February 03, 2025

The Phono Stage Is Set - Rega Aura Vs Manley Oasis - Audio T Reading

February 03, 2025/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

As we approach The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2025 we’ve been blessed to have an array of enticing high-end audio equipment coming through our Reading showroom door, all bringing about some agreeable “oohs” and “aahs” from our team as we got a first chance to feast our eyes and ears on the alluring electronics.

At the back end of 2024, the stunning Naia turntable made its in-store debut, Rega’s current flagship vinyl spinner – “ohh”. Then came the hefty Rega Aura reference moving coil (MC) phono stage, itself a top-tier offering when it comes to Rega’s, or anyone’s, phono preamplifiers. This was closely followed by an audacious Advance Paris A12 integrated amplifier, a behemoth of a unit packing 190W per channel into 8 ohms, while also bringing a plethora of inputs and outputs, a touch of tube flavouring in its pre-amp, oh and fully analogue, visually entrancing, VU meters – “aah”…

As if the above weren’t enough, our sublime sounding Spendor D7.2 floor-standing loudspeakers arrived back with us from a customer home loan, and then – seeming quite the cherry, upon the cherry, upon the cake – we were left tripping over ourselves by the arrival of another full fat, ultra high-end, moving magnet and moving coil (MM/MC) phono stage – the Manley Labs Oasis. This muscular, triode-valve phono preamp possesses a whole host of cartridge loading permutations to seemingly connect up every turntable under the sun – not all at once of course, it’s not that manly ;) – but we certainly found ourselves wondering what the Oasis could do for our very best MM and MC cartridges, for example the Audio Note IQ3 MM, the Hana ML MC or the Rega Aphelion 2 MC and so on...

GOLIATH VS GOLIATH – PREPARING THE BATTLEFIELD

Before getting too far ahead of ourselves, whilst in possession of two colossal phono preamplifier stages circa the £4,000 pricemark, there was one big elephant in our Swallowfield demo room that really needed addressing… How would the Rega Aura and Manley Oasis sonically fare when pitted against each other? Like watching a prime Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield go at it back in the day (and not like viewing a geriatric Mike Tyson and half-his-age Jake Paul play out a testimonial farce) this seemed like a fair fight, only more epic!

Without wasting more time (like that wasted watching the aforementioned farce), we put the wonderfully engineered Rega Naia turntable – complete with Aphelion 2 MC cartridge – through both the Aura and Oasis, then hooked up these special stages to the imposing Advance Paris A12 amplifier, before connecting up the superb Spendor D7.2 speakers. The Chord Company Signature RCA analogue interconnects and Chord Company Epic X speaker cabling were our connections of choice to complete our divine audiophile chain.

ENTER THE AURA – A GLOWING REGA STAGE

With the (phono) stage set, the titanic battle began with the Rega Aura up first. If you would like to know more about the Aura’s specs, you can find them here.

Here and now, we will focus on giving our sonic interpretations… Spinning a vinyl pressing of v2.0 by modern-jazz trio GoGo Penguin, the sound on offer was immediately intricate and insightful. With the Rega Aura in place, there was an organic nature to the presentation that was immediately easy to listen to, it was unfatiguing and the longer the album played the deeper the Aura-based system pulled us into the music, effortlessly and surely.

In the busier passages of the music and when the pace of the piano, percussion and bass playing all picked up, the Rega Aura system held the presentation together without ever becoming shouty or aggressive. The outlines of instruments were drawn beautifully, leading edges of strings and drum strikes were on the softer side, and the while the performance seemed to take place in a big space, there was seemingly lower airiness to the presentation which allowed each performer to be identified neatly and precisely within the soundstage.

Moving to a more obscure, but excellent electronic compilation – Itria Vol. 3 on the Milan based Polifonic label – the rhythmic drive of the Aura-based system came to the fore. The propulsive synth-lines within the opening track had a warm and plummy texture to them, again soft and analogue feeling in their delivery, but not lacking in body, weight or speed. The insight on offer from the Rega Aura driven system made it easy to earlier detect where every electronic warp effect and ambient drone elevation was starting in the mix. Tonally, the presentation from both albums felt organic and believable at all times without overly embellishing any aspects. A strong showing from the Aura… “aah”.

INTO AN OASIS – A MORE MANLEY ESCAPE

Manley Oasis Phono Stage (Photo credit: Manley)

Given how polished the performance was with the Rega Aura, it was going to take something quite special from the Manley Oasis if it were to steer clear of any stage freight. But from just a quick glance at Manley Laboratories portfolio, the signs were promising as, despite weighing in at circa £4,000, the Oasis isn’t even the highest offering in Manley’s phono preamplifier range. Those more familiar with Manley will recognise them as a high-end pro-audio equipment manufacturer, but from the very first bar of GoGo Penguin’s v2.0, it was clear that, in the Oasis, the sound-smiths at Manley have some serious hi-fi chops…

Straight out of the gate, our same system with the Manley Oasis in place of the Rega Aura presented with liveness and a room-filling ability. The GoGo Penguin jazz trio performed with high energy and intensity, with each of the instruments drawn with a sharp outline, though not so sharp as to be gnawing or grating. Drum strikes and bass plucks were on the firmer and more palpable side and the overall sense during listening was of a performance powering out in a big space, with plenty of air around each of the performers, though with no lack of spatial imaging within the stage. The Oasis-based system didn’t gently pull us into the recording, from the start we were already a part of it.

Whilst playing the electronic soundscapes residing on Itria Vol. 3 by Polifonic, the individual synth-lines were presented with real bite and delineation via the Manley Oasis, perhaps letting go of a slither of the rhythmic flow within the opening track to, instead, place more emphasis on the texture and form of the synths. All of this was noticeable while the track continued to power through with weight and gusto. There was neutrality on show with the Oasis system, with only a gentle leaning towards warmth but not tipping too far. The high amount of detail on offer made it a sinch to detect all of the shades within the warbling sound effects and there was definitely a sense of zing and expression from the system… An equally strong audition from the Oasis… “ooh”.

AURA OR OASIS? – THE STAGE IS ALL YOURS

Whether like us you “ooh” towards the Oasis or “aah” towards the Aura, it’s very clear that when it comes to class-leading phono stages the Manley Oasis and Rega Aura are both spectacular, high-performance heavyweights, each perhaps owning its side of the same glittering gold coin. Each has its own unique sonic seasoning and individual take on presenting the audio signal. But among many positive attributes, what the Aura and Oasis have in common is their ultra-high ability to resolve and project a musical picture with cohesion, transparency and entirety.

Both phono preamplifiers are built to an exceptionally high standard and come equipped with a wide gamut of capacitive and resistive load settings, ensuring highly precise matching to pretty much any cartridge. It’s almost impossible to pick between these titans… however, aside from the sonic differences that we have shared, the following may help with making a distinction between the two...

Team Oasis…

You might be a “Manley fanley” if you desire a phono preamp that a) is suited to both mm and mc cartridges, b) is tube-based with a nicely judged valve tuning, c) has a clean front fascia with dip-switch adjustment at the rear for cartridge matching, and d) has an input and output that is unbalanced.

Team Aura...

You may be a “Rega beaver” if you desire a phono preamp that a) is suited to mc cartridges only, b) is solid-state with a smooth and even characteristic, c) has adjustment dials on the front fascia for cartridge matching, d) has an unbalanced input and output, and a balanced output, e) has a mono switch for listening to mono recordings via a stereo cartridge.

If you are interested in a high-end, highly revealing phono stage that can wring every last musical drop from your turntable setup, please do give us a call or pop in to see us. Whatever your query, or whatever criteria you may have, we are always delighted to help budding enthusiasts and seasoned audiophiles alike to progress on their hi-fi and home cinema journey.

Thank you for reading.

Rishi, Gareth & Dan – Audio T Reading

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 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

Manley can be found at the following Audio T stores

READING

A BIT ABOUT OUR NEW STORE

The picturesque surroundings here provide many places to enjoy a countryside walk, a riverside stroll, or a picnic. There are local sites of interest to explore such as the Blackwater River, Wellington Country Park, Siren Craft Brewery and a host of cute village pubs with gardens. So when you come to see us, why not make a fun day of it?

October 15, 2024

Terrific Tiny Amplifiers at Audio T Reading

October 15, 2024/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

We’ve always been fond of hi-fi equipment with a small footprint here at Audio T Reading, which is why we carry a generous range of bijou goodies, from headphones to small streamers and all things weenie in-between. Just lately, whether by chance or perhaps on trend, we’ve received a number of enquiries for integrated amplifiers that can deliver on diminutive size while not sacrificing on performance. “Impossible” we hear some of our readership cry out! This would go against the tried-and-tested philosophy of giving electronic components space to breath and thereby perform, especially within an amplifier which serves as the driving heartbeat of any hi-fi system.

When listening to our customers there are considered factors behind those requests for a small amp, for example a need to downsize following a change of listening room or abode, or to meet physical space limitations within their hi-fi rack, or simply wanting an additional desktop size system for their office or workshop. Fortunately, we hold a range of compact but sonically uncompromised amplifiers to suit every need and we’re excited to now showcase three fully analogue designs that are all dinkier than one of Snow White’s seven dwarfs!

IO, IO, IT’S OFF TO WORK WE GO – THE REGA IO

The small but might Rega io at AUdio T Reading

To kick things off, let’s get to work with the excellent Rega IO integrated amplifier. Entry level this may be on price, but certainly not on performance. A lively little thing, this one I often refer to as the excited puppy dog of amplifiers. It possesses all of the brio of, well, the recently discontinued Rega Brio! But its topology is more modern by comparison, and although lower in power at 30 watts-per-channel it packs quite a punch.

At the 2023 Bristol Hi-Fi Show Rega had a listening room dedicated to showing off a Rega System One – their entry-level turntable based hi-fi system – in which the IO is the command centre. Many of us came out of that room blown away by how engaging that system sounded, and to its credit it wasn’t embarrassed by systems in nearby rooms costing multiple amounts more.

The IO features a high-quality moving-magnet phono stage that brings the best out of a Rega Planar 2 turntable and will even highlight the quality jump to a Rega Planar 3. Remote control volume adjustment and input switching adds to the ease-of-use and a very good headphone output rounds off an exceptional package.

WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK - THE CHORD ELECTRONICS ANNI

Chord Electronics Anni (Photo Credit: Chord Electronics)

This one is a cheeky little addition; the Chord Electronics Anni is chiefly recognised as a headphone amp, and rightly so as it makes pretty much every headphone sing sweetly. Possessing both a 6.35 mm and 3.5 mm headphone socket, as soon as you plug your cans into either one the ample Anni intelligently figures out the impedance of the headphones and drives them to perfection. However, a skillset that often gets overlooked with the smaller-than-a-house-brick sized Anni is its ability to drive a set of loudspeakers too.

Granted, while it doesn’t have the grunt to push a set of floorstanders to room filling levels, the also-built-like-a-brick Chord Anni is perfect for driving small monitors and will do so with clarity and astonishing dynamic expression. A gain switch facilitates pairing with little loudspeakers of ranging efficiency and, with high gain engaged, the Anni produces stunning detail retrieval even at low volume. As volume is controlled manually on the unit itself, the Anni is ideally suited (but not solely limited) to desktop applications. But please be advised, a Chord Anni in your home office setup might just have you whistling while you work…

I’M WISHING – THE AUDIO NOTE I ZERO

Okay, so you want a healthy dose of tube-y goodness but don’t have the space to accommodate it? Enter the Audio Note I Zero; this is one fine sounding integrated valve amplifier. And despite its slender size and entry-position into the world of Audio Note, it fully delivers on the company’s mantra of music’s finest conductor. It’s musically commanding alright, and then some!

Under the small hood of the I Zero are four line-level inputs mated to a compliment of four ECL82 valves in class A/B configuration. In true Audio Note style, the output transformers are fully designed and manufactured in-house. Audio Note’s philosophy, to our ears, is about producing a sound that’s rich in tonality, sumptuous in texture, and awash with rhythmic swagger for good measure.

Possessing of just a volume knob and an input selector, the obvious sacrifice made by the I Zero is feature-count – serial tinkerers are best advised to look elsewhere. But what the I Zero trades in frills and footprint, it more than makes up for with sheer musicality. Add a pair of Audio Note’s own AX-One/II loudspeakers and prepare to be amazed by the miniature musical marvel. We certainly wouldn’t mind meeting Snow White at the nearest well to wish for an I Zero.

WHO IS THE SMALLEST ONE OF ALL? CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Whether you’re short on space, or looking for a degree of transportability with your audio equipment, or perhaps something else, at Audio T Reading we value quality over quantity and would be happy to help you find a small amplifier, or small system to suit your wants and needs.

Please do get in touch with us if you would like more information on the above featured products, or on any of the range of products that we carry, no matter how big or small.

Thank you for reading.

Rishi, Gareth and Dan – Audio T Reading

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…

The products featured here can be found or enquired about at the following Audio T stores:

A BIT ABOUT OUR NEW STORE

September 09, 2024

Turntable Health Check Clinics At Audio T Reading – Our Expert Findings & Observations

September 09, 2024/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

At the start of this summer, among many great promotions that we were running, we were excited to offer the opportunity for a free turntable health-check either by visiting one of our stores or by way of a courtesy home visit. Here at Audio T Reading, the response to this offer has been spectacular, with a huge number of turntables flowing through our Swallowfield showroom doors and regularly on rotation (cringy pun intended) in our service room.

But why were we offering this free check? Had we gone completely mad?

Well, to elaborate further, the acquisition of turntables for music listening remains on an upward trajectory, which is no surprise given how delightful vinyl records can sound and how pleasingly tactile the vinyl handling experience is. In a world where (almost) every interaction comes courtesy of a flat and featureless touchscreen, the act of sliding a record out of its arty sleeve and placing it down for a musical spin feels ceremoniously rewarding. However, whether a turntable is fresh out of its box, or has been living a charmed life in a muggy loft, it will benefit from some form of fettling and fine tuning, especially in the dextrous hands of our enthusiastic experts.

To give you a feel for our work and for your reading pleasure, we would like to take a moment to share some of our findings and observations from our summer turntable camp…

WHAT WAS MOST APPARENT FROM OUR TURNTABLE CLINICS?

Over the past few months of phonographic fettling, something that has really stood out is that the performance and function of nearly all of our customer’s turntables could either be subtly enhanced or greatly improved, either by way of simple tweaks such as adjusting the tracking weight on a tonearm, or by a realignment of the cartridge. In some cases, a repair or replacement of inexpensive parts or consumables, followed by the necessary adjustments and alignments, was all that was needed to restore a turntable’s operation back to optimal health.

You might be reading this right now and wondering, is there any point in bothering with a turntable inspection, especially if everything seems to play just fine and has done so for many moons? Well, over a period of time, whether it be years or even just months, operating your turntable with the set-up not quite right, or unknowingly with a worn stylus, will eventually cause damage to your precious records. And then there is sound-quality; if, like us, you place high-importance on this, then we have at our disposal a combination of objective measures, expertise, and our well-trained ears to help to get your turntable to ring out every last drop from the grooves of your records.

ISSUES THAT WE CAME ACROSS…

The number one issue that we noticed from our turntable health-checks was worn out styli. This was followed by out-of-spec platter turning speeds. Slightly bent or fully deformed cantilevers (the metal tubing holding the stylus in place) were in third place. And next on the list of issues found were misshapen or degraded drive belts. From a sonic point of view, some turntables were heard to be exhibiting an above average amount of buzz or hum, and during playback the presence of distortion or a lack of dynamic expression were indicators that prevailing issues were marring the performance capabilities of the affected decks.

Here is something that might astonish you; at the time of writing this article – with the exception of just one deck – every turntable brought into the Audio T Reading store this summer had either an incorrect or sub-optimal tracking weight setting, or incorrect anti-skate setting, or incorrect tonearm height positioning or other misplacement.

These findings came as no surprise to us as we have come to know that – over time, use, and movement – it’s natural for a turntable to fall out of alignment or deviate away from its optimal settings. This is why here at Audio T, we are open to you bringing your turntable to us no matter what time of year for a free health check – we are always happy to advise or provide reassurance by taking a look for you.

SOME FUN FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS!

