THE BRISTOL HI-FI SHOW 2025 - THE MASSES, THE MUSIC AND THE LEGENDS

It’s been a few weeks since The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2025, and the dust is just about settling. As ever, it was a very busy weekend that flew by in a flash. At 10am on Friday morning, the doors open, and suddenly it’s 5pm on Sunday — time for the exhibitors to pack down and begin the mammoth task of returning the hotel to normal.

This was about the 30th show I’ve worked at, the first being in 1992 (when I hadn’t been working for Audio Excellence for very long). I was completely amazed at the scale of the show and the number of exhibitors all under one roof. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s even more of an incredible event — packed with exhibitors and so much to see and hear. I thought I’d give you a little insight into the show and share my highlights from the 2025 Bristol Hi-Fi Show.

Behind the scenes

In the lead-up to the show, exhibitors start arriving on the Wednesday to begin unloading their equipment and setting up their rooms, alongside construction crews building the impressive stands you’ll see — like the many of the setups in the Bristol Suite on the ground floor. The sound of power tools fills the air! Thursday sees the majority of the exhibitors arrive, with a huge team of porters working like an army of ants, getting vast quantities of equipment from lorries and vans into the right rooms for each manufacturer in record time. I usually arrive on Thursday afternoon to help with setting up the Audio T sales rooms (though, to be fair, most of the hard work is already done by our brilliant IT team, who set up the till systems and more).

For anyone who’s attended the shows over the years, it’s clear just how much work goes into getting everything up and running. It’s a true testament to Audio T, the hotel and all the manufacturers for their continued efforts to put on such a fantastic show for loyal Hi-Fi and home cinema enthusiasts year after year.

By late Thursday evening, the madness starts to calm. Everyone is busily fine-tuning their systems, and the hotel gradually fills with the sound of music as more setups come to life. It’s a magical moment when the rooms transform from chaotic setups into immersive listening spaces, each one showcasing something different — from powerful floorstanding speakers to delicate turntables, all working in harmony to deliver unforgettable sound experiences.

It is time…

Friday morning arrives, and the hotel is buzzing! It’s an early start for everyone — make sure you hit that breakfast buffet hard, as you never know when you’ll get a chance to grab a snack during the day (speaking from experience). Then it’s down to the ground floor sales desk to gather the team for a briefing — and then it’s all systems go!

The Audio t sales team

Throughout the weekend, the energy never drops. There’s a constant flow of excited visitors exploring room after room, discovering the latest equipment, chatting with experts, and soaking in the music. Whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or new to the world of Hi-Fi, The Bristol Hi-Fi Show offers something for everyone — it’s a true celebration of sound.

The Hard Working STaff on the Entrance Desks

The clock approaches 10am, our fabulous team are ready to go at the main entrance and a quick step outside for some fresh air — and the sight which we have come to expect over the years of a queue heading off around the hotel is there once again — fantastic!

The doors open and before we know it the corridors are full of visitors, the exhibitors' rooms are all open and filling up, and at the sales desk, we remember the quiz we play every year which is: “how long will it be before we hear someone playing Hotel California?” So — if you were near the ground floor sales desk and heard a collective “NOOOOOOO!!!” — now you know why. There have been a lot of songs over the years that get used and used and used, but the one that seems to be lingering is Hotel California, and let’s be honest — there’s only so many times you can hear it!

As the day goes on, it’s the usual very busy Friday. We are super busy on the sales desk offering advice, helping first-time visitors find their way around the hotel, and of course making lots of sales. For anyone that has visited the show, you will have seen the huge Chord Company stands as soon as you enter the show and their eager team greeting you as you come in. Needless to say, with their great show offers and bargain cable bins, they were one of the most popular purchases at the show.

Another very popular purchase at the show was IsoAcoustics, and has been for a good few years now. A fantastic product that is so quick and easy to demonstrate, lots of visitors were purchasing the amazing Gaia Speaker Isolation feet. If you have not experienced any of the IsoAcoustics range then it’s well worth checking them out at your nearest Audio T store.

Some personal highlights…

I managed to get out and about this year to take a look at some rooms, so here’s a few that really stood out for me:

Firstly, David and Goliath — the fabulous little WiiM products, who were launching their new WiiM Vibelink amplifier to sit alongside the WiiM Ultra. Then, to the absolutely bonkers demo from REL Acoustics (by far the most attended room of the show), who were demonstrating a six-pack of Reference Subwoofers alongside some amazing Audio Research electronics. For anyone that heard this demo, I’m sure you’ll agree — it was breathtaking!

A few other products that caught my eye include the new Quad 33/303 amplifiers, Ruark’s new R610 Music Console and Sabre-R speakers and the all-new Acoustic Energy AE300² series speakers.

A couple of my favourite sounds at the show were the Focal Stellia headphones using the Naim Atom Headphone Edition. I had heard the Focal Stellia headphones a while ago but had forgotten how good they can sound when driven with an appropriate amplifier like the Atom.

They say, “Never meet your Heroes”…

But perhaps—well, no, not perhaps—definitely the highlight of the weekend for me was meeting the legend that is Bob Harris OBE. I’d heard he would be making an appearance on both Friday and Saturday in the Audio Note room, but Friday was far too busy for me to get away from the sales desk. I hoped that Saturday afternoon would be quieter, giving me a chance to make it up to the fourth floor in time.

Luckily, I bumped into Micky from Audio Note before the show opened on Saturday and asked when Bob would be there. “Come up about 4pm, and I’ll introduce you”, said Micky. I told the rest of the team that no matter what was happening, at 3:50pm, they had to send me away to the fourth floor!

Right on cue, 3:50pm arrived, and I made my way up to see Audio Note, where Bob was just finishing his presentation. Then, I was introduced. It was an absolute pleasure to meet the man who had shaped my love of country music through his shows over so many years. I mentioned some of my earliest memories of tracks he played that had caught my ear back in the ’90s. Naturally, he knew them well, immediately rattling off the album titles they were from—an incredible encyclopaedic brain for music and a true gent, as you’d expect.

Meeting Bob rounded off the show perfectly for me. I returned to the sales desk with the biggest smile.

The show must end…

Not long after that, the show came to a close. We served the last of our customers at the sales desk, and the monumental task of clearing the hotel of all exhibitors began. The team of porters and Audio T’s crew sprang into action. Vans and lorries queued up outside, arriving in their booked time slots for loading. Trolley after trolley of equipment poured out from the lifts into waiting vehicles with military precision. This is the incredible part of the show — unless you’ve seen it, it’s hard to believe how the team manage to clear the entire exhibition by 10pm. It’s just amazing. A burger and a beer in the bar, and then off to bed.

Monday morning brought the job of clearing out all the apparatus, signage, IT equipment… all the behind-the-scenes bits — and then it was time to head home. And that was it — another show, over in a blur.

On behalf of myself and Audio T, thank you to everyone who visited us at the sales desk and in our rooms. We met some lovely people, caught up with familiar faces we see every year, and had some fantastic chats about all things Hi-Fi and Home Cinema.

I’m already looking forward to the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2026 — make a note in your diary now: Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd February 2026. See you there!

Thanks for reading

Nic - Audio T Swansea

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…

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Couldn’t make it to the show? Don’t worry — you can still catch all the highlights! Check out our photos from The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2025 here, or dive into a fantastic collection of interviews with a wide range of exhibiting brands here.

Audio T Swansea and the ATC SCM40 (Passive) loudspeakers.

tHEY’RE HERE!

The Acoustic Transducer Company, or ATC as they are better known, has been a stalwart of the studio monitoring scene for five decades. Founded in 1974 by Billy Woodman to manufacture custom drive units for the professional audio industry, ATC quickly made its mark with a 12″ bass driver—a design capable of handling more power and producing less distortion at a higher sound pressure level than any other unit on the market at the time.

In 1976, ATC introduced a groundbreaking soft-dome midrange driver, which delivered a wider bandwidth, more uniform dispersion, and significantly lower distortion than was previously thought possible.

The following decade saw the launch of complete speaker systems, alongside further versions of high-power PA drive units supplied in OEM form to leading manufacturers and performers—early customers included Pink Floyd and Supertramp. Today, ATC speakers can be found in prestigious venues such as the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.

NICELY PACKAGED, FAIR PLAY.

Having established a market for reference-quality, precision-made monitors, ATC went on to develop a succession of smaller loudspeakers, ranging from the compact SCM7s through to the 10s and 20s. Available in both active and passive versions, these models brought ATC’s renowned performance and reliability into the music lover’s home.

In 1996, ATC launched its first stand-alone high-performance electronics. The SCA2 preamplifier and SPA2-150 power amplifier (later joined by the SIA2-150) were built in line with ATC’s philosophy, achieving performance figures that remain impressive to this day. The latest versions continue to deliver outstanding precision and musicality and come highly recommended.

ATC continues to design, engineer, and manufacture all of its drive units at its factory in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

ANY EXCUSE TO GET THE TOOLS OUT

SOOO… THAT’S WHAT THEY ARE.

Whilst all that history is reassuring, it was our own overwhelmingly positive experience with ATC products that made us eager to become ATC stockists. The ever-helpful Dave S at ATC has been incredibly generous in lending us various models of active and passive speakers over the past 12 months—from the modest to the comedy-double-take priced—allowing us to get a real feel for the ATC family sound and the company’s design philosophy. His patience has paid off.

Whilst we’ve been happily evaluating the ATC range (keep it to yourself, but Audio T literally pays us to listen to music), our customers have also been introduced to the ATC family sound—and their response has been overwhelmingly positive. This may or may not have influenced our decision.

VOILA! BY ‘ECK THEY’RE GORGEOUS.

We’ve started with a pair of rockin’ black stand-mount models—the SCM11s at £1,650—alongside these handsome, cherry-veneered floorstanders, the SCM40s at £4,750, which are a firm favourite.

Standing just under a metre tall and 37cm wide, with elegantly curved cabinet sides, they’re far from imposing in the average British sitting room—one of the many reasons for their appeal.

If we’re being honest, while we like to tell ourselves that audio performance is all that matters, sneaking a pair of 2m-high aluminium horns past our ‘significant other’ and into the lounge is always going to be an uphill battle.

The grilles are particularly unusual in that they’re barely visible at all. Typically, grilles obscure the loudspeaker drivers—but I rather like this approach!

THOSE TRICK GRILLES - PROTECT BUT DON’T OBSCURE.

Manoeuvring their 31kg weight around the room to find the ideal position had us reaching for the teapot—giving our Chord Electronics amplifier time to push some electrons through them and begin the running-in process. It didn’t take long. By the time we’d finished our tea, it was already clear how open and revealing the SCM40s were going to be, even if they did sound rather forward at first!

LINN SELEKT STREAMER, REGA PLANAR 10 TURNTABLE, ARIA PHONO STAGE, CHORD ELECTRONICS ULTIMA 3 PRE AND ULTIMA 5 POWER AMPLIFIERS, BLACK RHODIUM CABLES AND A SOLIDSTEEL RACK.

Eighteen hours later, they’d settled in nicely—the initial boom and tizz had all but disappeared, the bass had become far more articulate, and the hard treble had softened to a far more listenable level. Another 24 hours and the SCM40s had truly shifted into top gear. The open character for which they’re so highly praised in the press was now unmistakable, as was the midrange clarity and bass purity. These are no overblown boom boxes—if it’s not on the recording, they won’t pretend that it is.

Drums are a particular highlight—clean, fast, and tight. You can hear every element of a piano—keyboard, hammers, strings, and body—while female vocals are rendered with exceptional naturalness. And as for funk bass guitar… let’s just say it’s so indecent, it’s almost NSFW.

But don’t just take my word for it—come down to Audio T Swansea and have a listen for yourself...

