July 20, 2023

CDs are back in fashion! - A trio of Marantz Players to consider; The SA10, CD60 AND CD6007

July 20, 2023/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

Hi all, and welcome to this months blog. The vinyl revolution has long been underway, with new record pressing plants opening up all the time and record stores re-purposing their shelves to accommodate this revitalised interest and make room for additional stock. Even the humble compact cassette has been given a new lease of life, with artists such as Metallica and Taylor Swift releasing their latest albums on tape. So what about the venerable compact disc? There are definitely signs of life for CDs and we are going to take a look at three players from the mighty Marantz.

Unless you’re into music playback in a big way you may not have noticed that music stores have changed beyond recognition in recent years. The shelves saw records diminish in number during the 80s and 90s in the wake of the compact disc era, almost to the point of extinction. Now, the opposite is happening and CDs are being replaced by records once again, with sales of vinyl massively increasing, along with the interest in record players and their ancillary equipment; cartridges and styli. Streaming has become all the rage and the majority of listeners are adopting this new technology for its portability benefits, choice of music and the reclaiming of domestic shelf space!

Why the CD resurgence?

Despite all of these changes and numerous benefits, CDs have once again started to become popular, with sales increasing during the post lockdown period. From a personal point of view, I hadn’t stopped buying CDs on a frequent basis, with second-hand bargains in charity shops and record stores to be had.

$ music format sales from 1973 - 2021. CD sales are in orange

So the next obvious question is why? I’ll briefly mention a few of my thoughts below, but there are many more than I’ll highlight here.

Firstly, playback and purchase habits have changed for several reasons. The most obvious being cost, with vinyl being very expensive compared to new and especially second-hand CDs. The cost of living crisis is making many people rethink how they spend their money and CDs are a good alternative to streaming services, especially if you’re selective about your music playback. CDs give you the chance to make a one-off payment for your music rather than effectively paying for it every time you play it.

Secondly, like with records, folks enjoy the physical ownership and tactile experience of putting on a CD, with album art and information available in sleeve or booklet form. There is also slightly less of a tendency to flick through tracks and actually listen to an album in its entirety.

Thirdly, you are not subject to the whims of artists or record companies removing music titles from online streaming services. Neil Young is notorious for removing his catalogue from Spotify, which is of course his right to do so, but it doesn’t help the Neil Young fan, unless you own a CD or record of your own. I’ve seen many copies of Neil Young albums available on the second-hand market at bargain prices.

Finally, the quality of the source of the music is pre-determined by the CD master you own and the information printed on the disc. All too often, streaming services have several versions of the same album available at different levels of Hi-Res playback quality. What this numerical data doesn’t tell you though, is how good it sounds. This can vary hugely depending on the choice of stream you select. With your own CD you know what to expect!

I have spoken at length about the virtues of streaming services in one of my earlier blogs. If you would like to read this to ponder the “CD Vs Streaming” debate, click here.

CD player choices...

One of the problems with the decline in CD sales was that manufacturers failed to continue to support older players. CD mechanisms and laser assemblies went out of production and replacements were harder to obtain or ceased to exist. Unfortunately this has meant that some very good older CD players are no longer supported, forcing owners to replace or upgrade an existing model in order to continue playing their precious CDs.

Annoying as this is, some manufacturers have continued to see CDs as an ongoing source of music playback and this is where Marantz comes in as one of the leading players, pun intended, in providing the hardware to do so.

Long-standing Marantz...

Marantz has been around for seven decades as a major Hi-Fi manufacturer, producing some of the most highly regarded equipment, including CD players from the inception of the CD format during the 1980’s.

the original marantz model cd-63 from 1982

For the remainder of this article, we’ll look at three of Marantz’s current range of CD players and see what they have to offer…

Marantz CD6007...

The Marantz CD6007 is the baby of the current Marantz range. Stemming from a line of previous iterations of award winning CD players, the CD6007 inherits their established qualities.

The CD tray is a pretty standard affair of good quality and has a smooth action when opening and closing. The back panel of the Marantz CD6007 is fairly similar to the Marantz CD60 in terms of inputs, albeit with a slightly different layout. Build quality on the entry-level CD player is very good for the money but the Marantz CD60 is clearly a step-up in construction quality, with visibly more sturdy bracing via additional bolts in the rear and a more hefty feel, which inspires confidence. Manufacturers often talk of building to a price point and the look and construction certainly reflect that.

Marantz CD60...

The Marantz CD60 is a very elegant CD player with a nice pearlescent effect on the sides of the front panel when the light catches it right. A design style that Marantz is planning on expanding to other ranges. The CD60 is dimensionally slightly taller and considerably deeper than its younger sibling and this needs to be factored in when putting it on a shelf, so buyer beware and make sure you measure your space.

From the front, the button layouts are slightly different but ergonomically they feel of reasonable quality, albeit slightly too small for my personal taste. The senior generation may enjoy bigger, clearer function buttons, or perhaps I’m just speaking for myself?

From a sound quality point of view, they both perform very well but there are clear sonic differences that your hard-earned pounds pay for. In isolation, the Marantz CD6007 is a smooth sounding player that doesn’t do a lot wrong, leaving out sonic aspects that would highlight its failings. You can hear why it is a What Hi-Fi? award winner in its price class, being a great all-rounder. Not Ian Botham quality but you get my drift.

The Marantz CD60 is a less murky affair, with added extension, detail and dynamic impact. Worth the extra outlay I’d say.

Marantz SA10...

Introducing the Marantz SA10 Super Audio CD Player. Now this is in a completely different league in terms of both construction and playback performance.

You’ve only got to lift the thing to get an idea of what I’m on about. In the previous paragraph I mentioned the great cricketing all-rounder, Ian Botham, and it may not be cricket to say this, but it’s like lifting him!

The copper chassis is a thing of beauty and designed to reduce the interference that can detract from audio performance.

There are a plethora of inputs on the rear of the Marantz SA10 including; balanced or single ended outputs, USB playback via external storage or laptop, optical and coaxial inputs, so the Marantz SA10 can form the hub of a high quality digital playback system.

Conventional audio playback can be through normal Red Book CDs or via the SA10’s coup-de-gras, SACD playback. Via the medium of SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc), which is clearly shown on the display when playing, sound quality improves dramatically. The gains in detail, dynamics and warmth are massive. Realism is on another scale.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Marantz SA10 is no slouch in normal CD playback either, but if you’re going to make the sort of outlay financially required for this player, you need to have a system commensurate with its price/performance and a pretty significant collection of SACDs to make it worthwhile.

We played the Marantz SA10 through our Naim NSC222, Naim NPX300 and Naim NAP250 system into both Proac DB1 standmount speakers and more recently, the Proac D30RS floorstander speakers, to great effect.

proac d30rs through a naim nd5xs2 and naim supernait 3

Summing up the Marantz power trio...

The Marantz CD6007, Marantz CD60 and Marantz SA10 are a great trio of CD/SACD players and offer customers a good choice at various price points. Well made and sonically at the forefront of their respective price classes, the Marantz range continues their reputation for making excellent CD players since the dawn of the CD age.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Marantz can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores

ProAc can be found at the following Audio T stores -

June 21, 2023

A customer’s journey to audio nirvana with Naim in 222 words…

June 21, 2023/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

This month we are going to focus on a customer’s system journey through time, not wanting to Naim names, of course. Just think of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, only more exciting! Our chronological journey will be heard through the ears of a long standing customer of Audio T Brighton, who has waxed lyrical about the performance of his newly acquired Naim system. It may take a few more than 222 words though, 250 or 300 perhaps! (See what we did there?)

An itinerary of our Naim journey...

Let’s have a brief look at the components we’ll be focusing on... the Naim NSC 222 streaming preamp, Naim NAP 250 stereo power amp and optional Naim NPX 300 power supply.

Not wanting to step on the toes of my colleagues, but an in-depth look at the new Naim 200 series has been written by Audio T Bristol, which you can read here.

Let the journey commence...

Naim 200 series with a Naim classic nap250dr

Paul is a regular visitor to Audio T Brighton and has waxed lyrical about his Naim and Linn kit over the past forty-or-so years he has traversersed through the hi-fi rabbit hole. He recently decided to purchase some new gear from Audio T as part of the Naim 200 series, including the Naim NSC 222 streaming preamp and Naim NPX 300 power supply.

I will let Paul tell you his story in his own words:

I bought my first Naim kit around 1981, getting a 42/110 with moving coil boards to use with my then LP12, Syrinx PU2 and Asak and shortly afterwards got a pair of Linn Kan speakers. It sounded great and I kept it for around 15 years pretty much as was, except for changing the PU2 to an Ittok and replacing the Asak in the later 80s with a cheaper cartridge, as at the time I could not afford another Asak level cartridge. There was also a change of speakers due to an ex-partner preferring bigger speakers with a fat woolly bass, one of my biggest regrets was selling the Kans but I did get a good price through the for-sale board in Jefferies Hi-Fi (now Audio T Brighton) and got a bargain Meridian 104 tuner from the shop, that I still have.

In the mid to late 90s I upgraded the 42/110 to a 32.5 with 72 boards, a 140 followed soon after with Hi-Cap. I also upgraded a Rotel CD to a Marantz CD10. I also got a pair of Rega Ela Mk1s. The Linn LP12 stayed as is, probably serviced a couple of times by John at Audio T Brighton as I had a cartridge fitted, again cheapish cartridges as money was tight then and the LP12 became very much a secondary source as I was buying and listening to CDs mostly. This system lasted until 2014, when my cancer prompted me to simplify my system and I bought a Unitilite to use with my existing speakers, but soon upgraded to a pair of Rega RX3s. I also had some work done on the LP12 and I got a Dynavector 10x5. I kept the Unitilite when I bought the Uniti Star in about 2018, having two good systems. At this time my intention was to stay with the Star/RX3 for the long term.

Prior to the pandemic, I had vaguely considered upgrading to a separate system as the NAC-N272 with a power amp would have sounded better, against this I would have lost the benefits of the Star ripping and functionality so stuck with what I had. Then the pandemic happened and I found myself at home a lot more and listened to a lot more music again, mostly ripped CDs but Vinyl was being played more. Audio T started selling lots of ex-dem products, which I saw from the monthly email, and I spoke with John about getting a 250DR as a first step, with the expectation of the 272 replacement arriving sooner than it did. Shortly afterwards a pair of SCM40s were available ex-dem, so I jumped at them.

This system worked really well in my old home and in some way buying the speakers before I moved was a bit of a risk. Fortunately, they work as well if not slightly better in my new room. After moving I was listening to music more and getting back into listening to LPs more. Once the NSC 222 was announced I soon ordered one with a NPX300 to use with my existing 250DR. Around the same time I finally went for the upgrades to my LP12 that I had been talking about with John for a while, initially I was going to do the upgrades in two stages but fortunately decided to do them all at once.

The upgraded LP12 arrived back slightly before my 222 was ready. It was so much better that I began listening much more to LPs again. Once the 222/300 arrived, the MM input and preamp stage improved the sound quality even further. The 222 is a significant improvement over the Star as you would expect. The SQ in all aspects is improved. In the 70s the concept of “musicality” was formulated and the system did become more musical. In today's terminology, “PRaT” was improved. The system 6 weeks in is still improving and I am listening to Rips and LPs much more than I did and listening to Radio 6 less. TV hardly gets a look in these days.

Atc scm40’s on the end of a naim nsc222, npx300 and nap250dr.

Summing it all up...

We would very much like to thank our customer, Paul, for providing us with such a detailed hi-fi history for this blog. There are many positives to be taken from this, including system satisfaction, sound quality and good customer service from Audio T. Once again, I hope that our future potential customers can see the value in dealer service over speculative purchases from online retailers, where the personal touch and face-to-face conversation still offers a better and more rewarding experience.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores

May 11, 2023

Retro Hi-Fi Speakers brought bang up-to-date with the Wharfedale Heritage range

May 11, 2023/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

Much like mid-century furniture, retro hi-fi equipment is currently all the rage! With records in renaissance as the “cool” way to playback your home music collection, the knock-on desire for other retro-components such as; amplifiers (both valve and solid state), tuners, cassette decks (which are rather difficult to come across these days) and loudspeakers.

Now, whilst second hand retro hi-fi may look great, I’m reminded of the phrase “Caveat emptor”, which is a Latin saying that means "let the buyer beware". You never know what’s really going on under the hood of these products, not to mention the fact that materials and manufacturing processes have come on leaps and bounds, especially when it comes to hi-fi speakers. After all, if you’re after retro hi-fi, surely it’s about it looking good and not sounding old?

Lamb dressed as mutton…

Wharfedale are a speaker manufacturer who have been around since 1932 and been at the forefront of the retro speaker revival. This month we're going to take a look at one of the newly revamped Wharfedale ranges, the Wharfedale Linton Heritage, which has embraced the “old school vibe” but with modern driver and crossover design technologies.

Wharfedale Linton Heritage...

The Wharfedale Linton Heritage are a large 3-way, standmount speaker which have the option of a dedicated pair of stylish but heavyweight stands that double-up as speaker storage. If bought together as a bundle, the stands are heavily discounted. To be honest, the speakers not only really look the part with the bespoke stands but sonically it also makes sense, as we’ll discuss later in the article.

Redesigned from the ground up by Peter Comeau, Director of Acoustic Design at IAG, the new Wharfedale Linton Heritage embraces the style of the original with all the advantages of modern computer aided design and anechoic chamber resources. The results speak for themselves (pun intended), with a musical sound that original owners will recognise, but with a noticeable enhancement to clarity thrown-in.

wharfedale linton heritage with matching stands doubling as a record storage.

The real McCoy...

wharfedale linton heritage real wood veneer finishes

The Wharfedale Linton Heritage have a real, luxurious feel to them with sumptuous wooden finishes... I personally am particularly fond of the walnut finish, which is available for all to see and hear at our Brighton store. So feel free to come in and witness it for yourselves.

wharfedale linton heritage in walnut on dem at our brighton audio t store

Keeping up appearances...

The Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers certainly are “lookers” but are they up to snuff sonically?

At their price point, competition is relatively scarce, certainly in the large standmount category. It is nigh on impossible to find a floorstanding loudspeaker to compete with a good quality, small bookshelf in that price range and the Wharfedale Linton Heritage, albeit not strictly a floorstander, fits the bill, as a nice looking and sounding alternative.

Competitors may include the Dynaudio Evoke 10s and the ATC SCM7s, both of which we recommend highly, however these two are much smaller bookshelf designs offering a very different look and sonic palette and if you’re after something like the Lintons, you’d probably not even give them a thought. On the face of it, the Wharfedale Linton Heritage seem to offer a lot more for the money!

wharfedale linton heritage v dynaudio evoke 10

A lot of sound for the pound...

