
What Hi-Fi? award-winner

CYRUS

If youve enjoyed listening to music before, try listening to it

through a Cyrus system. With every product tuned by ear,
Cyrus represents a quality of sound, which is rare at any
price. NEW DAB 8.0 TUNER

www.ssav.com 02
6890-91 HiFi Pgs 1&2 May 07.indd3 3

13.03.2007 16:07:28

Custom Electronic and Design

Installation Association

MEMBERS
SEE STORE LIST OPPOSITE

Design & Custom Install at

A vision for every home

Multi-room systems

How it works

Create your dreams with the latest home entertainment technology. Whether it be home
cinema, quality hi-fi or multi-room, Sevenoaks
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place and play different films or music tracks in
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The Sevenoaks custom install service takes in

everything from initial site visits to designing and
planing your system, through to project management and installation to ensure you get the
most from your home entertainment system.

Sevenoaks Design and Custom Install provides a

solution that meets your exact needs and budget.
At Sevenoaks, we create bespoke home entertainment systems of the highest quality that
complement your home and lifestyle.
With 49 stores and over 30 years of experience,
Sevenoaks creates systems that will transform
your life.

Sevenoaks consults with you at every stage and,

if required, will liaise with builders and architects.

Sevenoaks staff are experienced at installing

both simple and complex multi-room systems,
and ensuring they integrate with the look and
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and easy to operate.

Call your local

store to book a
site survey or a free in-store demonstration
03 www.ssav.com
6892-93 HiFi Pgs 3&4 May 07.indd2 2

13.03.2007 16:05:17

NEWS & INFORMATION

Choose the best in

the business

SEVENOAKS
GUIDE

Sevenoaks Sound & Vision is the UK's largest specialist retailer of highquality home entertainment solutions. With 49 stores nationwide and
a proud history of satisfying customers, Sevenoaks has a hard-earned
reputation as the most comprehensive provider of home cinema, hi-fi and
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unique design and custom install option.

Pick-up our 2007 Hi-Fi & Home Cinema

Guide at your local store. Alternatively, it
can can be ordered via our Website and
posted to you (UK mainland addresses
only) FREE OF CHARGE.

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LEADER for quality service. At Sevenoaks, customers are treated as
individuals and solutions are designed for individual needs.

SIM2 is synonymous with the finest quality

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OUTSTANDING VALUE
TOP QUALITY BRANDS
LATEST TECHNOLOGY
EXPERT IMPARTIAL ADVICE

The Experts in Home Entertainment

All

stores:

are staffed by experts in home cinema and hi-fi

stock leading brands to offer a range of quality products

Your nearest store

www.ssav.com

ABERDEEN

CROYDON

57 CROWN STREET

369-373 LONDON ROAD

01224 252797
BEDFORD*
29-31 ST PETERS STREET

01234 272779
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57 WESTERN ROAD, HOVE

01273 733338
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92B WHITELADIES ROAD, CLIFTON

0117 974 3727

BROMLEY
39A EAST STREET

020 8290 1988

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17 BURLEIGH STREET

01223 304770
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104-106 ALBANY ROAD

029 2047 2899

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403 KINGS ROAD

020 7352 9466

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14 PITTVILLE STREET

01242 241171
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32 THE BOULEVARD

01293 510777

020 8665 1203

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020 8579 8777

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0131 229 7267

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01372 720720
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01392 218895
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88 GREAT WESTERN ROAD

0141 332 9655

GUILDFORD
73B NORTH STREET

01483 536666
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144-148 GRAYS INN ROAD

020 7837 7540

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1 SAVILE ROW, SAVILE STREET

01482 587171
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43 FIFE ROAD

020 8547 0717

LEEDS*

offer impartial and personal service

have home cinema and hi-fi demonstration rooms

Come and visit us

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62 NORTH STREET

36-38 PARK ROAD

4 THAMES STREET

10 LOSEBY LANE

107 CORNWALL STREET

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0113 245 2775

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01733 897697
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0116 253 6567

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01752 226011
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01522 527397
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01202 671677
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20-22 CORPORATION STREET (OFF HIGH ST) LATIMER HOUSE, 44-46 HIGH STREET

01793 610992
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020 7722 9777

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Written details on request. Licensed credit

brokers. Minimum balance 400. Subject to status.

01376 501733
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PLEASE NOTE

Some products/brands are not

available at all stores. Please
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*CEDIA MEMBER

We always try to ensure our

prices are highly competitive.
In the event you can find the
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please bring it to our store
managers attention.

ADVERT VALID UNTIL AT LEAST

03/05/2007, E&OE.

www.ssav.com 04
6892-93 HiFi Pgs 3&4 May 07.indd3 3

13.03.2007 16:05:44

GROUP TEST

Silver Machines
Although you can buy a CD player for 20 at your local supermarket (that also
plays DVDs!), spending a serious sum really yields benefits. In this month's
supertest, Noel Keywood rounds up four sub-1,000 models from Cambridge
Audio, Roksan, Creek and Vincent...

ovely as the analogue

LP is, for most people
Compact Disc is the
only practical choice
when it comes to
listening to music in
the home. All four players here
give results that are a step up
from the norm in audio quality,
and genuinely provide a better
listening experience. They gave
us a less mechanical and sterile
presentation than typical budget
CD players, with a feeling of
clarity and stage depth, a sense
of solidity to singers and instruments and, in some cases, elimination of the piercing effects of
sibilance. A common criticism
of CD is that it sounds bright,
sharp, hard and sterile, but
the mid-price machines tested
here address these concerns,
although by no means equally...
Just how good can CD
sound? If you are able and
prepared to shell out thousands
for a Tube Technology Fusion
CD64 or Chord Electronics
DAC64, then it gets very good
indeed. The main reason these
players sound so special - and
different to the norm - is that
they contain the unique Rob
Watts WTA digital filter - and
you pay for such a specialist
item.

CD's limitations equally.

There's little useful work
you can get a valve to do in a
CD player, other than amplify
the analogue signal before it
reaches the output sockets,
yet all the same they make a
big difference to the sound
- most would say for the
better. Valves add a feeling of
depth and spaciousness, giving
music a more natural, organic
sound if you like. Harshness
is suppressed and stage depth
magically seems to appear,
helping to rid CD of its
unidimensionality. The associated
downside however, is a loss of
the intense detailing that solidstate players like the Cambridge
in this group can provide. Valves
can add a darkening of the
sound and a generally more
louche air that forsakes the
clinical correctness and sterility
of solid-state for something a
little more human, shall we say!
I could not argue that
valve output players are more
accurate, so much as they have
a presentation that is worth
hearing, simply because it makes
music enjoyable. A small caveat
is that not all valve equipped
players are equal; they tend to
come from smaller specialist
manufacturers and their choice

"these players are a step up

from the norm in audio quality..."
Lower down the price
ladder, the players here rely
on more conventional parts,
albeit high quality items, from a
variety of semiconductor and
drive manufacturers around
the world. Unfortunately, no
matter how much processing
is crammed into CD players,
such as the impressive degree of
upsampling used in Cambridge's
500 Azur 740C, improvements
do not necessarily address all

32
p32 subbed.indd 32

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

of parts can be 'interesting' to

say the least! I like and use an
Eastern Electric Minimax, and
it sounds quite different to the
tube-equipped Vincent in this
test. So as always, read what we
say, bearing in mind we apply
advanced measurements before
listening, and then try and listen
at a dealer if you can. CD is
worth playing properly, and
with 1,000 you can buy a fine
design.

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

19/3/07 14:53:16

GROUP TEST

CAMBRIDGE 740C 500

I admired the way the Cambridge

not dissimilar, I recall. But the player
he Azur 740C is very talmined information from discs and laid
has a sophistication to its delivery
ented at the price. It acts
it out clearly; this is an upfront player
that becomes apparent as you relax
not just as an upsampling
across the upper midband, but it is
and spend time with it. There is less
player, but also a digitalless forthcoming across the lower
immediate force and impact than
to-analogue convertor.
midband, losing warmth and some
from the Vincent or Roksan, although
Cambridge use Adaptive
atmosphere in the process. Here is
in the longer term the 740C proved
Time Filtering from Anagram
a player to look right into what's on
weighty and detailed, if with more
Technologies of Switzerland, with
a CD; it places no gloss over things,
foreshortened depth perspective
digital signal processing carried out
displaying a degree of revelation that
than the other, considerably more
through an Analogue Devices Black
most rivals are unable to match. In its
expensive, models. Celine Dion's
Fin DSP to yield a highly processed
very own way, then, the 740C is great
digital signal running at a high 384kHz 'A New Day' was vastly detailed, as
value.
crisp as a winter morning and was
sample rate. This then passes through
Wolfson DACs connected in differen- underpinned by prodigious bass.
tial mode for best noise cancellation. It's a lot of processing for
a 500 player, but Cambridge
-80dB dithered
2.3%
The Cambridge has a classic frequency
also provide two digital inputs,
Separation (1kHz)
130dB
response characteristic, with slowly
each with an optical and an
Noise (IEC A)
-114dB
falling upper treble from a well damped
electrical (phono socket) SP/
Dynamic range (EIAJ)
111dB
time domain response. This tends to
DIF connector. These can be
Output
2.3V
give a smooth sound, with no emphasis
selected from the front panel.
of upper treble, unlike the peakier
Whilst CD plays only at 384kHz response appearing more commonly
rate, external sources can be
nowadays.
There was no measurable distortion
converted to 48, 96 or 192kHz
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
at -30dB, our measurement showing
at 16, 20 or 24bit resolution,
noise, another analyser revealed,
with or without dither applied
Frequency response
not discrete distortion harmonics.
to reduce low level distortion.
level
Under these circumstances distortion
As Cambridge say, most CDs
(dB)
measures a low 0.004%, and at -60dB
are dithered in any case nowait was again low at 0.24%, helping
+0.5
days to ameliorate the grotty
toward a fine EIAJ dynamic range
0
sound of 16bit, so you don't
value of 111dB.
-0.5
need this when using the 740C
Jitter measurement of the
as a stand alone DAC for a CD
digital output returned a value of
around 10pS over most of the audio
transport, so much as other
band, with no programme-related
digital sources.
frequency (Hz)
62
25k
components.
The Azur 740C measures
With
wide
channel
separation,
DISTORTION
430x315x115mm and weighs
normal output and low noise this player
6.4kgs. Audio outputs are phono
measured well in all areas. It should
sockets, and there are optical
sound smooth and easy going. NK
and electrical digital outputs
too.
Frequency response (-1dB)
2Hz - 20.8kHz

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

Perhaps predictably, the Azur

740C has an easy-going balance
that initially comes over as
gentle. Good upsampled players
I have used in the past were

Distortion
0dB
-6dB
-60dB
-80dB

0.0007%
0.00045%
0.24%
2.8%

CAMBRIDGE AZUR 740C 500

Cambridge Audio
+44(0) 845 900 1230
www.cambridgeaudio.com

FOR
- extremely detailed
- insightful
- seismic deep bass

AGAINST
- lacks warmth
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

p33 subbed.indd 33

A vividly revealing player with rock-solid

lower bass, if a frosty demeanour. Great
value.

SOUND QUALITY

VERDICT

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

33
16/3/07 13:22:29

Minimalist A4 with logos

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12:30 pm

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Cygnus ADVANCED PHONO STAGE

GROUP TEST

CREEK CLASSIC CD 850

of the track was well represented

neutral. No matter what source
he latest incarnation of
without becoming unpleasant. With
material was fed to it, the Classic CD
Creek's mid-price CD
the Creek, pianos and other acoustic
remained composed, detailed and
player design is an evolution
instruments had good realism and
thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.
of the tried and trusted
depth to them.
Soundstaging was excellent, with
CD50Mk2, that impressed
Ultimately, the Creek is an
good detail retrieval from instruments
us back in the March 2004
excellent and 'safe' option. It is a
and vocalists. Bass was pleasingly
edition of Hi-Fi World. Adhering nicely
very unflappable player and, whilst
weighty and rhythmical without ever
to the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'
becoming wallowy or boomy, and high lacking the capacious soundstaging
school of design, the Classic incorof the Vincent or the bass grunt
frequencies were smooth, sweet and
porates a few choice modifications
of the Roksan, also sidesteps their
tidy. Spinning Celine Dion's 'I'm Alive'
over its predecessor in order to keep
downsides neatly, never becoming
once again revealed excellent weight
things competitive.
disagreeable or harsh.
to the sound and the sibilant nature
The most visible change, albeit
one that is still quite subtle, is
a slight restyle to the casework
in order to ensure that the
The Classic measures flat to 21.2kHz (unit matches physically well
-80dB dithered
1.8%
1dB) in its frequency response, with no
Separation (1kHz)
108dB
with its Classic series brethren.
roll down at all at high frequencies our
Noise (IEC A)
-110dB
Under the bonnet, however, the
analysis shows. Subjectively, it will not
Dynamic range (EIAJ)
111dB
tweaking has reached higher
lack treble.
Output
2.1V
levels by a few useful additions.
This player was very linear right
Firstly, improved circuitry and
through the audio range, producing little
shorter signal paths have been
distortion. At -30dB it returned a figure
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
fitted throughout the player and of just 0.004%, our analysis shows,
Frequency response
the power supplies have been
putting it up with the best. An even
balance of spectral components exists,
upgraded with improved, low
level
(dB)
mostly noise another analyser showed.
noise regulators and resistors.
Resolution at low levels was good too,
Twin mains transformers keep
+0.5
a dithered -80dB signal returning 1.8%
the supplies to critical areas
0
second harmonic only.
separate for good isolation and
-0.5
Jitter was unusually low right
the audio signal passes through
across the audio band and up
a buffer before passing into the
to 100kHz, measuring less than
DACs for good immunity to
10pS. There were no audio related
frequency (Hz)
62
25k
shock and vibration.
components, a sweep showed.
Measuring 430x70x317mm
The Classic turned in an excellent
DISTORTION
set of performance figures. It should
and weighing 6kgs, the Classic
sound balanced, smooth and very clean,
CD is a compact and neat
with no softening of treble. NK
design and has analogue and

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

SOUND QUALITY
In contrast to the other players
in this test, which have a definite
tonal character to them, the
Creek proved remarkably

Frequency response (-1dB)

2Hz - 21.2kHz
Distortion
0dB
0.0005%
-6dB
0.0005%
-60dB
0.26%
-80dB
2.7%

CREEK CLASSIC CD
850
Creek Audio
+44 (0)1442 260 146
www.creekaudio.co.uk

FOR
- superbly natural
- open and spacious
- transparency

AGAINST
- styling
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

p35 subbed$.indd 35

A polished presentation, strong in every

way: spacious, smooth and as natural
as CD gets.

digital outputs (both optical and

coaxial).

VERDICT

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

35
16/3/07 16:43:49

GROUP TEST

ROKSAN CASPIAN 800

stage depth, bass power and dynamic

it could with the other players. The
he Caspian is an all solidresolution, but it has a hardness of
Roksan gets things just about as right
state player of conventional
tone that can make music and singers
here as is possible from CD, unless
design and construction:
sound a tad mechanical. The same
you spend much more.
there isn't a valve in sight!
recording on other players was more
Celine Dion, however, sounded
Its solidity feels reassuring,
convincing: what I heard didn't clash
a little robotic. This quality became
both when handling it and
with my perceptions of what a piano
obvious with Vlado Perlemuter
when button pressing. Weighing in at
should sound like.
9kgs this is one of the heavier models playing Chopin's Opus 48, No1,
Overall, a very accomplished
where his piano had a hardness of
within our group and it sat where it
was put. It measures 88x432x300mm. tone that was difficult to resolve with player that effortlessly justifies its
the real life instrument. The Roksan is price tag. It has poise, accompanied
and a comprehensive range of front
by a dynamism that many will love.
very correct, has goodly amounts of
panel controls allow it to be used
without the remote. The rear
panel carries no fewer than
three digital outputs, optical,
Separation (1kHz)
104dB
The Caspian had a neat response
electrical (coaxial) and an AES/
Noise (IEC A)
-112dB
shape, with no peaks or dips. Reaching
EBU balanced XLR signal. The
Dynamic range
111dB
smoothly from 2Hz up to 21.1kHz (-1dB)
latter is unusual, and generally
Output
2.1V
this
player
is
as
good
as
it
gets
in
terms
considered to give best quality
of frequency response smoothness and
as it minimises noise pickup,
extension.
which can fall through into the
The Caspian was very linear right
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
analogue domain as jitter in the
through the audio range, turning in
absence of re-clocking. Inside
an excellent set of distortion figures.
Frequency response
Roksan use a Texas Instruments At -30dB it returned a figure of just
level
PCM1730 DAC with 24/192kHz 0.0042%, putting it up with the best.
(dB)
Our analysis shows an even balance
internal resolution, an advanced
of
spectral
components,
with
no
one
item with good performance,
+0.5
dominating. Resolution at low levels
and a rare choice.
0
was good too, a dithered -80dB signal
-0.5
returning 1.8% second harmonic only.
SOUND QUALITY
Jitter was low across the audio
This a suave and composed
band, peaking randomly at around
sounding player, that seemingly
30pS. There were no audio related
avoids strong character traits
components, a sweep showed. Output
frequency (Hz)
62
25k
to give a convincingly natural
measured a normal 2.1V and EIAJ
delivery. It has well damped
dynamic range was a high 111dB.
DISTORTION
The Caspian turned in a good set
yet resonantly deep bass with
of figures all round. It should sound
real power to it; drums start
balanced and smooth. NK
and stop cleanly and with

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

VERDICT
Composed and dynamic sound with
pacey bass that's ideal for rock music.

ROKSAN CASPIAN
800
Henley Designs
+44 (0) 1235 511166
www.roksan.co.uk

FOR
- fast, powerful bass
- cohesive and balanced
- dimensional and convincing

AGAINST
- tonal hardness
- music dependent

36
p36 subbed$.indd 36

'Copperhead Road' the opening

drum rolls had a grippingly real
sense of size and power as
they rolled dramatically across
the sound stage. The Roksan
has a superbly grippy delivery
that is polished in the extreme.
Sibilance in Celine Dion's 'I'm
Alive' had an edge to it but
didn't leave my ears ringing, as

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

Frequency response (-1dB)

Distortion
0dB
-6dB
-60dB
-80dB
-80dB dithered

2Hz-21.1kHz
0.0003%
0.0004%
0.22%
2.3%
1.8%

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 16:37:30

GROUP TEST

VINCENT CD-S6MK 999

sound stage of this player, and the

ike all Vincent products,
SOUND QUALITY
way drums thundered across it as
this one is a hybrid that
The CD-S6MK was very 'obvious'
they were panned. The Vincent puts
uses valves as well as solidin its sound, or characterful I could
up a monster of a performance in
state devices, and you get
say. It has solidly delivered, punchy
terms of dynamics and it has great
the valves on public display
bass and, as measurement predicted,
stage depth too.
in an illuminated window,
treble that was always bright and
With CDs having less high
no less! The remote control has a
sometimes a little prone to sizzle.
frequency energy, the top end
Dim function, but doesn't toggle
Playing the treble laden steel string
emphasis had no effect; Vlado
valve illumination as on the SV-236
guitars of Steve Earle's 'Copperhead
Perlemuter's piano had fantastic
amplifier; instead it's the fluorescent
Road' is my test for this and sure
scale and a convincing timbre.
display panel that has Bright, Dim and
enough his close miked vocals hissed
The CD-S6MK was superb with
Off options. The valve is bathed in
whilst the guitars bordered on
classical music, sounding smooth and
a strong orange glow from a set of
lacerative. All the same, no one could
expansive - and convincing.
LEDs, illumination being adjustable
come away unimpressed by the vast
from bright to off by a four
position rear panel switch
This player uses Burr
Separation (1kHz)
113dB
The Vincent has a distinctive lift in
Brown PCM-1732 DACs with
Noise (IEC A)
-99dB
treble output on both balanced and
24bit/96kHz resolution, as well
Dynamic range (EIAJ)
104dB
unbalanced outputs, our analysis
as a Pacific Microsonics HDCD
Output (unbal. / bal.)
2.4 / 4.8V
shows. Its enough to ensure the player
decoder, so the smoothness
has obvious treble, and possibly a
and air with HDCD discs can
sheen to its sound. The CD-S6MK is
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
be fully appreciated. As always,
unlikely to sound warm.
the valves are output devices
Distortion levels were a little higher
Frequency response
than usual and the distortion pattern,
operating as cathode followers,
level
possessing higher harmonics, suggests
which provide single-ended
(dB)
this
player
uses
a
multi-bit
convertor.
Class A operation by their
The valves affected distortion less than
+0.5
very nature. The Vincent has a
usual, adding a little second harmonic.
0
headphone output on the front
The Vincent does not match the best
-0.5
panel.
players available. Dynamic range (EIAJ)
There's no Direct output
was affected by this, measuring a low
that bypasses the valves,
104dB.
but there is a balanced XLR
In all other areas the Vincent
frequency (Hz)
62
25k
output and measurement of
measured normally, possessing little
jitter on its digital output (<30pS),
output impedance suggested
wide separation, low noise and healthy
both this and unbalanced are
DISTORTION
output. NK
derived from the output valves,

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

Frequency response (-1dB)

2Hz-21.3kHz

VINCENT CD-S6MK
999
Distributed by Ruark Acoustics
+44 (0) 1702 601410
www.vincent-tac.de

FOR

Distortion
Unbalanced / Balanced
0dB
0.18 / 0.027%
-6dB
0.002 / 0.014%
-60dB
0.28 / 0.25%
-80dB
2.9 / 2.8%
-80dB dithered
2 / 2.1%

- capacious soundstaging
- extended dynamics
- timbrally convincing

AGAINST
- sharp upper treble
- bulky!
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P37 subbed$.indd 37

Fantastic scale and imaging make this

player impressive, but it can sound
sharp.

explaining the use of three

12AX7 double triodes and one
12AU7 - four valves instead
of the usual two. This is a
better arrangement than using
a convertor chip to derive a
balanced output.
Of our group this player
was the sturdiest and largest,
measuring 430x125x330mm and
weighing in at 9kgs.

VERDICT

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

37
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P12.indd 12

19/3/07 13:22:12

CONCLUSION

p to 500 or so, even

well designed CD players
give you that mechanical
sound that audiophiles
are so quick to criticise. I've measured and
listened to enough of these players
to know they measure well and are
not doing anything too wrong in a
technical sense. It's just that they
rely exclusively on budget parts and
this takes its toll on the sound. Every
little bit, down to the last capacitor, is cost cut - that's just how it's
done nowadays. Upsampling confers
a benefit, but it is small if the rest
of the player is cheap and cheerful.
The entire package must be appropriately designed and specified if it is
to deliver the sort of open and spacious sound quality players like those
tested here provide.
Cambridge's Azur 740C player
offers it all for a bargain price of
500 by acting as a standalone DAC
as well as a CD player. In its own
way, in the enormous amount of
detail it is able to retrieve and a
peculiarly powerful form of low bass
that seems to rise up from below the
floorboards, it is a talented design
and fantastic value. Of all four players
here, though, it was also the most
characterful in its sound, an upper
midrange sheen emphasising sibilant
recordings, for example. A player
like this works well with high quality
programme material, but isn't so
convincing with close-miked vocals,
for example. This is a player for those
who want real analysis, as most
others are less forward and revealing.
Very close to each other in
their basic nature were the Creek
Classic and the Roksan Caspian. Of
the two I found the Creek easier
to live with, whilst the Roksan
was more challenging and more
forceful. Lovers of hard rock who

"here are four quality CD players,

each of which has great strengths..."
isn't CD as we usually think of it.
like verve and pace, coupled with
Okay, I heard its sharp treble at
a bass delivery I'd describe as an
times, bringing a fizz to sibilance for
iron punch, will take to the Caspian.
example, but I suspect many would
It has fantastic composure, coming
forgive its sins to enjoy its strengths.
across as all-of-a-piece, and only
So here are four quality CD
slips back when classical instruments
players, each of which has great
with rich timbral signatures enter
strengths. Hopefully amongst them,
the equation. It is here that the slick
there's something that suits you.
sounding Creek Classic moves gently
but convincingly ahead. It might not
quite have the pacy dynamics The standalone CD player hardly occupies centre stage in most
of the Roksan, but it is more homes any more. It is being jostled by lower quality sources like
even in its approach to all
the iPod and Internet radio, and higher quality sources like SACD,
forms of music and, by any
which isn't dead yet. In this report we also looked at what you
standards, is lovely to listen to. don't get from a 999 DVD-3930 DVD player when it plays CD and
The Creek offers it all really: - more importantly - what you do get. The trade-off here is sound
it is easy on the eye, easy to
quality against breadth of purpose. I use a Denon DVD player at
use, all but technology-free as home and have come to see it as a thoroughly trustworthy work
far as an owner is concerned, horse, able to play anything well and without fuss, from CD to
but sounds open and spacious, SACD, DVD-A and video DVD. So what does Denon's new DVDtidy and relaxed. It offers a
3930 offer from CD?
class performance whatever
Measurement showed that playing CD it is a class act, deliverway you look at it, on the test ing a specially processed audio signal (AL24) from its two channel
bench or in a show off against output sockets, and standard unprocessed audio from the Front
the market's most adept
Channel surround sockets. Listening to it showed that Denon's
rivals.
AL24 eliminates shrillness from CD. It was a tad flatter in its
And that leaves the
sound staging than the more expensive players within this month's
Vincent CD-S6MK. This player group test, but it was clean, tidy and inoffensive in its delivery and,
is Left Field; see it racing
as such, sufficiently entertaining for a lot - most? - people, I susup the wing to score over
pect. Counterbalancing this small limitation is its ability to play just
the heads of all else with a
about anything. Very good value then for the uncritical.
fabulous presentation that
I cannot sign off this report without honourably mentioning
leaves you asking "where did the Russ Andrews DAC-1 USB reviewed this month. If you already
that come from?" The Vincent have a player with a digital output, this is a fantastic upgrade for
is breathtaking in a way that
599, possessing a sound quality
you do not really attribute
that equalled
either to valves or CD. It
the best players
isn't as warm, even syrupy,
of our group or,
as our resident Eastern
if you like its
Electric Minimax player, nor as smoothing propbright and challenging as our erties, bettered
Shanling CD-T80. Instead it
them. It's a hot five
constructs a panoramic sound glober! NK
with breathtaking dynamics
that defies convention: this
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P39 subbed 3.indd 39

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

39
19/3/07 13:50:40

REVIEW

Stadium
Shocker
Few phono stages come more vast in size than
the huge Aesthetix Rhea. Noel Keywood enjoys
this sizeable slice of high end America...

hey do it different over

there. This is surely the
biggest phono stage I have
ever encountered, yet
Aesthetix call the Rhea, a
smaller, less expensive version of their Io product. This shows
where the company is coming from.
Aesthetix is a true American high
end manufacturer, for people with
houses to match the size of their hi-fi
systems!
It is so vast that it barely fitted
atop our Henley rack. With Imperial
dimensions quoted as 18 Width
x 17 5/8 Depth x 4 3/8 Height
you know this product hails from
the USA, where a friend tells me his
walk-in bedroom wardrobe is bigger
than a typical UK kitchen! The size is
accompanied by a equally capacious
price of 3,175.
The Rhea shows just how much
impression vinyl is making on the
US high end scene. It is doubtless
designed to play the expensive
Creedence Clearwater 45rpm

an armful of Bo
Diddley LPs the other
night, I was told that LPs
are original music. Hes
the sort of avid collector
who, alongside audiophiles,
may spend thousands on a phono
stage able to reveal every little
nuance of an original recording. As he
pointed out, his record collection is
worth far more than the equipment
he plays it on - at 30 a disc for
audiophile pressings it doesnt take
so many to equal the price of this
phono stage! All the same, is it really
worth 1,200 LPs?
Well, certainly in terms of size
and complexity, yes. I have rarely
encountered a phono stage that
offers so many connections and
adjustments. It has no fewer than
three phono inputs for example,
for those with three record decks
[Handy. I'd only need six of them,
then - AS]. Microprocessor control is
built in, which demands all-electronic
switching, so there are numerous

"this huge phono stage epitomises

the US high end sound..."
reissues that sit beside me for
example, or perhaps the recently
released Dire Straits Brothers in
Arms 45rpm LP. The rise of old
classics, remastered and recut onto
modern, heavy (200 gram) Quiex SVP virgin vinyl, for example, parallels
the demand for high end tube phono
stages such as this, which promises to
extract the very best from them.
Assailed by a vinylista clutching

40
P40-P41 subbed.indd 40

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

relays inside and every button press,

on the front panel or the remote
control (yes, really!) is accompanied
by much clicking and the associated
time delay.
A large, vivid blue LED display
can be seen across the sort of room
Americans owning a stage like this
may well have. At switch on it shows,
by default, the input selected. Gain
can be set individually for each input,

and there's a
wide range, from x110 for
the highest output Moving Magnet
cartridges through to a massive
x6950 for the lowest output moving
coils. But that's not all - because the
Rhea has balanced outputs (XLR
sockets) in addition to conventional
unbalanced (phono sockets) outputs,
from which the unbalanced output
is derived, balanced output gives
double the gain figures above. Using a
balanced line can then give you a vast
x14815 gain; under test a low 1mV in
gave no less than 14.815V out. Phew!
Lacking input transformers I was
expecting to measure noise (hiss),
because valves are not as quiet as
transistors, but this is an extremely
quiet design, with an input noise
value up with the best solid-state
stages. Aesthetix say there are no
solid-state devices in the signal chain,
so they get very low noise from the
Sovtek 12AX7LP input valves.
Input load can also be selected
by remote control, so you can judge
the affect on sound quality without
jumping up and down from the
settee and playing around with diddy
DIP switches and the like. Aesthetix
have dreamt up an arrangement
that is totally new to me: the display
window actually rocks laterally. Press
the left side to decrease gain or load
value; press the right side to increase
it. More astonishment in Keywood
towers!
The gain values are expressed

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 16:35:55

REVIEW

SOUND QUALITY
Sound quality differences between
the very best valve phono stages

get quite
small, in spite
of the large differences
in circuitry, layout and components
used. But to get this into context,
I do mean super high quality valve
stages such as this. Generally valves
occupy a region that starts at around
VERDICT
600 and goes on upward. Expect a
Impressively complex valve phono
more capacious soundstage, one that
that gives fine results with moving coil
stretches back to give instruments
CONCLUSION
cartridges.
and singers room to breathe - and the The huge Aesthetix Rhea epitomises
AESTHETIX RHEA
3,175
Aesthetix managed this with ease...
the US high end sound. Brilliantly
Distributed
by
Audio
Reference
It images very well indeed,
powerful in the bass, lavishly smooth
+44 (0)1252 702705
although I felt my reference
up top and with a crisp, engaging
www.musicalsurroundings.
Eastern Electric Minimax phono
midband, it will flatter both old
com/aesthetix
stage sounded a little wider, with
vinyl pressings and new. It offers
instruments more assertive at stage
tremendous flexibility too in terms
FOR
extremes. The Rhea pushed singers
of loading and input switching. Its
- solid, weighty bass
and instruments forwards a little,
extraordinary level of automation is
- open and revealing midband
showing a small degree of midband
another factor that will impress many.
- connectivity
forwardness that seemingly lit centre
At this price, it is obviously not for
- remote control
stage performers better. By way of
everyone, and - no less importantly
contrast, it has creamy smooth treble
- it may be too big! If you've got a
AGAINST
that melts away seamlessly, to gently
house and pocket to match however,
- physical size!
burnish down any top end sizzle
it is an essential audition.
- price
from a cartridge. Tracey
Chapman sang 'Fast Car'
clearly from centre stage
with the sort of startling
The Aesthetix Rhea is accurately
Frequency response
5Hz-30kHz
presence only valves can
equalised to the RIAA standard, our
Separation
66dB
achieve, whilst the bass
analysis showing a slight roll down
Noise (e.i.n.)
0.6uV
rumbled pleasingly in the at high and low frequencies through
Distortion
0.02%
the unbalanced and balanced outputs.
Gain (unbal)
background.
Precise figures are -0.5dB at 20kHz and
x110, 221, 440, 875, 1740, 3480, 6950
Spinning Alison
-0.25dB at 20Hz, so deviations are small.
Overload
61mV in / 25V out
Goldfrapp 45s like
The -1dB bandwidth we usually quote
'Ride a White Horse'
was a wide 5Hz-30kHz. There is no warp
showed this stage has
filter, so the lower limit cannot be raised.
tremendous low end
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
Input noise, IEC A weighted, was
grunt. It compares with
a low 0.6uV - as low as it gets. Input
Frequency response
the very best and gets
overload was satisfactory at 61mV, and
level
balance absolutely right.
output overload 25V (unbal), the former
(dB)
I used the unbalanced
being important at low gain, the latter
at high gain. Total gain range was x110
output through a
+1
up to x6950, and double that through
0
Quad QC-twenty four
the balanced output - all anyone would
-1
preamplifier and both
need for the highest output MMs to the
unbalanced and balanced
lowest output MCs. Input capacitance is
cables through an ECS
200pF and unadjustable.
preamplifier, where
5k
50
1k
20k
200
The Aesthetix measures well in
I could conveniently
frequency (Hz)
every respect. NK
switch between the

in dB,
by the way, so
x110 (+41dB) is flagged
up simply as 38, the 3dB discrepancy
being unimportant.
Press Load on the front panel or
remote control and you get the input
load value. This is the resistive load
only, not parallel capacitance which
cannot be adjusted. Values available
are 47k, 10k, 5k, 2.5k, 1k, 500, 250,
125 and 75 Ohms. Most useful are
47k for MM cartridges and 125 for
MCs. I sometimes use 10 Ohms in
my own preamp to damp a zingy
sounding low-Z MC, so this preamp
doesn't quite cover every option,
and of course you cannot switch in
capacitive loading for MMs, an option
available on most dedicated phono
stages. However, the Rhea has some
other tricks up its sleeve. Strangest
is a Demagnetiser, a slightly alarming
idea since every cartridge relies on
magnetism and would fall silent if
this was to eliminate it! I presume
it doesn't (and couldn't) generate
anything like enough power to
demagnetise the permanent magnet
that exists in every cartridge, so it
likely reduces residual magnetism in
core materials to zero.
The Rhea is superbly built and
extravagantly finished, featuring
ornate triangular switches and a
nicely machined fascia, with smoothly
rounded corners and edges. The rear
panel carries normal phono inputs
(i.e. unbalanced). There are balanced
outputs, driven by balanced internal
valve circuits - the proper way of
doing it - rather than a solid-state
unbalanced balanced line driver.

two. Via short cables, differences

between unbalanced and balanced
were small, as usual balanced
exhibiting a small benefit
in terms of clarity; this
output will give most
benefit with long lines
I suspect. There is no
balanced input I should
add, the way in which
my turntable is now
wired.
I used the stage
mainly with an Ortofon
Rondo Bronze moving coil
cartridge and felt the Rhea
did a fine job, offering even
more low frequency power
and solidity than my reference
whilst high frequencies were gently
smoothed and less exuberant.
Otherwise, the Rhea brought the
wonderfully open sound staging of
valves to LP. It was fractionally less
clear and open than the Minimax,
but was weightier in its bass and
smoother too - which is better
depends on your system and personal
preferences.

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P40-P41 subbed.indd 41

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

41
16/3/07 16:36:05

DENSEN V1.qxp

05-12-2006

10:09

Side 1

In a world where so much looks the same,

we take pride in being different !

Lifetime warranty is a natural part of our philosophy

Densen products are built for life and for long-lasting state-of-the-art performance. Thats why all Densen products come with an exclusive
lifetime warranty. The warranty is a global carry-in warranty that lasts as long as you own the product. At this time in history, Densen is the only
manufacturer to offer lifetime warranty on high-end Hi-Fi. However, the warranty is no longer valid if you want to find out if the products float
on water. Believe us, they dont...
It is our intention to make complete products. Not just products that are sonically superior, but complete like a perfect circle. As you learn
about Densen, youll discover that we go the extra mile in every aspect: design, user-friendliness, quality, warranty, upgradeability, production
methods and of course sound quality. But you really wont have a clue about it all until you get to hear and see what were talking about in
real life. Then you will know what we mean when we say Air-Guitar factor (say what? check our website). There is one Air-Guitar / Air-Baton
included with every Densen product. LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR BORING HI-FI
This is some of the awards our products have received from the most respected magazines in the world:

Authorised dealers:
Acoustic Arts, Bedfordshire, Tel. 01923 245250 - Adventures in Hi-Fi Ltd., Chester, Tel. 01942 234202 - The Audio Room, Hedon , Tel. 01482 891375 - Adams & Jarrett, East Sussex, Tel.
01424 437165 - Divine Audio, Leicestershire, Tel. 01858 432999 - Glasgow Audio, Glasgow, Tel. 01413 324707 - Hi-Fi Studios. Doncaster, Tel. 01302 725550 - Holburn Hi-Fi. Aberdeen, Tel.
01224 585713 - New Audio Frontiers, Loughborough, Tel. 01509 264002 - Phonography, Ringwood, Tel. 01425 461230 - Practical Hi-Fi, Lancaster, Tel. 01524 39657 - Practtical Hi-Fi,
Manchester, Tel. 01618 398869 - Practical Hi-Fi, Preston, Tel. 01772 883958 - Practical Hi-Fi, Warrington, Tel. 01925 632179 - R.J.F, Cornwall, Tel. 01209 710777 - Sound Seduction,
Sevenoaks, Tel. 01732 456573 - VideoTech, Huddersfield, Tel. 01484 516670

Densen Audio Technologies - Phone: (+45) 75 18 12 14 - E-mail: [email protected]

w w w . d e n s e n . c o m

REVIEW

Do It All
I

Marantzs DV9600 is that rare beast in the audio-visual jungle, a DVD player that
plays video superbly, yet handles all standard and hi res audio formats with equal
skill, says Patrick Cleasby...

have to confess a certain affection for Marantz products, as

the first CD player I ever saw
was a CD73 back in 1984. By
1990 I became quite attached
to my CD50 but, since my
adventures in high-resolution digital,
I have only had my hands on the odd
stereo SACD Marantz player. The
1,500 DV9600 universal player has
a serious chance of becoming the
solution to my eternal quest to find
the best CD/SACD/DVD-A compromise...
The DV9600 has been on the
market on both sides of the pond for
over a year. Although its competitors
are of a similar vintage, if youre more
interested in hardcore download the
latest Heroes episode as DIVX as
soon as it airs in the States video,
then its lack of ability to play such
dubious wares natively off disc may
be a downside, particularly when
compared with the likes of the Arcam
DV137.
Still, other than this, the DV9600
has all the tweaks and flexibility a
videophile could wish for, and is right
on the money in the HD upscaling
of DVD stakes, going right up to
1080p and only lacking the Arcams
somewhat marginal 768p capability
(although a lot of our screens are
this native resolution, many of them
wont negotiate outside the standard
720 and 1080i options).
Yet were here for the audio
arent we? For the surround audio
crowd using HDMI it may be a

disappointment that the HDMI is

only 1.1 level here, so no native DSD
will be going to your amp even if it is
capable of decoding it. We do, though,
have ingeniously designed analogue
surround outputs, and for any of
you who have a 2004-vintage high
end AV amp with iLink/ IEEE1394/
Firewire connectivity you may stand a
chance of getting the Marantz to talk
digitally to it. Not having any such
examples to hand I cant vouch for
the DV9600s interoperability.
The Marantz negotiates its video
connection over HDMI effortlessly,
and is intuitive to set up and use,
which is a good job as this review
sample had lost its manual! As I run
my Toshiba 32 LCD in 720p from
Virgin V+ HD, I elected to set the
Marantz to the same resolution.
Unfortunately I do not yet have
1080p monitoring capability, but
within the HDMI set up menu are a
few little gems which set the Marantz
apart from some of the competition.
The one I particularly like is the
16:9 squeeze option over HDMI, as
opposed to 16:9 wide, which means
correctly flagged 4:3 extras on a 16:9
DVD display in their true ratio with
pillar box sidebars while the main
feature is still presented properly in
anamorphic widescreen. This is the
way any true videophile should want
to watch such things!
Yet when the Marantz blurb talks
of uncompressed video going up the
HDMI connection what they mean
is that the video processor uses

clever chroma upsampling techniques

(more commonly seen in pro kit)
to extrapolate full 4:4:4 component
chroma information from the DVDs
compressed 4:2:0 colourspace (the
same colourspace compression seen
in PAL DV SD broadcast quality
is the less colour compressed 4:2:2
found in Sonys, now legacy, Digibeta
pro format). This is a pro diversion
which should simply mean you get
a very nice picture from the 14bit
216Mhz video circuitry, if you use the
HDMI settings advisedly.

SOUND QUALITY
Given that people will be buying this
at least for some video capability
(otherwise Marantz have some nice
bespoke SACD players to sell you),
I kicked off with a quick look at the
video and found it very capable on
my newest Harry Potter DVD video
(I have kids, right!). Still, moving on to
the main event, the DV9600 is one
of those machines that shocks you
with its musical ability the instant you
slot that first CD into the drawer
it proved an all rounder beyond my
expectations.
ABCs recent Deluxe Edition
remastered CD reissue of Lexicon
of Love showed its mettle. Whereas
most DVD players, even at this
price, offer a polite but perfunctory
sixteen bit sound, the Marantz
was taking real trouble to delve
right into the disc, offering a highly
musically insightful sound. The wide
soundstaging was the highlight, the

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P43-P45 subbed.indd 43

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19/3/07 14:52:15

Accessing the Source,

Unleashing the Performance

HIAudio UK Distribution
For your nearest stockist go to www.hiaudio.co.uk or call direct on 0845 0525259

mains filtering Jaya

Two Versions: Standard / Silver
The key to the Jayas exceptional performance is the
way it tackles not only spikes, but also Radio Frequency
Interference (RFI) on the mains. On a typical domestic
supply there is a vast amount of RFI. At lower frequencies
there is noise from power supply rectifiers, and further up
the RF spectrum there is noise from digital systems and the
interference injected into the mains by mobile phones. As
well as employing high quality electronic components for the
filter network, the units incorporate the acoustic absorption
technology found in our other products.
When the Jaya is used, RFI getting into the system is massively
reduced. RFI is very harmful to the operation of virtually all
circuitry used in audio and audiovisual systems. Amplifiers and
analogue sources benefit significantly from the reduction in
noise floor. In particular, digital circuitry is very prone to
such interference.
But let us put it another way - the use of a Jaya or Silver Jaya
brings huge improvements to the performance of any system.

On the face of it, an

aluminium box that simply
plugs into a spare socket
shouldnt be able to do this.
In practice its all too easy to
hear. Suspend your disbelief
and give it a try - after all,
Jaya
no one is going to take your
money unless you want them to.
The trouble is, you will want them to. You really,
really will!
Roy Gregory hifi+

visit the new vertex aq web site.

the vertex AQ approach to removing system faults releases untapped performance.

this is not a proposition, its essential if you want the best from your hi-fi.