Thanks for reading

Nic, Adrian and Andy at Audio T Swansea

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…

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ATC can be found at the following Audio T stores -

SWANSEA

BRIGHTON

BRISTOL

MANCHESTER

SOUTHAMPTON

Jack of All Trades? The Marantz Stereo 70S AV Receiver

Our story begins with the arrival of our new demo Panasonic TV-65Z95AEB television just a short while ago. Obviously we needed an amplifier and speakers to accompany it (obviously!), looking all lonely as it was on its stand, so we started scratching around for something a bit more interesting than a stereo amp with a DAC inside. Remembering the Marantz Stereo 70s, we connected one and fired it up.

such a cute display

The 70S is a unit that on first look, appears to fall between two stools. Is it a stereo amplifier or is it a home cinema one? Well... It’s kind of both. In our Swansea store, I’m the only staffer with a “traditional” home theatre set-up – a chunky multi-channel amplifier, five speakers & a subwoofer (well two actually, but that’s another story). I thoroughly enjoy the immersive nature of it, I use it for music, film, TV, gaming and it sounds terrific. I’ve spent a long time building it and because I work in a big-boy toyshop, I get to choose from a great many nice things.

My colleagues have different priorities and therefore take a different approach. They are both very much “music first” individuals and their systems at home reflect this – turntables, phono stages, streamers, amplifiers and speakers. To enjoy film and live concerts more, (because why wouldn’t you?) they’ve connected their TVs to their amplifiers via a DAC of some description and very much enjoy the stereo soundtrack to accompany the latest Glasto or episode of “Slow Horses.”

that bowie fellow is everywhere

Inputs

Now, this approach is all fine and dandy if you don’t mind (or secretly rather enjoy) having lots of boxes and adding another to your existing system, but what if you’re looking for a new amp, but can’t (or won’t) entertain the multi-unit approach and are really into music, film, TV, gaming and want to enjoy them all? Enter the Marantz Stereo 70S. Equipped with six HDMI sockets, three of which are 8K, plus eARC for audio from one’s television, a couple of analogue RCA inputs, a moving magnet turntable input, optical and coaxial digital audio inputs, a DAB/FM tuner and Marantz’ proprietary HEOS music streamer (accessed from their HEOS app) capable of playing music files from Tidal, Amazon HD, Apple Airplay2, Spotify Connect, your own networked music and internet radio, all in one very smart-looking box.

just about every input one could reasonably hope for, including a dab/fm tuner

Outputs

Outputs for two pairs of speakers, two subwoofers, a power amplifier (should 75Watts somehow prove insufficient) and second zone analogue pre-outs appear on the logically laid out rear panel. A full-sized (6.3mm) headphone socket is a welcome inclusion on the front.

It’s a handsome product, the new double-deep fascia design draws positive remarks from just about everyone who sees it. I particularly like the minimalist, recessed LED display which to me at least, is curiously nautical and the smart dark grey/brown handset is back-lit – oh so useful for those dark winter evenings.

that raft of hdmi sockets in all their glory

Performance

The musical performance is suitably gutsy and coherent, with plenty of layers revealed and satisfyingly resolved. 24 bit files are particularly well treated. The moving magnet phono stage is pleasingly serene, as are the other analogue inputs. Audio via HDMI sounds spacious, clear and solid. There’ll be far less straining to hear film dialogue than with typical TV speakers and soundbars.

With no Dolby Digital decoder, you’ll need to setup your source HDMI audio outputs to ‘normal’, ‘stereo’ or ‘PCM’ or you'll hear nothing at all.

By a curious quirk of fate, I found a function on Netflix called ‘Netflix Spacial Audio’ Designed to enhance stereo listening, Netflix Spatial Audio makes no discernible difference when heard on TV speakers, but bursts into life when deployed on the Marantz, yielding a wide soundstage and locking the dialogue to the centre of the screen, despite no centre speaker being present. It’s really most impressive. Bravo Netfix engineers.

the heos control and music streaming app in all its glory

Control

The breadth of connectivity options, including 8K-capable HDMI, plus HEOS streaming, makes it impressively flexible. It's wonderfully musical for the price, capable of fine detail with a particularly melodious midrange.

Marantz has created an alternative home cinema experience, free from the complexities of multichannel sound. For those looking to replace an existing stereo amplifier or, better yet, integrate one with their collection of HDMI-enabled media sources, this is a very solid buy. The Marantz Stereo 70s is currently £679* and on demonstration at our Swansea store.

Diolch yn fawr iawn - Thank you very much for taking the time to read our blog.

Adrian - Audio T Swansea

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

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

Marantz can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• PORTSMOUTH

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

• READING

• CARDIFF

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*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

A Room With Two VU's - The Advance Paris Xi-1100 Integrated Amplifier

oooo, an artistically lit logo. someone’s brought their ‘a’ game.

Nouveaux jouets!

(New toys)

The most recent brand to arrive at Audio T Swansea’s golden shore, is the hitherto little-known in Britain (yet 25 year-old French marque), Advance Paris.

So little-known on this side of la Manche, it’s nigh-on an Audio T exclusive. Far be it for me to make sweeping generalisations and regurgitate national tropes about our continental cousins, but they do like to do some things a little differently over there. A case in point is this Xi-1100 integrated amplifier..

Design inspiration by Sebastien Chabal?*

for the avoidance of doubt, it’s the unit on the bottom shelf.

*This guy

We are used to great slabs of machined aluminium gracing amplifiers of this cost, yet here we have polished acrylic hiding those slabs of aforementioned metal that in turn, hide a robust, pressed steel chassis. Apart from the two funky, dirty-great-big, blue and orange VU meters of course.

almost intimidating aren’t they?

The stout construction delivers an all-up weight of 20kg (44lbs) which is bang on trend for this price bracket and most impressive when one has to manipulate it about for a photo shoot. Je vous remercie (Thank you to those not down with the lingo).

A great deal of that mass is the large toroidal transformer, mounted vertically just behind the double fascia and the impressive six-compartment construction of the interior, complete with aluminium heatsinks running down the flanks. This is all very reassuring, as is the specification; 220 Watts into 8 Ohms is respectable enough, but to near-double that up to 400 Watts into 4 Ohms, is impressive and hints at some very useful headroom indeed, should you have a loudspeaker that presents a less than charitable load.

The Detail

In common with many modern amplifiers, the ‘1100 has digital as well as analogue inputs and a phono stage to boot. Moving magnet only in this case, which makes sense to us, as anyone who has a Moving Coil cartridge is probably going to want a discrete moving coil phono stage. In my experience they sound better.

reassuringly built and mightily solid it is too.

Uncommonly, the Xi-1100 has two DACs (digital to analogue converters) A ‘regular’ one from Texas Instruments (they don’t just make calculators you know!) a Burr-Brown PCM1796 which is connected to the four optical, two coaxial and single AES (the one that looks like an XLR socket) digital inputs, which can decipher up to 24bits at 192KHz. The second DAC is an X-MOS processor and ‘jitter-corrected USB3318’ used purely for the USB-B input. Not something often seen and (we are reliably informed) resolves the compromise of having one DAC do two slightly different jobs and compromising the performance of one of them. Remarquable!

A comprehensive selection of analogue inputs inhabit the rear panel: four component RCAs, that aforementioned phono stage with ground screw, an XLR, an RCA pre-amp input (handy for home theatre applications) plus a variable-level RCA pre-out (to connect a power amplifier or subwoofer) and a switched, fixed-or-variable RCA output labelled ‘Tape/Subwoofer.’ Oh and no fewer than six loudspeaker terminals. Four are labelled ‘output A’ and two ‘output B’. When you realise that output A is for bi-wiring, six terminals for a stereo amplifier makes a little more sense. You could even tri-wire, should you feel inclined. Logique.

i said they like to do things differently and i was right. those unusual bi-wire terminals.

There is one more design feature that has an impact on performance; This amp runs pure Class A up to 45W but when more current is required, the Xi-1100 engages Class A/B. This is of benefit as we get the body, weight and finesse of Class A most of the time, but without the attendant enormous power consumption and heat creation of a fully Class A design. Bon.

So what does it sound like?

We connected a pair of Dynaudio Special 40, (famously a 4 Ohm design that prefers...robust amplification) and they simply sat up and did as they were told.

With the analogue inputs, not as weighty and forceful as one might expect, given the sheer size of the unit, the specs described and those mighty VU meters. It’s...correct. It isn’t bright, it isn’t overly warm, it’s accurate and it is engaging. It doesn’t have a particularly pronounced presence band either, it simply gets on with the job of keeping out of the way of the artiste, an open window on the performance if you will. If it isn’t on the disc, (or in the data file!) it ain’t coming out of the speakers. Bravo!

couldn’t resist another pic of those v-u’s, especially when the photographer has taken so much trouble with the bokeh.

Via the DACs, the picture is a little different. It’s gentler than I expected, tracks known to be bright or even hard, are presented with an evenness and grace I had not experienced before. The same scale is still there on orchestral pieces, or electronic landscapes, but the music has an unforced quality about it whilst still keeping the listener engaged. I think this amplifier may be the cause of many a late-night listening session. Now, where did I put my copy of Tom Waits’ Swordfish Trombones...?

But don’t take my word for it, the Advance Paris Xi-1100 is on demonstration at our Swansea store right now, so pay us a visit tout suite.

Merci d’avoir lu ceci (Thank you for reading)

Ade - Audio T Swansea

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… 

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Advance Paris can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• ONLINE STORE

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

'Good Morning - Audio T Swansea, how can I help?'

Customer - “Hiyah! I need a decent vinyl system, but I'm on a tight budget.”

Us - “Don’t worry, we’re here to help and this is not our first rodeo.”

Customers who are unfamiliar with Audio T, perhaps acting on a friend’s recommendation, often feel as if they need to empty their bank account to own a system that will give them joy. This is especially true if they happen to be a hi-fi novice who has friends who have been cultivating and upgrading their systems over a number of years. A mature vinyl replay setup which to the untrained eye, may look complicated and expensive. We’ll let you into a secret; it doesn’t have to be…

“this is what i’d have, if it was my money miss”

Record Player

If we’re talking record players, few manufacturers can boast such a pedigree as Rega. Now well into their 51st year, Rega of Southend-on-Sea is known for producing quality hi-fi entirely in Essex, and for those on a modest budget, squeezing every last drop of performance from every penny spent. The phrase “Sweat your assets” might have been coined for them.

For this enquiry we shall choose the entry-level Rega Planar 1 turntable. Starting at £299* (although the walnut finish photographed is £329*) it displays the core design philosophy of Rega turntables (and Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars) ‘Add lightness.’ Rega hold that mass in a turntable will absorb energy, we need all the energy that is generated in a pick-up cartridge to be transferred to the amplifier, so we make the supporting system as light as possible. We also want the fewest losses in the system of cantilevers, beams and bearings as we can, so the system has to be as rigid and as closely-toleranced as possible. Simple, light and stiff; rather like a good martini.

the rega planar 1 playing a record. unsurprising, given its brief.

Lively and always up for a good time, this deck can only be characterised as F.U.N.

Amplifiers

On the subject of amplifiers for vinyl playback - Some suggest that it makes sense to choose a manufacturer of turntables to produce an amplifier that will ensure the best quality replay from a vinyl source. Now, let’s not forget that we working with a budget conscious customer… Enter the Rega iO at £420*. Developed especially to partner the Rega Planar 1 and Planar 2 turntables, the iO is a simplified version of Rega’s venerable and hugely popular Brio amplifier (currently on sale at £549) It has just three inputs – Moving Magnet for vinyl and two line-level, (maybe for the value-for-money music streamer, the Wiim Pro, which I reviewed a few months ago.) Do not be deceived by modest dimensions of the iO, with the correct partnering speakers, this amplifier has horsepower enough to rock your room.

the rega io amplifier, playing through its turtable input, very, very, quietly.

