The Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 - Ripping Your Music CDs With Ease

My skepticism of high end ripping units has always been true but the Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 has swayed me to say the least. The simplicity of feeding it a CD and seeing magically appearing on your streaming platform can’t be underestimated.

Capable of storing up to a thousand CDs on even it’s smallest 1TB hard drive the Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 gives you ample room to grow your music collection.

Simplifying your music collection has never been easier

This is not to say that it doesn’t have the nerd out stats and control that many of us (including myself) desire. Simply type my.innuos.com into your browser and there it is, supporting DSD, FLAC and WAV at CD native bit rates.

USB External DAC Support

The Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 isn’t simply a music server, it competently takes on the role of streaming as well. Having both digital and analogue output makes the price tag very appealing and working with Squeezebox gives you access to Tidal, Spotify and Qobuz at hi-res with no limitations. It also has a Roon core built in as standard.

Built in 192kHz 24biti

DAC

The Zen Mini is built with fantastic precision having hardware that quite literally outperforms the very computer I’m writing this blog on! An Intel Quad Core with 4GB Ram is more than you could ever need.

The slot loading TEAC disc drive rips through a CD in about 5 minutes, getting you through your collection quickly. The auto metadata collection is accurate and foolproof. Any unrecognised albums are conveniently put under ‘quarantine’ for later review and manual tagging.

Considering it costs less than many streamers that exist today it’s a hard product to dismiss, killing two birds with one stone. I simply can’t find anything to improve being one of the easiest Hi-Fi products I’ve ever used and with excellent sound quality to boot!

if you’re in the market to digitise your music collection and de-clutter without compromising on sound quality, then we would certainly recommend giving the Innuos Zen Mini serious consideration. As always, we’re happy to give you a demonstration.

Innuos products are available from the following branches of Audio T: Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Michell My Belle! Customer Upgrades His Gyro Turntable With Michell Techno Tonearm

Christmas arrives a little early for one of our customers as he has treated himself to a new tone arm on his Michell Gyro turntable. He had an ageing Rega RB300 previously installed on the turntable that was starting to become troublesome. With our advice the customer chose the obvious choice, the Michell Techno A tonearm in black to match the existing finish of the turntable.

Michell Gyro with new Techno A arm fitted

At the same time we have also removed the old acrylic plinth and lid giving the deck a much slicker look and feel. This was achieved by adding the Michell Gyro Spyder kit as shown below. The old deck is dismantled and the feet are removed from the plinth and threaded on to the new Spyder.

Michell Gyro Spyder kit

Techno A arm unboxing

New arm mounting plate

The old arm mounting plate needs to be replaced as it is the single mounting point plate. The new mounting plate is seen fitted in place above. The new three point mount all ready for the new tone arm.

Tonearm mount from top

Techno A arm fitted

Next we need to fit the cartridge to the tonearm. Our customer decided to go for the Rega Ania MC cartridge as shown below.

Rega ANIA MC cartridge during fitting

Rega ANIA MC cartridge

Now we need to adjust the height of the tonearm to make sure the vertical tracking angle is correct for the cartridge installed. This is achieved by the clever Michell thread at the mounting of the arm. In this case no adjustment was needed so the three mounting screws can tightened to fix the tonearm in place.

Tonearm height adjustment

Michell Techno A arm Scallop counter weights

Two different weight scallops are supplied depending on the weight of your cartridge. In this case the larger of the two has been used.

Scallop counter weight in place

Checking tracking force

Above we are checking the tracking weight using Project Measure IT stylus balance gage.

Ready for the first play

Cue up ready……”drop the needle on the record”

Michell HR power supply + Nytech CDP122

Above is the is older Michell HR power supply (this has now been replaced with a more modern looking box and case work) alongside the Nytech CDP122, our weapon of choice at the moment when it comes to supplying moving magnet or moving coil setups.

Final pic of the completed setup

Thanks to Steve for his permission to blog about his latest audio upgrade. In the pic above we have the front of his home cinema setup. The classic Pioneer plasma, Arcam AVR550, REL S3, Oppo UDP-203 & the now discontinued Bowers & Wilkins 683S2 teamed with the HTM61S2 center speaker. He finishes off his surround system with two B&W M1 speakers on the rear and B&W CCM665 in the ceiling for Dolby Atmos, creating a very impressive 5.1.2 system. Michell Techno A arm and Rega ANIA MC cartridge is available from all branches of Audio T.

Michell Engineering turntables are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Cardiff, Manchester, Southampton, Swansea

Thanks for reading: Hefin, Nick (blogger) and Kerrin Audio T Cardiff.

Deck Your Halls With The Sound Of Vinyl

Here at Audio T Cardiff we have come up with six excellent value turntables for you to consider for Christmas. A great gift to give for a music loving loved one or to give yourself a treat. We have picked these as we believe at their respective price points, they offer tremendous value and more importantly superb sound!

Project Primary Turntable

First on the list is the Pro-ject “Primary” A simple plug and play unit that is simple to use. Very little set up is needed, you simply place the platter on the spindle, fit the belt, connect it to your amplfier or phono stage, power it up and away you go.

Rega Planar 1

Second on our list is the “Rega Planar 1”. Again like the Pro-ject above it has the same kind of set-up and will having you listening to your vinyl in no time

Project Debut carbon

In third place we have the Project “Debut Carbon”. This is one of our best selling turntables. Fitted with the superb Ortofon 2M Red cartridge a carbon fibre tone arm and a heavy steel platter, it gives the best possible performance for the money. This is also the first turntable on our list that is upgradeable. You can swap the felt mat for a cork one, upgrade the stylus to a 2M Blue or even swap the steel platter for an acrylic one.

Rega Planar 3

The fourth on our list is the iconic Rega Planar 3. The Planar 3 has been around for many years over which it has been steadily improved. With its distinctive glass platter and a superb tonearm that is compatible with many different cartridges both MM (moving magnet) and MC (moving coil), this is indeed a very versatile record deck. It can be supplied without cartridge or as a package with the Elys 2 with considerable saving on the price.

Project Classic Super Pack

In fifth place we have the Project “Classic Super Pack”. Similar in looks to the Linn LP12 or the old Thorens TD160 this record player uses a high quality tonearm a damped heavy steel platter and a very clever sorbothane suspension to eliminate vibrations. Now adding electronic speed selector and fitted with an Ortofon Quintet Red cartridge this deck will give you many years of happy listening. This turntable is also supplied with a leather mat and record clamp.

rega planar 8

In sixth place we have a new kid in town, the stunning Rega Planar 8. Stunning in looks and performance this deck truly deserves all the accolades bestowed on it so far. It has an electronic speed box that is fine tuned and matched to every individual unit. Fitted with the Apheta 2 cartridge this turntable sounds sublime. Certainly the best we have heard for the price for a long while. However just don’t take our word for it, pop in and have a listen. Bring along your favourite vinyl records and pick the turntable that suits you best!

Pro-ject turntables are also available at the following branches of Audio T:

Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Swansea, Swindon

Rega is available at all branches of Audio T.

Naim Audio Heavy Weight Music Network Players ND5 XS 2 And NDX 2

The new Naim streamers have landed! We have been extremely excited about the arrival of the ND5 XS 2 network player and we have been enjoying our initial listening while running-in this neat little box.

Naim ND5XS2 with control app displayed on a smart tablet.

This is the entry level network player from Naim and has a perfect partner in the Naim NAIT XS 2 amplifier. This 2 box power house is a sublime introduction into the streaming world.

Built in, is the new Naim streaming platform with an expanded feature set to the previous model. These features include high-res UPnP streaming, Airplay, Chromecast built-in, Bluetooth aptX HD, Spotify Connect, TIDAL, Roon compatibility, internet radio and multi-room streaming. That’s a lot of streaming features!

