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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hefin, Nick and Gareth - Audio T Cardiff

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

A Weekend of Vinyl and Valves at Audio T Oxford

Henley Designs will be bringing a selection of gorgeous Unison Research valve, valve hybrid amplifiers, CD spinners, plus some of the more exotic Pro-ject turntables.

If you really like your music, you really should come along for a listen. If you have a favourite album that you would like to hear on the Day please bring it along with you.

Unison Research were founded in 1987 by a group of audiophile technicians, are a prestigious Italian manufacturer of valve-based premium high fidelity audio components. Specialising in the design and construction of amplifiers, CD players, headphone amps and phono stages that boast not only impeccable, effortlessly rich sound, but also an artistic visual design. 

Pro-Ject are widely recognized as one of the biggest and best turntable manufacturers in the world. Their mission is simply to produce the best sounding turntables and analogue components at the most competitive prices possible. We will have a number of turntables on display and demonstration over the weekend from their entry level decks through to their Signature Series.  

Refreshments and snacks will be served over two days and we will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. 

We will put the names of all attendees into a prize draw giving you the opportunity of winning a Project Spin Clean Record cleaning kit worth £75. The draw will be made at the end of the event day on Saturday. There will also be a number of discounts and special offers on the turntables and electronics on display.

We look forward to seeing you. Jon, Dom and Paddy.

Audio T 50th Birthday Party Featuring Chord & Dynaudio High End Hi-Fi Systems

On Friday 11th November we will be celebrating Audio T's 50th Birthday with a musical evening at the Swansea store.

For such a special occasion we only thought it fitting that we show off some very special equipment. Supporting us for the evening we have Chord Electronics, Dynaudio Loudspeakers and Chord Company cables.

Chord Electronics will be showing their new and most advanced DAC to date: the
"DAVE".

Chord Electronics Dave DAC

The amplification we will use will be the SPM1400MKII Mono amplifiers, which in Hi-Fi News magazine were quoted as "offering spectacular insight into music".

Chord Electronics SPM1400MKII Monoblock Power Amplifier

But perhaps the most exciting thing for the evening is the Dynaudio Loudspeakers. Dynaudio have gone to great effort to be able to bring along the famous Evidence Platinum speakers. When I say they have gone to great effort, after seeing them in the flesh you will realise what I mean. They are very big and twice as heavy!

At a cost of £50,000.00 a pair it will be something not to be missed.

Dynaudio Evidence Platinum Loudspeaker

This system will be playing on the shop floor, but we will also have some recently launched equipment from Chord Electronics playing in our recently refurbished upstairs demo room.

Along with the Chord Electronics Hugo TT, the brand new TToby power amplifier will be playing along with Dynaudio Contour series speakers. The Hugo/TToby combination offers unbelievable performance considering it's size.

We will be kicking things off at 6pm and most likely finish around 9pm. Refreshments will be available with a glass of something bubbly on arrival.

Please feel free to bring along a cd or album that you would like to hear a track or two from.

Also celebrating its 50th year is the CMA Country Music Awards, so i'll be playing some recordings from the 1966 CMA winners which could have been music that some of Audio T's very first customers may have played.

This will be a very rare opportunity to hear such a system so please come along and help us celebrate our Birthday.

IsoTek Performance Upgrades Event 17th & 18th November At Audio T Swindon

Visit us at Audio T Swindon on Friday the 17th  (12pm - 5:30pm) and Saturday 18th (10am - 5:30pm) and come and hear for yourself how the benefits of mains conditioning in conjunction with IsoTek can give you more enjoyment from your music.

The quality of the electricity we feed into our Hi-Fi and Home Cinema systems has a profound effect on how our music and films sound. As the electronic devices we use at home grow and the demand for electrical power increases, the quality of the electricity we feed our systems continues to degrade from RF interference and mains noise.

IsoTek is a leading brand of power management products for Hi-Fi and Home Cinema use. Its product range includes high-performance mains cables and connectors, plus a range of performance enhancing power conditioners focused on the specific requirements of individual systems. IsoTek have earned numerous accolades from specialist audio and AV publications worldwide. The product ranges comprise of the following solutions:

Mains Cables and Blocks:
The standard black mains leads supplied with your Audio and AV components are designed to do a basic job, no more. They lack the quality of materials and construction needed to protect the integrity of the electricity they feed your system, thereby degrading performance. The first rung on the IsoTek ladder is to replace these leads with EVO3 Premier power cables. We will have the following on demonstration:

The  Evo3 Initium , Premier, Elite and Optimum mains cables

The IsoTek Aquarius and Sigmas mains conditioners, plus the new Genesis One and Mosaic mains regeneration units.

