Delicious Things and Reduced Prices

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We've had a few new additions to the dem room in the form of Chord Electronics

Their CPA2500 pre amp and SPM1050 power amp are making beautiful sounds with our Focal 1028be floorstanders. Amazing clarity and impact seem to be the hallmark of this combination without ever losing sight of the music itself. 
The Electra 1028 from Focal is one of our favourite speakers:

and the good news is we have this pair to sell ex-demonstration reduced from £5330 to £4530!

We also have the electra Subwoofer reduced from £2714 to £2171, and the SR surround speakers reduced from £3450 to £2760. If you're interested in all three we could produce a great package price for you as well.

Come on in and have a look and a listen.

PSB M4U-2 Closed Back Active And Noise Cancelling Headphones

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PSB have been producing loudspeakers for the last forty years. This is their first foray into the headphone market and they are worth shouting about. (Not that you will hear it as they are a fully enclosed design with active noise cancelling built in).

They also have the added advantage of a built in headphone amplifier. Not only does this in many cases significantly improve the sound quality of the headphones as in overides the amplifier in the source (be it a phone, I-Pad, etc) it also extends the battery life of the listening source e.g. your phone or music player.

As an example, you may be on a long haul flight when you get half way across the Pacific and your phones die....No more music! With the PSB's amplifier activated the power is not being taken from the phone itself but the internal amplifier - Music all the way! (Remember to take some spare AAA batteries). And with noise cancelling activated the only sound you will hear is the music. Not the music with with a couple of jet engines in the background.

Sound Quality - Yes the headphones have the facility of an on board amplifier and noise cancelling but the main reason we strongly recommend these headphones is their stunning sound quality. They produce exceptionally deep powerful bass, a stunningly open and transparent midrange and a beautifully smooth and detailed top end. They play rock music as though you were 40 feet from the front of the stage or a string quartet as though you were sitting in a beautiful Georgian sitting room.

Whether you are travelling or listening on a high end hi-fi system with a dedicated headphone amplifier these headphones are a must listen.

Highly Recommended (And they got 5 stars in What Hi-Fi) and you can read their review here

Read what more about the product and what other customers have to say here 

Does Qobuz + Chord Electronics' Hugo = Audio Nirvana?

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This is in essence a two-part review.

1. The new Chord Electronics Hugo portable DAC/Headphone amplifier (£1400)

2. Qobuz music streaming service.

 

Qobuz is a fairly new to the UK music streaming service from France offering uncompressed CD quality and also up to 24/192 for £19.99 pm (they also offer 320kbps for £9.99 but that’s the same as Spotify so I’ve not included it)

 

The burning questions are:

 

How good is the Qobuz service? and is it better than the competition and worth the premium asked?

 

Can it really replace the need for physical media and downloads? Can the inclusion of the Hugo really offer a true high-end music & HiFi experience?

 

So I took the Hugo home for an extended listen in a known system/room and put up to some extremely strong competition, ie my regular Rega Reference set-up in the form of the Isis CD player (£6175) into the Osiris amplifier (£6175), both known for their incredible resolution and musicality.

I used the  Qobuz app via an iPhone 4S and an Arcam drDock (£199) linked via a Chord company Prodac digital interconnect (£85). All hooked up to the amp with Chord Company Sarum Tuned Aray interconnects. Isis via balanced and Hugo by RCA. A tough test if ever there was one!

 

After switching the Hugo to line level and making small adjustments to the output level to equal that of the Isis, I listened to a variety of music including LA Woman by the Doors to Amorica by The Black Crowes.

 

From the off, it was quite clear there was very little between them both in terms of sonics and timing, so much so that at times I had forgotten which I was listening too! I wasn’t expecting that, especially from a stream via my iPhone. As the phone is outputting SPDIF the same results should be gained from most other devises with a digital output I assume.

 

Of course the Rega Isis had the distinct advantage of the balanced output so I then compared the Hugo with the Rega both this time using RCAs.