Cables

black rhodium intro loudspeaker cable. note the ferite ring under the white heatshrink. unusual at this price point.

The connection between amplifier and speaker can be marred by the wrong choice of cable. We could be tempted to use something like QED 79 Strand to keep costs down, but in this case we are vastly better-served by choosing something that has been designed to sound much better. A personal favourite of ours is the Black Rhodium Intro loudspeaker cable at £70 for a 3m pair. These are factory-terminated, directional cables with ferrite cores at their terminus and they absolutely sing. With a sparkling treble, decent weight and surprising scale, our system suddenly sounds much more expensive.

Speakers

Finally, we come to my favourite inexpensive loudspeakers, the Acoustic Energy AE100² at £279*. Available in black, walnut or white, music pours out of them in such a hearty, good-natured fashion, you simply cannot help but raise a smile. Are they the last word in loudspeaker transparency? Absolutely not. Are they enjoyable and fun to listen to? Unequivocally, yes. Do they want you to have a good time? Without a doubt! And, so do we. So, 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

ae100 speakers resting upon isoacoustic aperta 155 isolation stands.

Thanks for Reading

Adrian (Images by Nic) - Audio T Swansea

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…

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

Black Rhodium can be found at the following Audio T stores

• CARDIFF

• SWANSEA

Acoustic Energy can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• ONLINE STORE

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• OXFORD

• BRIGHTON

• SOUTHAMPTON

• MANCHESTER

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*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

Hugo Can Weave Magic: The Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 Desktop Headphone Amplifier

The Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 is the latest evolution to the Hugo family, following the original portable Hugo DAC/headphone amplifier, Hugo TT(desktop), and Hugo 2 (portable) units. All three previous Hugos offered excellent sound, features and build quality. TT2 capitalises upon that foundation…

that shiny chord badge does give us the shivers

The original Hugo was a tiny bit bright sounding for many people and the original Hugo TT didn’t have quite enough output power for some of the more demanding (read high-end) headphones out there. The Hugo 2 fixed the somewhat bright sound of the original Hugo and then some, but predictably it lacks the power necessary for the aforementioned harder-to-drive cans. It’s a lovely bit of kit, but it’s not quite perfect.

jimi, he approves of all the purple. (these photos aren’t just thrown together you know)

Chord Electronics have realised that the majority of Hugo TT owners use them as a stationary piece of hi-fi, which rather negates the need for the original incarnation’s internal batteries. The space these batteries took up in the TT1, have been redesigned to accommodate six ‘super capacitors’.

These super capacitors allow for much higher maximum output power, which better enables the TT2 to drive those dashed tricky headphones; The Hi-FiMan Susvara being a notorious example. Offering up 7.3W at 8 ohms single ended, and 18W at 8 ohms from the balanced outputs on the rear of the device, there aren’t many headphones the TT2 can’t handle.

those single-ended and balanced output stages

someone’s been busy with the cnc lathe. by eck it’s gorgeous.

Opening the TT2 packaging, you are greeted with a sleek, compact, solid piece of engineering. One thing we have noticed with Chord products, in the headphone market in particular, is that they are almost unrivalled in terms of build quality. All the buttons and knobs, (or in this case a backlit textured sphere,) have the perfect feel. Not stiff to turn, they always feel light and nicely damped. Speaking of backlit spheres, it’s a quirky and interesting way to indicate the current volume on the device. Whilst not everyone is enthused by Chord’s ‘marbles’, they are an innovative way to convey the sample rate, volume, etc that you are currently experiencing. They’re rather fun and it demonstrates that Chord Electronics don’t take themselves terribly seriously, except with regard to the sound of their hi-fi.

IS IT PINK? MAGENTA MAYBE? EITHER WAY AND IN THE WORDS OF THE INIMITABLE bOB SMITH: IT’S HOT HOT HOT.

Our store reference DAC is the Chord DAVE. Supreme clarity, detail, and definition, it has few rivals. There are other DACs out there, but I have not heard an arguably better one. It would be wrong not to admit that their different flavours may appeal to you more. The only problem with DAVE in terms of headphone replay is that it only offers 2W out of its headphone socket. Enough for many headphones, but not for the aforementioned hard to drive ones.

The savvy headphone enthusiast then, should consider a TT2 with Chord Electronic’s M-Scaler. A two-box system that is powerful, as well as being the closest to a DAVE in terms of performance as anything else we’ve heard.

THOSE TWIN BNC SOCKETS ARE WHERE ONE WILL CONNECT AN M-SCALER. it generates SO MUCH INFORMATION, ONE COAXIAL CABLE CAN’T CARRY IT ALL. note two optical inputs next to the all-important usb-b socket. how else are you to enjoy dsd?

DAVE is king of micro detail, has a more transparent and nuanced presentation than the TT2.

The TT2, however seems to have a bit more meat on its bones, and is a touch warmer than DAVE. Both are superb DACs and it is a case of your budget and use, as to which you should choose. If you listen via speakers the majority of the time, then DAVE is king. However, if like a great many music fans you prefer to use headphones, the TT2 is the way to go. Partnered with the M-Scaler, it can be argued that it’s the more enjoyable option. Mind you, once you’ve heard DAVE with an M-Scaler….

it’ll even decode bluetooth, should you require it. more handy than you might anticipate.

The TT2 is a superb all in one device. There truly isn’t much it can’t do. Drive your desktop speakers? Sure. Drive low efficiency headphones? Sure, no problem. Want a superb DAC? Here you go. Heard a DAVE, can’t live without it but it’s out of reach right now? Great! This is as good a stepping stone as you could possibly hope for.

The Hugo TT2 is an all around performer. Granted, It does not have the ultimate DAC quality of DAVE but it makes a trade off to be one of the best, most flexible, all in one headphone source components on the market, for well under half the price of DAVE. In that regard, it’s solid value and highly recommended. Especially as it’s now reverted to its pre-Covid price of £3995*.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog!

Audio-T Swansea

Words by Ade, pics by Nic.

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…

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Chord Electronics can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• MANCHESTER

• ONLINE STORE

• READING

• SWANSEA

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*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

Audio T Swansea and Record Store Day 2024

ANOTHER FINE DAY IN THE WORLD OF VINYL

The annual Bristol Hi-Fi Show had finished, and it was time once again to focus on another day that is firmly etched in the diary here at Audio T Swansea, which is of course Record Store Day…

For those new to our blogs, or who may not have heard of Record Store Day - it’s a day celebrating the independent record shops with lots of limited edition vinyl releases of previously unheard recordings as well as re-releases of golden oldies, 12 inches, 7 inches and the odd cassette believe it or not!

This year there seemed to be quite a buzz about RSD in the run up, there was a lot of talk about it on both local and National Radio stations. As it happened Radio 6’s Huw Stephens was broadcasting live from Tangled Parrot - a small Indie Record & Coffee shop is Swansea (we were very grateful for the shoutout live on air for loaning them a Rega turntable for the afternoon).

As usual we collaborated with Derricks Music on Oxford Street (Swansea) for the day, and were once again grateful for the opportunity to take down a Rega system and play our own records. In a change to previous years I decided to take down some of the bigger guns as it were for this year, instead of the Rega Planar 1 and Brio I decided to take down the Rega Planar 8 with Fono MC phono stage and the ELEX MK4 amplifier and Acoustic Energy AE500 speakers on IsoAcoustics Aperta Isolation Stands. My main reason for this is that I use the AE500 at home on the IsoAcoustics platforms with my Planar 10, and having spoken to so many customers about how good small cabinet speakers can be on these platforms- we couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to actually have them playing for the day. Friday afternoon and off to set it all up…

The one dilemma I face every year is what records to take with me for the day. As you may be aware from previous RSD blogs, Christos the boss is firmly planted in “the Prog” as I call it as well as “old men in denim”, in stark contrast to my “bloody women and guitars” as he calls it! Do I take some very well known albums or do I take slots of my weird stuff???

So… With the record bag finally packed, it was an early start and the usual trek across the town from the car park to Derricks, with the fine mix of people you can always expect on a Saturday morning in a City centre. Some rushing to work, some tucking into a famous Greggs breakfast and some that could join a circus with their ability to stay vertical seemingly still two sheets to the wind shall we say.

The same question crosses my mind again as I approach Derricks: I wonder how long the queue will be? And… No surprise to see it heading way down the road and around the corner.

As Christos, Sian and Jon are just getting the final touches ready to the shop, I have got the system warming up then nip outside to help Big Phil hand out the amazing cookies supplied by The Crazy Baker to the dedicated shoppers patiently waiting for the doors to open.

9am strikes and we hear “let em in!”. Our first customer tells us that they were first in line at 11pm the previous evening with the next in the queue arriving just after 1am! How lucky we were to have a fine night and day once again. Amazingly we have always had a sunny day for RSD.

One of my favourite things is to watch the customers come to the counter with their wish list and try to guess what they are going to ask for, and as usual I get it completely wrong. One fine example of this is when a customer asked for Super Furry Animals, so I was then expecting some sort of rock album, how wrong could I be… Scott Walker! we burst out laughing - that is seriously eclectic!

Once the customers had their chosen LPs I had the chance to have a chat with them about the system playing an answer any questions they may have about their system. And as usual we have lots of lovely giveaways to hand out in the form of the limited edition RSD slip mat (only had 10 per store), the fabulous miniature Rega Naia keyrings, Rega bags and a couple of our big Audio T record bags.

One little addition I took to Derricks almost stole the show though - the Degritter Ultrasonic Cleaner. As one customer who was transfixed watching it do it’s bubbly cleaning job said “This is better than the telly!”

It was probably around 11am before the queue had died down and people were spending longer in the shop looking at all of the RSD records that hadn’t already been snapped up, which meant they had longer to chat with me about hi-fi and music.

I was having a great time playing some of my favourites albums, and so many people were commenting on how amazing the system sounded considering it was perched on top of a display cabinet. Partly this was down to the Rega being able to perform on almost any surface but also the IsoAcoustic stands under the speakers, it was amazing the difference when the speakers were taken off and just sat on the cabinet - “Yep - this is why I use them myself at home- it’s not smoke and mirrors!”.

And…. no sooner had it started but it was now late afternoon and time to pack up. What a fabulous day! I have to say a big thank you to everyone that took the time to stop and chat with me and also a massive thank you to Christos, Sian and Jon at Derricks Music for making it such a fun packed day.

The only thing left for me to do was to go home and play my RSD purchases.

Christos - Please Note: No women with guitars!!!

Thank you for reading!

Nic - Audio T Swansea

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…

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

Acoustic Energy can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• ONLINE STORE

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• OXFORD

• BRIGHTON

• SOUTHAMPTON

• MANCHESTER

Look Mum – No Wires! The DALI Rubicon 8C Active Loudspeakers

Lads, lads, lads! Help me out!

Our tale begins, with a long-standing customer’s request that we look after a friend who needed a new hi-fi, let’s call her A-P. She had a particular difficulty in her room in that her piano, cello and extensive vinyl collection are at one end of her nine metre long music salon and the only place to sit speakers is at the other, in front of the sofa, which lies roughly equidistant between the boundaries. Oh, and we can’t run any speaker cables.

Hmmmm….

A couple of smartphone snaps later and we could see that apart from the ‘no wires’ rule, this will be a winning space for the right system, but it’s a jolly big space.

We’re going to have to go active.

Going active

Remembering the lovely Alex from DALI brought down their entry-level active Oberon 1C speakers last year, and thinking how rather good they were, I gave him a call. He recommended the Rubicon 8C for a room this size and reminded us that our colleagues in Audio T Cheltenham had sold a pair of 8C recently and thought very highly of them. A quick call to the boys in Cheltenham confirmed that to be the case.