Evo3 Initium Mains Cable

Mains Conditioners:
These are designed to remove noise contamination from both Differential noise that is created by the power supplies in all electronic devices and Common Mode noise in introduced by RFI and the wireless communications.

Regenerators:
These are state of the art hybrid power cleaning systems. They effectively take the mains and regenerate it having taken out all the noise.

Prize Draw
We will put the names of all attendees into a prize draw giving you the opportunity of winning 3 Isotek Evo3 Premier 1.5m with a value of each £115. The draw will be made at the end of the event day on Saturday.

This is a great opportunity to hear how much you can improve the sound quality of your system and an affordable and worthwhile Hi-Fi upgrade.

Refreshments and snacks will be served over two days and of course we will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. 

Exclusive offers available for attendees on the day.

We look forward to seeing you.

Stefan and Andy

Chord Music And Chord Electronics Launch Event At Audio T Southampton

We are delighted to say that we will be hosting a launch event for the very exclusive ChordMusic range of cables on the evening of Friday 18th and all day Saturday 19th November.

As if this isn't enough we will also take the opportunity to launch full range Chord Electronics, having recently taken delivery of the awesome DAVE DAC and mighty SPM1050 MkII power amplifier.

Along with showcasing this stunning reference system in our demonstration room, fully wired with the ultimate ChordMusic interconnects and speaker cables, we will also be one of the very first retailers to demonstrate the new Chord TToby power amp partnered with Hugo TT DAC/pre-amp.  A wide range of Chord Company cables will be available to hear on this system.

We hope you can join us for a terrific opportunity to hear some awe inspiring high end electronics and cables create a truly unforgettable listening experience.

Refreshments will be provided and representatives of The Chord Company and Chord Electronics will be here to answer any questions.  

Exclusive offers will be available only to those attending this unique event on the evening of Friday 18th or during Saturday 19th November.

See you soon!

Alan and John

Ophidian M Series Loudspeakers At Audio T Cheltenham

We now have the new Ophidian M series range of loudspeakers available for demonstration. The range comprises of the Minimo and Mojo mini monitors offering bass extension that truly belies their diminutive size. We also have the Mambo floor stander, again a very compact loudspeaker that will fill all but the largest rooms with a truly immersive sound.

Technology
A common practice in speaker design is to use the energy produced by the rear of the bass driver to boost the low frequency output of the loudspeaker by venting it out of the cabinet via a tuned port (Known as a reflex loudspeaker). This poses a significant problem as the velocity of the air in the port (Effectively a plastic tube) can limit the control of the bass driver cone movement. This can cause energy from the bass driver to be wasted and can make the port exhibit a problem known as chuffing (A sound caused by the airflow pushing through the port). Ophidian have overcome this with a technology known as AEROFLEX. This utilises much larger and longer port which massively reduces the air velocity. This has the benefit of allowing the the bass driver to work more efficiently and diminishing the possibility of chuffing from the port. An additional benefit is the internal structure of the port increases the stiffness of the cabinet. This allows the use of thinner side walls on the cabinet that require less damping reducing the amount of energy stored. This much improves the quality of the midrange. The crossovers in all Ophidian loudspeakers use audiophile grade capacitors, oxygen free copper cabling and metal oxide resistors. This ensures the signal is preserved from the amplifier to the drive units.

The Ophidian M-Series Range

Minimo - The Minimo is a ultra compact 2-way micro monitor for use on stands, bookshelves or wall mounting. They feature  a 90mm Bass/Mid driver with a deep rubber surround, aluminium diagram and large powerful Neodymium magnet. In connection with the AEROFLEX technology this speaker produces a deep extended bass response that truly belies its size. Complementing the bass driver is a 27mm Sonolex coated fabric tweeter offering seamless integration with the bass driver.