Naim ND5 XS 2 rear panel

Whether you are running a NAIT 5Si entry level amplifier or the more powerful NAIT XS 2 the new ND5 XS 2 is a must when looking for a new digital music source for your system. When partnered with the NAIT XS 2 a control cable can be run between streamer and amplifier allowing full control over the volume from the app, so no need to pick up that remote control when you need to adjust your listening levels.

This entry level network player does not have a large colour screen like its slightly older sibling the NDX 2 so all functions are controlled from a smart device such as a smart phone or tablet using the Naim Audio app available for free download from the app store.

Naim NDX2 front panel.

Part of the Classic series, the Naim NDX 2 is an upgradable network player offering you all that the ND 5 XS 2 offers and more. This unit incorporates a large 5” colour display, first seen on the new Uniti range including the Nova, Star and Atom.

Naim NDX2 5” colour display on front panel.

Now this beast has really had a leap forward in its performance over its predecessor the NDX. You can pair the NDX 2 with an XPS DR Power supply for upgraded performance and if you’re feeling really flush why not add the 555PS but we will touch on that another day.

Naim NDX2 back panel.

We think the ND X 2 is highly immersive and will get your foot tapping. Its output is lively and energetic with bags of detail to draw you into the stereo image.

Naim NDX2 bi-directional ZigBEE remote control.

If you are looking for a simple yet powerful and sophisticated system, then maybe consider partnering with the Supernait 2 for a two box power house.

If you would like to have a listen we’d be pleased to set up a demonstration for you.

Hefin, Nick and Kerrin - Audio T Cardiff.

Naim Audio Hi-Fi equipment is available at all our Audio T shops.

The Quad Artera Solus Makes Us Sit Up And Pay Attention

Here at Audio T Cardiff we have many opportunities to listen to to some great Hi-Fi but every now and again something new will come along that makes you sit up and listen. The Quad Artera Solus all-in-one was just one of these!

What is a Quad Artera Solus you may ask? The Solus takes elements of the existing Artera range and shrinks them down to a single box unit. It continues along the classic Quad Hi-Fi lines but with a modern touch and enters a market where the one box hi-fi system has a lot of interest.

The Quad Solus is fitted with all the things you would would expect on a modern day all-in-one system.

You get five digital input, two coaxial, two optical and a USB-B connection. The USB-A socket you see on the rear panel is just for software updates. These are partnered with both an optical and coax outputs. All the decoding is handled by a ESS Sabre DAC. You then get an additional two RCA line inputs and a line output.

Taking a look at the front panel here you will see the Quad veers slightly from the norm. in place of an internet radio or network streamer you have a CD mechanism on a slot loading transport. Quite a smart move we think as although we are told that CD sales are in decline there are many of you out there with a vast CD collection. Add this to the versatile USB-B socket that is compatible with a variety of networked attached storage (NAS) drives, the Apt-X Bluetooth, you have quite a versatile system.

There is also a streaming platform in the pipeline that will only add to the impressive features already on-board.

The Amp delivers a beefy 75W RMS into 8ohms backed by an equally impressive 15 amps of current, so not much of a struggle here with most similarly priced loudspeakers. It’s a class A/B design with the pre-amplifier also being completely analogue and constructed of mainly discrete components. This puts the Quad in good stead as your choice of speakers will not be limited.

As for the design, the Solus is quite unlike anything else on the market. There are no visible controls apart from the power and eject buttons. The indented solid metal chassis with its removable glass plate that is flush with the top only adds to the elegant look of the unit. A silver finish is also available. The supplied remote control is also good quality with direct command buttons for all functions and is logical and easy to use.

We have the Solus on demonstration at the moment hooked up to a pair of Spendor A4 loudspeakers. So come in and have a listen we can assure you, you will be in for a treat.

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

Audio T Cardiff's New 'Walk-in' Home Cinema!

A home cinema or theatre setup, is something that many people don’t have much experience of, but done well it can further enhance your enjoyment of TV and films. We love introducing people to home cinema sound and have decided to put together a ‘walk in’ home cinema on the shop floor, which can be experienced by anyone without the need to book an appointment!

In this month’s blog we will take you through the home cinema system we have put together and how it could be a perfect addition to your film and TV programme watching pleasure.

We start off our home cinema experience by looking at Panasonic's brand new 55” OLED 4k television, the catchily named TX55FZ802. This is the best TV screen Panasonic have made and is one of the most affordable OLED screens on the market. Anyone yearning for the old days of plasma need look no further as OLED is finally delivering on its promise with Panasonic really at the forefront of this new technology. Panasonic consulted experts in Hollywood while the set was in development to make sure the result was as close to the vision directors have of their films as possible and you can tell! The colours are rich, detailed and realistic with some of the most incredible blacks we have ever seen. This is because of the new Studio colour HCX2 processor which Panasonic describes as ‘the pinnacle image processing expertise’, tuned to show off the best quality colours, blacks and brightness. The set has multiple high dynamic range (HDR) support - HDR has been developed to offer greater picture quality by allowing more contrast - and has no problem with the various standards that are around at the moment.

It is a smart TV as is standard these days, so comes with all the online services such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube and many more. Finally the build quality and design of this set is exceptional, the incredibly thin screen takes up the whole of the set with very little bezel either side. This TV really does give you an experience you really don’t want to miss out on.

Connected to the Panasonic via HDMI we have the new Denon AVR-X2500H AV receiver as the central hub of our setup. We were huge fans of its predecessor the X2400H and Denon have made it ever better! This new offering retains the myriad of connections and features of the model before it while adding even more. On the front panel you have your volume and input selector knobs alongside buttons for basic functionality as well as a headphone output, input for the setup microphone and handy HDMI input. The back presents you with a huge amount of options including eight HDCP 2.2 equipped HDMI inputs, optical and coaxial digital inputs and your old school analogue inputs.

The x2500 is marketed as a 7.2 channel receiver and while this is accurate it hides the amount of options that this gives you, after your front speakers are sorted you have two extra pairs to have as either rears, sides or both. You could have a pair of height speakers for Dolby Atmos or assign a pair to zone two to use as a stereo pair in another room; this versatility is exactly what you want in an AV receiver. The amp is capable of powering a large range of speakers so you can really customise your setup to the way you want it.

There aren’t many formats that the Denon will struggle with, as we mentioned it can handle Dolby Atmos but also DTS:X and DTS Virtual:X when it comes to audio as well as Dolby Vision, HDR, HLG and naturally 4k up scaling. The Denon has multiple ways of streaming audio; it has Bluetooth and WIFI streaming for services such as Spotify, Tidal and Amazon music. As it is part of Denon’s HEOS range you can also multi-room it to other HEOS devices such as stereo amps or powered speakers to have both your TV sound and music in different rooms in your house simultaneously. The build quality seems to be even better than Denon's already high standards, it seems more robust and solid somehow, an all round excellent AV receiver for the money.

The AVR x2500 is capable of powering a huge variety of speaker setups and of course as it is running on our shop floor we can easily and quickly swap speakers out if any of our customers wish to hear something specific, however on a day to day basis the speakers we have chosen to have running in our little cinema are Dali’s Zensor range. Specifically Zensor 7 floorstanders at the front either side of the Zensor Vokal centre speaker, the stand mount Zensor 1’s at the rear and the E-12 F subwoofer with its 12” driver. This setup can be purchased as a package which is why we chose although you could easily swap out any of the pairs of speakers for the larger Stand mount Zensor 3 or the smaller floor standing Zensor 5. We have reviewed the Zensor series before on this blog so we won’t go into too much detail here except to say that the whole Dali Zensor range is absurdly good value for money and provides you a fantastically fun listening experience for both movies and music.

