The New Leema Quasar Is Out Of This World!

This month we are looking at Leema Acoustics newest addition to their renowned ‘Spectrum’ range, the combination, Streamer/DAC/Amplifier the Quasar.

Leema acoustics are a British company and have been going since 1998 and have always been renowned for their high quality Hi-Fi gear, recently however the mid Wales based company have really stepped it up a gear. We’ve reviewed the excellent Essentials phono stage before and we’re huge fans of the Tucana Anniversary integrated amplifier and their Pyxis and Hydra Pre and power amps from their constellation range. At the Bristol Show in February they revealed their newest addition to their Spectrum range, the Quasar.

The Quasar serves as a great all in one system, featuring a streamer, DAC and amplifier. The amplifier is a dual mono design and boasts a huge 180w per channel into 8 ohms, there’s not many speakers about that it’s going to struggle to drive.  

The Digital to Analogue conversion is taken care of by Leema’s renowned Quattro infinity topology and can handle digital files up to 24bit/192kH. The DAC is served by three co-axial spdif inputs and two optical inputs. Leema’s M1 asynchronous USB interface is also included allowing the user to play music directly from a computer or laptop. There are analogue inputs as well of course, a balanced XLR input and four phono inputs give you plenty of flexibility. Just in case you already haven’t got enough ways to play your music the Quasar also has a high quality Bluetooth interface, which will handle advanced codecs such as aptX.

On the streaming side of things the Quasar can handle up to 24bit/192kHz from a NAS drive or DLNA/UPNP device as well as streaming services Tidal and Deezer, with more scheduled to come via a software update soon. This is all controlled with the MControl app with is available on both Android and Apple devices.

When reviewing the Quasar we mostly concentrated on its function as an ‘all in one’ system, not forgetting however its excellent array of inputs. Because of its powerful amplifier there are very little restrictions on the type of speaker it will drive, so we tried a few ranging from stand mounts like the B&W CM6's to Spendor’s floor standing D9's and the Quasar drove them all to their full potential. The streaming via the app is very slick and quick to respond which Is a huge plus. We tried a range of music from both our NAS drive and from Tidal and we’re impressed with the Quasar’s versatility, subtleness abounds when required but the amp can also provide that punch you need when listening to electronic or rock music.

All in all the Leema Quasar is a fantastic way of reducing down the amount of boxes needed in a system while at the same time not restricting you in any way due to its different inputs and its ability to drive a large range of speakers. We currently have one available for demonstration so please get in touch if you’d like to give it a listen.

Leema Hi-Fi Products are currently available Audio T Cardiff store only.

Sound & Vision - The Bristol Show 2017 An Audio T Cardiff Perspective

It is the merry month of March and spring is in the air and last month was the 30th year of the Sound & Vision - The Bristol Show, organised by Audio T in association with What Hi-Fi? So this month we thought we would take take a look at a few of our favourites from the UK's largest and longest running Hi-Fi Show.

First up is Leema Acoustics, who were show casing their new 5 star award winning Tucana Anniversary Edition integrated amplifier. What a fantastic sounding amp.

In the same room we were also treated to our first listen of the soon to be available Quasar. The Quasar is the first product from the new Leema Stellar range. This is an integrated amplifier sporting many features such as DLNA and Bluetooth enabled streaming with a 24 Bit/192KHz DAC. If you would like to take a closer look at this amplifier it will be on demonstration in Cardiff Audio T in the next couple of weeks.

Next up on our list is the Japanese brand Esoteric. The system on show sells for nearly £72,000 and consists of the K-01x SACD/CD player, C-02 power amp, N-05 network player and the G-01 Master clock. What a superb sound we heard from this super system teamed with the ProAc Response K6 Loudspeakers.

The Bristol Show was also our first chance to listen to the partner for the Chord Electronics Mojo portable DAC, the Chord Poly. This piece of kit will turn your “on the go” DAC into a high quality wireless network music player, streamer and SD card playback device. What a great product!

Coming from a DJ background and remembering the days of lugging hundreds of records to gigs, I was very excited to see (and touch) the new Technics SL1200GR. This is the more affordable sibling to the previously released SL1200G.

Well, that's a round up of our personal favourites. The Bristol Show happens just once a year, but there are of course many Hi-Fi delights to be experienced all year round at Audio T Cardiff from Tuesday to Saturday 9:30-5:30!  029 2022 8565 and a warm welcome awaits all that visit. We look forward to seeing you. Hefin, Nick and Gareth.

