Bluesound Node 2 Hi-Res Music Streamer Featuring Master Quality Authenticated Playback

Feeling bluesy or kind of blue or any type of music genre for that matter? Then that nodes well, because we may have the tonic you're after...read on.

Turn your Hi-Fi into an intelligent 21st century all singing all dancing triple threat*. Bluesound is now on sale and available for demonstration in Manchester and we couldn't be happier. *Broadway speak for someone who is multi talented.

Here we take a look at the Node 2 streamer. With all the usual connections you would expect from a mid to high end streamer, optical, coaxial, analogue audio out, subwoofer out too. And of course a digital and analogue input.  With a 1GHz ARM cortex processor as its brain, the speed of Bluesound never ceased to impress, loading album art, playlists and Hi-Res media to multiple devices is flawless. Having plenty of inputs and outputs means there really are no limitations to the Node2's capabilities.  Stemming from a partnership with NAD, Bluesound has evidently taken on board application advice from NAD, who have been in the audio business since 1972.

Hi-Res audio in all your rooms simultaneously is Bluesounds unique selling point, and MQA is one of the options available via Tidal. MQA Tidal streaming is simple and rewarding. The Bluesound app is speedy and intuitive, you are free to edit and manage playlists on the fly, whilst browsing MQA selections. Being able to easily demonstrate back to back red-book 16bit 44.1KHz, to 24 bit up to 192KHz, tracks felt more immersive and dynamic. Roll-off and reverb from snares, claps and vocals seemed to hang on just a moment longer compared to that of CD, sounding far more natural and almost painting the picture of the room in which they were recorded in your mind.

In regards to the app, there are really no complaints from us. In fact we all agree that it is very evident that a lot has been invested into the development of it.  Locating our files from our NAS with ease, as well as other album suggestions on Tidal in the same window offered trouble free and seamless streaming. Combined with a little emoticon indicating the resolution of the file type currently playing, this kept us informed of the tracks we were playing in real time without having to open the 'Track Info' page. This made demonstrating CD vs MQA quality simple and eye opening too! 

Overall though, we were impressed with how the Bluesound makes the most from its software, and in this digital age of iPhones and tablets, applications and Airplay, it is easy to forget about the hardware side of things. Bluesound breaks down this barrier between software and hardware with a solution so simple and innovative it is almost charming. Being able to code your Bluesound to work with any IR remote for example, the ability to assign functions on your TV remote to control the volume of your BlueSound,  Pause, Play, Power off and on, let's say someone calls you while you are listening to music through the BlueSound but have the TV on in the background, you use the TV remote to pause the the music, while you take the call. This, simply put, is a lovely feature. Hats off to  Bluesound.

We have a healthy selection of Bluesound streaming products in Manchester, from the range of all in one wireless speakers like the Pulse 2 and Pulse Mini, to the amplified version of the Node2 the PowerNode 2 integrated amplifier and also the Vault 2 which lets you rip your CD's and store your music on the 2TB music server.

Feel free to pop in and ask Simon, Munir, Mike, Dave and Haden to get rid of your blues...

Bluesound Hi-Fi products are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Cheltenham, Manchester, Online, Portsmouth
 

The Brilliant And Gorgeous Hana EL Cartridge

Audio T Manchester have just added a new range of Hana cartridges to our collection. This relatively new brand of cartridge from the land of the rising sun is causing quite a stir amongst people who have already heard them, and although first introduced in 2015 the company behind Hana, Excel Sound Corporation, have been producing cartridges for over 50 Years. We took in the Hana-EL and SL as our first foray into this new range.

Today's blog will take a quick look at the beautiful moss green Hana-EL MC cartridge and at the slick black Hana SL Shibata and maybe a few puns from a galaxy far far away.....

Hana in Japanese actually means "brilliant and gorgeous" which, for all intents and purposes is exactly how it sounds. Tested with our own Michell Gyro'SE' the Hana EL didn't let us down.  it gets you a lot of bang for your galaxy credits.