[T] +44 (0)1597 825 993

vertexaq

44

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

VAQ-HFW May07 v1.indd 1

P44.indd 44

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

[E] [email protected]

[W] www.vertexaq.com

HFW/VAQ/0507

16/3/07 17:13:19
20/3/07 10:34:47

REVIEW
soundfield and a less harsh high end,
right into the disc, offering a highly
but I would say who wouldnt?
musically insightful sound. The wide
soundstaging was the highlight, the
DV9600 painting an expansive picture CONCLUSION
with loads of detail going right into
A highly desirable prospect on
the back of the mix. At the same
simple visual appeal and robust
time, it remained very smooth its
physical and technical design, once
insight didnt come from undue
you audition the DV9600 you are
forwardness.
bound to be impressed with the
It was plenty musical too. The
sympathetic even-handedness with
recent solo single from Everything
which it plays all music. But the real
but the Girls Tracey Thorn, Its All
selling point for me is that you get
True had a great analogue synth
that sound whichever of the three
pulse groove to it and a lot of high
audio formats you are using. Vintage
range drum machine cymbals which
CDs sound blissful and modern
could have easily been over-cutting,
compressed monstrosities are
but they remained within safe, nonrendered just about listenable. For
fatiguing listening bounds. That was
once, equivalent DVD-As and SACDs
REFERENCE SYSTEM:
followed by a nice healthy slab of
are uniformly excellent and virtually
Toshiba 32 LCD TV
Beth Ditto and The Gossip, which
indistinguishable to the ear. A real
TCI Viper 6 analogue interconnects
not particularly into
proved the Marantz had no less of a
feat, and only achieved just before
Denon AVC-A1SRA AV receiver
DVD-A and SACD, but Monitor Audio GR20 loudspeakers
way with a raucous guitar ditty and
both formats hit the slab, I fear!
have a large library
real cymbals. Rhythmically engaging,
Of course 1,500 is a lot to pay
of DVDs and CDs and a decent
tonally even and dynamic in equal
for a DVD player to watch films on,
audio and 1080p capable playback
measures, this is certainly the best
particularly given that The Man is
system, then this is among the very
quality CD playback I have heard at
probably going to persuade you to
best mass market does everything
the price, among the myriad universal
lash out on a high def player in the
before HD players around. Heartily
players I have tested.
next couple of years, or at least a
recommended.
Still, I must say the lack
PlayStation 3. However, even if youre
of HDCD decoding is a
disappointment considering
how great those Cirrus Logic
DACs via analogue outputs
CD frequency response was flat and
sound. The DV9600 really
wide, as our analysis shows, reaching
DVD FREQUENCY RESPONSE
excels with electronic music,
21.9kHz. SACD was flat to 50kHz (making Japans Gentlemen
1dB) and DVD-A reached 54kHz, so
Take Polaroids and the early
the DV9600 gives good results with all
three audio formats.
works of Stephen Duffy sound
Distortion levels were also class
as near to the lovely sound of
leading, at -60dB measuring 0.27% with
editor DPs vinyl system as is
possible via CD. Equally though, CD, and 0.06% with both SACD and
DVD-A. Both the latter produced -100dB
Modern Times from the
tones, with around 4% distortion on
traditional elder rock statesman this player - a very good result. Jitter
Bob Dylan, sounded warm and
performance on the digital output was
inviting. All of this was done
superb, measuring a low 20pS, with no
using the Pure mode which
programme related components.
shuts down dimmer, video
Results were excellent in all other
CD FREQUENCY RESPONSE
areas, on all three formats, showing the
and digital output circuitry.
DV9600 is very well designed.
It even makes the massively
This player gives a superb
compressed A Weekend In
measured performance from CD, SACD
The City by Bloc Party sound
and DVD-A. It will likely have obvious
musical, which is no small feat...
treble with CD, judging from frequency
The usual hi res suspects
response, but SACD should be more
yielded some extremely high
neutral and DVD-A fast and dynamic.
VERDICT
quality results as well. As most
NK
Highly accomplished with Compact
universals I have previously
Disc, SACD, DVD-Audio and video alike,
this is an exceptional do-it-all disc
tested came from the DVD
Frequency response (-1dB)
player.
CD
2Hz-21.9kHz
Forum side of the fence
DVD-A
2Hz-54kHz
originally they all tended to
MARANTZ DV9600
1,500
2Hz-50kHz
DISTORTION
favour DVD-A, but the ultimate SACD
Marantz (UK)

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

Distortion
-6dB
-60dB
-80dB
-100dB

test of DVD-A vs. SACD

fairness (Steely Dans Gaucho
both discs mastered by the
same guy and converted direct
to PCM or DSD off the new
analogue archive surround
master) yielded the most level
result Ive ever heard. Virtually
indistinguishable, I still just
about favour the DVD-A for
a more integrated surround

CD
0.0004%
0.27%
2.9%
-

Separation (1kHz)
Noise (CD, IEC A)
Dynamic range
Output

DVD
0.0003%
0.06%
0.8%
4.4%

+44 (0)1753 680868

www.marantz.com

SACD
0.0003%
0.06%
0.5%
3.6%

FOR
- performance across formats
- smart video tweaks
- build

112dB
-122dB
111dB
2.04V

AGAINST
- no HDCD
- no DIVX
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P43-P45 subbed.indd 45

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

45
19/3/07 15:10:44

"The ECSpre Audiophile line level pre amplier

If god is in the details, then this ecs pre/power system should provide more than a few
religious experiences.
Jason Kennedy Hi Choice 119, The collection edition
Unique advanced design
The rst ever multi source pre amp to employ the NeverConnected power supply. Zero feedback , Fully balanced, Using a unique ground switching selector.

Simple and Ergonomic

Provided with a universal learning remote control to operate every other component in your current system.
Large display, channel balance control, phase switch control.

Supported by long warranty and a unique support program

This extraordinary, musical product is supported by ECS with a service that offers discerning music lovers a
peace of mind, pride of ownership, and a convenient way to audition and purchase it. 5 years warranty are
offered (UK only), and a dedicated phone line is available for our customers to use when they require assistance or advice.

ECS power ampliers

Harmonic Technology cables

Aurios isolation bearings

www.ecsampliers.co.uk

Contacts
[email protected]
(+44) 0208 932 7995/0208 743 8880
ECS, Impress House, Mansell Road, London W3 7QH

P46.indd 46

20/3/07 12:49:01

REVIEW

Black Magic
Russ Andrews DAC-1 USB is a cracking new upsampling digital to analogue convertor
with a twist it takes USB inputs. David Price listens in...

lthough always sonically effective, some Russ

Andrews electronics Ive
tried in the past have
been less than lavishly
presented. I think utilitarian is a kind way to describe some
of the little black boxes Ive come
across. So it was with not inconsiderable surprise when I pulled the new
DAC 1-USB out of its packing, that I
found a beautifully finished, superbly
built bit of kit that frankly wouldnt
disgrace a Japanese high end product.
The 212x55x290mm box
comprises an immaculately finished
thick black brushed aluminium
front panel and neat, crisply folded
pressed steel case finished in matt
black. The fascia comprises an on-off
switch, rotary source selector and
192-BYPASS switch, which alludes to
the 24bit Delta-Sigma DAC inside,
with 192kHz upsampling option.
Inside theres an AKM4395 DAC
chipset, with sixth-order digital filter
and Asynchronous Sampling Rate
Conversion accepting anything up to
24bit, 96kHz signals, plus a specially
designed clock circuit employing a
PLL (phase locked loop) said to make
for extremely low jitter. The analogue
output stage is full Class A, a claim
substantiated by the not inconsiderable amounts of heat coming out
of the unit, and a sizeable toroidal
transformer is fitted.
The action of all the switches is
superb, the sort of thing you used
to get from a top Nakamichi tape

deck. At 3.5kg the unit also feels

far heavier than it has a right to be,
considering its modest size. Needless
to say, its pedigree speaks volumes
halfway through the review period
I learned that its built by April
Music in South Korea, home of the
excellent Stello range of affordable
audiophile separates. Indeed, it
transpired to be exactly the same as
the Stello DA100, with the exception
of a Russ Andrews-designed power
supply.
For me, the build of this 599
machine was its most striking feature,
but for the marketers the headline
grabber is supposed to be the little
USB legend on the far right of the
digital input selector. Thats because,
as well as one coaxial and two optical
digital inputs, this DAC accepts USB
digital audio signals from computers
(PCs and Macs). Effectively then,
you can hear all that music on your
computer (and if youre like me,
then its a lot) without it having to
go anywhere near your computers
internal DACs and analogue output
stage (yuk)! The unit is very well
packaged, and comes complete with a
high quality Russ Andrews Powermax
mains cable, plus a usefully long USB
cable for computer attachment.

SOUND QUALITY
Kicking off with a high quality low
jitter signal from a Trichord Clock 4
modded high end Sony CD spinner,
the DAC-1 USB proved a most
impressive performer. Indeed, I have

to say its one of the most revealing

DACs Ive heard near the price, so
much detail did it throw out, and
with such precision...
Beginning with the processed
pop of the Inspiral Carpets Move,
and the Russ Andrews DAC provided
a spry sound, with oodles of midband
information and a crisp, well ordered
treble. The hi hat cymbals had real
bite, but werent crunchy or hard,
while the vocals were a treat this
DAC really connects with human

"thumbs aloft for this little

black box - it is almost
good enough to eat..."
voices, and tells you all about their
every last inflection. Bass wasnt
overly generous, but was taut and
tight like few others Ive heard under
1,000.
Clicking the 192kHz upsampling
in, and there was quite a dramatic
effect. Subjectively, the treble and
upper midband move back a fraction,
and with it comes a good deal of
extra space theres no other word
for it. The upper mid smoothes out
just a touch, and theres no doubt
- you dont want to go back to
the non-oversampling option. With
greater finesse to the treble, I could
more clearly hear that the drummer
was using triggers on an electronic
kit, rather than hitting acoustic drums

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P47-P49 NK subbed.indd 47

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

47
13/3/07 09:38:15

rt

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www.martin-kleiser.com

P48.indd 48

20/3/07 15:33:46

REVIEW
REFERENCE SYSTEM
Sony CDP-X303ES/Trichord Clock 4 CD player
MF Audio Passive Magnetic Preamplifier (silver)
Rotel RB-1092 power amplifier
Yamaha NS1000M loudspeakers
Black Rhodium interconnects/cables

feed from the CD spinner, but the

result was still unexpectedly musical.
Again, the upsampling is the icing on
the cake, adding just a touch of silk
to the treble, and some
air and space to the mid
and high frequencies,
letting that fantastic
midband really breathe.

CONCLUSION

was a deep, tuneful and taut bass,

wonderful soaring strings with a
delicious timbre to them and ultratight percussion. The DAC-1 USB
threw out a wide and controlled
soundstage, with excellent left to
right precision. Those fantastic female
vocals were quite mesmerising
especially with the upsampling
switched in, female voices had
crystalline clarity yet were never
harsh or searing.
Rhythmically, the Russ Andrews
DAC-1 was spot on. With The
Stranglers Duchess, that superdetailed midband made sure that
every last accent of the electric
guitars, keyboards and drums was
caught. This is a badly recorded,
largely impenetrable track that most
CD players seem to trip over on,
but this little black box seemed
completely in control. Once again,
the soundstage was wider than most,
but I got the impression of an everso-slightly curtailed stage depth just
about the only blot on an otherwise
immaculate copybook and the
only aspect where its immediate
Benchmark DAC-1 (650) rival truly
betters it.
A 24/96 DVD-Audio disc of

Mahlers
Symphony
No.10 (Berliner
Philharmoniker,
Simon Rattle) showed
up the DAC-1 USBs superb midband

again. Driven from a

budget Marantz DVD
spinner, there was a
superb sense of power,
beautiful instrumental
timbre, and especially
with the upsampling
switched in a satisfying
spaciousness to the
recorded acoustic the
like of which I only
normally encounter on
vinyl.
Now it was time
for this little boxs party
trick. I picked up my
Mac PowerBook G4, sat
it next to my hi-fi rack,
plugged in the USB cable
and clicked on my iTunes
library. Most of my
music is Apple Lossless
or 320kbps CBR AAC,
and even on the latter
compressed file format,
the music sounded
impressive through the
DAC-1 USB. Obviously,
you get a slight lack of
detail and dimension
running AAC compared
to a pure 16/44 PCM

An excellent product then. Typically

quirky (just as youd expect from
Russ Andrews), yet brilliantly built
(as youd expect from April Music),
the DAC-1 USB is an extremely
clean and detailed sounding device,
with excellent timing and tonal
accuracy. The icing on the cake is
the USB input, something I imagine
most audiophiles dont think theyll
ever use. Well, I found I did, and
interestingly it wasnt so much for
playing back my music collection (I
already have a perfectly good set
of discs for that), but for listening
to internet radio where excellent
results can be had. Overall then,
thumbs aloft for this little black
magic box its almost good enough
to eat.

Truly accomplished sound allied to

fantastic build and the added boon of
USB make this a stand-out product at
the price.

RUSS ANDREWS
DAC-1 USB
599
Russ Andrews
+44 (0)845 345 1550
www.russandrews.com

FOR
- detail
- rhythmic drive
- build, finish, features

AGAINST
- nothing at the price

MEASURED PERFORMANCE
A distinctive feature of this digital-toanalogue convertor (DAC) is gently
falling upper treble output, our high
resolution convolved impulse analysis
reveals. This will ensure it sounds
smooth, lacking CD bite, and it tends to
make for a cohesive sound, as treble is
subjectively pulled back into the sound
field. Together with very low distortion
figures I would expect this DAC to
come over as smooth, clean, easy
going yet cohesive in basic presentation. Interestingly, switching from
Bypass to 192kHz upsampling reduced
the noise floor by 6dB, although it
did not affect frequency response or
distortion figures. Dynamic range also
improved by a few dB, reaching a high
value of 111dB.
The Russ Andrews DAC-1 is nicely
engineered, measuring and working
well on the test bench. It should sound
good. NK
Frequency response (-1dB)
Distortion (%)
0dB
-6dB
-60dB
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P47-P49 NK subbed.indd 49

VERDICT

suddenly the reverb

on the snares was
obviously artificial.
The majesty of Morning
Child from the wonderful
new 4hero album Play With the
Changes was a joy. The superlative
production values of this new disc
were shown up in sharp relief. There

-80dB
-80dB dithered

2.8
3.2

Separation (1kHz)
Noise (IEC A, 192)
Dynamic range (EIAJ)
Output

112dB
-107dB
111dB
2.6V

FREQUENCY RESPONSE

DISTORTION

2Hz-20.2kHz
0.04
0.018
0.22
MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

49
14/3/07 10:51:30

REVIEW

At nearly five thousand pounds, Origin Lives

brand new Enterprise tonearm has a real
fight on its hands, says David Price...

Starship Trooper
S
ome ten years back, Origin
Live came up with a brilliant 75 structural modification which gave the Rega
RB300 a considerable fillip.
Suddenly this venerable
fifteen year old pickup was back on
the map, with a much more easy and
relaxed sound thanks to its superior
counterweight arrangement. Internal
rewiring options also took out some
of the tonal dryness, and suddenly
this arm was challenging giants like
the SME Series V (if carefully set up)
in several respects...
Origin Live then took their idea
and ran with it. A range of tonearms
was launched, all basically variations
on the Rega RB theme. We had the
OL1 (a Rega RB250 rewired and with
various structural modifications), the
Silver (a far more tweaked RB250),
then the Conqueror, Encounter and
Illustrious. Each new variant moved
the design further away from the
original Rega, and the sonic voicing

50
P50-P51 subbed.indd 50

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

of each new arm took it even further

away from the RB300, to the extent
where the Conqueror, for example,
is totally unrecognisable it sounds
closer to a Hadcock than a Rega,
in my humble opinion! In truth,
the Enterprise is as far away from
a Rega RB300 as the 2007 997series Porsche 911 is from a 1938
Volkswagen Beetle.
The Enterprise is the ultimate
expression of the Origin Live
philosophy, with myriad technical
differences between it and the
already superb Conqueror. By any
standards, its a beautifully built bit

better than the SME Series V, Linn

Ekos SE, Cartridge Man Conductor,
Graham Phantom B44 and Tri-Planar
Precision Tonearm, all of which are
under half the price, its value for
money is surely questionable.
To make matters worse,
tonearms are so subjective, as well
as being very system-dependent, and
open to matching/synergy issues
with their host turntables and/or
cartridges theyre tracking - that its
a tricky thing to come to a definitive
position on whether the arm is
right for you. Still, nothing ventured,
nothing gained!

"a great mix of tonal accuracy

and rhythmic flow..."
of kit, but its main problem is that
4,500 is a massive amount of money
to spend on a tonearm, and so it lays
itself open to challengers from every
direction. If it is not comprehensively

Whats less open to question is

the Enterprises superb construction
(and frankly, at this price, it should
be nothing less). The Enterprise
features a completely new armtube

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 16:22:39

REVIEW

Setup
was
straightforward,
the Enterprise fitting a
standard Rega mounting
hole (like all Origin
Live arms). Close
examination of the
comprehensive set-up
instructions shows two
points that dont apply to
other OL arms. First, backing
off the top two tiny allen
screws on the back face of
the arm by one turn releases the
transit bolts which is a must for
decent sound. And secondly, Mark
Baker recommends that the height
adjuster should be only very lightly
clamped if at all. This helps to
decouple the arm from the turntable
to which it is fitted, an idea for which
Mark is a keen advocate.

SOUND QUALITY
Having had a range of high
performance arms in my GyroDec
of late, I was fascinated by how this
would sound. Using my usual van
den Hul Frog MC reference, I was
greeted by an exceedingly fast and
open performance. Kicking off with
The Associates Party Fears Two
from their early eighties classic Sulk,
I was amazed at how the Enterprise
scythed through this murky mix.
It laid down a big, strong, slightly
warm bass with a wide midband
and deliciously subtle treble. Billy
MacKenzies vocal theatrics were
quite arresting he had a special
voice, not to everyones taste, and
it felt eerily real through my system.
The way it hovered outside and

above the instruments was something

Ive not heard before. Even with the
Cartridge Man Conductor, which
threw out a slightly wider soundstage,
the vocals were less emotive.
The Crusaders Street Life is
my staple high quality hi-fi test disc,
and I was reminded why with the
Enterprise. The opening few bars
were superbly articulated, with one
of the most vivid midbands Ive heard
from vinyl. Randy Crawfords breathy
vocals were again quite delicious,
tremendously expressive and
sumptuous too. Tonally, the Michell
Orbe and GyroDec are especially
gifted in carrying the timbre and
tone of voices and instruments,
and the Enterprise was particularly
good at showcasing this. When the
drums kicked in, I was treated to a
mesmeric performance, with fulsome
bass, great insight across the midband
with wonderful filigree detailing on
strings. There was an immensely
satisfying rasp to
brass

recorded acoustic, just a little

narrower than the Cartridge Man
Conductor left to right, but deeper
front to back. Tonally, the Enterprise
sounded clean right up and down
the frequency band, but there was a
gentle bloom in the upper bass which
made this rather sterile recording
sound more listenable. The GyroDec,
by modern standards, is an ever-soslightly warm sounding turntable, so
it is likely this is what I was hearing
here.

CONCLUSION
Overall, this is a superb pickup arm
with a grippingly
REFERENCE SYSTEM
musical sound and
Michell GyroDec/vdH The Frog
lovely rhythmic ability.
Note Products PhoNote
It has wonderful
MF Audio Passive Pre (silver)
tonal shading (an
2xNuForce Reference 9SE
SME Series V sounds
Yamaha NS1000M
monochrome, by
comparison) and deep
soundstaging with masses of detail.
Its not quite as expansive
as the Cartridge Man
Conductor in terms of left
to right staging, but overall its
an exceptional performer one
which offers a brilliant mix of tonality
and rhythmic grip.
Still, 4,500 is a heck of a
lot of money, and this is my only
VERDICT
real criticism, as there is so much
One of the most explicitly musical
competition below it - not least
tonearms around, it nevertheless faces
Origin Live's own Conqueror, which stiff competition at the price.
will be all most people should ever
ORIGIN LIVE
need. The Enterprise is subtly but
ENTERPRISE
4,500
obviously better, but many would find Origin Live
the additional outlay better spent
+44 (0)2380 578877
elsewhere - of course, this point is
www.originlive.com
pertinent to all high end products,
FOR
not just this. Those in the fortunate
- engaging, vivid sound
position to contemplate purchasing
- rhythmic flow
it might be interested to know that
- dynamics
Origin Live do a one-month 'money

and hi-hats which sounded

like they were in the room
with me.
The Enterprise is a
real music maker too, although
rhythmically it is a long way from
its cheaper Origin Live stable
mates. Genesiss Mad Man Moon
showcased Phil Collins drumming
to fantastic effect, the kit sounding
back guarantee'. Personally, I doubt
tremendously powerful and dynamic,
AGAINST
that they find the need to honour it
yet having a lilting rhythm that
- price
very often.
sounded more Naim ARO than
SME V. Once again,
the hi-hat work was
a joy, the cymbals
Our vibration analysis of the Enterprise
frequency modes, suggesting it will
having a crisp tone and
clearly shows the presence of two
sound lively.
tremendous attack.
large peaks, so high they leave the
The Enterprise is likely to sound
Moving to Kraftwerks
top of the trace, thus exceeding 0.3g.
fast and clean with a bright delivery I
Computerwelt, the
The first is at a high 400Hz and is the
suspect, perhaps heard as some sheen.
Enterprises rhythmic
main arm tube mode. Its frequency is
It will probably sound entertaining. NK
ability shone once
greater than the usual 200Hz or so of
again throwing out a
Arm vibration behaviour
normal tubes, and so is its amplitude.
0.3
hypnotic groove that
This shows the Enterprise has a very
stiff tube, but with little damping. At
Accel.
surpassed even the
(g)
Main arm
this frequency, and with reasonably
TriPlanar Precision
tube modes
0.2
narrow bandwidth bass quality may
tonearm.
well seem taut and controlled, but it
Moving to my DG
is likely the Enterprise will have some
pressing of Beethovens
character and possibly some smearing
0.1
Pastoral Symphony
of general detail in the midrange. A
(Karajan, Berliner
second, slightly smaller peak at 750Hz
Philharmonic), the
may well contribute to the effect.
0
Origin Live threw out a
The headshell shows signs of higher
frequency (Hz)
6kHz
15Hz
tremendously impressive

incorporating bi-metallic technology

to reduce resonance and increase
rigidity, and theres a low friction,
stable dual pivot bearing design for
vertical movement, with two single
points in sapphire cups, widely spaced
to mimic gimbal bearing stability
but with much lower friction. The
bearings for horizontal movement
are highly specified low friction
items, conventionally oriented. The
tonearm features inbuilt VTA height
adjustment, and a counterweight
designed for low vertical inertia
and high transverse inertia, which
Origin Lives Mark Baker says is
advantageous for holding cartridges
steady. Finally, the highest grade
wiring is used throughout, with deep
cryogenically treated internal Litz
wiring and silver bullet
plugs.

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

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51
16/3/07 16:22:47

REVIEW

Race bred

The F80 portable home entertainment system is one of Meridians most interesting products
since the companys inception, some thirty years ago, says David Price...

ay back in 1974, one

of the most striking
pieces of industrial
design the hi-fi world
has seen surfaced - in
the esoteric shape(s)
of the Lecson AC1/AP1 preamplifier/power amplifier combination.
At a stroke, the two men behind it,
Allen Boothroyd and Robert Stuart,
marked themselves out as one of the
greatest design partnerships in the
British audio industry.
In 1977, when the Meridian brand
was launched on an unsuspecting
world, the Boothroyd/Stuart
partnership again showing itself as
capable of conceiving one of the
worlds most arresting combinations
of form and function, in the shape
of the 101/105 pre-power amplifier.
This combo sounded superb by the
standards of the day, and looked,
worked and felt like absolutely
nothing else on the market - its
stark minimalism a dramatic contrast
to the massive, button-festooned
amplifiers coming out of Japan, for
example.
Meridian went from strength
to strength, the company becoming
one of the most successful British
specialist names, and has never been
anything less than highly respected
since, with a copper-bottomed
reputation for design and build.
As an ex-owner of a Meridian
101B/103D pre-power, and a real
fan of Boothroyd-Stuart designs, I
personally feel the brand has had its
eye slightly off the ball for the past
few years. Theres no question it has
been doing great things with DVD,
but I have found some of the visual
freshness that the early designs
showed has gone from Meridians
latest range of rather conservative
looking but highly competent
products. What theyve needed, in my
view, has been something as radical
as the Lecsons or 100 series, to
breathe what car journalists used to
call edge design back into a mature,
stale hi-fi market.
Well, here it is. The Meridian
F80 is not a serious hi-fi separates
product, and anyone who reviews
it as such is missing the point. It is

52
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HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

here to serve two functions. First is

to put Meridian on the cultural CE
map. As editor of a hi-fi magazine,
I often find myself explaining the
industry to casual acquaintances.
Whilst such civilians will invariably
have heard of brands like Ferrari
or Aston Martin, mention the
words Meridian or Linn and
theyll look at you blankly.
To me, this is the biggest
problem our industry
faces we dont have
any big global brands
that transcend
mere audio
equipment, and
we should have.
By doing a
joint venture
with Ferrari,
who supplied
some of the

construction
technology,
Meridian will
be in markets it
could never previously have
reached. It is an excellent idea from
Bob Stuart, but I have to ask why he
didnt do it fifteen years earlier he
and Allen Boothroyd are precisely
the people who could come up with
a design for life, in my opinion.
The other raison dtre for the
F80 is to give people the option of
buying a very high quality portable
music (and movie) centre. Basically,
its a glorified table radio with DAB/
AM/FM and silver disc (CD, CD-DA,
CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, DualDisc,
DVD-V and DVD-R/RW) functionality
but this is to understate whats
inside, and what it can do. This is
no pale Bose imitation, but hi-fi in
miniature, with all the technology
that Meridian use (albeit in on a
larger scale) in their separates. The

elliptical shape is striking yet simple

and elegant, and comes in five
official Ferrari colour options, while
limited edition luxury finishes will be
unveiled later this year.
This is not designed to replace
a home hi-fi, but to complement
it. The idea is that users of high
end audio systems used to hearing
serious sound will be able to enjoy
the F80 in their spare rooms, studies,
holiday homes or even hotel rooms.
Meridian says it has built the F80
in the tradition of a proper home
wireless: one that would be a
focus for ears and eyes and fill a
room with sound.
Inside its high quality
(408x230x185mm) plastic shell, the
6.5kg F80 sports a solid diecast
metal base, and three loudspeakers

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 16:30:33

REVIEW

antenna
for local radio
reception, and dual
connections for external antennae.
To give you an idea of the
detailed thinking that lies behind the
F80, these are individually assignable
so you can use one for AM and the
other for cable radio, for example.
The speakers are all under digital
signal processing control, with
three power amplifiers delivering
80W to the two front speakers,
plus an integral rear subwoofer. The
loudspeakers themselves are special
full-range designs, custom-made with
powerful neodymium magnets and
cones fashioned from magnesium and
aluminium alloy.
This is all well and good, but
for me its the display and control
interface that are really going to sell
the F80, and it is interesting to say
the least. The front of the unit has a
superb fine-pitch dot matrix organic
LED display, which gives extremely
comprehensive information. For
example, in radio mode, it shows the

station name, bitrate, stereo/mono

mode, radio text and the station
names of one bank of presets.
Press the right hand arrow button
and it displays the station names
programmed into the next bank
of presets. Switch source to disc,
and it shows the track and time
information, and the display above
the row of buttons changes to offer
other options. The idea, then, is that
theres an adaptive interface - the
lower display section, in conjunction
with six unlabelled buttons in the
centre of the row, operates all
the functions necessary. It
works very well, requiring
very little acclimatisation,
and the only other
control on the whole
machine is a rotary
volume knob on the
bottom right hand
side of the case.
The other key
point is the F80s
connectivity.
Around the
back, there are
sockets youll
never find on
any other table
radio. Theres a
3.5mm minijack
stereo input,
optical digital
input and output,
a dock input (for a
forthcoming bespoke iPod
dock), plus composite and SVideo outputs for
the DVD player. All
this means that the
F80 does a better
than average job of
connecting up to the
outside world.

TRACK TESTING

lots of detail and a sense of finesse

that shows its high end origins. It is
dry tonally dont expect the rich
sound of an old valve table radio
but by no means stark. Rather, the
F80 makes more than a half-hearted
attempt at trying to reproduce
accurately and in an uncoloured way,
whats on the disc (or radio). The
Meridian impresses by giving real
midband insight, yet doesnt sound
thin. The rear mounted subwoofer
sees to that, by offering real bass
reinforcement, but doesnt seem
boomy or semi-detached either.
With a decently recorded
CD, you get a genuinely musically
enjoyable sound, and this is even
when youve just been listening to
a serious separates system. it is
taut, controlled, punchy and clean.
Placement is of course an issue, and
the sorts of locations the F80 is
likely to find itself may not flatter it
sonically. Its best of all in open space
in the centre of a room, but even
shoved in a corner sitting at an angle,
it still fills a decent sized room with
sound (and the system has a range
of DSP settings to compensate for
room placement). Even when you hit
the loud pedal, the Meridian remains
clean and undistorted, showing the
benefit of what must be very rigid
internal construction` there are no
rattles or hums here.
Downsides? Well, its just a tad
veiled in the treble (what do you
expect, they are full range speakers!)
and theres the slightest hint of

"with a decently
recorded CD, you get
a genuinely musically
enjoyable sound"

Of course, this is
not repeat, not designed to
compete pound for pound with a
1,495 separates hi-fi. However, in
two respects at least it is far better,
as the F80 is a joy to use and to look
at. Sonically, I found this half moonshaped Meridian to be like most hi-fi
it sounded mediocre cold, out of
the box. Given a good few warm up
laps however, things really shifted
up a gear, and I could hear that the
company has put serious work into
the audio performance of the F80.
It really does sound rather good,
which makes it quite unlike any other
product of its type Ive heard so far,
even including the likes of the B&O
BeoSound One (850) which is its
closest obvious rival.
Like all modern Meridian kit,
it has a very clean midband, with

sibilance sometimes, when youve just

switched on. The video isnt amazing
a bespoke 200 DVD player does
better, but its still a great feature
to have for bedrooms with small
TVs, for a spot of casual viewing. My
only real criticism is that Id like it to
have been wireless enabled, like the
MagicBox Imp Wi-Fi radio what
better way to listen to the music on
your laptop?
Overall, this is a product that is
very hard to argue with. Sure, it is
expensive, but its target customers
wont really be too bothered about
that. Brilliantly conceived, superbly
executed and eminently fit for
purpose, I hope its the beginning
of many more interesting out of
the box thoughts from Messrs
Boothroyd and Stuart.

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P52-P53 subbed.indd 53

VERDICT
One of the most interesting products
to hit the market for years, this is a
brilliantly designed and made compact
music system.

MERIDIAN F80
1,495
Meridian Audio
+44 (0)1480 445678
www.engineeredtoexcel.com

mounted in separate, inert enclosures

created from a special alloy-injected
composite. It was within this field
of materials technology that Ferraris
close co-operation and specialist
expertise proved invaluable, say
Meridian. The electronics are
impressive theres a DAB/FM/
AM tuner with
built-in

FOR
- design
- build
- functionality

AGAINST
- price

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

53
19/3/07 14:59:54

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER!!!!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE:

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

ON-LINE MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIPTION
SLASHED BY 50% TO
JUST

20

for 12 issues

1.90

for 1 issue

check out our free trial issue

VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
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"Buy Our On-Line Edition Here"
at top right.
Pay in Sterling, US Dollars or Euros. Non-sterling prices vary according to exchange rate.
Cards accepted: Visa, Maestro (Switch), Mastercard, Solo and Delta.

P54.indd 72

20/3/07 14:31:40

FEATURE

Evolution Rush
Channa Vithana assembles a racy looking digital source-based 3,000 separates system from
Creek, Design e and B&W...

heres more to audio

nirvana than sticking a
pile of five star reviewed
separates in the same room
and expecting them to give
great sound. This is even
more the case at mid-price level,
where theres a dizzying variety of
componentry to choose from, and
mixing and matching becomes a
fine art. In light of this, I have been
fortunate to assemble a superb and
distinctly different CD-based combination for just under 3,000.
The latest affordable, fully
remote-controlled Creek Evo
electronics now feature 12mm
thick aluminium front panels,
much better casework and stylish
- rather than agricultural - design in
comparison to their predecessors.
The Evo amplifier uses a Burr Brown
PGA2311 microcontroller controlled
stepped-attenuated resistor volume
control, operable in eighty 1dB
graduations. It is finished externally
with a 40mm thick solid rotary
knob that along with the precision
steps of the encoder is a delight to
operate. The claimed power output
looks good at 85W into 8 Ohms and
160W into 4. The power supply uses
a 250VA transformer with separate
windings for analogue and digital
sections. Features include four line
inputs, one for optional MM or MC
boards, separate tape selection and
preamp output. The dimensions for
the Evo amplifier are 430x80x340mm
and 8.6kg weight.

The Evo CD player uses a Phillips

VAM1201 laser assembly and a Burr
Brown PCM1738 DAC with custom
designed software to control the
servos and functions. For the power
supply, Creek says the Evo CD player
uses a single high current C core
mains transformer fed from the
mains via a custom designed common
mode filter. To stabilise and isolate
the voltages to the various analogue
and digital circuits, the Evo sports
eight voltage regulators. Digital and
analogue supplies are kept separate
and the master clock uses its own
supply. The Evo CD has electrical and
optical digital outputs. Its dimensions
are 430x70x340mm and weight is
6kg.
Design e was formed in 1996
and is run by Ian Webster and Hugh
Tomlinson. Trained in Automotive
Design at the influential Coventry
University degree course, where one
of his tutors was Simon Saunders,

design. The spherical enclosure, says

Design e, is made from polyurethane
for a consistent 8mm thickness
and superior finishing surfaces. Ian
Webster says, Hugh (Tomlinsons)
research demonstrated that the
sphere eliminates a lot of the
problems associated with the
traditional oblong box loudspeaker
housings. This also revealed that
damping material wasnt needed and
the quality of sound is enhanced by
the clean interior of the housing.
The (rear) port has some damping
material around it because it is the
only long straight piece within the
spherical housing. Hugh therefore
decided that it would benefit from
the material and testing proved him
correct.
A finely turned solid oak upstand forms textural contrast, though
a matched all-black polyurethane
GT3 stand is optional. A 28mm
cloth dome tweeter and neodymium

"an attractively different yet tuneful alternative to the mass produced norm..."
designer of the radical Aerial Atom,
Ian Webster went on to work for
Mitsubishi and Ford in car design.
Websters spherically designed
745 GT3 loudspeakers are actually
more conservative compared to
his avant-garde floorstanding GT1

magnet are used within a solid oak

separate enclosure, above. The mid/
bass driver is a 6.5 inch sandwich
cone, while the crossover uses aircored inductors and foil-wrapped
capacitors. The review samples were
finished in a very attractive metallic

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MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

55
15/3/07 11:35:59

Podium prefer to leave it to others to talk on their behalf.

Hi-Fi World wrote ...
........... demonstrated a new range of at horn loudspeakers called Podium-1, whose manufacturers say it does not
use ribbons, subwoofers or electrostatics. The Podium-1s
look vanishingly thin in prole. Approximate retail price is in
the 3.000 to 4,000 range and their sound was outstanding
they had a deep and wide presentation to worry Quads at
twice the price...
An owner wrote:
The Podiums really do rewrite the rule book of loudspeakers! An ultra-low colouration, full frequency range panel with
massive bass extension, which images over most of the
listening room and is insensitive to position. Oh - and looks
stunning.
Stereophile wrote:
......... with a money-back-if-not-satised guarantee; and it
delivers a sound with a very generous and convincing sense
of scale. & its ability to generate impressive dynamics was
both intriguing and very persuasive indeed.
http://www.podiumsound.co.uk
Telephone 0845 2297922

56

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www.hi-fiworld.co.uk
18/1/07 15:56:17

19/3/07 14:27:39

FEATURE

There are one thousand and one

different ways of putting together
a 3,000 separates system, but
this one certainly stands out as a
particularly strong combination,
and quirky too! The Creek Evo CD
player and integrated amplifier give
an excellent, affordable basis, and are
easily good enough to be partnered
with the more expensive Design e
GT3 loudspeakers and B&W PV1
MUSIC
Palladian Ensemble, Bach Trio Sonatas (1995)
Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt, A Meeting By The River (1993)
Metallica, S&M (1999)
George Michael, Twenty Five (2006)
subwoofer combination. Whereas the
Creeks are businesslike, and are all
go and no show, the loudspeakers
form a dramatic centre point to the
system. The flawlessly built B&W
PV1 sub being an excellent match for
the beautifully crafted GT3 speakers
which themselves are much more
than just a pretty face (I have used
them, without a PV1, in a high-end
9,000 Densen B-400XS/B-200/B-350
CD/pre-power system where their
inherently revealing and rhythmical
qualities worked superbly). Together,
this 3,000 system offers an attracCREEK EVO CD PLAYER 495
tively different yet tuneful alternative
CREEK EVO INTEGRATED 495
to the mass-produced norm.
Creek Audio
+44 (0)1442 260146
www.creekaudio.co.uk

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P55-P57 subbed.indd 57

DESIGN E GT3
745
Design e
+44 (0)1243 377899
www.designe.co.uk

B&W PV1
950
B&W Ltd.
+44 (0)1903 221800
www.bwspeakers.com

With the system finally right, it

was set up carefully, run in and
warmed through, and things began
to really sing. Proof of this was the
fact that the Bach Trio Sonatas by
Palladian Ensemble had a superbly
balanced overall presentation. The
music was revealed in a very natural
manner, and all the instruments had
convincing timbre. The GT3 and PV1
loudspeaker combination showcased
their very revealing qualities in
opening out the layers presented by
the Evo electronics within The Bach
Trio Sonatas. The PV1 then provided
discernible body to the lower-mid
frequencies, especially with the cello.
With A Meeting By The River
featuring Ry Cooder and V. M. Bhatt,
the music was beautifully rendered
- the interplay between Cooder on
Bottleneck Guitar and Bhatt on
Mohan Vina was stunning, and the
interlinked guitar phrasing of these
two players was finely revealed.
With the powerful and dynamic
tabla on Ganges Delta Blues, the
music was deep, bold and expressive
in the lower frequencies. Here the
precisely phrased intricacies of the
two lead instruments were entirely
unaffected by the deep bass thrusts
of the tabla. Additionally, due to the
excellent tempo and rhythmical
ability of this system, the delicate
fingertip percussion from the tabla
was revealed with definition and
precision, sounding cohesive rather
than dislocated.
Moving to hard rock in the
shape of S&M by Metallica, the
system remained clear, expansive
and powerful with excellent
resolution to the horns and violins

CONCLUSION

SOUND QUALITY

of the hundred-piece San Francisco

Symphony. As The Ecstasy Of Gold
faded seamlessly into The Call Of
Ktulu, and the opening guitar parts
developed into the thrash-metal
section, the transition was superb. Its
epic structure was revealed brilliantly,
thanks to the systems excellent
instrumental separation and lack of
compression.
The dance-pop of Outside
from George Michaels Twenty Five
compilation was clear and musical
with real scale and bass power. The
effortless low frequency grooves
were impressively revealed via the
GT3 and PV1 partnership, while
higher-frequencies from the Evos
had finesse and impact. Instrumental
separation was excellent, revealing
the many layers of funk guitar sounds,
multi-tracked vocals and keyboards.

Mocha, and the

other standard
finishes are White
and Magenta Pearl. If you dont have
stands, a GT3 set is available for
250. The GT3s are dimensioned at
510x300x300mm and weigh approximately 7kg. Claimed measurements
are: 8ohm impedance, 50-20kHz
frequency response and 87dB
sensitivity.
With vivid detailing and a lively
midband and treble, the system
proved a real ear opener and a
very promising one too. However,
in my room I found that bass
reinforcement was helpful, and this
led me to add a 950 B&W PV1
subwoofer. This really made the
system gel, showing the superb
tempo and rhythms of the Creek
Evos off to best effect. The Creek
components can never be described
as harsh or bright, but when
matched to the very revealing GT3
loudspeakers, they really benefited
from the sub.
The B&W has to be one of the
few sub woofers you dont want to
hide. It features a 500W Class D
active amplifier inside the flawlessly
crafted aluminium enclosure, with
the aluminium acting as a heatsink.
According to B&W the spherical
shape was inspired from, deep-sea
diving bells (PV stands for Pressure
Vessel), where their characteristic
curved form resists pressure
differences on each side of its walls
to a much greater degree than flat
panels. The sideways firing dual drive
units (diametrically opposed and in
phase) were preferred because they,
pressured the cabinet more evenly
over a greater frequency range as
well as providing higher output levels.
This arrangement also has the added
advantage of creating a structure that
is inherently balanced and does not
require additional spikes to create a
solid foundation to the floor.
The two 200mm diameter

drivers are made from a

concave aluminium
structure with a
mica cone and
an expanded
polystyrene
core. There is
more technical
information at,
www.bwspeakers.
com, including a
downloadable white
paper. Volume, low-pass
filter, bass roll-off alignment,
phase and on/off/auto sensing
are all adjustable via a
neat set of controls
at the rear of
the cabinet
while there
is a discreet
green/red operation
light at the top. The PV1 dimensions
are 335.5x289x347mm and 20.5kg
weight.

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

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REVIEW

Pre, Eminent
David Price auditions a most distinguished sounding high end preamplifier from European
Circuit Solutions, the ECS Pre...

he best preamplifier is no
preamplifier, something that
hardly makes you predisposed to splashing all your
cash on one you can
sometimes live without a
preamp, but not a power amp, source
or speakers! As far as this particular
part of your hi-fi is concerned, its
very much a case of less is more.
But the simple fact is that anyone
who lives with two or more music
sources is going to have to submit to
buying a switching unit and volume
control (i.e. a preamplifier) and as
anything is going to degrade sound
to an extent, the better it is the less
sound degradation you get. In the
case of the ECSpre you see here,
youll need to spend 5,500 and
for that you should expect very little
deterioration indeed...
Despite the considerable bulk
and weight of this product, the key
to its design is the short signal path
philosophy. Said to comprise only one
Single-Ended bipolar amplifying stage
in a novel configuration, operating
without loop negative feedback and
with a super high quality air gapped

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HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

output transformer, this is not a

conventional solid-state preamp.
ECS says, such a circuit would be
unthinkable without a massive design
effort in respect to power supplies,
since the gain topology relies
totally on the design of the supply
system to fully exploit the potential
quality of the amplifier circuit.
Interestingly, the power supply is
licensed from NeverConnected and
custom tuned by ECS for optimum
performance in this application.
NeverConnected employs
unique FET commutation circuitry
to create a virtual battery supply.
Further stages of isolating regulation,
operating with critical choices for
passive components, especially the
decoupling capacitors, are featured.
The output transformer also
enables both balanced and single
ended outputs, and via a high quality,
remotely controlled relay, user
control of absolute phase. Due to the
unique nature of the circuit, users can
use a chosen output regardless of
the type of input they use for various
other sources.
The ECSpre is a very large,

heavyweight affair, with distinct art

deco styling which I am afraid wasnt
really to my taste, simply because it
imposed itself on my room rather
more than I was comfortable with.
Still, each unto their own, and
ECS are to be congratulated for
at least daring to be different. The
two tone satin black and brushed
metal fascia is dominated by 20mm
green LED displays, showing left
and right volume levels respectively
again these were far too big in
my opinion, although ECS say they
are deliberately so, in order to be
readable from a distance. Well, I
suppose if you can afford 5,500 for
a preamplifier then you can afford a
vast room to go with it!
Its a well built machine alright,
but it would not compare well in its
volume control action, for example,
with similarly priced Japanese high
end, I am sorry to say. The busy rear
panel sports six RCA phono inputs
and one balanced XLR in, plus two
balanced outs and one RCA phono
output. The preamplifier has a one
hundred step volume control, using
a ladder attenuator under micropro-

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19/3/07 17:00:00

REVIEW

cessor control. This is operable by

a supplied learning remote, as is
balance, input selection, muting and
absolute phase. Again, at the price,
I would have liked a more swish
remote control.

the ECSpre was even better in these

regards. Yess Owner of a Lonely
Heart was the first record on the
turntable, and I couldnt help but be
impressed by what the MF Audio was
doing. Through my current reference

"most high end systems simply

wont be good enough to show
this preamps superlative transparency..."

system, it threw out a tremendously

big, bold and musical sound, with
superb dynamics and detailing.
Substituting the ECS, and by the
end of the first bar I could hear it
was something to be reckoned with.
When the song kicked in there was
a whole extra layer of detailing. Most
profound was the reverb on Jon
Andersons voice; it was there to
be heard with the MF, but the ECS
showed just how much of it there
was, and I could hear his words
echoing all around, seemingly with
one second delays. It was quite an
ear-opener, as the ECS was unpicking
extra layers of detail the MF was

SOUND QUALITY
Regular readers will know that I
have been using the MF Audio Silver
Passive Pre in my system for many
months now, and it is one which I
hold in extremely high regard. At less
than half the price of the ECSpre,
I feared that in value for money
terms at least, this was going to be
something of a rout...
The ECSpre is without doubt an
immensely capable device. Back to
back with the MF Audio Silver, it was
the first preamplifier Ive ever heard
that was able to tell me what was
going wrong with the MF. That said,
I have to say that the MF still held
its own very well and extensive
A-B tests only left me with increased
regard for both products!
Given that the MF Audio Silver
is one of the most transparent and
revealing preamplifiers around, it was
something of a surprise to find that
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59
19/3/07 17:00:04

the singularly most addicting

piece of gear I have ever heard

A new benchmark for musical communication

One of the truly special products Ive reviewed in the past 18 years

W
inner of Stereo Times magazine Most anted component
of 2005 award

The best tonearm Ive heard

Ultimate performance
Your cartridge can deliver vastly improved results if coupled with a high
grade arm. Great tonearms of the past were recognised for what they
contributed but we would suggest its time to upgrade. Massive performance
improvements are now possible, so why not advance your system to a
new level? After all, a signicant tonearm upgrade offers many times the
improvements of those given by cartridge upgrades, and last a lot longer.
Our multi-award winning arms are offered with a no risk, money back
guarantee should you be anything other than delighted.