Since the Wharfedale Linton Heritage arrived in store, we’ve listened to them with a range of different sources and amplification, from the more intermediate level Rega Brio through to more prestigious designs like the Naim NSC 222, NPX 300, NAP 250 combination.

naim 200 series proved an excellent match for the lintons

In all cases we’ve used them in the Wharfedale Linton Heritage delivers a sound that is both wholesome and detailed, without being overly analytical. They are very easy to listen to, being musical and sufficiently dynamic to do justice to good recordings, without making poor recordings unpleasant to listen to. The only use case where I’d point a customer in a different direction would be intensely dynamic and complex orchestral pieces, where its big brother, the Wharfedale Dovedale Heritage, might be a wiser choice, albeit at a significant premium.

Somewhat of a surprise to us was how easy the Linton Heritage were to position and get good results out of. Although we’d not recommend placing them in a corner or right up against a wall, where the twin bass ports may allow the bass to become too “fruity”, 20 inches or so out into the open produced nicely balanced results, with good bass extension and timing.

Wharfedale Linton Heritage specs can be found here but needless to say they are fairly easy to drive and any modern, competent amplifier should get them going nicely.

wharfedale linton heritage twin rear bass ports

A retrospective view of the Lintons...

The Wharfedale Linton Heritage standmount speakers are an excellent addition to the Audio T Brighton repertoire. They fill a void in our price range and are very enjoyable and easy to recommend to our customers, because not only do they look and sound the biz they also offer a lot of speaker for the money. Highly recommended from myself and the team.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Wharfedale can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores

Dynaudio can be found at the following Audio T stores

April 18, 2023

Rejoice with Ruark Audio - Radios for Hi-Fi Lovers

April 18, 2023/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

Listening to radio has been a staple source of entertainment since its invention in 1895 by Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi. Since the early 1900’s, radio has developed from a simple Morse Code messaging system, effective over a short range, to being the truly worldwide phenomenon it is today. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how the world would have developed to the extent it has today without it!

This month we're going to take a look at the British company Ruark Audio. First starting operations as a speaker manufacturer, Ruark Audio moved onto portable radio devices and utilising their extensive experience in making speakers to sound advantage, pun intended!

I’ve always felt that musicians have an advantage over most listeners when it comes to judging the quality of music playback. So long as the years of practice and live gigs haven’t taken too much toll on their hearing, the intrinsic understanding and connection with the sound of live music should intensify musicality and the appreciation of dynamics or tone of instrumental playback, especially when designing electronics and speaker equipment.

As a live musician and music lover, Alan O’Rourke (co-founder of Ruark) has certainly done this, producing many fine audio solutions over the years…

First... A little bit of Ruark history

Beginning in 1985, Alan and his father, Brian, set up a small workshop in Rayleigh, Essex, to develop and manufacture loudspeakers. In 1986, they released their Sabre and Broadsword designs. Beautiful cabinet design and the use of quality drive units brought Ruark speakers to the attention of the public and the world’s hi-fi press.

(A more extensive history of Ruark speakers can be found on here.)

Music lovers and audiophiles alike (not necessarily the same thing!) will be familiar with the names; Sabre, Talisman, Templar, Crusader, Equinox, to name a few and many folks will still have these in their hi-fi systems doing sterling work to this day.

In 2004, Ruark changed direction and decided to concentrate manufacturing into their radio speaker range, releasing the DAB radio, Ruark R1 in 2006, to much critical acclaim. Ruark have continued to expand their lifestyle range of quality sounding radios and music players.

The current Ruark range...

Ruark R1 and now... The R1S

The baby in the range, the Ruark R1, still packs a punch. Available in Espresso & Light Cream (Also a limited edition Beach Hut Blue) and with a Backpack 3 which is purchasable as an extra to endow the Ruark R1 with portability.

There is a newer version of the Ruark R1 to become available shortly, unsurprisingly called the Ruark R1S, essentially a better connected version of the R1, which can be seen on Ruark’s website here.

Ruark R2 Mk4 Smart Music System...

The Ruark R2 Mk4 is a “souped-up” version of the R1 with a more expansive sound. Flexibility is excellent, with wifi network access allowing Internet radio, DAB radio, FM radio, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon music, plus the usual Bluetooth aptX codec for better sound. Headphone listeners are also catered for, alongside those who wish to plugin devices using a 3.5mm aux input. Pretty much all the bases really!

For a full list of features look at the list featured below in the Ruark R3S, minus the CD player of course.

Ruark R3S...

Moving up the range, we get to the CD version of Ruark’s R3S.

A significantly larger and more powerful unit, the R3S includes a slot loading CD player. The expansive sound via its wireless/Bluetooth streaming capability, or through its silver disc spinner, is something to behold. The R3S sounds and looks great wherever you place it, thanks to its clever adaptive equalisation feature or via its bass/treble controls. The Ruark R3S looks sumptuous and is available in Rich Walnut or Soft Grey finishes.

Some key features of the Ruark R3S

Multi-format slot-loading CD player
Spotify Connect*, Deezer and Amazon Music
Smart Radio with Internet/DAB/DAB+/FM tuners
New generation Bluetooth 5 receiver
Comprehensive dual alarms and sleep timer
Dedicated podcast source
Class leading audio with enhanced Stereo+ sound
Adaptive EQ provides ideal sound at all volumes

This really is the tip of the iceberg, so if you want to see everything this little beauty can do, visit the Ruark website here.

Ruark MR1...

The Ruark MR1s are a small pair of Bluetooth loudspeakers. Connecting between the pair via 3.5mm jacks (supplied) allows for wireless Bluetooth via aptX codecs to produce a high quality sound in a small package.

The sound emanating from these MR1s is quite phenomenal considering their diminutive size - small speakers but no small sound here! One can appreciate the heritage of Ruark loudspeakers when you play these, as they clearly demonstrate the years of experience in producing their “quart from a pint pot” quality.

I would imagine these Ruark MR1s would make an excellent choice for those students wanting proper stereo sound whilst away at university or a TV listener who wants a simple way to expand their TV’s sound, where the traditional sound bar may not meet their requirements.

Don’t let the baby of the range fool, these Ruark MR1s pack quite a punch!

Ruark MRx Streaming Wireless Speaker...

Last but certainly not least comes the Ruark MRx wireless streaming speaker.

Offering the ultimate in flexibility, the Ruark MRx is available as a single mono speaker or can be linked to several other MRxs to provide a connected wireless speaker system across several areas or rooms in your house, if necessary. These can be seated in landscape or portrait orientation should they need to be squeezed onto a shelf somewhere.

Ruark accessories...

Ruark offer a variety of supporting products for their range: a remote, the Undok app and the R1 backpack, should you wish to go portable.

A summary of the Ruark range...

Ruark have a long history of producing fine audio products, starting with their hi-fi speaker range before moving into the lifestyle radio market. They have produced a stunning range of products that are easy to use, flexible and sound as good as they look. We’re certainly impressed at the Brighton Audio T store, so we’d recommend you contact us on 01273 609431 or email: brighton@audio-t.co.uk and organise a listen.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Ruark Audio can be found at the following Audio T stores

March 16, 2023

Thoughts and Streams - What is the best Music Streaming Service?

March 16, 2023/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

With Spring just around the corner, the days are remaining lighter for longer and the urge for many to get outside and enjoy some nature is ever increasing, meaning that the most hardened vinyl enthusiast is reliant on streaming services for their musical listening pleasure whilst out and about. Or, perhaps you’re one of our customers who utilises the convenience and ease of streaming playback everyday on a multi-room or two channel hi-fi at home?

Regardless of your prefered form of media playback, I thought it may prove useful to review some of the more common music streaming services from a personal perspective. I do actually use all of the services mentioned in this blog at various times and in differing use cases depending on my needs at the time. I have my personal favourites for different reasons and not all at the same time. Please remember that ratings are very subjective and your mileage may vary, so to speak.

Qobuz

Putting the cat amongst the pigeons, I’ll come straight out and say it - Here at Audio T Brighton, it is our humble opinion that Qobuz is the best sounding streaming service. The hi-fi equipment on sale in our store offers playback options on many of the competitors to be mentioned in this blog and our ears tell us that Qobuz is the way to go when we want the best performance from a streaming source.

Qobuz offers an extensive, if not exhaustive, music library and despite probably losing out to Apple Music and Spotify in terms of library size, sounds so much better through a quality sound system. It’s worth it when you are listening seriously and value those sonic qualities. However, don’t just take my word for it, below is a review written by one of our very own customers:

“I purchased a Powerline recently from the ever helpful and good people at Audio T in Brighton and mentioned to John that as this is the only upgrade available for my Naim Uniti Atom, had I obtained the best sound possible for my headphone listening? I mentioned that my source was Apple Music being streamed losslessly over Airplay 2 via my Macbook when John suggested that I might like to try a different platform and that my Atom has built in native support for Qobuz and as the quality is very good indeed, I might find it a better option. I appreciated the thought as Audio T have absolutely nothing to gain by making such a recommendation, other than better sounding music for me and to get the best out of my equipment. Having conducted an AB test between Apple Music and Qobuz, I can honestly say the difference was incredible! So much so, that my Beyerdynamics now sound much cleaner and smoother (and I really do mean a lot more cleaner and smoother!) taking my listening experience to the next level. In short, it has been a game changer and I am really very grateful indeed to John for his recommendation as otherwise I suspect I would have simply carried on with Apple Music completely unaware of a hugely significant upgrade at very little cost and thereby missing out on an awful lot!”

Advantages and disadvantages:

Qobuz serves up lossless files in a bit perfect range of formats.
Offers Roon and Audirvana support.
Supports bit perfect on Android(with a plugin)
App isn’t the most intuitive to use.
Qobuz store offers CD/HiRes downloads.
No official Qobuz Connect option just yet, requiring Chromecast to playback through the Qobuz app. However, some manufacturers, Naim and Auralic spring to mind, do allow member login from within the device app with the attached functionality of playback that may offer.

Sound quality rating: 9/10

This year, Qobuz became The Official Streaming Service of The Bristol Hi-Fi Show, and as such, we’re able to offer all of our customers a free 90 trial. Sign up Now!

Tidal

Tidal music services are big proponents of MQA playback, with many suggesting it is the best thing since sliced bread. Undoubtedly, many pieces of music sound great on Tidal and its catalogue is extensive but not all DACs offer an MQA playback option. This can be remedied to an extent by software solutions, such as ROON. The Tidal Connect option is a fine competitor to the ubiquitous Spotify Connect. Unless you have an affinity for rap/hip-hop and require MQA playback, then I would personally choose Qobuz over Tidal for sound quality, although the Tidal app may be a bit more slick in operation. Not a dealbreaker or clincher though.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

MQA playback with encoded MQA digital to analogue converters. Remember that MQA is a “lossy” format despite the hype.
Bit perfect playback on all platforms.
Tidal Connect is a useful feature if your playback device offers it. Fortunately, more companies are building this into their playback devices.
Lossless files only if not in “Master”.
All “Master” tracks don’t have a lossless copy.
TIDAL app tends to favour Hip-hop/Rap genres by default. Depending on your personal preferences, this could fall into either category.

Sound quality rating: 8/10

You can try Tidal for yourself for 30 days free Here.

Apple Music

If you’re an Apple device user and live in the Apple ecosystem, then the extensive library and inter-device flexibility of Apple music may well just be your cup of tea. Within Apple’s “straight-jacket” philosophy there is plenty to offer and it offers fine audio playback providing you’re happy to use Airplay as your playback wireless option. This does mean that your iPad or iPhone are “tied” to playback duties, draining your device battery whilst remaining coupled to your network, when you may wish to use it for some other purpose. Not an insurmountable problem but one to consider before making your choice.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

Lossless files available up to 24bit 96Khz, although these may have to set independently in your system preferences if you’re not on an iOS device.
Spatial surround sound audio on some music.
Bitperfect on Apple devices
No lossless on Windows
Only Bit Perfect on Android with some songs
No exclusive mode(on desktop) plugin fix
Requires the use of Airplay 2 to stream music in your home.

Sound quality rating: 8/10

Spotify

With good reason the most popular music streaming service in the world. Spotify offers an extensive library and its “coup-de-gras”, in my opinion, are it’s fantastic music suggestions based on your listening habits, sending you to music you’ve never heard before with a fantastically high hit rate. Of course, your mileage may vary in this regard, but there is a reason why Spotify is so popular and this is the main one. On sound quality grounds it cannot really win out over its competitors but it’s still plenty good enough for most commercially available wired or bluetooth headphones.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

Probably the most user-friendly streaming service, with Spotify Connect allowing independent of device streaming via the Spotify app.
Very intuitive app with a music A.I. suggestion service that is far superior to its competitors at the time of publishing this blog.
Great connectivity with manufacturer devices and Internet streaming or radio services.
No lossless streaming service yet and there maybe a premium to pay when it does. This may be an advantage if your data allowance on your mobile service is a bit stingy. Standard bit rates are 160kbs or 320kbs using an Ogg Vorbis mp3 codec depending on how it is set on your account.
Can be glitchy.

Sound quality rating: 7/10

Alternatives to streaming...

This blog wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the alternatives to streaming music, which have advantages for most people, in convenience, music access and portability/storage.

If we go “old school” for a moment, don’t forget about records and CDs... Even cassettes! I know these lose out on convenience, portability and storage in the strictest sense, but there are other reasons why you may stick to these over streaming services.

Here at Audio T in Brighton, we have many pieces of hi-fi equipment, from the more modest to really serious. I have written a previous blog to compare vinyl versus streaming system options at the more budget end of the market and that blog can be found here.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

When the internet goes down . . . what then? We’ve all been in that situation from time to time, the irritating outage by your ISP for “maintenance”.
Records have been back in fashion for a number of years and some may say that they never went out of fashion. There is nothing that can match the musical sound of vinyl playback, or the tactile quality and legibility of the text on a vinyl album cover. That lovely artwork, lyrics and the interaction every 20 mins or so. Downsides are the increasing cost of vinyl purchase and possible bent cantilevers on your pickup cartridge, especially during the Christmas period.
CD’s are generally cheaper than LP’s, offering a somewhat watered-down version of the tactile experience of LP’s and can be ripped onto a hard-drive for playback on modern devices, offering better than streaming quality in many cases but with equivalent ease of use with an app based functionality. Especially useful when your internet goes off.
Sound quality is often better from local devices because you have ultimate knowledge and control of where the data comes from and how you choose to play it back over your hifi system. Many of the streaming services have several versions of the same recording with massively variable playback quality. I know because I have experienced this for myself, often in total disbelief at the differences between what is, essentially, the same recording session.
You own the music you’ve bought and are not subject to the frivolity of artists and streaming service licences, where tracks and albums you like are suddenly unavailable for streaming. Annoying!
Buying records and cd’s or downloading paid for new music content contributes far more to the pockets of the artists who composed and recorded the music. The paltry sums offered by some streaming services are reason itself for the periodic unavailability of music online - refer to point number 5. Services like Bandcamp offer better ways to get money into the pockets of the artists.
Go and see live music as often as you can. Tickets are expensive for the big venues, so try and get out to support local artists as much as you can. The performing artist industry needs a big shot in the arm post COVID, so be part of the revival whenever you can.
Failing all of the above, get that guitar out of the bag, tune it and burst into song.