Stereophile magazine also took the Hana EL "low output" for a test drive and said "the EL's basic sonic character was highly musical and exceptionally non mechanical." (Vol.39 No.8 WWW)"

Excel Sound Corporation have being making cartridges for other manufacturers for over 50 years now and only recently have they decided to put their own name to a range of cartridges called Hana, which are hand made in Tokyo Japan.

All Hana cartridges have a highly rigid aluminium cantilever and a diamond stylus.

Ok, so our opinion on the Hana twins. Dave our manager and turntable jedi wanted to give the pair a whirl. He tested both the EL and SL Shibata on a Linn  LP12, Ekos arm with exceptional results. To begin with, the EL low output did an admiral job of sounding musical and detailed, certainly worth the admission fee.  

Then the Hana SL Shibata, is equally impressive, but is much more open, the extra height in the soundstage just lifts everything out and away of the speakers. What's more, the very low surface noise just adds to the detail, more than you would expect from just a Shibata upgrade, very good and again great value.

Hi-Fi Choice, Hifi World and Hifi Pig all gave the Hana cartridges glowing reviews.

Headshell Chromey! Headshell!! Thats a half inch mount....not your headshell mate...ahh never mind, come on now move along, move along and put your helmet back on, there's nothing to see here. 

The Hana SL Shibata mounted on our Michell Gyro SE.

The Hana cartridges are both on demonstration at our Manchester store and we have the Michell and Rega turntables on standby ready to show off the Hana's capabilities.

So please do pop along to our store on Bridge Street in Manchester and just ask Munir, Dave, Mike, Simon or Haden (on a Sunday) if you're interested in listening to the Hana, they will be more than willing to help.

Oh, and may the vertical tracking force be with you, all 2 grams of it.

Hana products are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Manchester and Reading

Rich And Tasty Rega Brio che!

Our newest member of staff, Simon, was lucky enough to be invited to visit Rega Research recently. This now makes him officially part of a select fortunate few, who have seen Rega in all of its non self proclaimed, rather humble, glory. After expecting to see this vast, industrial scale, high end, research laboratory producing around the clock goods, instead we were greeted with a rather modest sized, high tech factory in South End on Sea in the fair county of Essexshire.

To see first hand the level of detail going into their products, whilst meeting the high standards demanded for their goods was extraordinary. The very fact that they test every single product before it leaves the warehouse is astonishing and sets the bar very high for quality assurance. All of this makes it even more impressive when you witness pallet stacks upon pallet stacks of Fono MM's, A2D's, Elicit amplifiers, Planar 1's to RP 10's. All heading out to the USA, Europe, South America and of course the good old Blighty.

And most excitingly of all, was a pallet, with the words Brio 2017 printed on it. So read on people, as we make first contact with rich and tasty Brio...

...with the Rega Brio 2017

First thing to catch the eye on the all new Brio 2017 is the new case work. It has an ergonomic feel to it as you pick it up, your initial impression is the quality of the metal work.  A lovely new sweeping front fascia with a sleek gloss black finish. Every case is examined and inspected, any anomalies detected are rejected. Using sophisticated machinery in quality control throughout, even the measurements of the screw holes are examined to a nanometre, this should hopefully give you an idea of the extent Rega go to, ensuring they produce perfect products. Rega work very closely with other British manufacturers to build the perfect Brio case every time. So when you buy a Brio, you can take pleasure in knowing that someone has examined your case and said;

'Yes this meets our standards, we can use this.'

The Brio also has plenty of inputs  “plus all the usual refinements 007”.
Rega have included  their great sounding phono stage, 4 line-in inputs and a record out, leaving you with plenty of options for analogue connectivity.

Headphone socket: You may notice a new port on the front which looks like something not too dissimilar from a headphone socket. You would be in fact right. Using a new noise free, isolated headphone circuit output for your cans; not only does it introduce no noise to the amplifier, you also don't have to alter any settings to get a perfect sound. The moment you plug in, the binding posts on the rear are disabled, along with unnecessary electronics, resulting in minimal crosstalk of components, which means you can listen for much longer at louder levels with no sacrifice to sound, long after you almost definitely should have gone to bed!