QUAD's 80th Anniversary Brings A Modern Twist To An Old Classic

In this month we are going to take a good look at a brilliant system made up of QUAD’s Artera play, QUAD Artera stereo and QUAD Z1 loudspeakers. We’ll look at each component separately and then give our overall thoughts on the system as a whole.

Artera Play

The Artera play is a pre-amplifier with an in built CD-player and DAC, making it a great compact system.  The Play has a strikingly unique design, certainly helping it stand out from other pre-amps in its price range. It features a touch sensitive display on the front that allows for some limited controls, although it does come with a remote which is much more convenient to use, it’s still a nice touch.

Both the play and the stereo features a recessed top which means you can easily stack one upon the other and has been designed so there is no effect on the sound, both also have a lovely glass plate included in the box which can sit in this recess if nothing is sat on top of the unit. All in all this makes for eye-catching aesthetics.

The Play boasts an impressive array of inputs including two RCA phono inputs, two coaxial inputs, two optical inputs and a USB-b to connect a laptop or similar device to. All the digital inputs are then fed through the ESS Sabre32 9018 chip, this is a very good choice by QUAD as it supports files up to 32-bit/384kHz as well as DSD 64/128/256 meaning the unit is well feature-proofed for high resolution digital files. To finish it off the Play features both XLR and Phono outputs which brings us on to the next part of our system.

Artera Stereo

While the Play could be partnered with a large range of power amps the Artera Stereo is the natural choice. It produces an impressive 140 watts per channel RMS, more than enough to drive even fussy speakers. Indeed in the shop we have tried the Artera with a huge range of speakers from small stand mounts to large floorstanders and didn’t have any problems with any of them.

The Stereo uses QUAD's famous ‘current dumping’ technology, which in basic terms comprises of two separate amplifiers, one very high quality class A low-power amp which provides the details of the signal, while a high-power current dumping section provides the grip to keep the speakers under control. This helps the amplifier produce an astonishing signal to noise ratio of 115dB, furthering the accuracy that QUAD is renowned for.

Z1’s

The first thing that strikes you about Quads new Z series is the absolutely gorgeous design and finish. The speakers come in gloss black, gloss white or Rosewood and have a unique ‘cone’ shape that really makes them stand out from other speakers in their categories.

The Z1 is a two way bookshelf speaker with a 150mm woven Kevlar bass driver and a 90x12mm ribbon tweeter. QUAD has been using ribbon tweeters for a very long time and they are very good at it. On the Z1 the ribbon really helps give a large dispersion in the sound stage, it is made from a composite of materials which really helps it be very durable and is suspended in a strong magnetic field to increase sensitivity. The Z1 has a typical frequency range for a compact bookshelf speaker of 56hz to 20Khz, a recommended amp power of 40 to 150 watts and a sensitivity of 86db.

The Verdict

We settled into our demo room after setting the system up and sat back and enjoyed Jo Harman’s newest album People We Become on CD, playing directly from the Artera Play. ‘Enjoy’ is really the definitive word here as this system is detailed without being clinical and still offers a warmth and musicality that make the listening experience very enjoyable. The single ‘When we were young’ is a particular highlight, helped by the expansive soundstage of the QUAD system, helped by the ribbon tweeters. The guitar and background organ are easy to point out while still staying cohesive and Jo Harman’s soulful voice really sounds like she’s in the room with you.

The Piano led ‘Lend me your love’ is another that stands out, the combination of the DAC in the Play and then the power in The Artera Stereo bring out all the details in the piano, pushing that sense of realism that is oh so important when it comes to piano. Yet at the same time this track feels so relaxing, as the instruments wrap around and envelop you, it helps that it has such a wide soundstage as it allows you some room in the listening position to sit back and relax.

We have been very impressed with Quad’s latest outings, in both the electronics and speakers but as always don’t just listen to us, get in touch and we can set up a demonstration.

QUAD Hi-Fi products are also available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Preston, Southampton, 
Swindon

Leema Essentials Phono Stage Review

In this months blog we are taking a look at Leema's High-Resolution 'Essential' phono stage. We have been mightily impressed with the clarity and definition it brings to a huge variety of vinyl setups. Let's take a closer look..

The Essential's technology has been trickled down from Welsh company Leema's top of the range and award winning Agena phono stage and it shows. The Phono stage is switchable between moving magnet and moving coil making it suitable for any cartridge which is a lovely feature at it's price point. The Essentials also provides a switchable low frequency filter which can help cut out noise under 20Hz that can come from warped records or noisy bearings.

Innards

Some really impressive figures are thrown up by the Essentials.  The moving magnet gain of 36db and moving coil gain of 62db gives you plenty of headroom and a distortion of less than 0.02% (at 1Kh) really helps with the clarity you want from your vinyl.