Okay, for a bit of fun, here are some findings, observations and interesting turntable works that have come about from our phono clinics so far…

Want to know which turntable we’ve seen the most of? That’s the stalwart Rega Planar 3. We’ve seen these ubiquitously, most likely because of how venerable and resilient the Planar 3 is. If you’re interested in a Planar 3, it’s worth considering a step up to the Rega Planar 6 instead – it comes as standard with the excellent Rega Neo power supply and the superior vibration mitigating properties of the Planar 6 enable it to accommodate a broader range of more talented cartridges, such as Rega’s own Ania Pro or Dynavector’s 10x5 MkII, which we’ll come to…

One of the things we love most about the Rega range of turntables is how well they lend to being restored to as-new working order, regardless of their age. Key parts are consistently available and, allied to the ever-improving efficiency of servicing them, it makes the Rega decks one of the most sustainable on the planet!

Most installed cartridge? That’s the excellent Audio Technica VM95ML - it’s microlinear stylus tracks deep and true into those record grooves and it’s also highly resistant to wear. For added good news – if you happen to accidently prang the stylus, it’s replaceable.

Most impressive high-end cartridge installed? A joint winner here and, in no particular order, it would have to be the Hana ML and the Audio Note IQ III. The impressive features of the Hana ML are how beautifully crisp and extended the high frequencies are, to go with its wide-open midrange and taut bass. As far as moving-coil (MC) cartridges go, it’s a slayer of a cartridge. With regards to the Audio Note IQ III, it’s a moving-magnet (MM) design that has been given the full Audio Note treatment – trueness of tone, fullness of body, and musicality are its virtues. When we first heard the IQ III, we couldn’t believe a MM cartridge could sound that good!

Best pound-for-pound cartridge installed? Enter once more the Dynavector 10x5 MkII. The performance to price quotient of this cartridge is extraordinary. It predominantly comes as a high-output MC design, which is designed to work with MM compliant phono stages. Sound confusing? We understand – please call us and we’ll explain how it works.

Weirdest item found attached to or within a turntable? A long part-grey and part-brown hair, twisted around a sub-platter, that we suspect of human origin (we are still waiting for the lab results). Oh and melted chocolate smeared along the side of a dust cover. At least, we think its chocolate… Oh gosh!

GOING FULL CIRCLE – CLOSING THOUGHTS…

It’s been fun to receive and revitalise a number of different decks, from the simple-but-splendid Rega Planar 1, to a majestic 25th anniversary edition Linn Sondek LP12. For each of the previously mentioned issues that we came across, we were able to liaise with our customers and implement a fix. For example, fitting a new belt to an old Systemdek IIX helped to restore the platter rotation speed – as we found it was turning too slow, which was altering the pitch of the record being played and making the music sound lifeless.

Through undertaking a number of restoration projects, we have found some great turntable, tonearm and cartridge combinations, which we would be happy to share with you. And in case you weren’t aware, when buying a cartridge from us we offer free installation and alignment.

We would like to say thank you to all of our customers who put their trust in our free turntable health-check service and are feeding back that their precious decks are sounding better than ever. If you would like us to have a look at your turntable, either for some tune-up work or to resolve a possible issue, please do get in touch with us. We’ll be happy to see you and show you around our new Swallowfield store.

Thank you for reading,

Rishi, Gareth and Dan – Audio T Reading

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…

The products featured here can be found or enquired about at the following Audio T stores:

A BIT ABOUT OUR NEW STORE

August 01, 2024

In-Seine-ly Good! Audio T Reading Falls In Louvre with the Advance Paris MyConnect 60 All-in-One Hi-Fi System

August 01, 2024/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

Bonjour, and welcome mes amis from Audio T Reading in Swallowfield. To be frivolous for a moment, we’ve got to love our far-out French neighbours. While we say “oh my gosh”, they say ‘ah la vache’ – ‘oh my cow’. When it’s “raining cats and dogs” here in Good Ol’ Britannia, over there it’s “pleut comme une vache qui pisse” – ‘raining like a cow pees’. (What is their beef with those poor cows?). Us Brits might retort that someone is exaggerating or “going a bit too far”; the French of course will exclaim ‘faut pas pousser mémé dans les orties’ – ‘don’t push grandma into the nettles’. (It would now appear no grandmother or cow is safe)…

However… while we puff out our chests and feel quite pleased for seeming “to know the score”, it so happens our French friends have a much nicer one up their (record) sleeve as they appear ‘connaître la musique’ – ‘to know the music’. On this fine note, please do keep reading as we have something new to share with you from an exciting brand just across ‘La Manche’ or ‘The Sleeve’ – aka “The English Channel”. Why do our friends à la française call it The Sleeve? Nevermind, en evant (onward)…

SECRETS TRAVEL FAST IN (ADVANCE) PARIS – THE MYCONNECT 60 ALL-IN-ONE AMPLIFIER

Once famously declared by the infamous Napolean Bonaparte, ‘Secrets travel fast in Paris’. And they are about to travel pretty fast here too because, as part of a big Audio T exposé, we are delighted to be one of the few exclusive retailers in the UK to bring to you the fabulous French audiophile brand – Advance Paris.

Here at Audio T Reading, it’s a pleasure to have on demonstration the exciting MyConnect 60 All-in-One Amplifier.

This little all-in-one is quite the tour-de-force, offering a host of audio treats such as external streaming from Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify (and many more music providers), CD playback, DAB+ and FM radio, internet radio, local audio streaming from USB and other network storage (NAS) devices, Wi-Fi, ethernet, Bluetooth and Airplay connectivity, an on-board phono stage for connecting a turntable with a moving magnet (MM) cartridge, a suite of analogue and digital inputs and outputs, plus a dedicated subwoofer output!

There is even a headphone output of the full-fat 6.3mm variety for sending your tunes to a set of good quality cans; As headphonistas here at Audio T Reading, we are thrilled to see a larger headphone jack on the MyConnect 60 – It’s really quite rare to find this on an all-in-one product that retails below £1,000.

THE APÉRO DÎNATOIRE OF HI-FI – MYCONNECT 60 LAYS ON QUITE A SPREAD

With more features on its plate than one might find at an apéro dînatoire evening buffet, what is it actually like to use the Advance Paris MyConnect 60 all-in-one? One of the biggest turn-offs when it comes to poorly executed all-in-one products is being met with a sea of buttons and knobs that feel more wobbly than blancmange to the touch while being annoyingly unresponsive in use.

Advance Paris have kept the fascia clean and chic on the MyConnect 60; adorning the frontage is a slick feeling on-off button, six small pin buttons providing just the essential playback functions, and the pièce de resistance – a single spun-metal rotary knob with a positively reinforcing turn-and-click operation. This knob performs volume adjustments and allows for access to source selection, tone controls, etc. Streaming control and management of connected devices are provided by the Advance Playstream app, available for Apple and Android devices.

Both the rotary selector wheel and the dedicated app are a joy to use – controls are tactile and are quick to respond, and latency was impressively low when cueing and playing tunes via Qobuz, Tidal and Apple Music via Airplay. It’s evident that the design and engineering team at Advance Paris have paid very close attention to the operational quality of the MyConnect 60; this really matters as a lack of operational foibles brings the connection between the listener and the music ever closer.

TROUVER LE TON JUSTE – MYCONNECT 60 SONIC IMPRESSIONS

On the subject of music listening, how does the Advance Paris MyConnect 60 fare with audio reproduction? Well, this is a just-add-speakers system and after trying out a selection in our Swallowfield listening chambre we arrived at our impressions of the MyConnect 60 by pairing it with the UK designed Acoustic Energy AE100² loudspeakers – few speakers come up better this side of £500.

The combination proved to be astounding, one of the best French-British connections since the Channel Tunnel or Dover to Calais! Music gushes from this system with freedom and flair – it somehow sounds at ease yet energetic at the same time. This match-up has a really interesting tonal balance; generally speaking, the sound of most systems can be described as warm (fuller sounding), cool (leaner sounding) or neutral (somewhere between the two) and typically the whole spectrum of sound, from the low notes to the high notes, will combine overall to slot itself into one of those categories. What’s interesting with the MyConnect 60 and the Acoustic Energy AE100² combination is that the bass notes are tilted towards a nice and full sound, while the mid-to-high notes are tilted more towards neutral and are comparatively a touch leaner.

This dual-tilt presentation proves to be trouver le ton juste – hitting just the right note. It makes listening to all genres of music a fun and engaging experience. Let’s not forget, the MyConnect 60 with that awesome headphone jack is also a just-add-headphones system. Pairing it with closed back Meze 99 Classic cans or open-back Sennheiser 660 S2 headphones is truly magnifique!

WHAT HAPPENS IN PARIS STAYS IN PARIS – MYCONNECT 60 FINALE THOUGHTS

What happens in Paris stays in Paris? Not quite anymore. Now available from Audio T and with a current asking price of £850*, the Advance Paris MyConnect 60 all-in-one music making machine is a clear step-up in quality from offerings in and around the £500 and above mark. With a carefully tuned class-AB amplifier at its heart, the MyConnect 60 more than holds its own in the company of all-in-one players at approaching twice the price.

The consistency of its excellent presentation deserves a mention – whether it be from CD, streaming, radio and via speakers or headphones, the MyConnect 60 demonstrates all of the attributes of carefully crafted engineering at a price point where it often isn’t found. When combined with the Acoustic Energy AE100² speakers, the MyConnect 60 serves as the conductor of a complete digital music system that rivals any competitor around this price point. And in time you could even consider adding a turntable such as the venerable Rega Planar 2. Et voilà!

Thank you for reading, Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading

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…

Please note: no cows, grannies or French people were harmed in the making of this blog. We love them all! 😉

The products featured here can be found or enquired about at the following Audio T stores:

A BIT ABOUT OUR NEW STORE

Also during the Summer Bank Holiday weekend in August, nearby Swallowfield Park plays home to the vibrant Swallowfield Show. When you come to see us, why not make a fun day of it?

June 07, 2024

Hey (Not So Big) Spendor! – Audio T Reading Size Up The Little Spendor Classic 4/5

June 07, 2024/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

A hearty hello to everyone from us at Audio T Reading, from pastures new in Swallowfield. Last June we did a feature article on “Three Little Lionhearted Loudspeakers“ and taking centre stage were the Neat Petite Classic, the Audio Note AX One/II, and the Harbeth P3ESR XD. Back then we asked the question “Is bigger always better?” going on to discuss the many virtues of those premium little loudspeakers. It was one of the most fun speaker shoot-outs we have ever done, however there was another pair of speakers that we would have loved to include in the showdown that unfortunately weren’t in our possession at the time. On the upside, we have now been able to get our hands (and ears) on the missing “little loudies” and have spent a good amount of very enjoyable time with them – so without further ado let us to tell you of our tremendous trio becoming a colossal quartet and let us share with you our experience with the wee Spendor Classic 4/5…

A LITTLE BIT OF BIG HISTORY – SPENDOR’S MINI MONITOR HERITAGE

Spendor have certainly played their part in the history of small but mighty British loudspeakers, most notably of course playing a key role in the manufacture of the legendary LS3/5A studio monitor under licence from the BBC – these went on to reach the homes and studios of many thousands of likely happy punters. While not an exact replica, the Spendor Classic 4/5 is certainly a huge nod to that classic monitor with a re-invigorated take on that design to meet the demands of the modern music and home audio consumer.

Back then, the initial job of the LS3/5A was to scrutinise the quality of BBC transmissions from within the tiny confines of their dedicated broadcast vans, most likely in an all-analogue environment. But now, courtesy of the Classic 4/5, Spendor has delivered a tiny transducer that excels at conveying the sonic nuances from the upstream electronics in both the digital and analogue domain. Most notably when you hear these mini marvels, the memo this time around from Spendor appears to be “bring forth the music”; bring it in as huge a dose as possible and from as small a cabinet as possible… surely impossible?

THE CLASSIC 4/5 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS – HOW DO THEY SOUND?

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS) is described here as being a ‘rare brain-related condition that makes things look or feel larger or smaller than they actually are’ and incidentally is believed to be ‘most common in children’. Well… it must be said, we are the biggest kids going when it comes to boundless enthusiasm for all-things-audio, and we must confess that this dinky duo from Spendor has certainly left our senses in a state of child-like, AIWS disarray – a good kind if such a thing exists!

On first listen to the Classic 4/5, the spread of sound in front of us was appreciably grander than the dimensions of the cabinets had us believing it would be. Further auditioning revealed a sweetly extended top end, wonderful clarity and openness throughout the midrange, and the bass on offer – while not plummeting the depths of the room – was bewitchingly big and full sounding, taking us back into AIWS territory once again.

Our best discovery with these slender Spendors is how beautifully musical they are – they won’t punch you in the rib cage, at least not in an overt way, when a kick drum hits hard. Nor will they pound out a brazen rock track with the kind of vest-ripping, chest-outward bravado that some might crave for. But what the Classic 4/5 never fail to achieve is to get the core musicality of the message across; these baby boxes unassumingly lure you into listening sessions that end up way longer than intended, whatever the genre. It’s this most desirable trait that leaves us repeatedly grinning like a cheshire cat.

THE SKINNY ON THE SKINNY SPENDORS – LASTING IMPRESSIONS

The Spendor Classic 4/5 aren’t an unfamiliar breed in that they are a sealed-box design on the slimmer side, but this time-honoured approach does buck a modern movement of seemingly hordes of loudspeakers that tend to favour impressing its audiences with beefed up lower-ends and striking dynamics.

Whilst the Classic 4/5 are recommended for use with 25w -100w per channel amplification, we found that they deliver their best, most balanced, presentation when partnered with the likes of the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 all-in-one player or the Rega Elicit Mk5 integrated amplifier, both punching at the higher end of the quoted power range. In fact, we even tried these bijou Spendors with an amp delivering 125 watts per channel, the hefty Rega Aethos, and the sonic outcome was magnificent.

With more juice behind the Classic 4/5, we found that the fullness in their upper bass strengthens, without losing any definition or tautness, and the result was more coherence with the rest of the audio spectrum and a broader canvas of musical images that convince rather than impress.

CONCLUSION

When compared to the previously showcased triumvirate of the Neat Petite Classic, Audio Note AX One/II and Harbeth P3ESR XD, the Spendor 4/5 hold themselves in said company with consummate ease and are not in too dissimilar a mould to the P3ESR XD; both are exceptional sealed-box allrounders, although each set possesses a special sonic character of its very own.

All four of these bantamweight boxed pairs certainly warrant your attention and are superlative in their own right. If you would like to know more, or would like to hear a set of these splendid speakers in action, please do contact us or your nearest Audio T store; our knowledgeable team will be most happy to assist you.

Thank you for reading.

Rishi – Audio T Reading

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…

A BIT ABOUT OUR NEW STORE

Also during the Summer Bank Holiday weekend in August, nearby Swallowfield Park plays home to the vibrant Swallowfield Show. When you come to see us, why not make a fun day of it?