Specifications:

1. Frequency Response  - 53Hz - 28kHz
2. Sensitivity                   - 85dB
3. Power Handling          - 30 to 60 Watt
4. Impedance                  - 4 Ohm
5. Dimensions                 178mm Height  / 122mm Width / 144mm Depth

Mojo - The Mojo is a two-way compact loudspeaker utilising two 90mm aluminium cone Bass/Mid drivers. Designed for stand or wall mounting these speakers offer a room filling sound with extended bass response you would not expect from a speaker of such diminutive dimensions. Again a 27mm Sonolex coated fabric dome tweeter is used. We have had these speakers on demonstration in the showroom next to a pair of speakers thirty times their size. Many customers have assumed that we have been playing the larger speakers due to the outstanding bass capabilities of the Ophidian Mojo's.

Specifications:

1. Frequency Response  - 46Hz to 2kHz
2. Sensitivity                   - 87.5 dB
3. Power Handling          - 50 to 100 Watt
4. Impedance                  - 4 Ohm
5. Dimensions                 - 253mm Height / 142mm Width / 199mm Depth

Mambo - The Mambo is a powerful three-way compact floor standing loudspeaker. It utilises Dual 90mm aluminium coned Mid/Bass Divers in their own sealed enclosure coupled with 4 dedicated 90mm aluminium coned  bass drivers utilising the AEROFLEX technology. Complementing the Mid/Bass divers is a 27mm Sonoflex coated fabric dome tweeter. For such a small floor standing loudspeaker the output from use is truly outstanding. The will play music at realistic volumes in medium to large rooms with no sense of being overdriven.

Specification:

1. Frequency Response  - 38Hz to 28kHz
2. Sensitivity                   - 87.5dB
3. Power Handling          - 50 to 150 Watts
4. Impedance                  - 4 Ohms
5. Dimensions                 - 791mm Height / 142mm Width / 171mm Depth (Excluding Plinth)

Listening
On listening to the range of Ophidian loudspeakers we have been truly impressed with the quality and extension of the bass response from speakers of such small dimensions. Couple this with a very open and uncoloured mid-range and a detailed and smooth high frequency response we would not hesitate to recommend these loudspeakers.

Finishes
The M Series range of loudspeakers are available in Satin White, Satin Black, Real wood Oak Veneer and real wood Walnut veneer.

Come and and have a listen! 

Music, Emotion And Hi-Fi. It's All About System Synergy & Set Up

Blogs are usually about a piece of Hi-Fi equipment and how it stands up against its peers or the previous version of it. This time I wanted to do a blog about a system and the way it makes me feel.

In our newly refurbished demonstration room at our Bristol store, we had just set up a system for a reviewer for one of the UK Hi-Fi magazines. The review was for the REL 212 sub bass system and to see how well it integrated with a pair of Kudos Titans. Looking at what had been put together and the reasoning behind the system, you soon realise that the magic doesn't just come from one bit of Hi-Fi equipment, it comes from all of the components working well together.

The kit that was used:

Chord cables throughout
Bryston 4B SST
Bryston BP26 plus MPS2
Naim NDX
Naim XPSDR
Kudos TITAN
x 2 REL 212SE stereo pair run via longbow

This is not an inexpensive Hi-Fi system but thats not what this is about. If you're a music lover you invest in Hi-Fi because you love music and the feeling and enjoyment you get when it immerses you in the artist's performance when it plays. To get to that point of musical nirvana, it takes both time effort and a level of skill to set up to ensure the system is as musical as possible.

The finished result after many hours of fine tuning, was a highly musical system that put a great big smile on my face and gave me chills when listening to it. So good that it made you want to keep playing one more track..... and the worries of world just drifted away. Probably one of the best sounding Hi-Fi systems I have ever listened to and in my time I have listened to quite a few.

Audio T established in 1966 has 14 stores from Preston down to Brighton. All of our friendly and helpful staff are music or film enthusiasts, most of who have been working in the industry for many years. Their collective knowledge and experience of a wide variety of different Hi-Fi systems is considerable and they do know what works well together and how to set it up correctly to make sure you get the most joy from your music and film collections. We all have different ears and tastes for how we like our music to be presented, so we will always listen and proffer friendly advice, but ultimately your own ears will be the judge..