OOOOO…MYSTERIOUS. AND SHINY.

Despite, at the time, it being very close to the Bristol Hi-Fi Show, Alex brought the monolithic Rubicons down himself and gave us a quick lesson in the DALI Equi ecosystem of active loudspeakers and preamplifiers.

that dali hub preamplifier looking all sleek and black.

The technical bit

At its heart is the DALI Hub, which is capable of streaming high resolution audio wirelessly to compatible active loudspeakers. Fitted with three digital and two analogue inputs you can also fit an optional HDMI module, which enables the user to connect seven speakers and a subwoofer to create a very capable home cinema system.

hub’s rear panel. you can’t really miss the link button used to set the mesh up, just as well..

The upgrade module we’re interested in here though, (music salon remember), is Bluesound's flexible BluOS high-resolution multi-room platform. The NPM-2i module enables high-resolution (up to 24/96) audio to be streamed to any DALI Equi speaker and will integrate with other BluOS-enabled devices to create a multi-room setup around the home. It’s also MQA certified, as are DALI Equi speakers, which is handy if you’re a Tidal customer – their 24-bit service uses MQA.

Eagle-eyed readers will recall that Bluesound products are one of our favourite “reasonably-priced” music streamers. Capable of excellent sound, easy to use and with a reliable platform and control app. We were more than happy when DALI announced they were partnering with Bluesound. Many Hi-Fi companies’ in-house apps are underwhelming in day-to-day use, and it makes sense to buy into a proven control app that benefits from regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly. In turn, this frees expensive digital engineers up from fixing app bugs, to creating even better Hi-Fi. Let’s face it, no-one likes bug-fixing…

rear of hub again - note the bluesound (Bluos) streaming module

Demo time…

A couple of days later, our excited customer was sitting on her own sofa in front of a pair of DALI Rubicon 8C in the stunning Piano Black finish.

Set-up is pleasantly straightforward - Connect the power cables, switch on the Hub, switch on the speakers, keep clicking the little grey button on the rear of one speaker until it displays an icon of where it is in the room, do the same with the other speaker, press the corresponding button on the hub, wait for the ethereal Scandi tones to issue from the cabinets... And Robert’s your mother’s brother.

Open the BluOS app, select players, select DALI Hub, select music source and… Browse.

It took me a touch under three minutes.

Miles Davis’ ‘A Kind of Blue’ is a firm favourite at Chez A-P and so we settled in to listen to the Rubicons warm up with (it has to be said A-P) a spectacularly lovely cup of tea. In between sips, I set up a Rega Planar 3 turntable with matching phono stage and connected it to the Hub’s RCA sockets. A-P is a cellist and a succession of cello tracks issued from the DALI as A-P quickly got to grips with Tidal.

“This cello sounds really good Ade – and that piano is bang-on. The timbre is great, very convincing, but the scale of it! It sounds full-sized. That’s... Impressive. I wasn’t expecting that at all. Wow.”

The Ted Talk…

Three 16.5mm woofers connected to a 250 watt amplifier in an 110 litre cabinet will give you scale in the way you would expect, but it’s nothing if the high end isn’t up to snuff. DALI have fitted a two stage ‘hybrid’ tweeter – a silk dome coupled with a ribbon. This is silky sweet, has a wide dispersion pattern and retains its composure even at distressingly high volume. According to DALI, the combination reaches down to 2.5kHz which manifests itself in a seamless presentation.

the hybrid dome/ribbon tweeter in all its glory. 6 1/2 inch woofers included for scale

A lower frequency crossover point between the midrange and high frequency drivers is desirable, because the larger cone typically found in a midrange driver will distort when it reaches into the high frequency range. Ribbon tweeters have much better dispertion than domes at very high frequencies and exhibit much better control in that register. A hybrid design should give us the best of both worlds - a silk dome to reach down towards the midrange and take the pressure of the midrange unit and a ribbon to soar into the troposphere.

All of that is moot of course, if the end-user doesn’t like the result. Fortunately A-P is very much on board, especially when I span up the Rega Planar 3 and she dug into the vinyl…

Meanwhile, back in the salon…

“The differences in recordings are quite stark. These old Phillips pressings are a bit... Thin compared to the newer Deutsche Grammophon ones, but they’re all enjoyable, so... Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome. Are we happy?”

“Yes, but do they come in a wooden finish? These black ones may match my piano, but they stand out too much against that yellow wall.”

“Walnut then ma’am?”

“Walnut it is.”

Coda

At the time of going to press, the Rubicon 8Cs are on dem in our ground floor salon, here in sunny Abertawe(Swansea) If the experience appeals, why not pop on down the High Street and give them a whirl….

swansea’s ground floor music salon at the time of going to press. ignore all the toys on the 2nd 3rd & 4th shelves. we’re only using the dinky silver and black unit on the top.

and those great big speakers of course ;-)

Thank you for reading, Nic, Adrian & Andy

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…

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DALI can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• CARDIFF

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

• CHELTENHAM

• OXFORD

• SWANSEA

Sub Be Good to Me - The Ruark Audio RS1 Subwoofer

Friends tell me I am crazy,

That I’m wasting time with subs,

They’ll never be hi-fi,

 That’s not the way I see it,

‘cause I feel glad when one is mine,

Whenever one’s near me,

People always talk about subs’ reputatio...

(that’s quite enough of that, thank you! – Ed.) Spoilsport.

The….select club, that is Audio T Swansea’s blog readership (hello!), will be familiar with my subwoofer evangelism. Normally they’re REL, near to/or north of a grand and glossy habitues of our room corners. This little fellow does not fall into any of those categories, yet makes a spirited bid for our attention.

radiused wooden corners, grey marl open-weave cloth, cute little feet, what’s not to like?

Welcome to the family

Ruark have planned to make a companion subwoofer for their cute MR1 stereo system for quite a while now, but other projects such as the R3S and the new streaming R410, (both of which are compatible with the RS1) have hitherto taken priority with Team Secret Squirrel over at Ruark R&D. Finally, the wait is over and poor, young Eduardo at Ruark Sales will no longer have to bat away subwoofer-related questions from me.

the ruark mr1 mk2 active stereo speaker system. (well, one of them,) next to a walnut finish rega planar 1, chosen to match the ruark subwoofer. These blogs aren’t just thrown together you know.

It’s a handsome little fellow, achingly fashionable grey cloth wrapped around its middle, with a crisp walnut topping (and bottoming.) It will fit right in, in just about any modern front room you could mention and quite a few old-fashioned ones too. The rear panel is populated with the appropriate controls – gain, crossover and phase adjustment, plus a single RCA input and wee LEDs & graphics to reassure you that when the RS1 isn’t receiving a signal, it goes to sleep. Ahhhh, bless.

that modest rear panel

Set-up

Set-up is straightforward enough: play a track with a constant bassline (such as Ray LaMontagne’s “You Can Bring Me Flowers”) and adjust the phase position so the bass sounds at its loudest. Begin with the crossover and gain far too high so one is overwhelmed with bass, reduce the crossover so the RS1 isn’t reproducing the same notes as your MR1s, then drop the gain until you can’t tell where the sub is when your eyes are shut. You will probably need to recalibrate after a couple of weeks – the driver becomes more efficient and reaches higher into the register, so you might feel the need to pull the crossover down a smidge, adjust the gain a fraction.

fender guitar model’s own

Here, we’ve installed the Ruark RS1 as part of a basic vinyl replay system, such as you might enjoy in a small room: Rega Planar 1 Plus turntable (with onboard phono stage), Ruark MR1 Mk2 active speaker system and the RS1 subwoofer. At the time of writing, yours for a bargain £1097. One can connect a digital source such as a TV, which is ideal for movies and gaming, although most folks use the Bluetooth connection for streamed music, YouTube etc.

ooooo swoopy. gots to love a creative artist.

Without the subwoofer – it sounds really good. More scale and projection than one would expect from titchy speakers, Chaka Khan bounces along with gusto; rich, clear vocals and clean synth bass encouraging everyone to cut that rug. Switch the RS1 on and…..well, that’s better! We’re not hinting at bass any more, it’s tangible and we can feel that it fills the room. It adds the weight we didn't know we were missing, the kind that puts the music right into your guts. Marvellous.

yes, i know it’s christy moore, i was playing chaka khan before nic (photograper) got involved. in fairness, the system does do a credible job with the live acoustic.

The RS1 is £349, available from all Audio-T stores and you’ve been listening to the boy from the big, bad city.

Thanks for reading, and with sincere apologies to Beats International

Ade, Nic & Andy - Audio T Swansea

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Ruark Audio can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• ONLINE STORE

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

The long-awaited party: Chord Electronics' Ultima Integrated Amplifier

Long-standing customers of Audio T Swansea will be very familiar with our penchant for healthy amplifiers, especially ones made at Chord Electronics’ The Pumphouse, down in bucolic Kent. You may be similarly familiar with our mantra “One big one is better than a couple of little ones” in reference to the phenomenon of a single, high end integrated amplifier very often performing better than a two-box pre/power system of the same cost. I am unrepentant for deploying it here.

The 125-watt amplifier, launched at the High End Show in Munich, is designed by Chord Electronics’ founder, owner and chief engineer, John Franks. It is the first new Chord integrated amplifier in seven years and the only full-width model in the company’s range at present.

The Ultima Integrated is styled somewhat differently from its CPM-appellation predecessors. The design matches Chord’s critically acclaimed Ultima power amplifier range and bears a strikingly close resemblance to our Ultima Pre3 preamplifier, to the occasional confusion of staff.

Those familiar with Chord Electronics will recognise the house style, even if they somehow miss the gold Chord badge mounted centre-top, in its elegant, CNC-machined recess.

that gold chord badge. “ostentatious? MOI?”

Ultima styling has drawn a varied response (mostly positive), with comments akin to ‘It looks like it should be in Flash Gordon’s rocket-ship’, ‘Have they used Lang’s “Metropolis” for inspiration?’ and ‘Why am I reminded of “Bioshock?”’

The first thing I remarked when it was lifted from its carton was how menacing it appeared. Putting the demon into demonstrator, our black anodised unit is finished with the signature Chord “Integra” legs and it looks very… purposeful. When powered up, the (also) signature Chord internal LED illumination spreads a pleasing aquamarine glow over its surroundings through its perforated top plate and its power button, which is actually a frosted sphere about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Très chic.

the beautifully machined aluminium top cover and perforated plate reveals components bathed in an aquamarine glow. (it’s my favourite colour)

my goodness it’s pretty. red ring on the input selector denotes xlr input engaged. the power button glows red during standby, green upon power-up and aquamarine when it’s ready for action.

Flanking the power ball/button/indicator is the volume/input selector knob and the balance/AV bypass control. Pushing the volume knob in yields a satisfying click and cycles through the inputs, the ring of light around the knob changes colour to indicate which input is currently engaged. Holding the balance control in yields a similar click, a purple illumination is displayed and the volume/input selector is bypassed for AV, more of which later...

mmmm.…aquamarine. i’ve got a lovely jumper that colour.

The rear panel has a row of five robustly manufactured analogue inputs; a standard XLR, three RCAs and an XLR marked AV Bypass. (This is for use with a home theatre processor/pre-amplifier and bypasses the Ultima’s volume control, enabling a direct signal from the processor’s output sockets and allowing the system volume to be controlled from the processor.) Should you wish to add a power amplifier in future, an XLR pre-amplifier output is also present.

i’m sure we can all appreciate a robustly built rear

note the handy earthing nut (no phono stage) and those safely radiused heatsink fins.