The products featured here can be found or enquired about at the following Audio T stores:

March 21, 2024

Our New Demonstration Rooms - Audio T Reading - Swallowfield

March 21, 2024/ Reading

A warm welcome everyone from Audio T Reading and wishing you well from our new leafy abode in Swallowfield. For more than 25 years at our old premises in Reading town centre, it was a pleasure to welcome hi-fi enthusiasts to the old shop and offer them the opportunity to audition a range of high-performance equipment – from fantastic starter systems to pretty pieces of bespoke audiophilia – in the comfort of our demonstration rooms. During that time, we were thrilled to have an outstanding main demo room, one of the best sounding rooms across the land for assessing and enjoying music reproduction. When the time came for us to leave town to our new home in Swallowfield, we were somewhat moved and reluctant to switch off the lights and close the door to our old demo room for the last time…

reading’s old demo room with room treatment - on dynaudio’s confidence event night 2022

TRADING PLACES – QUEENS WALK TO SWALLOWFIELD

But with fond memories aplenty, gracefully close that door we did (eventually) and firmly in our thoughts from then onwards has been to focus our efforts on designing a new main demo room; one that would honour the attributes of the outgoing facility while taking big steps forward to enhance the auditioning experience for our visitors to come. But what would those advancing steps look like? Would the best way, to some extent, involve trying to replicate the studio-esque room acoustics we had at Queens Walk, Reading? For example, in our new demo room, should we proceed to redeploy the multitude of room treatment panels that unmistakably adorned our previous listening chamber? Or would it be best to draught in certified room-analysis experts to acoustically measure the properties of the room and suggest a sonic treatment plan to best fit? And so on...

audio T Reading’s new demo room in swallowfield 2024 - sans room treatment

SILENT TREATMENT – KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Well having considered the aforementioned possibilities and many more, we decided for the foreseeable future to proceed without any of the more extravagant sonically room-beautifying options. Instead, we took aim at making a “real” room… one that when built (which, hooray, it now is!) would still be class-leading yet, on balance, would show up its flaws as well as its strengths. Why have we chosen this particular pathway? Well, a key reason is that the vast majority of us consume our music and audio in environments that are non-ideal and often double up as our living quarters. Our home listening rooms may not be the perfect shape and build for audio reproduction; They may have ceilings that are very low or exceedingly high. Modern homes tend to have internal stud walls that are thinner and form enclosures that resonate more than traditional solid walls. Older abodes may possess lovely but acoustically awkward structural features such as bay windows or grand chimney breasts, the likes of which can create added sonic effects like lingering echoes and other audible distortions. Given all of this and more, we decided it would not be truly representative of our customers’ home auditioning settings to offer a demo facility that is close to acoustically perfect.

taking the mic - the focus position for lyngdorf’s room optimsation

WABI-SABI – DISCOVERING BEAUTY WITHIN IMPERFECTION

This leads us to another important reason for auditioning within a real room with its own vices and virtues; It provides us with an opportunity to assist you not just with expertise on the excellent equipment that we offer, but to demonstrate the knowhow we have developed for setting up optimally performing hi-fi systems in less-than ideal room conditions. We can show you the positive effects of placing your loudspeakers favourably in challenging spaces to obtain stunning sound, and we can illustrate how to make stepwise changes within a sub-optimal listening room that may not even require you to reach for specific room treatment items – simple tweaks that can make a rewarding difference and actually cost you nothing but your time. We can show you the mechanics of how to position yourself relative to the speakers, which should always be one of the first resorts to achieving good sound. And we can demonstrate how to sonically work with your room instead of fighting against it. As an additional sharing, in our perfectly imperfect new demo room, we can elucidate the sonic virtues of room optimisation; for example, ‘Room Perfect’ is a proprietary room-correction feature of Lyngdorf’s TDAI-1120 and TDAI-3400 advanced audio players. We can also show you how ‘Space Optimisation’ works on Linn’s Majik DSM and Selekt DSM digital music systems – the latter being fully customisable, e.g. with a choice of Linn DAC plus other tailored options.

lyngdorf’s tdai-3400 media player featuring room perfect - atop of Lyngdorf’s cd-2 cd player

FUTURE PLANS – AUDIO T READING IN SWALLOWFIELD

Our new main demo room not only serves as an ideal setting for auditioning sensational hi-fi equipment, but it also provides a great opportunity to learn about in-room system setup and gain knowledge about listening rooms in general. Ongoing plans will soon see our main listening space evolve into a state-of-the-art audio-visual demonstration room, with four studio-quality in-ceiling speakers – Dynaudio’s S4-C80 – already installed for Dolby Atmos and sounding awesome. And as part of the next phase of development here in Swallowfield, work is underway to construct a second, smaller, demo room that will have its own unique sonic character and provide further opportunities for audition and optimising audio systems within a smaller room setting.

the most important part of your system… is you! - just ask bowie

As we bring this web log to a close, it’s clear that there is plenty of chatter within our hi-fi circles just now putting ever increasing emphasis on your listening room, even suggesting that this is the most important part of your hi-fi system. To a large extent we concur that there is truth to this, but despite all of our sharing here about listening rooms, we believe that the most important part of any hi-fi system is you! Please do come back here soon for a deeper dive into this…

Thank you for reading, Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading

Our new Swallowfield store is accessible via the 600 bus route from Reading town centre and is very easy to reach by road with the A33, M3 and M4 all nearby. On arrival you’ll find ample free parking right on our doorstep, perfect for those rainy days, and our showroom and demo rooms are all on ground level. Our picturesque surroundings provide many places to enjoy a countryside walk, a riverside stroll, or a picnic. Plus there are local sites of interest to explore such as the Blackwater River, Wellington Country Park, Siren Craft Brewery and a host of cute village pubs with gardens. Why not come and make a day of it!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with what’s going on in store.

The products featured here can be found or enquired about at the following Audio T stores:

October 04, 2023

Great Hi-Fi Suggestions for Listening at Low Volumes

October 04, 2023/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

Greetings from Audio T Reading. It’s happened more than a few times now… The demo room is all set, the hi-fi system has been nicely warming up ready to rock and roll, the customer has arrived with their favourite tracks looking forward to auditioning some great gear, and we are all set to put the system through its paces and get the room bouncing… sweet! Here’s the moment we’ve been waiting for… the customer reaches for the volume knob, and we’re excited by the prospect of more luscious sound engulfing the room… But wait, what’s happened here? The volume dial has scurried anticlockwise, it’s now so quiet I can hear my tummy growling (shouldn’t have skipped breakfast), and the customer is leaning forward diligently assessing a gamut of sonic characteristics at a singular decibel!

Ok… light-heartedness aside, it was more like 40 decibels, though we were still very much listening at a low volume, definitely below the level of say regular speech (typically 60 decibels). So why would an audio enthusiast want to invest in a high-quality audio system for listening at low volumes? Well, maybe it’s because auditioning is only possible later in the evening? Or perhaps it’s for background or focussed listening while working at home or in an office? Or it could just be that an individual has more sensitive hearing? Whatever the reasons, we understand that low-volume listening need not equate to a loss of enjoyment for someone who has this requirement, and we would like to share some insights as to what we find makes a system engaging at low volume, with examples of equipment that can help to deliver in this regard…

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL – A SUITABLE SOURCE

To begin with, when listening at low volume, it’s essential that the source equipment, i.e. the digital streamer, turntable, CD player, etc. has the ability to pick up as much detail and as little noise as possible from the source media, e.g. the music file, vinyl record, CD, etc. It’s also important that this detail is conveyed in an energetic fashion. At low volume, we’re not looking for equipment that presents in a laid-back a manner. It needs to have that get-up-and-go factor. The Bluesound Node X is a great example of a digital music steamer that delivers plenty of detail with a sprightly approach. It’s improved on-board digital-to-analogue convertor (DAC) renders a livelier, quieter and more incisive sound than the DAC in the standard Bluesound Node, which is noticeable even at those near inaudible levels. For turntables, there are two that jump to mind at different price points; The Rega Planar 2 is an enthusiastic performer – it never feels like it’s holding back, despite it coming with the entry Rega Carbon cartridge, and its musicality doesn’t seem to break down at low volume. Further up the ladder, the Rega Planar 8 is one of the ultimate diggers of detail. Whether teamed with an Ania Pro moving coil cartridge from Rega’s own stable, or when mated with an IQ3 high-level moving magnet design from Audio Note, its inherent nature is to prepare every record for an invasive inspection and not let any musical passage go unchecked. Even at background noise levels, it can be heard achieving this feat. For a CD player, we can put forward the Marantz CD6007. Its presentation can be considered a touch ‘V-shaped’, meaning that there is some emphasis on the higher and lower frequencies in the range. However, this characteristic is a boon for low-level listening, as at lower volumes our ears detect the high and low frequency extremes much less than the rest of the audio spectrum.

TURNING UP THE SILENCE – EAGER AMPLIFICATION

The requirement for good amplification for low-volume listening seems a bit illogical. But it’s more the quality of the amplifier that’s important here rather than outright quantity. To ensure an excellent sound at lower volume, an amplifier needs to demonstrate the attributes of clarity (to pass all of that detail from the source), exceptional grip and drive at lower output, and the ability to control the loudspeaker cones even when the volume knob has barely ventured clockwise. Despite this all seeming good on paper (or on screen), and irrespective of appealing product specifications, experimentation with different amplifier and loudspeaker combinations will pay dividends here to see what works best – pairing is as much an art as it is a science.

With this said, here are some recommendations for integrated (combined pre and power) amplifiers that, in most scenarios, seem to have what it takes for delivering the sonic goods at low volume; At an entry point look no further than the Rega IO. Even given its chocolate box sizing, the IO’s eagerness and agility ensure that music is imparted with an energy that gets itself noticed, including with the volume dial barely turned up. Raising the stakes, it’s hard to overlook the futuristic Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 all-in-one player – its amplification stage is an efficient and powerful, fully-digital, design that demonstrates excellent control, even with trickier loudspeaker loads. It also houses an impressive suite of digital processing for fine-tuning the sound, so all-in-all the TDAI-1120 is blessed with an ability to sound as superb as you want it to at any volume.

To round things off, here’s a little gem that might surprise a few – The Chord Electronics Anni. It’s a tiny yet potent headphone amplifier that can also drive compact loudspeakers with aplomb. Its presentation is clean and open, and in high gain mode the Anni is a beguiling and immersive low-volume performer. Its diminutive size makes it one of the neatest, table-top, speaker-driving solutions in existence. And for a killer desktop listening experience, try the Anni with a WiiM Pro Streamer and a pair of little Quad S-1 speakers… it’s nearfield nirvana!

BE SENSITIVE – LIVELY LOUDSPEAKERS

To complete a system that truly sings in the silence, it’s important to find loudspeakers that behave in a sensitive and efficient manner, ones that appear to “come alive” with very little input and a pair that effortlessly, at low-volume, present all of the key attributes – imaging, soundstage, transparency, timing, etc. – that make listening an immersive and entertaining experience. If a loudspeaker’s cones and domes are low in mass and can be moved fast, there’s a good chance they’ll whisper in a wonderful way.

While product specs can, to some extent, assist with identifying speakers that are easier for amplifiers to drive, in reality it’s more beneficial to get hands-on (and ears-on) with trialling various amp and speaker pairings to hear which ones hit the sweet-spot at those diminishing decibels. This is where our expertise comes in… we can’t get enough of conducting these trials and rejoicing in those eureka moments when we find another winning combo.

So here is a selection of speakers that float our tranquil-listening boat at Audio T Reading; The Dali Spektor 2 are great value compact communicators - their light drive units mean they need very little to get them going and they sparkle on the end of a Rega IO. Stepping into “higher-fi”, the Acoustic Energy AE500 speakers amaze with their ability to sound detailed and transparent at low volumes. Whether hooked up to a full and warm sounding Rega Brio or connected to the detailed and open Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, the neutrality and ease-of-driveability of the AE500 ensures they’re a friend to many amplifiers.

For something quite special, it has to be the Audio Note AX One/II. We raved about the highly informative presentation of this magical monitor in a previous blogs of ours (please click here to read). Literally everything we praised about them is delivered by the bucketload at low volume too. For an amp to partner the AX One/II, we can fully recommend the exuberant Audio Note Cobra. It’s a formidable pairing, and the sight of glowing tubes while listening at a low level makes for a cosy, close to therapeutic, experience. Who needs a spa day?

And finally, let us draw attention to a floorstanding design in the form of the Spendor A2. These slim and splendid towers have a wide-open sound that is highly communicative and standmount-esque when it comes to imaging. Like most of the Spendor range, the A2 are easy to drive placing these among the top performers at lower volume levels. To hear them at their softly spoken best, we would point you in the direction of the Rega Elicit Mk5 amplifier or the Naim Uniti Atom streaming-DAC-amp. The latter makes for a great all-in-one system if minimalism matches your longing for excellent audio, even with that work-of-art Naim Uniti volume wheel spinning anticlockwise.

CAN YOU PLEASE TURN THAT DOWN – AND ENJOY

There are many ways, at a range of price-points, and for a whole host of use-case scenarios that a hi-fi system can be tailored to fulfil your desire to enjoy listening at low volume. It’s worth mentioning that while all of the equipment listed here possess the skills to murmur with magnificence, they are all equally grand sounding should the need arise to crank the volume to more invigorating levels. If you’d like to know or investigate more into a vast range of equipment blessed with the talent to take things down a notch, then please do get in touch with your nearest Audio T store. Our teams are continually tinkering to find great sounding hi-fi combinations and we’d be delighted to share our findings with you.

Thank you for reading. Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading

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…

August 03, 2023

Don’t You… Forget About Me! Hi-Fi We Miss When It's Not Around…

August 03, 2023/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

Don’t you… forget about me… Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t you ever wonder why a song line randomly pops into your head, then naggingly plays on repeat internally for an eternity? Well on this occasion, there was surely a reason that the Simple Minds classic, along with other addictively good (and addictively bad) bangers, had infiltrated every part of our subconscious; Recently at Audio T Reading, we took our superb Sennheiser HD 820 closed-back headphones to Audio T Swindon for a customer demo, and literally as soon as they’d left us, we were yearning to have them back! The HD 820 just wouldn’t let us forget about them, because here in the shop they have become one of our ultimate can’t-bear-to-be-without products. We thought this would be a great opportunity to share more of our other most-missed items, and if you’d like to know why we cry into our pillows at night when these audio dependables leave the shop, then please read on…

SENNHEISER HD 820 – HOW I WISH… HOW I WISH YOU WERE HERE

It would be mischievous to keep you all in suspense having already mentioned the Sennheiser HD 820, so let’s get into why these headphones have become one of the go-to reference tools in the shop and why it induces panic every time they go missing... First of all, it’s hard to assign a sonic character to these cans and we find their great strength lays in largely telling it as it is. They are unerringly accurate. When we want to know how a particular piece of equipment in a system affects the overall sound, out come the HD 820. If we want to block out the ambient noise in the shop by way of best-in-class passive isolation, then we can count on the HD 820 – there have been times when the wearer of these headphones hasn’t heard the phone ringing right next to them, even with no music playing through the Sennheisers! Nevertheless, for a while now, the primary use for the HD 820 headphones within the shop has been to check the resulting sound quality from turntables after a cartridge fitting has taken place, or when various alignments and general turntable fettling have been performed. If, say, the vertical tracking angle of a tonearm isn’t quite right, or when trying to find the sweet spot for the cartridge tracking force, then the Sennheiser HD 820 are the headphones we regularly rely upon to hear exactly what’s happening and to fine tune the sound. Whenever these sweet cans leave our shop, we can’t help but wish they were here (à la Pink Floyd)…

SOLIDSTEEL SS-6 – NOTHING COMPARES 2 U

It was unfortunately more than seven hours and fifteen days (thanks to the late & great Sinead O’Connor) since someone took our lovely SolidSteel SS-6 speaker stands away. When these beauties temporarily escaped our clutches, a collective sigh could be heard from us (as well as from our standmount speakers!). We’ve grown really fond of the SS-6 stands, especially in the raw metal finish, which just look so mightily fine with every speaker that they regally hold aloft. These stands aren’t just style over substance though – the solid yet lightweight design means that they store very little acoustical energy, helping the speakers to project with trueness and almost as if they’re not on stands at all. Their tripod design means that, unlike a boxer that’s gone twelve rounds with Muhammad Ali, they never rock or sway even a micrometre and maintain a sure footing at all times. This makes the SS-6 a demo-room dream, speaker stands that we can set down quickly and confidently, with full trust that they’ll do the job right. Quite simply, very little compares to them, and if anyone takes these away from us, we’ll most certainly get another demonstration pair…

NAIM UNITI ATOM HEADPHONE EDITION – AIN’T NO SUNSHINE WHEN SHE’S GONE

We’re still anxiously awaiting the return of our demonstration Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition (HE), and this time we are wondering if she’ll stay (Bill Withers, we salute you). Can there be a more complete solution for headphone listening than the Uniti Atom HE?

Balanced and single-ended outputs? Check.
Oodles of glorious Naim power to drive all but the most ridiculously inefficient of headphones? Check.
High quality on-board streaming? Yes.
Elegant design as well as robust build quality? You bet.
Multiple connectivity options such as Bluetooth and Airplay 2, Roon Readiness, Tidal and Qobuz streaming platforms… yes, yes, yes!

The list goes on! This is currently our go-to audio product for demonstrating the quality and potential of various different hi-fi headphones. There is something about the sound of the Uniti Atom HE that is just right… clarity and insight, dynamics and fullness, speed and finesse, sheer musicality – it’s all there waiting to be tapped straight into your favourite cans. It even makes for a wonderful preamp when paired with, say, a set of powered speakers, like the excellent Acoustic Energy AE1 Active. When we need a headphone amp that can pretty much do it all, the Naim Uniti Atom HE is what we turn to. And when we walk to the spot where it normally resides, only to find that it’s gone AWOL, we can be sure there is only darkness every day…

I AIN’T MISSING YOU AT ALL - A HAPPY ENDING

While (like Aerosmith) we don’t want to close our eyes, prefer not to fall asleep, and definitely don’t want to miss a thing, the good news is that you don’t have to miss anything at all (just ask John Waite). And if you would like to know of many more great hi-fi products that we would miss like crazy, but would be equally happy for you to take away for demo or procure for keeps, then please don’t you… forget about us… and please do get in touch with your nearest Audio T store. We’re always looking forward to seeing or hearing from you. For now, we’re off to search all around the world for our beloved demo audio equipment, our babies… (Lisa Stansfield).