Enterprise
Conqueror
Illustrious
Encounter
Silver
OL1

2005 World Awards

60

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REVIEW
Interestingly, on dynamic crescendos
simply glossing over.
REFERENCE SYSTEM
in classical music, the ECS was
I have to say I was quite stunned,
Michell GyroDec/Michell TecnoArm a/vdH The Frog
obviously in more control, letting
as normally, comparisons with the
Note Products PhoNote phonostage
more detail through even when the
MF and other preamps produce the
MF Audio Passive Magnetic Preamplifier (silver)
entire orchestra was pressed into
opposite result. I know that the ECS
NuForce Reference 9SE monoblock power amplifiers
action, but still the MF Audio went
is twice the price, and so should
World Audio Design K5881 (modded) power amplifier
louder and seemed less compressed.
be doing all this, but to date the
Rotel RB-1092 power amplifier
MF has been so capable that such
Yamaha NS1000M loudspeakers
commonsense rules dont apply.
CONCLUSION
Quad ESL 989 loudspeakers
In other respects, the ECS had
By any standards, this is a sublime
Black Rhodium interconnects/cables
the legs on the MF, with a substansounding preamplifier, and one
this sum), I can see why it is selling
tially more expansive soundstage. The
that will delight its purchasers. It
for this, and I can also appreciate why
MF seems to pull the whole recorded is uncannily, remarkably clean and
people are buying it. I am awarding it
acoustic towards the centre of the
precise across the midband and
four globes, because I think its bass
speakers, whereas the ECS pushed it
treble, with an ability to scythe
isnt quite as good as it should be
wide to the left and right extremities
through music that Ive never heard
against the diminutive MF Audio, but I
of the room. Likewise, the stage
before. Its sense of physical scale
came very close to giving it five so
depth fell back substantially better,
and proportion is also excellent, and
stunning is it across the mid in terms
and within this there was more light
quite special in the great preamplifier
of detailing and depth perspective.
and shade. The sense of physical
scheme of things.
As a caveat, I actually think most
space the ECS achieved was superb.
However, nothing is ever simple
peoples systems wont be good
Tonally, it was also seriously
in high end hi-fi, and I have to say
enough to show this superlative
impressive. 4heros Morning Child
that it not quite so accomplished in
transparency up. My Quad 989
on CD was a joy, with a better lit
every department. Rhythmically it
electrostatics missed all the extra
midband. The MF Audio Silver was a
is very adept, especially across the
reverb around the vocals on the
tad dull across the upper mid and
midband, but its bass is a fraction
Yes track, and it was only when I
treble in comparison, and the ECS
slower and less well articulated than
moved to Yamaha NS1000Ms that it
managed to provide a better sense of
the MF Audio. It has a more evenflooded out. If youre running 14,000
space and air without ever sounding
handed and less emotional character
Apogees, you may well find that only
harsh. There was also a real sense of
which some will love, and others
the ECSpre will do, but back down
listening to the instruments natural
will not and this is particularly
in the real world, the MF Audio will
timbre; glassy piano recordings
noticeable on dynamics, which arent
do it all for half the price or less.
sounded glassy, warm ones warm.
quite as convincingly carried as the
Overall then, in some respects, the
Again, there was a very slightly wider
MF. However, the sheer clarity and
best preamplifier I have heard, and a
variety to the ECSs tonal palette.
composure on dynamic peaks is
total joy. At this level though, whether
However, the ECS didnt have
obviously superior, and many will be
you should buy it depends entirely
it all its own way. The bass on the
happy to trade one for the other.
on you, your finances, your tastes and
MF was more of a piece; ever so
I wont say the ECSpre is
slightly stronger, it was also more
cracking value for money at this price the rest of your system. Go find that
dealer and decide for yourself!
fluid and just seemed to flow more
(I dont think any piece of hi-fi is for
convincingly. The ECS
was workmanlike and
dutiful at the low end,
giving a tight and taut
bass sound but not
really showing any signs
of relish. On my vinyl
pressing of UB40s
King, the MF seemed
more emotionally
VERDICT
engaged with the song.
Startling soundstaging, clarity and
The ECS, despite supplying a
composure make it one of the best
breathtakingly wide soundstage
preamps in the world, but less expresThe main point of note about the ECS
Frequency response
6Hz-100kHz
and startling insight into the
sively musical than some and finish
is that its simple circuit topology offers
Separation
99dB
lacking at the price.
minutiae of the recording,
little gain: just x1.2 from the normal
Noise (e.i.n.)
-90dB
simply didnt seem to be having
ECS PRE
5,500
unbalanced phono socket CD input to
Distortion
0.003%
as much fun. Falling back on
ECS amplifiers
the phono socket output. The balanced
Gain (unbal./bal.)
x1.2 / x2.3
the dreaded car analogies, we
output gives double this and its the
Overload
6.5V out
+44(0) 208 743 8880
seemed to have a case of a
most on offer. Via the balanced input
www.ecsamplifiers.co.uk
to balanced output gain measured
DISTORTION
massive Yank muscle car trying
FOR
just x1.5. This is fine for matching CD,
to follow a smaller European
- sublime detailing
SACD
and
DVD
players
to
most
(but
not
sportster on twisty roads...
all) power amps, which need just 1V in,
- breathtaking soundstaging
Most obvious was the MF
but things get difficult if you use, say,
- supreme cohesion
Audios dynamic alacrity. The
a quality phono stage with limited gain.
- tonal acuity
ECS proved in no way deficient,
Otherwise, frequency response was
its just that on musical peaks,
wide and distortion low. Input noise
AGAINST
the MF seemed to be able
was high in absolute terms, but still
- absolute dynamic ability
to signpost the power and
low enough to be inaudible. So the ECS
- bass articulation
exertion the musicians were
measures well, but it has little gain.
- imposing styling
NK
putting in, whereas the ECS
- finish
took a more relaxed approach.

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

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REVIEW

Progress Report
Vinyl replay has come a long way since the 1970s, with new developments seemingly
every month. Ortofon's brand new 2M Red and Blue moving magnets are the
company's latest cartridge offerings, promising far superior sound to the old 520
range. So how do they compare to a thirty year old classic budget MM, such as
Nagaoka's MP11? Noel Keywood couldn't resist finding out...

t is not everyday that Ortofon

announce a new range of budget moving magnet cartridges.
In fact, the last time this happened was well over a decade
ago, and whilst the brand has
been very strong with moving coils,
their MMs never really made the
same impact. In fact, you need to go
as far back as the late nineteen seventies, when the likes of the FF15E
and VMS20E were automatic choices
for those seeking high quality affordable moving magnets, to find Ortofon
leading this particular market.
Britain is a tough retail
environment for cartridge manufacturers, as local boys Goldring
have a small range of easy to use
and inexpensive moving magnet
cartridges that sound superb - and it
is this brand that has caused Ortofon
trouble of late. Back in the eighties
however, the must-have budget
moving was the Nagaoka MP11. This
was a really decent little device, but
seemed to disappear from view in
the nineties. So when we spotted this
old name on the Musonic website,
we were surprised to say the least.
At 30 it is about as cheap as
they come - so inexpensive that you
might wonder whether it will damage
your records - but many moons ago
I found Nagaoka cartridges were
clever designs and was impressed.

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HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

The surprise realisation that they

were still on sale here in the UK
meant that a reappraisal was hard to
resist, and what better product to
put these brand new 'state of the art'
Ortofons in context?
Was the current MP11 a true
unreconstructed oldie I wondered
(Denon DL103 style), or had
Nagaoka tweaked it here and
there to keep up form? Only tests
would tell. Nagaoka (and Denon)
may well be content to offer today
products they were making last
century, but others have moved on.
The Ortofons are bang up to date
in their sound. Their price is a little
more serious too, at 60 for the
2M Red and 120 for the 2M Blue.
So we're not quite comparing like
with like in this little review, so much
as taking a close look at what you
can get without spending a fortune
and asking whether the march of
progress actually brings any benefits.
As cartridges have now become
acceptable second-hand buys on eBay,
our letters pages show, this review
also identifies what to expect from
an oldie.
Cartridges are characterful
things with their own strengths and
drawbacks, as any user of a Decca
London Blue can attest. At this
budget level I tend to ask myself
whether a cartridge masks or reveals

the loveliness of LP played properly

- and whether it causes damage or
not! And whilst I choose to use an
Ortofon Kontrapunkt b moving coil
with an Eastern Electric Minimax
valve phono stage, I have a lot of
time and regard for moving magnet
cartridges, being something of a
Goldring fan. They may not have the
see-through clarity of MCs, nor the
delicacy of reproduction, but good
ones can be a lot of fun to listen
to, yet cost peanuts, as this review
shows...

ORTOFON 2M RED AND BLUE

Both Ortofon 2M cartridges have
neat synthetic bodies, with parallel
sides that facilitate accurate alignment
in the headshell. The area behind
the stylus is sculpted away. They are
compact designs that will physically
fit any headshell easily, and the weight
is right too, at 6.5gms being a value
any arm can balance out. The stylus
assembly has a removable cover, that
removes easily when you know how;
it takes a little study.
As in any moving magnet design,
the stylus is removable to enable
easy replacement. Ortofon suggest
you remove the stylus assembly
before fitting the cartridge, but the
cover is usually sufficient if you have
an arm with a removable headshell
and steady hands. Another useful

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19/3/07 15:30:14

REVIEW

SOUND QUALITY
Listening to this little group, there
was no doubt which were the new
'cutting edge' cartridges, and which
was the nineteen seventies classic.
The difference in presentation was
marked, and throws what Ortofon
are trying to do with the new 2M
series into sharp relief. The 2M Blue
is a cartridge that reveals whats
on a disc with a ruthlessly forensic
approach that is a world away from
the classic Nagaoka, or most other
cartridges if it comes to that.
This 120 moving magnet gave
me Tracey Chapman in vivid detail,
close in front
of me

singing 'Talking Bout

a Revolution.' There
VERDICT
was seemingly
2M RED
little I could not
Ultra modern design that brings new
hear of this
levels of detail to the price, but lacks
richness that some crave.
performance.
Bass was tightly
FOR
controlled
- ease of fitment
and there was
- tracking
plenty of timbral
- detail
character to
be heard within
AGAINST
instruments, instead
- lacking in richness
of the generous but not
VERDICT
especially informative bass
2M BLUE
of the Nagaoka. As usual I felt
Exceptional insight and smoothness
the cartridge worked well in the
allied to fine tracking makes this a great
Rega RB250 arm we use for budget
buy for those seeking a modern sound.
composed and tightly ordered sound
designs, its rigid tube ensuring the
FOR
I've heard from any moving magnet
2M Blue gave good stereo across the
- ease of fitment
cartridge.
lower midband, as well as firm bass.
- tracking
So Ortofon's new 2M Blue
With Phil Collins Hello I Must be
- superb insight
is very much a modern day, high
Going album there was a brightness
resolution cartridge, especially
to backing horns that ensured they
AGAINST
suitable for modern recordings. It
cut through the mix with a vigour
- lacks warmth
stands in stark contrast to a golden
that you will not hear elsewhere at
oldie like the Nagaoka MP11, which
this price, if with some lightness of
ORTOFON 2M RED
60
would gloss over the poor balance of
body about them. Not surprisingly
ORTOFON 2M BLUE
120
the Waterboys album when the Blue
cymbals had a ringing presence too.
Distributed by Henley Designs
tells it like it is. The MP11 is not a
Here I get to an interesting caveat
+44 (0)1235 511166
revealing cartridge - quite the reverse
with this cartridge: it possesses little
www.henleydesigns.co.uk
ability to gloss over
mediocre recordings.
With a modern
cut like The Scissor
Tracking ability (300Hz)
A notable feature of the new Ortofon
Sisters 'I Don't Feel Like
lateral
80m
2M Moving Magnet cartridges is a
Dancin', from an album
vertical
45m
frequency response that tilts slowly
that spins at 45rpm no
lateral (1kHz)
20/23cms/sec.
upward as frequency rises. I have
less, I got the freshest
never seen such a trend before in any
delivery I've ever heard,
Distortion (45m)
Red/Blue
cartridge. It suggests they will sound
short of a moving coil.
lateral
1.4/0.8%
forward and detailed, certainly lacking
This track had a clarity
5.4/5%
the traditional warmth of MMs. The 60 vertical
Output (5cms/sec rms)
7mV
budget Red has a little less upper treble
in its vocals and a speed
than the Blue, so the latter will be a tad
to its bass that defies
more incisive and revealing.
price rivals, but whilst
Midband tracking was much the
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
the 2M Blue's balance
same with both, the top torture track
suits such material, it's
2M RED
being negotiated, but only just, with
less flattering with run
a little mistracking on one channel.
of the mill oldies that
In the midband, the Blue has a more
are less than perfect.
obvious advantage, due to the lower tip
For example, I spun The
mass of its stylus assembly, where a
Waterboys 'Preparing
nude diamond is used. Vertical tracking
angle was high with both, which
to Fly', from their 1993
raised vertical modulation distortion to
album 'Dream Harder'
5%. The Blue was a little better here
- not a paragon of good
measuring exactly 30 degrees against
Red - Outer grooves
sound quality, granted
33 of the Red. Output was high from
White - Inner grooves
- and it sounded light
both models, measuring 7mV at 5cms/
in its bass, although
sec rms.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
extremely well resolved
Expect a forward, highly detailed
in its vocals. Moving
2M
BLUE
sound from these cartridges, possibly
to 45rpm singles
with some brightness. They measure
with accentuated
well, following modern trends toward
a bright balance that delivers detail and
bass, such as the
insight. NK
Goldfrapp 'Ooh

feature is that the 2M bodies have

tapped holes for fixing screws,
eliminating the need for fiddling with
small spanners and nuts, and making
fitment easier.
The budget Red has an elliptical
stylus mounted on a rondel to
distance the stylus cantilever from
the record surface so that fluff and
rubbish dont collect easily, to cause
mistracking. The more expensive
Blue is for those who can afford an
LP cleaner and are likely to use it as
well! The stylus is 'nude', meaning it
is bonded naked to the cantilever
tube. The makes the cartridge more
sensitive to dust on discs, but it isnt
a problem if they are given a quick
wipe before use. The benefit is lower
tip mass and better tracking, although
the Blue isnt enormously better than
the Red in this respect.
The most significant feature of
these new cartridges was revealed
by measurement: frequency response
is such that they will possess none
of the warmth in their sound of
old designs. As is common, the less
expensive model, the Red, has been
engineered for a less bright and
more forgiving sound than the more
expensive Blue, but by any standard
do not expect either to sound warm.
You can expect the Blue to have
better resolved treble too, from a
more sophisticated stylus profile.

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

La La', another
modern pressing
with good
recording and
cutting quality,
and the Blue
delivered the most

Tracking force
Weight
Vertical tracking angle
Red/Blue
Frequency response
Channel separation
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

p62-65 subbed final.indd 63

1.8gms
6gms
33/30degrees
20Hz - 20kHz
25/23dB

Red - Outer grooves

White - Inner grooves

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REVIEW
LPs if you are cash-strapped, as it
will never mistrack. I ought to point
out though, that if you play old
LPs with a new cartridge like
this you may well hear the
damage imprinted into
the groove walls by the
mistracking of previous
cartridges.

SOUND QUALITY

NAGAOKA MP11
One look at the MP11s bodywork
is enough to convince any potential
buyer that this little cartridge is
from the functional design school
and not a candidate for any Museum
of Modern Art. Never mind though,
as those boxy parallel sides are
just what is wanted for accurate
alignment in an arms headshell. Skew
in the headshell raises distortion
considerably, from around 1% up to
2% or more, so the MP11s boxiness
is no bad thing. Weighing in at 6.8gms
it is also a perfect match for the
balancing system of every arm, as all
can cope with 6-10gms.
At the price the Nagaokas
MP11 comes in simple packaging
by Shure standards, but this is of
little consequence in itself, as its
the cartridge that matters and here
Nagaoka, I found, have maintained
standards. Tests showed that at the
recommended tracking force of
2gms - very close to Goldring and
Ortofons use of 1.8gms, note - the
MP11 sailed through all tracking tests
with an ease that few can match at
any price. Consequently, the MP11 is
a fine choice for preserving valuable

As we've shown, the

Nagaoka MP11 is
no match for either
of the Ortofon 2M
moving magnets, but it still
sounds as lovely as ever. It is truly
romantic sounding device, giving a
sepia-tinted, soft outlined picture
rather than an in-your-face presentation, 2007-stylee. The class of its
act is very apparent in some areas. It
comes across as superbly relaxed and
in control, a real effortless delivery
CONCLUSION
that demands a visit to the port
I really liked the sound of this
cabinet and perhaps ignition of a big,
cartridge. It was blissfully smooth,
VERDICT

fat cigar (I dont touch either, but

broad staged and dynamically
Budget classic with fantastic tracking
and cuddly, warm sound. A starter
somehow it all seems appropriate)
powerful. You don't get high levels
cartridge that cannot be beaten.
as you relax to listen to your record
of insight or detail, but all the same
for 30 there's plenty of enjoyment
collection.
NAGAOKA MP11
30
to be had. In summary then, the
Theres no edginess or insecurity
Musonic (UK) Ltd.
Nagoaka MP11 proved a dramatic
to be heard here, largely as a result
+44 (0)208 950 5151
counterpoint to the new Ortofon
of its fabulous tracking ability and
www.musonic.co.uk
2Ms - residing at opposite ends of
that rolled off treble, at least, through
FOR
the scale. One is warm, fluffy and
an Eastern Electric Minimax valve
- confident, relaxed sound
romantic, the others are forensically
phono stage with no additional
- superb tracking
revealing and intensely communicapacitive loading applied. In an SME
- low price
M2-10 arm there was oodles of bass
cative. One is already a classic, while
and its quality wasnt too bad. I might
the other two deserve to be so in
AGAINST
say slightly fulsome and rounded,
thirty years time.
- lacks insight
but not as gloopy as I
have heard. I suspect the
Japanese like large bass
though, as the MP11
The MP11 has amazing tracking ability
reminds me a little of
for a budget cartridge: it cleared all test
Tracking force
2gms
the Denon here. Stereo
tracks with ease, even torture tracks
Weight
6.8gms
few cartridges can manage, with a
images were firm and
Vertical tracking angle
>30degrees
secure and undistorted performance
stably positioned on
Frequency response
20Hz - 20kHz
at 2gms downforce in an SME M2-10!
a stage that was wide.
Channel separation
32dB
It will sound confident and relaxed
However, the warmth of
Tracking ability (300Hz)
even on loud vocal passages. This will
the sound was apparent
lateral
90m
be helped by a warmth in its sound
vertical
45m
and there was no great
imposed by the falling treble due to
lateral (1kHz)
25cms/sec.
focus to images, just
generator losses, as our frequency
Distortion (45m)
believable solidity. Nor
response graph (red trace) shows.
lateral
0.85%
was there any great
Here, the MP11 betrays its age; modern
vertical
1.3%
detail in the treble to be MMs like Goldrings dont suffer this
Output (5cms/sec rms)
5.4mV
anymore. However, with 400pF loading,
heard.
the frequency response measured ruler
Some might say the
MP11 lacks real pace, but flat (green trace), so the MP11 can be
tweaked to become unusually accurate FREQUENCY RESPONSE
what you lose on the
in its basic tonal balance.
swings you simply get
A vertical tracking angle of exactly
back on the roundabouts
22degrees resulted in unusually low
with this design. It
distortion on vertical modulation (left
is creamy smooth
and right images), making this a low
sounding, admittedly a
distortion cartridge overall. Output was
bit opaque by modern
high at 5.4mV and channel separation
standards, totally relaxing also high at 33dB.
The MP11 measures exceptionally
and supremely confident.
Red - Outer grooves
It also clean and dynamic well. It is a superb cartridge at the
White - Inner grooves
price and will give a fine sound if
in a most unchallenging
Green - Outer grooves + 400pF
properly
loaded.
NK
way. Much like Shures

in fact and shows

its age in this
company. The
new Ortofons really
do show
how vinyl has moved on, in recording
quality as well as replay ability.
The inexpensive Red was a
very interesting proposition at its
low price. It lacks the top end bite,
but also top end detail of the Blue's
stylus, yet it still comes over as clear
and open in its sound, with a fine
tone on good material. Surprisingly,
it also has more powerful low bass,
making it muscular and weighty on
well recorded discs.
In a nutshell then, the new
Ortofon 2M Blue and Red moving
magnet cartridges offer a thoroughly
modern sound that suits today's
albums. Both are highly revealing and
an engaging listen that is nothing
other than very impressive at the
price.

similarly long-in-the-tooth M97xE

the smooth sophistication of the
sound is a treat, if not for the critical
of ear. This is one to go with the
carpet slippers. As such it is 30 well
spent insofar as you will relax and
enjoy what you hear, although it is a
long way off what is possible from
a 120 Goldring quite frankly, and
in a different world to the analytical
Ortofons.
Run through a solid-state
Trichord Diablo phono stage with
400pF loading applied internally
across the input sockets the MP11
predictably sounded brighter, but
still opaque and less smooth. Some
may prefer it but the MP11 doesn't
become a Koetsu. Those with a
soldering iron and a few 400pF
capacitors may like to try this all the
same.

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

p62-65 subbed final.indd 65

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

65
19/3/07 15:30:29

REVIEW

Black Run
Loaded up with high tech materials, the
German Isophon Cassiano loudspeakers
feature some very innovative technology.
Adam Smith listens in.

sophon is a name that will be familiar to some,

as makers of automotive loudspeaker drive units.
However, this part of the company is under the
French electronics giant, Thomson, who owns the
original trademarks and designs but no longer
manufactures under this name. The range of highend loudspeakers that include the Cassiano are the
brainchild of Dr. Roland Gauder of Acoustic Consulting,
an independent company that designs a variety of
high-end electronics, turntables and loudspeakers. Dr.
Gauder commenced his career in Berlin with Isophon
in 1989, and was granted permission to market under
the Isophon brand name when the company was split
up in 1997.
All models in the current Isophon range are
manufactured in Acoustic Consulting's facility and
custom finishes made to customer's requirements can
be accommodated without any problems. Indeed the
company's website boasts of over 200 finishes available
on the Cortina, Corvara and Cassiano models, so
there should be something in the portfolio to please
everyone!
The Cassianos, and their larger brothers, the
Arabbas, mark a new departure in design, however, as
they make use of ceramic-coned bass and midrange
drivers sourced from Theil in Germany. The Arabba
comes with a diamond dome tweeter as standard,
whilst the Cassiano can be specified with either a
diamond or ceramic type - we are testing the diamond
version here, but the ceramic version will save you
around 4,000. Incidentally, the Arabba was awarded the
coveted "Best Sound in Show" award for the January
2007 CES exhibition, so its younger brother has a lot
to live up to.
Named after the San Cassiano ski resort in the
southern Tyrol, the Cassiano is an attractively styled
loudspeaker with a sleek and well profiled cabinet
that does go some way to disguising its size. With
dimensions of approximately 110 x 21 x 41cm (H x
W x D) and each 'speaker weighing in at 30kg, they
are not diminutive shrinking violets by any means. This
is aided by the sandwich construction of the cabinet
which features a layer of damping sand in between,
along with extensive internal bracing. The gloss black
finish of our review samples commands a 400
premium but is utterly fabulous and Isophon provide no
less than a can of Steinway polish to keep them shiny.
One single set of WBT terminals are fitted to the
Cassianos and they also have jumper links to set lower
bass equalisation to flat, +1.5dB or -1.5dB in order to
optimise performance in various positions in the room.
All of these items are fitted to the bottom surface

66
P66-P67.indd 66

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

14/3/07 16:01:36

of the loudspeakers, which further

adds to their clean lines. Driver
complement consists of two seven
inch (175mm) ceramic bass drivers,
one seven inch ceramic midrange
and the 0.75in (19mm) tweeter.
These are connected together using
a crossover that is unique in offering
filter slopes of no less than 50dB per
octave - fourth order slopes of 24dB
per octave are considered steep in
the audio world and so these are
positively precipitous!
Isophon say that the use of a low

string having superbly defined leading

edges and a beautifully judged and
natural decay. In fact, all instruments
sounded astonishingly real.
The rare and expensive materials
used in the midrange and tweeter
also prove their worth with
every track played. Vocalists
have sumptuous detail and
atmosphere to their performances, with each intake of
breath between lines almost
uncanny. The Cassianos have
a rare ability to take those

"for realism, spatial abilities

and soundstaging, these are
amongst the best non-electrostatic loudspeakers I have
encountered"
order crossover leads to overlap of
driver output over a wide frequency
band, giving rise to poor separation.
On the other hand, steep crossover
slopes have in the past been accused
of robbing music of its dynamics and
emotion, however, Isophon assure
us this is not the case with the
Cassianos.
In order to confirm this, the
Cassianos were duly inserted into
our test system of Quad QC24 and
II-Forty amplifiers, a Cambridge Azur
840C CD player and an Eastern
Electric Minimax phono stage. Vinyl
sources included our Pioneer PLC590/SME M2-10 and the Slatedeck
Garrard 401/SME 312.

SOUND QUALITY
'Big' is not only the name of a 1988
Tom Hanks film, but also the word
that kept popping into my head
during my time auditioning the
Cassianos. Whilst it can also be used
to describe their height (and price
tag...) it is most aptly applied to the
soundstage that they generate - make
no mistake about it, for realism,
spatial abilities and soundstaging,
these are amongst the best nonelectrostatic loudspeakers I have
encountered. No matter what music
I played, I could shut my eyes and be
transported straight to the concert
hall, studio or even dance tent where
it was recorded.
The Isophons' bass is immensely
deep and powerful, yet exhibits pace,
fluidity and a lightness of touch when
required that belies their dimensions.
Stringed bass instruments, whether
acoustic or electric had real depth
and emotion, with each plucked

VERDICT
Magnificent loudspeakers that possess
qualities of imaging, scale and dynamics
that few others can match.

Isophon Cassianos then you are

effects that often lurk somewhere
ISOPHON CASSIANO 12,900
unlikely to be disappointed. They
in the background of music and
(as tested)
have a formidable combination of
bring them right up to augment the
Sounds4Enjoyment
dynamics, control and emotion that
main events of a track. Until you
+44 (0) 23 9271 7628
makes any music style an eye-opening
hear your music collection through
experience.
loudspeakers like this, I suspect you
www.isophon.de
They incorporate some very
will not be aware of what you are
FOR
innovative technologies and exotic
missing.
- Immense scale and soundmaterials, and these sum to give a
The Isophons also have immense
stage
superlative result. From a purely
dynamic abilities. They do not miss
- Effortless dynamics
personal point of view, I find myself
anything even at low volumes, but
- Build quality
needing to rearrange my own 'all
during listening I found myself inching
time favourite loudspeakers' top ten,
the volume control higher and
AGAINST
as I now have a new entry to fit in
higher to enjoy their sheer power
- Not the easiest of loads to
there...
and control - there was never any
drive
sense of compression
or strain. Whilst the
Quad II-Forty amplifiers
drove them beautifully,
least 60-70W that operates into loads
Frequency response of the Cassianos is
I did occasionally gain
as low as 2 Ohms will be required to
commendably smooth and even across
the impression that the
get the best from the Cassianos. AS
their entire bandwidth, with no major
Cassianos almost had
peaks,
dips
or
anomalies
to
speak
a sense of 'is that all
of. Treble starts to roll down gently
you've got?' about them,
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
from around 15kHz, meaning that the
and more power would
Cassianos will not be harsh.
not go amiss. Whilst
Bass output is very good. With
they do not specifically
the crossover jumpers set to 0dB, the
need a powerhouse to
main drivers operate down to 60Hz,
augmented by the downward-firing
drive them, they really
port, which operates at around 40Hz.
blossom as the watt
These aspects should confer upon the
count rises.
Cassianos a good, weighty, yet even
character
Green - driver output
CONCLUSION
Sensitivity is good at 87dB but
Red - port output
Whichever way you
measured impedance shows that the
look at it, nearly
Cassianos will be something of a tricky
IMPEDANCE
13,000 is a lot of
load for many amplifiers. Electrically
money to spend on a
well damped, they have an average
pair of loudspeakers and measured value of 4.7 Ohms, which
tallies well with the manufacturer's 4
it is not unreasonable
Ohm rating. However, the Cassianos dip
to expect superlative
down to a minimum of around 2 Ohms
performance for
at low frequencies - just where most
this sort of outlay.
power is generally required.
Fortunately if your
Consequently an amplifier of at
purchase happens to be

REVIEW

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P66-P67.indd 67

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

67
14/3/07 16:01:49

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REVIEW

Jailhouse
Rock

All the way from Memphis come the Eggleston Works Isabel
loudspeakers. Adam Smith dons his blue suede shoes and takes a
listen.

hen thinking
of great names
from Tennessee,
Elvis Presley and
Graceland would
immediately spring
to mind, possibly closely followed by
Jack Daniels. I suspect, however, that
loudspeaker manufacturers would
not be high on the list for many of us
here in the UK, but this could well be
ripe for change.
Since 1992, Eggleston Works have
been manufacturing loudspeakers, and
are rightly proud that their factory
in downtown Memphis is very close
to "the birthplace of Blues and Rock
'n' Roll". Each loudspeaker is built
almost entirely by hand, making use
of top quality materials, assembled
with great care and attention to
detail. As an example, each cabinet is
constructed using two MDF panels,
each of which is five-eighths of an
inch thick and glued together with
viscoelastic damping material.
All loudspeakers are then handfinished in an eight hour process
that uses over a dozen different
specialised polishing and finishing
tools. As if this was not enough,
the finishing touch is a granite slab
carefully aligned and affixed to each
side panel. This confers superb
rigidity to the cabinet and is aimed
to virtually eliminating cabinet
colouration.
With a range currently consisting
of eight loudspeakers and stretching
up to the impressive 'Ivy', weighing in
at no less than 360kg and sporting
a rather astonishing twenty three
drive units (only eight of which are
visible!), Eggleston Works can offer a
comprehensive selection of models
to suit virtually all pockets and
rooms. However, our pockets are
quite shallow here at Hi-Fi World, so
we elected to listen to the babies of
the range, the Isabels. With a price
tag of 2,299 these are compact

70
P70-P71.indd 70

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

standmounting
loudspeakers that
include matching
bases in their price.
A two way
design, the Isabels
make use of
Eggleston Works'
universal six inch
(150mm) bass/
midrange driver
that features a
polypropylene cone,
double magnet
motor unit and a
three inch (75mm)
voice coil for good
power handling and
reduced distortion
Most unusually, it
is run full-range
with no crossover,
which requires a
very careful design in
order that the cone
does not become
aurally offensive when
it enters its breakup
region (which, of
course, a crossover
filters out).
This is mated to
a one inch (25mm)
soft dome Dynaudio
Esotar tweeter, filtered
via a simple hard-wired
crossover. A single set
of input terminals are
provided and, thanks in
no small part to those
granite side panels, the
Isabels weigh a considerable 25kg. Connected
up to our test system
that includes Quad
QC24 and II-Forty
amplifiers, a Cambridge
Azur 840C CD player and
an Eastern Electric Minimax phono
stage fed by vinyl sources including
our Pioneer PLC-590/SME M2-10 and

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 11:16:16

REVIEW
free from any unpleasant 'zing'
is to ensure that it is supported well
but had good realism and body to
on a sturdy and acoustically inert
them. Once again the clean nature
stand. Unfortunately things did not
of the midband came to the fore
get off to a promising start with the
and worked well with the higher
Isabels as their bass was boxy
frequencies to ensure that all details
with a noticeably 'honky'
were retrieved and presented well.
nature. Kevin Akam from
Steve Earle's 'Copperhead
Signature Audio advised
Road' recording can become quite
that mass loading the
harsh and muddled through some
bases was a good idea,
loudspeakers but I was pleased to
which did indeed improve
hear that the Isabels did not fall into
things. However, for
this trap, remaining composed and
review purposes I set the
unflustered throughout the CD. On
'speakers up on a pair of
a couple of occasions it would have
conventional 60cm Sound
been nice if they had let rip a little
Organisation stands and
more but, on the whole, their innate
this elicited the best
sense of polish and precision is
results from them.
enjoyable.
As suspected from
the measurements
taken [See MEASURED
CONCLUSION
PERFORMANCE] the
The Eggleston Works Isabels have a
bass from the Isabel
very poised nature and they excel on
loudspeakers was not
acoustic and atmospheric music. They
the deepest around,
also seemed to suit vinyl very well,
even given their cabinet
thanks to their expansive soundstage.
VERDICT
size. Fortunately what
The only area in which they
was there was tight,
seem to hold back somewhat is when Stylish and well designed loudspeakers
with an impressive soundstage. The
punchy and tuneful, and
the pace of the music steps up a gear Isabels perform consistently with a wide
they never sounded
or two, as they are not the 'rockiest' variety of music.
lightweight. This
speakers around, despite those
EGGLESTON WORKS
integrated well into
granite sides! That said, they never
ISABEL
2,299
the higher frequencies
became jumbled or congested, as I
Distributed by Signature Audio
and it was here that
have heard some loudspeakers do,
+44(0) 208 480 3333
the granite side panels
they just never seemed to dig totally
www.egglestonworks.com
paid dividends as the
into the heart of the rhythm.
FOR
midrange was very clean
Ultimately, however, the Isabels
- Build quality and finish
and detailed with no
are a well considered design that
- Excellent soundstaging
boxy colouration.
have a very enjoyable sound. Their
- Well balanced performance
The soundstage set
accomplished and sophisticated
up by the Isabels was
performance speaks volumes for
AGAINST
surprisingly capacious
the technology used in their cabinet
- A little polite at times
and they offered a
construction and driver technology,
- Perform better on stands
sense of scale that one
especially given the crossover-less
other than those supplied
generally only experiences nature of the main drive unit.
with larger
loudspeakers.
Listening to
The Eggleston Works Isabel
well with around 40-50W.
Emmylou
loudspeakers have a slightly uneven
AS
Harris's
nature to their output but not in areas
'Jerusalem
that cause concern. The lift in midrange FREQUENCY RESPONSE
Tomorrow',
output from 600Hz to 1kHz will add
her vocals had presence and details to vocals, but the
a rich fluidity
flat response just above this should
minimise any harshness in this area.
to them and
Treble output rises steadily above
she was sat
10kHz which will add detail and sparkle
perfectly
to the sound.
centre stage,
Bass output starts to roll off at
with the
150Hz and the port is tuned to around
accompanying
Green - driver output
100Hz, meaning that earth-shattering
double bass
Red - port output
bass will not be on the agenda. That
thrumming
said, the port is rear-mounted and so
IMPEDANCE
gently away
will enable fine tuning via judicious
positioning.
behind her.
Measured sensitivity was fine for
Treble was very
a small loudspeaker at 85dB and the
sweet and clean, yet
impedance curve shows a smooth
well detailed, the rise
and well damped response. Average
in output towards
impedance is 9.1 Ohms, dipping to a
20kHz clearly helping
minimum of 7 Ohms. The Isabels will
here. Percussive effects
not be difficult to drive and should work
such as cymbals were

MEASURED PERFORMANCE

the Slatedeck
Garrard 401/SME
312, I was ready to rock.

SOUND QUALITY
One of the vital aspects of obtaining
good sound from a small loudspeaker

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P70-P71.indd 71

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

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16/3/07 11:16:26

The NEW Shadow Audio Online Shop

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Apollo
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www.shadowaudio.co.uk
SA-HFW May07 FP v1 out.indd 1

8/3/07 14:00:04

OPINION

"subwoofers can work very well when carefully operated"

adam
smith

he annual Bristol Hi-Fi

Show took place on the
weekend of the 23rd to
25th February and, as can
be seen from our show
report on page 90, there
was some very nice equipment there,
making some impressive sounds. I
have been attending this show since
the late 1980s when I first graciously
allowed my father to chauffeur me
there for the day and I have only
missed one or two since then. It was
interesting to be working the show
from the 'other side of the counter'
as it were, for the first time and it
was nice to meet so many keen Hi-Fi
World readers in person.
From my new perspective, it
appears that attendees cover a wide
spectrum. For every few people who
wander round with wide eyes and
a childish enthusiasm for the shiny
things on display, there is a healthy
cynic casting a Roger Moore-style
raised eyebrow over things. I am also
informed by one or two manufacturers that there are a few punters
whose sole purpose for visiting seems
to be to tell them where they are
going wrong in their design/marketing/
sound quality, but I like to think that
none of our fine readers fall into this
bracket!
From my own perspective, I have
always enjoyed the show and listening
to the equipment on demonstration.
There are inevitably both good and
bad demonstrations to hear, but I
cannot help noticing what appears
to be a depressing trend developing;
namely the curse of bad subwoofer
bass.
Since the first tentative steps
taken by multi-channel surround
sound setups in the early days of
Dolby Surround, the subwoofer
has been an integral part of a multi
channel system. In the early days, quite
a few were little more than big drivers
in floppy boxes that rumbled your sofa
suitably during explosions, but there

has been an increasing drive towards

more competent units in recent years.
The growth of the home cinema
section of the industry has seen many
people throw out their old music
centres, midi systems and the like,
and replace them by one or two
boxes that will handle multi-channel
DVDs as well as good old fashioned
stereo CDs, DAB and FM radio. As
a consequence, the set of surround
sound 'speakers now has to be of
sufficient quality to cope with two
channel music and the subwoofer has
moved up greatly in importance from
its main role as sofa-shaker.
So, it is now possible to wander
round a show such as Bristol Sound
and Vision and listen to glorious stereo
sound from these all-singing and alldancing surround systems, correct?
Well...it would appear not. This is now
the second year running that I have
been thoroughly depressed by the
wallowy, soggy, limp and occasionally
downright boomy bass coming from a
great deal of the rooms. I have spent
time both designing and listening to
subwoofers and I know there are
some good ones out there, but I am
not surprised that a great number of
the hi-fi fraternity frown upon them
judging by many at Bristol this year.
Leaving aside the designs
themselves, a great deal of the problem
is in the integration of the sub to the
main loudspeakers and its positioning.
I remember an episode of Channel 5's
"Gadget Show" a year or so back that
was testing surround sound systems
of various price levels.The thing that
depressed me the most was the
presenter saying that the position of the
rear 'speakers is vital in such a system
and insinuating that the subwoofer
could be dumped virtually wherever
you like. I personally feel he put these
two precisely the wrong way round and
it is no wonder that the portion of the
general public who are less hi-fi aware
think that real bass involves boom,
thump and not much else.

The rear loudspeakers in such

a setup carry comparatively little
information, yet the subwoofer carries
the signal that underpins ALL of the
other channels, be there another four,
five or even six. Things become even
more critical in stereo where the
subwoofer not only has to provide
suitable low frequency accompaniment to the stereo 'speakers but
needs to effectively 'disappear' whilst
doing so. If the bass is wrong, then
there is a reasonable chance that a
fair chunk of the frequency range will
be wrong. Now at this point many
people will rightly point out that
a hotel bedroom is hardly an ideal
location for a hi-fi or surround sound
system setup and I would agree up
to a point. However if this were the
absolute truth then there surely every
single system at such a show would
sound bad, which is simply not the
case.
It seems to me that some dealers
(and even the odd manufacturer...)
could do with a lesson in subwoofer
setup and integration as they
should be - like children - seen
and not heard! If you can sit in a
demonstration, shut your eyes and
tell which direction the bass is coming
from, then the subwoofer is not doing
its job properly, and I can recall only
two rooms at the 2006 Bristol show
where I heard spot-on integration - a
rather saddening statistic.
Contrary to what some die-hard
audiophiles would have you believe,
subwoofers can work very well when
carefully operated and are more than
just glorified explosion makers. In
many ways they can be like vinyl, in
that the more time and care is taken
with their setup, the more they will
reward. It is a pity that comparatively few users have the inclination
to explore their abilities and settle
for copious quantities of boom and
thud. Mind you, quite a few appear to
enjoy this, so perhaps I should stop
interfering...