The important question of course is what is the result of all of this equipment put together? We have been using Oppo’s excellent UDP-203 4K player as a source to watch and listen to a huge variety of films and music and nothing has failed to impress. One of the greatest joys of a surround sound setup is watching well mixed concerts and one of the best is Hanz Zimmer’s recent ‘Live in Prague’. Featuring one of the most talented set of musicians you will ever see, the system takes you right into the music as if you were sitting on the concert hall yourself. It is an unforgettable experience and everyone should have the chance to hear the theme from the movie ‘Gladiator’ in a 5.1 setup, the word epic doesn’t do it justice. Another must when it comes to music is to experience Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ in surround sound, the intro to ‘Time’ being a particular highlight.

The system takes you right into the action when it comes to movies with dialogue being crisp and clear, action scenes being huge and involving and movies that are particularly well mixed for surround sound such as the Morten Tyldum directed ‘Passengers’ use the medium to their advantage so much so that you will think you are in outer space! Our party piece for showing off how good the Panasonic television is has got to be the BBC’s ‘Planet Earth’ which is simply breathtaking in its vivid colours and detail and shows you everything that OLED technology has got to offer.

There nothing like experiencing a system like this in person and we have it running continually while the shop is open, all you need to do is pop in, no appointment necessary, have a seat on our comfy sofa and see what all the fuss is about. We look forward to seeing you!

Panasonic and Denon products can be ordered at all branches of Audio T.

Dali Products are available in the following branches of Audio T: Brentwood, Cardiff

Take Your Favourite Tunes Wherever You Go This Summer

It’s barbeque season and the sun has decided to grace us with its presence.  We thought you all might be like to see what may be available to enjoy your music in the garden, down at the beach or if you are braving the British countryside whilst camping.

We have chosen two of the best portable solutions on the market for your summer activities. We love the performance of the Dali Katch Bluetooth speaker and the Ruark R1 Mk3 DAB with battery pack.

First we will take you through the Dali Katch and what it offers. We touched on this wireless speaker last summer but thought we would give you more in depth look, seeing as the sun has decided to come out for an extended play this year.  Available in three different colours dark shadow, green moss and cloud grey the Katch is extremely stylish and robust. Sporting Bluetooth 4.0 with Apt-x and NFC technology the Katch is ideal as a “go-anywhere” speaker without compromise. As well as the Bluetooth connectivity this speaker includes a 3.5mm jack input for any devices that may not output Bluetooth.

This portable speaker has dual drivers powered by a 2 x 25watt class-D amplifier. The 2 x 3.5inch aluminium woofers and 2 x 21mm soft dome tweeters deliver a large and powerful performance from the robust aluminium body. You can tailor the sound of the Katch using the 2 audio profiles, clear or warm so if you like your bass the warm function gives great extension and size to this frequency area. Overall the sound from the Dali Katch portable loudspeaker is powerful and full bodied just how we like our wine. Timing and dynamics are definitely superior to other Bluetooth speakers on the market.

In the box are the charging adaptor and a carry case to protect your speaker. The battery at full charge will give you up to 24 hours of play time and there is a USB charge output, making it ideal for a weekend camping trip where you may be “off grid”.

The Ruark R1 Mk3 is a tabletop DAB radio with Bluetooth connectivity. Bought on its own this deluxe Bluetooth radio is a mains powered unit that sounds superb and is available in three colour finishes, satin black, satin white and rich walnut. With 2 alarm clock settings the R1 is ideal as a bed side radio with great snooze functions as well.

Enough of the indoors, let’s get out in the sun, here comes the clever bit. Ruark offer a battery pack for this little beauty making it ideal for carrying into the garden when the sun is belting down. The battery pack is small and light and bolts on to the rear of the R1. Once fitted this can be left in place and switched on and off when needed.  At a full charge this battery pack will deliver 12 hours of listening via Bluetooth from your mobile device or DAB, DAB+ and FM radio on the go. The Ruark battery pack can also be fitted to their more recently released MR1 Bluetooth speakers. This is definitely one of the best sounding radios you can buy. With clear and very precise sound for a single box radio the R1 Mk3 delivers great sound offering great functionality.

So whether it’s enjoying your favourite DAB stations in the garden or keeping up to date with the football scores when you take a trip to the sea side the R1 Mk3 should not be underestimated. The sound is incredible for a single speaker radio in such a tiny box.

Both the Dali Katch and Ruark R1 are available for demonstration in store so why not pop in for a demonstration while the sun is still here!

Thanks to Svago Italian kitchen and bar for letting us use their resturant as a backdrop for our photos!

Dali Hi-Fi products are available in the following stores: Cardiff, Brentwood

Ruark Hi-Fi products are available from all branches of Audio T.

New Marantz TT15S1 Turntable Has The Wow Factor!

We have a new turntable to play with here in Cardiff and it is a stunner! So with the continuing popularity of vinyl and record players at the moment we thought we would take a more in depth look at the Marantz TT15S1.

The first point of discussion on the TT15S1 has got to be how it looks. This is one seriously good looking turntable. The fact that it looks so modern is testament to the continuing popularity of the format; it’s not just about nostalgia. The plinth is made from one piece of frosted acrylic for a very original finish. This sits on top of three well constructed chunky aluminium feet to dampen those pesky vibrations and the plinth has cut outs for the arm and motor.

The turntable does require a little setting up out of the box but nothing too complicated. The beautifully made tonearm is lowered into place and then fastened with a single screw. Speaking of the tonearm, this turntable is packaged with the Clearaudio Virtuoso wood moving magnet cartridge, which tracks excellently and is perfectly matched to the turntable. Before the setup is completed with a hefty platter which sits on a suspended spindle.

Now we move to the final steps. The motor pulley needs to be fitted to the spindle and secured using the three screws and tiny screw driver provided. At this point it is essential the pulley is fixed at the correct height so that the drive belt can sit correctly around the platter. Now the separated motor needs to be placed where the turntable will sit and the plinth with the now fitted tonearm and platter can be slowly lowered over the motor housing.

The cartridge will need to be fitted to the tonearm and aligned. Again making your life easier, the instructions are easy to follow and tools for this also supplied. Lastly the felt mat and simple record clamp are added. The setup is completed with balancing the tonearm and adjusting to add the correct tracking force for the Clearaudio Virtuoso wood cartridge. Do not be put off by the assembling of this record player as it is easier than it sounds and all tools required are supplied.

We can now get playing our favourite records! The first that came to mind was Michael Jacksons Thriller album and the first track on side 1, 'Wannabe Startin’ Somethin’. After a quick read of a review of this turntable I thought this song would really bring out the best bits of why this is an excellent piece of kit. It is undoubtedly accurate, fast with buckets of detail and clarity and presented the Quincy Jones production superbly. Continuing our initial listen, we now moved to the album SBTRKT by SBTRKT and the Marantz TT15S1 again delivers a fast paced and dynamic presentation particularly with the song SBTRKT – Hold On (featuring Sampha). Of particular note was how clean everything sounds, this is testament to the isolation that has been attained here and makes for a very quiet turntable.

This turntable is everything you could expect at the price and more. It is now on demonstration in at Audio T Cardiff so do feel free to pop in or call to arrange demo.

Marantz Hi-Fi Products are available in the following stores: Brentwood, Brighton, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth,  Preston, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon.

Exclusive Interview And Review Of The New Nytech CA352 Integrated Amplifier.

Modern day Hi-Fi is often jam packed with features, wireless streaming, integrated DACs and digital processing abound and that is truly fantastic. However none of these things come close to the importance of the quality of sound itself and if anything can prove this it’s the new Nytech CA352.