Sound quality rating: 9.5/10

Recommended vinyl/cd playback systems...

Here are a few vinyl playback systems we recommend at Audio T in Brighton. The list certainly isn’t exhaustive but it is what we have on demo at our Brighton store.

Starter system: Rega System One consisting Rega Planar 1, Rega IO amp and Rega Kyte speakers.

Enthusiasts system: Rega Planar 3 with Audio Technica AT95ML, Naim XS3 amplifier, Audiolab 6000CDT transport with Proac DB1 bookshelf speakers on Linn Majik speaker stands.

Next level: Rega Planar 8 with Apheta 3 cartridge, Rega Aria phono stage, Rega Aethos amplifier, Rega Saturn CD player/DAC with Proac D20 floor standing speakers.

End game: Linn LP12 Klimax turntable, Naim NAC552 preamp, Naim NAP500DR power amplifier, ATC SCM50 speakers.

Recommended streaming systems...

Here are a few streaming playback systems we recommend at Audio T in Brighton. The list certainly isn’t exhaustive but it is what we have on demo at our Brighton store.

Starter system: Triangle AIO active speakers.

Enthusiasts system: Naim Uniti Atom with Dynaudio Evoke 10 speakers on Linn Majik stands.

Next level: Naim NSC222 streaming preamp with Naim NAP250 power amp and Naim NPX300 power supply into ATC SCM40 floor standing speakers.

End game: Naim ND555/555PS streamer, Naim NAC552 preamp, Naim NAP500DR power amp into ATC SCM50 speakers.

Final thoughts...

I’d just like to reiterate that this blog are of my own personal thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages of streaming or not, so whenever possible use your own ears to decide.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Dynaudio can be found at the following Audio T stores

ATC Loudspeakers can be found at the following Audio T stores

ProAc can be found at the following Audio T stores

BRIGHTON

Linn can be found at the following Audio T stores

TRIANGLE can be found at the following Audio T stores

February 14, 2023

Grand Systems - Hi-Fi from Rega and Triangle for £1000

February 14, 2023/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

With the cost of living crisis in full swing and the hi-fi loving public having to consider eating, heating as well as listening to music. Now, there is a difference between want and need and but I do want to listen to music replayed at a certain level of quality.

Rather than sacrifice your hi-fi system for food, fewer frappuccinos and mochas for a month or two will assist in planning for a future purchase, improve your health and reduce your dental bills to boot!

This month I’d like to look at “Grand Systems”, including a turntable, for around a £1000 from well established British company Rega, celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and the French company Triangle, who in turn, have been around for over 40 years.

The two systems we are going to look at this month approach music playback from a different technological standpoint, offering traditionalists and newcomers alternative routes into music listening, albeit with some crossover in terms of source selection and hi-fi components.

Triangle AIO active wireless speaker system

Triangle aio partnering a rega planar 1 turntable on a quadraspire evo bamboo 4-tier rack

Quality systems under a grand are often more difficult to find than ships in the Bermuda Triangle. As a result, the Triangle AIO active wireless speaker system is a bit of a find, so to speak, and only recently taken on at our Brighton Audio T store. Keen to fill a gap in our speaker range, whilst offering improved flexibility to our customers, the Triangle AIO fits the bill beautifully.

Triangle’s funky colours...

The Triangle AIO is available in a range of fashionable colours, along with the more traditional. Fit and finish are exquisite at the price.

Triumphant Triangle...

When it comes to flexibility, functionality and form, the Triangle AIO’s really have got you covered. Not only do they look great, but they have a real trump card up their sleeve, several trump cards, in fact!

The Triangle AIO are simply a pair of speakers, one acting as the master speaker, providing all of the input choices and powering a connected passive speaker via some speaker cable provided in the box. No separate amplifier is needed, just a mains power outlet near your desired setup position.

One cannot often use the word plethora to describe input options on a unit of this size, but the Triangle AIO really has more options for playback than Pep Guardiola, and this on the back of one master active speaker is really quite remarkable.

As can be seen from the images above, not only can the Triangle AIO cater for multiple inputs, but it’s wired and wireless streaming options are plentiful, with most of the major streaming services available via the free Triangle AIO app, available to download via Apple IOS or Google Play stores. Although not shown on the graphic above, Apple music can be accessed via Airplay or Bluetooth.

The real coup-de-gras is the switchable phono stage for a moving magnet turntable. This will allow the comparison between the Triangle AIO and our Rega system later on in our blog discussion.

Here at the Brighton Audio T store we followed the simple connection instructions supplied in the box and after having downloaded the Triangle AIO app we were quickly up and running. Logging into our Qobuz account we were quickly bestowed with a quality sound.

Alongside the app control, Triangle also supply a simple, but effective, remote control. Personally, I am a fan of remotes because they allow quick muting of sound should the phone ring and in this case, they also have a set of useful treble/bass tone controls to equalise the sound to taste.

Rega Planar 1, Rega IO and Acoustic Energy AE100 Mk2...

rega planar 1 turntable, rega io amplifier and acoustic energy ae100 mk2 speakers

Our second system is a much more conventional affair, comprising: Rega Planar 1 turntable with a pre-fitted Rega Carbon cartridge, a Rega IO amplifier and Acoustic Energy AE100² Bookshelf speakers. Here the units are mounted on a Quadraspire EVO Bamboo 4-tier hi-fi rack and B&W Stav 24 speaker stands.

Analogue all the way...

Very much a traditional analogue hi-fi system, the Rega/Acoustic Energy system is loosely based around the Rega System One, a record players starter system minus the Rega Kyte speakers, to facilitate a more affordable starter system for the discerning vinyl listener, eschewing any digital or streaming options, unless additional components are purchased and added through the Rega IO’s analogue inputs.

The Acoustic Energy AE100² are a fine visual and acoustic match for the Rega Planar 1 and Rega IO. Internet outages will be no problem for this system and the sound it delivers for the money is extremely punchy and musical.

AIO v IO...

These two systems offer completely different use cases. If you’re after a purely vinyl playback option the Rega Planar 1/ Rega IO/Acoustic Energy AE100² system offers a more wholesome and beguiling, analogue sound in the long term when playing records.

However, for most people with access to streaming services, the Triangle AIO speakers offer a far more feature laden option. Music discovery and phone/tablet control are a big selling point and the option to just place the Triangle AIOs on a shelf or desktop makes them very adaptable for most users, whilst still allowing the user access to a phono stage for playing records when they have a desire to do so.

You pays your money and takes your choice, but in both cases you’ll end up with a fine sounding starter system, both systems offering high sound for pound value.

For those who feel a grand is far too much for a music system, I’d ask them to do some maths. Forty records at £25 a pop = £1000 and that would equate to approximately the cost of these systems and would allow the listener potentially far more listening pleasure because of the playback quality possible.

Alternatively, purchase a Crossley type player, buy a few more records and ruin them with a stylus that tracks the grooves like a farmer ploughing the fields.

For those who claim they can’t hear the difference, see you in the Bermuda Triangle!

If you are interested in auditioning any of the products mentioned in this blog or from our extensive range of quality gear, please get in touch.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Triangle can be found at the following Audio T stores

Acoustic Energy can be found at the following Audio T stores

January 16, 2023

Into the groove with the Degritter Mark II Ultrasonic Record Cleaner

January 16, 2023/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

It’s winter, it’s cold and the trucks are out salting and gritting the roads.

Imagine that annoying bit of grit that makes its way inside your shoe, getting into your house and magically making its way into the grooves of your precious record collection. Too far fetched . . . maybe?

Now, Madonna is hardly a role-model I would normally turn to for quotes, but in this case she has a point when she says, “Let’s get into the groove...” and in the context of this months blog we would agree and that is why we are talking about the product referenced in the title, the Degritter Mark II.

Degritter Mark II

I can personally vouch for the need to clean your records, especially if they’re mine!

You don’t have to be playing an album by ZZ Top to have Billy Gibbons beard make a guest appearance on the end of your stylus! We’ve all been there and exclaimed, “Where on earth did that fluff come from?”.

Whether you own pets or not, an unfortunate fact of life is that we all shed skin and dandruff that forms house dust and this settles on surfaces. Records have an uncanny knack of acquiring electrostatic charge, especially when you take records in or out of a sleeve, whether they be albums by Van de Graaf Generator or not, so it’s not surprising that dust, fluff and grit find their way into places one might not consider being at risk of contamination.

So how to deal with this frequent occurrence for record collectors?

True Grit...

I’m sure John Wayne had a record collection and a turntable and wished he’d been able to purchase a Degritter Mark II back in the day. He may have avoided the eye injury necessitating an eye patch after a piece of grit spun off his 78’s ;)

But seriously...

Jesting aside, let’s get into the Degritter Mark II in some more detail. Designed and manufactured in Estonia, the Degritter Mark II has been making waves (pun intended) in the record playing community as an excellent cleaner, with some astounding sonic benefits, which we’ll discuss later.

Ultrasonic cleaning architecture...

The ultrasonic cleaning tank that’s in the Degritter Mark II is purpose built for vinyl records. The tank has two ultrasonic transducers on either side emitting 120kHz ultrasonic vibrations, evenly distributing the cleaning energy across the record’s surface.

The driving frequency of the Power Drive ultrasonic generator sweeps between 120-125kHz. This evens the cavitation energy distribution in the water, minimising losses and giving a uniform cleaning action.

ultrasonic motors on the Degritter Mark II

Clever features and simple operation...

Amongst the features the Degritter Mark II has are: Active filtering, record safe temperature control, smart drying and a post wash rinse option using a separate water tank.

No salt required - Degritter Mark II in use...

We’ve been keen to get the Degritter Mark II into action here at Audio T Brighton.

Your first requirement will be to obtain some distilled/deionised water to fill the tank. This is relatively inexpensive and available in the major supermarkets. Failing that, it is available for online purchase and a 5 litre bottle would be a good starting quantity, especially given the enthusiasm you’re likely acquire once the listening starts, post-washing.

I’m not going to go into every last operational detail in this blog because there is an extensive instruction booklet. However, the operation is very intuitive using the buttons on the front, which have a nicely damped and quality feel. The Degritter Mark II exudes quality and has the nicest feel of any record cleaner we’ve used in store here at Audio T Brighton.

Once the tank has been filled and the small, pipette amount of supplied cleaning fluid added and mixed, we were off...

Degas...

First step is to Degas the water, which uses the ultrasonic motors to remove small bubbles that may be in the water and hinder the cleaning process.

Quick, Medium and Heavy cleaning...

There are 3 levels of cleaning for the Degritter Mark II; Quick, Medium and Heavy lasting for times shown in the images below - we opted for Medium, which takes 8min 45secs(ish).

Degritter Mark II cleaning process...

As is shown in the sequence above, the Degritter Mark II has several distinct cleaning phases. The washing phase involves a slow rotation of the record with a small bi-directional oscillation thrown in for good measure. There are some “suds” from the cleaning surfactant as the process continues, but these are not excessive and water doesn’t cross the record surface to affect the record label when in use and it appears that the oscillation helps with the prevention of this.

Noise levels are quite reasonable compared to the pneumatic drill sound levels I’ve experienced on some record cleaning machines.

The drying phase is noisier, as one might expect, and similar to the sound of a hair dryer, but never excessive and dries the records very well, with no residue left on the surface of the record.

And that’s it! All that remains is to remove the record and start cleaning another, which you will want to do after listening to your shiny, spick and span record.

Where the rubber meets the road...

Or should I say, “Where the needle meets the groove.”? Madonna, eat your heart out!

I have to say that I was somewhat skeptical about the sort of enhancements to sound that the Degritter Mark II might bring.

It didn’t take long for my jaw to hit the floor . . . let’s say it took 8mins 45secs of the medium cleaning cycle plus the time it takes to cue a record and listen for few seconds. I mean literally a few seconds!

Noise levels are substantially reduced. Many folks talk about sounds emanating from a “black background”, but the way low level detail and dynamics are enhanced is quite remarkable.

Vocals are purer and silky smooth. Bass gets deeper and the decay length and detail in cymbal hits are much enhanced. It really needs to be heard to be believed!

Some users have claimed of further enhancements with additional washes and I have no reason to disbelieve them. I guess a heavy wash may have additional benefits.

Like a good fillet steak, whether you like your records rare, medium or well done, pleasure will abound after cleaning with the Degritter Mark II.

If you are interested in auditioning any of the products mentioned in this blog or from our extensive range of quality gear, please get in touch.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Degritter can be found at the following Audio-T stores

December 19, 2022

In Review: Linn Sondek LP12 Week at Audio T Brighton

December 19, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

Audio T in Brighton is proud to present a summary of our LINN SONDEK LP12 week, where customers had the opportunity to see and hear the quality triumvirate of turntables offered under the Linn moniker; namely the LP12 Majik, LP12 Selekt and LP12 Klimax turntables with their respective power supplies, phono stages, arms and cartridges.

Every year, Audio T runs a series of store events to make our customers aware of upgrades and new products available.

This year, one year before Linn’s 50th year in business, the time seemed right to highlight the sonic benefits of going Linn.

Linn... We’re all in!

linn lp12 majik turntable, linn majik dsm streamer/amp and linn majik 140 floor standing speakers

Almost 50 years since Ivor Tiefenbrun started Linn and conceived the now famous Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, changing the sonic landscape for vinyl playback and the record playing public, it seems appropriate to present the improved current range.

Re-defining the meaning of magic...

The Linn Majik combination shown above, really highlights the all-round flexibility of the latest Linn system, comprising of: Linn Majik LP12/Krane/Adikt turntable combo, Linn Majik DSM streamer/amp, Linn Majik 140 floor standing speakers shown here displayed on a Quadraspire Evo bamboo rack, allowing vinyl playback, streaming services and internet radio playback for quality audio enjoyment.

The Linn Majik system really kicks things off with a sonic bang for the buck, displaying a sonic prowess and style that anyone with taste will appreciate.