This time the Hugo won hands down and as this is more relevant a comparison for most end users, all the more revelatory.

 

So to answer the above questions:

 

Qobuz really does offer CD and better quality. One no longer has to be penalised qualitatively for wishing to stream their music rather than play CDs or their rips.

Value? Well at £19.99 per month you have unlimited access to 18 million songs all in 16/44.1 over 12,000 albums of which are in 24/96-192. Including offline ie downloaded to the devise itself.

 

Can it match a true high-end set-up?

 

You bet! But you’ll need a DAC as extraordinary as the Hugo to achieve it. This diminutive box packs a massive punch regardless and has to considered a bargain, oh and it’s a top-notch portable headphone amplifier and by dint of battery power so totally portable.

 

Can this set-up really replace the need for physical media or downloads?  Absolutely, yes.

However, if like me, you has hundreds or even thousands of CDs then you might question the value of a £20 per month premium, unless of course you or your partner would like to be clear of piles of discs. If however, your music collection is still rather modest but quality aspirations are high, then Qobuz + Hugo is a great combination for sure.

 

 

AUDIO-T EXCLUSIVE:

 


 

For the month of June 2014, Qobuz, the world’s first true CD quality streaming service, in conjunction with Audio-T, is offering a free, no obligation 2 week trial (no credit card details required unlike their regular trial) Just pop in for the unique access code.

Qobuz is compatible with PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Kindle, and Windows and fully integrated with Sonos, Bluesound, Popcorn Hour, XBMC and Sueezebox and new partner to come later this year.

 

Simon

 

 

 

Another great night

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A big thank you to everyone who came to last nights Classic Album Evening. We enjoyed it very much and it sounded brilliant. The KEF LS50's did us proud and filled the room realy well which was no mean feat for a pair of small bookshelf speakers.

If you would like to hear the any of the equipment again, feel free to call in an see us any time.

If you couldn't make it, don't worry, we will be planning the next one very soon. With that in mind , if you have any suggestions as to which album we choose next please feel free to let us know.

Thanks again, and we'll see you soon

Harman/Kardon arrives at Audio-T Enfield

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The Harman/Kardon HK3770 is the future of Hi-Fi but doesn't forget it's roots.  

The HK3770 is packed full of features, analogue inputs (inc. a MM phono stage!), Digital inputs (ideal for plugging in your TV to the system), Bluetooth streaming (streaming the easy way from Android or Apple devices), network streaming (stream music from computers or NAS drives), Internet radio (access any radio station anywhere in the world), FM/AM tuner (for good old fashioned & uncomplicated radio) & lastly a USB input (to play music from a USB stick or smart phone).

All of these features yet still as easy to use as a traditional Hi-Fi amplifier. Partner with speakers from £169 upto £500 to hear the best results, come in store to find your best match of speaker.

 

Audio-T

159A Chase Side

Enfield

EN2 0PW

Tel: 0208 367 3132

Focal Aria 948 Speakers - May The Flax Be With You

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Well it is that time of year again when you have a little more time to play with some of those new toys you had in when things were busier.

Enter the Focal Aria 948, a Naim Superuniti and an iPad accessing our Naim HDX cd collection. Our first impressions, even before hitting the play button, were these speakers mean business. We felt the Aria 926 looked impressive but these, a little bigger all round , really do look like they are built for purpose and that being to transport you into a world of 24 hour party people! and if, hopefully, the neighbours are away to rattle their windows into submision.

Saying all of this with whatever music we played they sounded fantastic, bags of detail without any harshness and bass that goes deep but remains firmly under control, in fact the only things out of control were our feet tapping away from track to track, what fun! this is a system we all felt we could happily live with.

Not content with this though we swapped the Superuniti for a Naim NDX, 202 pre amp and 200 power amp, one word, WOW! and we had to stop ourselves just to keep from continually turning it up.