We’ve waxed lyrical in the past about Nytech’s fantastic Pre and Power combination the CP202 and CPA402, in fact over the last few years they have barely left our demonstration room, becoming our point of reference when reviewing new loudspeakers and other components. However there is certainly a trend recently of setups having fewer boxes and taking up less space, reducing those two boxes down to one in the form of an integrated amplifier was the next logical step.

The CA352 is not officially released until the 24th of May (more on the launch event later) however as it is developed and built right here in Cardiff we have been lucky enough to hear it a few times through its development and have had it in the demonstration room before its release.

Build quality is excellent with the CA252. It keeps the same brushed black aluminium front panel and simple nicely laid out controls including a motorised volume control. Buyers are treated to some customisation as well, as Nytech offer you a variety of choices when it comes to their signature wooden side checks, which gives a real sense of ownership and uniqueness to your amplifier.

We sat down with Phil Balaam, the designer and engineer behind all of the modern Nytech creations and asked him a few questions about his new product:

When did you first get interested in Hi-Fi and how did you get involved in the industry?

I was interested in Music from about the age of six and I built my first amplifier when I was 12, but it wasn't until I joined Nytech Audio in 1978 and met Richard Hay for the first time that I started to get interested into what makes electronic equipment sound the way it does. I learned an awful lot from Richard about why HiFi sounds the way it does and what factors can influence the sound in what way.

What is your philosophy when it comes to the sound and design of your products?

Music first! - No matter how good your equipment is on paper, it’s not until you start listening to music emotionally on it that you appreciate the difference between equipment. Music is a collection of mathematically related sounds designed to produce an emotional response in the listener. If the emotion disappears in the recording and reproduction of the music then its meaning is lost!

Value for money - Anyone who knows the HiFi business knows there are some very high priced items out there! Some justify their high price but many do not! One of the things I learned from Richard Hay was how to make music without spending a fortune and passing that onto the customer.

Nytech amplifiers are by no means "cheap" but they offer very high musical ability without the astronomically high price tag of some of the more "esoteric" alternatives. It’s up to the customer can decide if they are getting value for money.

Talk us through the new integrated, what was your reasoning behind releasing this product?

The first requirement of the integrated was that we deliver the emotion, detail and focus as would be expected of a modern amplifier but make sure that we kept the distinctive musical sound of the classic originals.

The second requirement was to concentrate every single penny of cost into musical performance.

The whole point about HiFi separates is that you choose the components you want to give you the most enjoyable musical performance

The Integrated amplifier has one job. To amplify and control analogue audio signals. Doing anything else in the box would either have compromised the sound, or made the integrated far more expensive adding features that the customer may not want.

That’s why there are no "add ons" like Phono stages, DACs, Bluetooth streaming or any other gadgets. To add these either the price had to be increased and customers may not want them or we sacrifice the quality of the amplifier to pay for the "extras." We also felt that putting a phono stage inside the box with all the interference and noise from the power electronics would reduce the quality of the music so we decided not to do it.

We set up a system in our demonstration room we felt was appropriate for the price point and function of the CA352. This consisted of a Cyrus Stream X signature into Chord Electronics new (and marvellous) Qutest DAC for our streaming alongside a Rega Planar 6 with Ania MC cartridge through Rega’s Fono MC phono stage as our sources. For our loudspeakers we employed Spendor’s brand new A7 floorstanders (more on those in the coming months) which the CA352 modestly rated 35 watts drove effortlessly.

We spent a lot of time and listened to a huge variety of music through this setup and could provide an essay on our findings but we thought we’d share a few of our highlights. One of the surprising moments came from the intro to Queen’s classic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the harmonies at the start of the song are of course instantly recognisable but we were blown away by the separation the SA352 provided. On a song we have between us heard hundreds of times before we could recognise each individual voice as if there were a choir stood right in front of us, it really was staggering detail.

Another standout was Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, the realism with which the orchestra portrayed was incredible with all instruments presented in their proper positions and sounding as close to how they would in a concert hall, and of course when the cannons go off it makes you want to run for cover! The CA352 really showing how it can access that extra power that is needed instantaneously to give you that kind of impact. We know from previous experience that Nytech excel in providing the dynamics and soundstage needed to reproduce classical and jazz but what was surprising about this little amp is how well it well…rocks! Listening to ‘Take the Power Back’ by Rage Against the Machine provided all the muscle the song demands, the slap bass thundered, the drum kit hit you full on the chest and the vocals felt rhythmic and snappy just as they should but quite often don’t.

You don’t just have to believe our opinion though as on the 24th of May at 7pm there will be a great chance to hear the CA352 at our event at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay. This fantastic building has hosted plenty of our events in the past and this time we will be showing off the CA352 playing through Spendor’s new A7 loudspeakers. There will be talks from both companies on their new products as well as a live performance from Cardiff based Jazz trio ‘Cool Soup’. This will be recorded and then played back through the system so we can compare between the live and recorded experience.

The bar will be open as we listen to a range of music to really show you what this amazing equipment can do. Entry is free and tickets can be reserved here . All are welcome and we hope to you there, if you can’t make it of course you are always welcome to have a demonstration in the shop any time after the day of the event.

Nytech products are currently only available at the Cardiff store

Pro-ject Jukebox E - Instant Vinyl Replay Hi-Fi System - Just Add Speakers!

Pro-ject audio systems have always strived to make excellent vinyl audio quality as accessible as possible and by creating the Jukebox E take this a step further by providing a everything you need for excellent vinyl sound in just one box.

The business of listening to music on vinyl is one that nearly always involves at least a few boxes e.g. turntable, phono stage, amplifier and speakers and of course all the cables in between! This can sometimes put people off as equipment can take up a fair bit of space which can sometimes be at a premium in front rooms and of course the collective cost of the various components! Pro-ject audio Systems have come up with an elegant solution to this by combining their expertise in high quality entry level turntables, phono stages and amplification to come up with the Pro-ject Jukebox E.

Along with a pair of suitable speakers the Jukebox E is a complete vinyl and Bluetooth playback system. The turntable itself is based on Pro-ject's hugely successful Primary turntable, modified to fit the Jukebox chassis. The arm is a 8.6” and made from aluminium with sapphire bearings with an Ortofon’s excellent OM 5e cartridge pre installed. It is a belt driven turntable with a low-vibration synchronous motor with very reliable speed stability. In the interest of keeping things simple there is next to no setup needed straight out of the box, with only the belt being separate and needing to be installed.

The Jukebox E also features a Bluetooth input, handy for those times you don’t feel like getting out of your chair to turn a vinyl over! Being able to control music through your Bluetooth enabled smart device gives the Jukebox E plenty of versatility. A line level phono input on the back also allows you do add any other sources you would like such as a streamer or CD player, while a line level output means you can add a headphone amplifier or integrate into a larger system.

The system boasts a surprisingly powerful 50w in to 4 Ohms per channel integrated amplifier which has a moving magnet phono stage built in based on Pro-ject's brilliant Phono Box technology. We find the Jukebox E very easy to operate; there is a clear display on the front that has the volume and current input which are controllable either from the front panel or the supplied remote control which also gives you some customisation with the sound by adjusting the bass and treble.

Build quality is also very impressive the sturdy, heavy high gloss plinth, special decoupling feet and removable dust cover all give you the impression of a premium piece of equipment which is only helped by the small details like the high quality display and luxury aluminium pulley.

There are any number of loudspeakers that can be paired with the Jukebox E, though typically keeping with the theme of saving space you will most commonly see them paired with small bookshelf speakers. We have found fantastic results with the Dali Spector 1 and Dali Zensor 1. This is a combination that produces an impressive large sound, a surprisingly deep bass response, plenty of detail and a better sound stage than you would expect from such a small and reasonably priced setup.