Kevin Starkie, General Manager - Audio T

Chord Company And Cyrus Event At Brentwood

We're having a two day event showcasing Cyrus Audio products and Chord Company cables on the 4th and 5th of November.

We'll have a range of Chord Co. cables to show off alongside Cyrus electronics including the brand new Cyrus One amplifier.

We'll have multiple sources so feel free to bring some of your own music in whatever format, no cassettes or minidiscs please! We'll also have some nibbles and drinks available.

We'll look forward to seeing you.

Paul, Jason & Francis

Arcam And KEF Stereo And Home Cinema Weekend Coming Soon!

Join us on Friday 4th & Saturday 5th November as we put Arcam & KEF HiFi / AV systems through its paces.

In our HiFi room will we be running through the A29, A39 & A49 amplifiers & using the CDS27 as our source.

Which will be accompanied by a range of truly wonderful KEF loudspeakers including Blades!

In our AV room we will be using the KEF R series to create a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos configuration.

Which will be driven by Arcam's fantastic AV amp range. The UDP411, SoloMusic, AVR550 & AVR850 will be used on rotation over the 2 days.

We welcome anyone to come along to enjoy these amazing systems on Friday 4th & Saturday 5th November. Bring your favourites along with you, whether it's Music or Movies, and discover just how good these systems really are.

There will be exclusive offers on the day and snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Both Arcam & KEF Reps will be attending on the Friday to ask any questions you may have on their products.

Many thanks

Simon, John, Claire & Mahmood.

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

KEF Hi-Fi products are available from these stores: 
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Southampton, 
Swansea, Swindon

Rega Launch New Products At Audio T Brighton On Saturday 19th November

We are very pleased that our Rega account manager Rob Noble will be with us in store from 10.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday 19th November and especially so as we will be featuring some new Rega equipment.

‘Rega look forward to the release of some exciting new products for the autumn of 2016. More details to follow soon prior to their appearance at the Brighton open day. Watch this space………………’

Rega have been working very hard and recently introduced three new turntables to kick off the range in style. Their amplifiers, CD players and loudspeakers also deserve attention, as the Rega expertise is wide ranging.

Take A Look Around The Rega Factory

Rega RP10

We hope to see you on the day.

We're United! Meet The New Naim Uniti Range At Portsmouth Audio T

The new Naim Uniti family consists of three all-in-one players from the compact yet powerful Uniti Atom to the multi-functional CD operating Uniti Star to the reference audiophile Uniti Nova.

Naim Uniti Family

The Uniti Core completes the system, this is the industry reference music server which allows you to store and stream thousands of albums and back up all of your music in one place. Each player can work independently or together, just add speakers and fall in love with your album collection all over again in any room of the house.

Uniti Atom

Come and experience the Uniti Core and Uniti Atom on the 25th of November from 2 pm until 7 pm, and 26th of November from 10 am until 5 pm at Audio T Portsmouth. We are also hoping to show pre-production examples of the Uniti Star and Uniti Nova.

Uniti Star

A representative from Naim will be here over the weekend to offer insight, answer questions, but more importantly demonstrate their new range.

Uniti Nova

Come and be one of the first to see this exciting new range of products and one of the first to hear a revelation in sound.

Uniti core

We look forward to seeing you all in November. If in the meantime you have any queries regarding the weekend please do get in touch.

Nick Joe & James

Naim Audio Hi-Fi products are available from all branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, 
Manchester, Oxford,Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, 
Swindon                                                                       

New Naim Uniti Range To Be Unveiled At Audio T Brighton On Saturday 12th Nov

We are delighted to be joined by our Naim account manager Jason Gould, between 10.00am and 4.00pm to introduce the outstanding new Naim Uniti range. 

 

The Uniti range is a radical redesign and improvement to what came before. Comprising 3 integrated streaming systems, the Uniti Atom, Star and Nova all have the capability for ripping, and the Uniti Core is a dedicated music server. 

We very much look forward to seeing you on the day,

PMC Join With Audio T Brighton To Feature The New twenty5 And Fact Ranges.

Saturday 5th November is the day for fireworks, and between 10.00am and 4.00pm we will be joined by our PMC account manager Tom Barron, and would be delighted to play for you whichever of the PMC twenty5 or Fact loudspeakers that we have on demonstration.