All inputs feature individual buffering and are selectively filtered against potential ingress from radio frequency interference. Selection switching is via microprocessor-controlled sealed relays. Below is a 10A IEC power socket and below that are a pair of loudspeaker terminals. The rest of the rear panel is taken up with neatly machined heatsink fins.

Powered up and glowing softly, initially Ultima appears to take a fair turn of the volume pot to elicit a usable level, until you realise that this amp is so deathly quiet and free from noise, that you are able to keep turning the volume down and still hear everything on the track. This is particularly useful trait for late-night listening sessions. Conversely, turning the wick up yields very satisfying weight and scale, with no apparent trace of noise or distortion until pushed way beyond the bounds of decency and the safety of your hearing. It will go very loud indeed and yet it’s just so very… clean.

paired with the excellent linn selekt dsm media player.

a rega Planar 10 turntable & aria phono stage, black rhodium cables and dynaudio contour 30 speakers complete the picture. the components are sitting on a solidsteel hy4l rack.

Connected to our Rega Planar 10 turntable, Aria phono stage, Linn Selekt DSM media player and Dynaudio Contour 30 speakers with Black Rhodium cables, needless to say electronic music absolutely shone with huge ambient soundscapes filling the room with tight, extended bass. Acoustic instruments shine too. The textures of plucked strings, struck skins and resonant bodies are simply presented for you to enjoy. Nothing added, nothing taken away, performers’ techniques are revealed, but not exposed so ruthlessly that you are distracted from the music. Singers in particular are given an honest treatment that demonstrates their skill, passion and artistry without getting distracted with forensic detail. The Ultima is clean, not clinical, the music presented with a creaminess I haven’t heard in Chord Electronics’ umm… electronics before. It really is very, very good indeed.

But don’t take my word for it, the Ultima Integrated is on demonstration in our ground floor dem room. Skip over to the shop and I’ll play you a tune or two…

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Chord Electronics can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• MANCHESTER

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• ONLINE STORE

It's a Streamin' Bargain - The Wiim Pro Network Audio Player

We were first introduced to the Wiim Pro by the lovely Ralph of the distributor, Henley Design. He told us all about it on the phone and persuaded us to take a couple into stock, promising that other, better informed Audio T staff had given it their seals of approval.

“It’s like Blackpool Zoo on mackerel day Ade, all these approving seals.”

“Alright Ralph, I’ll bite, send us a couple.”

the Wiim PRO NETWORK AUDIO PLAYER

The Wiim arrived a little while later and we immediately unboxed one. It looked attractive enough with its (now standard, thanks to Apple) radiused corners, is nicely made & feels pretty solid, considering its lightweight. Having demonstrations and customers to serve, I put it on a shelf where it lay, quietly forgotten, until Ralph put in an appearance at Chez Swansea about a fortnight later.

“How are you getting on with those Wiim Pros?”

“Ah..it’s on this shelf here look, but we haven’t plugged it in yet. Sorry Ralph.”

“For shame, Ade! Have you got five minutes? Enough time to make a brew..?”

Taking his cue from Ralph’s raised eyebrow, Andy beetled off to put the kettle on, whilst I connected the Wiim Pro up to its power supply, an ethernet cable and a pair of RCAs into our resident Rega Aethos integrated amplifier and Dynaudio Special 40 loudspeakers.

THE BUSINESS END OF THE WIIM PRO

Downloading the app took literally two minutes, as did logging onto the app and “finding” the player on our network. Another minute to synchronise my Qobuz account and we had tunes.

THE WIIM APP DISPLAYING THE QOBUZ MUSIC ‘NEW ALBUMS’ LIST

Five minutes, fair play.

I did faff about for another minute wondering why the level was a bit low before I found the Line Level function in the analogue output menu. (We’ll call it operator error.)

We let it run for a bit, had a sip or two of tea and started listening in earnest. First impressions are good – the Wiim Pro sounds open and clear, but a bit lightweight and two-dimensional when it’s compared to a Bluesound Node, but then it is less than a third of the price. It does however clip along a good rate, supplying enough musicality to get heads nodding and toes tapping. It isn’t harsh or shouty, nor is it muted and dull, it’s a credible music player and perfectly enjoyable. For a hundred and fifty quid, one cannot complain.

ooo look evanescence have re-issued another album

A long-standing customer (we shall call him Chris) came in as we were playing and asked if we had an affordable way of getting radio into his conservatory system. He’d moved his old hi-fi gear in there as they use it as a family room during Christmas and thought it would save him from playing CD DJ.

“Well now, Chris. What do you think of what’s playing now?”

“Sounds nice Ade, as always - what are we listening to?”

“That little Wiim unit there. Network streamer, hundred and forty-nine quid.”

“Oh aye? Cute looking thing. Does it do Radio 6?”

“Give me a minute…”

that non-exhaustive list of music sources

I opened the Wiim app again, found TuneIn in the list of music sources and after a short amount of faff trying to remember exactly how Auntie Beeb spells ‘BBC Radio 6 Music’ (not the Wiim’s fault but TuneIn’s algorithm, or possibly mine,) we had the enthusiastic Scouse brogue of Craig Charles introducing Chaka Khan’s “I Feel for You.”

“Yes Chris, it does do Radio 6.”

“That’s exactly what I’m after Ade, have you one I can buy now?”

“Yes I do.”

“Then take my money.”

one needs to select one’s desired output format

After Chris (Thank you Chris!) had left, I plugged the Wiim into the coaxial digital socket of our Rega Elex Mk4 amplifier. Changing the output on the Wiim from RCA to Digital Coax (not all the output sockets are live, all of the time,) the sound noticeably improved. With the Rega’s onboard DAC replacing the Wiim’s one and even though we’d dropped two grades of amplifier, the sound was appreciably better; fuller, warmer, greater weight and scale, an extra half-octave of bass and a sweeter top end. Well worth remembering. Again, compared to our Bluesound Node, it was lighter in weight and closer to two-dimensions rather than three, but still very enjoyable with no hint of the coarseness that one might expect at this price. Bravo Wiim, this is a bargain!

digital formats all the way up to 24bit 192khz. (although stapleton here tops out at 96)

You can link multiple Pros together to make a multiroom system, they’ll play with Siri, Alexa & Google Voice Assistant, you can set them to wake you in the morning and with the full-size optical digital input, you can run your TV/PVR/Playstation audio through it. Although you will probably need to play around with the lip-sync function of your telly.

the ability to function as a multiroom system too…

So why not give us a call and you can pop over to check it out. We might even make you a cup of tea…

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Wiim can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it... The Rega Naia Event at Audio T Swansea

REGA NAIA LISTENING EVENT - 2ND TO 4TH NOVEMBER

Sitting here typing this I should be getting really excited about our upcoming Rega Listening event where we will be showcasing the eagerly awaited Rega Naia Turntable, but I have some reservations… Serious reservations. Allow me to elaborate…

Going back to the mid ‘80s when I bought my first turntable - the famous Dual CS505/3 (bought from this very establishment) the slippery slope of Hi-Fi ownership had started. A few short years later I started working for Audio Excellence, as it was then, and quickly came to realise that I was that “kid in a candy store”.

Over the years the upgrading and playing around with my system led me down the path of owning lots of different amplifiers and speakers from Musical Fidelity, Trio, Albarry, Linn, Naim, Dynaudio, Spendor… the list goes on. But after a short ownership of a Pink Triangle LPT turntable I made the change to owning my first Linn LP12. Upgrades came over time including the Lingo, Ekos tonearm and then the Naim Aro tonearm, which I think was the star of the show when it came to LP12 mods - I absolutely loved it!

Fast forward several years and we were starting to sell a lot more of the higher end Rega turntables, which were catching my ear so to speak, in particular the Rega Planar 10 when it was released. Looking back this was the first turntable that made me question if I would one day change from the LP12. Towards the end of 2019 the Planar 10 arrived with us but of course the pandemic put the brakes on things for quite a while. Later in 2020 when we had the chance to demo the new Planar 8 and 10 I was getting quite taken with them the more and more I heard them, so… I decided to take the Planar 8 with Ania Pro cartridge home to try out. It didn’t take long for me to decide I wanted one, about 20 minutes I guess. I lived with it for a few days before bringing it back to the shop and plugging my LP12 back in. Playing the Linn afterwards I really did miss the Rega, whilst the Linn was everything you would expect it to be - musical, engaging and so on, it was just to me the Rega had that something extra that the Linn didn’t give in my system - a bit more Bruce Forsyth compared to Jeremy Paxman would be one way of describing it.

Not to ramble on… The plunge was taken and I was very happy with my new Rega Planar 8 with Ania Pro cartridge and Aria Phono stage, until… I started doing more demos with the Planar 10 - blimey it’s good! Somehow I resisted the temptation to take it home for quite a while, but in a moment of weakness I took our demo model home for the weekend and (as the children say) OMG!! It was simple - I had to have one. Very shortly after this I was booked for a demo of the P10 with one of our old standing customers, and after telling him how much I enjoyed it at home he asked “how come you haven’t got one then good boy - cos I’m gonna ‘ave one” in his very deepest Welsh Valley accent. I ordered mine at the same time I ordered his. Once it had arrived and was all run in I was over the moon. It was getting used far more than I had used the Linn, finding myself playing records for hours on end, and re-discovering parts of my older collection. I found myself buying a lot more records as well as I was enjoying it so much.

I even started having themed evenings, for example: a Facebook post reminded me it was the anniversary of the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan so that evening it would be all SRV. Record Store days have always been an expensive day for me as those of you that follow our social media will know. After a new turntable and many many LPs my wallet was getting a hammering!

But, my dilemma doesn’t stop there. I was very kindly offered a loan of the Aphelion cartridge, which I reluctantly accepted given my previous. It sat at home for weeks before I plucked the courage up to fit it to my Planar 10. As you can guess, it was amazing. I only played a few albums before I returned to my Apheta 3 as I really didn’t want to be hankering after this amazing cartridge as well.

Just when you think you’re all done, Rob (our Rega representative) drops the bombshell: “we’ve got something coming out that you’re really going to like, so hang fire with the Aphelion but I can’t tell you any more at this stage”. It wasn’t long before we were at the Bristol Hi-Fi show and I made a beeline to the Rega room before the show opened in the morning, there to greet me at the door was Rob who just pointed around the corner with a grin on his face… and there it was: the test model of the Naia in a full perpex case so nobody could even touch it. This was the only working model that all test data was being taken from. In a way I was glad it was not playing as I resigned myself to the fact that what you don’t hear you don’t want.

The Rega Naia on display at the bristol hi-fi show 2023

“The Rega Naia turntable is the result of years of painstaking development which was used to create the now famous ‘Naiad’ test bed turntable. The Naia takes the best of this development and technology and transfers it into a production ready version without compromise. The Naia is packed with ground-breaking features, materials and technology developed by Rega over many years to reach new levels of vinyl replay.”

— Rega Press Release

And now I find myself reluctantly excited to hear the Naia for the very first time along with you on November 2nd, when we will have the Naia in-store for a special weekend. Kicking things off with a listening event with Rob Noble of Rega, who will be with us to tell all about the evolution of the Naia, you will also have the chance to have your own private listening session on the Friday and Saturday. This means that I will have to listen to it even more with you. So please do come along on the Thursday to meet Rob and learn all about what I’m sure is going to be one very special turntable, but do be warned that if you do book a listen on the Friday or Saturday then don’t expect me to stay in the room with you all the time, I may take a very long time to make a cuppa, or have to write an email veeeery slowly to avoid the… “temptation”. And please don’t ask me when I’m going to get one… Please…

In all seriousness though, it’s not that often that we get so excited about a new product, and hope that you will be able to come along and be one of the very first people to hear this new bench mark from Rega.