Thank you for reading. Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading

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…

Sennheiser can be found at the following Audio T stores

SolidSteel can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores

June 22, 2023

Is Bigger Always Better? A look at three little lionhearted loudspeakers...

June 22, 2023/ Reading

They say that good things come in threes… And that good things come in small packages. Well, recently here at Audio T Reading an opportunity came along for me to audition three high-quality and relatively premium little loudspeakers. This all happened a bit by chance, with all three speakers arriving like buses at the same time!

First up came the peppy Neat Petite Classic, drafted-in for a customer who was very keen to hear them. Then came the gorgeously finished Audio Note AX One, first unveiled at The Bristol Show 2023. And last but certainly no means least, the Harbeth P3ESR XD, kindly loaned by Gareth, our Reading store manager, from his personal collection of hi-fi goodies. Out of curiosity, I packed up the Neat Petite Classic to trial at home, but all the while thinking – “Why am I bothering? There’s no way these little ‘loudies’ can hold a torch to my own larger ATC SCM 11 standmounts”. As it turned out, they didn’t just hold a torch… They drew a sword and jousted with my 11’s all the way! In disbelief, I was left ruminating… “Why haven’t I considered premium smaller speakers before?” Please allow me to share with you more on this newest, most enlightening Audio T adventure…

A bit of backstory

Since acquiring my ATC SCM11 speakers, I’ve been so overjoyed with them that I’ve often wondered what direction I would take if I were to move on from them. How would I bring about an improvement in presentation and overall enjoyment? Just go bigger and pricier, surely. It seems logical that bigger gives you more! Proceeding with this one-dimensional perspective, my attentions turned to one of the best standmount speakers in our shop, the dynamic Dynaudio Special Forty, and also a floorstanding option like the sublime Spendor A7. Both of them sound fab in our main demonstration room… but in my own smaller, more flimsily built living room, the performance of both were hampered and could not reach anywhere near their full potential. With simply arranged acoustic music, they sounded great, but with more rhythmic or propulsive genres I found that both were over-exciting my living room and delivering the dreaded bass boom. Please let me be clear, the fault lays with the limitations of my room and not with the Special Forty or A7 speakers. I highly recommend listening to them as they’re both first-rate. Going back to my tunnel-visioned approach, I had lined up copious other large loudspeakers for audition as surely one of them would give me the ‘more’ factor I would be after. Then, as if by divine intervention, the following three little lovelies interrupted my one-track journey at just the right time…

NEAT PETITE – SHE’S A REALLY SWEET – CLASSIC

With the Neat Petite Classic atop of SolidSteel SS-6 stands and occupying the space in my room where I’m so conditioned to seeing my larger ATC SCM11, the Petite Classic by comparison felt like looking at a piece of paper side-on! On viewing, they just weren’t there. But upon listening, it’s as if they were everywhere – projecting high-quality, clean sound to all corners of my room. The air motion transformer (AMT) tweeter is incredible at conveying high-frequency information. Vocals sound hauntingly detailed and the ambience of the room where the original recording took place is delivered with absolute certainty – be it in a concert hall, or in a studio, all of the electricity and air of the venue came through distinctly, with great height and width. The big surprise with the Petite Classic is the sizeable bass on offer; it went surprisingly deep, was lightning fast, and seemed to belie the size of the speaker cabinets. This bass witchcraft, combined with the Petite Classic’s agility and detail retrieval, made for an engaging listening experience. Taking care with placement and the tuning of the rear ports only helped to make things better. The Neat Petite Classic were brighter than my ATC SCM 11, but not harshly so, and while my 11’s have more scale and authority, the Neats do what they do so well that I was mostly blissfully unaware of anything I was missing.

AUDIO NOTE AX ONE – NO AX TO GRIND WITH THESE

Whilst still buzzing from the previous dinky speaker discovery, these little beauties – the Audio Note AX One – turned up in the shop in a luscious European walnut finish. At first I wondered what that port was doing on the front baffle so close to the tweeter and mid-bass unit. I need not have worried; Audio Note know what they’re doing and take pride in doing things their own way. And without further ado, I took the AX One home… And my gosh what a treat it was to hear this compact communicator. The AX One a little firecracker! If you’re familiar with Audio Note, you’ll be aware of their musicality comes first approach. When listening to Audio Note equipment, three words tend to spring to mind: tone, timbre and swagger. The AX One has all the precision of a studio monitor, but with that beautiful Audio Note tone. They are one of the most informative speakers I’ve heard in my room, and that sweet tone did a great job of distracting me from their unquestionable ability to dissect a recording. Switching to a heavier stand helped with balancing the energetic treble and allowed the AX One to shine. This is a lively, fast and above all musical speaker that can place images in the foreground and background with exactitude. On heavier stands, they weren’t shy in the bass department either – okay, not quite the low-end that had my ornaments rattling! But the bass on offer exhibited texture and substance, if not the outright scale of my ATC SCM 11. I did, however, find the AX One slightly more revealing in my room.

P3ESR XD – NOT A CAR REG PLATE, BUT A SWEET HARBETH

By now, I’d all but forgotten about the existence of bigger speakers and found myself routinely chewing Gareth’s ear off about the joys of little “loudies”. Seeing that I was loving the small-speaker voyage, and perhaps in part to preserve his own sanity, Gareth rocked up with a box containing his very own Harbeth P3ESR XD loudspeakers and kindly offered that I could try them at home. At this time of writing, I still have them and can’t stop listening to them! These are one of the most complete sounding speakers I’ve ever heard. There isn’t a hint of harshness to them, even in my bright and lively living room. And with everything I play they just don’t seem to put a foot wrong. The P3ESR XD convey detail effortlessly, and with a slightly softer outline which brings a sense of organic-ness to their sound. Much like the Audio Note AX One, they image with astonishing aplomb. And with careful placement, they have a way of capturing the shape of instruments and sounds, giving a believable impression of three dimensionality. These little Harbeths have a fullness to their presentation that make them sound much bigger than they are. Compared to my bigger ATC SCM11, again outright scale is appreciably not as extended, but the P3ESR XD produce bass with definition and nuance, and in the lower midrange there’s a surprising amount of slam, ensuring kickdrums can be satisfyingly felt as well as heard.

Lasting impressions from the small speaker expedition…

It’s safe to say that I’m currently smitten with premium little loudspeakers. All three of the speakers featured are thoroughly entertaining in their own way and the key lesson learned here is that it’s possible to gain improvements in many areas of sound quality and overall enjoyment by going for a dinkier design. Perhaps the measurements, construction and acoustics of my living room dictate that a top-notch small speaker may yield better results than a bigger one? But on auditioning the Neat Petite Classic, Audio Note AX One and Harbeth P3ESR XD, it’s been encouraging to discover that all three sound way bigger than their physical dimensions suggest, and they don’t mind playing louder too. If I were blindfolded and asked to listen, I’m not confident I’d be able to correctly identify them as diminutive speakers. Which one of them is best? Well, it’s a matter of system matching, room integration and acoustics, and of course personal sonic and visual preference. All of these miniature marvels have their own unique musical boons. If like me you’re intrigued to discover more, my advice would be to get in touch with your nearest Audio T store. Our team can tell you more about these as well as other superb little offerings that we have. I’m now off to reluctantly pack up and return Gareth’s little Harbeths…

Thank you for reading. Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading

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April 17, 2023

Are Bluetooth Headphones about to steal the show? The all-new Focal Bathys

April 17, 2023/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

Here at Audio T Reading we’re still buzzing from the successful return of the Bristol Hi-Fi Show, Britain’s biggest and best home and portable audio extravaganza. We loved our time at the show, and in a desperate ‘just one more’ moment to continue playing with alluring audio goodies, we decided to grab a clutch of Bluetooth headphones from the show for further amusement in our Reading shop. But, why Bluetooth headphones? Simple… it was easier to sneak out larger numbers of these than, say, bigger and bulkier amplifiers (erm, we snuck a couple of these out too, but it’d be rude not too hey?). Among our Brizzle (Bristol) headphone heist, there is one particular set of Bluetooth cans that has ironically stolen from us, stealing first our ears and then our hearts… So please make yourself comfy, we need to tell you more about the Focal Bathys…

BUT WAIT… ‘HI-FI’ BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES?

So why the excitement about a set of Bluetooth headphones? We all know that Bluetooth isn’t proper hi-fi don’t we (arms folded, take those things away)? Well, allow me (Rishi) to share a personal journey… Over the years I’ve owned a number of wired headphones, mostly Sennheiser’s, from the DJ’s favourite HD 25 (couldn’t resist the aluminium 25th year anniversary edition), to the HD 560S (perhaps the most transparent ‘phones at the price) as well as the largely coveted HD 660S (we now have the version two HD 660S2 in-store and they’re even better). But back in 2020, a year that certainly brought me perfect vision, I wanted to join the growing hordes of listeners experiencing sound without wires.

I had just downloaded the Tidal music streaming app to my phone, and I needed a simple, convenient, way to connect to my phone and listen both wirelessly AND in high-quality… surely a contradiction. Going on sound quality alone, everything I’d read at the time (and still read now) suggested that ditching the wires wasn’t the way to go. Fearing the worst, I researched endlessly into the somewhat limited wireless options available, and eventually I went for an unpopular Bluetooth headphone offering at the time, the Beyerdynamic Lagoon. Why the Lagoon? Firstly because of Beyer’s renowned sonic pedigree, and then because of the Lagoon’s promise to connect using Bluetooth codecs, such as AptX HD, that were among the highest-quality available at the time. Although I could only connect to my iPhone via the (supposedly) lesser quality AAC codec, my talented Bluesound Node 2i (the Swiss army knife of streamers) was packing AptX HD and had a rare ability to stream music to other devices, such as Bluetooth headphones, as well as receive Bluetooth streams from other devices, such as smartphones and laptops. So, what’s the point of this trip down memory lane? Well, the Beyerdynamic Lagoon did something quite unexpected… it impressed me with its seemingly high-fidelity sound! Even connecting via AAC to my iPhone, I couldn’t stop listening to music through them. In fact, I used them so much that they literally started to fall apart! I blame it on their extended battery life - this paved the way for longer back-to-back listening sessions without having to constantly reach for the charger.

EXUDING QUALITY - CHECK OUT THOSE YOKES, FOLKS

GETTING AU FAIT WITH THE FOCAL BATHYS

Back to 2023 and enter the Focal Bathys (all together now, bat-tees). It was mentioned before about the sonic pedigree of Beyerdynamic… well French outfit Focal are seasoned high-fidelity thoroughbreds in their own right. They know more than a thing or two about making highly accomplished, multiple award-winning, hi-fi headphones. With the Bathys, Focal have taken on a challenge that at best may be deemed audacious, but at worst will likely be dismissed as foolhardy – they have dared to release a set of premium, active noise cancelling (ANC), hi-fi quality, Bluetooth (surely not hi-fi?) headphones. The Brits will tell you, tongue-in-cheek of course, that their French neighbours are a bit mad. But in the case of our demo Focal Bathys, and while getting more au fait with them, there were attributes revealing themselves as much more mad-genius!

First of all, build quality on the Bathys is phenomenal, especially in the domain of currently available Bluetooth headphones. The yokes that attach each earcup to the headband are metal and incorporate magnesium, giving strength and lightness, and the design allows for the earcups to move freely in all planes. This bodes well for a comfortable fit on various different head shapes. Back into first-person for a moment… the reason I’m so drawn to this exemplary aspect of build-quality is because the yokes on many headphones that I’ve owned have been made from plastic, and with heavy-duty use (repeatedly putting the cans on and taking them off, throwing them on the table, dropping them on the floor, squeezing them into my jam-packed travel bag, etc.) some of those headphones have eventually ended-up breaking at one of their yokes. And when your ‘phones break there, no amount of DIY Sellotape repairs will make them feel great again.

BREATHTAKING DESIGN, FABULOUS FINISH - THE BATHYS

It's also hard not to notice the familiar Focal design cue of numerous circular holes punched into the ear cup covers, which surround the tornado looking Focal logo. This logo illuminates by the way, but can be unlit using the Focal & Naim app. And the way the logo is offset to the front of the earcups, a sweet design tweak by Focal, makes for a striking visual pattern of radiating concentric orbs that are smaller at the front and larger at the back. The Bathys could well be Focal’s prettiest headphones yet.

MARVEL AT THOSE ANGLED MAGNESIUM-ALUMINIUM DRIVERS

BUT HOW DO THE BEAUTIFUL BATHYS SOUND?

This brings us to the most exciting part and a big inspiration for this blog – How do the Bluetooth Bathys sound? Have Focal managed to pull off the unthinkable and produce, at their very first attempt, an audiophile grade set of Bluetooth headphones?

Through the most grit of teeth, even the most ardent of “wire-philes” may do well to concede that they’ve done just that. At this time of writing, compared to the vast majority of other wireless Bluetooth headphones out there, the Bathys are a noticeable step up in sonic performance. While many of the others can sound mid-to-hi-fi at best, these Bathys are genuinely hi-fi sounding, showing the virtues of being detailed throughout the entire frequency range, having the ability to clearly dissect and present the individual layers in the most complicated of tracks, and demonstrating a wide dynamic range that makes listening to many musical genres a joyful experience. Straight out of the box, our demo Bathys sounded bright and a tad tight, but after a week or two of regular play the hybrid magnesium-aluminium drivers opened up a treat, and for a closed-back pair of headphones the Bathys impress with a spacious presentation.

Via the Focal & Naim app, it’s possible to tweak the stock tuning of the Bathys via a 5-band equaliser. This adjustment is great if, say, you find the stock tuning leaning a bit bright, or perhaps want to eek out more sparkle for low level listening, etc. The Bathys’ high-quality drivers love to play loud too, showing great cleanliness at those higher decibels with little-to-no compression.

It’s worth noting that the ANC remains permanently engaged on the Bathys, which does a great job of creating a silent cocoon for listeners to enjoy their tunes even in the noisiest of environments. The ANC can also be switched to a lower strength setting, which works a treat if a lesser amount of ANC feels more suitable or comfortable.

CONNECT VIA THE DAC FOR HIGH RESOLUTION UP TO 24 BITs / 192 KHZ

LASTING IMPRESSIONS - THE FUTURE OF HIGH-END BLUETOOTH CANS

Given the strong showing of the Focal Bathys, the future of premium, truly hi-fi, wireless Bluetooth headphones is looking increasingly more exciting, and it’s clear that the Bathys has significantly raised the performance bar and may well have kicked-off a trend towards higher quality, perhaps even reference grade, Bluetooth headphones from a whole host of aspiring audio equipment manufacturers. For anyone thinking that wired headphones are still the holy grail for the best possible audio quality, well that still more-or-less holds true, and that very case is made here given that the performance of the Focal Bathys itself can be improved further by attaching a USB cable between it and a digital music source, courtesy of the Bathys’ inbuilt DAC mode. But the key takeaway here is that the difference between using the Bathys in wireless and wired mode isn’t cavernously huge. The gap between wired and wireless audio quality is closing all the time, and the Bathys in their Bluetooth mode are so admirably proficient that they could genuinely be preferred over a number of similarly priced wired designs. Throw in the Bathys’ stated 30 hours battery life, their grab-and-go convenience, and their ability to connect wirelessly to your mobile phone (most of which don’t sport a headphone jack anymore) all while sacrificing so little in the all-important sound quality department, and perhaps it won’t be all that long before the Focal Bathys’ chic charms steal your ears and heart too.

Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading – Thank you for reading.

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.

The incredible equipment in this blog can be found or enquired about at the following Audio T stores:

February 20, 2023

The Mastery of Meze Audio - Romanian Hi-Fi Headphone Connoisseurs

February 20, 2023/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

Romania has not traditionally been a producer of interesting Hi-Fi, but that all changed in 2011 with the emergence of Meze Audio from the beautiful city of Baia Mare. The founder, Antonio Meze, was underwhelmed by a lot of the headphones available on the market at that time, so he decided to turn his attentions to producing a set of ‘phones’ which had a personality, in the same way that a quality musical instrument does.