We've been able to try a huge range of turntables in the shop and have not found a single one that does not shine when paired with the Leema, from Regas entry level Planar 1 with it's moving magnet Carbon cartridge right up to Project's Signature 10 with it's Ortofon Cadenza Red, which is a moving coil.

The setup we used for this review was a Project Classic with an Ortofon 2m black MM cartridge through the Leema into the Nytech CP202 and CPA402 pre and power combo and we used Spendor A6r loudspeakers. Our review vinyl of choice these days is the superb 'If You Wait' by London Grammar, a record we are all very familiar with, yet the Leema managed to reveal things we hadn't noticed before. Small things maybe, the reverb tail after vocalist Hannah Reid's line or the slight modulation in a bass line in album opener 'Hey Now' that before seemed to be one note. It's these small things that add up and only to serve to envelop you in the music and improve your experience.

'Revealing', can be seen as a negative word sometimes and yes if a poor recording is put through the system it can show up its faults, but in this case the Essentials brings the music to life,  showing all the intricacies and details that the artist and recording engineers included but maybe aren't always that easy to hear. It's not all about detail, the Leema has plenty of warmth as revealed by the opening verse of 'Strong' which instantly and totally involves you in the music experience. The phono stage brings plenty of excitement too, the big hooks of the choruses standing even larger than life than they usually do.

Leema's Essentials Phono stage has certainly caught the attention of us all here at Cardiff and is certainly worth a listen, so as always please give us a call to arrange a demonstration.

Leema products are available at the following branches of Audio T: Cardiff, Oxford

The Twelve Hi-Fi Gifts of Christmas!

We here at Audio T know how hard it can be to choose a gift for your music mad loved ones so this year we have you covered. Here are our top twelve suggestions to help you give the gift  and joy of music this Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Sonos Play:1!

This diminutive wireless speaker has a huge sound! Using the Sonos excellent free app, opens up a world of audio streaming from your own collection, Internet radio and streaming services such as Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal. Perfect for the person who loves streaming music from their phone or computer.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Chord Electronics Mojo!

This little headphone amp/DAC has made huge waves this year, winning numerous awards and accolades and for good reason! The Mojo is simply stunning, transforming your phone into a mini hi-fi! Also pictured is the very useful Mojo cable pack and durable carry case (both sold separately) Perfect for those who are listen to a lot of music on the go. At the moment you can buy a Mojo and get a FREE carry case (Offer ends 05-01-2017)

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Denon D-M40 and Q Acoustics 3010 speakers!

This little system is fantastic as a entry into HI-Fi or as an additional system in another room in your house. Capable of playing CD, DAB radio and music via USB, this is a gorgeous combination of amplifier and speaker. Perfect for a first audio system.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Sennheiser HD4.30i headphones!

This headphones are amazingly good value for money, strong defined bass and punchy mids combine for a lovely sound and the fact they are comfortable and foldable makes them great for wearing on the go. Perfect for anyone who listens to music when they are out and about.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Sennheiser HD 599 headphones!

The HD 599’s are brilliant headphones for home use. They have a gorgeous open sound which never gets fatiguing and are easy to listen to for hours. Perfect for those who like to listen through headphones at home.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Dynaudio Emit M10 Loudspeakers!

We have been very impressed with the Emit line by Dynaudio, they have a balanced sound yet are still exciting to listen to and the little M10’s are no exception. Perfect for someone who needs new speakers for a entry to mid level system.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Rega Planar 1 turntable!

Vinyl is all the rage at the moment but to take advantage of this you need a good turntable, which is where the Planar 1 comes in, offering superb looks, build and importantly sound quality….what more do you want? Perfect for someone who wants to get into vinyl.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Project Debut Carbon DC!

The Debut Carbon is a large step above entry level. It comes with a fantastic cartridge in the Ortofon 2m Red and combined with the carbon fibre arm makes for a highly enjoyable combination. Perfect for those who want to take their basic setup up a gear.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Project VC-S vinyl record cleaner!

One of the best upgrades you can do in a turntable setup is clean your vinyl, the result is staggering. The VSC makes short work of this otherwise mundane task, using its powerful vacuum to suck up any dirt and excess liquid from the surface of your favourite record or LP. Also pictured is Project’s Brush it and Clean it (both sold separately), essential tools for any turntable owner. Perfect for those who are serious about their vinyl.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…an Arcam rHead headphone amp!