If you are just starting out in vinyl or want a ‘second room’ type system but want to keep it small and simple then the Pro-ject Jukebox E is the perfect product for you, the fact that is is an ‘all in one’ system does not mean there is any compromise on the quality you get out of the system, just add speakers and you are ready to listen to some music! The Jukebox E is well worth a listen and is in our store as well as a large range of loudspeakers to pair with it and find the combination that suits you the best, please get in touch to book a demonstration.

Project Audio Systems Products are available in the following stores:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Swansea, Swindon

Bowers & Wilkins 800 D3 Series Event a Resounding Success!

Last Wednesday evening we held a fantastic Bowers & Wilkins 800 D3 Series listening event at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff. Colleagues from both Cardiff and Swansea branches were in attendance as well as representatives from Bowers & Wilkins, Chord Electronics and The Chord Company. Over 50 guests attended to hear some fantastic sounds from some of the best Hi-Fi in the world.

The evening began with a presentation from B&W representatives of the progression of the 800 series. Attendees were treated to music played on the 805 D3, 804 D3, 803 D3, and 800 D3 in turn. While the whole range sounded fantastic it was brilliant to able to hear more and more of the music come to life as we moved up the series the jump between the more traditional looking 804 D3 to the more unique shaped 803 D3 was particuly stunning. You could see the amazement all around the room.

As we were taken up through the range the representatives from B&W took us through the technology and build processes that make these speakers so great, we have a few recent blogs on this as well such as our B&W factory tour and reviews on the 800 D3 series so make sure to have a read of those. The Norwegian Chuch is admittedly not the best space acousticly but the further up the series we went the more the sound filled the room and the immersion of the music was fantastic.

Worth the drive!

The B&W 800 D3 series certainly needs plenty of power to be driven at their best,  especially in the large room of the Norwegion Church, luckily we had Chord Electronics involved and their system provided that power in spades.

We were treated to some top tier electronics and streamed music to the outstanding DAVE DAC which we also used as a pre-amplifier and played CD's from the BLU MK. 2. These sources then were routed through a pair of the Immense SPM1400 Mk.II Mono power amplifiers, providing a whopping 480 watts to each channel! We had a facsinating overview of the equipment from a representative from Chord and then listening to more music with a focus on the electronics.

We were very pleased to welcome Rob Watts to the event, Rob is the man who designed, amongst many others, the DAVE DAC and he gave an insightful talk on his design process and about the inner workings of the DAVE.

All of the staff from Audio T Cardiff and Swansea would like to thank everyone who attended the event and especially the reprsentatives form the manufacturers who give very enlightning and intresting talks on their products. The whole B&W 800 D3 series is currently on demonstration at the Cardiff shop so please get in touch for a one on one demonstration.

The B&W 800 D3 series is only available in the Cardiff store.

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

Audio T Cardiff Visit the Bowers & Wilkins Factory in Worthing, Sussex

Hefin, Nick and Gareth were lucky enough to be invited to visit the Bowers and Wilkins factory in Worthing this month and it was an incredible experience!

We were able to see how the stunning 800 series diamond loudspeakers are produced as well as having demonstrations. During our visit, we were able to take some photos on the way round and thought we would share them with you.

We were greeted in the entrance by this magnificent one of a kind Nautilus and just had to take a picture!

The 800 D3 Diamond family proudly on display.

The cabinets of the 800 series consist of 22 layers of ply, which are glued and then put under intense pressure using the machinery above to bind them together.

The sections of ply are then bent into shape using the machines above and below, again by applying huge amounts of pressure. There is one of these machines for each shape that needs to be made through the whole range.

Pictured above are 804 cabinets being clamped together. They are left like this for some time to ensure the solidity of the overall cabinet.

With the bottom section taken off this 804 cabinet you can see some of the internal bracing, or matrix which gives the speaker a huge amount of stability, reducing vibration. You can also see a large section of metal, this is very heavy and helps give the speakers a low centre of gravity, again improving stability.

This robot is cutting out grooves on the inside of a cabinet for the matrix and drivers to fit into. This way allows for absolute precision on every speaker. You can see the results in the image below. This 800 series has B&W's best Matrix system yet, thicker plywood replaces the MDF that has been used in the past with metal reinforcing the most critical areas for the ultimate in rigidity.

Here another robot is spray painting a production line of cabinets, which results in the cleanest and most even paint job possible. Despite this a lot of the finishing work on the cabinets is still done by human hands. Fun fact! Some may recognise this robot as the same used in Marvel's Ironman films, it is actually the same model!

Here you can see the crossover from  a pair of 800's. In the research and development of the series every single component was rigorously tested by ear to make sure it is the very best available as the crossover has a huge bearing on the character of a speaker.

It's not just robots who work on the finish of the speakers!

These images show the speakers ready to have the Continuum cones installed. B&W thought that their previous Aramid Fibre drivers couldn't be beaten for years but their passion for continuous improvement proved themselves wrong! This new composite material which avoids abrupt transitions that can impair performance make these the best cones they have ever produced.

These images show the final assembly area where the drivers are installed into the cabinets and then packaged for shipping.

One of the most astounding facts we learned during the tour was that a staggering eight hundred and sixty eight changes have been made from the last generation of the 800 series. B&W's drive to constantly strive to create the best loudspeakers they can, was something that really came through during our trip.

We finished the day with some demonstrations by B&W staff on various speakers, focusing mostly on the 800 series. We had an absolutely fantastic day and would like to give our sincere thanks to B&W for the opportunity.

The main learning point had to be seeing the true value of these sensational speakers. The amount of work and dedication, raw materials and technology that go into these is staggering and of course most importantly they deliver an exceptional performance. We are lucky enough to have the entire Bowers & Wilkins 800 D3 diamond series in our shop in Cardiff to demonstrate and can happily pass on what we learnt at B&W to anyone who want to know more information

We also have a B&W 800 D3 Diamond series event on the 14th of March at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff bay, where experts from B&W will be demonstrating the 805, 803 and 800 D3 loudspeakers partnered with Chord electronics amplifiers. As anyone who has been to one of our events will know they are both informative and enjoyable. Tickets are free but there are limited spaces and the tickets are running out fast! You can reserve your place here. 

The Bowers & Wilkins 800 D3 Diamond series are only available for demonstration at Audio T Cardiff.

Dynaudio Celebrates their 40th Anniversary in Style!

Dynaudio had their 40th anniversary last year and they didn’t just celebrate by sitting around eating fastelavnsboller! (A Danish dessert so I’m told!) They carried on their tradition of releasing anniversary speakers with the Dynaudio Special 40.

Dynaudio have a history of making brilliant compact speakers but never a company to just look backwards, they have continued to innovate with their latest offering, bringing inspiration from their higher end Confidence and Evidence series drivers the new Special 40’s are some seriously impressive stand mounts.

A truly great set of speakers needs to both sound good and look good and the special 40s certainly grab your attention. The cabinet is a stunning high gloss birch in either grey or red and could easily fit into either a traditional or more modern styled room.

As is often said it’s what inside that counts! And there’s some very clever technology that has gone into the special 40s. The crossover incorporates Dynaudio’s unique Phase alignment and Impedance alignment technologies and is extremely accurate in ensuring the correct frequencies are going to the correct drivers, which themselves have extended frequency range and overlap to really give you that cohesive performance that is so important.

Dynaudio uses the same proprietary MSP (Magnesium Silicate Polymer) material that is in many other speakers they produce as they say that it has the best combination of rigidity, stability and damping resulting in what they say is the best driver they have made yet, which is quite the claim! They also claim that unlike other materials MSP never changes, so the driver will last an exceptionally long time without sounding tired. Like all other MSP cones it is a one piece design giving it a very strong connection to the voice-coil, and plenty of stability when you decide to turn it up a bit. Behind the driver there have been many changes to the voice coil, suspension and magnet to improve performance.