ART, CRAFT, ENGINEERING, IMAGINATION - WELCOME TO MEZE AUDIO

By 2015, after a great deal of hard work, the Meze 99 Classics were released, which immediately put a cat among the pigeons. They were received enthusiastically by the Head-Fi community; their combination of build quality, sound quality and price made them an immediate hit. In a slightly unusual and bold move the company then followed up with what was at the time their top of the line model the Empyrean, which similarly was a highly regarded and serious rival to such big hitters as the Focal Utopia and Audeze LCD-4. The range now encompasses 3 in-ear models, which are not covered in this article, plus 6 over-ear full size models.

99 NEO – The Entertainer

The 99 Neo is the entry point into the Meze soundworld. The construction is very similar to the 99 Classics but comprises of a composite material for the (closed back) ear cups instead of wood; they come with a very nice case and a removable cable plus a 6.3 mm adaptor. The sound of these is very much biased towards the low end - they are bassy. They are extremely comfortable and enjoyable to use, as well as being very slightly less demanding electrically than the 99 Classics, but will probably appeal more to listeners whose musical tastes encompass Hip Hop, R&B, Dance etc. as that bass is very pronounced. If your tastes are a little wider, then you may like to move up to the next cans in the hierarchy...

99 CLASSICS – The All-Rounder

This was the original Meze design, which carries on unchanged and for good reason - it’s a cracking headphone. The 99 Classics are nicely made from good quality materials which are assembled without the use of glue, so all the parts can be replaced if required. They are really comfortable (and they don’t creak! An undesired, mechanical, sonic infiltration) and of course the most important bit - they sound great. The sound signature is quite thick and hefty but with less of the bass bulk and a more forward midrange; the treble is relatively restrained but detailed, making the ‘phone overall quite smooth and without harshness. As they are closed back, they do isolate you from the horrors of the outside world, although they don’t isolate quite as well as some other designs. Nonetheless they are still usable either at home or on the road and, as they are easy to drive, you can plug them into a phone or DAP (such as the Chord Electronics Mojo 2 with Poly) and get excellent results. You also get a nice carrying case, a couple of different length cables (one with an in-line remote) and a couple of jack adaptors, making the whole package overall superb value. There is a fair bit of competition around this price point, but nothing I can think of combines all the virtues of the 99 Classics in a similarly desirable package. A classic indeed.

109 PRO – The New Open Classics

109 PRO - THE LATEST IN A GREAT MEZE LINEUP

Both the aforementioned units are closed back which has advantages but also a downside - the sound image is generally more ‘in the head’ and less spacious. Enter the 109 Pro - the first open back dynamic headphone from Meze. This is based on the overall design of the 99 Classics but with an enhanced design and open earcups, which make all the difference to the sound. Here we have the signature Meze warm but impactful low end with a punchy mid-bass, detailed and open midrange and a nicely extended treble range without grit or harshness. Very nice indeed! The 109 Pro are easy to drive - 40 ohm impedance and a 112 dB sensitivity - and the accessories package is also excellent. So all in all these are a really impressive first foray into open backed dynamic territory.

LIRIC – Closed Back Kings

LIRIC - CLOSED BACK DESIGN, BUT FAR FROM CLOSED SOUND

The previous three models were all dynamic driver ‘phones, but part of the cutting edge design of the higher end Meze devices is the integration of really advanced planar magnetic drivers made (in Ukraine) by a company called Rinaro. These designs are incorporated into the more premium Meze headphones because they are stunning drivers which come close to redefining the state of the art. They are quite complex in construction and function (if you are interested in the technical side of them then a well-known search engine will help you out), but in essence they work with the natural shape of the ear to focus the sound and boy do they work! The Liric is technically a portable headphone - it is easy to drive and the standard cable is terminated with a 3.5 mm jack, but don’t let that fool you - they are one of the best closed back ‘phones on the market (and one of the best headphones full stop). Beautifully made and finished, the Liric’s sound is rich, detailed and dynamic. It is a bit more lively and up front than the more expensive versions, but it excels in being as usable in a portable scenario (the passive isolation is excellent) as it is in a static one - like all the Rinaro equipped Mezes, it scales really well.

EMPYREAN – The High Life

EMPYREAN - THE VERY FIRST ISODYNAMIC HYBRID ARRAY HEADPHONE

Up until the emergence of the magnificent Elite, the Empyrean was the best headphone Meze made and it remains stunning in every way. A work of art in terms of its construction, fit and finish, it is also undoubtedly one of the most comfortable headphones ever made and the sound is jaw dropping. It is warm and engaging with endless detail and fantastic dynamics - truly a high end sound. They present music in that effortless easy flowing way that the best high end gear does; silky smooth yet full of life and nuance. If there is one criticism of the Empyrean it is that it is perhaps a little too relaxed and luscious, which means that some music can lose some of its excitement. Time for...

ELITE – The Higher Life

The best. My own personal reference and the most comfortable and engaging headphone I have ever used. Any small criticism of the Empyrean is completely dealt with to the extent it’s difficult to find any weakness with the Elite. They are designed and made to a stunningly high standard and the accessories are truly useful; 2 different earpads are provided (one alcantara set and one leather) and they have one of the easiest and most efficient pad removal systems ever designed, so you can tweak the sound signature to your own preference. Whichever pads you choose bass, mids and treble are all polished and presented to you in a supremely coherent and balanced fashion so you just relax into the music (often until very late at night!). They sound equally magnificent from a solid state or valve head amp, but are efficient enough to work most acceptably with a DAP or portable unit (such as the Chord Electronics Mojo 2 / Poly). I use mine variously with an Astell & Kern Kann Alpha (fantastic) Chord Electronics Hugo 2 / 2go (even more fantastic) and Naim Uniti Atom HE (sublime). If you’ve never heard headphones at this level you owe it to yourself to try them - it’s a very different way to enjoy your tunes and will give you a particular view on your favourites that you might just love. It’s also worth mentioning that Meze produce a range of very good quality upgraded cables (copper or silver) - I use the upgraded silver cable on mine and it takes the performance to the next level, particularly if you go for the balanced option which drops the noise floor and allows an even clearer view into that incredible midrange.

Each one of the above Meze headphones can be used balanced and come with a nicely made case and detachable cabling, both of which ascend in their quality to meet the level of craft of the particular headphone. We have demo units of these Meze x Rinaro creations available via the Reading store and we love to talk about and listen to great headphones. So feel free to call in and audition some of the magnificent products made by this exciting and focussed young company. Thank you for reading.

Gareth, Rishi and Rob – Audio T Reading

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.

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October 31, 2022

Testing, Testing, Chord Mojo 1, 2, 1, 2… Taking a look at the Mobile DAC/Headphone Amplifier.

October 31, 2022/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

There are some things in life that are pretty certain to last just a matter of days – say a viral cold or flu, the milk in the Audio T Reading fridge (excluding the one that turned to cheese a while ago) or say the job of UK prime minister or chancellor. Then there are things that are proving, or have proven, to stand the test of time – the good ol’ turntable, incredibly the Millennium Bridge in Central London (despite it originally wobbling like jelly and swaying more than a drunk uncle at a wedding) and, of course, the virgin Chord Electronics Mojo.

The Chord Mojo 2 taking the baton from the Chord Mojo - Pictured With the Meze 99 Classics

Speaking of the Mojo; Back in 2015 it was thought impossible, even by the engineering gurus at Chord Electronics headquarters, to make a super high-quality combined DAC and headphone amplifier for portable use that at the same time occupied the same footprint as a flapjack, or a slab of chocolate brownie – please excuse the half-baked attempts at conveying dimensional wishes for the Mojo. However, in a eureka moment, when a new FPGA chip appeared on the market (for deployment in place of an off-the-shelf DAC chip), Rob Watts of Chord Electronics said ah, but indeed it now can be done – and so came the birth of the Chord Mojo … It went on to win countless awards and was considered among parts of the hi-fi community to be one of the products of the decade. Fast forward to 2022… and the Chord Mojo 2 had landed. Just imagine our unbridled excitement when it did! So, without further ado, let’s go on a deep-sea exploration with the Mojo 2 and see if Chord Electronics has managed to take one of the very best, and make it better…

Chord Mojo Meets Chord Mojo 2 - The End is Only The Beginning

Nearly Over To You, Chord ‘Mobile Joy’ 2

That’s right… the original ‘Mojo’ name was conceived by Chord as a device with aspirations to bring ‘Mobile Joy’ to its eventual owners. Chord has a great way of naming their products (yes even their bizarrely titled ‘Dave’ flagship DAC/Headphone Amp is ludicrously charming) and they know how not to fix something that isn’t broken. So, just as with the infamous original, ‘Mojo 2’ has a lovely ring to it… perhaps it’s now the “Mobile Joy Joy”? Sorry, that was terrible… Please do read on…

Before we get stuck into the Mojo 2, let’s recap what the superseded Mojo was designed to do. The main focus of Chord’s Mojo was to take digitally captured music files (e.g. MP3, FLAC, DSD etc.) from our digital music sources (such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, games consoles, etc.) and make it all sound gloriously higher-fi through your headphones. Sweet. And by making the Mojo so small and battery powered, it meant we could take our high-resolution sounds with us and enjoy them on-the-move. Also sweet. Further to this, Chord even threw in an extra headphone socket so that we could do all of this and share the listening experience with a friend. Sweetness overload!

It's clear that, with the Mojo, Chord Electronics totally excelled at nailing its brief and did so with ensuing, overwhelming success. The Mojo’s mix of high-quality, versatility and simplicity – enabling us to just plug in our digital sources (via USB, coaxial or optical) and simply adjust the volume to our preference – has been a truly unmatched offering of sheer enjoyment for almost a decade… and now it’s gone… Time for us to find the biggest pillow and group-cry into it…

Refinding Our Mojo – Enter The Chord Mojo 2

Ah but wait… It’s our party and we don’t have to cry if we don’t want to… let us cheer… the Chord Mojo 2 is here! Just as with the original, it’s still about as small as a deck of cards, but this time it has some new tricks up its sleeves. Heaven knows how Chord Electronics has managed to squeeze it all in. Just a quick glance at the Mojo 2, and the only immediate difference from the first Mojo is an extra ball-shaped translucent button riding on the longer edge of the still premium feeling aluminium casework. Okay, yes, there’s the obvious number ‘2’ (no giggling now) etched into the new casework too. But upon further inspection, there is now an added USB-C port – along with the Micro-USB port that adorned the original – bringing good connectivity options with newer (as well as older) music source devices. Going back to those translucent ball buttons on the Mojo 2, they are now fixed in place (much like the Chord Qutest DAC) and no longer do they roll around in all directions to infinity as they did with the Mojo, which is perhaps a good thing for those of us with a nervous disposition and endlessly fidgety fingers.

So, what are those new tricks that are hidden inside the Mojo 2? Well, in no particular order, there is intelligent battery management, which means that you can leave the Mojo 2 tethered to a power source without it overcharging nor frying the in-built battery. Nice. Then, onto that extra spherical button… it’s part of a new control system which, in addition to the standard volume adjustment, now allows for simple functions such as locking the device from accidental button presses and for dimming those colourful disco-like Chord lights (a lighting hallmark found on other Chord Electronics products too, such as the Chord Huei MM/MC phono stage).

But the show-stopping features embedded into those new controls are firstly a crossfeed function – while it sounds like taking a bite from everyone’s delicious food in a restaurant (who would do such a thing?), it’s actually a clever way of blending a small proportion of the left-channel audio with the main right-channel, and vice versa; with the goal of enhancing stereo imaging and soundstage abilities when headphone listening, where the overall sound can sometimes have the effect of coming from very left and very right, with little in the way of nicely graduated imaging and staging in-between. The second killer embedded feature within the Mojo 2 (fans of ‘neutral’ should take a tea/coffee break now) is the option to adjust the bass, lower and upper midrange, and treble levels to either compensate for the stock frequency response of the chosen headphones (fans of ‘neutral’, welcome back) or to create a listening profile that accounts for personal taste (all fans, rejoice…).

The Chord Mojo 2’s Digital Inputs - Including USB-C (Slightly Hidden from View Here)

Neat Tricks, Mojo 2 – But How About The Sound?

Before we get to the business end of the all-important sound quality, it’s worth us touching briefly on Chord Electronics’ taps. The new Mojo 2 has an upgraded FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chip for performing digital-to-analogue conversion (DAC) duties, which now delivers 40,960 taps versus the 38,912 taps in the obsoleted Mojo. That’s 2048 more taps – more taps than a Bavarian beer festival – and what it all means, in a really rudimentary way, is that the Mojo 2 can reconstruct a waveform from the source file with more accuracy and with less noise than the Mojo. With that out in the open, let’s now wash our hands of these taps, and other nerdy jargon, and get to the fun part…

It was a pleasure to have both the Chord Mojo and Mojo 2 for audition and direct comparison. After a good number of evenings of listening to both, it has to be said that for most of those evenings all blogging duties had fallen by the wayside, because both of these devices made listening to music an absolute joy, or perhaps a mobile joy (definitely not a mobile joy joy), and the last thing anyone was in any danger of was getting a proper sleep. But one of these units eventually created more insomnia than the other… The original Mojo still sounded fantastic through a pair of Sennheiser HD 660S headphones, creating a wholly immersive experience with that signature Chord Electronics presentation. Everything in the musical mix had space to breathe, microfine details came through, and there was a massive sense of being in and amongst the performance as opposed to observing the action from a distance. Most of all, the Mojo showed that it has a fun-factor about it. It never forgot about the importance of letting its hair down, while still presenting the music with technical aplomb – what more could we ask for?

Well… we could certainly ask for the Mojo 2! Not at first though… because on initial listening through the Mojo 2, it sounded a bit too uptight. And like a stiff pair of new hard-wearing shoes, it just didn’t want to soften and break in (we’ve all had a pair of those stubborn clogs). This was noticeable on the first few evenings of auditioning, especially in direct comparison to the thoroughly worn in Mojo. Bewildered and on the verge of crowning the original Mojo the sonic champion, the Mojo 2 started to show glimmers of summoning its inner lifeforce. From this point on, hour-by-hour, album-after-album, it was gradually opening up and becoming more at one with The Matrix – eat your heart out, Keanu…

While streaming the DJ-Kicks: Kruder & Dorfmeister album from a Bluesound Node, via the Chord Mojo 2 and through the Sennheiser HD 660S (into a now very warm set of ears) it was noticeable how all of the original Mojo’s virtues were coming through, however now with improved dynamic range, more rhythmic snap, better tonal shading and generally more vigour. Moving to The Dining Rooms - Numero Deux what also kept coming through with the Mojo 2 was neutrality, to the point of sounding almost pancake-flat and not as pleasingly full as the original Mojo. Enter the frequency band adjustability within the Mojo 2. After just a few button presses, the bass and lower mid-range shelves were raised by just a notch. And in an instant, back came the fullness to the presentation, without affecting any of the other sonic goodness. While still feeling smug from the fulfilling fine tuning efforts, out came some more “tweakery” by engaging crossfeed at its lowest setting… This served to bring the stereo soundstage more out in front of the nose, whereas beforehand (with the crossfeed deactivated) the performance could be heard more inside the head. It’s a great option that could help to improve the performance of some headphones but might be best left disengaged for other cans and in-ear monitors.

Chord Mojo 2 - The Mighty Monarch Rules Supreme Over Its Headphone Kingdom

Concluding Impressions – King Chord Mojo 2

Without a shadow of a doubt, Chord Electronics have worked their magic yet again. They did it with the mighty Qutest, taking the DAC game forward from their honourable 2Qute. They did much the same in pushing the Hugo leaps and bounds ahead to deliver the stunning Hugo 2 DAC and headphone amp. And now, in the feature-packed form of the UK made Mojo 2, Chord have raised the bar of the already best-in-class Mojo and taken their entry-level DAC-amp game into the stratosphere. At the current time of writing, there isn’t a product in and around the price point of the Mojo 2 that offers the same blend of versatility, superior sound and build quality, and outright desirability. It will even drive many of the higher-end headphones out there, such as the mesmerising Meze Elite, and we are happy to report that this combination works a treat. And let us not forget, the Chord Poly network streaming module, which thankfully remains compatible with the Mojo 2. When connected in unison, the Poly and the Mojo 2 create a powerful wireless, Roon Ready, streaming solution as well as a top-notch standalone digital music player by way of music stored on Micro SD. Yet more feathers in an already pristine looking cap. Chord Electronics’ Mojo 2 is well on its way to winning a whole host of awards and it does everything the Mojo did and a whole lot more. The King is dead… long live the King!

Thank you for reading.