We anticipate having both of the standmount, and the three floor standing twenty5 range, along with the Fact 8 & 12 loudspeakers.

PMC twenty5 range

Fact 12

So come and join us !

Suits You Sir! Hand Crafted Sennheiser HD800s Headphones

The original Sennheiser HD800 headphones were one of our best selling headphones, yes, even with a retail cost of £1000 the HD800 proved to be hugely popular.

Although still available, Sennheiser have upped the ante with the upgraded HD800s and has again piqued our interest in these beautiful headphones. Hand crafted in Northern Germany at Sennheiser's headquarters in Wedermark the HD800 and HD800s headphones are built using a traditional assembly line method.

Sennheiser HD800s headphones, hand-crafted in Germany. Ties by Doherty Evans & Stott hand made in Germany.

The original reference HD800 use one of the largest transducers used in any headphone up to today and it shows. The Sennheisers sound involving, the bass is precise and not overbearing.
If you had to have a niggle at the original HD800 it would be that they can be very,very detailed.
I need to choose my words carefully here but maybe too revealing and not everybody's cup of tea.

The upgraded HD800s have been tweaked to help this, new absorption technology from Sennheiser that was originally used the brilliant IE800 in ear headphones is used here. The patented "asborber technology" controls conflicting peaks and troughs in the frequency helping the HD800s to sound more refined.

The music just washes over you without shouting at you, more audible if you like. Building on the original HD800's massive 56mm transducer and toed in drive units the overall experience is a pleasurable one. We like them a lot.     

Absolute belter! A pair of HD800s looking very nice here, presented next to belts made by Anderson in Italy, all made by hand of course.

Handcrafted ear pads, made from high-quality microfibre fabric. Boglioli K Jacket, hand made from beautiful Italian fabric.

The new high-quality black metal casing on Sennheiser HD800s is a joy to behold. Mismo from Denmark use classic craftsmanship to design these beautiful bags by using traditional methods. 

Everybody needs a pair of beautifully knitted socks to go with a set of Sennheiser HD800s.  

Matt from Doherty Evans & Stott looking absolutely dapper with his Sennheiser HD800s.  

Above you can see some of techniques used in building the Sennheiser HD800 on the assembly line in Wedemark.

But for even better experience of the HD800s come along to our store in Manchester and try a set on. 

We have a selection of headphones amps and plenty of music for you to choose from.

Pop in!! 

Dave, Simon, Mike, Munir and Haden will be around to help.

Sennheiser headphones are available from the following branches of Audio T: 
Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, 
Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

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

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

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

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

Friends Festival Lecture A Great Success

We had the great pleasure of working the Swansea International Festival 2016 at the Friends Festival Lecture in the stunning Lord Mayor's Reception Room at The Guildhall in Swansea last night (11th October).

The Lecture "Drama in Song" was given by David Jackson, Artistic Director of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. David played and discussed recordings of some of the greatest singers of recent history, and examined what makes a great dramatic song or Lied, and equally importantly, what makes a great vocal performance.

When were approached by Lyndon Jones, Artistic Director of the Festival to ask if we would be happy to provide a suitable Hi-fi for the Lecture we jumped at the chance, and once we saw the room it was going to be held in we got quite excited. We took with us electronics by Chord Electronics and Dynaudio Contour series loudspeakers.

We arrived at the Guildhall around 4pm to start set-up for the evening, and as soon as we hit play on the first song to check the system out it was absolutely stunning! I had hoped that the system would sound good but it was a lot better than I expected considering how large the room is. Not long after we had set up we even had people coming in the room that had heard the music travelling down the corridors and had followed their ears as it sounded so good.

David Jackson having a listen to the system just before the evening got underway

Having everything ready and the DJ duties left to Lyndon I could join the audience and enjoy the Lecture. I could have listened to David for hours as it was so interesting hearing the story of what music was about to be played and the reasons why he had chosen each piece. Several times I caught myself about to clap after each song they were so good, which was obviously why they had been chosen.

David's last choice of song was Schubert: Der Erlkonig, sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in which the singer must portray four parts, the narrator, the Father, the boy and the Elf King. I had never heard this song before and found it simply amazing, I've already been playing it in the shop again today!

If you would like to track the recording down that David had chosen, the recording is by EMI - catalogue number CDM769 503-2 TRACK 21.