These are fantastic speakers, ones that really respond to system improvements and even though they are on the larger side they will work very well in the average size living room but if you are able to use them in a bigger room with more space around them, I'd suggest you hang on tightly to your hat and any small pets that are in the room with you.

Come in and have a listen.

 

Did someone say free ?

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"FREE" is a wonderful word, now lets see why.  Come and get your FREE 6 months of streaming music with Google Play when you buy a Sonos Play 1 , Play 3 or Play 5. Or just enter our FREE competition and win a Play 1. Not enough ? How about 2 weeks of CD quality streaming with Qobuz, and yes, you guessed it, its totally FREE. We like FREE :)

Focal-JMlab Maestro Utopia.

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An invitation to meet the Maestro.

Focal speakers have for a long time been one of our favourites here at Bristol and Focal have not been quiet in developing innovative technologies for us to get our teeth/ears into. For instance we love the new 900 series with their Flax speakers or the popular Electra 1028be with it's sweet sounding beryllium tweeter and dynamic W cones. The technologies built into these speakers like most manufacturers trickles down from the speakers at the top of the range. Enter the Maestro.

 

 

 

One of four speakers in Focals Utopia range and is one of the most sophisticated they produce. Standing almost 1.5m tall and almost half a metre wide they are quite imposing but look fantastic. As their name suggests they don't just play the music but direct the performance in a way that invites the listener in. These speakers really are special and demonstrate admirably why Focal are known as one of the worlds top speaker manufacturers. We have them here at Bristol for evaluation on our main system in the shop. They are sounding great on our Naim NAP300 with an NDS/555 combination as the source and would love to have you guys come and hear them for yourselves.

 

 

Something for the weekend sir!?...

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The last couple of months have seen a couple of cool & interesting new arrivals here at Audio T Swindon from manufactures such as Isotek, Harman Kardon & B&W.

Since our last blog we are now the proud stockist of Isotek products such as the Isotek Evo III Sigmas mains conditioning unit and the Isotek Polaris mains block. Both of these products will dramatically improve the sound that you're currently getting from you system by ensuring that you're getting the cleanest mains supply into your system.

As you may of seen else where on our website, We are now the exclusive stockists of the amazing Harman Kardon HK3770 amplifier which at the bargain price of £430 includes great features such as Bluetooth and Networking which enable the listener to play music that maybe stored on a computers hard drive or a network attached storage device ( NAS ). This is an awful lot of amplifier for the money and strongly urge anyone who is looking to take the plunge into streaming to have a listen to this stereo amplifier. It truly is a bargain!

In other news, we are pleased to announce that we now stock the truly awsome B&W CM10 loudspeakers. These have already proved to be very popular with our customers and are a good addition to our already sizeable range of speakers.

So if you would like to know more about any of the products that have been mention above or maybe even fancy booking a demo or arranging a home loan of a product, why not give us a call or just pop in to the store for a chat.

Give us a call on: 01793 538222

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @AudioTSwindon for more weekly updates.

 

 

 

The Blades Perform at the Bay Supported by Project and Audio-T

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A classic vinyl evening on a fine summer's evening at the Norwegian Church, Cardiff Bay proved to be a great success. When applying for tickets for the event, guests were asked to name their favourite classic album and the popular choice was Peter Gabriel's "So". On arrival a registration form was completed and was subsequently entered into a free prize draw for a pair of KEF Q100s.

 

Here we see Alex and colleague from KEF unwrapping the Blades, while Duncan from Henley Designs carefully sets up the Project Signature turntable.

 

The cartridge fitted to the turntable was the Ortofon MC Anna. Continuing a tradition, Ortofon dedicates this new flagship cartridge to the opera singer Anna Netrebko, a virtuoso whose performance displays a formidable technical arsenal of endless versatility. With the dedication of the MC Anna, Ortofon once again emphasizes the company’s unchanging commitment and devotion to the music and to the purest delivery of recorded sound. Much like Anna Netrebko, Ortofon aspires to provide the ultimate musical experience through a mixture of innovation and technical expertise, combined with inspiration that goes beyond mere thought to reveal true inner emotion.