Readers may also like to know that the Linn Majik LP12/Krane/Koil MC cartridge is also available as an option.

Linn LP12 Selekt/Arko/Kendo...

It has been a real treat to have the Linn LP12 Selekt with Arko arm and Kendo MC cartridge this week. This is a first for us here at Audio T in Brighton, partly because the Arko arm and Kendo MC cartridge are brand-new products from the Linn stable.

Sounding sweet, refined and smooth, the Linn Selekt LP12 is a definite step up from the Linn MajikLP12. Much of this improvement is down to the Kore subchassis upgrade, along with the Linn Lingo 4 power supply and Linn Uphorik phono stage. Good power supplies support stable speed and reduce the noise floor, allowing the Linn Arko arm and Kendo MC cartridge to extract more information from the record grooves. Groove it certainly does, especially when played through our Naim NAP500DR power amp and 500PS power supply. into some ATC SCM50 passive speakers.

linn lp12 selekt with uphorik and lingo 4 plus linn majik dsm streamer below

Linn LP12 Klimax/Ekos SE/Ekstatik/Urika/Radikal…

linn lp12 klimax with Ekos SE arm, ekstatik cartridge

So, onto our top Linn LP12 deck - the Linn Klimax LP12.

This is a thing of beauty, in design, in looks and in sound. Armed with; a Keel subchassis, Urika phono stage, Ekos SE tonearm, Ekstatik cartridge and Radikal 2 power supply, the Linn LP12 Klimax sounds wonderful. A clear step-up from the Linn Selekt LP12, as it should be for the extra expense, the Linn LP12 Klimax offers a “reach out and touch” quality, brimming with detail, sparkling dynamics and authenticity whatever genre of music one decides to play. Again, playing through our top, in store, Naim NAP500DR power amp and 500PS power supply, a quality source like our Linn LP12 Klimax really has a chance to shine.

linn lp12 klimax and selekt on our naim 500 system here at audio t in brighton

2023 will be Linn’s 50th anniversary and some things never change. Ivor Tiefenbrun’s source first philosophy, often in conjunction with Naim Audio’s amplifiers, really highlights the importance of spending a fair proportion of the system budget on the turntable to maximise sound quality.

Quality engineering and half a century of experience in making record players speaks volumes and you’ll certainly want to turn up the volume when playing a Linn LP12, whichever variant you decide to go for.

The Linn Majik LP12/Krane/Adikt and Linn LP12 Klimax/EkosSE/Ekstatik are on permanent show here at Audio T in Brighton, so if you’d like to bring in some records and have a listen, give us a bell on 01273 609431 or email: brighton@audio-t.co.uk

We hope you enjoyed the read and whilst you’re here, let us take the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Linn can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio-T stores

ATC can be found at the following Audio T stores -

November 17, 2022

A Classic reborn - The Neat Petite Classic

November 17, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

If we were to take a look back at the timeline of a speaker forming the basis of discussion for this months article, one could describe its siblings as being “tidy” and with a particular affinity for the playback of Jackie Wilson’s famous song, Reet Petite.

If you haven’t guessed the loudspeaker in question yet, you’re either too young, too old or have landed on this page by accident. I won’t keep you on tenterhooks any longer...

Neat Petite Classics... The original classic

Neat Petite classic in textured black finish

NEAT Acoustics was founded by Bob Surgeoner in 1989. Starting as a small shop in Darlington, County Durham, trading under the name North Eastern Audio Traders, Bob saw a gap in the market for a small, musical speaker and came up with the now legendary, Neat Petite.

*North Eastern Audio Traders* (Darlington, County Durham)

The Neat Petite Mk 1 was born out of extensive listening tests as opposed to the more usual measurements emphasis used by most speaker manufacturers.

Quite groundbreaking at the time, Neat were criticised for this unusual method of design. However, listeners, both the public and audiophiles, praised the Neat Petite design for its musical verve and it proved both a good seller and launchpad for the company.

Neat have gone on to produce a number of models in the Neat Petite Classic range, along with others like: Neat Iota, Iota Alpha, Ekstra, Iota Explorer, Ministra, Motive SE2, Motive SX3, Motive SX2, Motive SX1, Orkestra, Petite 30

what hifi review of the original neat petite

As you can see from the photos above, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the newer model. Indeed the Neat Petite Classic model has identical dimensions and a similar finish, in black.

Driver differences are a little more obvious, with Neat using a 150mm mid/bass driver from SB Acoustics with a mineral filled polypropylene cone unit. This crosses over at 3.8kHz to an AMT(Air Motion Transformer) tweeter manufactured by Dayton Audio.

That’s Neat, that’s Neat, I really love your tiger feet...

On a personal note, I spent many hours listening to the original Neat Petites at my best mate’s place. I always loved their dynamic, rhythmical and musical sound on the end of his Cyrus kit and I was constantly amazed by the scale of sound possible from such a compact box when played through his Cyrus preamp, Cyrus power amp and Cyrus PSX power supply.

Great memories from my youth and so when the new Neat Petite Classics arrived at our Brighton store, I knew some fun was going to be had, both in listening to this new version and in writing this month’s blog.

The Neat Petites went through several incarnations over the following years, including: Mk 2’s, Mk 3’s and the SX range. Most recently, the Neat Special Edition 30 was released, prompting Bob Surgeoner to consider a modern day version of the Neat Petite... hence the arrival of the Neat Petite Classic.

For posterity’s sake...

In the interests of historical completeness, I have included a few images of the Neat Petite range post the Mk 1 version up to its modern day release.

Bringing things bang up to date...

neat petite classics in a Linn/naim setup here at audio t in brighton

Neat Petite Classics specifications

Neat and tidy...

The Neat Petite Classics arrived here at Audio T Brighton brand new and sealed. As with all of the kit we get here, some time is spent “burning in” the speakers before listening properly or demonstrating to customers. The Neat Petite Classics require a considerable period of time before one can usefully critique their sonic characteristics. We’d recommend at least 30 hours before they start to open up. The character of a speaker is often apparent fairly quickly, but its subtleties take many hours before they shine through.

The rear ported design of the Neat Petite Classics is not in itself unusual, but having 2 rear ports is a first for me. These are of two different diameters and are tuned to different frequencies to match your room characteristics. The smaller rear port is tuned to 35 Hz, with the larger one at 70 Hz. As standard, the larger port comes with a foam bung in place and the Petite Classics offer this flexibility depending on positioning of the speakers, how much bass you desire and the way your listening room blends with their playback response. In a larger room you may wish to dispense with the bungs altogether, and that is the way we listened to them here for the majority of the time.

Using our main system listening space, on the end of a high quality Naim setup comprising of: Naim NDX2 streamer, Naim XPS DR power supply, feeding a Naim Supernait 3 used as a preamp fed by a Naim HiCap DR into a Naim NAP250DR power amp. the grip and control offered by Naim amplifiers really works wonders with the sound emanating from the Neat Petite Classics, providing a detailed, dynamic and delightful sound.

Another important thing to consider is that the Neat Petite Classics will reward perseverance with positioning in your listening space and when matching with commensurate quality sources and amplification.

Neat critique...

Over to the fun part... The listening.

One thing has remained consistent throughout the various incarnations of this speaker. The Petites only really sound complete when fed by quality sources and amplification. Our Naim setup really drives these little wonders to the full, allowing their musical, rhythmic and fleet-footed sound to abound from the speakers. Treble is smooth and sweet and their bass incredibly extended for such a pint-sized box. Imaging and soundstage are very solid and they paint a picture of the band before you in a most engaging fashion, without being overly analytical in the process. Delicious!!

I enjoyed the Neat Petite Classics immensely and perhaps the biggest musical credit I can give them is that I didn’t want to turn them off. That speaks volumes of a speaker that doesn’t take up much of that!

If you are interested in auditioning any of the products mentioned in this blog or from our extensive range of quality gear, please get in touch.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

NEAT can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Cyrus can be found at the following Audio-T stores

October 14, 2022

ProAc Loudspeakers - The Epitome of Natural Sound

October 14, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

I thought that for this month’s blog, it would be nice to feature a brand of loudspeakers that have been very dear to us here at Audio T in Brighton - ProAc loudspeakers.

From a dealer’s point of view, we are proud to have been chosen to represent the ProAc brand on the south coast. Both as audio enthusiasts and as a professional retailer, we have been won over by their sweet signature sound, synergy, style and substance. Let’s get into it!

A potted history of Proac loudspeakers...

The brainchild of its founder, Stewart Tyler, ProAc loudspeakers started under the name Celef Audio in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The brand’s name being an amalgamation of the Celestion and KEF drive units incorporated into its early models.

stewart tyler working on his early celef speaker designs

Stewart spent a number of years in the 1970’s refining his bass port designs, using lots of small tubes, giving improved extension and power handling, without some of the bass port problems that plagued other speaker manufacturers.

After demoing some of his designs to a local hi-fi shop, he sold three pairs in a single day! Celef Audio was born and with the help of his parents in manufacturing and quality control, the family business went from strength to strength.

Celef speakers went on to be renowned for high quality, accuracy and spacious sound stage, being popular with hi-fi reviewers and members of the public alike.

ProAc was officially launched in 1979, after Stewart incorporated higher quality drive units manufactured by ATC in his speaker designs.

Stewart continued to experiment and refine his designs, from which spawned the well known Tablette, Response and K-Series of today.

In spite of the sad loss of its founder, Stewart Tyler in 2021, ProAc continues to flourish as a tightly-knit family-run operation, keeping his legacy alive and producing loudspeakers which will be revered by hi-fi enthusiasts, sound engineers, music producers and music lovers worldwide, for many years to come.

A selection of the ProAc speaker range...

Proac loudspeakers currently on dem in our brighton audio t store

Like an arrangement of cutlery, we’ll start from the inside out. Bonus points goes to anyone who spots the deliberate mistake in the positioning of one of speaker pairs.

Proac Tablette 10 Signature

For the purposes of this article, I will be referring to the Proac Tablette 10 Signature, as this is the model available for demonstration at our Brighton Audio T store.

The Proac Tablette 10 Signatures (pictured above) are the tenth edition of this world-renowned loudspeaker.

The Proac Tablette 10’s and Tablette 10 Signatures are an evolution away from earlier iterations of the speaker, in that they are now a sealed box, infinite baffle design, without a bass port. One of the advantages of designs of this type, is that they can be placed nearer to wall boundaries with fewer of the problems of bass boom associated with ported designs. This makes them very room friendly and a true bookshelf design.

Click Here for ProAc Tablette 10 Signatures specifications

Easy to drive in theory, these little marvels really respond to the quality of electronics and source placed upstream in the sound chain. In our opinion, the ProAc Tablette 10 Signatures have great synergy with Naim or Rega amplifiers.

These speakers image like crazy and will fill a small to medium sized room comfortably with a sweet, fast, textured and transparent sound that belies their diminutive size.

The ProAc Tablette 10 Signature’s top end and mid range are particular highlights, although bass response depth isn’t their strongest point, it is fast, clean and tuneful. What’s important with hi-fi design is not to throw the baby out with the bath water and ask a speaker to defy the laws of physics, messing up other areas of the frequency spectrum that they already do really well.

On that basis, I’d recommend pairing with a good quality subwoofer, like the REL T5x, REL T7x or REL T9x, which will be able to keep up with the fleet-footed bass performance of the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures.

You can read my previous article on setting up an REL T7x and Proac Tablette 10 Signatures Here.

ProAc Response DB1

Next up, the ProAc Response DB1s, shown here in a lovely walnut finish, accompanied here by a Naim Uniti Star.

The ProAc Response DB1s are an upgraded version of the slightly cheaper ProAc Response DB3s.

These speakers exude quality and are a significant step up from the lower spec speakers in the range, with a ported design and much enhanced bass response. They certainly look and feel the part when you lift them up, giving a feeling of substance and class before you even plug them in.

The ProAc Response DB1s remind me of an earlier generation of speakers from the brand, namely the ProAc Response 1SC, which were highly regarded in their day and still command respect today.

Paired with suitable electronics, the Proac Response DB1s really show their mettle, with a significantly larger, fuller sound than their smaller brothers. The sense of space and air is quite remarkable and adding in that extra bass depth, if you came in to the shop with a blindfold on, I’m sure you’d be shocked by how small their dimensions are upon removal.

Click Here for ProAc Response DB1 specifications

ProAc Response D20R

The ProAc Response D20R floor standing loudspeakers are 2nd up in the range of floorstanders from ProAc. These are the ribbon tweeter version in a beautiful oak finish.

Click Here for Proac Response D20R specifications

At this level of performance, ProAc offer a choice between a soft dome tweeter in their D20 version or a ribbon tweeter in their D20R version. An information page in their brochure is available to explain which flavour you may prefer, but essentially, dispersion characteristics are one of the main differences, affecting how wide an area the “sweet spot” for listening is.

ProAc’s brochure can explain if you’d like to find out more and read their take on the differences.

As is often the case with larger floor standing speakers, the sensitivity is a little higher with the ProAc Response D20Rs, giving the impression of an easier amplifier load. However, this may lull you into a false sense of security and the prodigious bass response of these speakers, down to 28Hz, certainly requires an amplifier with grip in the bass to keep things from those sideways firing bass ports getting too unruly. We’d recommend a minimum of a Naim Supernait 3 or Rega Aethos to go with the Proacs. Each of these has the drive, grip and finesse to do the ProAc Response D20Rs justice and this is certainly borne out upon listening.

Playing music through a Naim ND5XS2 streamer and Naim Supernait 3 80W/per channel integrated amplifier, allows bass control and the see-through clarity of the ribbon tweeter on the ProAc Response D20Rs to really shine through.

Proac Response D30RS

proac d30rs with rega saturn mk3 and Rega aethos

Moving up to our most illustrious ProAc speaker in Brighton, we present the Proac Response D30RS in a lovely walnut finish.

You can get a feel for the dimensions and specs from the two pictures below, where it can be compared to the ProAc Response D20R model.

Click Here for Proac Response D30RS specifications

The ProAc Response D30RS is a considerably larger speaker, as can be clearly seen. The speaker has an 89dB/1W sensitivity and a bass response that goes down as low as 20Hz. Subwoofers aren’t exactly a requirement with the Proac Response D30RS.

proac response d30rs with rega saturn mk3 cd player and rega aethos integrated amplifier

Listening to these with a Rega Saturn Mk3 CD player and a 125W/per channel Rega Aethos certainly helps convey the sonic qualities, dynamics, finesse and extension of these speakers. The sheer gravitas and see-through transparency is ear-opening, to say the least. Even so, I would suggest something even higher up the “food chain” to get the most out of these big-boys! A pre/power combination along the lines of a Naim NAC282 preamp , Naim HiCapDR and Naim NAP250DR power amp would get these fellas in the zone!