The new Esotar forty 28mm tweeter which has been made from scratch by Dynaudio is an intriguingly named DSR (Dynaudio secret recipe) precision-coated soft-dome. A lot of very clever engineering has gone behind it such as the new precision conduit which is shaped to allow more and better dampening it also reduces back pressure and its shape also significantly improves airflow.

In our demonstration room we found that the Special 40’s sounded best about a foot and a half from the wall and slightly angled in, this of course is very much room dependent but as the speakers are rear ported they do like space behind them to stop any bass boominess.

The speakers are pretty easy to drive at 6ohms and we found out even amps like the Rega Brio is capable of driving them although more power than that certainly doesn’t go amiss as we found when we went up to the over 100 watt per channel Rega Elicit-R. They also worked to stunning effect on the end of the Nytech CP202 and CPA402 pre and power amplifiers which we use for many of our speaker tests. We didn’t find the Special 40’s suited one genre over another in particular although some highlights from our listening included Audioslaves ’Like a Stone’ where the powerful voice of Chris Cornell (R.I.P) sounded huge and authoritative and Tom Morrelo’s guitar solo had an incredible 3D depth to it, sounding layered from the front to the back of the room. The John  Butler trio track ‘Ocean’ showed off the incredible subtlety of the speakers which managed to show off the intricate acoustic guitar work perfectly, managing to convey warmth and detail at the same time. All through our testing we were very impressed by the low end these relatively small speakers can put out, which is both impactful and musically pleasing, they image well with even orchestral pieces allowing you to easily pick out individual instruments whilst still retaining the sense of grandness and scale.

Overall the Dynaudio Special 40’s impress in both build and sound quality and will have you glued to your seat for a long time to come. They are available for demonstration in store right now so please get in touch to have a listen to these magnificent speakers.

Dynaudio Products are available in the following branches: Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon.

We Get up Close and Personal With Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3, Stand Mount Loudspeaker

The Bowers and Wilkins 800 series has always been a leading light in high end speaker manufacture. In this month’s blog we thought we would whet your appetite for a high quality stand mount loudspeaker and take a closer look at entry point of their flagship 800 series, the B&W 805D3.

Let’s get stuck into the nitty gritty of what makes these small but impressive stand mount speakers sing! As the world’s only diamond equipped stand mount loudspeaker the 805D3 is packed with cutting-edge technology. The 2 way vented box design delivers phenomenal performance. The diamond dome tweeter is encased in a solid aluminium body and just like the predecessors to the 805D3 it has that unmistakable look with the tweeter separated and situated on top of the cabinet. This separates it from the main cabinet allowing for a spacious and lifelike reproduction of the music.

Diamond dome tweeter

The B&W 805D3 diamond dome tweeter is now complimented by the new Continuum cone bass midrange driver. Eight years down the line of research and we have a progression, or a “continuation” of the well known yellow woven Aramid Fibre drive unit found in the older 800 diamond series. The new Continuum cone delivers a pristine midrange and bass performance and the new technology has been designed to eliminate the break up behaviour that can really affect the response in this part of the frequency spectrum. We would like to elaborate more on the continuum technology but B&W are keeping their cards close to their chest on this one.

contimuum bass/midrange driver

The revised cabinet for these small but impressive loudspeakers are described as a metal-reinforced Matrix. This structure provides incredible internal bracing ensuring that the sound we hear is produced by the drivers and not influenced by the cabinet. The cabinet construction consists of layers of wood ply with metal reinforcement. This construction teamed with the curve of the cabinet makes for an incredibly rigid platform for the bass mid-range driver to operate. The 805D3 cabinets are available in three finishes, gloss black, satin white and rosenut, which are featured in these pictures.

Rosenut cabinet

What do they sound like I hear you cry! Well, we have been getting to grips with the 805D3 since they arrived at Audio T Cardiff this summer. They definitely need a good amplifier to keep control of them. The combinations we most like is on the end of a Naim NAP300DR which offers plenty of grunt and a smooth but upfront presentation. However, the NAP250DR and NAP200DR have what it takes to keep them under control.  The midrange frequency performance is stunning and you can kick back and listen to these loudspeakers all day long.  At this level of speaker things can sometimes sound too clinical and the detailed presentation can lack musicality. The 805D3 does not have this problem. The mid range and treble performance is spatial, transparent and full of the accurate details we have come to expect from Bowers and Wilkins 800 diamond series.

bass reflex port

Team the B&W 805D3 up with the FS-805 stand and you have the basis for a world leading stand mount loudspeaker. You have probably seen the recent release of the new Naim UNITI range, such as the ATOM, STAR and NOVA. Well, a demonstration of any of these streaming amplifiers is a must with the 805D3 before making your final decision on what to partner them with.

naim uniti star

In their own words, "B&W have been dedicated to helping listeners get closer to the music they love for 51 years." All of the 800D3 series are designed and hand built in the Bowers & Wilkins factory in Worthing in the UK. Bowers & Wilkins have kindly invited us to their factory in January 2018 so we can bring you first hand information on the design and manufacture of the 800D3 series.

We will be showcasing the 800D3 range at an event in Cardiff in early 2018, so keep your ear to our blog for details of the date and location for this event.

Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers are available at the following branches of Audio T: 
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea and Swindon. Bowers & Wilkins 800D3 series are only available from Audio T Cardiff.

A Streaming Revolution! The Chord Electronics Poly!

The Chord Electronics Mojo headphone amplifier and DAC was one of our favourite products to come out last year and you would be forgiven for thinking it couldn’t get any better than it already is, well the geniuses at Chord Electronics have proven us wrong and revealed the Chord Electronics Poly.

The Chord Electronics Mojo would have been hard to miss in the months following its release, five star review followed five star review as the diminutive product was received extremely positively everywhere. In case you missed the hype in brief the Mojo is a portable DAC and headphone amplifier, an easy and surprisingly affordable way of making your digital music both at home and on the move sound incredible. It always needs a physical cable plugged into one of its inputs to pass the signal, as one would expect, however Chord Electronics have completely changed this aspect by introducing the Poly.

The Poly is an add-on product for the Mojo and transforms it into a standalone streamer. Physically it looks fairly straight forward, at about half the size of the Mojo there’s no actual controls on the device as this is dealt with by the Mojo when the two connect snugly and securely together via the two micro USB ports. Once fitted together the Poly and Mojo look just like one device with only the names of the two products on the sides giving the game away that they can be separated. A very smart case is also available from Chord Electronics to protect the two devices and ensure they don’t come away from each other, useful if you are carrying them in your pocket. Once connected the two devices can be charged up together, the Poly provides a nine hour battery life after a four hour charging time.

The Poly adds to the Mojo’s already impressive bag of tricks, wireless streaming can be undertaken via, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplay and network connectivity as well as built in support for Roon, with all the most up to date versions and all the aerials neatly hidden away in the casing of the unit. Practically this means of course that you can use for example a smart phone purely as a controller for your music while the Poly/Mojo combo acts as the actual player and outputs through headphones on the move or a line level output to go to an amplifier at home.

One of the most clever ideas the design team had in our opinion was adding the option o fan SD card slot on the Poly, this means an unlimited collection of music can actually be stored locally and then controlled via an app from a smart phone, potentially freeing up storage space on your device, this is a hugely impressive and thoughtful feature that really adds to the versatility of the device.