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P73.indd 73

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19/3/07 11:47:57

Hi-definition audio
Explore your senses with the ultimate in world class Hi-Fi
Visit www.naim-audio.com for details of your nearest retailer
or email [email protected]

NAIM AUDIO LIMITED Southampton Road, Salisbury, England SP1 2LN

OPINION

"we could see a genuine revolution

in wireless loudspeakers..."

dominic
todd

f ever there was a divisive issue

with hi-fi separates, it would be
cables. Some believe they make
a huge difference, others none
whatsoever. Most of us take
the middle ground and realise
that wires help fine tune a system
and can make a discernible difference,
but not to the extent that their value
should exceed the cost of the original
hardware as, unsurprisingly, advocated by some cable manufacturers...
Yet theres another issue here,
and thats that some people dont
like the idea of wires at all. When I
worked at the coal face in hi-fi retail,
the number of system sales I saw fall
through because of disapproval from
the significant other was... significant.
Disapproval came, as many of you
will know, not from the sound of a
system but its size, aesthetics, colour
and, yes, the tangle of wires involved.
To maintain cohabitation then, a
compromise often has to be struck.
So it was with interest that I viewed
the latest selection of wireless
products at the recent Bristol hi-fi
show.
Wireless speakers arent a new
phenomenon, but I noticed a more
serious presence this year than
ever before. Before Wi-Fi, wireless
speakers used infrared or radio
frequencies and were, lets face it,
pretty awful sounding. The advent
of Wi-Fi has made a big difference,
and a few years ago we began to
see home cinema system designs
launched. Rather than awful, the
sound quality was now just about
tolerable. Whilst these loudspeakers
were a long way from what would be
deemed acceptable by an audiophile,
by comparison with their peers, they
werent all that bad.
Now we have the audiophile
wireless loudspeaker - or at least
thats what the manufacturers claim.
Whilst at Bristol I came across two

floorstanders that offered wireless

connections. The eagerly awaited
Canton CD3500s sign in at 2,000
a pair. This is hardly budget territory,
and puts them straight up against
the likes of the hugely impressive
(wired) Yamaha Soavos. So how
did they sound? Well, not too bad
actually. Bass was strong and there
were decent levels of transparency.
The only problem with these German
boxes is that they use aluminium
treble, midrange and bass units with,
erm, an aluminium cabinet and base
plinth. As you can imagine the sound
quality is rather metallic at the best
of times, and certainly on the bright
side of neutral. In conclusion, the
CD3500s sound like a decent pair
of 500 floorstanders, but are not a
true rival for the best wired rivals at
this price.
Offering a completely different
sonic perspective were the intriguing
Free loudspeakers. Like the Cantons,
these compact floorstanders offer
built-in digital amplification, thereby
negating the need for further amplification. Finished in satin white or
black, its not hard to see the Apple
market as a major potential customer.
Yet, unlike the vast majority of the
Apple coat-tailers, these speakers
showed considerable audiophile
potential. Designed to work with
the Apple Airport Express or Sonos
ZP80, the Free speakers are actually
built by the highly respected PMC.
With a single, cast magnesium
chassis bass cone and soft dome
tweeter, the sound quality was
a million miles away from the
Cantons. Whilst not quite as explicit,
it was smooth, harmonious and
exceptionally well integrated. The
bass couldnt match the Soavo, but
considering the smaller size, this is
no great surprise. Considering the
limitations of wireless transmission,
they actually sounded quite good.

Granted, a typical wired speaker

at 2,000 would still sound better,
but the Frees certainly more than
hinted at the technologys potential.
Consider the cost saving from
not having to buy an amplifier,
loudspeaker and interconnect cables,
and I could see how these will appeal
to a small, but significant, section of
the hi-fi market.
Now we come to the major
downside, Of course, although both
these designs purport to be wireless,
they are in fact anything but. Both
use active amplification and therefore
require mains cables to each box.
The Frees have the power socket
underneath so that if one was to
rewire from scratch one could place
a mains socket beneath each box,
thereby giving the effect of a totally
detangled speaker. Yet, this could be
a costly solution, and one that many
wouldnt be prepared to stretch to.
In short, its not the sound quality
limitations - which are improving all
the time - which limits the appeal of
wireless loudspeakers, but the mains
cables. Late last year the boffins
at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology announced that they
were working on a wireless power
transmission system. At the moment
the system is still at the theoretical
stage and many believe they are a
long way from actually implementing
the technology.
Were this to ever get off the
ground, we could see a genuine
revolution in wireless loudspeakers,
much as we did with Digital cordless
phones a few years ago. Could this
be the end of the road for the
traditional amplifier and loudspeaker
cable? Well, I think were a long way
off that yet, but the advent of the
decent sounding, entirely wire-free
loudspeaker is now less of a figure
of science fiction than ever before.
Watch this space...

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P75 NK subbed.indd 75

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

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13/3/07 09:40:16

Lucy just couldnt understand Toms sudden lack of interest in an early night

Superb Hi-Fi ......

Just a little more desirable than the norm

Distributed in the UK by; Henley Designs, 01235 511166, www.henleydesigns.co.uk, [email protected]

project model ad.indd 1

5/2/07 3:49:59 pm

OPINION

"why limit ourselves by the original pressing,

which is not always great to begin with?"

paul
rigby

or fans of audiophile vinyl

records, there exists a rift.
It may be not dramatic and
has yet to result in violence,
but its still very much
there.
On one side of the fence are
those music fans who believe that
an old recording, if reissued in an
audiophile wrapping, should retain
the original sound, essence and
atmosphere. That means the original
processing and effects EQ settings,
compression and the like - that were
laid upon the production masters
to form the post-production or mix
master that became the final sound
the public heard at the time via their
transistor radios and Dansette record
players.
What these fans want is, in
effect, a new original. Almost as if
they were stepping back in time and
buying the original record when it
was released in 1963, or whenever.
One such advocate of this philosophy
is Bob Irwin, MD for the audiophile
record label Sundazed, based in the
USA. He loves his original mono
versions of the Byrds, reissued in
2005, Each record offers a unique
listening experience in mono. I feel
as though we perfectly captured
the feel, warmth and texture of the
original mono Columbia 1A pressings
of these records. Also, the artwork
closely mirrors the original album
covers - that, too, is a part of the
equation that we take very seriously.
Thats fine, if you like that sort of
thing. The problem is, we live in the
twenty first century and we can do
wonderful things with music now that
they could not do back in the 1960s.
Audiophile record label, Speakers
Corner MD, Kai Seemann, based in
Germany, sits on the opposite side of
the fence. In fact, when he is about to

remaster an old original, unlike many

other labels, he refuses to introduce
an original copy of the record into
the studio to act as a reference. A
move I am wholly in favour of - and
this is why...
I try to avoid the A-B
comparison with an original album
because the studio engineers may
want to copy what the original
mastering engineer had done in the
past consciously or subconsciously.
I want my mastering engineers to
make the best out of the original
master with their currently available
equipment. I dont want to make
a copy of the original. Maybe the
original was good maybe not.
Sometimes it was equalised very
heavily to accommodate the
turntables of the time but thats not
what I want. I want the engineers to
listen to the tapes and make the very
best of it for todays turntables.
To labour the point, it was as if
Wes Montgomery and Jimmie Smith,
whose Dynamic Duo vinyl LP I
review in the audiophile vinyl column
in this issue, had recorded their
album this year and took their master
to the top US-based mastering
engineers, Acoustech, who are now
using only their judgement and latest
equipment, nothing else, to master
the album.
This is a record which is not
dramatically rare you can buy it for
$20-$30 on eBay, added Seemann.
What sense would it make to
produce a new reissue that sounds
exactly the same as the original? We
can bring something new to it, why
shouldnt we do that? If you want the
original then it is not that difficult
to find an original in good condition.
If you want to listen to the original
sound then thats fine, do it.
The Speakers Corner philosophy

is that, in the 1960s, if the engineers

could have mastered records with
the technology that we have now,
both the original and reissue would
sound the same. The artists would
have backed them up 100% too. Of
course, it is not always possible to do
that because original masters are not
always available or are damaged or
worn in some way but, if we can do
better, why not do better? Why limit
ourselves by the original pressing
which is not always great to begin
with?
Take the current generation
of cutting lathes, for example. The
models cutting engineers use today
were first built during the 1980s,
so theyre not exactly current
technology. However, the better
lathes, Neumanns for example, are
mechanically very rigid, much more
rigid than anything available in the
1960s. This means you can introduce
much higher sound levels and more
dynamics, As it was, said Seemann,
in the sixties, the standard of
recording was much higher than
the standard of reproducing so the
energy and information was already
in the tape but they were not able
to reproduce records properly. In
a lot of cases they made very large
compromises to get this energy on
the record without the turntable,
which would track the record sooner
or later, distorting or jumping. The
record deck, at the time, was the big
bottle neck.
American-based audiophile
label Classic Records has a favourite
slogan: remember the sound. What
we want, concluded Seemann, is
more like remember the feeling
because that is what is in the tape. If
we can extract more of that feeling
that is in tape, why shouldnt we do
that?

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P77 NK subbed.indd 77

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

77
13/3/07 09:46:38

Walrus

Exciting New Products

From Around The World.
Available Now At Walrus.
Dieses ist nicht ein
Dalek aus Deutschland?!
Of course not! This is
the MBL 111RC loudspeaker.
Here at the shop, we
have the even more
amazing looking fullrange model, the MBL
111E RadialstrahlerHybrid System 1 loudspeakers available for
audition.
Also available for demo
too is MBLs top of the
range CD Player, the
MBL 1531.
Wirklich wundervoll,
yah...!

MBL 111 RC

Basis Audio 2500 Signature

Hrning Agathon
Ultimate

Brinkmann La Grange Turntable

Emille is a new brand
from Korea. As it turns
out the Emille KI-240 is
one of the best sounding
valve-powered integrated amplifiers available
in the UK today. We are
sure youll agree with
us...
The real Simon Yorke
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P72.indd 72

Phone : +44(0)20 7724 7224

Fax : +44(0)20 7724 4347
Shop : 11 New Quebec Street
London W1H 7RW
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Weve just taken delivery of the latest Basis
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doubt some of you might
think it looks and sounds
just like another brand
of fashionable turntable
in acrylic these days!
Well, youll be wrong.
For an example, what
look like 4 ordinary
aluminium legs turn
out to be very sophisticated, user adjustable,
oil-damped suspension
towers...

Remember when you

were taught never to
judge a person or an
object by its look?
The Hrning Agathon
Ultimate is a classic
example. The technology
involved with these loudspeakers is so complex
that we decided its best
for you to read about
them on the web. No
doubt youll also come
across the excellent
reviews too. Wait till
you see the back of the
loudspeaker; looks nothing like the back of your
fridge...

The Music First Audio

Passive Magnetic
Preamplifier has been
winning awards and
accolades for the last
year or so. Walrus was
one of the first dealers
in the UK to demonstrate its virtues.

The new Shanling CD

Player, CDT-500, is visually so striking that we
thought it best for you
to come and see it in
the flesh. Meanwhile we
can show you what the
national flag of China
looks like!

Walrus New Mascot

Musically satisfying...
modern yet romantic
is what comes to mind
when describing the
sound of this new valve
driven line stage preamplifier, the Melody Pure
Black 101D.
Emille KI-240

6/12/06 09:32:59

OPINION

"the UK rushed into launching digital terrestrial TV"

steven
green

he public service broadcasters and some of the

TV equipment manufacturers and retailers have
launched a campaign called
HDforAll, with the aim
of lobbying Ofcom, Government
and other stakeholders to ensure
that enough spectrum is reserved to
enable the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and
Five to broadcast in high definition
[on Freeview].
The spectrum in question
consists of fourteen UHF channels
that will be freed-up once analogue
TV is switched off in 2012/2013,
and the dispute is over the fact
that Ofcom wants to auction this
spectrum to the highest bidder, and
the broadcasters fear that the mobile
phone networks will outbid them for
it.
The crux of the disagreement
is that Ofcom says that the big 5
TV channels could transmit in HD
on Freeview, but the broadcasters
say that this could only happen if
there is a significant reduction in
[the] quantity and quality of existing
standard-definition TV channels.
HDTV channels are expected to
use bit rate levels in the region of
8 10 Mbps once developers have
gained more experience with the
new MPEG-4 H.264 video codec that
is used for HDTV, so to transmit
the big 5 TV channels in HD would
require 40 50 Mbps of capacity.
Once analogue TV has been
switched off the transmitter powers
for the Freeview multiplexes will
be increased, which will lead to the
overall Freeview capacity to increase
from the current 120 Mbps to
144 Mbps. Also, ITV now owns the
multiplex on which pay-TV service
Top-Up TV transmits, so it will be
able to reclaim all of that capacity
when Top-Up TVs contract ends

in 2010; the BBC has quite a lot of

spare capacity on its multiplexes; and
there are some channels that, in my
opinion, are simply wasting space,
such as E4+1, which is just E4 delayed
by an hour.
So there will be sufficient
capacity to allow HD versions of
the big 5 TV channels to launch
once analogue TV has been
switched off, which suggests that the
broadcasters have an ulterior motive
for wanting this spectrum apart
from the obvious reason that if the
government gives it to them its
cheaper than having to bid for it in an
auction.
First of all, the BBC, ITV, Channel
4 and Five inherently favour Freeview,
because their channels account for
the vast majority of all Freeview
viewing, whereas on Sky and cable
their share of viewing is much lower
due to the large number of channels
available. So, personally I think
they want this additional spectrum
because it will allow them to transmit
some of their other channels in
HD as well as the big 5, and they
hope this will discourage users from
switching to Sky or cable to get their
fix of HDTV.
The BBC also has an additional
and important reason for favouring
Freeview. This can best be explained
by considering Greg Dykes candid
admission that the rationale behind
the launch of Freeview was to flood
the UK market with set-top boxes
that dont have card slots, because
the absence of card slots rules out
subscription payments, which is an
alternative means of funding the BBC;
so this would ensure that the BBC
could hang on to secured funding via
the Licence Fee for another decade
or more.
Im very much in favour of
HDTV, but I think it would be

wrong to donate this spectrum to

the broadcasters for a number of
reasons.
Firstly, the sweet spot for
mobile applications consists of the
frequency range from 300 MHz to 3
GHz. So terrestrial TV is consuming
around 400 MHz or 15% of
this prime spectrum even though it
could be transmitted at far higher
frequencies.
Secondly, the UK rushed into
launching digital terrestrial TV and
used the 2K DVB-T mode (DVB-T
is the standard used for Freeview)
when they could have waited
just a few months to use the 8K
mode, which would have allowed
the spectrum to be used far more
efficiently than at present. So is it
right that the broadcasters should be
bailed out because theyve made bad
technology decisions in the past?
Thirdly, the BBC R&D
department recently published
results of tests using a technology
called MIMO along with DVB-T
which could form the basis of a
new DVB-T2 standard and the
results indicate that the capacity on
Freeview could be doubled, albeit
that users would need to install a
new aerial.
This last point seals it as far as
Im concerned, because a doubling
of the capacity would allow around
30 35 TV channels to broadcast
in HD on Freeview, so the freedup spectrum could be used for
applications such as mobile TV and
mobile broadband Internet instead.
If the backers of the HDforAll
campaign want this extra spectrum
to launch more than 30 35 HD
channels so that Freeview can better
compete with the other digital TV
platforms they should collectively bid
for it in the auction. If they lose, they
didnt value it highly enough.

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

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Some decisions are just so simple

Distributed in the UK by; Henley Designs, 01235 511166 www.henleydesigns.co.uk, [email protected]

kandy ad jan 07.indd 1

5/1/07 11:17:59 am

OPINION

"I love the past, but I dont feel it is better..."

noel
keywood

t was the April 1993 edition

of Hi-FI World that featured a
Garrard history, along with
the revival of my Garrard 401
turntable. It was serviced by
Dr. Martin Bastin and fitted to
one of his sturdy plinths, along with
a new SME312 12in tonearm. That
issue sold out.
To this day I use the same
turntable and arm; it sits in the
lounge next to me. I have a Leak
Troughline, tuner now in need of
a service I have to admit, so not
in everyday use. You might think
then, as I know many do, that I am
a real classic hi-fi enthusiast, but I
am not! Quite the reverse, in truth.
A lot of engineering from the past
is best preserved, as a reminder of
how things were, to give us some
appreciation of how far we have
progressed and how much better
products are today. And that includes
old hi-fi.
I love our industrial past, as many
engineers do, and you'll catch me
staring in awe at, for example, the
S.S. Great Britain (see www.ssgreatbritain.org) that we visited recently
whilst exhibiting at the Bristol Sound
and Vision Show. I thought this would
be a rusty hulk, with a bit of black
paint applied to the exterior and
a few unconvincing wax dummies
inside wearing traditional clothes. It
turned out to be much more than
that, giving a fascinating glimpse, for
example, of how people survived
travelling to Australia in steerage
- that's the poor bit - as well as a
walk around the hull beneath the
waterline, with Brunel's massive
propellers overhead.
Hi-fi doesn't date back to 1843
like this ship, but amplification and
the valve do; Oliver Lodge is one
name that springs to mind, born
1845, and early radio equipment such

as his was pretty crude, as basic in

the way it was put together as the
Great Britain.
The market for high quality audio
began to develop in the 1960s and
it's from this time that old classics
I have used - and soldered - have
come. Most notable was a Quad 22/II
amplifier. This dear old thing does
have a lovely sonic flavour: measure
it as I did after restoration and you
soon find out why. The small output
transformers really aren't up to
much by modern standards. Peter
Walker openly admitted they limited
low frequency output (i.e. would not
produce much bass) to protect the
Quad ESL57 loudspeaker. At least,
that's what he said... I sometimes
wondered whether he simply found
justification for the stringent cost
cutting often used by Quad, behind
the expensive fascias. If this was the
case, then it was only the spirit of
the time, because the nasty tin plated
input sockets and multi-pin power
connectors used on this amplifier
were found everywhere else too.
I well know how lovely the 22/II
sounds and I should really have a pair
in the loft, but I don't. Mine departed
to an eager owner long ago.
Wind on to the 1970s and you
still find most electronic equipment
peppered with this stuff. Tinny input
sockets and those horrid shaky
loudspeaker screw terminals that
some factory in Japan was making for
the whole world it seemed, were the
acceptable standard of the time.
This was also the age of that
thing from the dungeon of high
fidelity, the DIN loudspeaker
socket. This was a step too far
backward even for the period, I
recall. Why Germany, proud of its
engineering standards today, should
come up with this little horror
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

DIN_connector) I don't know, but it

somehow captures the Zeitgeist.
Dusting off an old JVC CD4 decoder not so long ago I was
reminded of how bad it was generally
in the seventies with product
from Japan. The detail engineering
wasn't there. All the action was
at device (transistor) level, the
connections could go hang. And here
we encounter another limitation:
even Quad eventually admitted
that poor electrolytic capacitors
seriously compromised their early
amplifiers, such as the 405. Electronic
components were often little better
than the shaky connectors used.
You are on the look out for
an old cartridge? Why? Inside lie
two prodigious coils of fine wire,
'fine' meaning thin, not good. It
wasn't selected for its 3ns purity
twenty years ago, but was wound
on copiously to compensate for the
weak magnets of the time. Now, with
Neodymium magnets and better
magnetic circuits today's cartridges
don't need coils inside to rival those
the Great Eastern once carried, when
laying the foundations of modern
communication. That's why today's
MM cartridges don't suffer 'generator
losses' and have a nice, clear
midband. The stark contrast here is
perfectly illustrated by this month's
comparison of a Nagaoka MP11, a
classic from the past, with two new
cartridges from today. The past wasn't
unequivocally better. It may have
merit, but decent products of today
are better in engineering terms.
There are a few golden oldies
around that do a great job even
today, like the Garrard turntables, but
otherwise I feel today's products are
better engineered and less expensive
than most oldies. I love the past, but
I am no romantic and don't feel it is
better.

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P81 subbed.indd 81

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

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16/3/07 14:20:54

AUDIOPHILE VINYL

JIMMY SMITH & WES

MONTGOMERY
Jimmy & Wes:
The Dynamic Duo
Speakers Corner/Verve
This album was the result of a large
session. In fact, so large, two albums
were created from it. The second
was called Further Adventures Of
Jimmy And Wes. Kai Seemann, MD
for Speakers Corner, explained that,
we initially tried to make a double
album featuring both records but
a lot of tracks were damaged on
the original tape. Now comes
the spooky bit. To create the two
albums, the original record label
Verve didnt just cut the session
in half, assigning the first half to
one album and the second half to
another album. What happened
was that the label actually filtered
through each track and, for example
said, the first track is for album
X, the next two are for album Y,
the next one is for album X, the
next one is for album Y and so on.
However, strangely, all the tracks
for the first LP, which we have now,
have survived and almost none of

82
P82-P83 subbed.indd 82

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

the second album has survived. So

our initial double album plan had to
be stopped. I have no satisfactory
reason why this has occurred
because I have used other tapes
from the same supplier, recorded at
the same time and probably stored
next to each other.
Jazz-based conspiracy theorists
could have a field day with this one,
although Im reliably informed that
the Verve studios never contained
a grassy knoll. The Dynamic Duo,
excellently mastered at Acoustech
in the USA, is a superb album and
a must for any jazz fan, the pair
compliment each other superbly.
Smith, who revolutionised the
Hammond organ in jazz, smooths
out Montgomerys biting guitar runs
but theres lots of time and space
for crowning solos that take the
breath away. Genius.

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN

Texas Flood
Pure Pleasure/Epic
This is not the first Stevie Ray album
from Pure Pleasure. Couldnt Stand
The Weather sold so well and was

so well received that a sequel was

always on the cards. This release
utilises the original master tapes,
direct from Sonys archives in the
USA. However, masters are not
allowed to leave the country so, said
Pure Pleasure MD Tony Hickmott,
Sony actually created a flat copy
for me onto a fresh reel of analogue
tape. The original, which was laid
down in 1983, was in good condition
so the copy was quickly made for
me. Originally, Vaughan would have
recorded the album to a multitrack
tape. This tape would hold the bare
musical information, without any
studio enhancements. From that, the
engineer would change the balance
of the instruments, add any effects
and then commit that to another
tape known as a post-production or
mix tape. This mix tape is the copy
that Hickmott was given to work
with, I then passed that tape onto
my mastering engineer, Ray Staff at
Alchemy, based in the UK. His job
is to either equal the quality of the
original or surpass it.
Vaughans best album, this
release started the eighties blues

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

20/3/07 12:50:53

AUDIOPHILE VINYL

revival. The final release is up to

Pure Pleasures high standards. In
fact, it has that classic seventies
rock album feel: warm, tight bass
with vocals allowed to distort on
occasion, tingy cymbals and the odd
screeching guitar. Intriguingly, this
edition is a double album - disc 1 is
the original album whilst disc 2 is an
analogue version of the bonus tracks
released with an earlier CD release.
This is the very first time the bonus
tracks have ever appeared on vinyl.

MIGHTY BABY
A Jug Of Love
Sunbeam Records/
Blue Horizon
The keyboard player for the original
band, Ian Whiteman, who now lives
in Spain, revealed that he owned
a master tape for this particular
album. Sunbeam MD Steven Carr
was delighted. He didnt have the
original master. I think the multitrack
was mixed down to a 2-tracker and
he probably had the safety copy
or something - which was more
common at the time. The condition
wasnt bad, I was quite surprised. It
played straight through. Ive done
stuff, using tapes from Abbey Road,
where the edits have popped like
nobodys business. This one was
fine, though. The master tape was
given to Nick Webb, an experienced
mastering engineer and ex-Abbey
Road employee.
In fact, both Carr and Webb
may be familiar to Naim customers
because the pair handle all of that
companys vinyl too. Michael Evans,
Mighty Babys bass player, sat in
attendance during the mastering
although he offered no assistance.

Carr is not a fan of supportive

band members. The last thing you
want is a band member being of
practical help, because they tend
not to be. Most musicians have got
cloth ears and the rest are half mad.
Band members also want whatever
theyve done to sound the loudest.
Toting progressive and
psychedelic licks and with definite
West Coast vibes: a thread of
beautiful harmony here, a Jerry
Garcia-like guitar solo there, the
English derivation is, however,
stamped onto the work. This is the
bands final album, sounding almost
like Meddle-era Pink Floyd. It
rambles on a bit but this is still an
excellent disc, presenting enough
colours and tones to keep you
interested. The vinyl is contained
within a sturdy gatefold which
features an interview printed on the
inner sides with photographs and
other record illustrations.

JOHN ENTWISTLE
Smash Your Head Against
The Wall
Earmark/Track Records
One of the most important and
distinctive bass players the world
has ever known, before him bass
players were part of the stage
wallpaper. Entwistle was the calm
amongst the storm that was the rest
of The Who yet his bass work was
musically complex and physically
demanding. As The Whos guitarist
and songwriter Pete Townshend said,
you quickly got the feeling that,
yes, hes playing the bass but hes
not really playing the bass. This is
something else. He realised that he
had the power to change the f**king

instrument!
Entwistle had shown his song
writing credentials during his time in
The Who with the likes of Boris the
Spider, Whiskey Man and My Wife.
This, his first solo album released in
1971 was his best. Not surprisingly,
the album had a strong Who sound
and influence. It also allowed
Entwistle to spread his wings. For
example, in Pick Me Up he plays
the whole horn section many fans
were unaware that Entwistle had
been trained to play the French
Horn at a young age along with the
piano!
In many ways, it was a dark
album but with superb melodic
lines. This Earmark release has been
mastered onto 180gm vinyl and set
within a gatefold cover. It features
the original album only so doesnt
include any extra tracks, such as the
Repertoire 1996 CD issue which
adds Cinnamon Girl. The Earmark
release is big and bold with drums
and bass to the fore and the vocals
hovering over the instruments.
Its not so much heavy rock as big
rock. The cut is pretty quiet too
which is welcome. All in all, this is
a recommended release, especially
as original vinyl copies are not too
thick on the ground.

CONTACTS:
Diverse Vinyl
+44(0)1633 256261
www.diversevinyl.com
Stamford Audio
+44(0)1223 894999
www.stamfordaudio.com

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P82-P83 subbed.indd 83

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83
20/3/07 12:50:53

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REVIEW

Presto!
With nearly 5,500 stations, fine sound
and freedom from DAB woes, the
MagicBox Imp is an automatic choice
for radio fans, says Steven Green...

it both the My Stuff and

a vertical scroll feature
appeared following such
an upgrade. This feature
will allow Reciva to deliver
support for more audio
formats in future as well as
to improve the operability of
receivers.
In operation, the Imp
performed reasonably well when
connecting to most radio streams,
but there were occasions when I felt
it took too long in comparison to the
time it took my PC to connect to
the same stream.
The other side of the Imp is its
media player, which allows you to
stream audio wirelessly from your
PC. Music started playing on the
media player quickly once requested,
but one drawback was that it
inexplicably paused for a couple
of seconds mid-track occasionally.
Another slight grumble I had was
that as the radio only supports the
MP3, WMA, Real Audio, MPEG-2 AAC
and WAV audio formats, this means
that 95% of the audio on my PC
wasnt supported! So I would hope
that Reciva adds support for other
commonly used formats shortly,
such as FLAC, MPEG-4 AAC/AAC+
(file extensions .mp4 and .m4a), Ogg
Vorbis and MP2.

SOUND QUALITY
When playing high bit rate MP3 files
from my PC the sound quality was
unusually excellent for a device with
such a small speaker, delivering a
pleasingly crisp and punchy sound.
The radio performed best in the
bass and midrange, but a slightly shrill
treble let things down occasionally. As
you would expect, the audio quality
of Internet radio stations was highly
dependent on the bit rate used, with
the higher bit rate streams providing
higher audio quality, and vice versa.
The one negative issue as far as

WHAT IS IT?
A Wi-Fi Internet radio that works like a normal mains powered radio, but which gives access to over 5,300 Internet
radio stations from around the world, including over 500
from the UK. The Imp also allows you to play audio streamed
wirelessly from your PC. To use an Imp you need to have a
broadband Internet connection, and a Wi-Fi router (if you
need to buy one, the wireless router that seems to be almost
universally recommended is the Netgear DG834G).

sound quality goes was that 128kbps

WMA streams that use a technology
called Intellistream were only being
received at 32kbps, so the audio
quality was reduced accordingly, but
Reciva assured me that this issue will
be solved in the near future.
Overall, I love this radio and the
concept of Wi-Fi Internet radios in
general, because it was a breath of
fresh air not to be limited to the
choice of stations available on FM
and DAB, and the ability to stream
audio from my PC to a portable
radio was just the icing on the cake.
Furthermore, as the firmware of
Internet radios can be so easily
upgraded, Im inclined to be a
little more forgiving of any current
problems it has with the expectation
that they will be solved in the near
future...

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P85 NK subbed.indd 85

VERDICT

A great concept and surprisingly good

sound for its size, but not quite there
yet.

MAGICBOX IMP
129
MagicBox
+44 (0)1959 565525
www.magicboxproducts.co.uk

ust like the Acoustic Energy

Wi-Fi Radio with which it
shares seemingly identical dimensions, the 129
MagicBox Imp is very compact, measuring just 4.5in
square on its base. It's very attractive
too, with an iPod-esque white plastic
and aluminium colour scheme and
that eye-catching tapered front-panel
housing a blue display and scroll
wheel.
Setting up was quicker and
simpler than I had expected,
consisting only of switching the radio
on, scanning for Wi-Fi networks
and entering the security key for
my wireless network (both WEP
and WPA are supported), with the
whole process only taking a couple
of minutes before I was free to start
listening to radio stations.
The Internet radio stations
available are sorted alphanumerically
by genre or by location, but with
around 5,300 stations available,
searching for individual stations was
a chore, as the lists are so long.
However, a new feature called My
Stuff has been added that largely
obviates the need to do a lot of
scrolling through these station lists.
My Stuff allows users to add their
favourite stations and the URLs of
streams that arent already listed to
the My Stuff section of their account
at Recivas Internet radio portal
(www.reciva.com Reciva is the
company that produces the modules
for all of the currently available Wi-Fi
Internet radios), and these stations
then appear as if by magic the next
time you visit the My Stuff section of
your radio.
A very impressive feature was
that the radios firmware could be
upgraded by the single press of a
button, with the radio then looking
on the Reciva website, and if there
was a newer version of firmware
available it downloaded and installed

FOR
- future-proof
- range of stations
- sound quality

AGAINST
- connection time
- audio format support

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

85
13/3/07 09:52:16

P e r f o r m a nce

series

L2 Series Loudspeakers
99 Series Electronics

this system is something of a musical genius

What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision
January 2007

A new breed
Quad L2 series Loudspeakers
The Quad 99 series electronics and L2 series loudspeakers
are a match made in heaven. Detail, accuracy and refinement
all combine to present one of the most musical and insightful
systems available and with our new 99CDP-2, will integrate
seamlessly into your digital world allowing up to 6* digital
sources to benefit from our state-of-the-art DACs
* CDP-2 includes 3 x Optical and 2 x Co-axial digital inputs.

L2 advert AV 07.indd 1

the closest approach to the original sound.

Quad Electroacoustics Ltd,
IAG House, Sovereign Court, Ermine
Business Park, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE29
6XU
Tel :- 01480 447700, Fax :- 01480 431767

www.quad-hifi.co.uk

8/3/07 11:05:05

SOUNDBITES

TIMESTER T200 MK 379

Unashamedly an eccentric specialist
hi-fi product in the mould of the
Flying Mole amplifier and Zu Druid
loudspeaker, this is a small triode
tube amplifier offering around 3W
per side from two 6N3P02s (5670)
and two EL8402s. Ostensibly, the
importer calls it a multimedia amp,
by which they mean it is designed to
work with (shock horror!) iPods and
PCs. It has a single stereo line input
via RCA phonos (for your digital
portable or full size CD player), plus
a USB input for a PC or Mac. It has
one set of loudspeaker outputs, and a
6.3mm front panel headphone jack.
The USB input is an interesting
feature (the Russ Andrews DAC1 USB reviewed on p47 also has
one, so it must be catching on), the
idea being that you can plug your
computer in, set the T-200 as a audio
output device in your operating
systems Preferences menu,
whereupon the Timester will play all
your computer audio files.
The basic version reviewed
here costs 379, and theres said

to be a version with UK-made

output transformers costing 429
available any day now. One years
manufacturer warranty is offered.
This diminutive (238x138x148 mm,
5.5kg) little thing is surprisingly well
finished, especially considering its
Chinese origin. The Perspex front
panel is clean, the switches move
nicely and the rear panel is robust.
Theres a chrome plated cage for the
valves, and the output transformer
cover is a quality item. Timester
quote 600mW from the headphone
amp. Inside, there is Burr-Brown
PCM2702 Delta Sigma DAC for the
USB connection. Given thats there is
an internal DAC, it would have been
nice to access this by more conventional means, such as a TOSLink input
too. A standard IEC mains input is
fitted around the back, and theres
a decent set of loudspeaker binding
posts.
Switch on and its a veritable
sight for sore eyes each tube is
uplit by a blue LED, which gives
a pleasing effect. Theres little
in the way of hum or hiss, and

after about fifteen minutes the

Timester is making sweet music.
This is precisely what it is soft,
warm and mellifluous. Disciples of
the Naim Nait 5 college of music
making wont like it. The Timester
is an unashamedly old school valve
amplifier, and you can never forget it.
Youll need speakers with over 90dB
sensitivity (such as Revolver R16s)
for any sort of decent level.
Kicking off with Supertramps
Child of Vision, and I was surprised
how pleasant this little amp was
to listen to. It is a sugary sounding
device, coloured in the traditional
tube sense of the word (everything
is given a sepia tint), and the effect
was very pleasant. Most impressive
was the way it hung vocals out in
space, the loudspeakers seemingly
disappearing into my listening
room. Treble was as silky as
youd expect, the midband
proved a tad opaque
but very spacious,
and bass soft and
warm but with
little in terms of
drive. Again, by
solid-state standards
(Onkyos A-933
being my favourite at
this price), there was
very little power or
drive, but the Timesters
sound was such that this
didnt seem to matter. It is
beguilingly musical in its way,
with a nicely lucid midband that
makes transistor rivals seem frigid.
Power is very limited of course,
so dont buy this for anything
more than small rooms dens and
bedrooms are where this amp was
designed to reside. I was able to
get decent listening levels before
the output transformers saturated,
but switching to the USB input
resulted in a marked drop in volume
level. It made quite a nice noise
via its internal DAC when driven
from my Mac PowerBook G4, with
lots of detail, clarity and a most
propulsive rhythmic sound, but it
was hampered by lack of gain. The
headphone section sounds very good
indeed, but its certainly not from
the Musical Fidelity X-CANS school
of headphone amplifiers (i.e. clean
and precise), preferring to add its
characteristic euphony to the clinical
sound of my Sennheiser HD650s.
Overall then, an unlikely thumbs up
for this loveable little thing for
those wanting sweet sound in small
rooms, it represents cracking value
for money.
Contact Lamplitube on
+44 (0)1322 334033 or email
[email protected].

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P87 subbed.indd 19

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15/3/07 13:00:43

OLDE WORLDE

Metallica

Dominic Todd pens a paean of praise to his favourite classic loudspeaker, Celestions SL600...

irst shown at the 1981

Harrogate Hi-Fi Show, and
launched the following
year, it is fair to say that
Celestions SL6 revolutionised the loudspeaker

market.
What made this speaker special
was the scale of sound available from
such a compact cabinet. Rather like
the Wharfedale Diamond had done
just months before, the SL6 proved
that a large cabinet wasnt required
to create a decent sound. At the
time, the SL6 was one of the most
thoroughly researched speakers
ever produced and used the then
new-fangled laser velocity analysis
to measure driver and cabinet
performance.
Such research proved invaluable.
At a time when most speaker
cabinets flexed like a Rolf Harris
wobble board, the SL6 used a highly
rigid, internally braced cabinet. Even
more intriguing was the electroformed copper tweeter. This was
unique at the time and played its part
in spreading metal dome tweeters
across the hi-fi industry. As it turned

88
P88-P89 NK subbed.indd 88

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

out, using copper did nothing to help

the horrendous inefficiency, but it
was free from much of the grain of
later aluminium designs.
Matched to this was a 165mm
Kobex coned woofer with integrated
and inverted phase cap. This seems
unexceptional now, but was quite
something at a time when most
manufacturers still used paper and
glue. Matched to a substantial magnet
and PVC surround, the woofer gave
exceptional bass weight. At least it
gave exceptional bass weight when
matched to a powerful amplifier for,
at 82dB the SL6 was one of the most
inefficient speakers ever made.
Celestion soon realised this and
it wasnt long before more work
with laser velocity analysis produced
the SL6S. This swapped the copper
tweeter for an aluminium one, the
chipboard cabinet for MDF, and
gave the woofer a new two piece
surround. The combined effect not
only improved efficiency to a heady
84dB, but also granted the SL6 a
brighter balance, with less congestion
in the bass.
In late 1988 came the final

version, the SL6Si. This time around,

the main changes were to the
crossover, which became biwirable
and fitted with rather nice Michelltype gold-plated terminals. With the
advent of the Si range, Celestion also
launched the rather awkward SL12Si.
Effectively this was an SL6Si with
an extra bass unit and it sounded
muddled - to put it politely. Its not
the best representative of the SL
family and probably the only one
worth avoiding.

THE NEXT STEP

Launched just two years after
the SL6, the SL600 took speaker
technology to new heights. At a time
when most loudspeakers, including
the then current SL6, used chipboard,
the SL600 was fashioned from hightech aluminium Aerolam. As the
name suggests, this was a material
developed for the aeronautical world
and used an aluminium honeycomb
sandwiched between aluminium
sheets. Material costs were huge, and
accounted for the SL600s hefty price
tag of 700 a lot of money in the
early 80s.

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

13/3/07 10:50:32

OLDE WORLDE
It was worth it. The exceptionally
light cabinet was also particularly
rigid and free from colouration. To
provide suitable damping, the cabinet
was filled with layers of varied
densities of foam. The original Kobex
woofer and copper tweeter made
it across from the SL6 but, in this
case, they were hand selected. The
hardwired crossover was matched
to a specific tweeter, thus ensuring
correct alignment with the 21kHz
compensation network. Like the SL6,
the first SL600s used simple 4mm
speaker sockets making banana
plugs essential.
Unlike the SL6, the SL600 came
without a grill. This was because the
cabinet would lose rigidity if drilled
further for grill mounting points.
Yet, with its smart Nextel paintwork
and diecast metal faceplates, few
customers would want to cover
the SL600. Lets not forget, this was
seriously hi-tech stuff in 1984!
Celestion obviously received
complaints about its lack of grill,
as the next version, the SL600Si
featured one (cleverly attached to the
existing faceplate bolts). Skipping the
S improvements altogether, it was
only in 1988 when the SL600 got its
first upgrade. Like the SL6, the new
Si included a revised crossover with
biwiring and some cosmetic tidying
including a new, harder wearing, paint.
Interestingly, the SL600 never got
the aluminium tweeter or the dual
density woofer surround (they were
destined for the even posher SL700)
but perhaps this was no bad thing as
it meant that, for better or worse,
the SL600 never lost its original
character.

SOUND QUALITY
Celestion SL600s divided audiophile
opinion like few other loudspeakers
ever made. Detractors criticised
the sat upon sound, slow bass and
tragic efficiency, whereas supporters
loved their eerie transparency. Taking
the nay-sayers first, there is no
doubt that the SL600s are woefully
inefficient - 82dB rules them out for
use with many amplifiers. In addition
to this, they also tend to be system
and room fussy. They require plenty
of space from a rear wall and, believe
it or not, decent room temperature
that PVC woofer surround moves
very little when it gets cold! Against
modern speakers, bass can also
justifiably labelled as off the pace
or turgid. Yet, just before you write
them off, take a closer listen...
When properly set up and
matched with sympathetic ancillaries,
the SL600s produce a wonderfully
holographic soundstage that can rival
a Quad electrostatic for transparency.

Furthermore, theres a seamless flow

from bass to treble that, even today,
is impressive in its even-handedness.
That copper tweeter may have been
inefficient, but it suffered none of the
gritty and spiky characteristics that
many later aluminium domes suffered
from. Instead, it provided good detail
and, crucially, a level of upper mid
that enabled it to blend with the
woofer. Precise, subtle, seamless
and transparent: the SL600 was, and
perhaps more remarkably still is, all
of these.
Differences between the
standard and Si model are slight. The
treble has perhaps a touch more
detail, but theres not a lot in it. If
youre in the fortunate position to
bi-amp however, then the biwiring
terminals of the Si make it a musthave option. Incidentally, either pair
benefit from a pair of heavy 20-24
high stands. Whatever you do, though,
dont use top spikes, as these pierce
the delicate cabinets!
As with most speakers, tweaking
brings out some benefits in sound.
Probably the greatest difference
can be made by simply changing the
internal speaker cable. The standard
cable is not the best, and a decent
modern cable really opens the
sound up. If you do take this course,
do watch the tweeter, though. The
solder connection to it is fiddly and
a mistake could damage the unit.
Personally Id leave the crossover
and internal damping foam well
alone. However, if you dont mind the
odd looks, then removing the bass
faceplate is an easy way of improving
the imaging. Whilst youre there, dont
forget to tighten up the woofers
bolts. Like any speaker, these work

SECOND THOUGHTS
As eighties as red braces, Golf GTis and Filofaxes, the SL600s
haled from the days when loudspeakers were as characterful as a tipsy Boy George on the Parkinson Show. In 2007,
where so many boxes are well-honed variations on a theme
set many years ago, the original SL6s were a breath of fresh
air. Small two-way 'speakers with unusual styling, space-age
computer aided design work to their drive units and the first
copper dome tweeter ever, they were certainly different. The
82dB efficiency was outrageous even by the lowly standards
of the previous decade, meaning that only the likes of a Krell
could truly light them up. The SL600 added the high tech
metal cabinet, and made the SL6 package sound like no other
boxed loudspeaker around - by comparison, the likes of the
Acoustic Energy AE1 was boxy and wooden. Me, I hated the
SL600s and still do theyre far too Radio 3 for my tastes, but
several classical music lovers I know hold them in even higher
estimation than the Quad ESL57s and 63s they sold to buy their
SL600s. Different strokes for different folks, but Ill concede
this was a speaker that genuinely moved the game along and
radically transformed the eighties speaker scene. DP
speakers are extremely long lasting.
That PVC and Kobex woofer may
be inefficient, but boy does it last
well. The copper tweeter is similarly
robust. Its good to know that
the SL600s can still be serviced
- Celestion themselves no longer
support the model but there are
specialists such as DK Loudspeaker
Services (+44 (0)1708 447344) that
can help.
Apart from the drive units, the
main consideration when buying a
pair of SL600s is the cabinet. Whilst
Aerolam is very rigid, its also rather
soft. Dented cabinets arent unusual,
and are not something that can be
patched up with wood glue and
plastic wood! Small dents wont
affect the sound but anything larger
effectively relegates the speakers to
the role of parts donor. Cosmetically,

"a seriously engineered design that

radically transformed the eighties
speaker scene..."
loose after a while, and affect the
speed and impact of sound.

BUYING SECOND-HAND
Although far from universally loved,
the SL600s still have a cult following.
Unlike the SL6, prices for the SL600
are higher than you might expect for
a twenty year old design. Whereas
as little as 30 to 150 should find a
pair of working SL6s, you need more
like 200 to get hold of a pair of
the 600s and this would be for a
tatty pair. For a mint and boxed set
of SL600Sis, with grills and possibly
even stands you could be looking at
anything up to 500.
Although not cheap, these

the early SL600s mark very easily. My

own pair are covered in scratches
where careless guests have placed car
keys on the top. The Si version used
a much tougher paint, but it can still
be marked. The good news is that, if
cosmetic appearance concerns you,
they're easy to respray.
To sum up, if you enjoy a
transparent sound and have a fairly
powerful amplifier, then the SL600s
could suit you well. Find a pair in
good condition and theyll not only
sound surprisingly able for their age,
but also provide years more service.
You can also be rightly proud in the
fact that they truly dont make em
like this anymore!

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SHOW REPORT

Show Time

David Price and Adam Smith round up their faves from the Bristol Sound & Vision Show....
PIONEER
Pioneer were exhibiting a welcome return to two channel audio
with their new PD-D6-J SACD/CD
player along with the A-A6-J and
A-A9-J amplifiers. Combining
sleek styling with a wealth of
audiophile features, all items
were making some very promising noises through Pioneers own
TAD-branded loudspeakers.

QUAD
Quad were exhibiting their superb ESL-2905 loudspeakers using prototypes of their brand new II-Eighty
monoblock power amplifiers. Taking the already
superb II-Forty amplifiers as a starting point, the
new items increase the valve count and thus the
power output to 80 watts, more than enough for the
most demanding loudspeaker.
Interestingly, playing
a visitors requested
Robert Miles track,
this setup more
than disproved
the old notion that
electrostatics dont
do bass...
SPENDOR
Spendor were showing
samples of their new flagship loudspeakers, the ST-1s,
which they estimate will sell
for around 5,000. The ST-1s
feature brand new drive units,
housed in a stylish gloss black
cabinet which has a contrasting panel down the front. This
contrasting front panel will be
available in a wide variety of
finishes, including wood, leather and metal of differing types.