If you would like to attend the event on Thursday, Rob will be with us from 3pm until 8pm. And if you would like to book an appointment for a 45 minute listening session on either the Friday or Saturday, then please either call us - 01792474608 or email us - swansea@audio-t.co.uk to book. We look forward to seeing you.

Thanks for reading

Nic – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

Forgotten Gem? The Dynaudio Emit 10 Loudspeaker

It’s a hard fact in life that if we’re not occasionally reminded of the existence of a thing, that thing will fall out of the day-to-day consciousness. This is sometimes the case when you’re surrounded by so many Hi-Fi and Home Cinema goodies day-to-day… We have one or two such items in our shop that through no fault of our own, or indeed their own, have perhaps become not actually invisible, but now occupy a blind spot. So let’s refresh our minds and take a look at a beloved favourite…

THEY’RE EMIT 10S! WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT IT? here mounted on solidsteel ss-6 stands

A DYNAUDIO SPEAKER, BUT WHICH ONE?

There is nothing in their appearance to suggest they warrant a snub. The Dynaudio Emit 10 are attractive enough, with their plain and neat little cabinets, made of 18mm thick MDF have a chamfered baffle and a vinyl finish which is available in black, white or walnut. This is a step up from the painted finish of their predecessor, the Emit M10. They’re designed to be played in a small room, and their proportions reflect this.

Maybe it’s the components?

The star of the show here is Dynaudio’s own Cerotar tweeter, which derives from the extremely well received tweeters in their Confidence range. A great deal of Dynaudio’s 40 year long high reputation is built on their tweeters and one finds Dynaudio HF units in a great many other loudspeaker brands spread across the planet.

The midrange/bass unit is a highly damped design with its dust cap bonded to the voice coil behind and two magnets driving it – all the better to control the magnetic flux, we are reliably informed. The crossover was designed by the team behind the wildly successful Heritage Specials. No complaints here about that.

THE INEVITABLE CLOSE-UP WITH BOKEH SHOT.

The Emit 10 aren’t particularly difficult to drive, the 6 Ohm rating might suggest they may be, but when paired with modest amplification like the dinky Rega iO, they fill out the space they’re in very happily, creating a credible soundstage that does not suggest that more power is required. Listening to them in smaller rooms with modest amplification is a delight.

With this environment and partnering equipment the Emit 10 reward you with a beautiful, authentic and organic sound, filled with detail and with very little artifice. The decay of strings and cymbals is particularly natural and satisfying. Their nearest competitor, the Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2, might go louder and have more high frequency sparkle, but we feel that they can’t match the Emit 10s engaging and involving nature that allows you to melt into the music.

THAT REGA IO AMPLIFIER with a limited edition walnut rega planar 1

In conclusion, the Emit 10 deserve to be on everyone’s (who has a modestly sized space in which to play) short list of speakers under £800. In terms of transparency and authentic reproduction they have few peers at this price. They do have a limitation however – if you want to play music loud, look at the larger sibling the Emit20s.

in their preferred habitat of our music salon, rather than on a shelf, weeping softly because they’re all alone.

To experience what I mean I implore you to come over and listen to them. It’s the only way to be sure...

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• ENFIELD

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

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Bowers & Wilkins can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

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

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• ONLINE STORE

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

A first step into Hi-Fi - A conversation with a customer…

A young gentleman by the name of Aled popped in to see us a short while ago at the behest of one of Swansea’s great audio institutions - Derrick’s Music. Our young hero has been collecting vinyl for some time, but was suffering with a sub-optimal record replay system and had asked the inimitable Chris at Derrick’s for advice:

“You need to have a chat with the lads in Audio T. Tell them I sent you and take a couple of records 😉” (Diolch Chris – Mae’r siec yn y post! - That’ll be Welsh for “The cheque’s in the post!”)

And what follows is an account of that fateful day…

Armed with a box of records and a cup of tea in hand, we trot upstairs to our demonstration suite to test the Rega Planar 1 and 2 turntables, a Rega iO amplifier and a pair of Acoustic Energy AE100² speakers…

“i’ve brought a couple of records” - We love it when customers bring along their own collections

the rega planar 2 turntable

I span the Planar 1 and played Aled’s copy of Wet Leg’s ‘Chaise Longue’ – all familiar, boppy teenage fun “Yeah – that sounds great!” he said. I then swapped over to the Planar 2… “Haha! Wow! How is that even possible? There’s just so much more…drama. And the drums are really solid now. Can we...err...play a track from the Blondshell album next? I’m going to see her in a couple of weeks.”

“How is it possible?”

“Well” I said, “Let me see, the Planar 2 has a stiffer plinth; proper Rega one-piece, fully adjustable, cast aluminium tonearm rather than the bonded two-piece on the Planar 1, and a glass rather than resin platter. It all means that the cartridge can track more accurately in the groove which gives us more information and it has much less noise going into it. Same cartridge - but it’s supported more effectively. And yes, of course we can.”

I hadn’t heard Blondshell on vinyl before. Ms Teitelbaum’s atmospheric vocal on the track “Veronica Mars” is presented in a very pleasant, sweeping, open soundscape before the contrasting, dense, lo-fi crunchy guitar effects condenses the soundstage in front of us.

So, in the interest of transparency, I swap the turntable back to the Planar 1. The opening vocal soundscape is still enjoyable, albeit less convincing, but it’s the lack of weight and the congestion and thinness of the grunge guitar FX which disappoints; “Oh no! That doesn’t sound right at all. Ewww - what’s going on there?”

Back to the Rega Planar 2 and…

“Oh much better – that sounds right now. I don’t think I’ll be having the Planar 1. It’s great value and everything, but I couldn’t go back to it, not after hearing the Planar 2. Are there ummm…any different speakers I should listen to? These are really nice, but for maybe a little bit more there errr…might be something even nicer…?”

A quick trip down to the shop floor and five minutes later we’re listening to Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2s Anniversary speakers. “Oh it’s crazy how much more I can hear in there. How much better can it get Ade?”

Actual footage of Ade’s facial expression during this conversation 😅

“Oh OK. Right. Realistically, am I selling myself a little bit short here then?”

the rega planar 3

“Well, one of Rega’s favourite turntables, the one they really seem to love despite not being the top of the range, is the Planar 3…”

“It’s the Volkswagen Golf of the range, the most bang for your buck and one with a large upgrade potential. You can start with a modest cartridge like the Audio Technica VM510CB and it’ll flatten that Planar 2. And, when the urge grabs you, you can upgrade to the Neo power supply which will give you a big improvement, then you can really go to town on the cartridge.”

the rega Planar 6 6 WITH NEO POWER SUPPLY

“OK that’s cool - so what about the amp?”

“Well, as you heard, the Rega IO is amazing value at £420*. The next Rega amp is the Brio which is usually £700. However, Rega were about to release a replacement when they found a load more Brio parts that they didn’t know they had, so they’re currently doing the Brio for £549! That is silly cheap for an award winning amp of that performance, but once they’re all gone, that’s it.”

the rega brio amplifier

“Can I have a listen - have we got time?” asked Aled.

“Aye, no trouble whatsoever, it won’t take long, but you did ask to audition them, so remember that it’s not my fault when you can’t live without them. I did warn you.”

“Err…OK Ade.” I think Aled might look a touch unconvinced.

After I spin a couple of records, Aled decides on the white Rega Planar 3 turntable that comes without a cartridge as standard and accompany it with the Audio Technica VM510CB cartridge, a Rega Brio amplifier and Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary speakers.

Deposit taken and a day later I receive some photos of the room via email. It’s a touch smaller than I expected, but it’ll be just fine. A few days later, Aled appears with a big grin and three new albums in-hand; “I’m moving my room around and I’m going to need somewhere to put the speakers and will the turntable be OK on the cabinet in the photo?”

So I advise, “Bowers make dedicated stands for your 607s called STAV24s and if you find that the cabinet is causing problems there’s an isolation platform called the zaZen available from a nice Canadian company called IsoAcoustic for your turntable.”

“Have you got them here?” he rapidly asks. To which I reply, “It’s your lucky day sir!”

“I’d better take them with me”. I’m beginning to like this man’s style!

About a week went by and Aled’s turntable arrived in-store along with the speakers. I got to work fitting the blue Audio Technica VM510CB cartridge. It does look rather snazzy on that gloss white Planar 3.

job done, tea and jaffa cakes discreetly out of shot.

The install

Once Aled had returned from a gigging trip to the Big Smoke, we arranged a morning to install the system.

It’s a small space, hence the compact speakers, so I set them up for an intimate, small-venue feel. It’s an aural aesthetic that Aled prefers.

an intimate venue…

The much-feared resonant cabinet had been moved to the rear of the room and replaced with a rigid table, (complete with beer fridge underneath), for the turntable and amp. Keen to not waste even a minute, the IsoAcoustic Zazen plinth was already in place and Aled had built and levelled the STAV24 stands. Good man.

bjork sounded great. note the rare autographed blondshell album. sometimes if you ask nicely…

After a few minutes tweaking the speakers position, we still had too much upper/mid bass. The 607s are a rear-ported model and using the supplied port bungs, we calmed the bass response down effectively. We could hear more than just the one note, but it still wasn’t quite right. Fortunately the Bowers & Wilkins bungs are two-stage, meaning that the centre of the bung can be filled or removed. Deploying the supplied reflex port bungs in their 1/2 size format (like a big foam Polo mint) calmed the bass down to give us a credible couple of octaves that we couldn’t hear before. The soundstage is quite near-field and it’s like the artist is speaking directly to you. The $64,000 question though…is Aled happy?

i do indeed aled. cheers!

“That’s brilliant Ade, it sounds fantastic and I’m so happy I came to see you. Someone said you like red wine, so I’d like to give you this to say thank you. I hope you like Rioja…”

Postscript: A few days later, we received an email:

“Hi Ade,

Thank you so much for installing my system, I love it and it’s changed my music world for good 😊 

I am glad you enjoyed the Rioja 

Thanks again

Aled”

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• ENFIELD

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON
  
  

Bowers & Wilkins can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

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

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• PORTSMOUTH

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• ONLINE STORE

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*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

“Don’t Fight It Love, Don’t Fight It.” - A look at the Chord Electronics Ultima and Dynaudio Contour Loudspeakers

Sometimes when a customer wants a demonstration of a hi-fi component we don’t normally stock, it can create a disturbance in our store equilibrium. Regular visitors will be well aware that our ground floor demo suite has an all but permanent Rega and Audio Note system installed within. A Rega Planar 10/Apheta3 turntable, the Aura phono stage, Audio Note CD3.1X/ii CD player, Meishu Phono Tonmeister amplifier and AN-E SPE HE loudspeakers.

We’ve got it set up exactly how we like it, it took us some time to get there, the gods are in Valhalla and all’s right with the world.

Our customer wanted to hear the very lovely, but altogether very-different-to-AudioNote Dynaudio Contour 20i speakers, “in a smaller room than your 1st floor suite” and “can I hear them with the Chord Ultimas?” We had some changes to make.

We marked the floor with masking tape so Nic didn’t have to repeat the three-hour(!) speaker position setup when normal service is resumed and humped the Audio Note gear off the Italian-chic, SolidSteel HY4L rack, and onto the shop floor IKEA Lack table. I’m almost positive the Tonmeister gave us the side-eye; the IKEA table certainly groaned.

Connecting up the Chord Electronics Dave DAC, Ultima Pre3 and Ultima 5 Power with our favourite Black Rhodium Concerto XLR interconnects and Quickstep S speaker cables is always a clicky, snicky pleasure.

No, I never pretend to be Angus Young plugging in to an enormous amp stack at Stadio River Plate on a warm Argentinian evening. That would be juvenile.