Rishi, Gareth and Rob – Audio T Reading

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…

The incredible equipment in this blog can be found or investigated at the following Audio T stores:

August 18, 2022

WHY IT’S GREAT TO VISIT YOUR LOCAL AUDIO T HI-FI SHOWROOM

August 18, 2022/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

On a quick wander along any local high street or shopping mall, it won’t take long before it’s impossible to avert one’s gaze from boarded-up shop fronts, whitewashed windows, ‘for sale’ signs and other high street horrors. It can all leave you feeling that you’ve just visited a ghost town (cue the classic movie tumbleweed from any western of your choosing). Without being an expert in these matters, it’s hard to pin down whether or not the exodus of the good old “bricks and mortar” shop has been caused by cut-throat internet selling, that extraordinary pandemic, Brexit, and/or other factors. When it comes to best-in-class audio-visual equipment, in addition to supplying customers via the interweb thingamajig, we here at Audio T absolutely love providing you with a variety of hi-fi goodies and services from one of our stores… yes from a good old shop! Why don’t we grab a coffee, or perhaps something cooler in this heatwave, and take this discussion a little deeper…

Ready for Action! Our Main Demo Room at Audio T Reading

Hello. We really look forward to meeting you…

Welcome to another bright, but gosh oh-so-dry, sunshining day. Here at Audio T Reading there is that morning buzz of raising the shutters to a new day and the excitement of opening our doors to meet and greet more of the hi-fi loving community. What will the day in-store bring this time? Perhaps the continued turntable renaissance will usher in vinyl enthusiasts to take a look and a feel of the crisp and clean lines of the arresting Rega Planar 6? Isn’t it amazing how the Planar range continues to appear fresh yet timeless? Or maybe the slick looking Audiolab 6000CDT CD transport will get a spin in the demo room to show a customer first-hand that CD certainly isn’t dead? It never fails to impress us just how much detail can be extracted by the latest silver spinners. Gone are the days of CD players sounding ‘digital’ – it always makes for a great in-person conversation. And let’s not forget the next-generation ways of getting a healthy dose of music – perhaps today we’ll be taking our customers through the various streaming, networking and multi room listening options offered by the likes of say Bluesound? Or maybe we’ll be demonstrating the very best of old-meets-new technology, courtesy of say high-quality CD ripping via the impressive Innuos ZENmini Mini Mk3 audio server? Here at Audio T we have many great memories of the face-to-face interactions we have with our customers. There’s a satisfaction to seeing someone’s face light up at that first moment they hear new intricacies and hidden layers of information in their favourite recording. It’s the kind of neat trick the Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 combined DAC and headphone amplifier regularly performs!

Where Great Memories are Made! Happy Customers Visiting Audio T

A “Special” in-store experience… One of many

Not long ago, we had a customer come into the shop showing a keen interest in a pair of Dynaudio Special Forty, one of the finest looking and sounding stand-mount stereo speakers around. The customer had the opportunity to explain it was a significant investment and therefore wanted to be sure they were worth the outlay, as well as wanting to see the fit and finish of the Special Forty in the flesh. We agreed with them that the best way forward was to have a listen to them in our demo room, on the end of the newly arrived and wholly engaging Rega Elicit Mk5 integrated amplifier. See, one of the benefits of operating from our shop with dedicated demo rooms is that we regularly get to connect up a number of different hi-fi systems. From this most enjoyable of exploits, we have gathered a great deal of knowhow as to which equipment combinations dovetail incredibly well together, sounding much greater than the sum of their parts. We know that a Rega-Dynaudio system is one of many synergistic combos.

During the demo, the customer got to see the sublime SolidSteel SS-6 speaker stands, upon which the princely Special Forty were showcased. The customer had been interested in upgrading his speaker stands too, so in having the perfect opportunity to ask questions in-situ about the various performance benefits of SolidSteel stands (benefits that often get overlooked given their exquisite aesthetics) the customer had all the necessary advice, the sonic fulfilment from a most enjoyable demo, as well as the assurance of speaking to an expert in-person to confidently purchase an awesome pair of Dynaudio Special Fortys in ebony wave finish, along with a mighty fine set of accompanying SolidSteel SS-6 stands suited in black.

Turntable Service, Repair and Upgrade at Audio T

Best of both - Our stores in perfect harmony with online

With the above, in-store, customer experience being one of many great examples, it’s always clear for us here at Audio T to see the benefits and importance of operating from a shop and supporting an in-shop experience for customers, something which just cannot be replicated by services online. Don’t get us wrong, we love and actively support the online model of providing great hi-fi audio-visual products too and it has its many benefits, such as being able to read up on the many great products and services that we offer, or to check out our fantastic free Music at Home+ magazine, or to catch up with the latest happenings here at Audio T via our enthusiastic staff members’ blogs. That being said, there are bespoke services that we provide in-store that make visiting one of our shops a truly unbeatable experience. Maybe you want to talk to us about a problem with your turntable? Well, here at Audio T we have the in-house expertise to assess, repair, service and even upgrade a number of turntable brands and models, including Rega and Linn, and you can visit one of our shops, with or without your turntable, to discuss with our friendly team of enthusiasts. And, in-store, we can even make up a range of cables, such as the Chord Shawline X speaker cable, for you to take away. Or we can show you, in-person, how a range of our great vinyl cleaning options actually work, such as the Pro-Ject VC-E record cleaning machine.

We also offer a part-exchange service in-store, which we are happy to talk to you about and is a great solution for taking the next steps on your hi-fi adventure. Last but not least, there’s nothing quite like coming into your local Audio T shop, talking to our bright and helpful team, and actually getting hands-on (or of course “ears-on” via a demo) to experience for yourselves how sturdy those buttons actually are, or say how slick that volume knob feels. Coming to our shop is a unique experience that can be continued to be enjoyed for years to come.

So as you walk past yet another not open for business shop that has sadly vanished into the ether, do remember that we are open for business and are happy to welcome you and get listening to some seriously good music of your choosing! Thanks for reading.

Rishi, Gareth and Rob – Audio T Reading

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…

The incredible equipment and services mentioned can be found at the following Audio T stores:

July 05, 2022

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK - GRAND SOUNDING COMPONENTS FOR UNDER A GRAND

July 05, 2022/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

Not that long ago, here at Audio T Reading, we had a visit from a wonderful new customer who journeyed in from Twickenham to see us. A little perplexed, he was looking to invest into his first proper hi-fi system. He explained that he was left confused by the plethora of options available to him, and that his odyssey had been fraught with uncertainty right up until the point of visiting our establishment. We proceeded to guide our customer through the options and following a great demo (including multiple streams of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill that remarkably were not driven by the global obsession with Stranger Things!).

During the process it came to mind that, for a newcomer to the hi-fi world, it’s a minefield out there. There are endless options, ranging from the entry-level to the sublime. And there are a multitude of different combinations that can send us plummeting into the audio abyss or see us soaring gracefully into audio nirvana. So, with inspiration taken from our customer’s recent voyage, we would like to delve a little deeper in to a few specific gems we have in-store; individual equipment which we know and can confidently show has that special ability to sound grand for under a grand. Moreso, can these treasures perform wonders way beyond their price point? Let’s find out…

The AE100² in the Audio T Reading main demo room

WE HAVE LIFT OFF – THE ACOUSTIC ENERGY AE100²

During yet another very grey and windy day at Audio T Reading, we felt there was no better way to blast away the gloom than with a pair of loudspeakers that never fail to impress, the Acoustic Energy AE100². Coming in well below the £1000 mark and costing just over £250* a pair, it wouldn’t be fair to call these little lovelies budget. That’s because they sound anything but budget - instead they exhibit sonic virtues of being balanced, sure-footed, energetic and even room filling relative to their modest dimensions. Most of all, these speakers present your music with a good dose of enjoyment. We find that they happily dovetail into pretty much every system we can put together instore at around the £1000 to £1500 mark and they are very rarely outshone by speakers in their price bracket, and in some cases those costing double the amount or more.

Here’s something to consider when looking for your first set-up… Rega’s System One is a fabulous system comprising of award winning components including the Planar 1 turntable, IO amplifier and Kyte speakers. It has been devised as an excellent option to cater to the needs of any budding hi-fi enthusiast. Using the ingredients in this system as a basis of comparison is a brilliant starting point when trying to traverse the murky waters of hi-fi selection…

If you were so inclined, it’s entirely possible to swap out the Rega Kytes for the Acoustic Energy AE100². Have no fear of the comparatively lowly price tag of the AE100², they will go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Kytes despite being nearly half the price. You may even find that you prefer them? Afterall, the Kytes have a unique look more akin with professional studio monitors, whereas the AE100² adheres to the more conventional design of hi-fi speakers and comes in three finishes - Black, White and Walnut. But that’s not to discount the Kytes in any way. Sound is a flavour at the end of the day, so don’t be shy to get in touch with us to hear the differences for yourselves and to discover some great sounding kit.

The Rega Brio in the Audio T Reading front of shop

ENTER THE ENTERTAINER – THE REGA BRIO

It has to be said, to our ears, not many amplifiers come close to the Rega Brio at this side of a grand. Every time this determined little might is part of an amplifier shoot-out in store, it almost always comes up trumps for the customer and yet one more Brio inevitably flies off the shelf quicker than a cheetah in running shoes! It’s hard to believe that so much goodness is packed into that shoebox-sized form factor. The Brio entertains. Full stop.

Whatever we play via the Brio, it brings a smile to our already happy faces - well happy most of the time! What the Brio may fall short of in outright technical specifications, such as types of inputs, it more than makes up for with its engaging, energetic and rhythmic delivery. It’s that ‘M’ word (ahem – musical – there, we said it!) which seems to mean both everything and nothing to the hi-fi community that we love and are a part of!

Some worthy words of consideration, when it comes to any of Rega’s amplifiers, try not to pay too much attention to the wattage figures. They all sound way bigger than their power on paper suggests. Just come by with your tunes and hunker down for a listen, we’ll be happy to show you, and we dare you not to tap your toes!

The Bluesound NODE in the Audio T Reading front of shop

BEATING THE BLUES - THE BLUESOUND NODE

The red pill or the blue pill? Which one should you go for? If it’s a multiroom streamer under a grand that you are after, we would suggest going blue – and in particular, the Bluesound NODE.

There are few better ways of pulling sounds from the internet and pumping them into your listening space in glorious hi-fi quality. When it comes to features, the NODE will stop short only of making you a coffee, but it’ll probably do everything else. Do you want to hear your music played in high quality, say from your phone via Bluetooth or Airplay, and then routed through your hi-fi system? Or do you want to stream your tunes directly from your preferred Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify or other music subscription service? Or maybe you want to listen to internet radio, or even perhaps stream your favourite sounds directly to your Bluetooth headphones? Whatever you want to do, the NODE very likely has it covered.

There can’t be many better ways, nor better sounding ways, of having your digital cake and eating it – especially with the inclusion of a great sounding DAC onboard, as well as the ability to connect to a separate outboard DAC should the upgrade bug bite. This makes the Bluesound NODE highly scalable, a device that will grow with you and your hi-fi system. Previous iterations of the NODE have been known to stay in countless systems for many a year. Please don’t be put off by its diminutive size. The NODE remains a modern marvel and punches well above its weight.

The tremedous trio of the NODE, the Brio and the AE100²

FINAL THOUGHTS – HUMBLE HEROIC HI-FI

The sweet spot… Value for money… Bang for your buck… you can be certain that these three hi-fi heroes are genuine examples that comfortably live up to the overarching mantra of getting-more-for-less.

When starting out on a hi-fi equipment expedition, if the choice seems daunting and the fear of disappointment looms large, you can be sure that these three examples will push the boundaries of performance at the price. Plus each one will hold its own when individual components of the system are upgraded around them.

Of course, we have other gems, like the Rega Planar 3 turntable, that also fit the bill. Those are for another time, so please do check back in. And if ever your audio voyage starts to feel murky, why not pop in to see us? We live for your hi-fi questions and would love to guide you through the process.

In signing off, many thanks to our customer from Twickenham who made the train ride over to us at Audio T Reading. After all, he is the inspiration for this article, and we hope sharing his hi-fi odyssey will bring some benefit to others on their journey, or at least will leave some good food for thought.

Thank you for reading.

Rishi, Gareth and Rob – Audio T Reading

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…

Acoustic Energy, Bluesound and Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores:

*All prices, credit terms and interest rates quoted are correct at the time of going to press but may be subject to change. E&OE

May 13, 2022

ANNI ARE YOU OK? A FIRST LOOK AT THE CHORD ANNI WITH THE SENNHEISER HD 820

May 13, 2022/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

It’s likely we will have all formed an acquaintance with the Chord’s Qutest, the dinky DAC champion that’s more than held its own over the last decade. By comparison, the Chord Anni is a much more hidden beast. It seems so rarely that the Anni is even so much as breathed a mention, despite it hailing from Chord’s stable of familiar Qutest products. A stable in which the Chord Huei, itself highly praised in the world of phono stages, completes a triumvirate of high-fidelity desktop delights.

So… what is the Chord Anni? Why would anyone need or want one? And what happened when it crossed paths with the stellar Sennheiser HD 820 headphones? Hope you’re sitting comfortably… it’s time to lift the lid on the Anni and see what lurks beneath!

Hello and welcome. A quick introduction… my name is Rishi (no, thankfully not the chancellor), and I’ve recently embarked on a dream journey into the world of working in hi-fi and audio-visual at Audio T Reading. Whilst I’m familiar to audio and hi-fi, I’m still wet behind the ears when it comes to working in a hi-fi shop. I’m loving the variety, one minute making up a lovely set of Chord Company Shawline X speaker cables complete with Ohmic plugs for our friendly customers, the next minute lugging inconceivably heavy, but also lovely, ATC SCM40 speakers up three flights of stairs to our main demo room!

Ok, truth be told, I’m not loving the lugging part. But such is life, even in hi-fi, got to take the rough with the smooth… sometimes got to swallow a stone-cold coffee whilst listening to the sweet tones of the Audio Note Cobra integrated amplifier. Actually, that amp makes even the most bitterly cold coffee taste sublime! But I digress…

While still in a daze in the new day job, I sometimes find myself eyeballing all the amazing equipment, a lot of which I could only dream of getting my hands on someday. So, one day while mesmerically gawping at the supreme Sennheiser HD 820 closed-back headphones, and with Gareth warming up a new Chord Anni desktop integrated amplifier, fresh from its crisp box, I saw a perfect opportunity to try them both together... and I did! I mean why not? Here’s what unfolded…

FIRST UP – THE CUTE, OR PERHAPS QUTE, CHORD ANNI

Curiously, I must admit, my first slightly nagging thought was… what’s the point of this Chord Anni? While it’s appreciably compact, it’s largely restricted to doing amplifying duties, and it doesn’t have the wanderlust and wire-free portability of say the Chord Hugo 2. The Anni needs to be plugged into the mains like any other integrated amplifier, so why on earth would I want to use this at home, when I can plug my headphones into my Exposure 3010S2D integrated amplifier? Oh wait, my Exposure doesn’t have a headphone output! As it turns out, none of my other equipment does either, which is why I acquired a thumb-sized Audioquest DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC/amp for headphone listening. Ok, so it turns out I’ve stumbled across a first use case for the Chord Anni.

It then also dawned on me that the Anni may be rendered redundant, as my living arrangement is such that I can reach for my full-size hi-fi and give it a blast anytime I choose, especially because I’m not sharing casa-de-Rishi with anyone else (which is to everyone else’s benefit of course). But there are many of us who have a requirement for more private listening, maybe to tune out the unwanted drone of the TV, or perhaps some of us want a little lunchtime escape to jam out to some tunes whilst working from home. And maybe jam out in the highest quality possible. This is the key with the Anni. Each and every one of its 10 watts per channel is serving up ultra-pure and magnificent quality, all based on Chord Electronics range topping ULTIMA models.

A good food-for-thought question I’ve heard come up a few times in the hi-fi circles is ‘How good is the first watt?’ Me personally, I’d rather have 10 watts of blissful audio than be subjected to 100 watts of shoulder-tightening, ear-splitting noise-a-rama! Get the first watt right, and amping up that watt becomes a joyous experience, especially if you have something of the ilk of the Sennheiser HD 820 to appreciate every bit of it. More to come on this... I’m also now thinking, with Chord’s Qutest range, which includes the Anni, it’s now a reality to have a separates system that’s diminutive, taking up hardly any space, whilst still possessing the heightened sound quality that a separate casework and separate power supply that both can, and do, bring to the table.

Ok, now I’m starting to see and get a taste for the virtues of the Anni. And after spending time listening to it, I’ll cut to the chase… I think I may want one!

