Powerhouse PMC Reference And Marantz Home Cinema System

Music and Movies are two passions of ours. Having one system that does both justice is something we strive for when specifying systems for our clients, who also share the same passion.

With this in mind, our large cinema room has been upgraded with the pre-power from Marantz and reference PMC Twenty5 26 speakers.

The Marantz 8805 AV processor is fully compliant with all the latest sound formats as well as being ready for 4K Ultra High definition sources.

The sound quality of the 8805 is improved vastly by the use of 32 bit DACS on all channels which means more enjoyment for you. Most processors use 24 bit DACS which do not sound as good.

The 7 channel power amp driving our PMC speakers is the beautiful Marantz MM8077 which supplies 7 x 150w of power to the PMC speakers.

High current, high bandwidth discrete power transistors can handle short term musical bursts with aplomb, even into difficult low impedance speaker loads. The PMC speakers always perform better when provided good juice.

The combination of the PMC Twenty5 26 Left and Right speakers with the matching PMC Twenty5 Centre really make movies and music shine.

For Surround channels at the rear, we have opted for PMC Twenty5 22 speakers which gell very well with the 3 power house speakers up front.

For Subwoofer duties, the REL S5 SHO fills the room with a deep and powerful low end which enriches the sound for stereo two channel and multi-channel enjoyment.

Bring along some of your favourite music and films and come and have a listen!

Thanks for reading. John, Keith & Mahmood - Audio T Enfield.

Denon & Marantz Hi-Fi is available at the following branches of Audio T
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

PMC loudspeakers are available at the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

REL sub bass systems are available at the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

Acoustic Energy AE300 Series. Great Sound. Great Look. Great Price!

Over the past week we have been playing with some new speakers from Acoustic Energy. The AE300 stand mount and the AE309 floor standing loudspeakers. They are available in three high standard finishes a Black or White Gloss finish and a Satin real wood Walnut veneer. There is also a centre speaker available, the AE307 for home cinema use.

The new 300 series offers some big upgrades from the entry level 100 series in both performance and aesthetics. The new mid bass drive units have been designed together to achieve a seamless tonal balance and the aluminium dome tweeter features wide dispersion technology which provides a greater sweet spot in your room making placement within a room easier.

Internal bracing inside the cabinet improves rigidity and reduces colouration of sound, and in the case of the AE309 (Gloss Finish and £1099 for walnut) they come mass filled which greatly improves stability and gives solidity allowing for a cleaner and more open performance. There is also a slot shaped port at the rear as found in the 100 series which allows for greater bass control and the ability to position them closer to a wall than most rear ported loudspeaker designs.

We thought we would use the same electronics for both speakers to keep a level playing field and we opted for the Rega Planar 3 with the Rega Elex-R integrated amp. Of course the AE300 at £599 for the Gloss finishes and £649 for the walnut are not strictly the right speakers within that system but we wanted to see just what they could do so we put them on the Custom Design FS104 stands mass filled and dug out a record. We kicked of with the second album from London Grammar, ‘‘Truth Is A Beautiful Thing’’ and played it all the way through side one. Impressed… they handled Hannahs powerful vocals and the some time ridiculous bass London Grammar like to employ. They sounded very present in the room without being forced and still allowing plenty of space around the vocal, giving loads of depth to the soundstage an offering a really enjoyable listen. I have a feeling that the AE300’s will work really well with anything within reason.

Next of course we moved up to the AE309. The extra drive unit and cabinet provided far greater bass extension and presence. In some cases when a stand mounted speaker sounds so good the first floor stander in a range can sound a little bloated, uncontrolled and can lose clarity. Not a bit of it. The AE309 just sounded bigger, as you might expect, all the improvements you would hope for when moving up in a range were apparent. We have since had them running in the foyer of the shop, a far bigger area, and they do not shy away.

In short they are hugely versatile and fun to listen to, We really cannot fault them at their price point and we look forward to playing with them in the future.

Remember, if you would like to borrow them for a home demonstration we can arrange that or simply get in touch with us and we will set them up in store for you.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Nick Joe and James - Audio T Portsmouth

Acoustic Energy loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:

Brentwood, Bristol, Cheltenham, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Swindon

Spendor A7 Floor Standing Speakers Are Dynamic Open And Exhilarating!

Hello blog readers!. We held back from doing this blog for a while because from fresh out of their boxes these Spendor A7 compact (by some comparisons) 2-way floor standing speakers sounded really rather good and so we began to wonder what they would be capable of when properly run in!

Well we have done that (that Dedmau5 CD is good for something!) and I can tell you that they are one amazing pair of loudspeakers. They have had plenty of hours playing time and the sound has really opened up. Bass especially is impressive being deep and articulate with an overall sound that is open and detailed with a lovely left to right imaging capability!

Spendor proudly boast that they are calibrated and matched to broadcast reference standards and use their brand new design EP77 Polymer cones! They are slim, compact and worked well in our demo room relatively close to the rear wall. This is due to the rather nifty use of what Spendor call a FlowPort which means that the loudspeaker has less effect on the room boundary placement!