I have to once again say a huge thank you to Lyndon for inviting us to help with the evening and to David for such an enjoyable Lecture.

The Cyrus One Amplifier The Reinvention Of A Classic!

Cyrus have just released a new amplifier, the Cyrus One, harking back to their groundbreaking first model from many years ago and we're very pleased to have it on demonstration.

As you can see it follows the basic Cyrus "shoebox" form factor with a new chassis and high gloss front panel, two rotary controls, one for volume and the other for input selection including both a built in moving magnet (mm) phono stage and bluetooth.

The Cyrus One is rated at 2 x 100W of class D amplification. It has 4 line level inputs, aptX© compatible Bluetooth, a moving magnet (mm) phono stage and a quality headphone amplifier. This makes it extremely flexible for use in modern systems. The LED indicators for volume and input are a stylish white. Overall it is a very attractive little amplifier.

Good quality 4mm binding posts are supplied for the speaker connections in twinned pairs for bi wiring.

Most importantly though this little Cyrus One amplifier sounds great! It drives speakers beautifully, creating an expansive soundstage that belies its price positioning at £699. We have been very impressed using a variety of speakers and sources, oh and the headphone amp isn't half bad either.

All in all a great package in a small, beautifully formed, case.

Come in and have a listen, or join us for our Cyrus and Chord Company event on the 4th and 5th of November.

Cyrus Hi-Fi products are available at the following branches of Audio T: 
Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swindon

Swansea International Festival 2016

Swansea International Festival runs from the 30th September until 15th October, and Audio T are very glad to be helping with one event in particular this year, which is the Friends Festival Lecture at the Lord Mayor's Reception Room on Tuesday 11th October.

This should be a very interesting event and is a free ticket event so well worth coming along.

David Jackson, Artistic Director of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, gives an illustrated lecture called Drama in Song. Playing and discussing recordings of some of the greatest singers of recent history, David examines what makes a great dramatic song or Lied, and equally importantly, what makes a great vocal performance.

We will be providing the HI-Fi for the event which will consist of Chord Electronics amplification and Dynaudio loudspeakers. If you would like to get a ticket for this event please click here

The event starts at 6.30pm so we will hopefully see some of you there.

Audio T Southampton Get DIRACTly To The Point!

Having just recently returned from Arcam's headquarters in Cambridge to complete my Advanced DIRAC training I thought I would take a few minutes to guide you through what it can do for your system in the context of one of Arcam's wonderful home cinema receivers.

Part one of the course was all about getting the basics of your system right, the simple things we all know but perhaps don't take the time to get right. DIRAC is a wonderful tool but it can only do so much, so it's important to get the fundamentals of your system right.

Firstly, set up your speakers so they meet the ITU standards for a home cinema system. This is the specifications that all mixing studios use to set up a 5.1 system so engineers travelling around the world know that as they go from studio to studio they will experience the same conditions for mixing their soundtracks. This is something that can be replicated within your home environment with a simple chart and a laser guide.

Make sure your speakers are level and don't rock and make sure your speaker stands are filled and don't ring, check your cables are all free moving and not twisted around mains cables. These are simple things that can make a big difference to your system before you begin any form of room calibration.

DIRAC as a room calibration tool is an incredibly powerful piece of software but it's only as good as how well you know the software and how to achieve the soundstage you are looking for, whilst retaining the things you loved about your system before applying DIRAC.

Taking the measurements is one of the early steps in the calibration process and there are several important things to take into account.

1. The first measurement is absolutely key. It has to be in the exact sweetspot for your listening position and at ear height.

2. You need to remove as much ambient noise from the room as possible. Turn off the projector if you have one. Aircon units can be very noisy, also ensure no noise intrudes from other rooms in the house. If the microphone can detect it then its going to affect your calibration results. If something happens whilst your taking any of your measurements, like the phone ringing or someone walking across the floor upstairs, the simplest thing to do is stop the measurement capture and start again.

3. Depending on your seating position you can use DIRAC to help make your sound stage more consistent. If you get a bass boost from your rear wall directly behind your listening position you can adapt your measurement points to counteract this and get a far more seamless bass performance across your listening position.

After you have completed your 9 different measurements its time to look at saving your progress before moving on to customising your EQ curves and counteracting room problems.