Firing up the Chords and watching them settle into their reassuring teal green gleam is always an event, the punched steel grilles allowing a view of the perfectly populated circuit boards mounted inside. Is it at once a nod to valve amplifiers with their orange glowing tubes and a deliberate contrast to have the Ultimas glitter a cool water-green?

The difference in audio presentation is as stark. The full-bodied, lush, Phil Spector-esque wall of sound we’re used to from the AudioNote, has been replaced with an open, airy soundstage with instruments etched exactly in a 3D space. A drier style, with the emphasis on accuracy, speed and a spotlighting of the performers.

That’s not to say the AudioNote is sluggish, vague or is attuned to a particular style of music – electronica and rock are thoroughly enjoyable, the huge scale of a live Metallica performance is reproduced to jaw-dropping effect, the giant slabs of bass on the American Beauty soundtrack pressurise the room and frequently have customers asking where we’ve hidden the subwoofers.

The Ultima and Contour system is equally capable and thoroughly enjoyable, but sounds very different. A forensic rendition that allows the listener to see directly into the recording and what each artist brings to the performance.

A good recording sounds amazing; the vocal track on Dominique Fils-Aime’s ‘Birds’ from her album ‘Nameless’ stands out. Not only can we hear Dominique’s vox, but also all the other sounds that she makes at the same time; the involuntary sounds of her chest, tongue, lips and teeth. We hear the human making the sound, it’s a person inhabiting the space. We hear far more than simply air over vocal chords.

Less well-produced audio sounds great but a not-so-well engineered one will be shown up for what it is. This is not a fault of the system, but of the recording. The AudioNote glosses over such foibles to a certain extent, adding some much-needed colour to a poor recording. You may prefer this sympathetic treatment, or you may prefer the honesty of the Chord and Dynaudio.

Rock music fizzes out of the Contour 20i’s, full of attack and vigour. Jane’s Addiction ‘Just Because’ off the 2003 album ‘Strays’ is taut with excitement and hard charging guitar riffs that never seem to stray (sorry) into harshness, even at quite inadvisable volumes.

It’s with acoustic instruments and vocals in particular, that the Chord Electronics show their mettle. The very finest detail of and around a plucked string, the resonance of an instrument body and the decay of notes. Micro-dynamics are revealed, from the different weight a pianist might put into their key strikes, through the variable textures of drum skin available to a percussionist, to the visceral sensation of fresh rosin on a cellist’s bow. It’s impressive and very, very pretty stuff.

What of the A-N system? We’ve set it up on the shop floor so we (and you) can enjoy it in a really big room. We’re not sulking about it. Why don’t you pop on over and see?

Damn but Miles Davis’ trumpet sounds mighty fine….

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Audio Note can be found at the following Audio T stores

• READING

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• SWANSEA

Chord Electronics can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• MANCHESTER

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• ONLINE STORE

Dynaudio can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• ONLINE STORE

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2023 - Back with a bang!

Writing this on the morning of Friday 3rd March and thinking back to exactly one week ago as the doors opened for the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. Who knew that it was going to turn out to be one of the best attended shows for many many years, possibly in the history of the show.

This was about the twenty-somethingth show that I was working, yes it is officially classed as “work!”. Many years ago when I was still wet behind the ears in the industry, I would usually be found working at one of the quieter sales and advice rooms on the 2nd or 3rd floors, but as the years rolled on I found myself working at the Ground Floor sales desk, which was a heck of a lot busier than the upper floors in those days, (although recently the upper floors have experienced some seriously busy years with some new manufacturers being very successful selling their products from amazing demonstrations). Roll on twenty odd years later and I started to head up the sales team and Managing the Ground Floor sales and advice desk (or as the Boss called me - “the elder statesman”….. thanks!)

Myself and my wonderful partners in crime

So…. as usual my show week starts on the Thursday, heading up to the Hotel to help get the sales desks all kitted up, help our fabulous IT team get all the tills and card machines etc up and running (which in truth is me not touching anything that I shouldn’t and not pressing anything until I’m told) and making sure the Sales desk has all the relevant show posters and information displayed. Whilst my work only starts the day before the show, upon arrival and working through the day it is clear to see what an incredible amount of work goes into getting the show off the ground from everyone involved, the amount of work our fabulous management team does to the logistics of getting all of the exhibitors in and out of the Hotel in military fashion is truly incredible, not to mention the months and months of organisation before we even get to the Hotel!.

Friday morning arrives… early breakfast and have a quick peak outside on the way back upstairs to see if the queue has started. Bearing in mind it was only a few minutes past nine, there was already a queue forming. In the lead up to the show there were discussions of what we could expect considering there had been such a long break between shows, upon seeing the queue it was clear we were in for a very busy day.

Back downstairs for a 9.30 briefing from our Sales Director, and we were amazed to see the queue literally around the block. “Ooooooh my God!” was the reaction from those of us that have worked previous shows - we had never seen anything like it. 10am, the doors opened and off we went, suddenly we were back into the swing of things and it seemed as those three years had gone by in a flash!

One of the only drawbacks of working on the Sales Team is that we often don’t get to see a lot of the show, which is a shame, and especially this year with the Friday and Saturday being busy with visitors. I kept my fingers crossed that I could find a quiet hour or so to have a dash around and have a look at some of the show on Sunday.

All through the Friday and Saturday visitors were telling me about the rooms that they had been in, which they liked the best and so on, so I had a few things that I really wanted to see and hear for myself. My only chance was to get to some rooms really early before the show opened to the public to get a close up look.

So here are some photos I took of some things that really stood out for me…

Firstly, (and I will make no excuses) is the Rega Naia Turntable. As many of you know, I am the proud owner of the Rega Planar 10 turntable which I absolutely love, and of course hearing through the grapevine that the new turntable was going to be at the show my first stop had to be the Rega room. I just can’t wait until I can hear it in action.

Secondly, the REL room. I was lucky enough to be given a blast of this system before many other exhibitors had opened their room. Uuuuuuh….. “Bonkers” is the only word I can use to describe the performance of these Reference series subwoofers! Understandably REL could not play them at these levels as there would surely be a lot of complaints from other exhibitors floors away let alone rooms away!

The new Focal Bathys Bluetooth Headphones were causing quite a stir all weekend, and even with the very quick listen I had I could tell why they were so popular. They really did sound far far more expensive than their £699* price tag. I’m looking forward to having these in the shop as I’m sure they will prove to be very popular.

And of course the New Classic 200 Series from Naim. I failed to get into the Naim room on Friday as it was so busy, so tried again on Saturday. Lucky me, as I walked in one of my favourite tracks was playing - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Tin Pan Alley… Fantastic!! A wonderful sounding system, but also a great display of the electronics without their top plates so you could see the incredible work that goes into building these products.

That’s just a few of my standouts from the show, and below you will see more images I took of some of my favourite products and some of our good friends at the show.

If you are reading this and had attended the show, I hope it reminds you of what a great occasion it was to be back at the Delta Marriott once again. If there is anything that you saw at the show and would like to investigate further, then please get in touch with your local branch of Audio T.

But if you haven’t ever been to our Bristol Hi-Fi Show then I hope it inspires you to visit us next year. I strongly recommend making it at least a two-day trip as it is so difficult to see everything in just one day.

Nic – Audio T Swansea

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…

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*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

Chord Electronics Ultima Roadshow at Audio T Swansea

On Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th of November 2022, Audio T Swansea invites you to experience British High-Fidelity Royalty from the comfort of one of your favourite Audio T sofas…

Amongst the many treats on show, Chord Electronics will be showcasing their astonishing Ultima Series alongside a pair of mighty SCM50 loudspeakers from ATC. We’ll also be joined by Maurice Tryner, UK Sales Manager for Chord Electronics, who will be on hand to answer all of your questions during the two day event.

So, let’s take a look at what you can expect to find on show…

Main Hall

Yes, we’re repurposing our shop floor for the main event, but doesn't “Main Hall” sound so much more grandiose? As well as refreshments, you’ll be able to sample the following…

• Linn Selekt Network Audio Player

• Chord Electronics Hugo M-Scaler

• Chord Electronics DAVE DAC

• Chord Electronics Ultima Pre 2 preamplifier

• Chord Electronics Ultima 3 Power Monoblok amplifiers

• ATC SCM50 loudspeakers

First Floor Suite

We’ll be using this space to demonstrate some of the more compact and intimate options available from Chord Electronics, including…

• Chord Electronics Hugo TT DAC/Headphone amplifier

• Sennheiser HD660 headphones

• Chord Electronics Anni Desktop Amplifier

• Acoustic Energy AE500 loudspeakers

• IsoAcoustics Aperta Speaker Isolation Stands

Ground Floor Suite

• Chord Electronics Huei Phono Stage

• Chord Electronics Ultima Pre 3

• Chord Electronics Ultima 5 Power

• Monitor Audio Gold 200 Loudspeakers

So, that’s what you can expect to see on the day, let’s take a look at the background of some of the brands we’ll have on show…

Chord Electronics

Chord Electronics first took flight from the aviation world, "where engineering without limits means uncompromising standards." This concept (conceived by company owner John Franks), has shaped their philosophy since their inception in 1989. Their first amplifiers were supplied to the leviathan that is the BBC, followed by world-leading studios including Abbey Road, Sony Music (New York) and later, The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.

Their reputation within the professional world generated clamour for a domestic range, encompassing the design, engineering and build standards demanded of the finest professional equipment. Today, Chord Electronics apply proprietary technologies to all of their products made in their bijou Kent factory and deliver studio-grade audio performance across the entire Chord range.

ATC Loudspeakers

First formed in 1974 by Billy Woodman, with the sole goal to manufacture custom drive units for the professional sound industry, ATC quickly made its mark with the 12″ PA75-314 driver, a design capable of handling more power and producing less distortion at a higher sound pressure level than any other unit on the market.

The next decade witnessed the introduction of complete speaker systems and further versions of the high power PA drive units used in OEM form by many leading manufacturers and performers – Pink Floyd and Supertramp were early customers. During this period ATC researched and developed the first active system elements, introducing the EC23 Active Crossover with built in phase correction. A contract with Danish Radio for an active portable monitor provided the opportunity to integrate the new SCM50 and SCM100 speakers with a Tri-amp pack and electronic crossover to create the industry standard SCM50A and SCM100A, the first reliable and accurate active systems. With regular fine tuning they remain as popular today in both professional and hi-fi applications.

Linn Products

Linn Products was founded by Ivor Tiefenbrun in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1973, the company is best known as the manufacturer of the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable.

From 2007 Linn was one of the first audio manufacturers to introduce digital music streaming using the home network and internet. This has become the focus of the company's strategy leading to audio systems to support digital music playback of 24bit/192kHz studio master quality recordings using a digital stream over a home network.

Linn Records was the first to sell DRM-free 24-bit Studio Master quality tracks downloaded over the internet.

This network approach was extended in 2013 with the introduction of the Linn Exakt technology to retain the 24-bit lossless signal in the digital domain to the active crossover.

In late 2014 Linn announced the integration of TIDAL's lossless music streaming service into Linn DS digital players enabling access to over 25 million audio tracks at CD-quality over the Internet.

Originally based in the Castlemilk suburb of south Glasgow (opposite Linn Park), it is now based just outside the city, between Waterfoot and Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire.

So now that you know what we’re working with, we advise that you book early to avoid disappointment…

Telephone 01792 474608 or email swansea@audio-t.co.uk to reserve exclusive use of one of our three demonstration suites, have a chat with Maurice from Chord Electronics, all while Nic, Adrian & Andy will be on hand to help out and make tea.

We look forward to seeing you at what promises to be a memorable event.

Thanks for reading.