We had them playing with the brand new and equally lovely Arcam CDS50 SACD Player and SA20 Amplifier coupled together with a Rega Couple phono to phono cable and the sound they make together is actually rather exciting.

I played a variety of different CD’s and SACD’s through the system among them an SACD copy of Dark Side of the Moon which sounded so open and agile that I had to listen to it all the way through and I was certain that I could hear things deep in the mix that I had never heard before and that’s always good!

Then craving more of that lovely natural sound and glorious sense of soundstaging I played As Falls Wichita So Falls Wichita Falls by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays from the album of the same name. This album has that typical lush 1970’s ECM sound with a wide open soundstage that you can just fall into. Listening through the Spendor A7’s was a delight and a revelation delivering a level of detail, definition and information that I didn’t even know were there. I just love it when that happens. This track is twenty minutes and forty two seconds long and it was totally mesmerising with not a dull second. Never has the word gorgeous been so appropriate!

Anyway after all the fun stuff comes the fact bit……. They Spendor A7’s cost £2995 (grilles are extra though at £195 a pair). Don’t let this put you off because they sound a lot more musical than many a speaker I have heard at two and three times the price. They come in Black Ash, Dark walnut, Natural Oak or Satin White to special order at £300 extra.

Well as it says in the heading of this blog the Spendor A7’s are dynamic open and exhilarating and I will leave the last words to Spendor’s head man Phil Swift who says “they will add a whole new dimension to your listening pleasure!”

We encourage you to come and have a listen to these speakers at Audio T Cheltenham.

Spendor loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Cardiff, Cheltenham, Portsmouth, Swindon

ATC Entry Series Loudspeaker Range At Audio T Bristol

ATC have been involved in professional and later domestic loudspeakers for nigh on 50 years. Based locally near Stroud, they set up to make drive units in 1974. They were instantly successful as their 12” drive unit (PA75-314) were able to produce sound with less distortion at higher sound pressure levels than the competition.

Two years later they started to produce their very special soft dome mid-range unit which was used by many third party professional monitor manufacturers. A decade later they started making complete speaker systems, which are used widely in the professional world by engineers producers composers and artist including Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, The Killers, Lenny Kravitz, The Rolling Stones, Calvin Harris, Beck. The list goes on and is pretty much a who’s who of music industry icons.

Taken at our recent trip to the ATC factory

So why would you consider an ATC speaker? Well ATC seem to have found the right balance between what is required by the professional world, such as accuracy and reliability, and what is required from a domestic speaker which is totally beguiling sound. When listening, you can immediately get why they are so popular with musicians and engineers as the detail especially in the mids is extraordinary.

ATC SCM7

The ATC SCM7 is the smallest of the range. Small it may be but pick one up and you might raise an eyebrow as each weighs 7.5kg. Listening to them you will hear that they are very agile. They keep pace with the music really well, never tripping up and allowing, exactly what we want, musical engagement. The bass, whilst not going deep, is very accurately reproduced with no overhang whatsoever.

The next speaker in the range is the SCM11. It’s a bigger monitor than the SCM7 incorporating a 150mm bass/mid rather than 125mm of the SCM7. It is also heavier at almost 11kg. It pretty much performs the same as the SCM7 except that the scale of the music you are listening to gets larger. They will also go louder than the SCM7 (108db rather than 103db).

Up next comes the SCM19. It is the biggest stand mount in the range and weighs a hefty 17.5kg, 9kg of that comes from the bass/mid which features a short-coil/long gap motor assembly and integrated 75mm soft dome mid. The SCM19 is the only speaker in the entry range to have ATC’s coveted SL driver technology. SL stands for Super linear and drive units built to the SL standard reduces 3rd harmonic distortion between 10 and 15db. The results are obvious as the midrange gains extra clarity giving even more insight into the music.

This is the first speaker in ATC’s range of speakers where they offer a passive and active version. The active version becomes a floor stander with active filters and a class a/b 182 watt bi-amplifier and retails at £4990. Just add a pre-amp and away you go.

The final speaker in the entry range is the SCM40. It is the first passive floor stander in ATC’s range and just like the 19 is also is available as an active speaker. It is the only speaker in this range that has a dedicated soft dome mid. The hype about ATC’s mid range unit is completely justified and is evident as soon as you listen. The mid range clarity is astounding and leaves you in no doubt about the quality of ATC speakers.

ATC SCM40 and SCM7s

We have tried all the ATC speakers with many amplifiers. As long as it is quality amplification you won’t have any issues, but as we always recommend try before you buy, so come on in and have a listen. In store now but please call us to book a demo as they are in high demand.

Thanks for reading. Martin, Max, and James - Audio T Bristol

ATC Loudspeakers are available at the following branches of Audio T: Brighton, Bristol, Cheltenham, Portsmouth

The New Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series Range Of Loudspeakers Arrive At Audio T Preston

We love it when new products arrive, so we couldn't help but get a little excited when the new Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series speakers were delivered. What will the 6th generation of this multi- award winning speaker range be like? We are about to find out…

First we opened the B&W 606's, and were immediately drawn to the new look facia. B&W have removed the speaker grill pegs and replaced them with magnetic anchor points. They have also moved the bass port to the rear of the cabinet, giving the speakers a much cleaner and stylish appearance.