 

Ready to perform. The Project Signature turntable placed on an Atacama bamboo rack, along with the Project Phono Box RS and Electrocampaniet pre-amp and Nemo mono blocks. The Blades were connected to the power amps using the new Chord Signature Reference speaker cable. The balanced interconnect used between the phono stage and pre-amp was the Chord Indigo Tuned Array.

 

The evening started with a presentation by Alex and a short film about the history of the Blades.

 

Peter Gabriel was played in its entirety in the first half and after a short break we settled down to Side 2 of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" The evening came to a close with the prize draw.

 

Lucky prize winner Cai Strachan receiving his pair of KEF Q100 from store manager Hefin Jones.

Special thanks must go to Alex Foxon of KEF, Duncan Quemby of Henley Designs and the staff at the Norwegian Church for their kind hospitality.

 

Cyrus Lyric 09 Ticks All The Boxes!

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When we first saw pictures of the Cyrus Lyric we weren't convinced that the radically different look was a great move for Cyrus.  

The instantly recognisable half width cast alloy casework has for so long been the familiar face of Cyrus products that the Lyric's unique full width styling came as a bit of a suprise.

Now that we have had our demo Lyric 09 for a few weeks the looks have grown on us and the quality of the metalwork and elegant front panel impresses far more than mere pictures would suggest.

What has really won us over though is the stunning performance of the Lyric 09.  Naim have dominated this sector for some time with the wonderful Uniti 2 and we have been mightily impressed that Cyrus have produced a truly worthy contender to give our customers a real choice of great one box solutions at around £3000.

Cyrus have incorporated quality components from its range of separate components to great effect.  The slot loading CD mechanism is the same as the CD T transport and the streaming section comes from the Stream XP2 QX.  In addition DAB, FM and internet radio are provided, along with Bluetooth, using the higher quality aptX codec.  

Inputs are comprehensive, including one front and one rear USB A sockets for external hard drives, MP3 players and Apple devices.  A USB B input enables connection of a computer and there are sufficient analogue and digital sockets to cover pretty much any scenario.

Control is via touch sensitive front panel controls, with a front panel display capable of portaying a detailed image of album artwork, a good quality and well laid out remote control or the Cyrus Cadence app for iOS and Android devices.  The Cadence app is intuitive to use and offers comprehensive control with the virtual volume knob being a particularly nice touch.

The features tick most of the boxes but none of this matters if the sound quality doesn't deliver.  I'm glad to say that we have been blown away by the audio performance of Lyric 09.  Cyrus have really excelled here with 170 watt (into 8 ohms) per channel and music of all types is delivered with effortless openness and clarity.  Dynamics are produced with real scale and subtle detail is handled with delicacy. This is a stunning one box solution which does not compromise performance for convenience.

Give us a call to book a demo or just call in as the Lyric 09 is normally running in the front of our shop as we can't get enough of it!

See you soon,

Alan and John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New REL S

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Exciting news, REL have released the new "S" series of subwoofers to replace the "R" series and we have the S3 and S5 on demo now.

The S2 replaces the R218, the S3 replaces the R328 and the S5 replaces the R528. However, REL have increased the price to £999, £1299 and £1599 respectively, so are they worth the serious hike in price?

The new "S" series can be made wireless, like the Habitat model, with REL's fancy Longbow tech which has zero compresion and almost instant transfer of data. However, if you are like us you don't mind hiding the wire are you paying the extra money for that? In a word no.

The new models are definately sexier looking than the "R" range (if a subwoofer can be sexy!) The old "R" range were always our favourite subs, after a quick listen to the new S5 it sounds tighter and faster than the old R528, definately better with music. With home cinema it sounds a little restrained at the moment, but the sub still needs running in. We will report back when the unit has had 20 hours or so of running.