Hail to the six point three five millimetre jack.

If you want to take a look under the hood Chromey, you need to take the lid off, you won't find what you're looking for there.

Hmmm well done, now please be careful, those caps are fully charged. 

What's this? What have you spotted Chromey? 

I've been fettled with a drop of mojo. If you pop on your X-ray specs, you will notice that someone at Rega has left a little message on the printed circuit board.

As we investigate further we notice the initials 'TB' further along the board and realise that this is in fact the work of electronics Guru at Rega, Terry Bateman. Another great product from Rega worthy of Terry's quirky quote and of course his design skills. 

But what does it mean Terry? "fettled with a drop of mojo" Hmmmmmm.....answers on a postcard please.

Now, unfortunately we don't have any X-ray specs here at Manchester and had to use Chromey, with a good old screwdriver to take the lid off ours, so please, don't try and open your Brio at home without the help of an engineer, otherwise you run the risk of invalidating the warrantee.

Our Chromey just had to pose with the new beautifully machined volume knob for the Brio 2017.

Beautiful binding posts: Chromey just loves those binding posts, maybe it's because he has insider knowledge that an actual engineer, not an automated machine or production line has produced them. Rega have an on site workshop where two metal work engineers work tirelessly producing hand made speaker binding posts, brilliant. They actually make the tools needed for machining specific components to produce the Planar turntables which are built by the same engineers. So you know exactly where to go for a service Chromey! Now please climb down. Thanks.  

Reviews and what our customers think: The Rega Brio is an outstanding product with a solid reputation worldwide, from many a 5 star review online,  to magazine double page spreads. 
We have yet to come across a customer or reviewer who has not found the Rega Brio (old and new) impressive. Check out another review here.

Brio's past and present have been sold by us to people from China, Japan, and (mainland) Europe. One gentleman on a business trip from Greece loved the Brio so much that he brought his suitcase in, just to see if he could fit it in with all his clothes. It left such an impression with him, making all the right noises in the our demo room. People from many different backgrounds have stepped through our doors here at Manchester solely to listen to the Brio and never left disappointed. The saying 'You should never meet your heroes' is completely irrelevant in the Brio's case.
We love it.

Ok, so there you have it, the new Rega Brio for 2017.

We have ours on demo at the Manchester store. So come along and audition the Brio at your earliest convenience.

Simon, Munir, Mike, Haden and Dave will be there to answer any questions you may have. 

Rega Hi-Fi products are available from all branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, 
Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature Headphones

When it comes to headphones, Bowers & Wilkins have garnered quite a reputation. The original P5 was a barnstormer, earning plaudits throughout the Hi-Fi industry and tech publications alike.

The world wide web is still awash with reviews of how elegant they look and how great they sound.

Since then, Bowers & Wilkins have released a plethora of stunning headphones including the the travel sized P3 and the larger P7's, but none have had the Signature moniker attached to them.

Enter the B&W P9's.

Designed using high quality materials such as the as cross-hatched Italian Steffiano leather, composites and beautiful aluminium, the Bowers & Wilkins P9 signatures simply ooze class. 

And to prove they mean business when it comes to high end headphones, Bowers and Wilkins have angled the drive units to improve the stereo image, you will find this method employed in many a high quality headphone. They've even managed to de-couple the cans from the headband to isolate the sound. This reduces outside vibrations that may come back through the headband. The memory foam ear pads (wrapped in leather of course) isolate even further and are very comfortable.

Another nice little touch is the fact that you can replace the cable with the new fangled lightning connection for your shiny new Iphone 7. (B&W will supply the new cable to those of you that register your product on the Bowers & Wilkins website)

Ok, so, how do they sound ?. Well, if you're a fan of B&W speakers then you'll absolutely love the P9's. There is a distinctive Bowers & Wilkins sound here. The P9's have plenty of detail and a solid mid range, very B&W, all rounded off nicely with oodles of bass.. 

Take a peak a some online reviews here. 

What Hifi in particular gave them 5 stars.