Another shocker is that after 40 years of service the iconic yellow Aramid Fibre driver units have been retired. They have been replaced with cutting edge continuum cone technology, a driver that was eight years in development and first used in the 800 series Diamond models.

The new silver driver units look great with the brushed silver finish surrounding the decoupled double dome tweeter.

Next, we unboxed the mighty 603 floor standers, standing at just over 40” high this is a speaker well suited for the larger listening room, while supplying that tight controlled bass Bowers & Wilkins always produce.

We have the full range in-store 603/607/606/ & HTM6 all ready to demo, straight out of the box this new range from Bowers & Wilkins does not disappoint and will continue to improve the more we play them.

We look forward to playing them for you soon.

Thanks for reading. Ian, Gavin and Andy. - Audio T Preston

Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers are available at the following branches of Audio T: Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

ATC Loudspeakers Come On Song At Brighton

We are very pleased to have added ATC loudspeakers to our range as they are extremely good and complement our existing equipment perfectly. The Entry Series comprise six models and we have chosen to begin with the four passive loudspeakers.

All Entry Series loudspeakers use the New ATC designed and built 25mm soft dome HF unit with precision alloy wave guide. A sophisticated and beguiling high frequency driver whilst being revealing too.

There are three stand mount models, SCM7, SCM11 and SCM19 and a three way floor stander SCM40, all offering refinement and energy and a rather more interesting shape than is usual.

Well worth coming along and having a listen to.

Available in Cherry, Black or White finishes.

For our Naim ND555 roadshow we chose to use the ATC SCM50 from the Classic Series and they were extremely well received. Part of a pretty serious Naim 500 Series Hi-Fi system that performed admirably.

Call 01273 609431 or email brighton@audio-t.co.uk and come and have a listen.

ATC loudspeakers are available at the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Bristol, Cheltenham, Portsmouth

The Latest News From Audio T Cheltenham

This is a bit of a break from the normal specific product related blog as we're not blogging on one particular Hi-Fi topic! This time around the intention is to keep you up to date with a number of things that are new or about to happen.

The first thing is...........

Naim 555 Network Player Summer Roadshow

We are very excited to have the opportunity (alongside our Bristol store) to host one of the Naim summer roadshows to launch the amazing new ND555 Network Player/Streamer. Tickets are available to book from the We Got Tickets website and they are FREE!!

A not to be missed opportunity to hear what is being hailed as the best streamer in the world being put through it's paces by the guys from Naim in person! If you have any Naim type questions of your own this will be the place to be!

The event takes place at the Gables Hotel in Falfield on Thursday 6th of September at 7:00 pm which is just off Junction 14 on the M5.......it's got to be a fun evening!! I will not add any more except to advise you to read the previous two blogs from the Brighton and Oxford stores for lots of in depth stuff to whet your appetite. 

The second thing is...........

We now have the rather lovely Spendor A7 floorstanding loudspeakers in store and available for demonstration. We think they are the best thing Spendor have made for a while and that's really saying something!

The third thing is...........

We are rather proud to announce that we now have ATC loudspeakers in store! 

We have three models in total the little SCM7 the slightly bigger SCM11 and the floorstanding SCM40 all of which sound great and are running in nicely.... see the picture below....

The fourth thing is...........

We have totally redecorated our AV demo room and given the shop a fresh coat of paint. Our AV demo room now has a 9ft fixed frame screen and an Optoma UHD65 4K projector looking rather lovely, in fact the best picture we have ever had in our dem room! Come and see!! There is always something playing and it always looks great and sounds even better!!! By now you'll probably have noticed that I like exclamation marks!!!

And fifth and finally...........

One of those "you really must listen to this" moments. 

This is a fairly recent album by the Yes legend Jon Anderson and Flower Kings Guitar maestro Roine Stolte. It sounds more like Yes than Yes have done since the 1970's and I'm not making that up .......it's true!! This comes across as a companion piece to the work of genius that is Tales From Topographic Oceans and if that was ever your fave Yes LP then you will adore this one.  It is called Invention Of Knowledge and does not have a dull second on it. If you thought Yes were no more then think again!! There go those exclamation marks again!!! 

Well that's it for this blog ....I'm off to play this on the new ATC SCM40 floorstanders to put them through their paces properly. You are always welcome to bring in some of your favourite music too and do the same .... you will be forever smitten!!

ATC Loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T: Brighton, Bristol, Cheltenham, Portsmouth

Spendor loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T: Cardiff, Cheltenham, Portsmouth, Swindon

New Acoustic Energy 309 Floor Standing Speakers Punch Well Above Their Weight

Acoustic Energy have been purveyors of top quality loudspeakers for over thirty years now and have got pretty good at the dark art of making pretty boxes that will make your music sound wonderful and lovely! The latest 300 series builds on the fabness that is the 100 series and the floor standing AE309 raises the performance bar for a £1000 speaker by a significant margin.