NEXT UP – THE SENSATIONAL SENNHEISER HD 820

Oh my! So I mentioned earlier about being mesmerised while looking at the Sennheiser HD 820 headphones. They are a closed-back design, with a see-through window that was imploring me to have a good gawp at the sporty, but also elegant looking drivers on each earcup. Designed in this way as a visual hint, perhaps, of the potential sonic goodness on offer. To snap myself out of my stare, I did what any reasonable person should with headphones… I put them on my head! But it didn’t stop me trying to catch further glimpses of them in the conveniently reflective Perspex covid shield protecting our store counter…

But upon placing them on my bonce, I couldn’t help but notice how light and comfortable they felt in-situ. I could wear these for hours, I thought. I really, really hope they sound good, I thought some more, this time with fingers virtually crossed. Once I plugged the Sennheiser’s into the Anni, I realised I need not have harboured such insecure hopes…

BETTER TOGETHER – THE SWEET SOUND OF THE ANNI WITH THE HD 820

Upon plugging the 6.3 mm jack of the Sennheiser HD 820 into the Chord Anni, I could hear all the feed-forward corrective technology of the Anni kicking into action. A series of satisfying relay clicks were automatically adjusting to the electrical load of the Sennheiser’s to ensure the appropriate drive and volume was ready to be delivered to the HD 820. I can tell you that this corrective technology works an absolute treat! To demonstrate its excellence, I plugged in my own Sennheiser HD 660s and various other headphones of different electrical load that I had to hand, and each time the drive and volume level from the Anni was spot on. The Anni is a great unit for testing the sound quality of headphones as it does a grand job of removing the bias of higher or lower volume from the equation. For those of us with a healthy (or perhaps unhealthy) collection of headphones, the Chord Anni is bordering on being an essential pairing.

It's worth noting that the Anni will also drive reasonably efficient (and apparently even some inefficient) loudspeakers and has high-quality banana socket terminals inboard. But the Anni’s ability to drive a range of loudspeakers wasn’t tested here, though a quick peruse online implies that it does this favourably in a desktop environment.

To get to the eagerly anticipated business-end – getting some tunes flowing - a streaming solution comprising of a Bluesound Node streamer, a Chord Qutest DAC and the Anni with adjoined HD 820 was assembled. All interlinking cabling came courtesy of The Chord Company. First up, I was in the mood for some Electro, something to get this headphone system fired-up and bouncing. And bounce it certainly did while playing Skream by EMF! Initially, I wasn’t accustomed to the presentation as it’s the first time I’ve listened to a headphone setup of such gravitas (relative to what I’ve been used to). Each pounding, warbling synth-line from the HD 820 was dripping with texture and definition, so much so that while I could I hear it… I could almost taste it! The bass didn’t just thump and boom in a compressed space (what I’m normally accustomed to), but instead it completely filled the cans with a huge wall of well-defined low-frequency goodness.

Time then to try out some vocals… so a quick thumb-press on the play icon on my heavily smudged and smeared phone screen saw Billie Eilish’s Your Power set in motion. Smudged and smeared are the complete opposites of what the Anni and HD 820 are all about. On the intro to the track, it was a treat to hear, with transparency, the delicate strum-work of the acoustic guitar. Each string pluck was skilfully delineated, with the player’s finger-slides along the fretboard bringing a tingly sensation. Billie’s vocals were breathy, lazily gravely as they should be, and holographic. The experience was emotive, and it felt like the Anni and the Sennheiser’s were taking me on a guided tour around Eilish’s voice box. My shoulders further untightened, and I found myself enjoying every second.

For the final track, I cued up Dave’s We’re All Alone in This Together album, a fairly new offering and the first time I was hearing it. Please take caution, it’s an explicit offering, but one that is expertly produced and mastered. While listening to the track We’re All Alone it was noticeable how unshakably on-point the imaging of Dave’s voice was. Each carefully crafted layer of the track that sequentially unfurled into earshot had its own secure space in the mix, the fullness of the piano elements was particularly impressive as it completely and densely filled the space of the HD 820’s ear cups and seemingly filled space beyond the earcups too! An impressive feat for closed-back headphones. My head was nodding furiously like a rooster imitating a woodpecker when the rhythms snapped into focus.

That’s the thing with this Chord and Sennheiser combo… You just can’t help but get deeply engrossed into the music, and this continued way into the early hours of the morning!

CLOSING THOUGHTS – CHORD ANNI & SENNHEISER HD 820

The Chord Anni is a joy to use and while it’s minimalist feature count won’t get a technophile’s heart racing, it’s that simplicity and purity that ensures the Anni keeps out of the way of the music. Paired with the Sennheiser HD 820, the presentation is full, nuanced, engaging and above all enjoyable. There’s a brightness to the combination, but it’s the welcome kind of bright that is skilfully executed and intelligently shines a light on the performance, as opposed to that gnawing brightness that resembles the glare of an oncoming car, with poorly adjusted headlights… on a rainy night… down a pitch-black B-road… ugh you get the idea! What’s also great about the HD 820 is that its closed-back construction not only looks incredible, but it ensures a fully private and intimate listen, with minimal sound invasion to and from the outside world. The whole experience of the listening to the Anni and HD 820 has been a joy, one I didn’t want to end, and as a high quality, high-fidelity desktop solution, it’s likely there won’t be much that surpasses it. But don’t take my word for it; please do come along to Audio T to experience this system, and others. We’ll have a hot beverage and a comfy chair waiting for you…

Rishi, Gareth and Rob – Audio T Reading

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…

Chord Electronics can be found at the following Audio T stores

Sennheiser can be found at the following Audio T stores

February 17, 2022

“Music’s Finest Conductor” – Audio Note (UK) take over at Audio T Reading

February 17, 2022/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

As we have all come to know over the years, February is an exciting time in the Hi-Fi event calendar, we have the Bristol show organised by Audio T where we get to see and more importantly, hear the best, brightest and newest gear from the classic brands we love as well as any new brands on the block. Last year the show made the difficult decision to cancel due to COVID-19 and sadly the same for this year, but fear not! Audio T have come up with the solution. Each of our branches will be hosting a mini show over two days of Friday 25th and Saturday 26th of February.

Each of our stores have chosen some of our favourite brands which we carry in our inventory to showcase. You can see what all the other stores are up to Here.

The Reading offering

At Audio T Reading, we have chosen one of our premium brands – Audio Note (UK).

You may remember that an Audio T team visited the Audio Note factory way back in August 2021 (You can read the blog here). Well, some of the Audio Note team will now be visiting us here in Reading! You will have the opportunity to ask them first about the Audio Note engineering and design philosophy and a chance to hear the stunning music making that their bespoke systems are capable of.

Specifically, the Audio Note team will be headed by Micky Seaton.

Micky will be demonstrating one of their high-end bespoke systems in our exclusive Audio Note demonstration room (maximum 2-3 people at any one time). The Audio Note demo room will be on an appointment only basis so please contact us at our Reading shop for your slot, either ring us on 0118 958 5463 or email us at reading@audio-t.co.uk to book your place!

We will also have a more entry level, but still superb, Audio Note systems set up on our front of shop playing consistently, and not subject to appointment

Both systems will remain in place for a further 14 days, in case you cannot make it on 25th or 26th February

We will be demonstrating

The AN Demo room kit:

A view of our Audio note demo room showing the TT3 and power supply, cd3.1 Mkii, and Meishu tonmeister & AN e ‘speakers

TT3 turntable
CD player
Meishu Tonmeister or M3 preamplifier/Conquest mono blocks
AN-E speakers
Audio Note cables & interconnects

The Front of Shop kit:

The audio note Cobra integrated amplifier and Dac

CD Player
Cobra Integrated amplifier
AN-K speakers
Audio Note cables & interconnects

Audio Note background and philosophy

Audio Note’s tagline is “Music’s Finest Conductor”.

Founded in 1989 by Peter Qvortrup, Audio Note (UK)’s primary focus has always been on crafting equipment that faithfully reproduces the uniqueness of any recording, while retaining the music’s emotional engagement and impact, regardless of the quality, style, and era of the recording. This desire stems from Peter’s profound love of music and record collecting and has been informed by his deep knowledge of audio history, and keen interest in science and philosophy.

This is what Audio Note (UK) say about themselves and their philosophy:

“Pursuing this has lead Audio Note (UK) to become something of a maverick in the audio industry. Early on, we realised that the only way to truly achieve the best possible audio quality was to insist on making everything ourselves. This led to the development of a full range of products, from valve amplifiers to high efficiency speakers, turntables to DACS, MC Cartridges to CD players, all hand assembled using in house and custom-made components of our own design and specification

Through our own research and development, we have investigated and implemented many unorthodox design choices in our product range, from single ended, class A Zero-Feedback circuits, to removing the digital filtering and data in our CD players and DACS, to our wideband ‘speakers, that are designed to work in the room rather than against it. Preferring to trust our own ears and Peter’s “comparison by contrast” method for evaluating audio quality, rather than relying on conventional ‘Hi-Fi’ measuring criteria, every Audio Note (UK) product is carefully listened to and voiced and has been specifically engineered for sonic performance rather than technical specification.

Through this painstaking and rigorous work and our commitment to honour the recorded musical heritage of mankind, Audio Note (UK) has created equipment that offers unparalleled, insightful, and more meaningful home listening experience, be it Classical, Jazz, Jamaican Dancehall, Japanese Noise Rock, or 78rpm transfers. We commend our philosophy to the future...”

Invitation

Come and be amazed by the Audio Note (UK) experience. You will be entranced by the quality, dynamics and reality of the music conveyed through these astounding systems.

Thanks for reading

Rob & Gareth - Audio T Reading

Be sure to follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with what’s going on in store.

Audio Note can be found at the following Audio T stores:

February 01, 2022

So CD is dead? Nobody told Rega! - The Valve Isis

February 01, 2022/ Audio T Reading/ Reading

The Isis CD/DAC is part of Rega’s flagship Reference range (which comprises of the iconic Planar 10 record player, Aura MC phono stage and the Osiris integrated amplifier). It is the pinnacle of what Rega can achieve from CD replay. As well as operating as a CD player, the DAC can be separately accessed. The level of engineering is stunning and build quality is such that it comes with a lifetime guarantee against manufacturing defects. It comes in two flavours – the Solid State Isis and the intriguing Valve version. For this article, we’ll be concentrating on the latter. The specs for the solid-state version can be found here.

So what is the Isis CD Player/DAC?

The mighty Valve Isis. The four output valve pots are on the top right

The Valve Isis is the outcome of 10 years of research by legendary head electronics engineer, Terry Bateman, addressing the concept of a CD player using valves in the output amplification stage. Valves have been widely used in musical instrument amplification and recording equipment from the 1930s to the present day, therefore it made great sense to develop a valve-based CD player to match that of the signal chain found in such applications. Musicians such as guitarists prefer valve amplification for its tonal qualities. The Valve Isis shares the same digital and USB sections as found in the solid-state version; however, the analogue stage is valve based with passive filtering. This stage uses two military grade triple mica 5814A (ECC82/12AU7) triodes being driven by the revolutionary Wolfson WM8741 ultra high-performance digital to analogue converter.

Listening and Validation

First, a little background to this article…

Very recently we had the good fortune to have the Valve Isis in residence. We had a customer who wanted to hear the solid-state Isis and, thanks to Rob Noble, Rega Sales Co-Coordinator, we were able to pair it with the Valve Isis for a comparative demo. Long story short, the customer expressed a personal preference for the valve model in the demo and put in an order straight away.

The demo remained in my mind for some time as, somewhat counter intuitively, the Valve Isis seemed to me to be more dynamic, detailed and “real” compared to its solid state sibling, which was also astoundingly good, but in a different way. Was it down to the music we played during the demo which was mainly classical? Was I just imagining it all?

Before we returned the unit back to Rega I decided to validate my memories (or otherwise) and put the Valve Isis into a system that would show its true colours and see how well it coped with a range of music genres. I chose the accomplished Rega Aethos amplifier paired with the highly capable Spendor D7.2 speakers. We used the following CD’s for evaluation:

*Telemann’s Tafelmusik – Musica Antiqua Koln (Reinhard Goebel)*

I chose Miles Davis’ - “Kind of Blue” because it is a well-known and much-loved standard, and I wanted to know what the Valve Isis would bring to the party? Well, I might as well have invited the musicians into the room! It sounded so real, and I was hearing phrasing and interplay between the musicians that had not been immediately obvious via other CD players. The instruments had shape, definition, as well as tone.

So, what about original instruments late Baroque Telemann? For some, this can sound somewhat “astringent” on CD. Not here! The shape, dynamics and reality remained intact, producing a delightful and mesmerising performance.

Lets go to the opposite end of the music spectrum with The Orb. What I heard was a big spacious sound. Lots of detail, excellent tone and a bass depth that on occasions made me jump!

It appears that the Valve Isis delivers, whatever the musical genre. But one more validation to go. We put the system front of shop and left it playing, to see if we could gauge customer reaction. The feedback we got was that people were entranced by the delivery of the Valve Isis, a prevailing disbelief that they were listening to CD and general wonder at the quality of the music.

Our set-up of Spendor D7.2’s, Rega Aethos Amp and centre stage the Valve Isis, under the watchful eye of Mr Hendrix

Conclusion

Yes, the Valve Isis is high-end but if you get the chance, you owe it to yourself to hear it, to understand that CD is still a viable format, and that through the Valve Isis it produces a mesmerising experience. It will capture your complete attention.

No matter what, the Valve Isis shone through, sounding dynamic, with large and detailed imaging qualities stretching way outside the box. It seems to offer considerable tonal depth, with access to the body, shape and timbre of the music, making it seem hyper-real and “in the room”. Isn’t that what we are all seeking from our music systems?

Many thanks for reading.

Rob & Gareth - Audio T Reading

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores -

December 20, 2021

Analogue Vs Digital? Why not have both? - Linn Majik LP12 and Majik 140 DSM System

December 20, 2021/ Audio T / Reading

So I think we all know that vinyl has had a pretty successful resurgence, but there are also those out there who are firmly set in their streaming ways. Well, who said the two are mutually exclusive? Why not combine the two?

Join me now as I take a look at the superb combination of the Linn Majik 140 amp/streamer and the Majik LP12 record deck. Could this be a marriage made in heaven? Let’s take a peak…

Linn Majik 140 DSM Streaming Amplifier

Like a proverbial Swiss Army knife, the Linn Majik 140 DSM Streamer Amplifier is a one-stop box of tricks. From here you can stream all your online music, plug in your turntable, listen to Internet radio or even connect your TV to make it the center of your home entertainment system. Whatever you're listening to, Majik DSM gives you access to it all in one place, and all with a premium sound quality.

As previously mentioned, you can stream and connect from a wide variety of sources, wired or wirelessly, via WiFi, Apple’s Airplay 2, Bluetooth and so forth.

Linn’s dedicated app allows you to stream hi-res services such TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music as well as the standard Spotify, Apple Music or even your own music collection stored on an external hard drive via USB. You’ll also find several HDMI inputs to plug in your TV, Sky, Virgin or BT topset box, Apple TV, games consoles etc.

With the built-in MM configurable phono stage, the Majik DSM also allows you to add a turntable, making it the hub and beating heart of all your home entertainment.

The back of the Majik 140 showing multiple inputs

As an all-in-one network music player, it has built in preamp and power amps. Like all Linn's network music players, it has a built-in feature called Space Optimisation which allows you to tailor the performance to your room's unique characteristics. Linn has already dialled-in a whole host of presets for some of the most popular high-quality speakers. You may want your local store to help you set this up to ensure you’re getting the most out of Space Optimisation.

If like us, you are planning on pairing the Majik DSM with a Majik LP12 turntable, you will need to configure the phono stage from the Linn app, which is easy enough to do. this clever system will digitise the signal through the analogue to digital converter, and then you will then be introduced to the world of high-performance vinyl replay.

Linn Majik LP12

So, let’s take a look at the LP12 itself.

The Majik LP12 is a fantastic turntable to leap in to the world of Linn and high performance vinyl playback. Using carefully selected Linn-engineered components to let you experience the iconic and timeless aesthetic of the LP12, with all the advantages of modern manufacturing and engineering under the lid. This is a high-quality way to rediscover your vinyl or hear what high performance vinyl playback can do for you. In itself it can be upgraded by your local store, but that is another story…

You can have a read of what goes in to the maintenance and upgrade of an LP12 over at Audio T Brighton’s blog Here.