Trusted Reviews rated them highly.

The Independent thought they were worth every penny.

Now, to make absolutely sure before you make a purchase, you can pop into our store on Bridge Street, Manchester and try a set on and have a listen.

If you spot Munir, Mike, Dave or Simon loitering around the shop just ask them to plug you in.

Cheers and see you soon.

Bowers & Wilkins Hi-Fi products are available at the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon   

Portable Musical Mini Hi-Fi To Fill Your Christmas Stocking

Looking for some battery operated musical goodness? Do you need a little pep in your pocket? Some pizzazz in your purse? Maybe a little spice in your satchel!

Keep reading if you're looking for some great portable Hi-Fi gifts to liven up Christmas for your friends and family..  

Wireless music on the go from B&W and KEF. A perfect gift for Christmas.

Both units offer bluetooth connectivity.

The Bowers and Wilkins T7 gets a 5 star review from WhatHifi. You can read it here. 

It's available to from most of our Audio T stores and website.

The KEF Muo has also received plaudits for its sound quality. The famous publication from the USA, Absolute Sound had this to say about it "Further proof that great things can, and do, come in small packages". Read it here

The KEF Mue is also available from many Audio T stores and our website.

Ahhh!!!  A Christmas HugoChromoMojo sandwich, ooooooohh, tasty.

Now for those of you that already know the Hugo & Mojo from Chord Electronics, well we don't to say much more.

But for those of you new to these two little beauties, here is what we and the hi-fi world at large say about Hugo and Mojo.

Chord Hugo blog.

Chord Mojo blog.

Both are available to order on our website. The Hugo retails at £1400. The Mojo retails at £399.

All the products are available to demonstrate at our Manchester store.

Feel free to pop in and ask Dave, Munir, Simon, Mike or Haden to show you the products mentioned here.

Chord Electronics Hi-Fi products are available from: 
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, 
Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

KEF products are available from: 
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Southampton, 
Swansea, Swindon

Bowers & Wilkins products are available from: 
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Unison Research Simply Italy. An Italian Job That Won't Blow Your Bloody Doors Off!

Audio T Manchester now have the wonderful Unison Research Simply Italy to add to our stock profile. This little beauty picks up the mantle from the equally wonderful Simply Two amplifier.

Sharing many of the characteristics and sonic attributes of the Simply Two, the Simply Italy is a more compact design with a shoe box size footprint, a single ended ultralinear class A design with 12 watts of power and utilizing LE34 valves in the output stage and ECC82 in its pre-amplifier and driver stages. Perfectly suited for small to medium size living rooms.

Unison Research have been around for more than 20 years. The Simply Italy is made at the Unison Research factory in Italy. 

The beautiful wooden panel not only looks good but helps to dampen any chassis resonances.

Nice and simple! An Input selector with a tape loop and the volume dial.

A small toggle switch takes care of the negative feedback and allows adjustments of 1.8db or 5db. You can switch between settings while listening, we prefered the 5db setting but the choice is yours. So you can tailor the sound to your musical tastes.

Chromey thinks he's back in his old pod racing days, that's not a gear lever matey. Bless him...

What Hi-Fi? reviewed the Simply Italy and loved it. Read the review here.

Canada Hifi also reviewed the Simply Italy here.

How many valves do you see?

The Russian made pentode EL34 valves and the ECC82 twin triodes with Chromey the clone trooper, all round super nice guy.

Behind bars for living a life of chrome.....ba dum tish.

Our Simply Italy valve amplifier is on demonstration at our Manchester store.  You may spot it sitting there proudly as part of our window display. So come along to the store and take a peek or even a listen if you so choose.

Keep an eye out for Dave, Munir, Mike, Simon and Haden who will be more than willing to help.

Unison Research Hi-Fi products are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Manchester

Suits You Sir! Hand Crafted Sennheiser HD800s Headphones

The original Sennheiser HD800 headphones were one of our best selling headphones, yes, even with a retail cost of £1000 the HD800 proved to be hugely popular.