Adrian – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Chord Electronics can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• MANCHESTER

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• ONLINE STORE

ATC Loudspeakers can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CHELTENHAM

• MANCHESTER

• PORTSMOUTH

Symbiosis In Systems: Taking a look at the Monitor Audio Silver 100 7G with Rega Saturn MK3 & Rega Elicit MK5

Just like those Croft Original Sherry adverts from the 70s and 80s said, “One instinctively knows when something is right”… And this is no more true in Hi-Fi as it is your choice of tipple.

It is a perennial pleasure to play around with equipment here at Audio T. Evaluating products remains one of our most important duties and we do like to keep busy. Occasionally, a shiver of excitement will be experienced during this experimentation, a moment of grace when the stars align to elevate a system from being merely(!) very enjoyable into something Other.

Monitor Audio Silver 100 7G

Long-distance runners will describe the sensation of being in 'the Zone', simply gliding over the tarmac, eating up mile after mile, apparently far too easily. Cyclists like myself have their own “Zone”. We describe a 'floating day', when the gear being turned suddenly becomes light, the legs spin of their own accord and the speed carried is far too high for the perceived effort. Time becomes irrelevant because all you want to do is stay in the joy that is the “Zone” and I think I've found the audio analogue…

Time to Play

Whilst trying out a few other pieces of equipment after a customer demo, I put our handsome, black lacquered Monitor Audio Silver 100 7G speakers on our favourite SolidSteel SS-6B stands. They're a fairly large cabinet for a standmount speaker according to modern tastes, but this does give them an advantage – they reproduce lower notes well, almost as low as a compact floor stand design would. They have a more rigid construction than a floorstander however, the smaller cabinet panels making for a better controlled, less resonant structure, leading to a crisper, more accurate sound. They could be considered a little dry by some, I'd rather go with 'clear' and 'neutral'.

Regulars here in Swansea will have heard me utter the phrase "Big wooden box on a metal stick" more than once.

I'm asked quite regularly why such designs exist, usually by the partner of the person shopping (Eeeek!) My answer is simple; “It's because they sound really good!”

What’s behind the Speakers?

Rega Saturn Mk3 CD player/DAC and the Rega Elicit Mk 5 amplifier

The new Rega Saturn Mk3 CD player/DAC was already in-situ, hooked up to its mate, the Rega Elicit Mk 5 amplifier with, one of my personal favourites, Black Rhodium's phono cable, the Calypso RCA. The same manufacturer's Twirl speaker cable ran from amp to speakers. My adjectives here 'effervescent' and 'fine textured'.

The Rega Saturn Mk 3 needs no introduction. Reviewed in glowing terms elsewhere in our Audio T blogs and a particular favourite here in Swansea, it's a delight to play music with. 'Velvetty' and 'mellifluous' is how I would describe it.

The Rega Elicit Mk5

It was a long time coming, what with one thing and another and we're really pleased how it turned out. 'Warm-hearted', 'generous', 'weighty', 'full-bodied' is how it's usually described and I'm not going to argue with that here. I'd add effortless and honest, with maybe a touch of sweetness, but who doesn't need a little sugar in their lives nowadays?

A Valpolicella "Ripasso" of the aural world...

I spun up Keb Mo's - "She Just Wants To Dance" from his eponymous album. His guitar fairly leapt out from between the speakers, joyous and bouncy, his lacquered voice rising over the instruments, way above the tweeters to Keb's height of about six feet in convincing fashion. Lovely stuff. This combination does the Hi-Fi thing very well indeed.

Similarly joyous-sounding was AC/DC's "Long Way to the Top" from the album ‘High Voltage’. When reproduced well (as it is here), it's a thrilling track that gets hold of you, makes you check over your shoulder in case of witnesses, wrinkle up your face, play air guitar and remember what it's like to feel twelve again à la Jack Black in his movie "School of Rock".

Finally, the swirling loops of Donna Summer - "I Feel Love", absolutely makes you want to fill the (living room) dance floor and shake your booty down, the only worry to cross your mind being "Did I choose the 12" version? I really hope I did."

What am I trying to say?

The music is the message here; this system will show you into the heart of the recording very well, revealing layers and textures just as one would expect, but it sounds just so much damn fun that you don't really care about all that, because it sounds as if your chosen musicians are having the time of their lives playing just for you.

It's special.

The new Rega Saturn Mk3 CD Player/DAC and Elicit Mk5 are currently on demonstration at Audio T Swansea.

Come along and take some of your CD’s for a spin.

Nic Adrian & Andy will be on hand to help.

Thanks for reading.

Adrian – Audio T Swansea

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…

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• ENFIELD

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

  ONLINE STORE

Welcome to the Extraordinary: The Chord Electronics Ultima Pre3 Preamplifier (and Ultima 5 Amplifier)

Although not one of Aristotle's Seven Virtues (Trust, Compassion, Courage, Justice, Wisdom, Temperance and Hope. Not a bad list, as lists go), Patience has often been touted as a contender for inclusion in a list of desirable traits a young person would do well to cultivate. As French playwright, actor, and poet, Molière (also known as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) reminds us… “Trees that are slow to grow, bear the best fruit”.

That's all very well for Jean-Baptiste, but our Chord Electronics Ultima 5 Power Amplifier has been weeping gently for six months now, all alone, pining for a mate; those tears are now hot tears of joy. We are pleased to announce that the Ultima Pre3 has arrived - hurrah!

Not merely a pretty face…

It's a 'from-the-ground-up' new design packing the very latest East Farleigh technology, of which Chord Electronics are (somewhat self-effacingly) proud.

An all analogue design, the Ultima Pre3 features two balanced XLR & three unbalanced RCA phono inputs, an XLR A/V input plus XLR & RCA variable outputs for a power amplifier.

There is no tape loop, no phono stage, no Bluetooth connectivity nor any digital inputs, nothing to get in the way of reproducing the very best analogue audio possible. It does have a very useful 5V USB-A socket on the rear panel, so you can power portable devices such as the Chord's own Mojo 2 & Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amplifiers. It is worth noting that it is not recommended you use it to charge your mobile phone though!

As you can probably tell from the images (diolch Nic!) the Pre3 is beautifully engineered, with rock-solid build quality, and it is a joy to look at and use…

"Yes, yes, but what does it sound like?" Well....

Chord Electronics' electronics have always done certain things very well; timbre, timing, textures and space. The Pre3 and 5 Power are no exception, now adding weight and scale to their list of virtues (See what I did there).

Thrilling without being tiring, detailed without appearing hard, solid whilst not overwhelming the listener, this is very, very good indeed. Turn up the volume and it doesn’t appear to become louder, just bigger as it moves you closer to the artist, until you realise it’s very loud indeed and maybe it would be prudent to back it off - just a touch.

Playing Hans Theessink's "Blues Stay Away From Me", it's obvious this track is a duet, the accompanying vox appearing behind and above Hans' melody. On a lesser system, you don't hear anything but Hans, solo (I'm not even sorry).

Mario Biondi's cut of "This Is What You Are" has a very subtle tempo change on the cymbal after the first verse. Most systems miss it – the Pre3 and 5 Power do not. Also it sounds as if the percussionist is playing actual tom-toms, rather than yoghurt pots.

"Maybe In Another Life" by Caitlin Smith is beautifully rendered, a fabulous production, full, lush and solid – one can even pick out she uses a hard plectrum on this track, rather than her fingernails.

Finally, the 'Live in Japan' Eddi Reader performance of "Hallelujah" is heartbreaking and emotional, we defy you to not have a thickening to your throat and a tear in your eye while listening to it…

But why take our word for it? Come and join us for a listen.

Thank you for reading.

Ade, Andy & Nic - Audio T Swansea

If you would like to book a demonstration, call on 01792 474608 or Email us at swansea@audio-t.co.uk we look forward to seeing you.

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…

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Chord Electronics can be found at the following Audio T stores -

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• MANCHESTER

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• ONLINE STORE

Synchronicity or Serendipity? Replacing your cartridge - A look at the humble Audio Technica AT-VM95E

A few days ago, a gentleman called into our store to ask about suitable upgrade cartridges for his son’s Rega Planar 2 turntable. A couple of years old now, this particular vintage of P2 has a fire-and-forget setup, in that the arm has a nominally fixed tracking weight (downforce) and automatic bias, designed for a specific cartridge – Rega’s own Carbon MM. For those of you interested, you will be heartened to learn that the latest Planar 2 now has downforce adjustment and remains cleverly auto-biasing. But what are we to do with this particular turntable?

With no apparent way to know how much tracking force is being applied, fitting a different model cartridge can be somewhat….problematic.

Also, if the new cartridge is lighter than the Carbon MM, it is impossible to counteract the reduction in mass, as for simplicity of setup, the counterweight is designed to sit right at the forward end of its travel for the Carbon MM.

A heavier cartridge can be accommodated by moving counterweight back of course, it simply requires the use of a gauge to accurately set the downforce. Happily, here at Audio T Swansea we come equipped with the Project Measure It II Stylus Balance gauge to do just that…

Project Measure It II Stylus Balance gauge ready to get to work

Which cartridge to recommend?

Upon the horns of a dilemma, our gentleman didn’t wish to be overgenerous, (the turntable will be operated by an enthusiastic youth after all), yet he didn’t wish to appear parsimonious towards his son. I suggested the Audio Technica AT-VM95E at £50*.

It has been noted that the Rega Carbon MM and Audio Technica’s moving magnet cartridges have a certain resemblance, even if the latter are a touch larger and conveniently slightly heavier than the Rega Carbon MM. I successfully convinced our customer of the ‘95’s virtues and fitted it to the deck….

The rega carbon removed from the tonearm and ready for the new at-vm95e cartridge

weight precision with the Project Measure It II

Weight isn’t everything. ALIGNMENT is key.

The finished article…

I carried the newly upgraded turntable out on to the shop floor. “Shall we have a listen? The 1st Floor demo suite is free…”, I said.

“Oh – can we?”, the customer beamed.

“Of course – follow me!” - We trotted upstairs and I plugged the Rega Planar 2 into our Rega Elex-R amplifier and Monitor Audio Silver 100 speakers..

“What sort of music do you like?”, I asked.

“Anything really – I quite like Queen if that’s any help.”

“I’ve got a new ‘Night at the Opera’ pressing…”

“Go for it.”

I settled on ‘Love of my Life’ (I hadn’t listened to it since we went to see ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) and frankly, I was surprised at how good it sounded. It’s not the best-engineered recording ever made, but the brave little AT-VM95E dug into the groove and gave us a solid and realistic piano and Freddie’s vocals full with emotion, soared clear above the speakers. The soundstage had width, weight and scale. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable experience which was well worth the entrance fee.

“Oh man, I could sit in front of that all day! Thanks for doing that for me, that’s brilliant, really lovely.”

“Not at all sir, entirely my pleasure. And of course, once the young gentleman has worn out the stylus, he can upgrade from the current standard Elliptical stylus to the Elliptical Nude at £100, or the Microlinear at £135 or the £160 Shibata, all without having to change the cartridge body.”*

“Ha! That’ll focus his mind on getting a part-time job.”

And there you have it! Proof that you don’t always have to match products and components from the same manufacturer. If you have any questions about cartridge replacement, upgrades or any other Hi-Fi or Home Cinema query, be sure to Contact Us.

Thanks for reading.

Nic and Ade - Audio T Swansea

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…

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Audio Technica can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• ENFIELD

• MANCHESTER

• PORTSMOUTH

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• ONLINE STORE

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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

• BRIGHTON

• BRISTOL

• CARDIFF

• CHELTENHAM

• ENFIELD

• MANCHESTER

• OXFORD

• PORTSMOUTH

• READING

• SOUTHAMPTON

• SWANSEA

• SWINDON

• ONLINE STORE

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*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