 The immense sound quality of the Mojo has been well documented so we won’t go into too much detail here but as the Poly is capable of handling a wide array of audio formats including High resolution files. It’s worth saying, put a high quality file through this combination and the results are mind-blowing! The Mojo, despite us listening to it dozens of times always surprises with how good it is and the Poly just gives you more options in how you listen to your music. Dynamics are crisp, detail is stunning and you hear some tracks in a different way to how you have heard them through headphones before.

Chord Electronics have always been innovators but this product is truly revolutionary, we can’t think of anything that competes, or is even similar the  Mojo/Poly combination. Both items are available for demonstration in store and we highly recommend coming in for a listen.

Chord Electronics Products are available in the following stores: Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Michell Gyrodec Turntable Build And Set Up

In this month’s blog from Audio T Cardiff we thought we would take you step by step through a Michell Gyrodec turntable build and set up..

The system we have chosen consists of Michell Gyrodec including Techno arm, HR power supply and Ortofon 2m Black cartridge. Leema essentials phono stage, NYTECH CP202/CPA402 and Spendor A1.

Displayed below we have the packaging of the Gyrodec including all relevant parts for building. We have removed the top section here, which contains the clear acrylic plinth with a fitted, hinged lid.

Acylic plinth with hinged lid.

One of the first jobs in the build is to fit the adjustable threaded feet x3.

Now the feet are in place the plinth can be put in position over the separate motor housing. At this point we also level off the plinth by adjusting the threads on the three feet.

Plinth levelled correctly with motor in place.

Next, you can see above the labelled suspension springs ready to be fitted to their relevant points and below the initial collar is being gently placed over the first spindle.

All three collars in place ready to take the suspension springs.

Suspension springs threaded onto the collar ready for adjustment.

Gyro chassis ready for the Techno tonearm.

Above we have the last spacer/thread fitting to the Gyro chassis and below the Techno arm being placed before being screwed down.

Offering arm to Gyro chassis.

Tonearm cables can now be dressed correctly on the underside of the chassis. The tonearm is earthed to the chassis.

Chassis placed over springs with bearing with housing now in place

Above the cartridge has been fitted to the arm and the bearing housing has been attahced to the main chassis of the Gyrodec. The main chassis is then placed over the suspension springs ready for the platter and then levelling.

View from above before the platter is placed over the bearing and spindle.

Platter in place from the front of the turntable.

Platter in place - view from above.

Once the platter is in place and the belt fitted around motor pulley and turntable platter we can level the suspension using the threads on the top of the suspension springs. Once the platter is level and the drive belt sits nicely on platter and pulley, we can start making adjustments to the cartridge position, arm height and lastly the tracking force for the cartridge. Before we continue with the arm and cartridge adjustments we can now fit the finishing caps to the suspension springs.

Arm height adjusted using the three point mount collar and thread.

Adjusting tracking force for cartridge using the Pro-ject "measure it".

Michell Gyrodec complete with record clamp

Michell turntables are available to order from all Audio T shops. We currently have a Gyro SE on demonstration in Manchester, Enfield and Southampton so come and take it for a spin!

The Naim Uniti Atom Music Player - A Huge Hit In a Small Box!

Naim always had their work cut out following up the highly successful Uniti range. In this months blog we take a look at the all new Uniti Atom which is the replacement to the highly successful Unitiqute. So how have they done? In short…they’ve knocked it out of the park! Welcome to the reign of the new Naim Uniti Atom....

‘All in one’ box music systems are popular these days in the world of Hi-Fi with multiple manufacturers offering up their creations in a myriad of forms, generally throwing some form of streaming and possibly radio in with an amplifier so you only have to add speakers.  There are a lot of very good ones too, so it takes something quite special to stand out amongst them and the Uniti Atom does just that…and then some. With two even bigger and more powerful Uniti units the Star and Nova on the way soon as well, it’s a very exciting time! But before we get carried away let’s have a look at what the Atom is and what it does.

Let’s start off with the aesthetics, the word ‘beautiful’ is not a term that you would generally ascribe to amplifiers but Naim have certainly bucked the trend here, especially compared to their more conservative ‘classic’ range. The first thing that hits you is the large 5” LCD glass display which brightly shows off the album artwork of the music you are currently playing as well as the very cleanly laid out and very easily navigable menu system. The screen even wakes up to show you the metadata of the track you are listening to as you approach it due to proximity sensors. This sits in a stunning brushed aluminium case with finned aluminium heat sinks on either side. The Naim logo is proudly lit up on the base and four lit up buttons on the front allow for some basic control when you don’t have the remote or your mobile device on you. The design of the Atom is perfectly finished off with Naim’s signature volume control, which will be very familiar to anyone who has played with a Naim Mu-so or Mu-so QB and adds yet another touch of class to proceedings.

So, what does it do? The answer to that is…a lot!  There are many ways to play your music through the Atom. Firstly you can wirelessly play your own music collection from a NAS drive, Naim Uniti core, or other UPnP device, it has both Spotify and Tidal streaming services integrated as well as ways of playing other services such as Qobuz via the in-built Chromecast Audio. Internet radio and Bluetooth are included of course, as well as Airplay for Apple users. As far as physical inputs go you will find one analogue phono input, ready for an external CD player or turntable via a phono stage. Digital inputs consisting of two optical, one coax and a USB also feature. There is then of course an Ethernet input and owners have the option of having a HDMI input included to connect a TV too. Finally a pre-amplifier analogue output is also if you wish to upgrade the Atom with an external power amplifier.

The Atoms amplifier is a brand new 40 watt A/B class affair, with technology taken from the Naim’s Nait series of amplifiers. They have included the biggest power supply they possibly could to give the amplifier its best chance as well as top of the range circuitry and premium Burr Brown DAC's. The streaming and Wi-Fi hardware is also brand new to ensure the best possible connectivity and sound quality. You have three options on how to control the Atom; a few buttons on the front give you basic control while the included bi-directional smart remote is a lovely touch. Finally the most convenient way to control the system is by Naim’s newly updated app, which is one of the most user friendly and stable control apps around.

We’ve tried the Atom through all sorts of loudspeakers that we have here in the store, from entry level stand mounts like the Dali Zensor 1’s right up to big floorstanders. The results were surprising, especially when we as an experiment linked the Atom up to a pair of Bowers and Wilkins 804 D3 which by all rights should be out of its league, yet the Atom drove them beautifully even in a big room, defying its size and power!

One combination that we all love is with the Spendor A4 small floorstanders which we set up in our demonstration room. Over a few days we threw all sorts of music at it from electronic to rock to classical and we all struggled to leave the room! The Atom may look small but it certainly doesn’t sound it. It surprises with its incredible depth of sound, it has this ability to seemingly fill the room with music and gets you feeling involved with your favourite tracks in brand new ways. This combined with the warmth and musicality of the Spendor A4 makes for a gorgeous listening experience. This is we think the Atoms greatest asset, as well as being amazing in its looks and functionality its sound quality will give a lot of normal stereo amps a run for their money never mind other all in one boxes.

This really is one of the most cutting edge products around and it really needs to be experienced in person to see why we are so excited to have it in our store. Please get in touch to organise a demonstration, just be warned when you see and hear the Atom we guarantee you will love it!

Naim Products are available in the following stores: Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

The Legendary Bowers and Wilkins 800 Series Return To Cardiff.

With a 35 year history and an iconic place for a long time in such institutions as Abbey Road Studios, it’s safe to say the B&W 800 series is one of the most renowned speaker ranges in the world. We are ecstatic to have the newest version of the entire range here at Audio T Cardiff.

The Bowers and Wilkins 800 series has a long and illustrious history, the original 801 was released in 1980. The idea was to give engineers absolute free reign to come up with the very best loudspeaker they could without the usual restrictions placed on them. In fact in the original 801 manual there is a quote that says:

‘‘the first commercial effort to develop and produce a loudspeaker that would reflect the highest standards attainable without regard to any of the so called “practical considerations” that inevitably compromise conventional designs.’’