Proac Response DT8

Last in our collection of ProAc loudspeakers, but certainly not least, comes the ProAc Response DT8, pictured here in a lovely real wood cherry finish.

Although this may appear to be a 3-way design, ProAc designed this speaker as a 2.5-way design. Utilising 2 x 6.5 inch drivers, the pulp mica cone unit delivers exceptional bass performance in a ported cabinet with the bass loaded via side vents and the polypropylene unit gives a smooth, detailed and uncoloured midrange. Both drivers work in tandem resulting in a well extended low frequency response and ProAc's signature natural sounding midrange quality and pinpoint imagery. Treble is provided by a SEAS tweeter, manufactured to ProAc’s specification.

Click Here for Proac Response DT8 specifications

At the price point, the ProAc Response DT8 provide remarkable bass extension down to 28Hz and a fine midrange clarity. Treble is the usual spacious, 3D sound that ProAc speakers are so well known for.

Driven by an amplifier with good control and dynamics, such as the Naim Nait XS3, or better still, a Naim Supernait 3 or Rega Aethos, this speaker produces a wholesome and musical sound that delights. The ProAc Response DT8s will fill a medium to large room easily and with a sensitivity of 90dB/1W, can go pretty loud when called to.

Quality wooden finishes galore...

Amongst all the hi-fi and music talk, we shouldn’t forget that loudspeakers are considered “furniture” by many. Fortunately, ProAc offer one of the widest range of sumptuous wooden finishes on the loudspeaker market, coming in two different price brackets, standard and premium.

When the rubber meets the road...

Here at Audio T in Brighton, you have probably gathered that we rather like the current range of ProAc loudspeakers. Sweet sounding, holographically spacious and extended, the ProAc range of speakers really has something for everyone.

A while ago there was a well known Apple ad that said, “Once you go Mac, you’ll never go back!”. From an audio perspective, I’d like to bring that up to date and say, “Once you go ProAc, you’ll never go back!”

If you are interested in auditioning any of the products mentioned in this blog or from our extensive range of quality gear, please get in touch.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Click Here If you’d like to read a more detailed history of the development of ProAc.

ProAc can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio-T stores

REL can be found at the following Audio T stores

September 22, 2022

British Made Old-Timers, Still Going Strong Through Thick & Thin - Naim and Rega

September 22, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

I thought for this month’s blog we’d take a look at two old British stalwarts - Naim and Rega. Both companies were founded in the 1970s and over almost a 50 year period, have built a reputation for quality, reliability and serviceability that is almost unmatched in the hi-fi industry. Let’s just say that Julian Vereker and Roy Gandy both have a lot to answer for…

To be fair, we must not forget the contributions of another British hi-fi old guard - speaker manufacturer, ProAc. First founded by Stewart Tyler in the late 1970’s, without whom, Simon and Garfunkel’s the “Sound of Silence” would be the only playback choice!

Land of the giants - with not too giant a budget of £6K.

So this month’s challenge was to put together a system from these three behemoths, with a cameo appearance from Bluesound, in a head to head for a budget of circa £6000.

The focus will be on digital streaming playback, although one of the two systems has the option of vinyl connectivity with no CD playback and vice versa for its challenger. Of course, both systems can play either format with the addition of a CD player or phono pre-amplification stage, utilising one of the spare line level inputs both of which have in their arsenal, should their owners decide to expand their musical playback options.

This sort of makes sense because most people considering a current system will probably be looking at introducing streaming to their playback options. However, depending on your most recent prior playback format, you may have either a collection of CDs, or records somewhere in the attic to utilise as well, so this may ultimately affect your final choice, especially if you can’t favour one or the other sonically.

Ready Player One - Naim and ProAc

naim nd5xs2 streamer, naim supernait 3 integrated amp and proac d30rs speakers

Our first system consists of a Naim ND5XS2 streamer, Naim Supernait 3 integrated amplifier and ProAc D30RS floor standing loudspeakers. Speaker cable consisted of Naim NACA5 and interconnects were the Naim standard 5 pin DIN to 5 pin DIN, sometimes known as a “Lavender” interconnect.

naim nd5XS2 streamer/dac and a naim supernait3 integrated amplifier

The Naim ND5XS2 streamer/DAC is a lovely sounding piece of kit with options to be used as a DAC with external devices, for example, a CD player, via coaxial SPDIF or optical TOSLINK connections. Analogue outputs are through Naim’s DIN connections or via standard stereo RCA cables.

The USB-A connection at the rear of Naim’s ND5XS2 operates in a different way from that provided on the back of the Rega Saturn Mk 3 CD player/DAC, using a type A connection rather than a type B. Naim’s ND5XS2 type A connector allows for a hard drive (up to 1 Tb storage) or memory stick (up to 128Gb storage). This feature allows the Naim ND5XS2 to serve as a music media hub, using the Naim app as a control interface, with other Naim Uniti products such as the Uniti Nova, Uniti Star, Uniti Atom, Uniti Atom HE, Mu-so 2 and Mu-so Qb2, whence they can be operated as a fully featured multi-room system.

Naim’s Supernait 3 integrated amp has a plethora of DIN/RCA inputs and outputs, with a separate moving magnet (MM) phono stage for turntable users and the ability to add additional power supply upgrades, like the Naim HiCap DR or Naim Supercap DR, to boost the preamplifier stage. Naim’s Supernait 3 can also separate into a standalone pre-amplifier or power amplifier if required. Naim’s Supernait 3 really can be the heart of a substantial pre-amp and power amp system if required, with options to upgrade along the way.

Second Suitor - Rega, Bluesound and ProAc

rega saturn mk3 cd player/dac, rega aethos integrated amplifier, bluesound node 2i streamer and proac d30rs floor standing loudspeakers.

Our second contending system consists of a Rega Saturn Mk3 CD player/DAC, Rega Aethos integrated amplifier, Bluesound Node 3 streamer and ProAc D30RS floor standing loudspeakers. Speaker cable was again Naim NACA5, although this time we used the Rega Couple 3 interconnects for analogue and digital connections.

rega saturn mk 3 cd player/dac and rega aethos integrated amplifier

Rega’s Saturn Mk3 CD player/DAC has plenty of inputs and outputs for both digital devices and analogue playback.

First and foremost, the Rega Saturn Mk 3, is an exceptional CD player when connected via its analogue outputs. One advantage the Rega has over the Naim setup, in that CDs can be played without attaching a separate disc drive, connected to one of the digital inputs (optical, coax and USB). The asynchronous USB-type B input on the back of the Rega Saturn Mk3 is unusual, in that they are not usually provided by DAC manufacturers. This will allow a PC or Mac to be connected directly and play back music at a higher quality than would be possible via the rather inferior DACs included on most computers.

Another important thing to consider is that the Rega Saturn Mk 3 is a top-loading cd player, which personally I like, but you will have to allow for placement on the top shelf of your rack or without impediment above.

As Rega don’t make any streaming devices, let us introduce our guest component…

Bluesound Node 3 Streamer/DAC

The Bluesound Node 3 streamer/DAC is a well specified product with a built in DAC of its own as well as optical in/out, coaxial out and HDMI eARC for your TV. It also has a 3.5mm headphone socket.

Both the Naim Supernait 3 and Rega Aethos have 1/4 inch headphone jacks (that’s the bigger type to you and me!) which are driven in Class A operation for most headphones, depending on their impedance and output level. Having had a quick listen on all 3 headphone jacks I would conclude Rega Aethos > Naim Supernait 3 > Bluesound Node 3. Not surprising given the output types, cost and the DAC upgrade on the two integrated amps.

Now for the purposes of this blog we shall be using the coaxial SPDIF output into the DAC input of the Rega Saturn Mk 3 CD/DAC player as this is a much higher performing DAC than the one included inside the Bluesound Node 3.

In our Naim rig, the Naim ND5XS2 streamer was connected via the “lavender” analogue cable into an input on the Naim Supernait 3.

To keep signal quality consistent, both rigs were fed a mixture of bit perfect CD rips from our Naim Uniti Core and/or directly from the streaming service Qobuz.

The proof is in the pudding...

Onto the listening.

We selected Massive Attack’s “Angel” from the album Mezzanine to test a systems bass depth, speaker control and ability to track and play a tune in the bass.

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington’s “Duke’s Place” to test dynamics and the raspy tone of a well recorded trumpet in a believable 3D space.

Joe Henderson’s track “Blue Bossa” from the album Page One to test the micro-dynamic tracking of the Kenny Dorham’s trumpet tongue flutter in his first solo from this track. Very specific, I know, but quite revealing when you hear it.

Last but not least, “Back Down the River” by John Martyn from the album Bless The Weather for a system’s ability to convey the natural tone of vocals and acoustic guitar.

How did they fare?

“Angel” by Massive Attack, as the band name alludes to, is a great track to test bass performance. Here the Naim ND5XS2 and Naim Supernait 3 win the day! There is just that “something” about the way the Supernait 3 grips and plays tunes in the bass. The Proac D30RS speaker extend down to 30Hz and although the Rega Aethos keeps good control down below, it just doesn’t have quite the foot-tapping quality of the Naim duo.

“Dukes Place” by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington is one of our regular test tracks when listening to new kit. In spite of being a 1950’s recording with tape hiss, the sense of acoustic space, dynamic swings and tone are sterling test for any equipment. Result here, is a “score draw”, with the Bluesound Node 3, Rega Saturn Mk 3 and Rega Aethos amp being more dynamic, detailed and forward than the Naim duo. On the flip side, the Naim ND5XS2 and Naim Supernait 3 seemed sweeter, more of a musical whole and recreates an acoustic space around the instruments a little better.

“Blue Bossa” from the album Page One by Joe Henderson and featuring the trumpeter, Kenny Dorham, has a passage during KD’s first solo featuring a rapid trill/fluttering trumpet sound that can easily sound as a single note if your system isn’t revealing and/or dynamic enough. Here I would give a win to the Bluesound Node 3, Rega Saturn Mk 3 and Rega Aethos. The sheer detail and dynamics of this particular section of the track came through more clearly on this setup, highlighting the quality and clarity of the Proac D30RS’s ribbon tweeter.

“Back Down the River” by John Martyn from the album Bless The Weather proved to be another “score draw”, although preferences for detail and dynamics v musical tone and cohesion may sway the listener one way or another. I’ll leave you to decide which flavour you think matches the Rega v Naim system and whether you’ve been paying attention to my observations on the previous tracks.

There are no winners or losers here...

I think it’s important to stress, at this level of playback fidelity, there are no winners or losers, but I have to say both of these systems are brilliant!

Hi-fi listening is a multi-factorial hobby and as I have mentioned in my earlier blogs, the importance of room acoustics, equipment matching, musical tastes and one’s own hearing will influence your final decisions.

So my subjective comments and opinions may differ from yours and ultimately you should listen for yourself, preferably in your usual listening space and for a sufficient period of time, before making any commitments.

On that basis, book a dem and come have a “audition” at our Audio T Brighton store, where these lovely products are currently on show and you can listen in comfort.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio-T stores

ProAc can be found at the following Audio-T stores

BRIGHTON

Bluesound can be found at the following Audio-T stores

August 16, 2022

Front-end Rules! - Where does the importance of the Hi-Fi components lie?

August 16, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

To coin a phrase by Ivor Tiefenbrun, the founder of Linn and designer of the iconic Linn LP12 record deck. “Don’t throw away your records, you haven’t heard what’s on them yet.” Regardless of manufacturer, this design philosophy has often been the subject of many a debate in determining the hierarchy of the source/amp/speaker setup and deciding the budget allocation awarded to each.

The subject of this month’s article is to demonstrate and discuss the value to the “front-end” of your Hi-Fi system and the importance of where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Turntable Vs Turntable

Rega Planar 6 w/ Ania cartridge and Neo power supply v Rega Planar 10 w/ Apheta 3 cartridge

Let’s get down to brass tacks… Both the Rega Planar 6 and Rega Planar 10 (and Planar 8) come with an external power supply that not only provides a better sound sonically, but also allows for you a push-button speed change. This is a step-up from the manual belt change required on the Planar 1, Planar 1 Plus and Planar 2. The Rega Planar 3 doesn’t come with an external power supply as standard, although the Rega Neo power supply can be purchased as an upgrade if desired. And we’d strongly recommend it!

As I mentioned, there is a lot more to an external power supply such as the Rega Neo than the ability to change speeds more easily, with sound reasons (pun intended) for getting the power supply “off deck”. Isolation of individual component power supplies is one of the paths to Hi-Fi nirvana. The price differential and corresponding sonic improvements of the Rega Planar 10 power supply over the Rega Neo power supply provided with the Planar 6 can be both seen and heard.

Battle of the cartridges

Rega Ania v Rega Apheta 3 moving coil cartridges . . .

The Rega Ania cartridge is a moving coil type (MC), so you will need to factor this in when plugging into an amplifier. Most standard integrated amps come with an MM (moving magnet) phono stage, which boosts the signal to a different level than a MC (moving coil) phono stage, so an additional phono stage may be required for vinyl playback. Of the phono stages talked about in this article, only the Cyrus Signature and Rega Aria have the option of MM playback, so gets an extra tick in the versatility box. All of them are MC playback capable, with all of the sound quality improvements that tends to bring. Whilst discussing the Rega MC range, here at Audio T we also stock an upgraded version of this cartridge called the Ania Pro (although I didn’t actually compare it this time around).

The Rega Apheta 3 MC cartridge is the penultimate in the Rega cartridge range, the Rega Aphelion 2 being top of the range and outside the scope of this blog.

The rest of the system not to be sniffed at…

To ensure differences could be heard between the various turntable/cartridge/phono stage combinations, it is only appropriate to use Hi-Fi components commensurate with the quality of their peers.

A Naim Supernait 3 with an added Naim HiCap DR power supply provided the grunt and some lovely, sweet sounding ProAc Response DB1’s were used to move air.

Musical tonality to test the phonality...

The three albums used to try separate the men from the boys were; Miles Davis’ “Tutu”, Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and Ry Cooder’s “Jazz”.

Tracks from the corresponding albums were; “Tutu”, “Lithium” and “Big Bad Bill is Sweet William Now”, all capable of showing the dynamics, subtleties and handling of turntable/cartridge/phono stage combos abilities to deal with both well recorded and compressed tracks.

Phono stage pre amplifiers - boosting the all important signal from the cartridge to the amplifier . . . .