GoldenEar Aon 3 and Triton Seven

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New to the Cheltenham Branch.

We have just added two new speakers to our extensive range. The award winning GoldenEar Aon 3 Stand mount loudspeaker and the GoldenEar Triton Seven floorstanders.

Both speakers feature a high velocity folded ribbon tweeter offering exceptionally smooth and detailed presentation of the high frequenies and an almost holographic sound stage.

GoldenEar Aon 3 are an extremely compact high performance standmount loudspeaker. They utilise a cast basket 7" Bass/Mid driver. This is complimented by a single side firing 8" planar low frequency passive radiator in a dynamically balanced configuration. This properly loads the Bass/Mid driver giving an extremely open mid range and remakably extended bass for such a small enclosure.

GoldenEar Triton Seven uses a highly advanced bass loading technology. Mid/Bass is handled by two 5.25" cast basket drivers coupled to two 8" side firing sub bass radiators. Coupled with the folded ribbon tweeter the sound produced by these speakeers really does belie their size. They have all the upper mid qualities of the Aon 3 but also offer fantastic bass extension that really enhances the listening experience, particulalry large scale classical and Rock Music.

Both loudspeakers are now available for demonstration.

Specifications:

Aon 3

Frequency - 38Hz to 35kHz.

Efficiency - 90dB

Impedance 8 ohms

Recommended Amplifier 10 to 250 Watts

Dimensions 229mm W, 299mm D, 356mm H

Triton Seven

Frequency - 29Hz to 35kHz

Efficiency - 89dB

Impedance - 8 ohms

Recommended Amplifier 10 to 300 Watts

Dimensions 267mm W, 386mm D, 1010mm H

 

Valhalla awaits those who ride with the Valkyries...

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...well musical valhalla at least.

Introducing the new Aedle VK-1 Valkyrie.

 

Now, the headphone market is absolutely bursting at the seems at the moment and it always seems like another copycat headphone brand pops up everyday, and that's no over statement.

But then a company comes along that bucks that trend and comes up with something truly original.

Aedle have done just that with new VK-1 Valkyries, with genuine lambskin leather ,manganese steel and liquid silicone to name but a few exotic materials.

As you can see the fit and finish is second to none and the design and styling is beautifuly realised.

But all this would seem a little pointless were it not for the great sound quality and comfort produced by the VK-1.     

 

Well then, what do they sound like??

Actually, very good.

Rich and full sounding with lots of detail would be fair a description. Heres what CNET think.

The midrange with the VK-1 is fantastic and the bass although not very deep is lean and precise. Check out Hedfonia's review.

So overall, the opinion from ourselves is positive, we like them. Even AV forums like them.

Each of the VK-1 aluminum parts are sculpted one by one in a virgin aluminium ingot. 

Handsewn genuine lambskin leather for headband and cushions.

 

All presented in a handsome quilted case. 

 

The Valkyries are on demonstration at our Manchester store.

So pop over for a test drive if you fancy something fresh for your ears.



Tel: 0161 839 8869
email: manchester@audio-t.co.uk
web: www.audio-t.co.uk
We are open Monday to Saturday 9:30 - 17:30
and Sunday 11:30 - 16:30

 

 

Chord Company Training Day, A Riot Of Colour And Sound

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Francis and I were invited down to the Chord Company factory in Salisbury to see all the efforts that go in to making some of the best cables around.

The day started with a good old fashioned chat with the cable guru himself: Nigel, then a trip round the factory to see all the processes involved in hand terminating and testing the interconnects and speaker cables. This culminated in them letting us loose with the soldering irons and cutters to experience actually terminating cables ourselves. With a deep respect for the skills of Mike and the Chord workshop elves and an amazement at the attention to detail and accuracy of the work we headed off, without burned fingers!, to a great in house lunch cooked by the lovely Gillian.