But for now we will concentrate on the gateway turntable, the Majik LP12. It includes the latest sandwich-construction aluminium sub-chassis, patented single point Karousel bearing, and internal low noise power supply and Linn’s Krane tonearm and Adikt moving magnet cartridge complete the deck. All you need to do is to plug it into the built-in phono stage at the back of the Majik 140 DSM, or it works equally well if you introduce it to any high-performance phono stage as a bridge to your existing hi-fi or an alternative amp. It is a fantastic addition to any set up to bring that musical, dynamic and rich trademark Linn sound.

How does the combo sound?

Firstly, I set up the system with a pair of Spendor A2’s to provide a compact high-quality system. Streaming from Tidal and Qobuz it provided a rich, detailed, and dynamic soundscape. Listening to the Orb (Orbus Terrarum) all the atmospherics and deep dub bass came across in startlingly good fashion. So good that I thought it time to try a larger set of speakers for a bigger room scenario, so I wheeled in the Spendor A4’s to see how the Majik 140 would cope. The Majik DSM gripped and controlled these speakers providing a large, deep, and insightful soundstage. Of course, other speakers than Spendor are available to suit a variety of tastes.

Our vinyl and streaming choices - The Orb (Orbus Terrarum) and Eno/Wobble (Spinner)

Next up I plugged in the LP12 and configured the phono stage from the Linn app (easy from an iPhone or Android phone or tablet). I then listened to the excellent Brian Eno/Jah Wobble album “Spinner,” chosen for its exceptional sonics. Through the Linn Majik LP12 the result was wonderful. The iconic reputation of the LP12 is well deserved, and it sounds surprisingly modern, not at all soft and rounded but full of charm. It sounded big, confident, and enjoyable, slightly on the warm side of neutral with natural spatial placement, which gets to the emotional heart of the music and enhances the mood.

In conclusion

What a great way to have the best of both worlds from vinyl and streaming in a compact system! Just add the speakers of your choice to explore and refresh your musical heritage and memories in high quality sound, as well as discovering new treasures.

But why just take our word for it? Come and experience it for yourself in a well curated system built around your needs. Contact us to book a demonstration.

Thanks for reading.

Rob & Gareth – Audio T Reading

Be sure to keep an eye out on what’s happening at the Reading store by following us on Facebook.

Linn can be found at the following Audio T stores

September 29, 2021

VINYL TLC - GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR RECORD COLLECTION

September 29, 2021/ Reading

In the past 18 months, it would appear that many people picked up a plethora of weird and wonderful hobbies as a result of the lockdown. We’ve seen everything from baking & breadmaking, tie-dye, DIY home improvements or even those experimenting with arts and crafts.

Now, not all of us are into such messy or exhausting affairs. Some of us like to sit back and enjoy an album to its fullest. Perhaps you’re one of those that added to the surge in vinyl sales and have recently developed a vinyl addiction? Or maybe you rediscovered your old vinyl in the loft, where it has resided for the last 20 years? Maybe you’ve inherited a vinyl collection from a relative that’s had a clearout? Or, perhaps you’re already the owner of a large and cherished record collection? Whichever applies to you, the likelihood is that you’re not aware of the benefits of maintaining your beloved discs of plastic. Hey, you might not even know what’s available?! But never fear, we’ve got you covered…

The Project VC-E ALU, with cleaning brush and vacuum arm, cleaning mixture, carbon fibre brushes and some treasured VINYL!

Here at Audio T Reading we offer a number of solutions for playing your vinyl, from your very first entry-level turntable to the highest of high end audio solutions. Your records contain many treasured moments & memories, and when kept in good condition they give a satisfying sonic experience up there with other HD formats.

But the real question that isn’t asked all too often is how can I revive my vinyl and/or keep them in tip-top condition? I’ll be attempting to provide some practical, everyday ways of doing that. Obviously, it goes without saying that your records can’t necessarily be brought back to life if they are scratched or cracked, but the dirty and dusty ones can be easily revived with a bit of TLC.

Keeping your records clean will mean that the noise and crackles on the vinyl will be a lot quieter, if not silent. You’ll also be better able to access the detail and dynamics locked inside the grooves.

So, what causes record “wear”?

Well it can be from a number of causes. It’s best to cover all your bases.

Firstly, the stylus on your record player can become coated in debris (dust and various artefacts) picked up from unclean records as well as dust in atmosphere. This is why many people keep a style cover over their cartridge. This debris can build up around the stylus and cause mistracking (the inability of the cartridge to travel through complex grooves without distortion).

Another issue to watch out for is a worn out stylus. Sadly these things don’t last forever. In fact, many manufacturers suggest that most styli last around 1000 hours and should be changed every few years. It’s important to make sure you keep on top of this as it can again can lead to mistracking, not to mention it can cause damage to the records themselves.

Did you know that we service turntables and fit new styli and cartridges? Contact your local store to find out more.

You can keep your styli healthy by maintaining the correct playing weight and anti-skate bias. If you ever need advice on this, be sure to contact us.

The biggest perpetrator for cleanliness are the records themselves. Because of the polyvinyl chloride that they are made from, they are prone to becoming statically charged, meaning they attract dust and dirt to the surface. If left on, this grime can ingrain itself into the vinyl groove and again cause serious noise and mistracking, not to mention it stops the needle from doing its job and getting deep inside the grooves for all that high-fidelity goodness.

It’s a little known fact that brand new vinyl can be left with production residue on the surface. So we’d recommend even cleaning your new record purchases. So this isn’t just for old or second hand records.

What are the solutions?

The basic aim is to keep both your stylus and records as clean as possible. The practical every day approach is to use the following:

A carbon fibre stylus brush – used occasionally and carefully to keep the debris off the stylus
A carbon fibre record brush – to sweep across the record before playing it. It also reduces the static attraction

For cleaning your record collection for the first time, or occasionally thereafter, we would recommend either manual or powered record cleaning for deeper cleaning. Some of our favourite examples are -

The Project Spin Clean Record Cleaner Mk2, which is a highly effective manual cleaner, complete with cleaning kit. All you have to do is source some distilled water (readily available online)
The Project VC-S2 and VC-E-Alu are mains powered record cleaners, which thoroughly wet clean the record via a supplied brush, and then vacuum the liquid and remaining debris from the vinyl groove (the machine has a built in vacuum motor). The VC range comes complete with vinyl cleaning solution to mix with some distilled water. The VC-E is functionally smaller than the VC-S2 and will fit into an IKEA Kallax along with your records
Last, but not least, for those with deeper pockets, the Audio Desk Pro Vinyl Cleaner, which uses a wet bath enhanced by ultrasonics to loosen dirt in the groves and a drying mode which ensures that the vinyl is ready to play within 5-6 minutes.

Project VC-E ALU & kit and carbon fibre stylus and record brush.

Conclusion

If you you use either the mains powered or manual cleaners, your records will not need to be treated again for some time, other than with a carbon fibre brush.

The advantage of the mains cleaners is that they are much more effective at lifting out the grime and detritus from the groove, whereas the manual cleaners rely on soaking and air-drying. If you have a large record collection, we strongly recommend the mains powered cleaners, They make quick and efficient work of the whole process.

In addition to keeping your records in tip-top condition, as an additional bonus, all the above cleaning products will greatly aid to prolonging to the life of your stylus.

All those treasured moments, memories and sonic highlights can be preserved. After all, everything deserves a bit of TLC occasionally!

Rob & Gareth – Audio T Reading

Be sure to keep an eye out on what’s happening at the Reading store by following us on Facebook.

Project can be found at the following Audio-T stores

July 21, 2021

TRICKLE-DOWN EXCELLENCE - THE NEW DYNAUDIO EMIT RANGE.

July 21, 2021/ Reading

Here in our Reading store, we have taken delivery of the recently announced Dynaudio Emit range, the latest iteration of Dynaudio’s entry-level model of two-channel and surround-sound speakers. We’ve decided to concentrate our efforts on evaluating the Emit 10 and Emit 20 bookshelf and the Emit 30 floor standers, exclusively in stereo music mode.

The recently discontinued predecessors of the current iteration of the Emits had developed an excellent reputation as high value, dynamic and musical entry-level speakers. To say we were sorry to see them go was an understatement. When the old models ceased production and their successors were inevitably delayed by the Covid -19 shutdown, there was still some pent-up customer demand for the outgoing range which we could not fulfill. The new Emit range certainly has some big shoes to fill. So let’s check them out…

The Technical Stuff

So, what do we have here that is different? Well, the new Emit range is the result of trickle-down technology developed from Dynaudio’s premium Evoke speakers. It's the same team working on all the products, so they can utilise their expertise to bring high-calibre product performance to people taking their first steps in real quality hi-fi.

The cabinets

What impresses is the attention to detail and finish. Everything is thought through and made to count. This is about look and feel, and you can’t help but be impressed at how well everything is put together. The cabinets have a stylish, clean, minimalist design, all with a selection of finishes that would sit comfortably in most domestic settings. Available in Black, White and Walnut finishes complete with detachable fabric grilles

From left to right - the Emit 30 and stand-mount Emit 20 and 10. Note the tweeder protector on the Emit 20!

Both the bookshelf and the floorstanders are solid & sturdy and sit securely on stands and the floor respectively. The speakers each have a removable yellow magnetic tweeter protector to guard against unwanted little fingers or paws pushin in the cerotar tweeter. Just be sure to take them off when listening to music, or you might wonder where all the high-end has gone!

Detail of the flared bass reflex port on the emit 20

The 2021 Emit loudspeakers all feature 18mm MDF custom laminate finished cabinets sporting a new dual-flared bass-reflex port, optimised to reduce air turbulence and minimise unwanted 'chuffing' with deep notes rifling the air outwards.

Each separate speaker in the range features a a bespoke level of acoustic dampening material to achieve the optimum level of openness without any compromising resonant frequencies.

Dynaudio Emit Drivers

It is apparent that thoughtful attention to detail has been paid at each level of the design and manufacturing process. Handling the upper-frequency range is Dynaudio's Cerotar tweeter, which has quite a lineage. As mentioned before, tech has been borrowed from the renowned Evoke series. The Cerotar is derived from the Esotar Forty tweeter developed for the renowned Special 40 speaker. Boasting a custom “AirFlow” magnet made from exotic materials and a 28mm voice-coil, formed from aluminium with a clever Hexis inner dome controlling airflow. The idea behind all this is to reduce unwanted resonances behind the coated fabric soft-dome diaphragm thanks to advanced airflow optimisation in the rear chamber. The aim is to produce cleaner, sweeter high frequencies.

The Emit's midrange units and woofers are also based on those found in the Evoke range. These are bonded directly to the copper-clad aluminium voice-coil assembly, which promises to give more control over their movement. They utilise dual-stacked ferrite-ceramic magnet systems - using more magnets is about achieving greater control over the driver's movement and excursion for increased sonic precision. It also helps to improve dynamics at lower frequencies, whilst maintaining impressive midrange performance.

Dynaudio Emit Crossovers

Dishing out the drivers’ duties are hybrid design crossovers, using varying combinations of first, second, and fourth-order topologies. According to Dynaudio, the reason for this is simply because “one size doesn't fit all”. So instead, each speaker in the range is given its own combination of crossover designs to ensure sonic unity across the series. At the same time, this approach is said to enable the company to optimise each individual speaker's performance for the job it has to do.

How do they sound?

One of the most outstanding attributes is the consistent sonic picture across the range. Given the laws of physics, you will understand that the smaller drivers of the Emit 10 will not project the same way as the floor standing 30, but the point is that there is a signature “family sound” across the range. So, all that deep and considered engineering seems to have successfully worked.

All the models get to the core of the music, its dynamics, nuances and timing clues. There is a standout agile bass, a focussed midrange and insightful treble. Altogether, they project a cohesive and deep sound field.

They certainly don’t lack excitement and are superb for long-term listening sessions, as you will find when you get delightfully lost in the performance!

What do they work with?

Whilst Hi-Fi in it’s very nature is subjective and mostly modular, you’ll find that certain configurations just gel together. During our listening sessions we found the Emit 10 worked well across a range of systems. They truly complimented our trusty go-to vinyl system comprising of a Rega Planar 3 and Brio, but also performed above our expectations in a higher-end compact digital system on the end of a Naim Uniti Atom. After this, we thought we’d mix it up a little and set-up a streaming system comprising of the Leak Stereo 130 and Bluesound Node, which was deeply satisfying. Moving on from here we placed them with several higher end streaming systems and the Emit 10 proved to be a real chameleon that responds well to system upgrades. Whatever the level, they always produced a sonically cohesive sound, with a tight but deep bass.

The emit 20’s in their element in the dem room, with the Rega/Innuos system

Next we put a pair Emit 20 on the end of a Rega Elicit- R, Innuos Zen Mini, and Rega Planar 6 with Exact MM cartridge. What we got was a rich and immersive sound that took us to the heart of the performance. We tried this combo with a range of music, from jazz to heavy dub with excellent results. What was particularly impressive was the way it grabbed the true essence of that reggae/dub sound of Lee Scratch Perry, allowing all the dynamics bass through, but keeping the mid and upper ranges under control, a well balanced mix. These speakers performed really well in our large demo room, whereas some speakers of a similar size can be easily lost.

The Emit 30 performed astonishingly well on the end of a Linn Majik DSM, proving that the Emit series are more than capable to up their game with better amplification and front-end music services. A real standout system for myself was the Emit 30, Rega Elicit-R, Innuos Zen Mini and Rega Planar 6. A setup that I can only describe as “simply epic”

In conclusion

So, a spectacular and flexible “entry” level series of products, high quality in their own right, whilst giving a taste of what is achievable higher up the Dynaudio range.

But why just take our word for it? Come and experience it for yourself in a well curated system built around your needs. Contact us to book a demonstration.

Rob & Gareth – Audio T Reading

Be sure to keep an eye out on what’s happening at the Reading store by following us on Facebook.

Dynaudio products are available in these stores:

Music Used

You might want to try some of these…….

· Nubya Garcia – Source

· Morcheeba – Blaze Away

· Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Ghosteen

· The Orb (feat. Lee Scratch Perry) – More Tales from the Observatory

· Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Come Find Yourself

· Lee Scratch Perry – Double Seven (Red vinyl)

· Various Classical (streaming)

Audio T Blogs

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL – A SUITABLE SOURCE

TURNING UP THE SILENCE – EAGER AMPLIFICATION

BE SENSITIVE – LIVELY LOUDSPEAKERS

CAN YOU PLEASE TURN THAT DOWN – AND ENJOY

A bit of backstory

NEAT PETITE – SHE’S A REALLY SWEET – CLASSIC

AUDIO NOTE AX ONE – NO AX TO GRIND WITH THESE

P3ESR XD – NOT A CAR REG PLATE, BUT A SWEET HARBETH

Lasting impressions from the small speaker expedition…

99 NEO – The Entertainer

99 CLASSICS – The All-Rounder

109 PRO – The New Open Classics

LIRIC – Closed Back Kings

EMPYREAN – The High Life

ELITE – The Higher Life

Nearly Over To You, Chord ‘Mobile Joy’ 2

Refinding Our Mojo – Enter The Chord Mojo 2

Neat Tricks, Mojo 2 – But How About The Sound?

Concluding Impressions – King Chord Mojo 2

Hello. We really look forward to meeting you…

A “Special” in-store experience… One of many

Best of both - Our stores in perfect harmony with online

WE HAVE LIFT OFF – THE ACOUSTIC ENERGY AE100²

ENTER THE ENTERTAINER – THE REGA BRIO

BEATING THE BLUES - THE BLUESOUND NODE

FINAL THOUGHTS – HUMBLE HEROIC HI-FI

FIRST UP – THE CUTE, OR PERHAPS QUTE, CHORD ANNI

NEXT UP – THE SENSATIONAL SENNHEISER HD 820

BETTER TOGETHER – THE SWEET SOUND OF THE ANNI WITH THE HD 820

CLOSING THOUGHTS – CHORD ANNI & SENNHEISER HD 820

The Reading offering

We will be demonstrating

Audio Note background and philosophy

Invitation

So what is the Isis CD Player/DAC?

Listening and Validation

Conclusion

Linn Majik 140 DSM Streaming Amplifier

Linn Majik LP12

How does the combo sound?

In conclusion

So, what causes record “wear”?

What are the solutions?

Conclusion

The Technical Stuff

Dynaudio Emit Drivers

How do they sound?

What do they work with?

In conclusion

Music Used

Audio T

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