HENLEY DESIGNS
Henley Designs had a party atmosphere in their
room all weekend thanks to their lava lamps and
a certain individual mysteriously known only as
Billy the Fridge! Supplying suitable sounds were
two Pro-ject and Roksan based systems, one of
which was running the brand new Ortofon 2M
Blue moving magnet cartridge. Initial responses
were very positive from the Hi-Fi World team...

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how....

SHOW REPORT
NEAT
Neat Acoustics were demonstrating
their new Momentum 3i and 4i loudspeakers, the former being a standmounter that retails for 1,745 and the
latter a floorstander retailing at 2,695.
Both make use of isobaric bass loading
and the 4i is particularly interesting as
it uses two 6.5 inch bass units in this
configuration, and hidden from view.
Watch this space for a review...

ARCAM
One of the most interesting new
Arcam products for years was the
FMJ MS250 Music Server. 3,000 is a
lot to pay, but its a very sophisticated beast and with superb sound too!

REGA
Rega's resident vinyl boffin Terry
Batemans fingerprints are all over
the new Rega MC Stage - a full on
audiophile phono stage with highly
adjustable loading and sensitivity.
Rega also had their new Apheta
MC cartridge on show too...

LINN
About time too is what we say
- a brilliant evolution of the
Sondek! Some werent quite so
sure, but theres no doubting
the latest LP12 SE is tighter,
cleaner, faster and more modern sounding. Again, wait here
for the definitive review...

LEEMA
Following our rave
review of the baby
Xen a few months
back, it was interesting to hear a cheaper
evolution of them.
Diminutive, but with a
fantastically clean and
musical sound, they
could be one of the
best mini monitors on
sale when they hit the
shops next month...

ONKYO
Onkyo started life
as a speaker manufacturer, and the
D-TK10 - produced
in association with
high end guitar
specialist Takamine,
shows they havent
lost their touch.
Amazing sound
from tiny cabs,
but they do cost
$2,000...
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

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Faiza

Famous for the

legendary D200 power

amplifier, GamuT
now offers a superb
complete music system.

Copy for May issue.

Great
GamuT system

Best wishes
Jeremy

GamuT is one of the very few

companies that can offer a FULLY
"SORTED" SYSTEM with equally
high quality components in every
category in our opinion. Well,
maybe not just ours:
"As the audiophile press has
affirmed for several years now,
Gamut is on to something very,
very good." (JV Serinus, Stereophile)
GamuT's latest arrival, the CD3
CD player, completes a SUPERBLY
MUSICAL SYSTEM, everything in its
place and sounding "right".
"It has superb resolve of fine detail
a perfectly judged balance and
an irresistible ability to draw you
into the music." Hi-Fi Choice
GamuT have merged their excellent
D3 preamp with the legendary
D200 power amp (an earlier
Editor's Choice), making the Di150,
an impressively CAPABLE AND
TRANSPARENT integrated amp.
Hi-Fi Choice's view on the GamuT
Di150: "This is clearly a gorgeous
amplifier" another Editor's Choice.
GamuT make three speakers the
stand-mount L3 and two floorstanders all cut from the same
cloth and using superb drive units
such as the Revelator tweeter.
Comments on a GamuT system:
"The CD3, Di150, and L-7 just flatout worked for me. Music was alive
and filled with the little pleasures
that make you smile, nod, tap your
foot, or even boogie." (Stereophile)
Visit www.gamutaudio.com/reviews/
Customers say we make some of the
BEST SOUNDS they have ever heard, so you
know we can do the same in your home.
Our advice will take account of your best
components and guide you where change is
needed, in stages you can afford. You AVOID
EXPENSIVE MISTAKES, enjoy music along
the way and save money in the long run.

JUST LISTEN AND YOULL KNOW

01225 874728
or lo-call

0845 230 7570

CD: ACCUSTIC ARTS, BEL CANTO, dCS (ELGAR, DELIUS, PURCELL, VERDI, VERONA, P8I),
GAMUT, RESOLUTION AUDIO, STELLO, WADIA. VINYL: AESTHETICS, AVID, CLEARAUDIO,
DNM, GRAHAM, THE GROOVE, LEHMANN, MICHELL, ORIGIN LIVE, SUMIKO BLUE POINT
SPECIAL, TRANSFIGURATION. AMPLIFIERS: BEL CANTO, CAT, DK DESIGN, DNM, GAMUT,
HALCRO, HOVLAND, SONNETEER, STELLO. LOUDSPEAKERS: AUDIO PHYSIC, DALI, ETHOS,
GAMUT, NEAT, TOTEM. CABLES: CHORD CO., DNM, NORDOST, SILTECH, VERTEX AQ
MAINS Vertex AQ. SUPPORTS: ARCICI, STANDS UNIQUE, VERTEX AQ

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DIY FEATURE

Designing
Speakers
Part 6 Crossover Design

Crossovers are the bte noir of loudspeakers, but do they really cause more problems than
theyre worth? Peter Comeau explains...

f all the aspects of loudspeakers, Crossover

Design is possibly the
most contentious. Do
you stick with the First
Order brigade who
claim that anything else mucks up
the phase response, or do you join
the Fourth Order protagonists who
argue that drive units need to be
tightly bandwidth limited to avoid
acoustic distortion?
If you dont know what Im
talking about then dont worry, Im
about to explain all!

FIRST ORDER
First of all why do we need to
crossover at all? To see why, you
really need to have a listen to one
of the full range drive units that are
the fave rave of the DIY speaker
fraternity. Listen to a Fostex or a
Lowther in comparison to a two-way
speaker and youll be immediately
aware of the lack of bass power and
treble extension, as well as honky,
clappy, tubey, papery colorations in
some areas of the midband.
Now before I get a raft of
letters and e-mails from DIY speaker

builders I will own up to a liking for

full range drivers and their coherence
through the midband. But for most
listeners their colorations and
bandwidth limitations rule them out.
So why cant we make a full
range drive unit that really works
well? The problems lie in the physics
of turning electrical impulses from
your amplifier into acoustic energy
in the room. If you have read the
previous articles on enclosure
design you will have realised that,
to do a good job, bass units need
to be relatively large. This makes

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DIY FEATURE
Breakup modes are caused when the drive unit stops behaving like a
piston. Part of the diaphragm starts to move independently and this can be
audibly noticeable.
You can see the breakup modes as ripples in the frequency response that
match with those in the impedance graph.

Look at the graph and youll see a kink in the impedance

plot which matches the beginning of dips and peaks in
the frequency response at 600Hz.

By comparison a very stiff, cast magnesium cone stays

pistonic over a wide frequency range and pushes the
breakup modes higher in frequency. However the rigidity of the cone eventually results in a strong resonance at
5kHz. This resonance can be successfully dialled out by
clever crossover techniques.

diaphragms heavy and the large

dimensions narrow the area of sound
dispersion as frequencies get higher.
If you look at full range drive
units you will see that they have
lightweight diaphragms (which
restrict bass power and extension)
and emit high frequencies in a narrow
beam (so they have to be pointed
towards the listener).
Another problem is that drive
units do not maintain their pistonic
performance over a wide frequency
range. For a cone this means that,
although the whole drive unit
is moving at low frequencies, at
midrange frequencies the centre
portion of the cone starts moving
independently of the outside of the
cone, and at high frequencies only the
very centre of the cone is moving.
The behaviour as the cone
breaks up is part and parcel of
its acoustic character. Too many
breakup modes and you hear lots
of colorations. There again if there
is just one, severe, breakup mode it
can be clearly heard as a resonance.

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To avoid hearing the colorations

and distortions due to this less
than ideal drive unit behaviour we
should feed musical energy to drive
units over the useable part of their
frequency bandwidth.
So, for example, if we have an
18cm bass/midrange unit with a
relatively coloration free bandwidth
up to 2kHz then we can cross over
to a 25mm dome treble unit that
can do a much better job of driving
treble energy into the room from
2kHz upwards.

FIRST ORDER
So far so good. This is the basis of
the classic two-way loudspeaker. The
problem then becomes just how do
we cross over from one drive unit to
the other?
The simplest method is to use an
inductor in series with the bass unit
and a capacitor in series with the
treble unit. The inductor increases in
impedance as the frequencies rise,
resulting in less treble energy getting
through to the bass/midrange unit.

The capacitor increases in impedance

as the frequency drops, so less
midrange energy is fed to the treble
unit whilst all the high frequencies
are let through.
We call this a first order
crossover. It is the simplest, and the
easiest to manage, type of electrical
crossover and has many adherents.
Its two primary attractions are that it
is easy to experiment with and there
is no phase shift between the drivers
throughout the crossover region.
For these reasons many DIY
speaker builders stop there. They can
tinker with the values until they get
good performance just by listening
to the results. All you need are two
perfect drive units and a handful of
inductors and capacitors.
So why arent all speakers made
this way? Well the problem is that
there are very few perfect drive
units that meet all the first order
requirements. Look at the graphs and
youll see that the drive units have
to behave impeccably for at least
three octaves beyond the crossover
frequency. In other words unless they
are free from colorations, resonances
and distortions and have a smooth
frequency response over the majority
of the audio band you will not be
able to design a clean, transparent
sounding loudspeaker.
As for the attractions of linear
phase this demands that the drive
units maintain their frequency and
phase response for three octaves
beyond the crossover frequency.
Think about it. If you cross over at
2kHz your bass/midrange unit has to
have a bandwidth up to 16kHz. Even
worse your treble unit has to be
useable down to 250Hz!
Now drive units with this sort of
behaviour are few and far between.
The upshot is that using first order
crossovers with normal drive units
results in performance restrictions.
You may be aware of colorations
from the bass midrange unit through
the upper midrange and treble
region and you will certainly notice
distortion from the treble unit at
lower frequencies.
Furthermore if you can measure
the frequency response you will
find huge deviations from what the
theory tells you. This is because the
theory is based on the drive unit
having a linear impedance beyond
the crossover frequency. If you look
at a typical bass unit impedance you
will see that, due to the inductance
of the voice coil, the impedance
rises rapidly through the midrange.
This means that, in combination with
your series crossover inductor, the
impedance increases dramatically as
the frequency goes up. In fact it often

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DIY FEATURE
real-world drive units dont behave
like this and very often the combined
phase response of the electrical
output of the crossover and the
acoustic performance of the drive
unit result in phase discrepancies
which wreck the smooth crossover
we are aiming for.

THIRD ORDER
First order slopes are very gentle at just 6dB/Octave
attenuation below the crossover frequency. So the use
of first order crossovers requires exemplary drive units
with good behaviour over a very wide frequency range.

Phase response from first order filters is electrically

in perfect synchronisation (HF red, LF green). But the
phase response of real drive units will not be such a
good match.

goes up so fast that, in combination

with the falling response of the drive
unit, the resulting acoustic crossover
approximates to a third order slope!
Worse is to come with the
treble unit. Common sense dictates
that, in order to have a wide
bandwidth, we should choose a treble
unit with a very low fundamental
resonance (F0). But sling a series
capacitor in series with these types
of treble units and you will find that
the midrange output drops dramatically through the crossover region.
Its all because the electrical
crossover slopes are too shallow. To
compensate for the droop in at mid
to high frequencies from the treble
unit you lift its sensitivity and then
it sounds too bright in the treble
range. For these reasons it is easier
to work with real drive units using
higher order crossovers.

across the treble unit to shunt

away some of the midrange energy.
The overall result is a 12dB/Octave
electrical slope. So far, so good,
but the theory of second order
crossovers shows that the phase
shifts by 180 through the crossover
region. This means that we have to
reverse the connections to the treble
unit.
Now this would be all well and
good if we could maintain the phase
response of the bass unit and treble
unit either side of the crossover. But

Typically the use of second order

electrical crossovers combined with
the falling response and phase and
impedance characteristics of real
drive units results in a third order
acoustic performance. So it is best
that we concentrate our energies by
looking at the benefits a third order
crossover gives us.
Lets start with slopes. A third
order slope is 18dB/Octave so, at
last, we are starting to be able to
hide the out of band colorations
and distortions of our drive units.
Now we only have to make sure that
our drive units behave themselves
for little over an octave either side of
the crossover frequency!
Phase response is, in theory,
shifted by 90 through the crossover
region but this, as well see when we
start measuring real loudspeakers,
isnt the problem that it first appears
to be. Theoretically we need to add a
third element to each crossover leg
another series inductor leading to
the bass unit and a second capacitor
in series with the treble unit. You can
see that there is a block/shunt/block
action going on here which increases
the rate at which electrical energy is
filtered to the drive units.
However, as we have said, there
isnt always the need to add this third
element. For example the impedance
of many bass units rises so fast
above the crossover frequency that
they achieve a 6dB/Octave acoustic
slope naturally. Add this to the 12dB/

SECOND ORDER
The next step up from first order
is, of course, second order. Here we
add a second leg to each inductor
and capacitor. The series inductor
to the bass unit now has a capacitor
across the bass unit. This capacitor
shunts some of the treble energy
away from the drive unit (remember
a capacitors impedance falls as the
frequency gets higher).
Similarly there is an inductor

Diagrams of electrical 1st order, 2nd order, 3rd order and 4th
order crossover networks. These are theoretical electrical
crossovers. Practical circuits designed to work with real drive
units may differ from these, but the basic arrangement of the
components will remain the same.

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DIY FEATURE
Octave of a second order electrical
crossover and, bingo, there is your
third order acoustic crossover.
So you will often see what
initially looks like a mismatch of
second order and third order
crossovers in commercial speakers,
but bear in mind that you are only
looking at electrical slopes. It is the
final, acoustic slopes that we are
more interested in.

ACTIVE CROSSOVERS
From third order we can go on
adding elements to take us to
fourth order electrical crossovers,
but now things start to become
rather unmanageable. Imagine, if
you will, juggling the values of all
those elements to try and achieve
the desired acoustic crossover.
As you change the value of just
one component it can affect the
performance so much that you need
to adjust the values of all the other
components to balance the result.
It is difficult enough doing this
with third order crossovers. Adding
the complexity of a fourth element
in each leg is asking for trouble. In
addition, as the filter slope increases,
the ringing of the filter becomes
worse. Unless carefully managed this
affects the transient response and
adds hardness and sharpness to the
sound through the crossover region
which can become fatiguing.
Every time we add elements
to the crossover the reflected
impedance to the amplifier runs the
risk of looking worse. The swing of
capacitance to inductance through
the crossover region can upset even
the most well behaved amplifiers. So
it is in our interest to try and keep
the overall system impedance looking
fairly benign, otherwise the speakers
will sound very different in character
depending on the amplifier they are
partnered with.
For these reasons the role of
higher order crossovers is often kept
in the electronic domain. There is a
persuasive argument for coupling a
power amplifier to each drive unit
and putting the crossover in the
preamplifier section. To start with the
amplifier can control the drive unit
more accurately if it doesnt have the
impedance of the crossover in the
way. Then we can build a high slope
into an electronic crossover, with
fewer problems than attempting it
with passive components, and achieve
the desired acoustic response by
mapping the drive unit characteristics to the required filter slopes in
an active crossover design.
If speaker designers had their
way then I suspect that most
speakers would be active designs.

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But the complexity, and expense, of

adding an amplifier for each drive unit
and moving the crossover design into
the preamplifier are often beyond
the amateur designers capabilities.
Commercially it is something of a
non-starter as it moves the mix and
match approach that is typical of the
separates hi-fi market into a system
approach from each manufacturer.
That is why you are likely to find
successful active speakers only from
the system brands such as Bang &
Olufsen and Meridian.

CALCULATIONS
OK, so where are the calculations,
you know, the ones to select the
right values for our crossover
elements? Sorry to disappoint you,
but they dont exist! Yes, I know that
you can look up spreadsheets and
calculators that give you theoretical
values for a given crossover
frequency. But look at what they ask
you. What is the impedance of the
drive units?
Indeed, just what is the
impedance of the drive units? A bass
unit may be 8 Ohms at 250Hz but it
is likely to have an impedance of 22
Ohms at 1kHz. It is a variable, not a
fixed, impedance and your crossover
calculator cannot possibly take a
guess at the component values for an
impedance that varies with frequency.
So just how do you get started?
The old way, and for many the best
way, was to take the prototype

Then back into the chamber again to

find out what damage you had done
to the desired frequency response
and so on.
This process of iteration
between measurement and listening
is very time consuming, but it is a
path you have to follow if you want
to design accurate, clean, transparent
speakers. To do it by listening alone
is very, very frustrating as you really
dont know where you are in terms
of ironing out problems.

SHORTCUTS
Occasionally we see loudspeakers
come in for review that have, fairly
obviously, been designed by ear
without recourse to, or perhaps
ignoring, the requirements for
a smooth frequency response.
Generally they have one or two
problem areas which show up on
audition, perhaps a gap in the upper
midrange which leads to a dulled
presentation of detail or a peak in
the treble region that makes them
overbright.
Let me tell you it is much
easier to iron out all the frequency
response anomalies and then fine
tune the acoustic performance than
to just play it by ear.
Now this may be a
disappointment to you budding
speaker designers, but dont become
downhearted and give up yet. Next
month well look at ways that you
can use a computer to run your own

Combine a drive unit with a first order natural roll-off (green)

to a 2nd order crossover (blue) to achieve a 3rd order acoustic
crossover (red).

speaker into a measurement chamber

with a bucketful of crossover
components and start plugging in
values until the response looked
reasonable.
Then you took the prototype
speaker and crossover into the
listening room and fiddled about with
it until it sounded half reasonable.

measurements, and you dont even

need a measurement chamber!
We will also look at how you can
shortcut your crossover design to
cut the months of iteration between
measurement and listening.
Next month: Measurement
techniques

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WD Phono 3
W

DIY FEATURE

Part 5

Moving Coil Cartridge step-up Head amp or Transformer? Peter Comeau explores...

hen it comes down

to a choice of cartridge to play your
treasured vinyl, most
enthusiasts have no
doubt that the moving coil remains king.
To my ears the attributes of a
moving coil cartridge are greater
finesse and detail retrieval of
information from the groove and
superior presentation of the musical
performance. Now thats not to say
that there arent some great MM
cartridges out there, and I would
be happy to use many of them, but
I generally get a bigger buzz from
music relayed via a Moving Coil.
However, the downside is that
99% of the great and good MC
cartridges are low output. If you
dont know what that means, I am
talking about signal levels that are
scaled in microvolts.
Now we have a difficult enough
job amplifying the millivolt levels that
are generated by Moving Magnet
cartridges whilst avoiding noise and
distortion. But bringing MC cartridge
output up to the signal levels that a
preamplifier can handle is a tough job
indeed.

HEAD AMP OR TRANSFORMER?

When Moving Coil cartridges
were first introduced in the 50s
the classic method of matching
them to Phono preamplifiers was
to use a transformer. Many of
these transformers were based on
microphone transformer design
and were physically small. In fact
Ortofon, in their classic SPU-GT
cartridge, introduced a version with
transformers built into the cartridge
body.
You can imagine that many
of these transformers were not
optimised for the wide bandwidth,
highly dynamic signals that were
coming out of the cartridges. As a
result the MC step-up transformer
found itself with a bad name.
The 70s saw a raft of MC
cartridge head amplifiers appearing.
Typical head amp designs of this
period used multiple, parallel
transistors as the initial gain stage
in order to reduce impedance and
noise, and coupled this to high levels

of loop feedback to keep

distortion low. Some designers
opted for the use of high
power transistors, where the
larger junction area reduces
the base-emitter impedance,
to try and effect a better
match to the low impedance
of the Moving Coil cartridge.
Latterly the availability of very
low noise op-amp integrated
circuits has made the whole
design process simpler, though
not necessarily better!
In any case, having experimented over more than two
decades with all types of head
amp circuit designs, and having WDPhono3 prototype with MCT step-up transformers fitted.
tried most of the commercial
1:20 ratio, whereas if we connect
designs on the market, I have come
them in series we obtain lower gain
to one conclusion. There is nothing
from a 1:10 ratio. Which you choose
like a good transformer.
depends on your cartridge output.
OK, so a transformer is prone to
We can then adjust the matching
picking up hum from nearby power
impedance by selecting a secondary
supplies. But other than that it is
load.
totally noise free and, by choosing
For a transformer the impedance
the construction carefully, distortion
of the primary is equal to the
can be kept low too. As usual with
impedance of the secondary x n2 ,
transformers the bandwidth is
dependant on the mechanical design,
where n is the turns ratio. Typically a
but if cost is not restrictive then this
Moving Coil cartridge works well into
can be managed effectively.
a 50 Ohm or 100 Ohm load. If we do
the calculations based on 100 Ohms
then we will require a secondary load
LOAD MATCHING
of 10K Ohms for the 1:10 ratio of
The major advantage accruing to
the primaries in series. For the higher
a transformer as a step-up device
gain 1:20 ratio the secondary load
is that it matches the impedances
becomes 40K Ohms. If you prefer a
correctly. It also helps that the series
50 Ohm load for your cartridge then
self inductance of the generator coil
just halve the load resistances.
is matched to the inductance of the
All we have to do, now, is
transformer. A Moving Coil cartridge
to switch these values into our
is a very low impedance device,
WDPhono3 input circuit when we
typically 5 - 25 Ohms as a generator,
link up the step-up transformers.
so we really struggle when trying to
But we decided to go one better
design a transistor (or valve) circuit
than that. For WDPhono3 we have
to match the cartridge impedance for
integrated input switching relays so
efficient signal transfer.
that we can switch between two
Specify your transformer
inputs on the rear. These can easily
correctly, however, and you achieve
be designated MM and MC, with the
the ideal match between the phono
transformers fitted to the MC input.
amp and the load specified for the
The required load resistors are then
cartridge. As we are building the MC
connected to the secondaries of
transformer into the WDPhono3 we
the transformers and automatically
can easily provide the necessary load
switched in when the MC input is
matching.
chosen via the front panel switch.
For our MC transformer we
You can use WDPhono3 to switch
decided on using two primary
between two turntables if you want
coils with a 1:20 turns ratio to
to how cool is that?
the secondary. By connecting the
primaries in parallel we keep the
Next month: On Test
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KIT & COMPONENTS

KIT & COMPONENTS

SUPPLIERS
IPL ACOUSTICS,

BILLINGTON EXPORT LTD

Chelsea Villa, Torrs Park,

Ilfracombe, North Devon, EX34 8AY
Tel/Fax: 01271 867439
Please visit website for full catalogue of products:
www.iplacoustics.co.uk
IPL supply a range of 9 high quality transmission line
speaker kits and a full range of Hi Fi and AV speaker
kits including 2 powerful active subwoofers. Drive units
are available from Hi Vi research, Seas, Morel, Fountech
(Ribbon tweeters) and IPL custom built drivers.IPL also
supply;-quality crossover components, cabinet accessories,
including Silver plated PTFE insulated cables, and the very
highly rated
Alner-Hamblin Digital amplifier.

1E Gillmans Trading Estate

Billingshurst, West Sussex RH14 9EZ
Visitors by appointment only
Fax: 01403 783519
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.bel-tubes.co.uk
Guaranteed new/old stock valves for audio & industrial use
Vintage types including Mullard,
GEC, Telefunken & RCA. Large stocks of Chinese & Tesla.
Major stockists of the Billington Gold brand. Free catalogue
on request. Attractive prices on large orders.
Minimum order 100.00

NOTEWORTHY AUDIO LIMITED,

IMPACT AUDIO

36 Buckingham Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP20

2LH
Tel: 01296 422224
email: [email protected]
web: www.noteworthyaudio.co.uk
Suppliers of a selected range of audiophile valve kits and
components. Including the Stoetkit range of valve amplifiers,
Audio Note one times oversampling Dac Kit 1.1 and Lowther
drive units. Plus a range of components and accessories
from Eichmann, Furutech, Wonder Solder, Caig and many
more. For a list of the extensive range of manufactured
products and the special offers we stock please see our
website or call for details. We are open from 9.30 to 5.30
Tuesday to Saturday, with demonstration stock of our kits
available - please call in advance to book an audition.

Unit 102, The Courtyard

Radway Green Business Centre
Radway Green, Crewe,
Cheshire, CW2 5PR.
Tel : 01270 883243 Fax : 01270 882241
email : [email protected]
Website : www.impactaudio.co.uk
Main UK distributors of VISATON loudspeaker kits, drive units
and accessories. We offer over 35 professionally designed
kits from one of Europes leading manufacturers. Drive units
include the MHT 12 ribbon tweeter, TI 100 titanium cone
midrange and the new TIW range of high power woofers.
Contact us for a free catalogue or wisit our website for full
details.

Unit 14 Pier Road, Pembroke Dock,

Pembrokeshire, SA72 6TR
Tel: 01646 685601 Fax: 01646 685602
Web: www.audiocominternational.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Upgrade services available for all CD, SACD & DVD players.
With our latest products we are able to advance CD
playback way beyond what stock players are capable
of resolving. Our extensive knowledge base and upgrade
techniques make us world leaders in digital upgrades.
Various upgrade solutions are available to suit your budget
and desired performance.

COMPONENT SUPPLIERS
AUDIO SYNTHESIS
PO Box 50 Nottingham, NG9 1DX.
Tel. 01159 224138 Fax. 01159 229701.
Email [email protected].
Website www.audiosynthesis.co.uk
VISHAY BULK FOIL RESISTORS - unquestionably the world's
finest resistor for audio applications. Thousands of VSRJ
0.3W 300V 5ppm 1% values in stock at the lowest possible
prices eg. values up to 20K at 3.50+vat. HIGH PURITY
SILVERWIRE - Teflon insulated >99.99% purity, 0.6mm and
1.0mm diameter. Ideal for internal wiring, interconnects or
speaker cables.

AUDIOCOM INT. LTD

Unit 14 Pier Road, Pembroke Dock,
Pembrokeshire, SA72 6TR
Tel: 01646 685601 Fax: 01646 685602
Web: www.audiocominternational.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Extensive range of audio passives and active components
including DACT, Black Gate, Sanyo, Elna & Vishay. We are
the manufacturer and sole distributor for Superclock 3
master clock & Invisus discrete regulators. Visit our online
store for pricing and information. Secure online ordering
available.

LOUDSPEAKER KIT SUPPLIERS

ARENA ELECTRONICS LTD
59 Main Street, Great Gidding
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5NU
Tel: 01832 293320 Fax: 01832 293372
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.seas.co.uk
Arena Electronics was appointed official UK distributor for
SEAS high performance drive units in January 2006. We
offer the full range of SEAS drive units, designed and built
in Norway, together with speaker kits and advice for DIY
speaker builders. These include the World Designs WD25A
project, complete parts for which can be purchased on our
website including the cabinet kit.

98
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HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

WILMSLOW AUDIO
50 Main Street, Broughton
Astley, Leicester, LE9 6RD
Tel: 01455 286603 Fax: 01455 286605
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.wilmslowaudio.com
Contact us for a copy of our FREE Full Colour Catalogue or
visit our Website with secure online ordering.
The UKs largest supplier of loudspeaker kits, drive units and
components. We also have a range of subwoofer kits and
amplifier modules available. Official UK distributor for ATC,
Morel, Peerless, Scan-speak, Seas, Vifa and Volt. Beware of
imitations, we only stock drive units made by the genuine
manufacturers. We offer a full repair and upgrade service on
most makes of loudspeakers.

VALVE AND OUPUT

TRANSFORMER SUPPLIERS
CHELMER VALVE COMPANY LTD
The Stables, Baddow Park
Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex,
CM2 7SY
Tel: 01245 241300 Fax. 01245 241309.
Email: [email protected]
Web Site: www.chelmervalve.com
Premium range of audio valves, tested/selected for low
noise, hum, microphony; power valves burnt-in. Huge stock
of valves/tubes of all type, audio valves (inc. NOS types),
industrial etc. Also large stocks of semiconductor. Many
obsolete types.

MODIFICATION SERVICES
AUDIOCOM INT. LTD

REPAIRS & RESTORATION

AUDIO LABORATORIES (LEEDS)
3 Kildare Terrace Industrial Estate Leeds LS12 1DB UK
Tel/Fax +44 (0)113 2440378
The UK's Leading Service & Restoration Specialists.
Repairs/Restorations to Modern/Classic/Vintage valve
hi-fi, musical and cinema amplifiers, control units etc.
We will even build that kit for you or design something
special. Please visit our Website at:- www.audiolabs.
co.uk for complete details of our comprehensive services.
Alternatively, contact us at:-

ARKLESS ELECTRONICS.
Tel. 01670 829891
E-mail: [email protected]
Specialist in repairs, restoration and modifications to all
amplifiers, valve or solid state, ancient and modern. Design
service for companies and hobbyists. Amps, preamps,
phonostages, active crossovers, psu's etc custom built to
order. Kits built/debugged. Please enquire for
any other services. Ex design engineer for well known hi-fi
companies.

POWER SUPPLIES
PAUL HYNES DESIGN
Keld Cottage, Askham, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 2PG.
Tel: 01931 712822
Email: [email protected]
Website: paulhynesdesign.com
SLIM DEVICES SQUEEZEBOX ULTIMATE POWER SUPPLY
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Lightning fast transient response deals with high clock
speed load current transients reducing supply induced jitter
to very low levels.

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

20/3/07 10:17:21

MAIL

mail

Visit our website at www.hi-fiworld.co.uk or

send your e-mails to [email protected].
Letter of the month wins a pair of Precious
Metals interconnects and one year's FREE
subscription to Hi-Fi World.

Letter of the Month

MIXED UP
Firstly I must say, Hi-Fi World has been
coming up with some great articles that
are of real use to me at the moment, in
particular around the subject of directdrive turntables. I have been pondering
the matter myself for a while following
the theft of two Vestax PDX-2000
turntables, a Vestax PMC-25 mixer
(which was my pride and joy - I have
kind of replaced it with a PMC-250
which is something of a consolation),
a Nait 3 and a Marantz CD63 which
at the time served my needs spinning
tunes together and generally having a
ball. I should mention that since then
I have made myself a pair of Studio
Monitors from Wilmslow Audio with
upgraded tweeters, caps and wiring
which I am happy enough to live with
for the time being. However, I have
been suffering greatly with the sound
from an old Dual 505 and a Denon
combo thing that some friends passed
on to help me out; it works, but it is
definitely not music as I know it.
Now having accumulated a
reasonable sum of money, I am trying
to reconcile houseparty DJing with
budding audiophile tendencies kept
mainly in check previously by spending
far too much on music. My girlfriend is
getting sick of the sight of magazines
with photos of wires and things. The
article on the Vestax deck recently was
interesting but swung me away from
the brand to look at the alternatives.
A custom made Brinkmann Oasis with
added pitch control would be lovely but
sadly I am a nurse and not a footballer.
Ideas began to coalesce after
reading about the Origin Live mod to
allow a replacement arm onto SL1200s
and the more I have thought about it,
the more determined I have become
to follow this path, adding OL Silver
2s, SDS platters, some decent oil and
perhaps Isonote footers to provide
some basic isolation until I can afford to
address proper support furniture at a
later date.
You seem very keen on the
Goldring 1042 cartridge at the

Nicked! Two Vestax PDX-2000 turntables. How do you replace

them?
moment. I had been thinking about the
Reson Mica from previous experience.
How would you describe subjective
differences between the two and do
you think it would be enough to make
a comparison (and the extra outlay)
worthwhile? (I am not into backspins
and aggressive cutting; theyll be treated
with respect!). I am looking forward to
seeing what youve done with the power
cable, isolation pads and plinth - lots of
detail and pics please!
In terms of CD player, I am very
pleased with the sound of the EERA
DL1 player from France and think
that I will have one, though of course
thinking about spending so much on a
format that seems to be in decline does
make me wince (just a bit...). Also, do
you know of any shops in the London
area that sell the Vincents? I have sent
an e-mail to Ruark but not received a
reply so far. I have been struggling to
come to a conclusion about amplification and Im looking at a budget of
1.5k or thereabouts. I have thought
about going back to Naim and have
listened to a Musical Fidelity A5 which
sounded pretty okay, but wasnt entirely
convinced by build or looks. I have to
say that I have been rather tantalised
by Adams glowing review of the Vincent

monoblocks, they certainly seem to

cover my preference for controlled, deep
bass, power and sweeter upper-bands,
as I could really do without the sonic
gritting I get every time with the current
combo. No real comments about build
quality or reliability though?
I had been thinking about an
integrated amp at first but then figure I
could afford something like the Vincents
if I use the Vestax as a pre/control. I
kind of know that this is the weakest
link amongst the other gear and am
wondering, firstly, whether I am being
completely mad and, secondly, what can
be done to maximise its performance?
The most obvious place (to me) to start
is at its power supply, a wall-wart job
with a very weedy detachable cord,
so Im wondering if you know of any
engineers who might be able to replace
this with a more robust arrangement
and perhaps also have enough
knowledge to take a look around inside
to see if there are components that
could be upgraded to beef things up?
Close proximity to London would be a
great benefit.
I had also (in a daydream)
wondered if any benefit could be had
from converting the mixer to run off
12V batteries? Is that a straightforward

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MAIL
thing or what issues hinder it? Any
advice respectfully received, hope you
can help in some way,
Gareth Richards
Upgrading the Technics as you
suggest is a fine idea and would
definitely improve your audio quality.
However, if your houseparty DJ-ing is
carried out at places other than your
home, it might be worth considering
a couple of standard Technics or
Vestax decks for this purpose and
then have a dedicated hi-fi deck at
home. This is the route I have taken,
and there is a lot to be said for not

seem an ideal candidate for some

upgraded internal wiring, ALPS pots
and posh capacitors. Equally, a power
supply upgrade would only bring
improvements but I am not entirely
convinced that battery power is
strictly necessary. I have visions of
you lugging a car battery around to
parties with you, which would not
exactly make life easy! AS
Gareth - I have had problems with
the Technics SL1200 project plinth
fabrication, so the feature has been
delayed. Regardless of the plinth
situation, I will soon be running the

Technics SL1210 - one alternative to the Vestax for home and DJ

use.
having to worry unduly about a pint
being spilt over my SL1210 or PDXA1, whereas if either were my main
deck, I would be more concerned! I
have not personally heard the Reson
Mica cartridge, but the Goldring 1042
is a superb unit for a similar price
- an audition would be mandatory
here.
The Vincent SA-T1 and SP-T100
amplifiers are a superb combo that
impressed me considerably and are
well worth seeking out. It might be
a good idea to give Ruark a ring
on 01702 601410 if theyre not
answering their e-mails too promptly.
The Vestax mixer is a well made unit
that should perform respectably well
in a hi-fi system, but the dedicated
Vincent preamp will be much better.
Obviously it is difficult for us to
comment on equipments longterm longevity as it generally passes
through our hands fairly quickly,
but the Vincents are very solidly
made and weighty - if their internal
construction is anywhere near as
good as their externals, then you
should have no worries.
Interestingly, the idea of
modifying a mixer for better sound
performance is something that
has crossed my mind before, with
internal components and controls
prime targets for upgrading. If my
addled brain serves me correctly, the
Vestax PMC-250 has rotary controls
rather than sliders and so this would

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SL1200 with heavily tweaked Rega

arm, Isoplatmat and the latest Isonote
feet, and will be reporting in due
course. DP

CRACKING THE DECODE

March Hi-Fi Worlds article on GT
Audios Leak Troughline updating to
stereo using a modern Decoder was
of interest. I think youll find that One
Thing Audios Decoder blows Graham
Trickers away, and including realignment
at about half the cost! Am I right to
think that if the decoder is fitted inside
the Troughline, the sound quality and
separation would suffer due to heat
stress? Would it not be much better to
use the One Thing decoder in its own
external case? You could then use the
same decoder with more than one tuner.
Perhaps you could bring this matter

to the attention of your many readers

who still rate FM Radio as one of the
finest of sources.
Mike Rodway.
Hmm! Your letter sounds like a
disguised Press Release of the
unsubtle kind Mike. All the same, a
One Thing decoder did arrive at Hi-Fi
World towers recently and is awaiting
our reverent attentions. We will likely
have a review of it in the next issue.
NK

CARTRIDGE CONUNDRUM
Im in a quandary! Some time ago my
now retired bank manager, a generous
hi-fi fan, gave me an Entre moving coil
cartridge (Graham, If you see this, please
feel free to contact me and we can
resume our chats about hi-fi). Although
Ive been unable to find out much about
it, Im led to believe that in its day, it
was a reasonably expensive and good
piece of kit. Once fitted it was obviously
superior to the Rega MM cartridge
it replaced and Ive been very happy
with its performance, but I will need to
replace it in the not too distant future
and the question is, with what?
Have I been horribly spoiled and
need to spend 500 plus (which I
cant afford) to match its performance,
or have times moved on and a less
expensive replacement may be in order?
I listen to a lot of accessible jazz such
as Dave Grusin, Jaco Pastorius, George
Duke and other quite musically complex
material including Joni Mitchell, Steely
Dan, Tears for fears and Little Feat. To
be honest I cant really justify spending
more than around 100 and I realise
(unless I can pick up another used one)
my choice will be limited.
My present number one system
comprises; Rega Planar 3, RB300 with
Michell TecnoWeight conversion, Audiolab
8000A amp (and its MC input) into MS
208s via VDH the Clearwater cable.
Digital is provided by Arcam Alpha Plus
and Arcam Delta Black Box.
Also another question, is there a
direct link to the love of motorcycles and
hi-fi? Ive seen several references to bikes

Leak Troughline goes stereo with the One Thing external

decoder. But is it better than GT Audio's?

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15/3/07 14:19:10

MAIL
in your magazine and mail my friends
who like hi-fi but also own bikes (I ride a
ZZR 1100).
Terry Symonds
Used cartridges are something of a
minefield, Terry, as you can never be
sure exactly how many hours the
stylus has under it, or what sort of
conditions the records that is has
played were in. For your 100 budget,
the immediate candidates that spring
to mind are the new Ortofon Tango
and Denon DL103 if you really want
another MC, or if you dont mind
going back to the MM stable, we

Chris Frankland, ex-editor/publisher

of Hi-Fi Review, who went on to
launch International Motorcyling
Review (if I remember rightly), to our
very own publisher Noel Keywood
who, a few years back, could be seen
shredding the Westminster tarmac
on his Triumph Thunderbird Sport!
Much as I love cars (and still have
the Triumph, Rover, Jaguar and Lotus
bits in my shed to prove it!), I think
bikes are truly special, as is hi-fi. The
'better half' of Graham Tricker (of GT
Audio fame) may disagree though, as
he recently had a nasty 'off', parting
company from his motorised steed
at high speed. I bet he's had worse
shocks from valve amps though... DP

FORUM OR AGAINST EM?

For 100 or so try a Tango,,

a good budget moving coil
cartridge.
have all been extremely impressed by
the Goldring 1012GX.
Although I have not heard an
Entre MC, I agree with you in that it
was supposed to be a rather good
item in its day and, consequently, I
suspect you would have to move up
the price scale to around 300 and
splash out on the likes of an Ortofon
Rondo Red or an Audio Technica
AT-OC9MLII to improve on it. The
helpful chappies at Needles and
Spins (www.needles-and-spins.co.uk;
+44(0)115 877 0781), Musonic (www.
musonic.co.uk; +44(0)208 950 5151)
or Mantra Audio (www.mantra-audio.
co.uk; +44 (0)1757 288652) stock
these, plus more besides. AS
Motorcycles arent an unknown
means of transport in the hi-fi world.
I regret my biking days are over, at
least for the time being, as scootering
around London makes more sense.
Boo hoo! But every time I see
the lovely Triumph 675 Im sorely
tempted. NK
Having owned over thirty
motorcycles myself in my younger
days, from Honda mopeds to big
BMWs, I'd say that yes, there's a
curious cosmic connection. There are
loads of spooky coincidences, from

Although a subscriber, this is my first

letter to you, so I hope this doesnt
ramble on too much. My reason for
writing is Dominic Todds column and
Davids comments in Letters, both in the
Jan 2007 issue. Dominics thoughts on
the extreme views on forums echoed
my own, as I had recently signed up
to a forum very close to you and had
started posting replies to some threads.
I suppose I thought these forums would
be made up of erudite enthusiasts
(more House of Lords than House of
Commons) where I would learn insights
and tips to enhance my system and
discover the meaning of life. I really
was rather excited! However, what I
discovered was a bunch of overgrown
schoolchildren shouting about how great
their systems were!
I have to own up. I have a Lingod
LP12 which I had upgraded with
a Hadcock 242 and Music Maker
cartridge. Well, as this wasnt a Garrard
301/401 it was rubbish. I defended my
deck as I am attached to it and dont
feel the urge to spend more money on
a different but not necessarily better
sound. When I stated that I didnt want
to rush out and replace it with an idler
drive, tuts all round. After admitting
that I had heard the arm and cartridge
on a Michell Gyro with Orbe updates
and didnt hear any difference to mine
that was it! Impaired hearing and the
taste of a Big Brother contestant! A bit
depressing really.
On to the Cartridge Man
Musicmaker. David said it didnt do it
for him. I was jumping up and down
in agreement. Its very fine but in my
system just seemed boring and the
vocals appeared recessed. My system
is a Croft Epoch pre, VTL ST85 power
(EL34s) and Monitor Audio Studio 20s
so you would expect a bit of boogie. I
restored my old Denon DL304 (do you
hate these as much as the DL103s?)
and bought an MC step up from
Noteworthy Audio to use with the Croft
MM stage. Brilliant! Until I played

around with the cantilever and killed it.

This letter was going to be what
cartridge should I buy next? I put
the Music Maker back on but it
sounds different. The bass is stronger,
instruments more natural, especially
acoustic, and vocals fine. I dont know
if I have set it up better but it is a
marked improvement. I miss the brightly
lit midband of the Denon but not the
increased surface noise. It now boogies!
I still wonder about a new cartridge but
only because like wine tasting I want to
see if there is anything better.
As a final piece, having read
comments by Noel, I rewired my
listening room which was a necessity
not an experiment, with 4mm twin
and earth from RS Components (6mm
wont fit in to MK sockets). As I had a
lot of cable left over and was bored one
afternoon, I swapped my van den Hul
CS122 speaker cable for the twin and
earth. I havent changed back. I use
vdH interconnects which Ive kept after
substituting different makes so this is
down to what works in my system as
opposed to better etc. Makes you think,
doesnt it?
Really finally! Are you going to be
testing the new SE mods for the Linn
LP12? They seem very pricey. Thanks for
a fun and stimulating mag.
Steven Slawthe
Ah the good old forums - I must
confess to spending more time than
is probably good for me perusing a
few of these and I have always felt
that most should be viewed chiefly
as a source of entertainment that
occasionally turns up some very
useful snippets, rather than being a
plethora of accurate information!
Remember that if you like your
equipment, then what business is it
of anyone else to cast aspersions on
what you have? Certainly the LP12 is
a fine deck and whether it is better
or worse than the Garrard 301/401
is a matter of personal opinion.
Whilst, as a 301 owner, my allegiance
is clear, it is worth remembering
that the LP12 is second only to
the Technics SL1200 in terms of
production longevity, so it is certainly
no duffer.
I have experienced a similar
cartridge situation to yours a couple
of years back when I stumbled
across a secondhand AT33 moving
coil. On first trying it, I found it to
be harsh, spitty and fairly unpleasant
and it went straight back into its
box. Moving forward a year or so
brought along a house move and my
equipment set up in a new room - all
sounding fine with the exception of
the turntable which sounded dull
and lifeless. After checking setup
for the umpteenth time I suddenly

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Linn LP12 - a great turntable that improved even further recently

with a whole series of upgrades.
remembered that little box. Needless
to say the AT33 injected just the
right amount of verve into the setup
and found itself being used for a good
year or so until an AT-OC9 came
along and made everything rather
more sophisticated. By all means
try out a few other cartridges, but
beware of change for changes sake,
especially if you find you have taken a
liking to the Music Maker. AS
Hi Steve. We like the LP12 and have
nothing against belt drives either,
which generally sound clean and
spacious. The Garrard 401 I use is
simply very convenient, is a firm
platform that can accept any arm
and has a pacy and grippy sound with
great - almost breathless - timing,
plus deep bass. I suspect, however,
that a good Direct Drive could
manage as well, or perhaps better.
Also, the 401 isnt perfect; it has a
slightly grey midband, and here the
LP12 is superior.
I feel pickup arms remain
grossly misunderstood design-wise
and that there is a long way to go
here. The only starting point would
be some sort of computer based
structural analysis to see whether
current structures and materials are
sensible. I suspect they are not - and
our measurements tend to bear
this out. A good arm will provide
better results overall, so as better
arm designs come through, as I am
sure they will, this will be the largest
determinant of sound quality..
We dont hate the Denon DL103
moving coil cartridge either! Its
good enough at the (low) price and
has a strong following. Measurement
showed it is a great tracker too.
All the same, I feel there are better
experiences to be had at the

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price, preferring Goldring MMs, for

example. Put a 1012GX, 1022GX or
1042 in a Rega RB300 and you have
a great combo. at an affordable price,
that has real verve. NK
I'm for 'em! There's nothing wrong
with anyone having 'the oxygen of
publicity', as Mrs T once famously
put it - it's just that you have to use
your brain and suspend disbelief
when you read some people's posts.