Tom Evans Audio Design - The Groove 20th Anniversary Edition

The Tom Evans Audio Design - The Groove 20th Anniversary Edition is a MC only design with dip switch adjustments for cartridge loading and fine tuning of the sound playback. As can be seen in the photos, the dip switches can be fine tuned to a person’s individual cartridge and these have been altered optimally, or as optimally as one can, for the Rega cartridges being reviewed in this blog.

Sound quality was epitomised by a “groove” factor and the Tom Evans - The Groove 20th Anniversary Edition certainly benefited from using the Rega P10/ Apheta 3 combination over the Rega P6/Ania with dynamics and spatiality improving vastly, albeit less so than with the other phono stages here. I could certainly appreciate why the phono stage was named in the way it was and if your sound preference is for P.R.A.T. (Pace, rhythm and timing) over a spacious, warm and cuddly sound, then this phono stage could well be the one for you.

Dynavector P-75 Mark 4

The Dynavector P75 Mk4 phono stage is a MC only playback device, adjustable with internal dip switches. This made it the most fiddly to setup and some confidence and manual dexterity is required to adjust parameters for optimum performance. That being said, once set, it proved to be a good performer. This could be considered the “budget” phono stage here, if that term can be applied at this price/performance level, but the Dynavector P75 Mk4 produced a lovely, warm and spacious sound with both turntables, one that you can really relax to, without over analysing the sound and instead, just listen to the music. If your budget is in the sub £1000 category then you have to listen to this.

Cyrus Signature Phono Stage plus optional PSX-R2 power supply

cyrus signature phonostage plus psxr2 power supply

The Cyrus Signature phono stage plus optional PSX-R2 power supply is one of only two phono stages in this test to include both MM and MC options for vinyl playback. It has four separate inputs to cater for different MM or MC cartridges plus gain, resistance and capacitance adjustment capability.

I listened to the Cyrus Signature phono stage both without (first) and then with the PSX-R2.

If your vinyl playback desire is to hear everything on your records, à la the Ivor Tiefenbrun philosophy, then the Cyrus Signature phono stage is probably the way to go. The detail it trawls from the grooves is quite extraordinary, especially with the Cyrus PSX-R2 power supply. The Cyrus Signature on its own is no slouch, but the extra detail and micro-dynamics are very obvious, no doubt due lowering the noise floor that comes with improvements in the power supply. This is a delightfully honest and insightful phono stage, perhaps the most neutral and accurate of them all. Whatever turntable or cartridge combination you own, the Cyrus Signature will let you hear the differences, especially with the recommended Cyrus PSX-R2 power supply.

Rega Aria phono stage

Middle in the range of Rega phono stages comes the Rega Aria.

The half-width, single box Aria also comes with a dual MM and MC input option.

In terms of sound, it is interesting to note where the Aria lies in the pricing ladder, putting it between the Dynavector P-75 and Cyrus Signature(minus the PSXR) in sound quality, with a good mix of the two flavours in terms of warmth and detail but a slightly scaled down version of each. This describes the sonic flavour of the Rega phono stages quite nicely because a nice, balanced and musical sound is achievable without breaking the bank.

Rega Aura phono stage

The Rega Aura reference phono stage is a MC only design with flexible cartridge loading options via rotary dials on the front.

Of all the phono stages here, the Aura is the one I’d most like to own. Noise levels are very low and the micro-dynamic subtleties are on a different level, especially when the Rega P10/Apheta 3 combo was used. Dynamics and timing were spot on and the Aura was both soft/gentle or hard/dynamic at the same time, if that is possible, showing music in its full glory. I was often in awe of the Aura. You could say I was smitten!

Where the rubber meets the road...

What surprised me the most in this lengthy test, was the variety of sound between these phono stages. All of them had their own flavour and consequently, your mileage may vary somewhat when it comes down to choice. Personal budget and taste will play a big part in your final decision, along with matching components, whether this be turntable, cartridge, amplifier or speakers. Whatever your choice, auditioning will be crucial to your final decision, so come and talk to us and book a dem.

Thanks for reading

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio-T stores

ProAc can be found at the following Audio-T stores

BRIGHTON

Dynavector can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Cyrus can be found at the following Audio T stores

July 15, 2022

ELYS RETURNS FROM THE WILDERNESS - THE REGA ELYS 2 CARTRIDGE

July 15, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

The story of Elys is an interesting and mysterious one. Years of self-isolation in the mountains of Switzerland during COVID without a cantilever to stand on. Her twin has finally returned from lockdown and shown herself to be fit and ready for battle in the cartridge wars, namely the Rega Elys 2.

Out of the ashes...

rega planar 3 fitted with an elys 2 mm cartridge

After almost 2 years in the wilderness, Rega have managed to rejuvenate an old favourite of theirs, the Rega Elys 2 MM cartridge.

For most of that time, the Elys 2 had become the stuff of urban legend, being spotted as often as Bigfoot in the Swiss Alps. It could just have been that the strange wailing noises heard in the hills was not the legendary Abominable Snowman, but a cry for help from our long lost Rega Elys 2 cartridge.

Reacquainting ourselves with an old friend

rega planar 3 with a rega elys 2 cartridge side view

So finally having one in stock was an ideal time to compare it with a cartridge that had become an old stalwart replacement for the Rega Elys 2 during its wilderness years, that of the tried and trusted Audio-Technica VM95ML(Micro-linear) MM cartridge.

We have found the Audio-Technica VM95ML to be an excellent match for the Rega Planar 3 turntable we have it on demonstration here at Audio T Brighton. It had become the standard recommendation for our customers in the absence of the Rega Elys 2 and we have fitted so many of them that the Audio-Technica VM95ML has often been in short supply itself.

rega planar 3 fitted with an audio technica vm95ml cartridge

Rega v Audio Technica

rega moving magnet range: carbon, elys2 and exact

So before we make any comparisons between these two wonderful cartridges, it may be helpful to reacquaint our readers with the various models in each range.

Rega has three cartridges in its moving magnet range. The hierarchy from budget to more serious is: Rega Carbon, Rega Elys 2 and finally the Rega Exact.

Audio Technica has four cartridges in its moving magnet range: Audio Technica VM95E, Audio Technica VM95EN, Audio Technica VM95ML and the Audio Technica VM95SH

audio technica vm95 moving magnet range: vm95e, vm95en, vm95ml and vm95sh

In terms of price hierarchy, the base models of Rega and Audio Technica are pretty equivalent in terms of cost/performance. Above that the Audio-Technica range are clearly delineated by the difference in stylus profile, the cartridge bodies being identical. These are clearly visible on the boxes and makes for interesting viewing. All I can say is that it definitely affects the sound, something you would expect given the physical differences in tracking as a result of each profile.

You can read another Audio T blog that demystifies the differences between the Audio-Technica VM95 family members Here.

Rega don’t giveaway their “secret sauce” other than the name and colour of the cartridge in question and there are no stylus profiles available to view on the packaging.

So how did the Elys 2 get on?

In order to test our cartridges, we used the MM phono stages of a Naim Supernait 3 and Rega Elex-R amplifiers into a pair of walnut Proac Response DB1’s wired with Naim NAC A5 speaker cable.

ProAc DB1 Speakers in Cherry Finish.jpeg

The Rega Elys 2 continues to give the Rega “house” sound, where tone and emotive expression come to the fore over technical prowess. Listening to Miles Davis “Kind of Blue” and the track So What, his trumpet comes through beautifully, with a natural tone and warmth. Comparing the Audio-Technica VM95ML brings far more detail and raspiness to the sound of the trumpet, with a wider gamut. Arguably, the VM95ML is the more technically virtuous of the two, but one cannot help but relax into his sound with the Elys 2.

proac db1’s playing some miles davis and tom waits

On Tom Waits album “Heartattack And Vine”, the track Til the money runs out highlights the extra detail within his voice using the VM95ML, with a deeper but less controlled bass than the Elys 2 and a more extended treble and strangely, less noticeable surface noise. There must be something in this “micro linear” stylus profile after all.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other...

As with all things hi-fi, what we hear on an individual level is very different for each of us. We all like different sonic characteristics and these may change depending what mood you’re in, the time of day, genre of music etc.

There is no doubt the the Rega Planar 3 with Rega Elys 2 is a wonderful pairing that puts expression and tone ahead of hi-fi details. It is easy to hear why one might be won over by this award winning combo.

To further wet your whistle, so to speak, Rega offer a discount on factory fitted packages of a Rega Planar 3 with Elys 2 and for even better performance, a Rega Planar 3 with Exact cartridge.

Ania has the last word...

Albeit not part of this articles original remit, I thought it may be useful to gain perspective in terms of upgrades within the Rega range.

We have been testing a Rega Planar 6 with Rega Ania MC cartridge on behalf of a customer. This combo “smokes” our aforementioned Rega Planar 3 plus either cartridge, with a massive increase in detail, refinement and tonal density. This is a very subjective opinion of course and your mileage may vary. And not to mention that the Planar 6 is an altogether different beast to the Planar 3.

Of course, the only way to really tell is to listen, so feel free to book a dem with us to hear this for yourself with some of your own records.

Thanks for reading - Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio-T stores

ProAc can be found at the following Audio-T stores

BRIGHTON

Audio-Technica can be found at the following Audio T stores

June 16, 2022

Sub Standard Bass Management - Adding a Subwoofer to your Stereo System

June 16, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

The heading for this month’s article is not meant to be a throwaway, facetious title. However, like the inappropriate use of the apostrophe (or in this case, lack of a hyphen) in the English language, sub-standard understanding makes setting up a speaker & subwoofer pairing all too easy to get wrong.

So this month I thought I’d look at the process of integrating a subwoofer into a home audio system and discuss some of the benefits and advantages of doing so, along with a “scratch the surface” look at the audio science behind it.

It’s all about dat bass...

There is no denying it, the laws of physics are significant when it comes to achieving deep, controlled bass. You often read reviews which claim deep bass from a small enclosure but the old adage, “You can’t fit a quart into a pint pot” holds true, for the most part. In the audio world, size matters! We all hear sound differently, so as the saying goes, your mileage may vary.

In my youth, I remember well, visiting the Concorde 2 live venue on Brighton seafront on a dub reggae night and marvelling at the cabinets, driver size and heart stopping bass! We amused ourselves by trying to find spots in the room with the most nauseating bass. This story may seem a bit passé but it does highlight another factor in bass management, that of room nodes and the acoustics of cancellation or enhancement of certain frequencies that may cause a lack of bass, or more likely, too much “boomy” bass. I’m sure you’re all familiar with occasions where you’ve experienced that!

Different strokes for different folks...

Here at Audio T in Brighton, we have manufacturers with a different take on how to produce bass. Volume of the cabinet is one factor, along with designs that are sealed or ported. Construction materials and the quality of their application also have a factor.

Jern loudspeakers including the Model 11, which made out of cast iron, are an example of the use of a non-conventional material, aside from the usual vinyl/wood veneered MDF or HDF construction.

ATC’s speaker range include: SCM7, SCM11, SCM19’s sealed box(infinite baffle) stand mount designs and SCM40 floorstanders, all have a deliberately limited bass extension in preference for speed and control.

Proac speakers have their Tablette 10 and Tablette 10 Signatures, which are sealed(non-ported) designs, with a similar sound philosophy, albeit with different family tonal flavours to satisfy audiophiles differing sonic palettes.

Proac also have an extensive range of front and rear ported speakers and here at Audio T in Brighton, we are an exclusive Proac dealer in the area, so are pleased to be able to demonstrate speakers such as: Proac DB1, Proac DT8 and Proac D20R, all of which use ported designs to enhance bass reproduction.

Dynaudio speakers, including their Evoke 10’s and Evoke 20’s standmounts, Evoke 30 floorstanders all include bass ports to enhance bass depth.

Top’ n’ tail...

At this point we shall get onto the speaker and subwoofer pairing.

At Audio T in Brighton, we are rather fond of the REL range of subwoofers, including the; REL T-Zero3, REL T5X, REL T7X and REL T9X, all of which have been manufactured with stereo music system integration at the forefront of their design, rather than the bang, crash & wallop that most feel is the purpose of a subwoofer.

For the purpose of today’s experiment, I used the REL T7X subwoofer, joined by a pair of Proac Tablette 10 Signatures as our main speakers. Amplification and streaming is provided by the excellent one-box solution, the Naim Uniti Nova.

Making the connection...

Subwoofers usually come with two types of input; low level inputs using standard RCA connections for giving the thud and clatter associated with explosions in movie playback, or high level speaker connections for music playback. It is the latter that REL recommend and it is this type of connection we are looking at here, as it usually provides better results and is easier to get a balanced, musical sound from.

The diagrams above show the use of a high level input cable called the REL Bassline Blue, appropriately and also conveniently coloured blue. The electrical characteristics of these cables mean that longer lengths of this cable can be used without adversely affecting the amp and speakers at either end of the connection and reduce the chance of hum. These run in a “piggyback” fashion as can be seen above, allowing for easy connection at the amplifier end with traditional banana speaker plugs. You’ll also find some images from the REL manual to assist with the connection procedure.

The Neutrik connectors supplied with the REL Bassline Blue are for connection at the subwoofer end.

The speaker cable we used was standard Naim NAC A5.

Setting it up . . . .

Naim uniti nova connected to a rel t7x using rel bassline blue subwoofer cable

So with the electronics in place and the necessary cables connected, we can get to the nitty-gritty of positioning and tuning the sound of the sub to integrate seamlessly with the speakers.

Before we get to the mechanics of the set-up, a few pointers and sound principles to steer the reader in a the right direction.

“Boom, boom let’s shake the room...”

No, I’m not joking when I say, I’m not going to give your bass a slap if you get this wrong, but most listeners idea of good bass is more quantitative than qualitative. This can be explained by the fact that folks, when not listening to a relatively bass-free sound through their phone speakers or TV, are more attuned to the bass sound coming from a passing car lowrider, than fast, accurate low end reproduction. Acclimatisation to bass sounds resulting from the effects produced by room acoustics, poor positioning of speakers and inappropriate size of speaker for the listening environment are the most common causes of poor bass reproduction and this leads to the normalisation of what bass should, in their opinion, sound like.

So if you want good bass sound, let’s just say, “Where there’s a will there’s a way!”

Dialling it all in...

What’s about to follow is, of course, subject to personal taste, so take this advice with a pinch of salt and use your own ears to decide what works best for you in your setup.

First thing to do is to place the REL T/7X sub in a position that maximises its bass pressurisation of the room. This is the way REL have designed their subwoofers and will usually be in a corner of the room, as shown in the picture, or along one of the side walls, a few feet away from the corner but not too far away, because the REL T7/X has been designed to use the room acoustics to enhance the bass response.