The Acoustic Energy AE309 build quality is up there with the best. With mass loading in the cabinet making a very heavy and inert cabinet which is just perfect for housing a 28mm aluminium dome tweeter featuring what AE have trademarked Wide Dispersion Technology or WDT for short. The bass/mid driver is a new design too and uses a ceramic aluminium sandwich cone and long throw motor system. The cabinet itself is seamless (so you cannot see the joins) and boasts a very chunky 18mm thick high density MDF material designed to control cabinet vibrations and reduce colouration in the music.

Before listening properly to the AE309's we ran them in for about a hundred hours and yes this really does make a big difference. For the purposes of this blog we listened to them on the very lovely new Arcam CDS50 SACD/CD streamer and SA20 integrated amplifier (see last blog from the Swindon store for more info). The results are quite simply astonishing. Rarely have I heard a system costing this little sound this good! It is a real giant killer!

They sounded sooooooo good that I decided to put them through their paces good and proper! I brought in my CD copy of Natural Selection by Land's End. Now to say this is nicely recorded is a bit of an understatement. It is quite possibly the best recording of a rock band (of the progressive variety) that there has ever been! Plenty of so called top quality recording studios and their engineers and producers should be made to sit down and listen to this .... they would be thoroughly ashamed of their miserable efforts! Why does the word Oasis spring to mind here I wonder(wall)! None of that compression rubbish on this one and it's all the more lovely for it! 

Anyway ...... rant over ...... back to the task in hand. I started track five which is called My Home and was immediately struck by how accurate Acoustic Energy's marketing blurb was! Wide dispersion is bang on the button here. The soundstage created on the AE309's was huge. There was a real and tangible sense of width depth and height with the guitar on left coming from so far out of the box I had to open my eyes to see if he was actually there!! Then a drum rolls across the back all the way to the opposite side and a synthesiser explodes in the background - it is just WOW!! 

In fact whatever this system was given to play always sounded clean open and superbly detailed. You get a proper insight into the mix and it becomes totally absorbing and engaging. They produce a sound that I don't believe I have ever heard from a floorstanding loudspeaker at this price before. I think that they could become a bit of a Hi-Fi classic. Leave them off your shortlist of speakers to demo at your peril 

To sum up .... I have heard systems costing way more than this sound a fraction this good. The Acoustic Energy AE309's are game changers and if you would like to arrange a no obligation demonstration to hear for yourself we would be more than happy for you to bring in some of your own favourite music we can supply the tea coffee and biscuits! 

Acoustic Energy loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cheltenham, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Swindon

Special Speaker Alert! Neat Iota Xplorer Are Here!

The Neat Iota Xplorer - hand crafted by the boffins at County Durham's finest loudspeaker manufacturer - is the new big brother to the smaller Iota Alpha's, which has been one of our most popular little speakers of recent times. 

Anyone who has heard or indeed owned a pair of the smaller Iota Alpha and hankered after that next step up will adore these. Bigger than the Alpha's and with the same overall shape as them but still not a big loudspeaker by any stretch of the imagination. The Neat Xplorer very cleverly conjures up oodles of extra bass extension (not boom) by using the iso-baric double bass driver trick which fools the drive unit on the outside into thinking that it is in a cabinet that is way bigger than it actually is! Genius or what!! This system is not easy to get right but Neat have well and truly nailed it with this design. It sounds for all the world like they have their own built in subwoofer!

Another big stroke of speaker boffin design genius puts Neat's very own P1-R3 170mm bass/mid range drive unit and the rather grandly named Air Motion Transformer (AMT) together. and are mounted side by side in their own rear ported enclosure separate from the bass units. Designed and built this way to give a cleaner sound with a wider dispersion of the stereo image.

The enclosures have a tuned rear port, we have found they work equally as well placed close to the  the rear wall or in free space . They are isolated from the floor by some rather smart and very shiny coned spikes. This also keeps the isobaric bass units on the bottom the ideal distance off the floor!

We gave the speakers an initial listen fresh out of the box with results that were OK but not great, so we left them on for two weeks running eight hours a day, giving them the best part of 80 hours of quality running time playing a combination of Kraftwerk's Tour De France  and Deadmau5's Random Album Title! Going back to them again after all this time they sound like a totally different pair of loudspeakers!

My initial thought was "Wow" .... bass was now deep and tight just when it needed to be. Top end now sweet and nicely extended. Mid range now nicely open lending voices that type of expressive detail that makes you hang on every word.

The one thing that makes the most difference to the overall presentation of the sound though is how these speakers manage to throw an image way outside of the boxes. It sounds like the walls of the room disappear and you are left with the image of the music just hovering in the air   in front of you . a lovely experience and a rare one too! Not many speakers of any size or price can quite manage this!

Amongst lots of things I played one of my favourite demo tracks which is Get Miles by Gomez from the Bring It On album. This piece has cavernous deep bass which was very deftly handled by the isobaric bass system but the thing that struck me the most was how easy it was to hear right into the mix. The three vocal parts spread across the soundstage. Drums far left, guitar far right. I was totally sucked in to the music! But then I suppose that is exactly what a good loudspeaker should be doing!