DL103

forum posts are quite aggressive for example, blithely dismissing your
use of an LP12 and implying you
must be stupid for owning one. Well
I've heard a good number of great
turntables, and for some types of
music I've still never heard anything
better. In other instances, I wouldn't
touch it with a bargepole, but my
point is that if I was a full-on jazz fan,
for example, I'd be running one now
and not a GyroDec and/or Pioneer
PL-L1000. The longer I do this job,
the harder I find it to laugh derisively
at other peoples' systems - generally
enthusiasts have evolved their set-ups
into something that does it for them.
Forum-goers, I would argue, often
have a more simplistic and less three
dimensional view of life...
As for your cartridge, I am
afraid the MusicMaker didn't float
my boat. I must confess that (like
Noel) I'm a fan of the subtlety and
insight a serious moving coil can
bring. Moving magnets such as the
MusicMaker are just too veiled in the
treble and opaque in the midband for
my tastes, although it is excellent in
other respects, as its name suggests!
I personally would go for an Ortofon
Rondo Bronze (500) which will give
you the clarity and bite of the Denon
304 with a good deal more finesse.
It is slightly less warm though, but
your Linn LP12 should add a little

DL103R

Denon DL103 and DL103R - fine moving coil value at 99 and

199 respectively.
First, who is likely to be posting on
forums? Casual observers, middle-ofthe-road folk, people with very wide
experience of hi-fi? Or opinionated,
tendentious zealots? Well, you never
know. I would politely suggest that
most denizens of hi-fi forums have
an extreme interest or passion for
the subject, and this may 'colour'
their views. The operative word is
'may' as this could also make them
exceptionally well informed. For
example, some of our readers' letters
show stunning insight and experience,
others something of a misunderstanding of the topic - and you just
never know.
The other point is that many

welcome colour!
The LP12SE mods will be done
in full, very soon. Rest assured we'll
be handling the subject with love and
affection for the Sondek, and not just
looking for a chance to deride it! At
the Bristol show, my first impressions
were wholly positive, although there
were some there who rather missed
the 'romance' of the old deck. We'll
see! DP

SPEAKING BRIEFLY
Just a very quick question: did your
magazine ever do a test of the B&W
803D loudspeakers and, if so, what were
your experiences of them?
Raymond Van Rompaey

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B&W 803D - now with

diamond tweeter.
Raymond, we have not covered this
particular model. That said, I did
spend a while with a pair of prediamond tweeter 803s and liked
them - they had the typical B&W
qualities of accuracy, good detail
and bass depth and I would imagine
that the diamond tweeter will only
improve on this. It is difficult to
comment on whether you will like
them, however, without knowing your
musical preferences and the rest of
your system. AS
We've only done the B&W 801D so
far, and I chose to review this above
the 803D for the former's massive
15" bass driver (the 803D uses three
7" cones in parallel). I've heard the
803D sound very impressive, with
a clean, measured, detailed monitor
sound, but personally, the 801D did
something that the '3 didn't - which
is to move air with effortless grunt. It
is truly charismatic in the best sense
of the word, and the best B&W
speaker I've yet heard. DP

INDEXING
I am currently re-reading my collection
of hi-fi magazines, with the claimed goal
of making an index of the articles I have
found useful/of interest in order to be
able to quickly find them again. In fact, I
am suspicious that this is just a pretext
as I enjoy reading the magazines again!
However, re-reading articles from
different magazines over a long period
(15 years) has made me aware of some
general tendencies:
- a piece of equipment doesnt need
to measure well in order to deliver the
goods
- the revival of vinyl and valves
- the boom of what was in the past
considered as secondary accessories
(if ever) such as cables, mains filters,

connectors, add-on power supplies etc.

- the loudspeakers set-up concept
- followed by the turntable set-up
concept, followed by the arm/ cartridge
set-up concept, etc.
- as opposed to the above the listening
room acoustics concept has made a
more timid appearance
- the concept of synergy when
assembling two or more components
- the use of French words or expressions
in English audio-related literature is also
relatively recent. It has started first in
the US, then appeared on the internet,
and finally reached the UK hardcopy
press too. As with any trendy fashion it
is sometimes misused and/or misspelt
(i.e. faites accompli in HFW June 2006,
p68)
An obvious conclusion is that hi-fi is
definitively an industry and that the hi-fi
magazines reflect it. After all the press
is an industry too, and a big market,
especially for cable manufacturers. As
far as HFW is concerned, I have noticed
a net improvement since the DP/NK
editorship in general and that the word
couth has made a very new but oftenused appearance as an adjective in the
reviews. I also feel that maybe I need
to start a special index DP and the
NS1000! Overall HFW would be my
hi-fi mag. of choice if I had to read but
one. In particular, the editorial tone, the
articles on a theme, the comparisons
between old and new, the Mail and
the DIY sections are what makes your
magazine far above the others. However,
I would like to add my contributions to
some audio-related topics if I may:
(1) Vinyl vs. CD vs. master tapes:
generally, people are comparing apples
and oranges. There is not one master
tape - there is the master tape for vinyl,
another one for CD and sometimes
a third one for radio. The first aim of
mastering is to adapt the final mix to
the medium the work will be released
on. If an album has to be released
on vinyl and on CD there will be two
different master tapes (or digital files)
created. If tracks X and Y have to go
on air for promotion there will a third
master made for tracks X and Y.
It is therefore in general irrelevant
to compare a vinyl to a CD as the latter
has been made using either the record
as the master (the worst case) or the
master tape (mastered for vinyl). Only
when the mastering has been done
using the final mix has the CD a chance.
For reference: The Who 'Live at
Leeds' on vinyl (1970), on CD (1987),
on remastered CD (1995) and on
remixed and remastered CD (2001). As
the CD versions are improving with time
I guess that the 1987 version used the
vinyl as the master, the 1995 version
very likely used the vinyl master tapes
and the 2001 version obviously used the

original tapes since it has been remixed.

I am not comparing analogue vs.
digital playback, I am just trying to point
out that a huge amount of CDs had
been made using a masters custommade for vinyl and therefore are flawed
from the start from a sonic point of
view.
(2) DP and the NS1000: apart from the
fact that you need to keep your Yams
intact as it serves you as a reviewing
tool, have you ever considered driving
them multi-amplified? Lets say with the
NuForce for the bass and your modded
WAD for the medium and treble? A
second-hand computer (you dont need
great speed for the purpose) equipped
with a 4-output soundcard and some
audio software is all you need to make
a digital crossover and it is easier to
do and cheaper than to build a WAD
kit! On the other hand you can use a
Behringer DCX2496, just ask AG to
rebuild the power supply as the stock
one is hopeless.
(3) CV and speakers using tuned
cabinets: besides the Waterfall, Eclipse
and Bsendorfer please have a listen
to models from Ocellia (www.ocellia.
com), OSH (www.osh-antimis.com) and
Auditorium23 (www.auditorium23.de).

Ocellia Calliope loudspeakers

- reviewer Channa should have
a listen, says reader
Jean-Christophe Xerri.
Not only do they make use of tuned
cabinets and they sound natural but
also they are very efficient, crossoverless
and just love low-powered valve amps
(dont forget to invite NK!).
Finally, there are a couple of topics
I would like to read on: firstly a mainsisolated system. There are already
turntables, phono preamps, portable
digital recorders, computers, DACs, line
preamps (and TVCs), integrated amps
with battery-powered PS. Why not
building an entire system free from the
noisy mains corruption?

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a pot plant on top of
them. Hi-fi is an immensely
rewarding pastime, but is
not really a fit-and-forget
activity, especially if you like
those valves and vinyl!
As to the use of French,
I suspect that, deep-down,
we feel it confers a sense of
the exotic and mysterious
upon us when we use it.
Of course, slipping into the
realms of Del-Boy Trotter
is always a danger, so we
shall have to monitor these
more closely in future.
Mangetout!
AS

was inarguably perfect, remember?

Early CDs were flawed for a
variety of reasons. Engineers were
told CD had 96dB dynamic range, but
that they must not run into overload
at the mastering stage (digital has
a strict headroom limit). So music
was transcribed at a low level, in
the belief that 96dB gave more than
enough headway. What few realised
was that digital was only perfect at
full level; at low levels it was very
imperfect, distorting heavily in a way
LP had never done. This greyed and
coarsened the sound of early CD.
This behaviour, as well as poor A/D
convertors and jitter, hampered
sound quality. Modern recordings
are a lot better all the way along the
signal chain and you can hear it. It is
certainly the case that LPs and CDs
are usually from different master
tapes and therefore not directly
comparable, but I compare them in
any case! Its always interesting.
The issue of measurement is
a little complex. Yes, products that
measure badly can sound good,
but that really depends upon what
it is that measures badly. Not all
measurements say much about
sound quality, channel separation
being one; much above 23dB is good
enough for us

Au contraire Rodney
- I mean Adam!
Sometimes we need
to use French to
describe situations or
sensations for which
Yamaha NS1000 (again!) - benefit immensely from a set of
adjectives or phrases
custom-made stands.
don't exist in English.
No excuse for the
odd typo admittedly, but using foreign
Secondly, digital room correction. There
words is accepted English practice,
are already existing products (Lyngdorf,
and useful too - as anyone who's
Tact, DEXQ) as well as DIY attempts
ever tried to describe dj vu in
on the net that do not cost an arm and
English will know!
a leg. Wouldnt it be a good thing to
As for the Yamaha NS1000Ms
experiment what the mixing engineer
and myself, I now realise I have
attempted to do without transforming
spawned a monster. I use
our listening room (which is also the
them because I've yet to
family living room for most of us) into
hear more transparent
a studio suite spoilt with absorbers,
loudspeakers (from any
diffusers and Helmholtz resonators?
era), but I admit they are
Thats enough for now. Keep up the
flawed in some ways (like
good work!
every other speaker). The
Jean-Christophe Xerri
trouble is, after twenty years
in the wilderness (in this
Hmm, I am not entirely sure that
country at least), it appears
it is true that a piece of equipment
that every single Englishdoes not need to measure well in
speaking NS1000 owner in the
order to sound good. Very often any
world picked up on me using
irregularities in measurement can
them and decided to write in.
indeed be heard but the important
Apologies for this, as I realise
point is whether their resulting
it is terminally dull for noneffects are objectionable or fairly
NS1000 owners - maybe we
benign. Ultimately, however, we do
CD and LP come from different masshould introduce a ban, like the ter tapes, so they cannot be comtend to find that the best-sounding
French once tried with English pared. Heaven Seventeen's 'Luxury
equipment that we audition does
words in la langue franaise!
indeed measure fairly well as well.
Gap' CD demonstrated what happens
Given what I've just said, I shall
Just to confuse things even further
when you use the same master, in this
not divulge my plans to run my
however, we do sometimes find that
case the LP cutting master.
Yams with Marantz electronic
a set of good measurements do not
crossovers... DP
necessarily guarantee a good sound...
to perceive stereo. Distortion is
I dont think anyone could have
another controversial one: second
predicted fifteen years ago how some There were some glorious examples
harmonic distortion (a signal at
aspects of the current audio industry,
of CDs being derived from LP cutting
twice the frequency of the stimulus)
such as valves and vinyl, would have
masters, Heaven Seventeens Luxury
developed. Others, such as proper
Gap being a classic example. But I am is also subjectively innocuous. Third
harmonic adds sharpness, but at low
setup, system synergy and suitable
not aware this was ever a common
levels gives the sound incision and
accessories, seem to be a natural
practice/ mistake. Quite the reverse
a hard edged quality that some like,
progression to me and I am surprised in fact: the recording business was
as it seems to 'sharpen things up'.
that it took so long for someone
excited by the introduction of CD
Much above this however and the
to realise that the best place to site
and the lack of any need to derive a
ear starts to hear distortion not as
their loudspeakers was not actually
special cutting master, due to CDs
a change in quality of the music, but
plonked down beside the sofa with
intrinsic accuracy. Back then, digital

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roots are West Germanic (who said
hi-fi is confusing?). Start worrying
when we turn to Gaelic. NK
Go raibh maith agat ar do litir. SM

HEADING NORTH

Hitachi HMA-7500 amplifier - measured perfectly back in 1979,

but didn't sound that way.
as a separate interfering signal. Then
there's the modulation pattern of the
distortion, or whether it is correlated
with the music.
Cartridge mistracking is
interesting is an illustrative example;
just before mistracking a pickup
cartridge produces lots of distortion,
but it isn't heard as such. As soon as
the stylus lets go, the signal starts
to take on a modulation pattern as
higher harmonics join lower ones
(that characteristic zzz... zzz) and this
the ear hears immediately. Digital
distortion is often uncorrelated with
the music and possesses components
that may be of fifteen times higher
frequency than the stimulus; the ear
detects this as something totally
removed from the music, as greyness,
hash, hardness and what have you. So
there's distortion - and distortion!
Some is innocuous, like 5% second
harmonic, but some is not, like 1%
digital quantisation distortion. So
products can measure badly, but
sound quite good all the same.
The converse is more difficult
to explain: products that measure
well and sound bad. This is where
argument breaks out! My oft
quoted example was one of the first
MOSFET amplifiers, launched in the
late 1970s, the Hitachi HMA-7500.
This was distortion-free, even at high
frequencies, and measured perfectly
in every other respect, yet there was
no sound quality benefit. The reverse
in fact: it had a peculiarly unengaging
sound, characterised by a lack of
stage depth and a slightly opaque
quality. It was lifeless and unengaging
to listen to; one reviewer said
amplifiers like this sounded "boring"
and, in a nutshell, he was right. Yet it
measured perfectly, so here was a
total contradiction. Why?
Many people have put forward
reasons, but to this day I am unaware
of any measurable proof. Some
amplifiers today, often based around
MOSFETs, still measure perfectly and
yet seem to benefit little, if at all, in
sound quality. The general suspicion
is that excessive feedback is the
culprit, and, in the case of the HMA7500, poor 1970s component quality.

These days component quality has

improved and so has sound quality,
but still it is difficult to measure any
difference between then and now,
so what the ear is hearing, heaven
knows! Thankfully, this situation,
where a product measures perfectly
but doesn't necessarily sound so
good, mainly affects amplifiers and
we just have to live with it. It doesn't
negate the value of measurement, but
it does suggest that with amplifiers
the measurements we use are best
at determining general operability
rather than ultimate sound quality.
Unfortunately, whilst this contradiction between measurement and
sound quality exists with amplifiers
there will always be room for
argument, the most common being
that our subjective assessment is
flawed, not the amplifier. If this was
the case then an awful lot of people
around the world are deluded. All the
same, at Hi-Fi World we endeavour
to have more than one person listen
to a product, often under different
circumstances and always without
prior discussion, to ensure there is
consistency of view.
Generalising then, if a product
measures well then there is a
good chance it will sound at
least respectable. If it measures
badly then the reason why is the
issue when it comes to influence
upon sound quality. In this case
measurement usefully warns that
sound quality traits are due to
measured imperfection, avoiding
the unfortunate situation where a
reviewer hears the effect, likes it and
declares the product a winner. Doh!
What studio engineers do with
equalisers and all the other gadgets
they have available to them nowadays
is a little different to improving
room acoustics. We recommend
more sumptuous furniture rather
than treatment panels, although
Studiospares have a good range of
all those ugly things you list that can
help. Helmholz resonators? Try a tall
bookcase in a corner - much more
effective.
Hasn't French always been a part
of English, even if Wikipedia says our

I have read and subscribed to Hi-Fi

World since issue 14 and I admire
your comments on hi-fi as we both
think very much along the same lines.
I, like yourself, purchased a brand new
Garrard 401 turntable in 1970 which I
fitted into a Howland West plinth with
a Neat G30B tonearm and a Shure
M75ED cartridge. This was amplified
by my first amplifier which was a 45W
(RMS) Nikko TRM1200 and it fed a
pair of Wharfedale Unit 5 kit speakers
(3 way units with a 12in bass driver).
In 1976 I upgraded the arm to an Acos
Lustre GST1 and in 1981 the cartridge
was changed to a Goldring G900 IGC.
The rest of my system was upgraded to
a top end Rotel 1010 setup complete
with tuner, tape deck, 100W pre/
power amps., complete with a spectrum
analyser with an on-board pink noise
generator, condenser mic. and a
matching graphic equaliser to control it,
all housed in its matching metallic brown
and glass cabinet. Excellent!
After lots of careful auditioning the
speakers were changed for a set of
15in Tannoy Berkeley Dual Concentrics.
All of this only had moderate use up
until 1983 when I purchased (wait
for it) a Philips CD104 CD player. This
lasted until the mid nineties when it
was replaced with a Marantz CD63
to which I later added a Micromega
Duo BS2 DAC that turned out to be
quite a smooth and detailed combo,
for CD anyway! I then found a second
hand Meridian 200 transport and 263
Delta Sigma DAC advertised in Hi-Fi
World by a high-end dealer in London
for the modest sum of 399. I quickly
phoned them up and was lucky enough
to secure a deal. When they arrived I
unpacked them and was stunned to see
the condition they were in. Immaculate!
They were also supplied with a van
den Hul digital interconnect. I could not
believe my luck.
I sent the transport off to Meridian
for a check-up and service. Meridian
contacted me and asked if I would like
to have the unit upgraded as well. For
the service and upgrade they wanted
the princely sum of 35 so I snapped
up their offer. When it arrived back I
connected it up and what a difference.
Deeper, tighter bass and more detail,
well worth the small outlay. Thank you
Meridian.
Long ago I discovered the joy of
valves but could not decide what to buy
because a lot of the better products
were out of my price range. Then along
came the WAD kits that I could afford.

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Having had some past experience of
building hi-fi I decided to go for it. I
phoned up and ordered the three Pre II
units. I then saved up and purchased a
pair of 300B PSE monoblocks which I
started to build but unfortunately had to
put on hold due to health reasons. This

3 channels. A Pioneer DVD player with

SACD and DVD audio feeds these into
a Pioneer PDP-434 HDE 43in plasma
TV. The speakers are two BK Electronics
10in active subs (these are superb
by the way), a B&W CC6 centre and
Mission 752 fronts. I will be replacing

Something to drool over - and it looks better in real life! The

WAD Slatedeck with Garrard 401 turntable and SME312 12in arm.
Heaven.

May07.qxd

led to me having to give up work and

because of this and a few other reasons
we decided to sell up and move from
Kent to north west Cumbria where my
other half is from.
The upside of all this was that I
could afford to buy a large, detached
Victorian house with 18in thick walls,
solid internal walls and doors, 9ft 6in
high ceilings and - most importantly
- my own wife-free A/V room complete
with open fireplace, large (9ft long) sofa,
with a handy glass shelf to place my
wine/beer glasses fixed to the wall next
to it and an in-room chiller to keep it in.
An audiophile's dream set up I think!
Since I moved up here five years
ago I have set up an A/V system using
mainly second hand equipment such as
03/03/2007
13:39
1
a Rotel
RSP985Page
THX processor
hooked
up to two Rotel 2 channel power amps.
and a Rotel 6 channel amp. bridged to

the Tannoy 628 rears with a pair of

Mission 751 units that a friend of mine
had blown up and was going to take
to the dump. I rescued these and after
inspection found that two bass drivers
and one tweeter were dead, but the
crossovers were both okay. I phoned
Mission and a very helpful lady called
Nikki said that she could supply me
with original bass drivers and a butterfly
repair kit for the tweeters. The total cost
would be 89.35 for all four units inc.
p&p so I placed an order. I have since
restored these and once again they are
singing.
I enjoyed doing this so much that I
have decided to upgrade the crossovers
and with the help of Peter Comeau
and Nick Holland at Arena Electronics
I have changed the internal wiring with
better cables and will be replacing all
the capacitors with their SAX type. If the

results are good - and I am sure they

will be - I will modify the 752s as well. I
would urge any hi-fi nut with an ounce
of DIY skills to have a go at this as it is
really enjoyable.
These recent activities have
inspired me to start building the
valve amps again and also upgrading
other equipment - which leads me to
where I would like your advice. Having
read Adam Smith's article on the
Slatedeck/401/SME312/Rondo Bronze
set up I have made the decision that I
want some kind of slate plinth (probably
a DIY Cumbrian green slate version as
although I would love a Slatedeck my
funds will not run to it), with an SME312
and I am thinking of using a Music
Maker III cartridge in place of the Rondo
Bronze as I know of a good second-hand
one at a reasonable price and I dont
have step-up transformers in my PhonoII. As always I will value opinion and
would be most grateful for your answer.
Thanks to you and all your team for
a great magazine that I have enjoyed
and will hopefully enjoy for many years
to come.
Graham Taylor,
Hi Graham. It is difficult to know
quite what to say about the Music
Maker III cartridge as a second-hand
deal without a price - and age. As
always though, you need to be sure
it has some life left in it, and is not
worn out - or going that way. Two
new Ortofon moving magnet designs
have just arrived however - see our
review this month - and more top
quality moving magnet cartridges
from a well known and respected
manufacturer are due out soon, so
don't act hastily!
Like your house by the way
- sounds great, much better than my
1910 piece of London Victoriana that
has - er - structural limitations shall
we say, in contrast to what you have
found in Cumbria (meaning the walls
are crap and the roof leaks!). NK

SPECIAL OFFERS & EX-DISPLAY BARGAINS

SOME AS NEW (MARKED*) 24HR DEL ONLY 8. CHECK STOCK BEFORE ORDER. S/H = Pre-Owned. E&OE

CALL SALES:(020) 8318 5755 or 8852 1321 Creek - Destiny CD/Amp + PMC DB1 System

2735
Save 340

Creek have a winner here. Tuneful, vibrant, a great partner for PMC - Come and listen.
Could this be your Destiny? For this month we include PMC DB1+ for half price!

248 Lee High Road, London, SE13 5PL

Arcam FMJ CD23 Player S/H (1Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1099.00)

Arcam FMJ A22 Amp Inc Dave Module S/H (1Yr G/tee) .(1200.00)
Arcam FMJ P25/3 3 Chan Power Amp S/H (1Yr G/tee) . . .(999.00)
Linn Mimik CD Player S/H - (6Mth G/tee) . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1100.00)
Linn AV5103 DTS Processor - Black (1Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . .(4500.00)
Linn Klout Power amplifier S/H (1Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . . . . . .(2400.00)
Linn Chakra 2200 Power Amp Silver E/D (2Yr G/tee) . . .(2530.00)
Naim NAC82 Preamp S/H - (1Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(2500.00)
Naim CDS3 CD Head Unit Ex/Dem (2Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . . .(5325.00)
Naim Allae Speakers Cherry S/H (1Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . . . .(2250.00)
ProAc Studio 130 Speakers E/D (2Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . . . .(1099.00)
Spendor S6e Speakers Maple E/D (2Yr G/tee) . . . . . . . . .(1495.00)

435.00
449.00
375.00
325.00
859.00
895.00
1750.00
975.00
3895.00
1495.00
769.00
995.00

For latest News, Products, Offers, additions to our pre-owned and ex-display bargains in Marketplace section please visit www.billyvee.co.uk.

106
P99-P106.indd 106

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

15/3/07 14:19:16

We are proud to anounce that we are dealers for VPI

RECORD DECKS, ROKSAN, ORTOFON, GOLDRING,
PROJECT, E.A.R. INCA DESIGN, ISOTEK, WE HAVE
VARIOUS CARTRIDGES IN STOCK MORE EQUIPMENT
ARRIVING DAILY please ring, or see web.

matrix
hi-

NEW AND GOOD QUALITY VINTAGE/USED HI FI

65-67 DARENTH ROAD, DARTFORD

KENT DA1 1LU - UK
TEL: 01322 281787/ 281700/ 292391/ 227668 FAX: 01322 229908

RECORD DECKS/HEAD AMPS/TONE ARMS

ACOUSTIC SOLUTIONS NEW (IDEAL FOR MIDI SYSTEMS) 69.99
GOLDRING GR1.2, WITH RB250 ARM
AND GOLDRING ELECTRA CART. BRILLIANT
139.00
GOLDRING GR2
239.00
NEW PROJECT PHONO STAGE MM MC
45.00
NEW PROJECT VALVE PHONO STAGE
MM/MC WITH OUTBOARD PSU
300.00
NEW ROKSAN RADIUS DECK WITH UNI-PIVOT ARM
- wood/acrylic
749/849
NEW MICHELLE UNI COVER
44.99
NOTTINGHAM ANALOG MENTOR TONE ARM
299.00
LINN LP12 BASIC PLUS ARM IN M/PLINTH
600.00
NAD 5120 NEW GOLDRING ELAN CART.
99.00
REGA PLANER3/LINNK9
139.00
THORENS TD170
85.00
QED DISCSAVER MM PHONO STAGE
35.99
VPI SCOUT WITH UNIPIVOT ARM
1,199.00
TARGET T/TABLE WALL SHELF
59.95
PRE-AMPS
ALBARRY PASSIVE PRE.
MUSICAL FIDELITY A3CR BOXED MINT
SYMPHONIC AUDIO VALVE LINE WITH REMOTE
NEW ROTHWELL PASSIVE PRE.
MARSH P2000T HYBRID
QUAD 44 GREAT
QUAD 34
POWER AMPLIFIERS - VALVE
AUDIO INNOVATIONS SERIES 300
AUDIO NOTE ZERO MONO BLOCKS
KLYSTRON 2A3 MONO BLOCKS 15WATT
NEW...SHANLING STEREO INTERGRATED AMP
SEE WEB SITE ORDERS TAKEN NOW
VAA EL34 INTEGRATED 25 WATT.
RADFORD STA 25 WOODSIDE EXCELLENT
RADFORD STA 35 MODIFIED BLK/GOLD
AUDIO RESEARCH CLASSIC 60 vgc
SHANLING POWER AMPS (SEE WEB SITE)
SHANLING MONO BLOCKS EX. DEMO
MR LIANG 845/300B STEREO SINGLE
ENDED MKIII AWESOME

MUSONIC
STYLI

EMAIL: mailto:[email protected]
WEB: www.matrixhi-.co.uk

199.00
399.00
499.00
699.00
550.00
249.00
169.00
399.00
399.00
899.00
1,300.00
299.00
1,100.00
1,199.00
1,399.00
2,000.00
1,550.00
899.00

POWER AMPLIFIERS SOLID STATE

SUGDEN A21a GREAT
NEW ACOUSTIC SOLUTIONS SP101
CYRUS 2
ZETA ECLIPSE MONO BLOCKS
QUAD 303
QUAD 405 II
QUAD 606
CRIMSON 630C MONO BLOCS & PRE AMP

399.00
89.00
175.00
299.00
90-00
249.00
399.00
599.00

TUNERS, CASSETTE DECKS ETC.

NEW Acoustic Solutions DAB tuner
NEW PURE EVOKE-1XT RADIO CHERRY/MAPLE
NEW PURE DIGITAL 701ES DAB TUNER

99.00
89.00
159.00

Quad FM3
YAMAHA CT710 TUNER
CD/HDCD/SACD/DVD/MD PLAYERS
CARY CAD955 TUBE CD PLAYER
CARY CD303 HDCD BOXED SUPERB
MUSICAL FIDELITY XRAY
NEW INCA KATANA CD PLAYER BARGAIN
NEW INCA KATANA SE
KATANA SE X DEMO
ARCAM DELTA BLACK BOX
TRICORD RESEARCH PULSER DAC WITH EXTERNAL
TR POWER SUPPLY, UPGRADED TO HDCD
MERIDIAN 506 20BIT. REMOTE
MERIDIAN 200 CD
MERIDIAN 200 CD WITH 203 DAC
MICROMEGA DRIVE 2 & DAC MINT BOXED
MARANTZ/HEART VALVED CD PLAYER
NEW/BOXED BLACK OR GOLD
NAD DVD/CD T550 MINT
THETA DSPRO BASIC II DAC
AUDIO NOTE DAC3 AND BORDER PATROL PSU.
MICRO SEIKI CD PLAYER CDM2 SUPERB
MYRYAD MC100 CD PLAYER
AUDIOLAB 8000 SERIES DAC BOXED
ASSEMBLAGE DAC2 HDCD
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO DAC MAGIC
EXPOSURE 2010 CD PLAYER
SHANLING CDT80
SHANLING CT200 SACD EX DEMO
NEW SHANLING CT200 SACD SEE WEB SITE
SHANLING CDT 300 OMEGA LIMITED EDITION
SPEAKERS
MONITOR AUDIO MA2 DOMESTIC REFERENCE
KEF MODEL ONE-TWO CHERRY FLOORSTANDERS
KEF C55 BLK STAND MOUNT, STANDS NOT INC.
SPENDOR SP1 VGC WITH STANDS
GRADANT REVOLUTION (3700 NEW)
NEW MISSION M3i SERIES BEECH
OPTIMUS LINIUM TWEETERS
AUDIO NOTE ANJ TEAK
SILVERADO PIANO BLACK INCL STANDS
SNELL E TEAK WITH TARGET STANDS
ACOUSTIC SOLUTIONS SMALL
BOOKSHELF BEECH/CHERRY

99.00
45-00
499.00
1,399.00
349.00
600.00
995.00
650.00
199.00

599.00
199-00
399.00
999.00
800.00
299.00
199.00
199.00
150.00
299.00
649.00
1,650.00
2,150.00
3,899.00
199.00
499.00
150.00
299.00
1,899.00
129.00
150.00
499.00
1,499.00
649.00

POWER CONDITIONERS
ISOTEK POWER CLEANLINE
ISOTEK ORION 2/4/6/ OR 8 WAY
ISOTEK MINI SUB
MISC

699.00
499.00
299.00
399.00
499.00

CABLES Silver Arrow Van De Hull - QED

SOUND STYLE EQUIPMENT RACKS & VARIOUS
BEYER HEADPHONES - PLEASE PHONE

29.95
299.00
P.O.A
495.00

How to get the most out of your record

player in 3 easy steps:
1. Buy from Musonic
2. Fit your purchase to your player
3. Turn up the volume

After 50 years in the business

We know what were talking about!
Manufacturers and suppliers of Styli,
Pickup Cartridges and Audio Accessories.
Musonic (UK) Limited
271B Wenta Business Centre
Colne Way, Watford
Hertfordshire WD24 7ND
Tel: 020 8950 5151
Fax: 020 8950 5391.
For info and to buy online visit:
www.musonic.co.uk

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P107.indd 107

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

107
13/3/07 14:17:10

LAT
INTERNATIONAL

Since 1989
IC 300 Signature, IC 200 MKII,
IC 100 MKII Analog,
DI-30 Signature & DI-20 Digital
and VI-6 Video Interconnects,
AC-2 MKII Power cord,
SS800 MKII and SS1000 MKII
Loudspeaker cables, also available in Biwire form..- Tonearm
interconnects TA300, TA200 and
TA100. Solid Core Silverfused wire
technology with Teflon insulation and are fully shielded,

On demo at
Rochester HiFi

LAT International Maintenance prod-

ucts - Contact Cleaner, Record Cleaning solution,

CD/DVD disk cleaning solution Enhancement
products - Vibra Killers, C Diamond, Once &
Done and Green Line

AUDUSA OOM

products include ceramic

speaker cable isolators from the USA, MK Tough
plugs, IECs, & Wattgate 320L IEC with silver
plated contacts. Locking banana and RCA connectors with silver plated pins.

North Star

192 top loading Transport (Pro 2 CD Mech)

and Extremo DAC.

AUDUSA EUPEN

The worlds
only true Ferrite technology cables - a high quality ferrite is extruded over the conductor strands.
Power Cords - GNLM 5/2.5 (CSA 2.5) and GNLM
05/04. From 48 for a 1m cord terminated with
an IEC and MK tough plug. Other terminations
include Fig of 8, 16 amp IEC, and mains plugs
Schuko, USA, Danish, India, Swiss etc

Bosendorfer Loudspeakers

Best Loudspeaker
- Wallpaper Magazine 2004. Reviewed
in the UK by HIFI
News, HiFi Plus and
HiFi Choice. Many
other great overseas

Ask for product brochures and price list and

visit our web site and check the list of ex-demo
bargains on offer

reviews. Ask for

brochure and price
list. VC1 from 3450,
VC2 from 4750 and
VC7 from 6400.
All three models on
demo at KJ West
One, London.

WWW.AUDUSA.COM
T: 020 8241 9826, 020 8264 0249
HFW-Mar 2007 BW.indd 100

F: 020 8241 0999

E: [email protected]
13/03/2007 23:32:56

Specialist Suppliers of Audio Accessories

www.mantra-audio.co.uk
PRICES INCLUDE P & P FOR UK DELIVERY 1 TO 10 DAYS SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL PRODUCT RANGE AND SHIPPING
CHARGES TO EU & WORLDWIDE

CARTRIDGE SELECTION
Goldring
Elektra
1006
1012 GX
1022 GX
1042
Eroica LX/H
Elite
Audio Technica
AT 95 E
AT 110 E
AT OC9 ML II
Denon
DL 103
DL 103R
DL 110
DL 160
DL 304
Grado
Prestige Black
Prestige Gold
Lyra
Dorian
Argo
Shure
M 97 XE
Sumiko
Blue Point Special
Blackbird

33
76
95
126
144
135
238

28
62
76
104
117
113
194

STYLUS

HEADPHONE SELECTION

GEX 24
GEX 54
GEX 67
GEX 86
GEX 108
GEX N/A
GEX N/A

GRADO Award winning Headphones

Prestige Series
SR-60
75
SR-80
90
SR-125
140
SR-225
175
SR-325i
260
Reference Series
RS-1
635
RS-2
450

25
30
330 295 EX

16
18

105 95 EX
190 170 EX
79
69 EX
95
83 EX
210 190 EX

N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

40
110

29
77

495 395 EX
795 635 EX

N/A
N/A

98

58

235 200 EX
585 500 EX

REPLACEMENT STYLI
Swiss Quality Diamond Styli
ADC
XLM Mk III
17
Akai
AN 5, AN 60
13
AN2, AN 70
15
Aiwa
AN11
13
Dual
DN 145 E, DN 165 E
17
JVC
DT 55, DT 60
13
National EPS 24 CS, P 30 D, P 33 D
13
Ortofon FF15/VMS20 EII, OM5/10/10/20 17
Pioneer PN 210/220/240
13
Shure N 75 C, SC 35 C
13
N 75 ED T2, N 75 EJ T2
17
N 95 ED/EJ, N 75 3 (78)
17
VN 35 E
20
N 97 HE, VN 35 HE
27
Sony
ND 142/155 G, CN234
13
ND 143/150/200 G
15
Stanton D 681 EEE
21
***Over 500 Styli Types Stocked***

GEX - Goldring new for old exchange price for any make/type of cartridge
EX - Exchange price same make moving coil cartridge

Order direct online or Tel/Fax (01757) 288652

MANTRA AUDIO (HFW), Town End House, Skipwith, Selby, North Yorkshire Y08 5SQ

AWARD WINNING PRODUCTS FROM AUDIOCRAFT

web: www.audio-craft.co.uk
email: [email protected]
tel: 01895 253340
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P109.indd 109

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

109
16/3/07 12:29:10

HI-FI WORLD
Come and meet the Hi-Fi World team at
The Heathrow High Fidelity Show 2007
at The Park Inn Heathrow on
31st March - 1st April 2007
Park Inn Hotel, Bath Road, Heathrow,
Middlesex, UB7 0DU

P110.indd 78

20/3/07 15:36:36

High End Cable

visit www.highendcable.co.uk
For the best prices telephone Dave Jackson on
01775 761880
Free P&P worldwide on all interconnects
Abbey Road Cable
Analysis Plus
Audience
Chord Company
Ecosse
Hovland
Nordost
MIT
Oehlbach
Purist Audio Design
Stereovox
Townshend
van den Hul
Wyrewizard
IsoTek - Power Conditioning
Cable Tower
Clearlight Audio Cones
Oehlbach Accessories
STAX headphones
Tannoy
Echo Busters
Arye CD - IsoTek CD
Oehlbach Phono PreAmp
Lyra Moving Coil
Ortofon Moving Coil
Sumiko Moving Coil

Leak Stereo 20 full rebuild using Jensen Paper in oil caps

299.00
Conversion of Leak valve pre to passive including:Silver wired/soldered/rhodium plugs 299
Rothwell Indus SE passive pre amplifier. Now in stock. Awesome. Just
799.00

wanted classic and modern hifi eqpt.

FOR SALE.PRE/POWER AMPLIFIERS

Second hand
Sub woofer cables
Media cables
iPod cables
XLR cables
Pulsar Points
Component cables
Digital cables
DIN cables
HDMI cables
DVI cables
Jumpers
Optical cables
Mains & Power cables
SCART
S video
ONLINE SHOP

Cable Tower

Cable Burn In

Seismic Sink

Reference cables include free Burn In.

Cyrus 3I integrated amplier.Ex cond.Book/no rem 225 Quad 303 power amplier. Boxed/good condition. 149
Quad 66 pre amplier with large remote control.
349 PS Audio pre amp with separate PSU. Cost 998.
299
Tube Technology Unisis power amp.Chrome,boxed 995 Ming Da valve pre amplifer. Chrome nish.Boxed 249
Sugden A48 amp & T48 tuner in wooden sleeve. 299 Quad 33 pre amplier. Mint/boxed/instructions.
125
Oakley Image 6 valve pre-amp with MM phono. 275 Rogers Cadet pre & power amplier.VG condition. 275
Leak Varislope pre amp. Converted to Passive. Pure silver wire/silver solder/rhodium plate phonos/alps pot.
350
Quad 11s in various condition and prices
POA Leak Stereo 20 valve power ampliers from. Various
Leak TL12+ valve ampliers.Bronze nish & rebuilt with expensive paper in oil caps & Rhodium plate phonos
695
Quad 303 power ampliers from . 125 Leak Stereo 20 rebuilt with Jensen paper in oils.
695
Quad 405/1. Excellent condition.
195 Quad 405/1. Boxed and in good condition.
225
Rotel RA-920AX integrated amplier.Ex condition. 69 Pair Leak TL12+ ampliers.Stunning.Bronze nish. 799
Nap 180 power amplier. Mint. Boxed.
799 Harmon Kardon integrated valve amp.110V. V rare 299
Heybrook P2 power amplier.80 watts/ch. Black. 249 Marantz PM66SE KI signature integrated amplier 199
Pair Musical Fidelity MA65 class A monoblocks. 595 DNM pre amp with PSU. Audiogone enhanced.
395
Arcam Alpha 10 amplier.Super condition.Remote 449 Pioneer A300 integrated amplier.
99
Arcam Alpha 9 integrated with remote & MM/MC 249 Musical Fidelity X can tube headphone amp.Boxed 125
Quad 33 pre ampliers. From..
75 Rothwell Indus SE passive pre amp. Awesome.New 799
Luxman LV-103 int hybrid amplier. Boxed. Rare. 349 Meridian Linear MC phono stage/pre-amp.Boxed. 149
Quad 405/2 power amplier.Mint condition.Boxed. 249 Quad 34 pre amp.Excellent cond & bxd. 5 pin din 249
Exposure Super V111 power amplier.Cost 849 249 Heybrook C2 pre amplier. Includes MM & MC. 199
John Shearne 2.5 int amplier.Ex condition.Boxed 295 John Shearne 3.5 power amp. Ex condition.Boxed. 295
Musical Fidelity A100 pure class A integrated. 50W 299 Mod Squad passive pre amp.Absolutely stunning
299
Musical Fidelity Pre 8 pre amplier. Chrome front. 149 Sugden A21A in wooden case. Beautiful condition. 249
Nakamichi CA5 pre-amplier. Ex cond. Cost 750 375 Nakamichi PA5 100W/CH power amp. Cost 1300 650
Wilmslow Audio Mercury B power amp.Ltd edition 295 Nad monitor series 1300 pre-amp with MM/MC.
149
Unison Research Mystery One line level pre amplier.Stunning condition with box/book.Serviced.Cost 1700
995
Galactron MK-2121 amplier. 60 watts of pure class A. Beautiful Italian styling. Wood cheeks.Cost new 1400
699
Marantz PM17 int amplier & rem.Mint.Boxed. 549 Leak Stereo 30 integrated amplier.
50
Musical Fidelity B1 integrated amplier. Good cond 125 Leak Varislope pre amplier. Ex condition.
95
Affordable valve Co tube amplier.Mint & boxed. 550 Naim NAC 92 pre amp. S/NO 161840. Mint. Boxed 299
Musical delity Typhoon pre and power amplier.With balanced cables. MM/MC input.Boxed & instructions.
295
Linn LK1 pre-amp and remote. Good condition.
249 Linn LK2 power amplier. Good condition
299
TURNTABLES/CD PLAYERS

Sony CDP-M303 CD player. Boxed. Remote.Cheap 25

Trichord Research Pulsar one Dac with book.1399 599
Cyrus DAD 3 CD player and remote.Ex condition. 199
Roksan ROK-DS4 PSU for ROKDA1 DAC.Mint. 295
Nad C541i Cd player. Mint & boxed
199
Trichord Research Pulsar 1 Dac with Michell PSU 799
Garrard 301. Stunning condition. Strobe platter.
599
SME 3009 series II improved. Excellent condition. 150

Trichord Research/PDS707 transport.Clock 3. Exc.

Pioneer PD-S505 Cd + PSU & Mod by Tom Evans
Arcam Alpha 9 CD player with remote. Cost 800
Roksan ROK-DA1 DAC. Stand alone DAC.Mint.
Sony HAR-LH500 CD with built in 80G hard drive
Cambridge Audio CD5 CD player with remote.
Project 1.2 with cartridge. Ex condition & boxed.
Transcriptors Hydraulic Reference turntable. Nice

SPEAKERS

450
499
399
275
249
49
119
799

Pair Quad ESL57 speakers. Bronze. Ex condition

549 Pair ESL57 in black.Were service One Thing Audio 650
Kef IQ1 dual concentric speakers. Boxed as new.
139 Roksan ROK-ONE speakers. Black. Mint. Boxed.
295
Pair ELS63 electrostatic speakers. Brown cloths.
799 Celestion Ditton 44s. Super condition.
175
Celestion Little one speakers in white.Boxed. 99
49
Kef C20. Black finish.
59
Pair Quad ESL63 speakers in black. All new panels and full service. I year guarantee. Beautiful condition.
1799
Pair Quad ESL57 spkrs. Fully rebuilt by One Thing Audio. Black cloth fronts.5 star review in Hifi World. Mint.
1899
Rupert stands for Quad ESL57 and ELS63 speakers 209 Mordaunt Short MS20I pearl. Brand new. Black
169
Quad ESL57 speakers.All fully serviced with full 3 months warranty.Hear what ESL57s should sound like From
1250 pr
OTHER ITEMS

Mayware Formula 4 tone arm with book.Excellent.

