Audioquest Jitterbug - Best £40 Upgrade for your Hi-Fi?

Just arrived in Portsmouth the new Audioquest Jitterbug USB Data and Power Noise Filter.

All you have to do is plug this USB filter into any audio based USB socket, like in our Naim Superuniti pictured above. Or you can use it in-line with any USB cable, for example going to a USB DAC.

It makes an obvious improvement/change to the sound of the system, making it more refined. It also seems to reduce the noise floor, and generally makes the system sound cleaner.

Come in for a demo and hear for yourself!

The Audioqest Jitterbug is available on home loan or if there is no demo unit available, on sale or return from the following branches of Audio T:  Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Portsmouth, Swindon

Latest Additions - Audioquest, Ruark, and Teac

Three great new reasons to visit Audio-T Portsmouth.

1. Audioquest Nighthawk headphones. These excellent new headphones are a must to audition at £499. They are super comfortable, and have a very clean and open sound while also retaining a smoothness that makes them easy to listen to for long periods.

2. New Ruark R4 £649.95

The new R4 has a few differences compared to the older model. Gone is the dock on the top but it now comes with Bluetooth instead. It's slightly smaller but Ruark have still managed to improve the sound, and they have also improved the usability.

3. Teac TN-300 Turntable £299.95 (Cherry pictured)

We have added this glossy looking turntable to our range for several reasons. Apart from the great looks, it has the flexibilty to plug straight into any system with an auxiliary input due to it's built in switchable phono stage. It also has a USB output. Changing from 33 to 45 rpm is also switched easily.

New Speaker Bonanza - Rega & Monitor Audio

We have had 3 new ranges of speakers arrive recently. Rega have a new range of speakers, and Monitor Audio have a new Bronze range and Gold range.

The new Rega speakers range from the RX1 at £798 to RX5 at £1698. RX1 and RX3 pictured below.

The new Monitor Audio Bronze range from the Bronze 1 £230 to the Bronze 6 at £700.

The new Monitor Audio Gold range from the Gold 50 at £950 to the Gold 300 at £3000. We are keeping the Gold 50, Gold 100, and Gold 200 in stock for demonstration.

 

Naim Super Lumina

Naim's new top quality cables arrive at Pompey! We now have demonstration Naim Super Lumina 5 Pin DIN interconnect, and 5M pair of speaker cable for anyone with a higher end system, especially Naim, who wants an upgrade. 5 pin DIN interconnect £1750 and 5M Pair speaker cable £3000 (other lengths are available) We can arrange a home loan if you would like to try them with your system.

Top 5 Affordable Hi-Fi Upgrades

These are our top 5 upgrades for a Hi-Fi system without breaking the bank.

1. Mains Cables

There are some products that make a good difference to the sound of a hi-fi system that seem to defy logic, and fancy mains cables are one of those products. However trust us, they make a worthwhile improvement to almost all systems and these are our two favourites under £200.

Chord Company Power Chord (IEC style only) 1M £175

Audioquest NRG-1.5 (Figure 8 style) 1.8M £145

2. Analogue Interconnects

It's an obvious one but upgrading your interconnect will make a big difference, even if it's a decent one from a few years ago the technology used keeps moving forward. Our favourite mid priced lead at the moment is the Chord Company Anthem Reference. It's not cheap at £450 for a 1M but the price will be going up on the 1st April, and it represents excellent value for money at the moment.

3. USB and Ethernet Cables

This is another controversial one, and only for those who have embraced the newer computer based music streamers and storage. Like the mains leads, some will argue that they can not make a difference, however we will happily refund customers who buy them and do not hear a worthwhile improvement. These are our favourites.

Audioquest Cinnamon RJ/E Ethernet 1.5m £79

 

Audioquest Carbon USB 1.5M £145

4. DAC

Getting a good quality DAC can make a massive difference to the performance of your Hi-Fi. They are especially good if you are taking music directly from a computer, but can also be good as an upgrade to an older CD player or Sonos. Please remember to budget for decent cables as well! Our current favourites are:

Arcam irDAC £399

Naim DAC-V1 £1295 (Price increase 1st April)

5. Cartridge (Plus service)

For those into vinyl, or getting back into vinyl. If your turntable is a few years old having your turntable serviced and changing/upgrading the cartridge will pay dividends. These are our favourite cartridges without spending a fortune.

Ortofon 2M Red £85

Dynavector DV 10X5 £379

Marantz NA6005 Network Player

If you have Marantz 6005 or 6004 series products this is the Network Player to match. It also does internet radio, Airplay, Bluetooth and Spotify so it ticks almost all the computer/internet music boxes.

So it is any good? In a word yes. It's feels reassuringly weighty and well put together like the PM6005 and CD6005 and comes with a decent remote. The sound compliments the other Marantz units perfectly and the Ipad app to control it is nicely designed and easy to use. It's handy to be able to operate the unit from the front panel as well.