Be patient with the positioning process and tune with your ears because a few centimetres here and there can make all the difference. The best placement for the sub may be subject to room dimensions, shape and furniture placement, and may require more than one subwoofer to do the job properly. Two small ones may well be better than one big one in this scenario.

Dave Taylor, our man from REL (and when he wasn’t drinking all our coffee!) assisted me in the process of setting up the REL T7/X, so I thank him for his expertise and music selection during the following setup process.

Musical choices for the REL T7X subwoofer setup can be found here.

I would add that, as the personal owner of a Naim Uniti Nova, Proac Tablette 10 Signatures and an “oldie but goodie” REL Stampede subwoofer that I’ve owned for 20 years plus, I do have some prior knowledge of the setup process, especially in relation to the components mentioned in this blog. However, the newer REL subs have come on some way in recent years, with a faster response and with lower latency, so they should prove superior sonically. I was also interested to see if the process differed from my own and if the results were a step forward, eyeing up a future upgrade for myself.

Steps...

1) Find some music with a repetitive pulsating low bass response and start it playing. Turn up your main hi-fi amp, in our case the Naim Uniti Nova, to a reasonable level. At this point you may not be able to hear the deep pulsating bass notes through the main speakers because of the nature of your music choice. We certainly couldn’t through our Proac Tablette 10 Signatures.

2) Switch on the already connected REL T7X subwoofer and listen until the deep bass notes can be felt and heard through the sub by setting the Hi/Low level and crossover dials to a starting position of around 11 o’clock. You shouldn’t need to rotate these two dials much further than this, assuming you have positioned the sub well enough.

3) Hopefully, you should now hear the deep bass line. Although this may be way too loud for enjoyable music listening at this stage, don’t worry, as this will be adjusted later. Now toggle the phase switch between 0 degrees and 180 degrees to see which one is the loudest setting of the two.

Remember that, at this point, we are tuning the sub so we can hear it and then we’ll re-adjust the settings later until you can’t. If that seems a bit strange, I’ll elaborate more later. It is also useful to have someone else present to help with the tuning process because it does require getting up and down out of your seating position quite a lot if you are on your lonesome.

4) Once the phase has been set, the crossover frequency can now be dialled in. It helps to have some idea of what your speakers lower level frequency response roll-off is. The -3db bass response roll-off for the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures is stated as 55Hz on the Proac website. Try setting the sub crossover to around the same frequency and listen for how the sub blends with the main speakers. Adjust the crossover frequency accordingly.

5) Once you are happy with the blend, you may find the sub contributes a little too much to the overall sound, so alter the Hi/Low level dial to back off on the sub so that you can no longer “hear” the sub. This stage may well need to be tweaked by playing a few different tracks with a good bass line to settle at your final adjustment.

A couple of final points to remember. You shouldn’t even know there is a subwoofer in place until you turn it off, when a couple of things will tend to be noticeably different.

Is it working?

Subwoofers do have their detractors, especially from hi-fi purists, but the “thud thud” heard during film soundtracks and the sound from drive-by bass addicts are far removed from seamless integration into a hi-fi system focussing on music reproduction. Final adjustments don’t have to be set in stone and are subjectively open to interpretation. After all, it’s your sub and you can choose your own filling!

From an objective point of view, if set up properly, the differences are undeniable. Whether for better or for worse remember you aren’t married to a subwoofer, so subtle tweaks can be made as your ears adjust to the changes.

Firstly, when the subwoofer is turned off, you should notice that the music will lose “body” and not sound so full-range or sonically balanced as before. The really deep bass will be noticeable by its absence and your system may sound “thin” in comparison.

Secondly, when the subwoofer is on, you should notice a change in the soundstage, with some more “air” and space around instruments and vocals, in particular. This second feature of good sub integration is slightly counterintuitive because one expects the sub to do only bass. In fact, for some listeners, it is the improvement to the midrange and treble that are the biggest winners when it comes to subwoofer integration. The scientific reasoning behind these changes in sound may well be down to harmonics, which are the effects of multiples of a frequency of vibration having subtle complementary effects further on up the frequency range.

These harmonics can also be detrimental and heard when speaker/room mismatching issues rear their ugly head, in the form of room “nodes”, especially with exaggerated bass frequencies, leading to the “boomy” bass mentioned earlier on in this blog. Using smaller satellite speakers with a well integrated sub, could be an effective way to ameliorate these problems.

Sound principles...

We haven’t even touched on room treatments in this article, so I’ll briefly outline some other factors to consider in the overall setup of your system.

Some rooms are notoriously difficult to get right. Whether it be down to the room size being too big or too small for the speakers used, the room dimensions and/or shape of the room or the amount and type of soft furnishings being used, there are a multitude of factors to listen out for before making big financial commitments on hi-fi purchases. Like a good football team, you cannot just throw money at it and expect it to get results, although it helps. Good management and a handy Pep Guardiola will allow well informed decisions to be made.

Here at Audio T, we’re on hand to help you manage those decisions before making your purchase. We can offer a premier level of service and expertise, so pop in and let us help you with your hi-fi choices.

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores -

REL can be found at the following Audio T stores

ProAc can be found at the following Audio-T stores

BRIGHTON

Dynaudio can be found at the following Audio T stores

May 10, 2022

A story behind a custom transformation - The Linn Sondek LP12

May 10, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

So, Spring has finally arrived, flowers abundant with colour and the ongoing need to wear thermals. But most importantly, Spring is the season of rebirth, rejuvenation and renewal. With this in mind, we’ll be looking at the subject of transformations in this month’s article. However, not the type I spent over thirty years in the English public education sector teaching about, albeit with a tenuous link to rotations by virtue of the fact that without those, Linn and its famous turntable wouldn’t exist.

“Don’t throw away your records, you haven’t heard what’s on them yet”

— Ivor Tiefenbrun - Founder of Linn

Ivor Tiefenbrun; founder of Linn and designer of the iconic Linn LP12 record deck, hints at the connection with this month’s blog by virtue of transforming a turntable’s rotational energy into the glorious sound a vinyl record can produce.

This is the story of an Linn LP12 and an Audio T customer’s transformation of an iconic deck in memory of someone close to his heart.

In the beginning . . . .

One can never describe a Linn Sondek LP12 as looking mundane, but if you read-on and finish this blog, the image directly below may fit this description.

Spring is a time for rebirth and like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, the deck blossoms into a thing of beauty, full of colour and character, far beyond its humble beginnings, consisting of a Linn LP12 with a White-lined bearing, Linn Akito arm and a Linn K9 cartridge. In its day, this was a fine deck, but as you will witness, the transformation will be quite stunning.

The re-furnishing of the plinth was a personal quest from a good friend of John and Paul’s here at Audio T in Brighton and done to commemorate the loss of a personal friend, whilst simultaneously paying due respect to an icon of rock guitar. As you will see, from the pictures coming up, he did an immaculate job.

09 Plinth after sanding front angle 03.jpg

It’s all gone a bit Eddie Van Halen . . . .

Guitarists everywhere were steeped in sorrow over the recent death of Eddie Van Halen. Whether you are playing your vinyl on a Rega Planar 3 with an Exact cartridge, the top of the range Rega Planar 10 or the Linn LP12, in one of its various incarnations, EVH was one of the most creative, influential and recognisable guitar players of his generation and his intense playing tested the tracking ability of decks and the strength of speaker drive units, the world over.

Let’s cut to the chase

13 Plinth Red & White front LH corner above.jpg

In its final assembly, the resulting plinth is a fitting tribute to a personal friend and the late, great EVH, transforming it into a unique Linn LP12 which conjures up an image and sound before even spinning a record. This is borne out when a record is put on.

The finer machinations and assembly on the jig at Audio T in Brighton can be seen in the carousel of pictures above, giving a good insight into the complexities and engineering that go into the making of a Linn LP12.

A great example of the attention to detail in the making of this deck, is in the picture of a “quarter” coin. Apparently, EVH used a quarter to lock the bridge of his guitar, negating the potential tuning issues that occur when bending strings on a guitar equipped with a “whammy-bar”.

To add my personal 25 cents worth to this article, as a guitar player myself with this type of tremolo system, I know all about the “flattening” effect to the sound of the strings when they are bent in extremis and the inherent difficulties that come with maintaining the correct pitch and tuning of an electric guitar whilst playing it when using this system. I certainly didn’t use a “quarter” myself to lock the tremolo system on my Jackson Performa Strat copy.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I’m not such a good guitarist as EVH . . . . or more likely, a lack of practise and talent!

Here at Audio T in Brighton, it’s all part of the service . . .

For all the effort that clearly went into the finishing of the plinth, upgrading the mechanics of the Linn Sondek LP12 did require the service facilities available at Audio T in Brighton .

Shop manager, John Killick, has been upgrading Linn LP12’s for over 30 years and in the turntable servicing business, there are none better or more knowledgeable about the requirements to get your deck up and running at its best, so it seems fitting (pun intended) that he was asked to work on this Linn LP12.

You can read one of our past articles about the in depth process of LP12 maintenance Here.

Linn offer many different finishes and these can be viewed Here, just don’t expect an EVH finish like you’ve seen in this article.

So what about the sound?

In a nutshell… It rocks! Sounds a bit clichéd, I know, but it’s true. The final deck was a Linn Sondek LP12 with a Lingo power supply, Linn Ittok arm and a nice red Dynavector 10X5Mk2 cartridge to complete the package visually and sonically.

This combination exudes quality, with a classy, yet punchy sound. Eddie’s guitar sounds both sweet and raw when it needs to be.

Let’s just say that the Van Halen track “Eruption”, from their first album, sounds exactly as the track name describes and “Jamie’s Cryin’” leaves you in tears.

A fitting memoire . . . .

I hope that these few paragraphs do justice to such a fine piece of craftsmanship and that the creator gets many hours of fun listening to a deck that will always serve as a reminder to two people close to his heart.

Thanks for reading - Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Linn can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Dynavector can be found in all Audio T stores

BRIGHTON

April 20, 2022

RECORD STORE DAY CELEBRATION HERE AT AUDIO T IN BRIGHTON SATURDAY 23RD APRIL 2022

April 20, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

Here at Audio T in Brighton this Saturday 23rd April 2022, we invite you to enjoy a head to head between flagship turntables from two of our top British manufacturers, Linn and Naim.

We will be celebrating vinyl record playback with a selection of favourites from the playlist archives of previous RECORD STORE DAYS.

Clash of the titans...

There is some serious firepower on display here. The Linn LP12 Klimax with Urika power supply and Ekstatik cartridge versus the Naim Solstice with its tailor made phono stage and power supply plus an Equinox cartridge.

Both of these are the “top of the range” models from the respective brands and are close to the ultimate in playback performance from the vinyl medium.

Bring your own…

As a quick reminder, the UK record store day is on Saturday 23rd April.

To book, ring us on 01273 609 431 or email brighton@audio-t.co.uk and remember to bring a few records of your own you’d like to listen to.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Thanks for reading - Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Linn can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores -

March 11, 2022

Looking back on the Naim & ATC Show Weekend Takeover at Audio T Brighton

March 11, 2022/ Brighton

As we firmly head into March, I thought it would be a good time to look back on our recent February Show Weekend Takeover days. Audio T Brighton was rockin’ for a lot of the time. With DJ Killick at the helm, heads were nodding, feet tappin’ and feedback levels were almost reached! Let’s just say that answering the phone was a bit more difficult than usual.

audio t in brighton showing off their naim and atc product range

It's all in the preparation. . .

I must admit, I may have gotten a little carried away with the adverts for the weekend, but I had a lot of fun with this. Who would have thought that my many years as a hobby photographer and playing with Photoshop would have come to so much use. What did you think of them? -

Don’t get shirty with me . . . .

One can’t talk about the weekend takeover without mentioning John’s, and to a lesser extent, my shirts. It was a silly idea that had a thread running through it (pun intended) of welcoming customers to our Show Weekend event. We certainly had some fun doing this, although Paul was a little nonplussed at his shirts being excluded. Oh well, someone had to take the photos and what a good job he did!

Busy, busy, busy . . . .

As mentioned before, Audio T Brighton was busy throughout both days, with some old and new faces venturing in to hear our top Naim 500 system comprising of a Naim Solstice turntable, ND555 streamer with 555PS power supply, NAC552 preamp with 552DRPS and NAP500DR power amp with 500DRPS. Speakers comprised of passive ATC SCM50’s and Naim Super Lumina speaker cable.

It almost goes without saying, but what a sound!

naim 500 system with atc scm50 passive speakers

System 2 . . . .

Onward to our second system in the other dem area at Audio T in Brighton.

A Naim NDX2 streamer used as a digital source into an ATC CDA2 preamp/CD player and some active ATC SCM40A speakers. A totally different sound, but interestingly preferred by some over the main system. I feel an active v passive discussion coming on!

Horses for courses!

It’s all about the music . . . .

naim solstice playing johnny guitar watson from the album -jazz dispensary “the dank d-funk blend vol.2'“

Audio T Brighton show music playlist courtesy of DJ killick - click to view full playlist
If you like any of the albums shown here you’ll like the rest of our playlist

We can’t end this blog without mentioning what these days are really all about and, if it didn’t exist, then none of this would matter . . . . MUSIC, MUSIC and more MUSIC.

On this note (another pun intended), I have to applaud our resident musical guru and DJ for the weekend, Mr John Killick, whose encyclopaedic musical knowledge would definitely include him on my “phone a friend” list for Who wants to be a millionaire.

Here at Audio T in Brighton, we would like to take the opportunity to thank Dave and Ben from ATC and Jason from Naim, for their valuable time attending our Show Weekend Takeover event. They were great company and provided invaluable knowledge and product support.

In recognition of JK’s efforts and the musical enjoyment brought to all of our lovely visitors over the weekend of Feb 25th and 26th, we have put together the playlist to bring a smile back on your faces and remind you of the weekend.

VIEW THE FULL PLAYLIST HERE

Thanks for reading - Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores -

ATC can be found at the following Audio T stores -

February 11, 2022

ATC and Naim takeover at Audio T Brighton!

February 11, 2022/ Audio T Brighton/ Brighton

“This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship”

— Humphrey Bogart

One of my lasting early childhood film memories came from the 1942 black & white classic film, “Casablanca”. When Humphrey Bogart made his memorable quote to Claude Rains, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” as Ingrid Bergman took to the safety of the skies, I could never have foreseen writing about this in conjunction with the companies that form the discussion of today’s blog article.

Did you know that “Casablanca” is loosely based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison's unproduced play “Everybody Comes to Rick's”?

Now, on the subject of beautiful friendships, on to this months blog… Let’s see if we can rename that Hollywood play to, “Everybody comes to Audio T’s”, or more specifically, Audio T Brighton, .