Syrinx PU2 tonearm. Boxed.
Russian EL84 tubes. Superb quality.Price each.
The Missing Link phono pre amplier.Ex condition
Quad II choke. Good working order.
SME M2-9 tone-arm. Boxed. Superb.
Musical Fidelity T1 FM tuner. Award winner. 300
Quad FM1 Valve tuners. Various prices from only
Linx Tuner. Mint.Boxed. Very unusual. Cost 549

149
149
6.50
349
35
399
95
POA
199

SME FD 200 uid damper kit. Unused/new.Boxed.

Quad II mains transformers. Used, but good.
Bulgin plugs for Quad II amplier. Brand new.Each
Musical Fidelity Xplorer tuner. Mint & boxed.
Grado presteige series SR-125 headphones. Boxed.
Notts Analogue ace-space tone-arm. Unused/boxed.
Yamaha YST SW-300 subwoofer. Cost 350. Sell.
Teak sleeve for Quad 33/FM3 Excellent condition.
Quad FM3 tuner in excellent condition.

59
99
9.99
299
89
499
149
59
99

QUAD ESL57 & ELS63 PANELS/SERVICING ETC

Full rebuild of 57s including latest Otec treble panels for only 1399.00
We sell serviced Quad ESL57 speakers from only 1200.00pr.Why spend 4000+?

ESL57 SPEAKERS STANDARD SERVICE 649. PR

Price includes 2 completely rebuilt treble panels etc. Ring for further info.

"Classique Sounds servicing restores the Quads to a position where they can hold their head
high", Jon Marks. HIFI WORLD. April 1999.Full servicing facilities available.
TRANSLUCENT. (somewhat of a bargain) Hifi World. Jan 1999
PURE SILVER INTERCONNECT CABLE
99.99% pure silver conductors. Quality gold plated RCA phono plugs.
Half Metre terminated 70.00 One metre terminated 90.00. Available with Eichmann plugs + 30
New Translucent ULTRA + Heavy duty. 99.99% pure silver (4N).
Eichmann 24 Kt gold plate plugs 199.00 per metre. Or 149 per half metre.
7 day money back guarantee if not better than existing cable

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

111.indd 111

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

111
20/3/07 10:02:48

History has a way of

repeating itself...
1.

2.
3.

1. Transcriptors Reference turntable

2. uid arm

3. stylus scales

[ range of spare parts available / full turntable restoration service ]

Transcriptor Ref MKII + SME M2-10 Arm - 2,995.00

TRANSCRIPTORS
T

UK Distributor: English Valve Ampliers

67 Springeld Road St Leonards-on-Sea East Sussex TN38 0TU

Tel: 01424 445107 Mob: 07842 126218 Email: [email protected] Web: www.valve-amps.co.uk
EVA-HFW May07 v1 out.indd 1

8/3/07 17:00:24

Rochester Hi-Fi

30 HIGH STREET, ROCHESTER, KENT, ME1 1LD - 01634 880037

ARCAM, ATACAMA, AUDION, AUDIOPHILE BASE, AVI, CHORD CABLES, CHORD ELECTRONICS,
CLEARAUDIO, CREEK, DALI, DK DESIGN, EPOS, EUPEN, EXPOSURE, FOCAL JMLAB, GAMUT,
GRAVES AUDIO, GRAHAM SLEE, LAT INTERNATIONAL, METRONOME TECHNOLOGIES,
NORTHSTAR, NOTTINGHAM ANALOGUE, NU FORCE, OPTIMUM, ORIGIN LIVE, PARTINGTON,
PROJECT, QUADRASPIRE, RESOLUTION AUDIO, RENAISSANCE, STIRLING LS35/a, TANNOY
PRESTIGE, USHER.

www.rochesterhi-.co.uk
112
P112.indd 112

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

13/3/07 14:59:19

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4XDOLW\KLILHTXLSPHQWDOZD\VUHTXLUHGIRUFDVK&DOOXVEHIRUH\RXWUDGHLQ&RPPLVVLRQ6DOHVWRR

IAN HARRISON HI-FI TEL: 01283 702875

HIFI AT DISCOUNT PRICES. FREE NATIONWIDE DELIVERY

Made by enthusiasts for enthusiasts

SALE!

TRADE IN YOUR OLD MOVING COIL CARTRIDGE & SAVE UP TO 60% OFF THE RRP.
CARTRIDGES & STYLI

HIFI FURNITURE

HEADPHONES

VAN DEN HUL

ZYX
JAN ALLAERTS
DENON
CARTRIDGE MAN
AUDIO TECHNICA
GOLDRING
SUMIKO
TRANSFIGURATION
GRADO
ORTOFON
RESON
CLEAR AUDIO
KOETSU
SHURE

B.C.D.
CUSTOM DESIGN
OPTIMUM
ASH DESIGN
APOLLO
SOUND STYLE
SOUND
ORGANISATION
ALPHASON

ERGO
SHURE
BEYER
STAX
SENNHEISER
SONY
AKG
GRADO
AUDIOTECHNICA

CABLES

PIONEER
SONY

CASSETTE DECKS

VIRTUAL DYNAMICS
BLACK RHODIUM
TRANSPARENT
TONEARMS
QED
SME
ORTOFON
GRAHAM
NORDOST
MOTH
SUPRA
CARTRIDGE MAN
WIREWORLD
CLEARAUDIO
HADCOCK
CD PLAYERS
MICHELL
AUDIO ANALOGUE
TURNTABLES
MONRIO
MICHELL
GAMUT
CLEAR AUDIO
SONY
EAR
ACOUSTIC SOLID CREEK

TUNERS
PURE DIGITAL
DENON
SONY
CREEK
PHONO STAGES
HEED
GRAHAM SLEE
WHEST AUDIO
TRICHORD
MOTH
CREEK
NAD
EAR
TOM EVANS
CLEAR AUDIO

DVD
SONY

MB50 Monoblocks

MINI DISC
SONY
LOUDSPEAKERS
OPERA
TRIANGLE
FINAL
ELAC
HARBETH
EPOS
USHER AUDIO
DIAPASON
TANNOY
AMPLIFIERS

CM05 Preamplier

CREEK
HALCRO
MOTH
C.A.T.
GAMUT
ALOIA
EAR
AUDIO VALVE
ACCUSTIC ARTS
GRAAF
MONRIO
AUDIO ANALOGUE
PATHOS ACOUSTICS
UNISON RESEARCH

A50R Integrated amplier

Anateks famous fully patented output stage helps to produce a
remarkably natural sound. It has all the benets of Class A (nonswitching) with no crossover distortion but does not generate the
heat and consequent stresses on components.

For more information please visit:

www.anatekacoustics.co.uk
or call +44 (0)1903 524602

PLEASE PHONE TO CONFIRM PRICE & AVAILABILITY PRIOR TO ORDERING.

ALL GOODS ARE BRAND NEW & BOXED WITH FULL U.K. GUARANTEES.
NO EX. DEM OR EX DISPLAY GOODS. NO GREY IMPORTS. GOODS ARE NOT
SUPPLIED ON APPROVAL. SORRY, NO GENERAL CATALOGUES. PLEASE
PHONE OR WRITE FOR SPECIFIC REVIEWS, BROCHURES OR PRICES.
SUPPLIER OF HIFI PRODUCTS & ACCESSORIES SINCE 1986
MAIL ORDER ONLY FROM; IAN HARRISON, 7 MILL HILL, REPTON,
DERBY, DE65 6GQ. TEL: 01283 702875. 9am - 9pm INCLUDING SUNDAYS.

114

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk
AnatekAcoustics_QuarterA4_advert1 1

P114.indd 114

1/11/06 08:00:06
13/3/07 10:59:11

202 Findon Road, Worthing, WEST Sussex. BN14 0EJ

Tel. 01903-872288 or (after hours) 07860 660001 Fax. 01903-872234
e-mail: [email protected] //www.hifi-stereo.com
0% FINANCE AVAILABLE FOR UP TO 3 YEARS ON
SELECTED ITEMS.
SUBJECT TO STATUS. CONDITIONS APPLY.

SPEAKERS
JM LABS Mezzo Utopia speakers
B&W 801 MK 1 speakers
B&W 802 MK 1 speakers
Tannoy Westminister Royal HE speakers
Hales Trancendence 5 speakers
Dynaudio Audience 7 speakers with stands
Origin Live OL-2 speakers
KEF Concorde speakers

1995
695
650
9995
2895
395
250
150

PRE-AMPS;
Mark Levinson ML380 pre amp
Mark Levinson ML26S Balanced pre amp
Audio note M8 pre amp with phono (19500)
Mark Levinson ML380S pre amp
Audionote Zero remote control pre amp (new)
Mark Levinson 28 Pre Amp

1995
2495
9995
3495
695
995

Naim Nac 92 with Nap 90/3 amp

Proceed PAV pre-amp

595
995

AMPLIFIERS
Lumley ST70 Power Amp with Passive Pre
Pathos Twin Tower Integrated Amplifier
Pair of Trilogy 958 Power Amps with Trilogy 902 Pre Amp
Nakamichi Amp 1 with Cassette Deck 2 & CD Player 3
Meridian 605 Monoblocs
Audionote Kegon Mono Amps (28000)
Exposure 15 Integrated Amp
Mark Levinson ML432 Power Amp
Kora Triode 100 SB Monoblocs
Classe A CA201 Power Amp
Audionote Neiro mono-blocks
CD PLAYERS & TRANSPORTS
Theta Data Basic 2 CD Transport
Theta Chroma DAC with HDCD
Esoteric XO3SE CD/SACD Player (our demo model)
Sony CDPM41 CD Player

ALL USED CARTRIDGES ARE CHECKED UNDER A MICROSCOPE BEFORE BEING OFFERED FOR SALE.

MISCELLANEOUS
Nakamichi 682 Cassette Deck
Nakamichi CR7E Cassette Deck Mint/Boxed/Remote
Russ Andrews Mains Block
JPS "The Power AC Plus" 2 meter Power Cord
Sony AM/FM ST-SE370 Tuner
Technics ST-610L Tuner (FM/MW/LW)
Transparent Music Wave+ 10-ft pair
Hitachi FT5500 MK II Tuner
Technics ST-GT550 Tuner
Winds ALM-01 Stylus Gage (New)
Sony ST-SE570 Tuner
15 Foot Transparent Music Wave Super single mono run.

1595
1695
1995
795
795
11995
3454
4995
3500
1595
5495

395
1095
50
195
75
65
425
125
65
525
60
795

TURNTABLES, CARTRIDGES & TONEARMS

Thorens TD160 with Thorens Tonearm
195
Blue Pearl Turntable with Graham Phantom arm
POA
My Sonic Eminent cartridge (new)
2750

395
195
POA
60

VISA - SWITCH - MASTER CARD - AMEX - DINERS CLUB WELCOME.

WE TAKE PART EXCHANGE ON NEW & USED STOCK and buy in for cash

plug n play n smile

Charlotte Drawer unit for 480 CDs & 75

Cassettes 32 x 21 x 21

JT Hi-Fi CD/Cassette Unit

74 V-Max can hold 660 CDs etc

Est.
1970

Elegant Storage Solutions

for
Hi-Fi, Books,
LPs, CDs,
DVDs
Special orders welcome

Super 14 Wizard Rotary Unit. 2296 CDs, etc

Tel: 01423 500442 Fax: 01423 705200 www.iansbespokefurniture.co.uk

The Old Chapel, 282 Skipton Road, Harrogate, N. Yorks, HG1 3HE

One Decent Wallshelf

Thoroughly Recommended - David Price, Hi-Fi World Jan 06

featuring:
steel frame with multipoint xing
upto 25mm thick 1/2 metre acrylic isolation platform
tuning pack for system matching
available:
hdw - 129
odw (pictured) - 249
odwt (2 shelf) - 349
all in either silver or black

The Decentscale

featuring:
non metallic construction suitable for all types of cartridge
record height measuring platform (patent applied for)
upto 20% more accurate than any other sub 100 scale
available:
now! - 35

www.kudosaudio.com
0845 4586698 for details

Wallshelves, Isolation Platforms, Digital Tracking Force Scales, Cables

Decent Audio 0845 6019390

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

115.indd 115

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

115
16/3/07 14:31:29

O F

B R I T I S H
LUMLEY

QUAD

Sounds of Music

Firgrove Business Park, Firgrove Road, Cross in

hand, Nr Heatheld, East Sussex, TN21 0QL.
By appointment only please.

8 Demonstration Rooms
One of the best product selections in the uk
Free all-day parking to the door
One-month home trial scheme*
Extended Guarantees for free*
*subject to conditions.

H I - F I

was created by John Jeffries.

The Lumley Stratosphere reference turntable is
one mans dream to give music lovers one of
the nest turntables in existence today.
It comes at a premium but if you want the
best at its price, nothing comes close to the
Lumley Stratosphere. It is a true compliment to
every musician who ever breathed.

SME

since 1936 has been at the very cutting edge of

high-end audio, winning acclaim and respect for their
products around the world. Build quality and reputation
for service is unequalled in the world of consumer
electronics, as is the longevity of the products they
manufacture.

Contact Sounds-of-Music for more information

or to arrange a personal audition.

now has over 40 years experience in high quality

precision engineering and the Companys plant
at Steyning is now probably the largest and one
of the best equipped concerns devoted to the
manufacture of precision pick-up arms and
turntables.

Fax: 01435 865 213

www.sounds-of-music.co.uk
[email protected]

Quad hi- systems have and continue to endure

decades, having been passed from father to son and
even grandson.
Most famous of course is the legendary range of Quad
Electrostatic loudspeakers, one of our true favourites and
arguably one of the nest loudspeakers available today.

Tel: 01435 865 212

A little more affordable but none the less

capable of true State of the Art performances.
The present manufacturing programme consists
of three precision turntables and twelve
standard pick-up arms so offering one of the
most comprehensive ranges available today.
Engineering at its nest.

music

Contact Sounds-of-Music for more information or to

arrange a personal audition.

of

Contact Sounds-of-Music for more information

or to arrange a personal audition.

Contact Sounds-of-Music for more information

or to arrange a personal audition.

Whether you listen to CD or SACD, dCS products

deliver a performance from silver disc that can
best be described as truly breathtaking and
with the emergence of stunning new models,
they will as before, lead the way.

are world leaders in digital audio technology.

Their Unique patented Ring DAC Conversion
architecture and advanced in house IC
design skills have made their high end audio
converters the rst choice of discerning
audiophiles.

dCS

B E S T

sounds
SOM-HFW May07 v1.indd 1

22/3/07 11:38:44

MIDLAND AUDIO XCHANGE

The Old Chapel
Forge Lane
Belbroughton
Worcestershire
DY9 9TD
t. 01562 731100
f. 01562 730228
e-mail. [email protected]
web . www.midlandaudiox-change.co.uk
Ex-demo and second hand items
Digital
Arcam Diva CD92 Silver dCS Ring Player S/H
Audio Synthesis DAX Decade 22 Bit Balanced S/H
Audio Synthesis DAX Decade 22 Bit Single ended S/H
dCS Elgar Plus DAC BNIB
dCS P8i SACD/CD Player BNIB
dCS Verdi Encore Transport BNIB
dCS Verdi laScala SACD/CD Transport/upsampler S/H
Densen Beat400 XS x demo
Linn Karik CD Player S/H
Linn Karik Numerik DAC S/H
Marantz CD65 KI Sig MKII S/H
Nagra DAC x-demo
Naim Audio CD3 S/H
Naim Audio CD3 Serviced S/H
Nakamichi MB10 5 play CD S/H
Orpheus labs Zero CD player x demo
Shanling CD-T80 Valve CD Player S/H
Theta Generation V Balanced S/H
Theta Pro Basic II DAC with Oscom/Balanced S/H

Was

Now

799
3500
2999
9500
6500
9500
9000
2600
1999
1500
N/A
7250
N/A
N/A
N/A
4600
600
6290
2990

449
1799
1499
6449
4999
6449
4250
1499
499
499
329
3999
299
375
149
2999
399
1299
695

N.A
N/A
N/A
N/A
225
N/A
D/A
650
650
650
270
2500
9250

49
279
119
199
179
1399
179
399
399
399
179
1699
6999

Analogue
Audio Techinica S ShapeArm wand for AT1100
Audio Technica AT1010 S Shape Arm Used
Audio Technica AT1100 Straight Arm New Boxed
Audio Technica AT1120 Straight Arm New& Boxed
Heed Audio Orbit 1 TT PSU New & Boxed
Kuzma Stabi/Stogi S Turntable New& Boxed
Logic DM101 rare wood finish SME CutS?H
Mc Cormack Micro Drive Phono Stage S/H
Phonomena BPS Battery supply for phono BINB
Phonomena Phono stage MM/MC BINB
Rega P2 /Bias Turntable S/H
Vdh Grasshopper GLAIII MC Cartridge x-demo
VPI HR-X Turntable x-demo

Preamplifiers
Audio Analogue Bellini Remote Preamplifier X-demo
Audio Research SP16 with Phono Stage x-demo
Audio Research SP16L
Beard CA35 Preamp MC/MM S/.H
Conrad Johnson Premier 18LS x-demo
Convergent Audio CAT SL1 Signature Black S/H
Densen B200 Preamplifier S/H
Electrocompaniet EC4R Preamplifier S/H
Musical Fidelity X P100 Preamplifier S/h
Nagra PLL with remote x-demo
Nagra PLP battery Phono stage x-demo
Orpheus Two Preamplifier x-demo
Roksan L1 Preamp (requires PSU) S/H
Roksan L1.5 Preamplifier (requires PSU) S/H
Spectral DMC 30s Reference Preamplifier x-demo
Sugden masterclass Preamplifier x-demo

625
2249
1799
N/A
4000
6000
1100
1799
899
5450
7250
3200
2299
2699
7600
2300

399
1749
1249
399
1999
2299
799
599
499
2999
4999
1999
995
1299
4499
1599

9000
2499
6400
1995
N/A
2500
8000
1800
1800
1800
2498
10450
N/A
N/A
2995
1495
6600

7499
1699
3999
795
599
1895
5999
999
999
999
2199
7999
399
299
1799
599
4999

Amplifiers
Audio Research VM220 Valve mono Amplifiers x-demo
Audio Research VS55 Stereo Power Amplifier S/H
Audio research VT100MKIII Valve Power Amplifier S/H
Audio Research VT60 Stereo Power Amplifier S/H
Beard P35 MKII Power Amplifier S/H
Conrad Johnson MV60 SE Valve Amplifier S/H
Conrad Johnson Premier 350SA x demo
Densen Beat 300xs x-demo
Densen Beat 320 S/H
Densen Beat 340 x-demo
Krell KAV400xi Black x-demo
Nagra MPA RCMI X demo
Naim 32.5/140 Pre Power S/H
Naim 42.5/110 Pre Power S/H
Orpheus Three power amplifier x-demo
Roksan S1.5 stereo power amplifier silver S/H
Sugden masterclass monos x demo

Loudspeakers
Audio Physic Spark 3 maple X-demo
BKS 107MKII Supreme hybrid Ribbons S/H
Diapason Adamantes III with stands S/H
JM Lab Micro Utopia Classic x-demo
JM lab Electra 927 be Anniversary S/H
KEF Reference 104.2 S/H
Martin Logan Aeon I Oak x-demo
Monitor Audio Radius 360 Subwoofer Cherry S/H
Pen Audio Rebel 2 x-demo
Pen Audio Charm Active Subwoofer x-demo
ProAc Response D25 Maple x-demo
Rogers L7 Teak S/H
Roksan Ojan3 Rosewood S/H
Rega ELA 2000 S/H
Sonus Faber Concerto Walnut S/H
Sonus faber Ironwood Stands S/H
Spendor S3 Cherry S/H

1699
1750
2150
4700
2800
N/A
3189
350
995
1995
2800
N/A
N/A
850
998
449
599

1099
799
1299
3750
1699
449
2300
249
699
999
2199
199
399
449
599
229
379

N/A
420
220
450
710
3950
N/A
1400
459
190
199
650

99
249
175
229
399
2995
40
799
229
99
99
549

N/A
850
1600
N/A
395
N/A
N/A
N/A

69
599
795
99
199
59
175
99

Cables and Accessories

Cogan Hall Intermezzo EMD 0.75m RCA S/H
Madrigal MDC2 1m RCA/RCA 75ohm Digital Cable new boxed
Nordost Shiva 2m mains cable x-demo
Shun Mook 1pr Spatial Controller x-demo
Shun Mook Ultra Diamond Resonators set of 3 x-demo
Siltech LS188 Classic 2x3m Silver & Gold Speaker cable BNIB
Sound Organisation Record Rack with CD insert S/H
Spectral MI-350 20ft Interconnect RCA-RCA x-demo
Transparent Music Link Plus 10ft RCA-RCA S/H
Transparent The Link 1.5m RCA-RCA S/H
Vdh CD102 MkIII 2m S/H
Western Electric 300b Valves 1Pair NEW `

Tuners & Tape decks, power supplies

Creek T40 FM Tuner S/H
Densen Beat 800 AM/FM Tuner x demo
Isotek Substation special version S/H
Luxman 50A FM/AM Tuner S/H
Magnum Dynalab FTR remote/Tuner for Etude S/H
Nakamichi BX2 2 Head cassette deck S/H
Nakamichi DR3 2 head cassette deck S/H
Sony MDS JD920 QS Mini Disc recorder S/H

Suppliers and installers of High

Quality Audio Systems
47 Laboratory
ATC
Audio Research
Cardas
Clearaudio
Conrad Johnson
Copland
Crystal Cables
Dartzeel
dCS
Densen
DNM/Reson
Electrocompaniet
Finite Elemente
Jadis
Koetsu
Krell
Kuzma
Lavardin

Living Voice
Lyra
Magnum Dynlab
Mark Levinson
Martin Logan
Mimetism
Nordost
Primaluna
Primare
ProAc
Rega
Siltech
Sonus Faber
Sugden
Transparent Audio
VPI
Wadia
Wegg 3
Wilson Audio

Midland Audio X-change are looking for Audio Research, Krell , Mark Levinson , Naim Audio, SME, Wadia.

P117.indd 117

8/3/07 14:57:38

DIAL A DEALER

DIAL A DEALER
This is a comprehensive directory of Hi-Fi Dealers throughout the UK and Ireland.
ACTON GATE AUDIO

BIRMINGHAM
MIDLAND RADIO SUPPLIES.
Tel: 0121 706 0313. Vintage & Classics.
We buy and sell the best of British
Designs and manufactured mono and
stereo valve amplifiers radio tuners,
turntables, pickups, loudspeakers
systems, horns, drive units, tape
recorders, micorophones, mixers,
measuring apparatus, valves and testers.
Mono and stereo LPs and Tapes. Quality
items required now.

www.acton-gate-audio.co.uk
4 Ruabon Road, Wrexham, LL13 7PB,
(01978) 313464
Arcam,Atlas, Audiolab, Croft,
Denon,Grado, JM Labs,
KEF,Michell, Monitor Audio, Musical
Fidelity,NAD,Ortofon, Opera, Onkyo,
Pro-ject, QED, Quad, Rel, Roksan,
Sugden,Sennheiser, Unison, van-den-Hul,
Wharfedale,Yamaha.
Tuesday - Staurday 9.00 - 17.00
email: [email protected]

8 Hawkenbury Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent, TN2 5BJ
United Kingdom
tel: (+44) 01892 541 746
Free vinyl LP catalogue. Every month-24
pages-rare & deleted ex+ and mint LPs
starting at only 4.99. 60s & 70s Rock,
Jazz, Blues, Psych, Progressive, Soul,
Folk. It is the best regular vinyl catalogue
in the UK! Call or write today.

CLEVELAND

MIDDLESEX

THE RIGHT NOTE

WAVEFRONT AUDIO

Tel: 01225 874728. Happy with your

system? Wonder why theres so
much for sale secondhand? Avoid the
frustration and expense of upgradeitis, never quite there. With infinite
patience well help you plan longer-term.
Brands selection: Accustic Arts, Audio
Physic, Aesthetix, Bel Canto, CAT, Chord
Co, Clearaudio, dCS, Gamut, Graham,
Halcro, Sumiko, VertexAQ, Wadia.

RIVERSIDE HI-FI

For 2 Channel Music Systems. Hear the

Modwright Pre Amplifier, Albedo Cables,
Almarro Valve Amplifiers, Cain & Cain
Speakers, Rethm Full Range Speakers,
Acoustic Zen Adagio, Battery Powered
Amplifiers from Red Wine Audio. Digital
Amps DACs, Pres and Head Amps from
Channel Islands Audio. Pure Power APS.
Contact [email protected].
Web site www.wavefrontaudio.co.uk or
Andy 01642 482 393.

422 Richmond Road, East Twickenham,

Middlesex, TW1 2EB.
Tel: 020 8892 7613.
www.riversidehifi.co.uk,
email [email protected],
Audio Research, Blueroom, Bose, B&O,
Copland, Denon, Fatman, Infocus, Krell,
Loewe, Living Control, Martin Logan,
Michell, Monitor Audio, Martin Logan,
NAD, Primaluna, Project, QED, Optoma,
Rel, Roksan, Sennheiser, Speakercraft,
Sonus Faber,Theta, Wilson. Export orders
welcome. UK mail order available. All
major credit cards. Open 10am-5.30pm
Mon-Sat.

HiFi Consultants: 36 Druid Hill, Stoke

Bishop, Bristol. BS9 1EJ.
Tel: 0117 968 6005.
ATC, AVI, Alon/Nola, ALR Jordan, Audio
Analogue, Avid, Electrocompaniet,
Infinity, Origin Live, Ruark, SME,
Sugden, Triangle, Unison Research,
VPI. Projectors / Sim2, JVC, Mitsubishi,
Infocus. Screens/ Stewart, Draper,
Da-lite. Demos by appointment only
- Please ring/e-mail for unbiased, honest
advice based on 40 years experience.
([email protected]). We are not a
shop!

CHESHIRE

CORNWALL
BIGEARS AUDIO
To find a system that will allow you to
hear the music instead of the equipment
phone Bigears Audio, here you will find
an interesting array of new and good
quality used equipment! my intention is
to have satisfied customers whatever
their audio preferences. Naim dealer for
the South West.
[email protected]
Tel: 01736-740421

DEVON

ACOUSTICA
17 Hoole Rd, Chester CH2 3NH.
www.acoustica.co.uk.
Tel 01244 344227. HiFi & Home Cinema
from Amphion, Arcam, ART, Ayre, B&W
Nautilus, Classe, Focal.JM Lab, Monitor
Audio, Naim Audio, Primare, Rega, REL,
Rotel, Spendor, Sugden, Thiel, Wadia. We
offer full demonstration facilities, interest
free credit, delivery & install systems
throughout Cheshire, Merseyside & North
Wales. Tuesday to Saturday 10.00 to
5.30.

P118-P119.indd 118

SUGARBUSH RECORDS

BRISTOL & BATH

VAUDIO

118

KENT

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

USHER, NUFRORCE & NAD IN DEVON

Come round for a coffee and hear the
Usher Dancers and the Usher R.1.5 Class
A amplifier or NuForce Reference 9SE.
Or the Usher 520s on a NAD amplifier.
Also the Usher CD-1 player with the
Burr-Brown DAC and op-amps, Goldring
turntables and NAD CD players. Sound Hi
Fi, Viewpoint House, Dartmouth, Devon,
TQ6 9HN. Free parking. 01803 833366
www.SoundHiFi.com.

SOMERSET
ALTERNATIVE AUDIO,
Brompton Ralph, Taunton, Somerset,
Tel: 01984 624242
www.alternativeaudio.co.uk.
Email: [email protected]
We specialise in valve amplification
and vinyl replay with the accent on
high quality musical enjoyment. ExDem and used equipment for sale.
Art Audio, Border Patrol, Clearaudio,
Diapason, EAR/Yoshino, Experience
Filtration, Lector, LFD Audio, Lyra, Music
First Audio, Nottingham Analogue,
Opera, Quadraspire, Shun Mook, SME,
Transfiguration, Unison Research,
Vandersteen Audio.

To advertise in this
space please call
020 7372 6018
or email:
[email protected]

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

20/3/07 16:34:51

DIAL A DEALER

YORKSHIRE (WEST)

VINYL/RECORD MAIL ORDER

AUDIO REPUBLIC

DIVERSE VINYL

78 Otley Road, Leeds

01132177294
www.audio-republic.co.uk for
the best in quality hifi in West
Yorkshire, representing Naim
Audio,Rega,Sugden,Conrad
Jonhson,Krell,Copland, Karan Acoustic,Ar
cam,Nottingham Analogue,Roksan,Hutter,
Avalon,Proac,Dynaudio,PMC,Fujitsu,M&K,
Finite Elemente,SME,Cardas and others.
Open Tues-Sat 9.30am to 5.30pm

10 Charles Street, Newport,

NP20 1JU.
Tel/Fax: 01633 259661/256261.
Email: [email protected]. Probably
the most varied and impressive selection
of brand new LPs youll find anywhere:
international new releases, reissues and
audiophile products. Also UK distributor
of the Disco Anti Stat LP Cleaning Device.
Call for a free catalogue, or visit
www.diversevinyl.com

To advertise in this
space please call
020 7372 6018
or email:
[email protected]

MEET MAKER

MANUFACTURERS

YOUR

A reference guide to Britains manufacturers and distributors

CREEK AUDIO LTD

E.GANE AND SON

12 Avebury Court, Mark Road,

Hemel Hampstead, Herts, HP2 7TA.
Tel. 01442 260146
E-mail:[email protected]
Internet: www.creekaudio.com
The beginning of 2006 saw Creek Audio
launch two exciting new ranges, EVO at entry
level and its high end - Destiny. At the same
time, Creeks most popular products in the
past 5 years, the 5350SE amp, CD50mk2
CD player and T50 tuner are now badged
as Creek Classics. The OBH miniature range
completes this new Creek line-up.

For service repairs upgrades and re-manufacturing of all valve audio equipment leak
trough line specialists realigned etc. We have
been restoring leak product back to new for
over 40 years. Mail order service available
worldwide. For more info contact
E.F.G (London) Ltd. Inc.
E.Gane and Son.Established 1948
on 00 44 02087432727

EPOS ACOUSTICS
2 Avebury Court, Mark Road,
Hemel Hampstead,
Herts, HP2 7TA
Tel. 01442 260146.
Email:[email protected]
Website: www.epos-acoustics.com
Innovative design and superior sound
distinguish EPOS speakers from other brands
in similar price categories. Nine models in
total including a 5.1 surround system. All
available in 3 finishes. Supporting stands and
plinths complement the speakers. In addition
to its two channel appeal, Epos is now equally
sought after in the fast expanding world of
home cinema. -

MONITOR AUDIO LIMITED

24 Brook Road, Rayleigh,
Essex SS6 7XL
Tel 01268 740 580.
Fax 01268 740 589
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.monitoraudio.co.uk
Monitor Audio designs and manufactures
British loudspeakers of the highest quality.
Since 1972 Monitor Audio has been
developing and perfecting the implementation
of metal drivers, innovative crossovers, and
exemplary speaker cabinet construction and
finish to further the ideal of achieving sound
which to the original is "as close as it gets".

PMC/BRYSTON
PMC & Bryston are Emmy award winning
Loudspeaker & Amplifier manufacturers
- Used throughout the professional world as
reference. Our clients record for Deutsche
Grammophon, Decca and countless
blockbuster Movies. The identical, award
winning ATL (Advanced Transmission Line)
technology is used in all HiFi designs from

the DB1+, TLE1 Sub through to the Active

BB5 XBD.
PMC Ltd
43-45 Crawley Green Road.
Luton, LU2 OAA.
Tel: 08704 441044 Fax: 08704 441045
Email: [email protected]
website: www.pmc-speakers.com
website: www.bryston.ca

SUGDEN AUDIO PRODUCTS

Designed and manufactured in the UK
each Sugden product is hand-built by one
highly skilled technician. A full range of pure
class A amplifiers are available including
integrated, stereo power and the incredible
Masterclass balanced monoblocks. The class
A HeadMaster offers a pre-amp with three
inputs a fixed and variable output with remote
control. The HeadMaster can be used as a
control unit in a high quality audio system and
excels with headphones. Please contact us for
product information, dealer list and brochures.
Tel: 01924 404088
email [email protected].

M & J DESIGN LTD (MUSIC)

Superb Interconnect Cables; balanced or
phono, made to measure. Using silver plated
pure copper, and the finest connectors, these
cables present the cleanest possible path
for your signal, the end result being sublime
listening pleasure. Each cable set is serial
numbered and have their own instructions
and are guaranteed. M&J Design Ltd
(Music) 01628 622115 & 07809 394995.
[email protected].

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P118-P119.indd 119

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

119
20/3/07 16:38:23

Kits for the Audiophile

D I Y S p eaker Par t s - D r ive Unit s , Cro s s over Comp onent s , Fl o or S pi kes
SONIQS PDC per metre 2.61
Heavy 6mm Bitumen Panel Damping Compound 50mm wide strip

We have selected SEAS Drive Units for

their natural sounding performance and
smooth response allowing simple crossovers to be used. Below is a selection of
drive units from the complete SEAS range
that we hold in stock. Ring us to enquire
about drive units not shown here.

SEAS A26RE4
71.98
25cm (10") Paper Cone Bass unit as
used in the WD25 Speaker kits
SEAS CA22RNX
83.79
22cm (8") Paper Cone Bass unit
89dB for TL or Aperiodic designs
SEAS CA18RLY
51.11
18cm (7") Paper Cone Bass unit
88dB for TL or Aperiodic designs
SEAS CA15RLY
53.52
15cm (5.75") Paper Cone Bass unit
87dB for Bass Reflex designs
SEAS 29TFF/W
38.34
29mm soft dome treble unit used in
the WD25 STD speaker kits
SEAS T29CF001
137.82
29mm Excel soft dome treble unit
used in WD25 XL speaker kits
SEAS T25CF002
161.09
25mm Excel 'Millenium' treble unit
lowest distortion, smooth response

SONIQS M8 spike set

4.70
Set of four speaker floor spikes with
matching M8 cabinet inserts
SONIQS M4x16mm
0.08
SONIQS M4x25mm
0.09
Hex Hd Nickel Plated wood screws

SONIQS CDF per metre 1.49

Long fibre enclosure damping mat
30mm thick by 250mm wide

SONIQS Ferrite Inductors

Aperiodic reticulated foam 1.25
SONIQS coils are wound on high density
80ppi reticulated foam strip for
12.5mm dia. ferrite cores for high power
Aperiodic port airflow resistance
handling and dynamic range. High purity
copper 0.71mm wire heat bonded to
reduce vibrational effects. Tolerance 5%.
State value required when ordering.

25mm core 0.33 - 0.6mH 2.47

50mm core 0.6 - 1.0mH 3.49
50mm core 1.1 - 2.5mH 3.98
SONIQS Polypropylene Caps
SONIQS capacitors are formed from
high voltage polypropylene film and hand
soldered using silver solder to copper leads.
Construction and resin encapsulation has
been formulated for optimum acoustic and
electrical performance.

PXX 1.0uF 250V

PXX 1.5uF 250V
PXX 2.2uF 250V
PXX 3.3uF 250V
PXX 4.7uF 250V
PXX 5.6uF 250V
PXX 6.8uF 250V
PXX 8.2uF 250V
PXX 10uF 250V
PXX 12uF 250V
PXX 15uF 250V
PXX 18uF 250V

1.13
1.28
1.41
1.70
2.06
2.35
2.66
2.90
3.18
3.74
5.03
6.03

SAX 1.0uF 630V

SAX 1.5uF 630V
SAX 2.2uF 630V
SAX 3.3uF 630V
SAX 4.7uF 630V
SAX 5.6uF 630V
SAX 6.8uF 630V
SAX 8.2uF 630V

2.40
2.81
3.17
4.19
4.49
5.28
6.16
6.93

We offer a crossover and speaker design service to suit your specific

requirements. Please ring or e-mail for details. See our on-line catalogue at

WDSpkrParts.indd 123

SONIQS Air-Core Inductors

SONIQS air core coils utilise 0.56mm dia
high purity copper wire on a rectangular
bobbin that allows vertical and horizontal
orientation to minimise coupling effects.
Tolerance 5%. State value required when
ordering.

Air-core coil 0.18 - 0.5mH 1.99

Vitreous Enamel Power Resistors

High Power resistors encapsulated in
Vitreous Enamel to minimise vibrational
effects. Tolerance 5%. State value when
ordering.

3W 0.68 - 100 Ohms

7W 1.0 - 100 Ohms

0.99
1.47

SONIQS TP1 panel

3.60

Bi-wireable terminal panel with gold plated

connections allowing spade, bare wire and
4mm plugs. Plain Tufnol CCB circuit
board also available to fit PCB slot at rear
to allow component hard wiring.

SONIQS CCB board

1.49

www.world-designs.co.uk
Tel: 01832 293320

11/07/2006 17:12:53

specialist hi-fi dealers

London

Oranges & Lemons

OBrien Hi-Fi
60 Durham Road - London - SW20 0TW
020 8946 1528 or [email protected]

Hi-Fi,
Home Cinema
& Multi-room
Specialists

www.obrienhifi.com
Martin Logan Clarity
Moon i5
Sonus Faber Concerto
Krell KAV300CD
Copland CDA 823
Audio Analogue Enigma
Sonus Faber Cremona
Unison Research CDP

020 7924 2040

www.oandlhifi.co.uk
61 Webbs Road, Battersea, SW11 6RX
email: [email protected]

Speakers - Ex Demonstration - Cherry

Amplifier - Ex Demonstration - Black
Speakers - Part Exchange - Walnut
CD Player - Part Exchange
CD Player - Ex Demonstration
System - New, Boxed with Warranty
Speakers - New, Slight damage
CD Player - Ex Demonstration

Naim Specialists

1895
2100
550
795
1595
695
4200
699

(2200)
(2695)
(970)
(3000)
(2100)
(899)
(5000)
(895)

Loudspeaker Repairs

Great Savings : 20% off

Are you hearing your Naim Audio system at anywhere

near its full potential? The inherent sonic ability of a Naim Audio system

All Vivid Audio Demo Stock

has never been in doubt, however with products such as the Fraim support and
more recently the Hi Line interconnect and CD555PS CD power supply, Naim Audio
themselves have amply demonstrated the ever greater levels of performance that
are achievable with your existing components. Tom Tom Audio can optimise your
Naim Audio system through thoughtful and creative upgrade routes, and by utilising a
number of products and accessories that are both compatible with and sensitive to the
Naim Audio ethos. As well as a range of loudspeakers and analogue products that
work wonderfully with Naim Audio electronics we also have a range of compatible
accessories that will unlock the potential of your system and maximise the investment
you have already made. These include the incredible range of products from Vertex
AQ, an end to end solution of supports, filters and cabling that will simply stun you.
The incredible effect of this system can be demonstrated here or in your own system,
but prepare to be shocked.

Two-channel

Home Cinema

ud
on
st

io

Custom Install

Full System Design

Installation

Loudspeakers: Naim Audio, Kudos Audio, Neat Acoustics, ART, Shahinian, Audio
Physic, Living Voice

ni
pa

m
co
ro
ct
le

Free Consultation

et

ru
ou

l
Co
rs

Supports & Cabling: Naim Audio, Vertex AQ, Nordost, Chord Company, Isoblue,
Kudos Audio

iv
id

Naim Audio, Avid, Dynavector, Lyra, Tom Evans

di
Au

Analogue:

Call St Albans 01727 86 86 59

Visit www.tomtomaudio.com

Hi-Fi Consultant
Rowles Music Limited
Lancing, Sussex

Services & Consultants

Tel 01903 530005

Mob 07950 274224
[email protected]
www.rowlesmusic.co.uk

Front End Problem?

contact

The Cartridge Man

It doesnt have to cost an arm and a
leg to get the best - listen to my
Koestsu - and Decca -eater.
Also agents for Croft, Hadcock,
E.A.R, Michell &
Moth.

plus cartridge re-tipping service

020 8688 6565
Website: www.thecartridgeman.com

Valves & Tubes

To advertise
in this space
please call

Loudspeaker Repairs

020 7372 6018RM-HFW May07 v1.indd

D.C. Boultons

or email:
[email protected]

9/3/07 10:47:03

Loudspeaker Repairs & Manufacture

All types including P.A. Disco, Hi.Fi. Juke Box etc.
Agents for B&C, Celestion, Eminence,
Fane, Precision Devices etc.
From re-foams to complete re-builds, even with
slipped magnets.
Trade and retail supplied.
Custom units our speciality.
Over 35 years experience of loudspeaker design

Unit 12, Damgate Lane Ind. Est, Acle, Norwich,

NR13 3DJ
Tel 01493 750075 Fax 01493 751155

The Stables, Baddow Park, Great Baddow, Chelmsford,

Essex, CM2 7SY. Tel: 01245 241301 Fax. 01245 241309
Email: [email protected]

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

P121.indd 121

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

121
19/3/07 16:04:50

BIGEARSAUDIO
website: www.bigearsaudio.org.uk updated daily

Quality used vintage & modern equipment bought, sold-part-exchange most welcome!! audio cables & accessories bigears speaker cable and interconnects-mail order specialists worldwide.

WE ACCEPT PAYPAL PAYMENTS and ALL CREDIT CARDS!!