Although still available, Sennheiser have upped the ante with the upgraded HD800s and has again piqued our interest in these beautiful headphones. Hand crafted in Northern Germany at Sennheiser's headquarters in Wedermark the HD800 and HD800s headphones are built using a traditional assembly line method.

Sennheiser HD800s headphones, hand-crafted in Germany. Ties by Doherty Evans & Stott hand made in Germany.

The original reference HD800 use one of the largest transducers used in any headphone up to today and it shows. The Sennheisers sound involving, the bass is precise and not overbearing.
If you had to have a niggle at the original HD800 it would be that they can be very,very detailed.
I need to choose my words carefully here but maybe too revealing and not everybody's cup of tea.

The upgraded HD800s have been tweaked to help this, new absorption technology from Sennheiser that was originally used the brilliant IE800 in ear headphones is used here. The patented "asborber technology" controls conflicting peaks and troughs in the frequency helping the HD800s to sound more refined.

The music just washes over you without shouting at you, more audible if you like. Building on the original HD800's massive 56mm transducer and toed in drive units the overall experience is a pleasurable one. We like them a lot.     

Absolute belter! A pair of HD800s looking very nice here, presented next to belts made by Anderson in Italy, all made by hand of course.

Handcrafted ear pads, made from high-quality microfibre fabric. Boglioli K Jacket, hand made from beautiful Italian fabric.

The new high-quality black metal casing on Sennheiser HD800s is a joy to behold. Mismo from Denmark use classic craftsmanship to design these beautiful bags by using traditional methods. 

Everybody needs a pair of beautifully knitted socks to go with a set of Sennheiser HD800s.  

Matt from Doherty Evans & Stott looking absolutely dapper with his Sennheiser HD800s.  

Above you can see some of techniques used in building the Sennheiser HD800 on the assembly line in Wedemark.

But for even better experience of the HD800s come along to our store in Manchester and try a set on. 

We have a selection of headphones amps and plenty of music for you to choose from.

Pop in!! 

Dave, Simon, Mike, Munir and Haden will be around to help.

Sennheiser headphones are available from the following branches of Audio T: 
Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, 
Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Our New Dynaudio's Emit A Lovely Sound, The New Emit 10's That Is!

The title 'entry level' has only been bestowed upon the Dynaudio Emit 10's (£499)  due to its price, however they are not remotely 'entry level,' nor budget quality in any sense. Dynaudio have delivered a diverse and very capable high fidelity loudspeaker, which is both hard working and delightful to listen to.

The Emit 10's feature Dynaudio's infamous soft dome 28mm diameter tweeter (those extra millimetres do count) and a 14cm magnesium silicate polymer bass driver.

An impeccable stereo sound stage can be achieved easily with the M10's and you don't have to break the bank with the amplifier you choose to drive them with either. The sensibly priced Rega Brio at (£548) works like a dream.

For more on the Emit 10 speaker's and how good they actually sound take a peek at the review the guys at Audio T Bristol have written here.   

The Dynaudio Emit 10

The now legendary silk dome tweeter from Dynaudio has been a stalwart component over the years for the Danish company.

The Emit 10s have been designed and built in Denmark with a neutral approach to blending in discreetly to the modern home. 

Chromey's just checking to see if the the Emit 10's are still built in Denmark. Yes there are.

The Dynaudio Emit 10's are on demonstration at our Manchester store. The Emit 20 and 30 are also available to listen to.

Pop in say and hello to Dave, Simon, Mike, Haden or Munir and we'll play you a ditty or two with Dynaudio's.

Dynaudio loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Bristol, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swindon

There Can Be Only One! The Cyrus One.

The brand new (pre-production model) Cyrus One makes an appearance in Audio T Manchester Our Cyrus representative, Nick, popped in to see us with the brand new Cyrus One tucked under his arm.

In what can only be described as a totally new way of thinking in the way Cyrus may design their future products, this was certainly a welcome surprise from the 30 year old company from Huntingdon.

The New Cyrus ONE Integrated Amplifier (Pre-production model).

A new angular looking Cyrus ONE in high gloss black marks a change in styling from Cyrus. 