Naim Audio

Naim Audio are a Salisbury based UK company set-up by Julian Vereker back in 1973.

Specialising in amplification and embracing digital playback with their fine CD players and streamers, they have led the field in quality audio playback for almost 50 years.

Audio T are proud to have been associated with Naim Audio over the years and we are delighted to use their equipment to enhance audio lovers enjoyment of music.

On demonstration will be an extensive collection of Naim gear, including; Naim Solstice turntable, Naim NDX2 streamer with 555PS power supply , Naim NAC 552 preamp inc 552PS DR, Naim 252 preamp, Naim Supernait 3, Naim XS3, Naim Nait 5SI, Naim CD5SI, Naim HiCapDR, Naim XPS PS.

The ever popular Naim Uniti range will also be on demonstration, including; Naim Qb2, Naim Muso2, Naim Uniti Atom, Naim Uniti Star and range topping Naim Uniti Nova.

ATC loudspeakers

Acoustic Transducer Company, better known as ATC loudspeakers have been a favourite of ours here at Audio T in Brighton for many years. Formed in 1974 by Billy Woodman to construct drivers for the professional sound industry, they offer a quality choice for audiophiles. Nicely constructed with high quality parts and excellent fidelity that has made them a stalwart brand for us here at Audio T in Brighton and they pair very well with Naim amplification.

On display on our Weekend Takeover Days will be an extensive range of ATC loudspeakers, including; ATC SCM50 passives, ATC SCM40 passives and ATC SCM40A actives, all in their floor stander range.

Passive bookshelf speakers in the ATC range will include; ATC SCM19, ATC SCM11 and the babies of the range, the ATC SCM7’s.

In addition to loudspeakers, ATC also do a fine range of electronics to drive their range of speakers. As shown below, we will also have access to their ATC CD2 CD/preamplifier to dem over the weekend mentioned.

ATC SCM 40 speakers with an ATC cda2 mk CD preamplifier

Please ring us on 01273 609431 or email brighton@audio-t.co.uk to book your place at our Show Weekend Events on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th February between 9.30am and 5.30pm. We’ll have a selection of “Show” discounts, so be sure to head on down.

Click Here if you want to see what other stores our doing for their Show Weekend Events.

Thanks for reading - Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores -

ATC can be found at the following Audio T stores -

January 17, 2022

FROM GREAT PAIRINGS TO A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN - NAIM UNITI NOVA & DYNAUDIO CONTOUR 20i

January 17, 2022/ Audio T brighton/ Brighton

So here we are, we finally made it to 2022. No doubt with many a New Year’s resolution to try and uphold, the New Year heralds a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. Sadly, it is an unfortunate statistic that January is often a prevalent month for breakups and divorce. This doesn’t have to be limited to relationships between humans…

Perhaps you’ve fallen out of love with your existing Hi-Fi? Time has taken its toll. You’ve grown apart. Circumstances have changed. It’s not them, it’s you… Whatever the reasoning, perhaps it’s time to clear out the old gear and upgrade. What we have for you this month could have the potential to buck the trend and end up as true “soul mates”.

Here at Audio T, we like to think of our Hi-Fi and service as a lifelong love. We certainly don’t condone marriage/divorce as often as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and you certainly shouldn’t be swapping your Hi-Fi out that often, you’ll barely have time to hear how good it is, to paraphrase a quote from the great Ivor Tiefenbrun, founder of Linn and the brainchild of the great Linn LP12 turntable.

All will be revealed as I launch into this months blog about the latest “Hollywood couple” of Hi-Fi. The Naim Uniti Nova streaming amplifier/DAC and Dynaudio Contour 20i stereo standmount speakers.

I have written several blogs on specific brands and models as well as my Facebook Vlog series “Great Pairings”, so I thought adding a little glamour might be a nice way to start 2022.

Fidelity takes on a new meaning . . . .

First up is the Naim Uniti Nova, a member of the Naim Uniti range comprising of the Atom, Atom HE, Star and Nova plus the Naim Core, which can act as server/storage and finally, the Naim Muso Qb2 and Muso 2, which are all-in-ones that are proving to be very popular at the moment.

The Naim Uniti Nova came out in 2017 and has many advancements in streaming technologies over the previous models, the Unitiqute and Superuniti range, with a ground-up development programme that has many years of future-proofness (not sure that’s a word, but if not, I just invented it!) built in, to such an extent, one can safely say that it is still at the head of the pack in 2022.

As with all of Naim products, there is upgradability built-in. A power amp can be added, such as the Naim NAP250DR and the Naim Powerline, about which I’ve blogged before here.

Contours that your Geography teacher never taught you about . . . .

Going back to my student years, I was a big fan of Blackadder. In Series 3, one of my favourite quotes, was from an episode with the Prime Minister of the time, William Pitt, declaring, “Tougher sentences for Geography teachers.” I don’t remember being taught in school about contours of the type I’m writing about in this blog, so I wholeheartedly agree.

Joking aside, not wishing to put off any potential Audio T customers who teach Humanities, the smooth lines of these Dynaudio Contour 20i allow Hi-Fi listeners to reach new levels of audio fidelity and enjoyment.

Listening taken to new heights . . . .

The sheer transparency, imagery and musicality of the Dynaudio Contour 20i take your breath away, to the same degree as a mountaineer might experience when the aforementioned contour lines on a map narrow as they approach the summit of the world’s second highest mountain in the Himalayas, Mount K2.

Imagery and lifelike spatial cues the Dynaudio Contour 20i conjure up on the live recordings of Neil Young, Bob Dylan and David Bowie albums leave you gasping for air. There really is a reach out and touch quality to the sound of this system and it does amplify the fact, pun intended, that the Naim Uniti Nova is a quality source and great match for the Dynaudio Contour 20i’s.

Even though the Dynaudio Contour 20i’s had effectively arrived from the mountaintops and were cold, straight out of the box, the sound enveloped you in a richly detailed and warm, yet dynamic sound. Heaven knows what they will sound like with a few hundred hours on the clock, roughly how long it will take for my jaw to remove itself from the floor of the listening room here at Audio T in Brighton. Sadly, Bill Livingstone, our man from Dynaudio, had to take them back home to run in, although I did volunteer our facilities to do the same, if he wished.

Back down to earth . . . .

Listening to this combination of quality components has emphasised, to me at least, the importance of symbiosis. A marriage made in heaven really does require more than one component and it certainly helps if they have the looks of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie thrown in. The Naim Uniti Nova and Dynaudio Contour 20i’s not only have that, they certainly win on the fidelity front!

All of this also begs the question, just how good would the Dynaudio Confidence 20 sound on the end of the setup? Not wishing to encourage the divorce of the components mentioned in this blog, I guess you’d have to climb Mount Everest to find that one out!

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores -

Dynaudio can be found at the following Audio T stores

December 17, 2021

A THREESOME YOU MAY NEVER HAVE CONSIDERED

December 17, 2021/ Brighton

So here we have it . . . a three move checkmate! “What do you mean? Is that even possible?” I hear you say! All will be explained forthwith.

In an attempt to be topical ,with the world chess championships just having taken place and frankly because I have an interest in playing the great game myself, I will attempt to use this chess metaphor in my Hi-Fi ramblings and not be too “en passant” in the process.

Having written several blogs on specific brands and models as well as my Facebook Vlog series “Great Pairings”, I thought that it might be wise to mix it up and take a look at even more components.

In no particular order, other than the “Source first” premise; Auralic Altair G2.1 into a Quad Artera stereo power amplifier followed by Proac Response DB1 speakers.

Our opening gambit - the Auralic Altair G2.1

Let’s start with the front end first. The Auralic Altair G2.1 is a fully featured source component, offering extreme flexibility for inputs as well as lots of inbuilt goodies as well.

Now if you are a chess player, you will know about openings, middle game and end game strategies. If you will excuse the metaphor, the Auralic Altair G2.1 demonstrates an abundance of opening options, with an excellent phono stage built-in, a wealth of of digital inputs and replay through an excellent built in DAC and a high quality preamp stage.

Some people would call the Auralic Altair G2.1 an “endgame” product, which is where the chess analogy falls a bit short really, given that there are no speakers involved at this stage, although one can certainly see audiophiles being happy enough with the sound quality to go no further up the audiophile tree than this, but more on sound quality later.

auralic altair g2.1 front panel - understated quality

Auralic altair g2.1 inputs/outputs - a plethora of choice

You can see the streamer input options above, with multiple inputs for network/hard drive playback, both balanced and unbalanced analogue line inputs, the usual digital coaxial and optical inputs and on the right, the preamp outputs to feed the power amp, which in this case was the Quad Artera stereo power amp…

Middle game authority - the Quad Artera stereo power amp

Continuing with my chess analogy, the middle game comes from the Quad Artera stereo power amplifier. The Quad 405 amplifier was world renowned and this is a modern update of that very same design, with an output of 140W per channel and the warm, mellifluous sound that continues the Quad heritage of high quality music reproduction.

I have spoken about the quality of the Quad Artera amp in combination with another Auralic product, the Altair G1, in an earlier Facebook vlog, which you can view Here.

Endgamers - The Proac Response DB1

For anyone else familiar with the glorious game of chess, these might be considered the knights in the range of Proac speakers. The Proac Response DB1 is a magnificent beast, here donning a beautiful walnut finish. These are a 2-way ported bookshelf design with an 8 ohm impedance and a recommended 20 - 100 Watts for driving amplification.

Here at Audio T in Brighton we are very fond of the Proac range of speakers, with everything from the foals in their range, the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures, to their stallion siblings, the D20R and DT8 floorstanders.

Checkmate . . . A Victorious sound

Worthy of the great chess players, Garry Kasparov or Magnus Carlsen, and providing a sound quality and synergy as rare as a three move checkmate, this threesome really jelled in our listening room.

So my initial listening was done with vinyl with a Linn LP12. Perhaps not the most usual means of playback for a system like this, especially with a digital streaming DAC/preamp like the Auralic Altair G2.1 that has so many inputs for modern music listening tastes. However, the phono input on the Altair G2.1 was a revelation, helped somewhat with a quality turntable like the Linn LP12 combination.

Gling-Glo with Bjork on vocals sounded magnificent. The level of detail and tonal quality on Kind of Blue by Miles Davis was mesmerising. In fact, the sound of this threesome of Auralic Altair G2.1, Quad Artera and Proac Response DB1’s, whilst listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan’s posthumous album, The Sky is Crying, was so captivating, I’d gone into a bit of a trance and failed to hear our front doorbell go a couple of times.

Moving onto the streamer section of the Altair G2.1 proved no less rewarding. My usual menu of the Oscar Peterson Trio album We Get Requests and Gerry Mulligan meets Ben Webster, provided a level of musical insight and clarity a cut above most of the competition and certainly worthy of the price increase between the Altair G1 and the Altair G2.1. Now bearing in mind the fact that the Altair G2.1 composes of a quality phono stage, headphone amp, separate streamer, DAC and preamp plus a reliable app to service its functionality, it seems a veritable bargain.

Post Game review

The three musketeers discussed; Auralic Altair G2.1, Quad Artera and Proac Response DB1’s should really include D’Artagnan as well, in the form of the Linn LP12, given its significant contribution to the sound via the Auralic’s phono input. This system proved to be a sonic “coup de gras”, providing great flexibility and fine synergy in its sonic prowess. This isn’t always a given in the hifi world and returning to my chess analogy, similar to many games of chess that I’ve played, where pieces just seem to get in the way of each other and the ensuing stalemate that arises, this is one of those rare occasions where this doesn’t happen, cutting through to the core of musical pleasure just like Magnus Carlsen would if he played chess against me.

A quick addendum to this will be that we’ve added the Proac Response DB1’s to our demo range of speakers, such was the enjoyment they provided during the course of our audition of this system.

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Auralic can be found at the following Audio T stores -

Quad can be found at the following Audio T stores -

Proac can be found at the following Audio T stores -

BRIGHTON

Linn can be found at the following Audio T stores -

AUDIO T - THE UK's OLDEST INDEPENDENT SPECIALIST HI-FI RETAILER

Audio T Blogs

Why the CD resurgence?

CD player choices...

Long-standing Marantz...

Marantz CD6007...

Marantz CD60...

Marantz SA10...

Summing up the Marantz power trio...

An itinerary of our Naim journey...

Let the journey commence...

Summing it all up...

Lamb dressed as mutton…

The real McCoy...

Keeping up appearances...

A lot of sound for the pound...

A retrospective view of the Lintons...

First... A little bit of Ruark history

The current Ruark range...

Ruark R1 and now... The R1S

Ruark R2 Mk4 Smart Music System...

Ruark R3S...

Ruark MR1...

Ruark MRx Streaming Wireless Speaker...

Ruark accessories...

A summary of the Ruark range...

Qobuz

Tidal

Apple Music

Spotify

Alternatives to streaming...

Recommended vinyl/cd playback systems...

Recommended streaming systems...

Final thoughts...

Triangle AIO active wireless speaker system

Triangle’s funky colours...

Triumphant Triangle...

Rega Planar 1, Rega IO and Acoustic Energy AE100 Mk2...

Analogue all the way...

AIO v IO...

Degritter Mark II

True Grit...

But seriously...

Ultrasonic cleaning architecture...

Clever features and simple operation...

No salt required - Degritter Mark II in use...

Degas...

Quick, Medium and Heavy cleaning...

Degritter Mark II cleaning process...

Where the rubber meets the road...

Linn... We’re all in!

Re-defining the meaning of magic...

Linn LP12 Selekt/Arko/Kendo...

Linn LP12 Klimax/Ekos SE/Ekstatik/Urika/Radikal…

Neat Petite Classics... The original classic

That’s Neat, that’s Neat, I really love your tiger feet...

For posterity’s sake...

Bringing things bang up to date...

Neat and tidy...

Neat critique...

A potted history of Proac loudspeakers...

A selection of the ProAc speaker range...

Proac Tablette 10 Signature

ProAc Response DB1

ProAc Response D20R

Proac Response D30RS

Proac Response DT8

Quality wooden finishes galore...

When the rubber meets the road...

Land of the giants - with not too giant a budget of £6K.

Ready Player One - Naim and ProAc

Second Suitor - Rega, Bluesound and ProAc

The proof is in the pudding...

How did they fare?

There are no winners or losers here...

Turntable Vs Turntable

Battle of the cartridges

The rest of the system not to be sniffed at…

Musical tonality to test the phonality...

Phono stage pre amplifiers - boosting the all important signal from the cartridge to the amplifier . . . .

Tom Evans Audio Design - The Groove 20th Anniversary Edition