A lot of the time we just suffer with poor quality through headphones for convenience sake, however a good headphone amplifier can change that completely. The R-head is one of the best on the market at the price and can transform your headphone listening experience. Perfect for the person who wants better quality sound from their headphones.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a phono stage!

We couldn’t decide on just one phono stage so we thought we’d recommend a few, pictured are the Project Phonobox MM, Project tube box DS, Nytech Audio CDP122 and the Rega Fono MM. These boxes all have the capability to transform your setup, just let us know your system and we can recommend the best match! Perfect for someone who wants to either start or improve their vinyl setup.

On the twelth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Naim Mu-so QB!

This mini system has taken the market by storm and with very good reason! The Mu-so QB allows you to play your music via, Wi-Fi, Tidal, Spotify, internet radio, Bluetooth, usb and many more with stunning audio quality. It makes a great additional to an existing Naim setup in the form of multi-room or serves as an introduction to high quality audio. Perfect for just about anyone who wants to add high quality music streaming to a room in their house.

We hope this list has been useful for you, and as always we are always here to help you in store to make further recommendations and provide demonstrations of anything in the store. Many of the items listed are included in our winter Big Red Sale so please get in contact for more information.

From Hefin, Nick and Gareth, at Audio T Cardiff we wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Introducing The Innuos Zen Mini Mk2 CD Ripper, Streamer and Music Server

As everyone knows the way we listen to music has been revolutionised over the last decade. A whole new generation of streamers, digital to analogue converters and music servers means that we can now listen to our digital music from CD rips, music streaming services, or Hi-Res downloads in very high quality.

One such device that has become very popular recently is the CD ripper and music server; a way of both storing, archiving and playing your music collection wirelessly or hardwired in your home. Amongst the very best of these devices are the Innuos Zen series.

Innuos have three models in the series, the Zen Mini Mk2, Zen Mk2 and Zenith Mk2, it’s the Zen Mini we are looking at today although all three have the same functions just with increases in sound quality as you go up the range.

The Zen Mini’s functionality is incredibly vast but we’ll keep things simple to start off with. Inserting a CD into this slick looking black box will result in it being automatically ripped to the internal hard drive (available in 1 or 2TB) in FLAC or WAV format. Track information and album work will be found by the system and then the CD will be ejected once the rip is complete and hey presto! You have the start of digital music collection. If your music that is already stored digitally, on a computer for example, it can also be transferred on to the hard drive via your network (more on that later).

You have plenty of options on how to play your music from there; the Zen Mini is compatible with a huge range of wireless, multi-room systems, Sonos being the prime example.  It is a UPnP server so any streamers attached to your network will also be able to pick up your music either wirelessly or via Ethernet.  Playback is also supported via the USB port which can be connected to a DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter). Finally for those streaming fans the Zen Mini includes, Qobuz (We're offering a FREE 1 Month Trial and a FREE Hi-Res download until the end of November 2016), Tidal, Spotify, Iplayer and internet radio.

By visiting the Innuos page from your web browser (www.my.innuos.com) you can access the Zen Mini’s library and there you have a huge array of options like editing the track names, order, art work etc. It's here that you can also manage your collection by moving music from other places on your network, such as your computer onto the Zen Mini.  There is also a large array of apps available for both Apple and Android that are capable of controlling the playback from the unit, meaning you don’t need to use a computer at all.

The Zen Mini has no fans at all so when we tested it in our demo room it made no noticeable noise at all. We tested it with multiple systems both through the network and through the USB into a DAC and we were very impressed with the reproduction of the digital files, it simply sounds fantastic.

With its huge range of functionality, high build quality, ease of use and fantastic sound quality the Innuos Zen series may just well be the future of music storage and playback. For further information or if you would like a demonstration please get in touch!

Hefin, Nick and Gareth - Audio T Cardiff

Innuos Hi-Fi rippers, streamers and servers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Valves And Vinyl Day At Audio T Cardiff 20/10/16

With all the buzz around vinyl these days we have decided to celebrate that analogue goodness by holding an all day event in store to show off some fantastic valve amplifiers and turntables.

We will be featuring Project turntables and amplifiers made by Italian manufacturer Unison Research on the day shown off by a representative from both companies and of course our store staff will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Some of this equipment will be in store for  this event only, so it will be well worth a visit!

The event will take place on Thursday the 20th of October from 10am until 5pm in our Cardiff store. A finger buffet will be provided by Svagos Italian restaurant at lunchtime so come and treat your senses to a feast of Italian food and music!

Live Music Event At The Norwegian Church Cardiff Featuring Spendor And Nytech

We love a music event here at Audio T Cardiff and this October we are holding our best yet! Held at the iconic Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay there will be an evening of live music and of course a chance to listen to some stunning Hi-Fi.