The built in moving magnet phono stage will let you connect a suitable turntable.

Bluetooth Enabled, the aptx version.

You can stream music from your phone/tablet or computer via a wireless Bluetooth connection, providing maximum flexibility without the need for a home network or any complicated set up. This allows everyone in the family to enjoy their music from their portable devices quickly and easily.

The ONE is hand built in the UK at the Cyrus workshops in Huntingdon. Yes that ONE Chromey.

The built in Class AB headphone amplifiers are automatically activated when the headphones are plugged in, with the heavyweight toroidal power supply that usually powers the main amplifiers instantly switching all its power to the headphone circuits. At the same time, the volume is automatically returned to zero to protect the user’s hearing and headphones,and in turn,the volume reverts to zero when the headphones are removed.This specifically designed headphone amp circuit has exceptionally good signal to noise performance and is incredibly fast and agile, performing better than many stand alone headphone amplifiers.

We did manage to have a quick listen to the Cyrus ONE.

Very impressive indeed, this diminutive box packs a punch. Played with our new PMC twenty5 22 speakers it showed composure and poise. It seemed unfazed with electronic music, jazz from John Coltrane came across lush and musical,  classical music from Vaughan Williams sounded open and wide, filling our shop floor with sound of the Larks ascending., even Mike's punk and ska sounded fast and gritty. 

So potentially, Cyrus could have a winner here.

We will be getting our own Cyrus ONE demo unit very shortly, we have a few on order. 

Watch this space for updates or alternatively keep an eye on our Audio T website. 

See you Audio T Manchester.

Munir, Mike, Dave, Simon and Haden

Cyrus Hi-Fi products are also available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swindon

PMC twenty5 22 Standmount Loudspeakers Arrive At Audio T Manchester

Introducing the new PMC twenty5 22's in Oak.

For those of you familiar with the ever popular PMC twenty range, the visual similarities between the new twenty5 range should be instantly recognizable.

However, that's where those similarities end. The new twenty5 range has had major improvements. And in all the right places too.

We have taken some pictures below and added a little information on the new and current tech PMC have employed in new twenty5 range.

Yes Chromey!!  that's right, it's like a Formula 1 style diffuser baffle. Excellent.   

Laminair Aerodynamic vent for better air flow through the transmission line. Derived using formula one technology, the Laminair vents offer improved air flow through the advanced transmission line. This reduces resistance, increases efficiency and eliminates air noise.  

Really Sweet Tweet!

 A new improved tweeter gives better dispersion for a wider sound stage. New bass driver using G-weave technology, which helps to achieve increased low frequency, improved mid-range clarity and better linear response.

The wood finish, here in oak, now has an improved veneer. The floorstanders also get new feet and spikes for improved stability and ease of installation.

Oh!  and they are made right here in UK.

So, how do they sound? well for a starter they sound faster, deeper with cleaner bass with greater definition, dynamics and timing. There is sense of space in the reproduction of music and they have a greater ability to handle power. 

But that's our opinion, come along and try them for yourself, we have the 22's and 24's on demonstration at the store.

We hope to see you at the store.

Munir, Mike, Simon, Haden and Dave

PMC Loudspeakers are also available from the following branches of Audio T: Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, 
Portsmouth, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

4K Ultra HD Home Cinema Event At Audio T Manchester

You may have heard about our upcoming 4K event and are excited as we are!

The event will take place in our Manchester branch and will feature native 4K picture with HDR from the superlative Sony VPL-HW320es underpinned with a full Dolby Atmos and DTS X demonstration powered by the Yamaha pre/power CX-A5100 and MX-A5000 behemoth.

The front end will be taken care of by the award winning KEF R series AV speaker package.

With 4K content from a hard drive and Blu-ray Ultra HD for our movie enthusiasts and high definition music played directly from our network drive for our music lovers, all tastes will be catered for.

Representatives from the industry will also be there to help with discussions about the set up on the day.

Members of staff will also be on hand to help with any questions you may have about the equipment on display.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Dave, Munir, Mike and Simon