Oh and the electronics being used to make all these lovely noises......... the new Arcam CDS50 CD player and SA20 amplifier from the new Arcam HDA range, with my favourite Rega Couple interconnect and Chord Company Odyssey speaker cable ...... but then that's a blog for next time!

Why not come in and have a listen and we'll even make you a cup of Audio T.

Jon, Farid & Andy, - Audio T Cheltenham

Neat Acoustics loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading

Unboxing ProAc Response DT8 Floorstanding Speakers

When we first heard the ProAc Response DT8 speakers we all were blown away by the performance and all agreed that these floorstanding speakers were needed in our product line up...so here they are being unboxed in store.

Supplied with 2x black acoustically transparent crimplene speaker grills and 8 silver spikes. Our demo pair are in the natural oak finish and look fantastic.

The speakers themselves stand at 978mm (on spikes) 193mm wide and 229mm deep, so a nice neat option for a floorstanding speaker.

At 26 kg each they are not the lightest of speakers but when in position the soundstage has to be heard to be believed, with the downward firing bass reflex port they are a joy to position in any room.

The downward firing bass reflex port.

Using the silk dome tweeter the higher frequences have the smoothness you expect from the classic ProAc delivery, being that of a sound you can happily listen to all day long.

The 2x 165mm bass/mid drivers work in tandem together to deliver a bottom end that is tight and quick.

Available in black ash/mahogany/cherry/maple/oak..also available in ebony & rosenut at a slightly extra cost as these are premium finishes.

Coming in at £1950.00 the ProAc Response D8 will be a great addition to any system.

Available to hear now in store at Audio T Preston.

Ian, Gavin & Andy

ProAc loudspeakers are available at Audio T Brighton.

New Spendor A7 Floorstanding Speakers Paired With Naim's NAC -N272 and NAP250 DR Amplifiers

Over the past week we have been putting the new Spendor A7 speakers through their paces, and we are impressed.

Visually they are still in keeping with the traditional design Spendor are known for and come in a range of pleasing finishes such as Black Ash, Dark Walnut, Natural Oak and now for a little extra Satin white.

Classically beautiful A7

The new A7 is a major revision for the award winning A6R, a tough act to follow. With more dynamic range and resolution with elements of D7 technology and changes to the cross over making the A7s a real step up. For full specifications click here

The A2 looking up to its big brother the A7

One element of the new A range that is worth mentioning, is that none of the speakers come with grilles. They are now an optional extra at differing prices depending on the model. The A7 is the biggest in the A-line range but is by no means a particularly big speaker. There are two other floorstanders in the range, in decreasing order of size they are the A4 and A2, which is a very compact and competent floor stander indeed. Last but not least is the A1 stand mounted speaker (A-line range).

Spendor A7 rear

After 5 days of playing the A7s day and night we sat down for good listen. We paired them with a very popular Naim combination, The NAC-N272 streaming pre-amplifier and the NAP 250 DR power amplifier.

 A briliant combination

We started of with Nils Lofgren ''Keith Don't Go'' from the brilliant Acoustic Live album. The A7s really brought the performance to life. We were all tapping out feet and would have been singing along but we didn't want to ruin the experience. The bottom end was big, warm and controlled allowing the vocals to soar creating loads of space around Lofgren which brought all of the emotion out of the track. After a few more tracks we changed to ''The Sound of Silence'' by Disturbed from the Immortalised album. An amazing version of the well known Simon and Garfunkel song. The powerful, rich vocals were clean and well nuanced and again with beautifully controlled bass. After a few more snippets of various tracks we were all in agreement that these are a serious competitor at the price and are very much in our top selection of favourite speakers. In short, the A7s like the rest of the A-line range have managed to retain the familiar sound of Spendor, but added so much more giving them greater dynamics and intricacies, a much more spacious and involving performance able to to cope with all kinds of music comfortably.

We love them and we think you will too. Call Nick Joe and James at Audio T Portsmouth to arrange a demonstration or home loan

We look forward to seeing you soon,

Spendor Loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T: 
Cardiff, Cheltenham, Portsmouth, Swindon

New Neat Iota Xplorer Loudspeakers on Demonstration at Audio T Brighton

Neat have taken the concept of the groundbreaking Iota Alpha to a new level with this intriguing additional model to the Iota range.

Introducing the Iota Xplorer. This exciting new design uses the same basic configuration as the Iota Alpha, in an enlarged form. The top section is sealed off from the lower, and acts as a two-way infinite baffle loudspeaker. It houses Neat’s own P1-R3 170mm bass/midrange drive unit alongside an Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter in a horizontal array, as per the Iota and Iota Alpha models

Our nice natural oak demonstration pair can be used with or without grilles. Interesting visually and more discreet than most loudspeakers, we believe these will be popular with the ladies. Gentlemen please take note!

The lower, ported section of the Xplorer houses not one, but two of Neat’s P1-R2 bass drive units. These are similar to the R3 unit, but specially tailored for extended low-frequency response. One unit is located on the bottom panel, facing the floor, whilst the second is located internally, directly above the first, in a sealed iso-baric arrangement, handling only low frequencies and acting as an integral subwoofer system. Iso-baric loading allows deep, well controlled low frequency (LF) bass performance from a compact enclosure.