When it comes to using the software its always easier to take away than it is to add, so looking at your EQ measurements you should be able to see natural problems in your room below 400Hz. You are always looking to achieve a nice smooth EQ curve and if your room is giving you some things for free like extra bass weight at the really low end you can use this to your advantage without letting things get out of control.

Below are the recordings taken from our own demonstration room. It adds some energy at the really low end which I have attempted to keep whilst dealing with a fairly substantial bass suck at about 135Hz.

The target line in Orange is what DIRAC will try to achieve and the green line is how close it managed to get to the target line.

Above the 400hz frequency point most of the things you will see are the natural characteristics of the speakers you own. If you use DIRAC on its auto system it will try to implement the perfect speaker curve into the system but this will change the sound of the speaker you love and bought because of its sound characteristics. The key is to work with the software to emulate the original sound of the speaker whilst dealing with problems created by the room and interaction with items in your room. Here you can see the natural sparkle in the Monitor Audio speakers used in this calibration. They both measure a rise towards the 5Khz mark and I have emulated this within DIRAC to keep the characteristics of the speakers.

Listening is always the key, you can always go back and change things after everything is finished and make further fine adjustments.

The other thing to watch out for is high frequency break up. As speakers rise above 20khz they can begin to break up and will give odd measurements. You can use DIRAC to give an equal response to both speakers so they tail off to the same point in the very high frequencies.

Once you have finished your custom curves for all of your loudspeakers, including your Atmos in ceiling speakers, which you can now do after Arcam's last update, it's time to send your curves off to DIRAC themselves to do the number crunching for you.

After a few minutes you will get the results back of how close DIRAC has managed to get to what you wanted to achieve in terms of your custom EQ curves, This is represented by the green line.

Also very much worth mentioning is the amount of work DIRAC does in the time alignment and phase control domain. Shown on the picture below the spike on the left is the original impact response and decay from your speakers, On the right in green is what DIRAC have achieved, notice how much sharper the impact is and how much noise from the decay has been removed. This has the ultimate result of resolving more information from the system as detail could easily be lost in all the decay noise of that original impact.

A great example of this is Dolby's own Atmos demonstration disc where there is a track called Rainstorm. By the time you have used DIRAC and got your system singing it sounds as if there are twice as many raindrops compared to DIRAC turned off.

The final stage of the process is to drop your new calibration file into your Arcam AVR. This takes a few minutes to install into your receiver but once it does it is safe to start having a play and see how effective all the work has been.

Although the calibration programme will guide you through the set up and you can achieve good results with the microphone in the box , we would like to recommended that you get someone fully trained in getting the best out of DIRAC to come and set up your system for you. We have invested in a higher quality £350 calibration microphone and have the experience to get the best out of your system for you.

I find it hard to express how impressed I am with the results you can achieve with the system but with time and effort it will bring you a great deal closer to action or music than perhaps had been possible before.

Come in and see us to hear what Arcam's home cinema amps can do. The range will very soon include the new FMJ AVR390 which at just £1999 still features the same full DIRAC calibration system found in the AVR550 and AVR850 at £2699 and £4499 respectively.

Win One Of 3 Exclusive And Unique RP1 Turntables Monogrammed by 3D From Massive Attack

We are very fortunate to have 3 personally monogrammed Rega RP1 turntables from artist and founding member of electronica and trip hop band Massive Attack, 3D (Robert Del Naja). These are completely original works melding music and art together and there are no others in existence!

A good long time friend of one of our members of staff, having known him for many years, 3D kindly donated them in exchange for doing some extensive install work at his home.

If you are a fan of the band or vinyl, this is an absolutely fantastic opportunity to win one of only 3 examples in existence and a copy of their platinum selling album, Mezzanine.

To be in with a chance of winning one of these amazing prizes, all you need to do is visit either our Audio T Oxford, Preston or Swindon branches where the turntable is on show and do the following:

1. Complete the prize draw form in store and sign up to our audio eClub.

2. Check into the store on Facebook - Oxford | Preston | Swindon

3. Like the Audio T Facebook page

T&Cs - Entries in store only. One entry per person. Need to complete all steps for a valid entry. No purchase necessary. Winner will be announced in the December 2016 eClub newsletter. Closes Wednesday 30th of November 2016

Good luck!