 Basically it's a really nice Network Audio Player for £499.

Bluetooth your system with an Arcam Mini Blink Wireless DAC

Upgrade any system and make it Bluetooth for less than £90

For less than £90 the Arcam Mini Blink allows you to stream wirelessly to any system be it vintage or contemporary.

If you have a bluetooth capable device and want to be able to hold your entire album collection in your hand, or stream from your music service such as Quobuz or Spotify for example, then this is the up grade to make.

Using the latest apt X CODEC the Mini Blink connects to your device in seconds and offers superb sound quality.

Although the Mini Blink comes with all the cables you require to get started an improvement can certainly be heard by upgrading the interconnects. We have found the Audioquest Evergreen 3.5mm to 2-RCA is a good pairing.

We are happy to demonstrate the mighty Mini Blink in store.

New Rega DAC-R

We have recently received and tested the new A synchronous Rega DAC-R, what an improvement!

The new DAC-R fitted superbly between the Rega Saturn and the new Rega Elex amp via a digital coax, connected to which where the PMC Twenty23.

We played a variety of music from Mozart, Phantom Limb to Creed. The detail resolution is greater in comparison to its predecessor, which was pretty astounding in its own right, and it quite happily bounced along with what ever we played. The DAC-R is very transparent not favouring one genre of music over another.

 

If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive yet profound upgrade to your system the Rega DAC-R is worth serious consideration.

If you have an existing system Home Loans are available as well as demonstrations in store. We can even give you various cables to try if you want to make a night of it.

REL UK Tour arriving in Portsmouth

Proudly presenting REL Acoustics in our Portsmouth store on Decemeber 4^th

The only way to truly understand the impact a REL subwoofer has on your entire system, is to hear it first hand. We guarantee you’re going to love the way it sounds.

We will be running two separate demonstrations throughout from 11am – 6 pm.

 

Firstly, showcasing the REL Gibraltor Sub Bass System in a Hi-Fi setting & demonstrating the benefits of using LongBow wireless connectivity and Bassline Blue cables, using PMC loudspeakers.

 

Secondly, using REL Serie S Sub Bass Systems in a Home Cinema setting featuring Dolby's stunning new Atmos surround sound technology, giving a true multi dimensional experience.

 

Representatives from REL will be available throughout the day as will light refreshments & free car parking.

Please contact Nick, Joe and James to book your space. We look forward to seeing you & hope you enjoy the Sub Bass experience!

New at Portsmouth - Naim, Ruark and B&W

We have had several new exciting products arrive in store recently. I'm not going to go into much detail in this blog, but we may have a more in depth look in another blog soon.

Firstly the fantastic Naim Mu-so streaming system. Highly anticipated but still managed to surpassed our expectations with it's stunning sound quality. Well worth the £895 price tag. You could even use it as a soundbar for your TV!

Secondly, another top quality one box system. The Ruark R2 Mk2 £399 is a real step forward from it's predecessor. It loses the ipod dock on the top but gains Bluetooth, also gains a better display, is more intuitive to use, and sounds better.

Lastly, but certainly not least the new B&W CM series 2 speakers. We currently have the CM1 S2 £649, CM6 S2 £1499 (stands not included) and CM8 S2 £1499 models. The CM6 S2 shown below with it's distinctive tweeter on top. The CM1 S2 and CM8 S2 are a more traditional design with the tweeter in the speaker cabinet. All the models are a good improvement over the previous version but we particularly like the CM6 S2.

Dolby Atmos - Ultimate Surround Sound?

Dolby Atmos is the very latest surround sound technology being put into home cinema amplifiers, trying to give a more 3D surround sound effect than the normal 5 or 7.1 surround formats. To show it off, we have a 5.1.4 system set up in our demo room which we will try to keep running for anyone to drop in and experience.

This is basically a 5.1 system (as used with Dolby Digital and DTS) with an additional 4 speakers. That may sound like a lot of speakers, but we are showing two possible options of adding the extra speakers.

 One option is to use in ceiling speakers as shown in the picture below:

Or you can use additional speakers pointing upwards as shown below:

You will also need a Dolby Atmos enabled home cinema amp like this Pioneer SC-LX58 £1399

So come in, have a listen, and see how impressive the latest generation of surround sound is.

Dynaudio Excite

The new Dynaudio Excite range has arrived in Pompey. It has been a few years since we stocked any of Dynaudio's normal speakers but we were so impressed with the new Excite range that we just had to have them!

Currently we have the X34 floorstanders (pictured below) running in on our shop system priced at £1999.95

And the X14 stand mounted speakers at £899.95, fresh out of the box, not even run in yet.