The event starts at 7pm on Thursday the 6th of October and we will have the Welsh debut of Spendor's brand new D9 loudspeakers being driven by the excellent Nytech CP202 Pre-amplifier and CPA402 power amplifier. We will be listening to the equipment using the new Project classic turntable as well as high resolution streaming as sources and will be playing a selection of music to really show off what the system can do.

As an extra treat live music will be provided by renowned Cardiff musicians Erin Williams-Jones and Cat Vonhausenberg. We also have an former BBC sound engineer recording the duo so we can play it back through the Hi-Fi to look at how close a good system can get to live sound.

There is no cost to get into the venue so please feel free to come along for an enjoyable night of music. Any questions about the event at all please get in contact with us at the shop.

The Arcam Solo Music. One Box To Rule Them All!

When it comes down to it, nothing beats a good separates system in terms of maximising your options in sound quality and upgradeability. Unfortunately not all of us have the inclination or space for all those boxes and cables...and that's where the Arcam Solo Music comes in.

Arcam Solo Music

Arcam's Solo range has been around for over a decade now and has always been well received and the third generation, including the Solo Movie and Solo Music, are no exception.

The Solo Music lies in between the worlds of Hi-Fi and home cinema and is genuinely fantastic at both. Its big selling point being its huge array of functionality and connectivity all crammed into a one box solution, just add a pair of speakers to taste and you are away!

A multitude of ways to play music are presented to you, including a CD drive that will also play SACD (Super Audio CD), wired/wireless streaming, FM/DAB/DAB+ radio and aptX Bluetooth. This is topped off by a plethora of physical inputs such as USB, phono, optical, coaxial and four HDMI. The Arcam Solo Music also features a headphone output for those late night movie or listening sessions.

Arcam Solo Music Rear View

The array of HDMI inputs are coupled with a HDMI output for your TV or projector, meaning the Solo Music can be the central hub of a TV set up with Blu-ray players, game consoles, set top boxes and so on all working through it.

This is all powered through 160 watts of class G amplification, similar to that which can be found in the high end FMJ amplifiers, so Arcam certainly hasn't skimped there. We are huge fans of Arcam's FMJ range in store and as soon as we started playing London Grammar's 'Hey Now' we were impressed with the familiar punchy, detailed and instantly enjoyable tonality of the Arcam Solo.

The Arcam Solo Music is available in store, please contact us to arrange a demonstration.

Arcam Hi-Fi products are also available at the following branches of Audio T: 
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, 
Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Project Celebrate Their 25th Anniversary With The New Classic Turntable

Pro-ject's much anticipated 'classic' turntable is here and it has quickly become one of our favorites at the Cardiff store.

Pro-ject Classic Turntable

On the year of their 25th anniversary project have unveiled the 'Classic'. Taking inspiration from some famous turntable designs of the past, the Classic is nothing short of gorgeous to look at. Sat on a stunning wooden plinth available in Eucalyptus, Rosenut or Walnut, the turntable reeks of class and sophistication. But don't let the retro looks fool you the classic employs some very modern and original technology and materials that mean it has plenty to offer sonically.

There's a lot to talk about with the turntable, starting with its two-plinth design. Usually with this kind of setup the two plinths would be kept suspended from each other with springs, however the Classic utilises Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPE) to isolate the sub-chassis instead. This material is less noisy than springs and provides excellent isolation between the motor and the tonearm, reducing interference. This is all topped off with a beautifully machined aluminum platter.

Speaking of the tonearm, it's a brand new design, the arm tube is made from aluminium, which improves damping and grounding , which is then wrapped in carbon fibre which keeps the arm light but solid. The bearing is also new having been sourced from Japan and has an extremely high tolerance. To top it off the fantastic Ortofon 2m silver cartridge is included in the price of the turntable.

Ortofon 2m silver moving magnet cartridge

We tested the classic in store through the Cyrus Phono Signature phono stage, Nytech CP202 and CPA402 Pre and power combination and then a pair of Spendor A6r loudspeakers. The result was astonishing. The Classic delivered a clear crisp presentation while having plenty of warmth, tight controlled bass combined with a beautifully defined mid range and lovely crisp high end, without being overbearing at all. This is a really musical turntable and an absolute treat to listen to.

We think Project have come up with a real winner here, the Classic is available for demonstration in store now! Please get in contact with us to book a session, it's well worth it!

Pro-ject Hi-Fi Products are available from the following branches of Audio T: 
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Swansea, Swindon