The afternoon was spent with Matt who took us through a structured dem of the whole Chord range, I'm sure many of you will have seen him do this at The Bristol Show, but it is always a revelation how much more could be heard every time the next cable up was inserted into the reference system. It's not just the physical cables that are brightly coloured, they reveal layer upon layer of tonal colour as you go up the range.

 

After a good afternoon's listening we left with a much deeper appreciation, both of the effort that goes into the creation of these cables, and the effect they can have on a system. The other thing that really struck home about the Chord company is that it is full of genuinely nice people who care about what they do, and just as importantly are passionate about music!

So nice were they, that they even had a surprise for Boswell Bear which he is thrilled about!

Vinyl Evening June 19

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We will be holding our second vinyl evening on Thursday June 16.

We will be playing David Bowie's superb 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' album on a fabulous system from start to finish.

Timings are: 6.15pm for a 6.45 start. Nibbles and refreshments will be provided :-)

If you would like to attend, please let us know. oxford@audio-t.uk Tel: 01865 765961

Records broken at Record Store Day...

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When I say Records broken I don't mean like plates at a Greek Wedding! there were massive increases in sales reported all over the world for Record Store Day, and what a great day it was!..

Anticipating a busy morning we took our Rega Turntables and Hi-fi down to Derricks the day before to get all set up, there was already a buzz in the shop.. people asking "what's arrived?" and "has my xyz arrived".. and of course Chris in Derricks was enjoying keeping things closely under wraps! There was talks of a queue being outside from early in the morning but as I drove into the shop at about 8.30 in the morning I could see a lot of people around but didn't realise it was the queue for Derricks!.. The shop was opening at 9.00 so the people at the front of the queue must have been there for ages!

So the doors opened and the eager shoppers got some instructions of how it was going to work..

It was a case of a couple in at a time - have a look to find the special release you wanted and then let the next few in....

We had set up a system from Rega upstairs in Derricks and were showing the full range of their turntables.

Rega had also kindly loaned us some of their special show pieces incuding several tonearms showing the construction process from the initial cast to the finsihed product, the piece that really interested people was the cut away version of the tonearm showing all the inner workings..

the shop had already been open for an hour or so and there was still a queue!..

We were offering a prize on the day of a Rega RP1 turntable so everyone shopping at Derricks was quickly sent upstairs to fill in the entry forms, but the best thing that happened was when someone came upstairs and asked "where is the band?"....  I took great pleasure in showing him the hi-fi. Apparently it sounded like it was a live band from downstairs.... brilliant!

By 11am it was clear that I had not taken enough entry forms for the competition so I had to get one of the boys from the shop to print more and run down with them.... I was blown away with the turnout and interest in the system...

I would like to thank everyone that came to see us at Derricks and made it such a great day, the time just flew by!... There were lots of happy people that got the records they wanted, and I was glad to get my copy of The Civil Wars - Live at Eddie's Attic.... if you can find a copy I can highly recommend it...

One thing I didn't quite manage was to play my whole collection of Joe Bonamassa albums...

At close of business we drew the winning prize entry and informed the lucky winner, it happened to be his Birthday so he was over the moon. He should be receiving his shiny new white Rega RP1 in the next few days..

Have a look at Derricks Music Facebook page for lots more pictures from the day..

Already looking forward to Record Store Day 2015!!!!

 

Classic Album Evening June 10th

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Following the success of our eleventh Classic Vinyl Evening, we are pleased to announce Classic Vinyl Night number twelve.         

This will be on Tuesday 10th June and once again will be held at the Fusion Room restaurant, 80 Friargate, Preston, PR1 2ED, at 7pm 7.30 start.

Click the link to find where we will be http://www.fusionroom.co.uk/

The album we have chosen is L.A. WOMAN by THE DOORS

The idea is simple... just turn up and listen to an album in it's entirety on vinyl with a short break to grab a drink half way in. If you are interested in joining us please email the store preston@audio-t.co.uk or call us on 01772 883958 to confirm your place

If you require any additional information, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to seeing you

Ian, Gavin and Andy