Upside down!

The Iota Xplorer delivers a compelling portrayal of all types of music. Like the Alpha, the Xplorer belies its small stature with a full-range agile presentation and huge soundstage, which projects far beyond the modest confines of the cabinet.

Already sounding engaging after just running in overnight, there will be much more to come as they run in and open out further.

Suitable for use with Naim Uniti models and above; well anything rather good really.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Size (hxwxd): 74 x 30 x 22cm
Weight: 18Kg each
Impedance: 8 Ohms (minimum ~5 Ohms)
Sensitivity: 88dB/1 watt
System: 2.5-way, iso-baric bass reflex, incorporating integral iso-baric subwoofer.
Drive units:
1 x Neat P1/R3 170mm LF/Midrange unit
1 x AMT HF unit
2 x Neat P1/R2 170mm LF units.

Finish options. Satin white. black oak, natural oak, American walnut.

Neat loudspeakers are available at the following Audio T stores:

Brighton, Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading

Russell K Red 120 Loudspeakers

We have had the latest speakers from Russell K, the RED 120 for some months now and have proven such a hit that they have become our best selling model at any price at present.

Red 120 Walnut

So what makes them so successful? The answer is a combination of many things.

Firstly, in walnut in particular, they are visually striking but at the same time exceptionally compact. Indeed the pre-mounted plinth is smaller than that of a speaker stand for a bookshelf speaker, this and the fact they are absolutely not fussy about room placement and general set-up make they extremely room friendly.

Red 120 Walnut

Secondly, and most important really is their sound. What shocked us and floors all those that hear them is their sense of scale and amazing depth for such a small cabinet. These speakers throw a huge image in front of you with an uncanny sense of coherence top to bottom. Due to the compact nature of the enclosure and 6’’ drivers mean they are incredibly fast and time on point.

Red 120 Walnut

So what, one may ask is so new? Well, it’s a combination of both new and old design principles that are at work here. Although the cabinet measures just 20cm wide and 19 cm deep the sides are thin walled a la BBC monitor compared to the front baffle which means the ‘play’ along with music rather than damped. Indeed, there is also no damping material inside either but there’s not a trace of boxiness. The secret is the internal bracing which controls the resonances so they remain in time with the music rather than smear it, thus the cabinet is acting much like a musical instrument hence the large-scale presentation.

Red 120 Walnut

The other key design feature is the port tuning. Russell has not been tempted to implement the commonly used 40/80hz which is designed to excite the resonances of the average UK room with an 8’ ceiling. Instead the port is tuned to a low 24hz. Although there is little output at this frequency, the speakers in-room response is nothing short of remarkable and not a trace of that 80hz bloom.

Red 120 Walnut

But what sets this model apart for us is that they work exceptionally well within more modest systems but at the same time can deliver awesome results with better partnering equipment. Indeed they work wonders with a Naim Uniti Atom or even a Rega Elex-R.

Ultimately we feel there is nothing not to like about the RED 120 so we're not surprised by its immediate success.

Red 120 Walnut

Come on in and have a listen.

Russell K loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Enfield, Portsmouth, Reading

The Stunning New Bowers and Wilkins 700 Series Loudspeakers

Any new speaker from B&W causes excitement and the new 700 series doesn't disappoint!

Shown here are the 702, 704, and 707

Although this range bears some visual similarity to the outgoing CM range they are in fact completely different speakers in almost every way. All the drive units are radically different to those in the CM range and utilise trickle down technology from the famous Diamond 800 range and also some tech unique to this range.

B&W 707 Standmount Speaker

Taking the wonderful little 707 as an example the first thing you'll notice is the old yellow Aramid Fibre cones, so long a trademark of B&W speakers, has been replaced by a shiny new silvery cone made from their new proprietary material Continuum™. Not only is this a sonically superior material it also looks really smart in the new 700 cabinet work.

Although you can't see it through the snazzy (and very protective) cover on this 702, the tweeter is also a completely new design using a carbon dome, which offers less break up in the higher frequencies than the previous aluminium tweeter. There have been other changes to the driver chassis and the new Aerofoil™ configuration of the bass cones.

All of this results in a very handsome range of speakers.

But enough techy stuff, these speakers really do sing! A newly established favourite combination with some of the shops is to partner the little 707 with the wonderful new Naim Uniti Atom. 

Our dem room favourite at the moment is the B&W 702 with the Quad Artera Play and Artera power amplifier. This system produces huge dynamic range and frequency response, we've been throwing all sorts of music at it from Outrospective by Faithless to Bjork's Utopia with a little country blues from Chris Jones Roadhouses and Automobiles and the speakers have just sailed through with grace and occasionally scary levels of dynamics.

So all in all a great success, A beautiful range of speakers with an exciting sound and a model to work in any room. There are six stereo pairs, two centre speakers and a sub. Come in, have a listen and sit back, relax and enjoy the music!

Boswell chilling to music on the 700 series

We also want to wish all of our customers and friends a very happy festive season.

Paul, Francis, Jason, and of course Boswell at Audio T Brentwood.

Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers are also available from 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.

It's A Kind of Magic! Dynaudio’ Focus XD Active Speaker Listening Event At Audio T Oxford

Visit us at Audio T Oxford on Saturday 9th December (1100 - 1730) to hear the amazing Dynaudio Focus 60XD and 20XD Loudspeakers. We will also have a representative from Dynaudio to answer any questions you may have.

The Dynaudio’s Focus XD Active Speakers redefine the high-end loudspeaker and high-end audio system: The perfect combination of a high end loudspeakers and high performance digital amplification.

The great benefit of active speakers is that the built-in amplifier helps streamline a system: you just connect source components (Record Player, CD Player, Streamer)  directly to the digital or analog inputs on the speakers and press play. Full 24/192 operation with the Focus XDs requires a digital cable connection from a source to one speaker, and a second cable run from that speaker’s digital output to the second speaker. Then you are up and running, it is as simple as that.

Another huge bonus, is they have settings for freestanding, wall and corner positions, using their advanced onboard Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to adjust the bass output accordingly or just to personal taste.

We think they are absolutely stunning, and would love to show you the amazing performance and benefits of having such a speaker in your own Home system. 

Attendees have the chance to win two IsoTek Premier Mains Lead worth £230 and those that are interested in buying Dynaudio equipment can save 15% OFF on the day!

Refreshments and snacks will be provided and of course we will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. You can reserve your place here. We look forward to seeing you and enjoying your company and the music together. Jon, Dom and Paddy.

Dynaudio loudspeakers large and small are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swindon

Join The Queue And Hear the New KEF Q Series Speaker Range

Now in store is some of the new Q Series range from KEF. We have the new Q 150, Q 350, and Q 550 on display in the shop.

With their sleek new looks and colour coordinated drive units these speakers really do look very smart indeed. KEF have improved all aspects of the design over the older Q Series (which was a very well received range in its own right.

KEF's famous Uni-Q driver has been improved again as has the bass unit giving a better performance-for-price than ever before.

The sound is great too. The little Q 150 sounding like a younger brother to the famous LS50 with its small footprint it was pumping out Rag'n'Bone man like a floorstander!

The Q 350 was put through its paces with some female vocals courtesy of Bjork and the detail clarity and precision was astounding, the soundstage is huge with these speakers.

Yes the driver is dark blue!

For a relatively compact floorstander the Q 550 really does give that big room-filling sound, a little bit of classic Queen really made these speakers sing for their supper! We followed it with some Muse.......just to make sure, but they can also do delicacy, Sarah McLachlan's plaintive voice proved that they can.

It seems safe to say KEF have come up with a winner in the new Q Series. They have all the hallmarks of the KEF Uni-Q designs with great dispersion and imagery, and great dynamic range and presence for their price points. They will work equally well in two channel stereo or multi-channel home cinema systems, so come and have a listen.

On the subject of KEF we also have the magnificent Blade 2 speakers here for a short time so grab the chance to have a listen while you can!!

You can contact us to arrange a demonstration or just pop in for a listen at Audio T Brentwood.

Thanks for reading. Paul, Jason and Francis.

KEF Loudspeakers are also available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Southampton,
Swansea, Swindon

All New Bowers And Wilkins 700 Series With 800 Diamond Tech Make A Beautiful Noise

Introducing the new 700 series from Bowers and Wilkins. Our eyes are usually first to draw an opinion and we like what we see. Bowers & Wilkins have always had a reputation for creating some of the most undeniably beautiful and great sounding speakers on the planet i.e. Nautilus. 

The brand new 700 series has not been neglected nor skipped in design or quality and should be enough to convert anyone who isn't a fan of  'big speakers'. B&W have ditched their distinctive yellow cone for a slicker silver and black one and they do look the business.

The 700 series cabinet is quality as always, shown here in gloss black but it is also available in satin white and rosewood finishes. The new range also utilises tech from the flagship 800 series, which is stocked at out our Cardiff branch. Most notable is the new carbon coated tweeter, similar to 800 series but at less cost. Aerofoil bass cones, were developed using a computer and which varies the thickness and gauge of the drive unit as the distance from the centre phase cone increases makes big improvements to bass response. Aerofoil tech is taken directly from the 800 series.

The B&W 703's are out on display and now in our demo room in Manchester.

B&W have developed a new mid drive unit using a patented technology called Continuum weave technique, which is very lightweight but also tough and it makes the mid driver very easy to manipulate when dealing with the break up of mid range frequencies.

Other notable changes, which again, stem from the 800 series include decoupling the mid range unit. Since mid range frequencies are what we are most receptive to, for example, vocals and talking, this is where we are going hear things that don't sound quite right, which is more commonly referred to in the Hi-Fi world as colouration. By decoupling the mid drive unit from the cabinet, which will be vibrating predominantly from lower frequencies, this isolates and drastically reduces any transient/ interfering harmonics generated by the other drive units, which results in a clearer sound quality.

Chromey is taking full advantage of the new floating drive unit in the 700 series. Chill out dude, chill out. 

Bowers and Wilkins have also added two centre speakers to the new range. The new HTM72 S2. and the larger HTM71 S2 which will be added to our range later.

Our new 700 series is out on display and ready to demonstrate. Pop over to Audio T Manchester and take a look and listen. 

Dave, Simon, Mike, Haden and Munir should be on hand to help.

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

The New Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series 2 Has Arrived

The S2 700 series replaces and improves upon the CM Series and benefits from technologies used in the studio-grade 800 Series. Bowers & Wilkins have gone to town on this new range that comprises three floor standers, three stand mounters, a speaker stand, along with two centre speakers and a subwoofer. Available in gloss black, satin white or rosenut.

702 S2

With a Carbon Dome tweeter in a solid body housing on top of the cabinet and a decoupled Continuum midrange and three Aerofoil Profile bass drivers the 702 S2 flagship floor stander is very capable.

704 S2

A slim and elegant floor stander in store that delivers. The 703 S2 sits between these and is available to demonstrate by arrangement. 

706 S2

The 706 is the middle of the three stand mount speakers. The same mid sized speaker as the 705 S2 that benefits from the top mounted tweeter.

707 S2

The smallest of the 707 S2 Series can be demonstrated with our range of equipment in store along with the others, but you are welcome to bring along an amplifier that you own.

Julian, Paul and John at Audio T Brighton 01273 609431

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

New - Neat Acoustics SX7i

In addition to our current line up of Neat Acoustics loudspeakers we have now added the top of the Momentum range called the SX7i.

The SX7i delivers the performance of a high end loudspeaker from a room friendly enclosure taking up no more space that a conventional stand mount loudspeaker. The SX7i utilises no less than five drive units. The upper section is effectively a two way infinite baffle loudspeaker housed in its own enclosure. High frequencies are handled via a SXT black anodised aluminium tweeter with a massive ferrite dual magnet assembly offering extremely detailed presentation with no hint of hardness allowing fatigue free listening. The tweeter is flanked by two of Neat's recently upgraded P1/R3 bas mid drivers.

These are then crossed over to the lower half of the cabinet utilising two further P1/R3 drive units utilising Iso-Baric configuration. The first bass driver is located at the bottom of the cabinet firing downwards. This is coupled with an identical drive unit above with a sealed chamber between the two drive units. Both drive units receive an identical signal and operate in phase. These are then housed in their own enclosure that is tuned via a rear firing reflex port.

The first benefit this configuration is that the bass extension achieved is equivalent to an enclosure twice its size, thus offering extremely deep bass from a relatively small enclosure. The second benefit is that as both drivers are driven by their drive assemblies (Magnets) via the effective area of a single cone, which offers extremely controlled extended bass performance.

The drive units are housed in an extensively braced and damped cabinet constructed of high grade 18mm MDF. The cabinet sits on a pair of tri-laminate feet with adjustable spikes offering extreme stability and an overall cleaner presentation of the music.

Listening:
Straight out of the box and with no run in time, we were truly impressed by the musical performance offered - and this will only improve significantly with a few hundred hours run in time! We played 'And the Druids turn to Stone' from the album Universal Migrator by Ayreon via a Naim streamer and amplifier. The level of bass performance was truly outstanding for the cabinet dimensions and at no time became uncontrolled. the level of detail was a good as we've heard and  we heard information that we have never heard before! The sound stage and separation were truly outstanding. We have yet to play any music that has not impressed so far and this can only get better once they are run in.

These are truly outstanding loudspeakers and an audition is highly recommended. We look forward to seeing you.

Farid Andy and Jon - Audio T Cheltenham

Neat Acoustic loudspeakers are also available from following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading

Acoustic Energy Brings Back Some Old Friends

Many years ago there were two best selling speakers from Acoustic Energy the AE109 and the AE100.

Now the company has resurrected those model numbers and having heard them, for very good reason, these two new models promise to be every bit the giant killers that their ancestors were.

The AE100 is a very compact stand mount speaker with a big heart. Like its bigger brother the AE109 they employ trickle down technology from some of the manufacturers more upmarket speakers, most notably the wide dispersion tweeter and rear facing slot mounted port.

The cabinets come in two finishes a rich walnut, or for a small premium in satin black. Coupled with their curved edges, sleek lines and compact dimensions this makes the AE109 and AE100 very room friendly.

Now to the good bit, the sound quality! As the eagle eyed among you may have spotted we've just received our Uniti Atom the wonderful small single box streaming system from Naim. Well what better device to try out some small but perfectly formed speakers with, than a small but perfectly formed system?

The sound from both speakers is surprisingly large and spacious with a richness and scale which completely belies their size. This has been very apparent on our new fave recording Kraftwerk's 3D the catalogue. This recording has subterranean bass notes and crystal clear highs, a perfect test of any speaker/system combo and the little Acoustic Energy speakers acquit themselves masterfully.

Needless to say we're quite excited by both of these products, why not come in and see why?

Paul, Francis, Jason, and Boswell - Audio T Brentwood.

Acoustic Energy loudspeakers are also available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cheltenham, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Swindon