NAIM dealer for the South West:

TANNOY, KEF, LECTOR, VIVA, AUDION, AUDIO NOTE, MICHELL
475
450
225
450
225
425

550
225
4000 [SOLD]
1400
4500
775
150

SPEAKERS
LUMLEY LAMPROS 200S 2500
TOWNSHEND GLASTONBURY 11S, RE-CONDITIONED
850
BEAUHORN ACCELERARDOS HUGE HORN SPEAKERS DX2S
2500
SONUS FABER ELECTA AMATORS, BEAUTIFUL, BOXED
1275
LINN ISOBARIKS, MINT
425
LINN KANS PLUS STANDS,
325
AUDIO NOTE KS
350
QUAD ESL 57S BRONZE, SERVICED, BOXED,
850
ROGER BBC LS3/5AS, 11OHMS, WALNUT, MINT
750
TANNOY 3LZS 10 GOLDS MINT
750
CASTLE 7S
325
LOWTHER DELPHICS, MINT, DX2S, DX3S
1650
LOWTHER BICOR 2000S USES 2 PAIRS OF DX2S
1250
HORNING AGATHONS DX2S, DX3S
1500
TOTEM MITES [499] AS NEW, BOXED
325
QUAD ESL57S BLACK, REBUILT & SERVICED BY BIGEARS BOXED, 850
JORDAN WATTS EX-BBC
295
DYNAUDIO AUDIENCE 5S
275
DYNAUDIO AUDIENCE 10S 275
SPENDOR BC1S MINT
350
MONITOR AUDIO MONITOR 3S
275
EPOS ES 11 BRILLIANT SMALL STAND MOUNTER,
185
RUARK SABRES, CHERRY
175
325
715 CELESTION SL6S EXCELLENT COND.
HEYBROOK QUINTETS,GOLD PIETZO TWEETER (1450)
425
NAIM ARIVAS EX-DEM [1300]
950
JR150 AS JR149 BUT BIGGER, NEW FOAM COVERS, MINT
450
RUARK
ICONS
[350]
MINT,
175
225
285
1500 USHER S-520 PIANO BLACK

CD PLAYERS
LECTOR CDP-7T, TOP LOADER
2150
MHZS CD88 TOP LOADING 24BIT 196K XLR TUBE CD PLAYER 875
SONIC FRONTIERS ANTHEM, MULTI-CHANGER, VALVE
850
ROKSAN CASPIAN CD, BOXED,
375
ROKSAN KANDY CD AS NEW, BOXED
550
USHER CD-1 [ASTONISHING!!]
455
AUDIONOTE CD 1 DAC AS NEW, BOXED [950]
650
LECTOR DCP-O6T VALVE CD PLAYER
875
NAIM CD5I
850
MARANTZ CD17 MKII [850]
595
AUDIO INNOVATIONS FISH-EYE CD-TUNER BOXED AS NEW
225
CYRUS DAD7 & PSX AS NEW AND BOXED
725
REGA PLANAR, BOXED
275

VALVE AMPS.
GAMMA RHYTHM 211 1250
WORLD AUDIO PRE-COMPONENTS UP-GRADED 275
CANARY AUDIO 806 [2500]
1000
CONRAD JOHNSON PV10AL
450
CROFT VITA FULL PRE-AMP
990
CROFT EL84 POWER-AMP
350
AUDION SILVER NOTE ONE
2500
RGD PX4 VALVE AMPS FROM THE1950S BEST EVER??
2500
YAOIN MS-12B VALVE PRE-AMP WITH PHONO STAGE MC/MM
225
CR DEVELOPMENTS ROMULUS 5881 [25WATTS] [2995]
1250
AUDIO RESEARCH VT60 POWER AMP
1250
LECTOR VALVE HYBRID, INTEGRATED, 50 WATTS, NEW
1050
ARIA MUSIC ANGLE KT88 VALVE AMP
550
AUDIO NOTE OTO SE INTEGRATED
1899
EASTERN ELECTRIC M520 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
1539
MEIXING MC67-HA VALVE TUBE PRE AMPLIFIER
575
CROFT OTL 3S M/BLOCKS PERFECT FOR ELECTROSTATICS
1250
AUDION STERLING MK1 EL34
650
AUDION STERLING MKII EL34
750
BLACK CAT ELECTRONICS PX4 VALVE, STEREO
POWER AMP [LOWTHERS/TANNOY]
2750
AUDIO NOTE KIT 4, 6L6S, 25WATTS
850
ANTHEM X1 EL34 SINGLE ENDED VALVE INT. AMPLIFIER
425
AUDION PRE 750
AUDION CD1 PRE 315
ARIA 300B, EXCELLENT VALUE-NEW
750
AFFORDABLE VALVE AMP EL34
425
BAT 3KI, HYBRID, PHONO STAGE, BOXED
1400
QUAD IIS, PLUS 22, SERVICED, EXCELLENT
850-1000
LEAK STEREO 60
875
LEAK STEREO 20, MINT
550
TRANSISTOR AMPS
NAIM NAIT 5I
NAIM NAP 250-BOXED-650
NAIM NAIT 2 250
AUDIOLAB 8OOOA- BOXED-250
CONRAD JOHNSON SONOGRAPHE SC-1
Z AMP TAMP DESIGN, STUNNING PERFORMANCED

MAGNUM REFERENCE MF125 MONO POWER AMPS

MVL A1 INTEGRATED, CLASS A, 100 WATTS
NAIM SNAPS, JUST SERVICED,
TAG MCLAREN CLASSY PRE-AMP, MM, MC, [850]
MISTRAL INTEGRATED, BLACK, WARM BUT DYNAMIC
QUAD 66 PRE-AMP WITH LARGE CONSOLE CONTROL
QUAD 33/44 PRE-AMPS, 303/306/405 POWER AMPS ALWAYS
AVAILABLE
EXPOSURE SUPER 8 POWER AMP

LOWTHER ACOUSTAS PM7AS

EPOS M14S BOXED
TANNOY CANTERBURYS 12 SILVERS
TANNOY LANCASTERS 15 GOLDS
TANNOY CORNER YORKS 15 REDS
NAIM CREDOS IN CHERRY BEAUTIFUL, BOXED
KEF CORELLIS, MINT,
POA ROGERS LS7S 265
315 SPENDOR SP1S 325

TURNTABLES/ACCESSORIES
TRICHORD DIABLO WITH NEVER CONNECTED POWER SUPPLY
AND HIGH PERFORMANCE PSU INTERCONNECT [1524]
1050
GARRARD 401, SME 3009, DYNAVECTOR 10X5,
675
LINN LP12, AFORMOSA, ORIGIN-LIVE DC POWER SUPPLY,
BASIC PLUS ARM, DYNAVECTOR 10X5
975
THE ISOLATOR-UNBELIEVABLE RESULTS!!
85
ORIGIN LIVE SILVER ARM
599
ALL GRAHAM SLEE PHONO STAGES
RED KOETSU
775
OKKI NOKKI RECORD CLEANING MACHINE
255
[email protected] tel: 01736 740421
mobile: 07947 678256

PRODUCT
TESTING
IN HI-FI
WORLD
To ensure the upmost accuracy in
our product reviews, Hi-Fi World has
extremely comprehensive in-house test
facilities, and our test equipment - from
big names like Rohde & Schwarz and
Hewlett Packard - is amongst the most
advanced in the world.
Loudspeakers are measured using
a calibrated Bruel&Kjaer microphone
feeding a Clio-based computer analyser,
using pulsed and gated sinewaves, in
a large room to eliminate the rooms
influence. Pickup arm vibration is
measured with a Bruel&Kjaer accelerometer.
No other UK hi-fi magazine has
in-house testing, and none has access
to such advanced tests across all types
of equipment. That's why you can
depend on Hi-Fi World reviews.

122
P122.indd 122

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

19/3/07 16:50:05

FREE READER CLASSIFIEDS

FREE READER

CLASSIFIEDS

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Only one advert per reader. Maximum length per advert is 30 words, Adverts over 30 words will not be accepted.
Telephone numbers and E-mail addresses are treated as one word. Model numbers are treated as one word i.e. Quad 303 = two words. Email
your advert to; [email protected] or fill in the form on page 129 and post it to Hi-Fi World Free Readers Ads, Suite G4, Argo House,
Kilburn Park Road, London NW6 5LF. Sorry, we cannot accept adverts over the telephone. The Publisher reserves the right to judge submissions.

AUDIOJUMBLE GRAND M25

presents Ashtead Audiojumble
at Peace Memorial Hall,
Woodfield Lane. M25 Junction
9. 10am/11am. Sunday 15th
April. Tel: 07730 134 973 (Jun)
AUDIOSTATIC WINGS
c/w optional Fins. 3.5 Years
old. Silver. Superb Full-range
Electrostatics in lovely condition. Boxes, manuals. May also
sell Final S200 in piano black
gloss. 1900 Both 2300 01458
860765
LINN GENKI CD, silver, 14
mnths old, (1100) 650; Linn
LK85 Power Amp, silver, 350.
PMC TB2 standmount Speakers,
14 months old, (800), 550. All
boxed, mint. Nottingham 0115
960 3934
ACOUSTIC ENERGY AE1 MK
3 Reference Speakers, cherry,
mint condition, boxed with
manual 825.00 (1695.00).
Musical Fidelity A308 integrated amplifier, mint condition,
boxed with manual 925.00
(2000.00). Tel: 01732 220664
TWO RAY Lumley Reference
120 monoblock valve amps.
One ok, other just stopped
working. Buyer collects as they
are a two man lift. Cost 4500
new 1995 ono. Email:
[email protected]
MARANTZ AMPLIFIER
PM7001 KI Signature 425.
Marantz CD SA7001 KI
Signature 450. Marantz Tuner
ST7001 200. Silver, boxed,
mint, guarantees. B&W CM1
speakers, maple, 300. Glass HiFi stand, 5 shelves 45. Tel: 0115
975 4070

TOM EVANS - The Grove

Phono. Set for Vdh Cartridges.
Eight Months Old and only
Forty Hours Use.Stunning
Sound-read the reviews.
Only 1200 Pounds. Tel. 07956
125 695

CYRUS 3 Integrated Amplifier

Black 250 Cyrus Power
Amplifier Black 250 Mission
752 Rosewood Veneered
Speakers 300 All in excellent
condition 012603 732901 after
6 and weekends

ARCAM ALPHA 8R and 8P.

B&W DM 602 S2 bi-wireable
standmount speakers. Good
upgrade from a budget system,
450 or may split. (They work
well together though) Mike
07710 737 232

AUDIOLAB 8000S remote

control amplifier in black finish, immaculate condition, in
original box with instructions,
260.00 ono 01453-545551
Bristol/Gloucestershire area.

SAP RELAXA 1 equipment

support, levitates equipment
up to 25kg for complete isolation from vibration - see Ken
Kessler review. Cost 450,
now 200 ono. Contact 07734
850600 / [email protected]

USHER 1.5 Power amp. 150

watts per channel. Class A.
(1500). Selling: 850. Buyer
collects. Townshend Isolda
speaker cable, 2.5 metres, 185.
Tel: 01491 614 325

RUARK ACCOLADES. Black

Ash. Efficient (90dB/Watt) 3way floorstanders.Bass drivers
re-built by DK Electronics. Love
valves. Fine condition. 700 ono.
Tel 0117 959 0663
PIONEER AMPLIFIER, Turntable,
Tuner, Cassette Deck, SONY
CD/DVD Player in Glass
Cabinet. Manuals, Remote
Control and two large free
standing speakers. Good working order 120. 01322 338213.
SONY KDF-50A12U, Bravia
50 inch rear projection tv,
high definition, 3 LCD with
stand remote and user manual,
mint condition, 800 Lancs
07932330269.
FOR SALE. Musical Fidelity.
A3.2 Dual Mono Integrated
Amplifier. Mint condition,
Boxed, Manual, Remote, Rarely
Used. (RRP 979.00). Received
Outstanding Reviews. 600.
Karl: 07815723494.
CLASSIC EXPOSURE Super
18 amplifier, 21 Pre-amp
with remote. Excellent. 450.
Includes carriage. Tel: 01851
890 410

PRIMARE D30.2 CD 545

(1,500) Nakamichi DR8 ( 2
head) 125 (500) Both mint /
boxed Philips CD104 (CDM1
Transport) 75. Apollo 4
tier stand (black) 40. 01621
772884 (Essex)
[email protected]
CROFT EPOCH Elite, Croft
modded 750; Croft Cypher
7W 6A7SG OTL, 2500
(4000); Audio Classic speakers,
high sensitivity, Cherry, Hayden
Boardman design, stands 750
(1500). 3500 everything,
offers. 07963 803682
PASSLAB AMPS, Audionote
e/sp, speakers, stands, cables,
cartridge, Altec speakers, AVI
CD player, EAR Transformer,
Nakamichi 1000, 582Z, Studer,
Akai Reel&Reel, Ariston
Turntable, various new
300B valves, 07944909209
[email protected]
REL 200E sub bass, 200w,
250mm driver, spiked, manual,
235. Pure DRX 701ES digital
tuner, mint, 150. Sony TCKA6ES cassette deck, mint,
140. Tel: 0190 463 4112.
www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

May 07 class ads final.indd 123

DYNAUDIO AUDIENCE 62
for sale. 4 years old, cherry finish, good condition. 400 ono,
demo available.
Contact Jeremy 07977254160
MUSICAL FIDELITY A1000
pure Class A amplifier and p.s.u.
Near mint condition. 595 ono.
Tel: 0794 117 4804 (Berks)
GLASSHOUSE 300B-SE power
amplifier with matched pair
JJ/Tesla triodes complete with
NAD 1000 full feature preamplifier, 600. Tel: 01344 454
504 (Bracknell)
PIONEER CT91A cassette deck
250. Pioneer F91 tuner 200.
Thule A1.100 amplifier 250.
Mitsubishi separates, mini-system 1980s, offers. Trio KA501
amplifier 50. Trio KD3100
turntable 50. All very good
condition. Tel: 01224 646 473
CREEK T50 FM/AM high quality tuner. Superb sound. Only
20 months old. Mint condition
with box and instructions. Cost
595. Will accept 300 ono.
Buyer collects or by arrangement. Tel: 02380 274 494
MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

123
20/3/07 14:24:23

Kits for the Audiophile

WD K E L 8 4 Valve Ampl if i er K it
The quality that can be
gleaned from this amp is a fine
introduction to the joys of the
valve sound

The WDKEL84 features a pair of EL84 valves in Push

Pull configuration per channel, providing two channels
each 18 Watts into an 8 Ohm load. Available as a 5
input integrated amplifier with ALPS volume control.

WDKEL84 kit
369
WDKEL84 built and tested 544

WD 8 8 VA Valve Ampl if i er K it
It proved itself to be an engaging valve amplifier that measured well and sounded superb.
Quite simply it plays music, and
plays it extremely well.
Adam Smith, Hi-Fi World Dec 06

Often described as a 'sweet sounding' valve, our particular implementation of the KT88 makes sure that it is
driven to its ultimate performance. Available as a 35W
stereo power amplifier with single input volume control,
or as a relay switched integrated with five inputs.

WD88VA Integrated Amp kit 849

WD88VA built and tested 1099

Headpho ne I I Valve Ampl if i er K it

Headphone II is a singleended design with the power
pentode wired up in triode
configuration for added purity
and is as quiet as a mouse

A beautifully simple stereo headphone amplifier design

using Mullard ECL83 valves. It works directly from
any source. The circuit uses twin high specification
E/I output transformers that can be wired to drive any
headphones between 16 to 300 Ohms.

Headphone II kit
275
Headphone II built and tested 404

WD 2 5 A S t and mo u nt S p eaker K it
The one aspect that stands
out is the easy ability to resolve
instruments and voices ... bass
quality and definition is a
revelation
Cabinet kit (pair) 179

The aperiodic enclosure offers the bass clarity and definition of a larger closed box, together with the efficiency
and easy amplifier load necessary for users of valve
amplifiers. Available with SEAS STD soft dome treble
unit, or high performance SEAS Excel treble unit.

WD25A STD kit (pair) 215

WD25A XL kit (pair) 398

WD 2 5 T Fl o o rs t and i ng S p eaker K it
The WD25T always sounds
crisp and taut, but can 'rumble' menacingly giving impressive physicality reminiscent
of far larger boxes. Imaging
is superb, the midband is also
special; it's very open with
masses of detail about the condition of the recording
Cabinet kit (pair) 398

Cunningly arranged as an aperiodic enclosure leading

to a lower sealed compartment, the WD25T combines
the optimum damping of aperiodic loading with the
bass extension of a large closed box. Available with
STD soft dome or high performance Excel treble units.
Both the WD25 kits are based around a SEAS 26cm
(10") paper cone bass unit with an efficiency of 89dB
for 1W. The crossover has been developed for an easy
drive 6 - 8 Ohm load making the system ideal for all
types of amplifiers.

WD25T STD kit (pair) 279

WD25T XL kit (pair) 459

All our kits are complete with pictorial easy-to-follow instructions.

All parts are included - all you need is a screwdriver and soldering iron.

WDkits ad3a.indd 123

www.world-designs.co.uk
Tel: 01832 293320

07/11/2006 12:34:54

FREE READER CLASSIFIEDS

KEF 103.2 speakers and stands,
B&W subwoofer, Quad poweramp, Hitachi pre-amp and tuner,
Sony CD and cassette players.
Offers for all or parts. Contact
Hedgeland 01494 525266 (High
Wycombe).

AUDIO ZONE AMP-1 integrated amplifier outboard power

supply superb sound mint condition 800. Tel: 07765 808 374
KRELL KSP7B preamp 500
(2600) (new) Sumo Athena II
preamp 350. Tel: 01509 230
694 (anytime)

MAXELL TAPES 35-90B XLI

with bags and labels. Used once
for mastering onto CD. 8 each.
Philips LP18/DP18 and TDK 3590B 5 each. Tel: 07710 828 286

NAKAMICHI CR7, mint condition, instructions, remote,

boxed. 650. Rogers LS3/5A
15ohm, good condition. 550.
Audio Research SP9, superb
phono stage, boxed, immaculate.
450. Rega Planar 3. 120. Tel:
0772 962 0621

TDL RTL-2 one pair

Transmission Line speakers, Rosewood, Exemplary
Condition. 285.00 ovno. 2
pairs B&W 602 S3 Speakers,
Cherry, exemplary condition,
320.00 pair. Call John on
01628 622115 & 07809 394995

RMS REVELATION One.

Unusual standmounted speakers, curved metal cabinets,
external crossovers, 350. IPL
Acoustics S3TLM ribbon Mk2
transmission line floorstanders,
ribbon tweeters, aluminium
mid bass, crown white ash,
400. Tel: 01202 298 447
or 0777 387 6019 or Email:
[email protected]

EPOS ES22 slim floorstanding

loudspeakers, cherry, h/w/d
87/20/25cms, excellent condition, very musical, 350 ono
(1100), am having to go for
wallmounts now - shame!
phone 02083686558, Email
[email protected]

REGA PLANER 3 Elys cartridge

150 Rotel RC870 pre x2
RB870 power amps boxed
240. TDL RTL 3 speakers
130. Tandberg TCD 440A
spare pinch rollers manuals
230. Tel: 01903523375

MICHELL ISO Hera 249.

Hitachi FT5500 70. Tel: 01606
784 767.
CROWN IC150 preamplifier, DC300A power amplifier,
150wpc 500. Lecson AC1
preamplifier, AP2 Tower of
Power 100wpc design classic
(offers). Buyer collects. Preston
area. Tel: 01772 864 684. Email:
[email protected]

MUSICAL FIDELITY A3 CD, A3

Pre Amp, Two A3 Power Amps
(used in Bi Amp mode). 300
each or 1,000.00 for all items.
Call 01344 751446 or 07713
622115.

PIONEER A88X amplifier 250. Mordant Short

A5000 amplifier 195. Rogers
Ravensbourne amplifier 95.
Tannoy P10 speakers (cherry)
210. Wharfedale 708 speakers
(black) 195. Goodmans IC100
speakers 120. Tel: Graham
07837 188 670 (Ilford)

DENON DVD-2900
Black DVD Player, Little
used, Mint Condition, boxed,
All Manuals, Remote Control
Un-used, 425 ono. Tel (01535)
648407.
NEAT ELITE SE maple 600.
Mission 753f blk. boxed 300.
Audiolab 8000SX boxed 250.
Vdh The First 0.6m boxed 65.
Vdh The First 0.6m loose 60.
Tel: 0114 2339603 evenings.

B U Y

FOR SALE: NAD C445 FM/

AM/DAB tuner, mint condition,
perfect working order, boxed,
manual. 250 ono. Tel: 02476
422 967

S E L L

H O M E

PAIR WORLD Designs stand

mount speakers WD 25A
XL with latest X-Over. Silver
laquered with 16 inch Atacama
stands.Van den Hul Teatrack
speaker cables, 2x 4mtr lengths.
Monster connections. Serious
offers please. Tel: 0115 975 4070
WAD HEADPHONE II
upgrades include Panasonic pot,
Black Gates, Audio Note PIOs,
Aerovox Power Caps, spare
Mullard NOS valves. Under 10
hours use. As new. 425 ono.
Tel: R. Richards 01639 641 043
MERIDIAN DVD 596 upgraded
professional player + MSR.
Quad 99/909 140wrms +
remote. EAR Yoshino 8L6 50
watt tube. Technics SL110/
SME 3009. Denon TU260L II.
Possible P/Ex. Wanted: IMF etc.
Tel: Jim 01206 510392 or 0788
0983 630
LOWTHER ACADEMY Horn
loudspeakers floor standing piano black, costs 2999.
Audion Silver Night 300B
mono block costs 1999. Both
for 2500. One owner. Whole
afternoon audition possible.
Bargain. Tel: 020 8743 3352 or
07914 225 992
AVI PRO-NINE loudspeakers.
Cherry, excellent condition,
299. Hi-Fi News magazines
1995 to date, 5 per year, binders available 3 each. Tel: 01942
891 741
WORLD DESIGNS
Standmount speakers WD25As,
new, some running in time
only. Built and tested by World
Designs. Ebony black. Excellent.
Can supply stand free. 400. Tel:
01373 301 423
FOR SALE. Dynatron stereo
tuner & record player. Fantastic
example in excellent original
condition. One owner from
new, August 1971. (No speakers). Offers. Contact John on
07825 560200
or [email protected]

C I N E M A

RAILWAY RECORDINGS for

sale. Twelve Argo Transacord
LPs, four EPs, two BBC LPs,
one Audio Fidelity LP, three
Australian LPs, one Saydisc,
one Talyllyn. 60. Will split. Tel:
01570 471 422
LEAK STEREO 20 good working order 500 ono. Spendor
BC1 350 ono. Mordaunt
Short 500 Decca Kelly Ribbon
Celestion twelve inch bass mid
unit 350 ono. Tel: 01392 462
935 (Exeter)
WANTED: BEN Duncan Pure
Power Stnd. 240v/240v isolation
transformer. Tel: 01204 531 016
NAIM 82s. NAC SC. Hi-Cap.
250 2150. Naim CDi 500.
Chord Anthem (Din) 100.
Quad 33, 303, FM3 220.
Pioneer F676 tuner 60.
Thorens TD160 Hadcock
arm 175. All mint. Tel: 01722
334694
OLD SANSUI TU317 tuner,
manual signal and tuning 55.
Denon TU260L/2 tuner 65.
Nakamichi BX125E two head
cassette deck 85. Musical
Fidelity A3.2CR pre-amp 475.
All boxed. Tel: 01883 342 039,
mobile 01947 450 367
WORLD AUDIO P.S.E. 18watt
300B valve amplifiers, quality build, upgrades include
DC heated Svetlana valves,
Black Gate capacitors etc.
Can be heard runnning any
trial. 950. Tel: 01246 810 851
(Chesterfield)
CHORD CPA 2200 pre-amp
and SPM 1200B power amplifier.
Boxed, manuals, remote. Recent
service by Chord Electronics.
(Retirement sale) 2300. Tel:
01825 722 936
NAIM CDS3 CD player, 11
months old, and Naim XPS2
power supply, 3 years old. Both
mint condition and boxed.
5000. Will split if required. Tel:
01833 650 155

M U LT I RO O M I N S TA L L

c hh oi if ci e www.choice-hifi.com
tel:

020 8392 1959

mob:0

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

May 07 class ads final.indd 125

7768 720456

i n f o @ c h o i c e - h i f i . c o m

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

125
20/3/07 14:24:24

Kits for the Audiophile

D I Y Valve Ampl if i er Par t s - Valves , P C B s , Connec tors , Hardware

We stock a full range of valves (tubes) from

famous manufacturers. The list below is
a selection of favourites. If you don't see
what you want - please ring or e-mail. We
are happy to match valves on request.
EL84M Russian (Sovtek)

Valve Amplifiers
by Morgan Jones

29.50

Building Valve Amplifiers

by Morgan Jones

19.50

Life & Works of A.D. Blumlein

by R.C. Alexander
18.00
Understand Amplifiers
by Owen Bishop
19.50
Audio & Hi-Fi Handbook
edited by Ian Sinclair

34.50

11.49

Hardwire Tag Board

twin rows of 18 tags
2.33
Switched IEC AC 'mains' inlet
chassis mount with fuse
2.88
Unswitched IEC AC 'mains' inlet
chassis mount with fuse
2.34
UK IEC AC 'mains' cable
fitted with fused plug, 2m length 5.36

EL84 JJ (to Tesla Specification) 9.75

JJ 300B (popular and reliable) 83.50

PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS

EH300B Gold Grid

69.00

HD83 Headphone II

16.25

Svetlana KT88 (outstanding)

36.50

Phono II phono stage

16.25

PSU II power supply

16.25

Pre II preamplifier

16.25

KEL84 Power amp

24.98

Sovtek 6550 WE

19.49

Eichmann Bullet Plug

phono plugs - pack of 4

Sovtek 5881
EL34 ElectroHarmonix

12.49
11.85

Neutrik Professional Gold Plated

phono plugs - pack of 2 - Red/W 1.69

EL34 JJ (balanced and precise) 15.49

5U4G Sovtek
GZ34 JJ

9.94
16.99

5687 WB Philips NOS (gutsy) 12.49

Svetlana 6N1P
6SN7GT EH (to RCA spec)
ECF80 EI

6.50
10.25
7.30

Gold plated, teflon insulated

phono sockets - pack of 2
Silver plated speaker terminals
pack of 2
Twin speaker Terminal Set
chassis insulated - Red/Bk
Chassis mount earth post
nickel plated

25.00

4.75
9.40
2.94
1.23

POWER SUPPLY PARTS

VALVE BASES
B7A Chassis Mount
B9A Chassis Mount
B9A PCB Mount

4.70
4.70
4.70

Octal Chassis Mount

UX4 Chassis Mount

4.70
16.98

BOOKS

ALPS Blue Beauty

50k dual log pot.

13.69

ALPS Blue Beauty

100k dual log pot.

23.00

Stereo carbon track

100k dual log pot.

2.95

UF5408 700V 3A rectifier diode

ultra-fast recovery
1.25
Cree CSD4060A rectifier diode
Schottky 600V 4A
6.75
Jensen 4700uF 16v DC
4 terminal electrolytic
25.85
RIFA 47uF 100V DC
PEG Axial Al Electrolytic
2.99
RIFA 100uF 100V DC
PEG Axial Al Electrolytic
4.25
Polyester 0.1uF 630v DC
WIMA Metalised film
0.55

Valve & Transistor Audio Amps

by John Linsley Hood
24.50
Self on Audio
by Douglas Self
26.50

Cermet 'Humbucker' 2W at 70 C
22R or 100R linear pot.
8.99
6 way Selector Switch
2 pole 6 way rotary wafer

1.88

Polyester 0.47uF 630v DC

WIMA Metalised film
1.29
Panasonic FC 220uF 500V DC
Low ESR Al electrolytic
8.95

Valve Radio & Audio Repair Handbook

by Chas E. Miller
22.50

AC 'mains' chassis switch

DPST 4A silver contacts

1.99

Bridge Rectifier 25A 700V

28.5mm x 7.5mm

We stock a wide range of parts to facilitate the build of valve amplifiers. Please ring or e-mail for details. See our on-line catalogue at
World Designs, 59 Main Street, Great Gidding, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE28 5NU

WDAmpPartsa.indd 123

3.25

www.world-designs.co.uk
Tel: 01832 293320

07/11/2006 12:37:28

FREE READER CLASSIFIEDS

QUICKSLIVER ALL Valve
monoblocks with 6550s.
Amazing. 750. Fisher X101D
all valve integrated amplifier,
7519s, 275. Wanted: valve CD
player/recorder, good valve
preamp. W.H.Y.? PX? Tel: Stanley
07951 553 091 (London, NW2)

WANTED: DECCA FFSS heads

wanted. Mono, 78, H4E. Tel:
01344 776 445
REVOX B750 amp, Revox B760
tuner. Excellent condition.
Manuals. 200 ono pair. Michell
Focus record deck. No arm.
Mint. 100. Tel: 01384 390 067
(West Midlands)

FOR SALE: 2m pair Chord

Odyssey bi-wire speaker cable.
Chord terminations. Downsize
forces sale. 75 ono. Tel: Dave
01483 728 657 (Surrey)

REGA 3, RB300 with CS Split

Slab (Ref P.T. LPT) + Avondale
Taps1 power supply and Space
Mat. 300 ono. Thorens TD150
with Linn Basik + and LP12
springs. 100. Tel: 0780 320
7330.

AUDIO NOTE Zero system.

Pre. monoblocks, DAC transport, floorstanding speakers, all
cables, fabulous analogue sound.
Large soundstage, high-end
valve bargain, mint condition,
1 years use. 1700. Tel: 01992
300 713

ELECTRONICS HOBBYIST
requires for projects non working Quad 34 and 44 preamps.
405, 606 power amplifiers.
Quad and Leak tuners. 405
boards etc. Contact Mike on
01758 613 790 for price.

HITACHI FT5500 tuner 70.

NXT/Mission type cardboard
speaker - who remembers
these? Unopened box. 100. Tel:
01606 784 767

MUSICAL FIDELITY Tri-Vista

21 DAC and X-Ray V3 CD,
both mint condition and lightly
used. 1100 ono. Will split.
Isotek Substation with two
Transformer sections. 500
ono. Tel: 01625 430 797

SUGDEN A21a, renowned integrated. Black front, 2 years old,

mint, boxed. 500 ono. Contact:
Sonny. Tel: 07795 562 848 or
Email: [email protected]
(London, W2)

NYTECH CTA252XDII receiver, mint, boxed, manual, 150.

Leak Troughline tuner Stereo
II. Professionally fitted decoder.
Sounds nice. 130. Myst GOhm amplifier. Needs looking
at but works. 90. Tel: 01922
865 414.

MONARCHY SM-70 Pro

25watt, mint, box, manual,
(900) 360 plus carriage.
Quad 306, Quad serviced, mint,
box, manual, 160 plus carriage.
Tel: 01903 247 779
KEF RDM2 standmount
Reference monitors. Black with
thick high gloss solid cherry
side cheeks. Excellent looks and
sound. Cost 700. Sell for 200.
Tel: 0116 284 9087 (Leicester
area)
NAIM INTRO II loudspeakers.
Mint Condition with full original
packaging. Cherry wood finish.
Excellent sound. 440. B&W
DM601 S3s. Current Spec. Mint
Condition. Cherry Finish, 140.
Tel 01522 797994.

B U Y

MUSICAL FIDELITY XAS100

power amp. A3CR pre-amp. A3
CD. Castle Richmond 3i. Kef
Coda 7 standmounts. Stands.
Denon TU215RD tuner. All
items excellent condition and
little used. All going cheap. Tel:
07818 894 926
WILLIAMS HART monoblocs
900. Lyngdorf SDA1 integrated
1000. Three weeks use. Two of
the best amps ever.Voyd turntable, played less than hundred
LPs, 800. Tel: 01977 620 558
AUDIO RESEARCH SP8 795.
Edison Twelve 225. Rata turntable stand 130. Oracle Paris
turntable 450. Audio Note Anv
135. Kelvin Labs integrated
225. Leak Troughline mono.
Hugen stands for Audio Note
Ks 145. Rehdeko RK125s,
Mullard ECC83s, EL84s. Tel:
0113 255 9475
ARCAM 8 Delta 90.2
Intergrated Stereo amplifier 100. Arcam Delta 70.2
Compact Disc player 100.
Arcam Delta Black Box Digital
Audio Interface 100. Arcam
Delta 80 AM/FM Stereo Tuner
100. Email:
[email protected]
MINT CONDITION Tube
Technology pre-amp and power
supply. 1500. Genesis mono
block power amps. 3000. If
you know your High-End hi-fi
call Vernon on 07836 697 717.
No timeswasters. Thanks

CABASSE POLARIS monoblocks transistor. Lector two

box valve CD Player. Lector
valve pre-amplifier. Both black.
Naim 03 FM tuner. Shahinian
Hawk speakers. Speakers have
updated tweeters. Work great
with Naim equipment. Phone
for prices. Tel: 020 8524 2181.

AUDIOSTATIC WINGS
c/w optional Fins. 3.5 Years
old. Silver. Superb Full-range
Electrostatics in lovely condition. Boxes, manuals. May also
sell Final S200 in piano black
gloss. 1900 Both 2300 01458
860765

QED XT400 speaker cables.

5 metres long bi-wired/biamped pair, terminated with
4mm Airloc plugs at each
end. 180 ono 01453-545551
Bristol/Gloucestershire area.

AUDIOJUMBLE GRAND M25

presents Ashtead Audiojumble
at Peace Memorial Hall,
Woodfield Lane. M25 Junction
9. 10am/11am. Sunday 15th
April. Tel: 07730 134 973 (Jun)

S E L L

H O M E

C I N E M A

GUIDELINES FOR

. BUYING AND SELLING

SECOND-HAND
EQUIPMENT

FOR THE BUYER

1. Not everyone is honest Buyer Beware!
2. Dont send cash!
3. Accept no verbal
guarantees.
4. Have you heard the item
or something similar? If
not, why do you want it?
5. Dont pretend to have
knowledge - its your
fingers that will get burnt!
6. Is it working? If not, why
not?
7. Has it been modified and,
if so, have notes been kept?
8. Was it any good in the first
place?
9. Dont send cash!
10. If you are in the slighest
doubt, arrange an audition
(see point 5) If its too far,
wait for another time.
11. Either buy it or dont:
vendors are excusably
impatient with consulta
tion exercises.
12. Dont send cash!
FOR THE SELLER
1. Not everyone is honest Seller Beware!
2. Make no verbal guarantees.
3. Even nearly new is still
second-hand. If the
manufacturers guarantee
is no longer in force, your
price should reflect this.
4. There is very little intrinsic
value in second-hand hi-fi;
its only worth what
someone will pay for it.
5. The best guide to pricing is
last months Classifieds:
that a classic was worth
xxx a year or two ago
is no guide. Values
fall as well as rise.
6. Amateur second-hand
dealing is not a big
money game: you win
some, you lose some.
7. Be prompt with despatch.
If in doubt about buyers
bona-fides, either wash out
the deal or send C.O.D.
8. There will always be timewasters; be tolerant within
reason!

M U LT I RO O M I N S TA L L

c hh oi if ci e www.choice-hifi.com
tel:

020 8392 1959

mob:0

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

May 07 class ads final.indd 127

7768 720456

i n f o @ c h o i c e - h i f i . c o m

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

127
20/3/07 14:24:24

NEXT MONTH
June 2007s Hi-Fi World is a veritable cornucopia of the weird
and wonderful - we have a heady mixture of the great and the
good in hi-fi hardware. Heres just some of what we hope to
bring you:

PODIUM ONE LOUDSPEAKERS - PANEL PERFECTION? EXCLUSIVE!

100K SYSTEM FEATURE - HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVE!
REVOLVER AVF LOUDSPEAKERS - TOWERS OF POWER?
LUXMAN L550A VALVE INTEGRATED - JAPANESE CRACKER? EXCLUSIVE!
AUDIA FLIGHT CD TWO CD PLAYER - SEXY NEW SILVER DISC SPINNER EXCLUSIVE!
SHANLING MC-3 MINI SYSTEM - TAKING THE FIGHT TO DENON
CD ACCESSORY SUPERTEST - GET THE BEST FROM YOUR DISCS
PROGRESSION PARALLEL TRACKER TONEARM - CHEAP AND EASY EXCLUSIVE!
FATMAN ITUBE AUDIO SYSTEM - WHEN THE IPOD MET THE VALVE
OLDE WORLDE: MORDAUNT SHORT SYSTEM 442 LOUDSPEAKERS - EIGHTIES BRUISER REVISITED
CHANNEL ISLANDS AUDIO D100 MONOBLOCKS - OFFSHORE AUDIO HAVEN? (pictured)
DENON DVD3930 DVD PLAYER - HOT NEW MID-PRICE HI RES CONTENDER
NUFORCE REFERENCE 9 PREAMP - AS GOOD AS THE REF9SE POWER AMPS? EXCLUSIVE!

PICK UP THE JUNE 2007 ISSUE OF HI-FI WORLD ON SALE JUNE 30TH
OR SUBSCRIBE. SEE PAGE 68
P128 subbed final.indd 128

20/3/07 10:00:03

ORDER/INDEX

ADVERTISERS INDEX
2nd Hand Hi-Fi
113
Anatek
114
Audio Xpress
107
Audiocraft
109
Audusa
108
Aurousal
38
B&W
BC
Big Ears
122
Billy Vee
106
Choice Hi-Fi
123,125
Classique Sounds
111
Decent Audio
115
Densen
42
ECS
46
English Valve Audio
112
Heatherdale
115
Henley Designs
76,80
Hi Audio
44
Hi-End Cable
111
Hi-Fi Sound
113
Horn Audio
111
I Cube
56
Ian Edwards
115
Ian Harrison
114
Kudos
115
Leema
34
Linn
6
Mantra Audio
109
Martin Kleiser
48
Matrix
107
Meridian
24
Michell Engineering
92
Midland Audio Exchange 117
Mikam North
60
MIT Cables
64
Musonic
107
Naim
74
Origin Live
60,114
Pioneer
IFC
Podium
56
Quad
86
Real Hi-Fi
26
Retro Reproduction
109
Rochester Hi-Fi
112
Sevenoaks
28,29,30,31
Shadow Audio
72
Signature Audio
IBC
Slim Devices
12
Sounds of Music
116
Sounds4Enjoyment
16
Stamford Audio
84
Tangent
56
The Right Note
92
Tube Shop
107
Turntable World
113
Vertex
44
Walrus
78
Whest Audio
64
World Design 120,124,126

FREE READER
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Only one advert per reader. Maximum length per advert is 30

words, Adverts over 30 words will not be accepted. Telephone numbers and E-mail addresses are
treated as one word. Model numbers are treated as one word i.e. Quad 303 = two words. Sorry, we
cannot accept adverts over the telephone. The Publisher reserves the right to judge submissions.

You can email your advert to us at: [email protected]

or write or type your advertisement copy in block capitals with one word per box
and post it to us at:
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P129.indd 1

MAY 2007 HI-FI WORLD

129
20/3/07 16:26:02

CLASSIC CUTS

JEROME KERN
SONG BOOK
ELLA FITZGERALD
1963

he Verve years were great

for Ella Fitzgerald. She had
moved on from Decca
where she struggled with
patchy material some
excellent but too many
of them novelties. Her Song Book
series at Verve launched her star into
the stratosphere where it has stayed
ever since. Her Cole Porter Song
Book, for example, became one of
the biggest selling jazz records of all
time. Fitzgerald began recording the
Song Book series for Verve in 1956
with Rogers and Hart, and the last
was undertaken in 1963 with Jerome
Kern.
Speakers Corner began covering
the Song Book series back in the
year 2000, with the Cole Porter
Song Book. It was at this time that
the label had the idea to publish all
seven of the original series because
the initial set sold so well. The label
then issued a second series with
consistently high sales and so the
series has continued with the new
release of the Jerome Kern Song
Book featuring standards such as A
Fine Romance, Cant Help Loving
That Man, The Way You Look
Tonight and Im Old Fashioned. It is
a beautiful release, superbly mastered
by Acoustech in the USA.
Rather than a complete unit
of song books, the audiophile has
to look at the series as a suite of
linked yet separate albums. Some of
the albums were recorded in mono
and some in stereo. To that extent,
Speakers Corner produced the very
first stereo versions on vinyl of Song
Book songs with the few tracks that

130
P130 subbed.indd 130

HI-FI WORLD MAY 2007

"the Song Book series is an ideal

method of dipping your toes into
the cream of the songwriting crop"
appeared on the largely mono Rogers
and Hart production.
The final vinyl volume will be the
Harold Arlen Song Book which will
be issued either late this year or early
next year. CD fans should hunt down
the song books on the Verve label.
The ambitious can even purchase the
entire series as a magnificent box set
of sixteen discs. Vinyl fans who happen
to be Fitzgerald completists may have
to make some tough decisions too.
Mainly because the CD versions of
the song books included an array of
extra tracks. As the MD of Speakers
Corner, Kai Seemann, explained his
vinyl versions, sometimes include
the extra tracks. If there was enough
space on the LP we did. Sometimes
there was no space left. For example,
if a track was deemed too long for an
album side, the sound quality would
degrade so I wouldnt feature it.
Speakers Corner sometimes
found themselves with a spare fifteen
minute track but it was too short to
include on an extra 33rpm record
or even a double sided 45rpm vinyl.
So why didnt they include it on a
supplementary 10 or single sided
45rpm disc? We are not able to
manufacture 10 vinyl discs to the
thickness we require. I could have
done it with a single-sided 45rpm
disc but I feel uncomfortable where
one side is completely blank. Its
unattractive. When Classic do it
they have an entire album on onesided discs. Oddly enough, we tried
that route but our customers didnt

appreciate it maybe we have

different customers.
There are no extra tracks on
the new Jerome Kern release but,
then, there are none on the older
CD version either. In fact, Speakers
Corner didnt utilise the CD sets
for comparison, to see what extra
tracks were out there; the company
instead depended on the tape library
at Universal and for that library
to say that, well on this tape were
giving you, there are extra tracks.
Some might call this approach rather
blinkered and less than diligent whilst
others might say the company wanted
to give the public the best sounding
product available and so only
worked with the best tapes, instead
of mooching around on the floor
looking for bits and pieces to add to
the end of an album.
As individual records, the Song
Book series is not perfect. The
arrangements (on Cole Porter and
Rogers and Hart, lovely as they are)
can rightly be accused of being a little
plodding which was restrictive to
Fitzgerald. The heights were reached
on the Gershwin and Duke Ellington
Song Books where Duke Ellington
and Nelson Riddle respectively
created arrangements more suited
to Fitzgeralds style. Taken as a whole,
however, the Song Book series is a
tour de force, an essential item for
any fan of the popular song and an
ideal method of dipping your toes
into some of the cream of the song
writing crop. PR

www.hi-fiworld.co.uk

16/3/07 14:00:58

nature Audio
Signature Audio Systems
- Capturing the emotion in music -

Tel: 0208 480 3333 Mob: 07918 022870 / 07738 007776

E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.signaturesystems.co.uk

Upgrade your system in one fell swoop!

Absolutely love the performance.

The best Ive heard in 20 years.

Mr K. Tasker

Professor R. Jowitt

Rack mount version shown (standard version without side cheeks)

POWER PLANT PREMIER

AC Power Regenerator
P S

A U D I O

Everything you hear and see through your Hi-Fi or Home Cinema system begins its journey at the
wall socket. AC Mains quality can and does impact the audio performance of your system.
PS Audio is a recognised leader in power quality and power protection products. If you want
to protect the investment in your system, and enjoy a dramatic improvement in your existing
components at the same time, try the new Power Plant Premier.
The Power Plant Premier is the worlds only true AC regenerator that offers the full power
of the wall, low distortion even with difcult loads, MultiWave, CleanWave, remote
control, true surge protection, front panel harmonic power analyzer, AC volt meter, and
outstanding AC isolation. All this for just 1,799 represents unbeatable value.
The Premier Power Plant is now available in the UK with US and UK plug outlets.
Please call for more information.
Digital Link III DAC 1,099

GCHA Headphone Amplier 799

The Crowning Jewel... is

the Digital Link III.

Brilliant. Loads of power

and detail.

Absolute Sound, March 2007

ImageXperience, March 2007

GCPH Phono Stage 799

20 / 20

Hi-Fi News, May 2007

Dealer enquiries welcome

HFN/SAS/0507

SAS HFW May07 v1.indd 1

13/3/07 12:59:49

The new B&W 800 Series

Incorporating B&W crossover technology

> CLEANSED

Audio signals are like spring water. The further they ow

from their source, the greater the risk to their natural
purity and vitality. Like a glass of cool, clear water, fresh
from the stream, nothing compares to hearing music with
the cleansing clarity it was created with.
At B&W, we like to get listeners as close to the
source as possible. The signal path in an 800 Series
speaker couldnt be any shorter, simpler or sweeter. By
optimising, in every detail, the mechanical design of the
drive units, we minimise the need for extra electrical
components in the crossover. Less quantity, more quality.
Every component we do use is handpicked after
painstaking listening tests. Together in the 800 Series
crossover, they deliver sound with every original nuance
and texture intact.
Not all water tastes the same. No other speakers
sound like the 800 Series.

www.bw800.com
Visit our website and order your free DVD
Call +44 (0)1903 221 500