This is exactly what they did, the use of ultra-rigid Matrix cabinet construction and the idea of separate enclosures for high-frequency drivers or Flowport bass-reflex tuning was brand new innovative technology at the time and was filtered down through the generations of 800s over the years. The new series, 800 D3 to be precise has followed that same philosophy of their forebears but with the very most up to date cutting edge technology that ensures they are on the top of their game.

Words can’t explain how excited we are to now have the vast majority of the new 800 range in store including the HTM1 centre speaker, the stand mounting 805 D3, the more traditional looking floor standing 804 D3, the most compact of the classic 800 look the 803 D3, the immense 802 D3 and the astonishing head of the family the 800 D3.

There is far too much incredible technology that goes into these speakers to cover everything in this blog but let’s go through at least some features. B&W claim that their diamond tweeter technology that they have been using since the beginning and has continued to be improved, provides the most realistic treble possible. The use of diamond means that the tweeter is both as light and rigid as possible which is a very difficult balance to achieve. On these newest versions the tweeter sits in an all new solid body housing which brings even further advances to performance.

A big development in the new range is the abandonment of the iconic Aramid Fibre cone for the new Continuum cone. These are essentially the next stage of evolution in B&W’s cone technology being able to ‘deliver pristine mid-range performance by effectively negating the break-up behaviour that can adversely affect this all-important part of the spectrum.’ The fact B&W have done this when the Aramid Fibre cone was already so innovative and unique show just how much they are striving for perfection.

We are still getting to grips with the whole range but what we have found out so far is that everything B&W are claiming about the sonic properties of this series is absolutely true. The ability to bring out the performance of the music you are listening to is exceptional the clarity and realism of these speakers make you feel like the musicians are right there in front of you. This is true for both stereo and home cinema settings, we have the 800’s, HTM1 centre and the 805 stand mounts setup in our cinema room with Dolby atmos and the result is nothing short of mind blowing.

We have several pairs of the range setup and ready to go for demonstration, so please get in touch if you would like a listen to what are frankly some game changing speakers.

Bowers and Wilkins 800 Series are currently only available at Cardiff store.

All other Bowers and Wilkins Speakers are available in the following Audio T stores: Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Dali Loudspeakers Arrive At Audio T Cardiff!

It's surreal! We are very excited here as we have just started stocking Dali products! To get us started we have a quartet of new products, namely: the Katch portable Bluetooth speaker; the Zensor Pico, Zensor 1 and Zensor 3 Loudspeakers.

A Dali family shot. 

Dali Katch Portable Bluetooth Speaker

The Dali Katch is a portable Bluetooth speaker with a few very clever tricks up its sleeve. Capable of a very impressive 24 hour battery life and a full charge after just 2 hours, this is a perfect companion for travelling or just sitting out in the garden. The Katch has two listening modes ‘clear’ is the best for most situations while ‘warm’ pushes out a bit extra bass, more suited for playing in a large room. The Katch connects via Bluetooth AptX and has the option of NFC, it can also be set up as a stereo pair if you have a second Katch. Our favourite feature though is that it has a USB charge out. This opens up a whole new world of streaming as the Katch can power a device like a Google Chromecast or even a player like the Astel and Kern AK70 (pictured below). Send the signal from that device in through the Katchs mini jack auxiliary input and you have yourself a streamer! Most importantly as well as looking incredible the Katch has a fantastic clear presentation through its two 21mm soft dome tweeter and pair of 9cm aluminium drivers. It seemed to handle everything we threw at it with aplomb and left us very impressed.

Dali Katch Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Dali Zensor Pico

The Pico is the first entry in the Zensor range of loudspeakers and the first thing to say about it as they are tiny! Each speaker stands at just 23cm high, however where it lacks in size it most certainly doesn’t lack in sound!  The Pico features the same soft dome tweeter that appears in the rest of the range and the same, albeit smaller, wood fibre woofer all contained in a very classy looking cabinet for the price. When tested we couldn’t believe the sound quality coming from such a small pair of speakers,  the Pico’s have a considerable impact at the low end considering the size and give a great presentation in a small to medium size rooms. We found that the Pico’s had a great energy and presence in the room that made them very addictive to listen to. These will be great in a small to medium room but also fantastic in a compact surround sound system as fronts, back or both!

Dali Zensor 1

The middle brother of the Zensor bookshelf speakers is the Zensor 1.  At 30% bigger than the Pico the Zensor 1 still has a fairly small footprint but defiantly has more of a presence in the room. Using the same tweeter but a slightly larger 5.25” woofer the Zensor 1 shares all the same characteristics of the Pico but you get more of it, a stronger sound stage more focussed, stronger bass and overall a more detailed sound. Like the other speakers in the range it is available in black, white and walnut finishes.

Dali Zensor 3

The newest member of the family is the slightly bigger again Zensor 3. The 3 follows all the same design aspects of the two smaller models and again uses the same tweeter but ups the size of the bass driver to a 7”. The 3’s have an infectious energy about them while still staying balanced with a tight top end and a surprisingly punchy bass for the size of cabinet, we found ourselves sitting back and listening to whole albums when we were meant to be reviewing them!

The Zensor range really has a speaker for many different situations and locations, so please do come and have a listen to them!

Dali loudspeakers are available in the following Audio T Stores: Cardiff,  Brentwood

Vertical Vinyl! Old Meets New With The New Project VT-E BT Turntable!

This month we are taking a look at our newest product in Cardiff, something ideal for those who want to play vinyl but want to save on space and avoid having cables about the place and it's a great talking point too - the Pro-ject VT-EBT.

The VT-E BT is far from the first vertical turntable that has existed but could well be considered one of the first audiophile ones. Based on the Project Elemental the turntable includes the same pre-mounted Ortofon OM5E cartridge, low vibration synchronous motor & DC power supply but that is where the similarities end.

The turntable can be either mounted on a wall or placed on a flat surface - both wall brackets and an attachable stand are included. Of course this means the size of the turntable is reduced but this does not impact the performance, in fact the shape of the turntable means that a left handed version with the arm on the other side of the usual setup is also available.

Of course for a turntable to play vertically a normal arm won’t cut it, so while the armtube and headshell are the same as on an Elemental the VT-E BT requires a unique bearing housing, counterweight and base, with the secret to the whole thing being a spring specially placed to allow the stylus to track vertically and not just flop down towards the floor! A clamp is also included in the box, which is again an absolute requirement to use when you're playing vertically so that the record stays flat against the platter.

This turntable gets very interesting when we talk about connectivity, like its brother in the range the VT-E it has a normal phono output to link up to a phono stage, however the VT-E BT also features an on board phono stage and its party trick Bluetooth. This means you can play your records with no cables needed other than a power cable. Once the turntable is powered up it will latch onto the strongest available Bluetooth signal and stay connected unless you unplug it from its power. The opportunities this lends itself too are huge, the BT-E BT can be placed anywhere in a room within range of a Bluetooth speaker, creating a minimalist and very tidy setup.

We tried the VT-E BT on a multitude of Bluetooth devices including the new Ruark MR1’s, the Naim Mu-so QB and the Auralic Aries Mini streamer. Connection was quick and easy and we were thoroughly impressed every time. Even with a relatively basic cartridge the turntable is just pure fun to listen to, bass is punchy enough and the mid range detail is great, even via Bluetooth. We also found the concept of a wireless turntable an intriguing conversation starter with everyone who has come into the shop and are sure it would be at home as well! As always we are available to demonstrate this great turntable at any time, so do please come in and have a listen.

Pro-ject Hi-Fi products are available at the following stores: Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Preston, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon