Sonos Playbar vs Sonos Playbase

We are going to take a closer look at the new Sonos Playbase and compare it to the established and accomplished Sonos Playbar. Does the Playbase leave its older brother trailing behind? Read on to find out...

So to start with the Sonos Playbar has been designed to either sit in front of your TV or to be wall mounted whilst the Playbase sits underneath your TV.

You will need a rack or TV stand 72cm wide & 38cm deep to fit this BEAST.

The Playbar's is 90cm wide (which is very close to the width of a 40" TV to look uniform) and 14cm deep to house comfortably.

The Playbase features newer style controls as seen on Play:5 Gen2. Touch control volume -, + and Play/Pause/Skip Track can be found in picture 1. The Connect button is shown in picture 2. Whilst the Sonos Playbar in picture 3 uses buttons towards one side, allowing for the same level of control as the Playbase.

The connections are still very similar between the 2 products. Uncomplicated and straight forward. You can find power, ethernet in (or out, to feed other devices with an Internet connection.) and optical in (to take the sound directly for your TV or Sky/Virgin box).

So what do they sound like...?
We love our job and we are fortunate to have comfortable demonstration rooms, which we can use to evaluate Hi-Fi products and so that our customers can hear the product for themselves so they can make an informed choice when buying.

After our comparative listening session we found that both are not surpisingly excellent performers. The Sonos Playbar gives a wider more detailed sound presentation whilst the Sonos Playbase has better depth of bass, However this is just our opinion, what matters most is yours, so why not come and listen and find out for yourself.

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

Many thanks.

Simon, John & Claire - Audio T Enfield

Tel:0208 367 3132

Linn Sondek LP12 Open Day On Saturday 27th May At Audio T Brighton.

Join us and explore the delights of the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, one of the most iconic Hi-Fi products ever produced, and still in production after more than 40 years, albeit highly evolved from the original design. 

On demonstration will be a full top specification Klimax LP12 and the introduction to the range, the Majik LP12. There are many options between these two turntables that we will be happy to discuss, and LP12 owners will be able to book a future listening session with their own turntables, and a view to upgrades and improvements.

Linn Majik LP12

Linn Klimax LP12

Bring along a favourite album or two and discover more music from your records.

Please use this ticket booking link if you wish to attend.

The many parts to the Klimax LP12

Linn Klimax LP12 Components

We look forward to seeing you and talking Linn LP12 turntables!

Julian, Paul and John

Linn LP12 turntables are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Bristol, Manchester

Convert Technologies Plato Class A All In One Music System At Audio T Bristol

We auditioned the Plato Class B about a year ago and thought that it was a fantastic product well thought out and well engineered but we had some misgivings about the sound quality. Not that it sounded bad but it didn't quite hit the mark when factoring in what our customers expect us to be selling.

At Sound & Vision - The Bristol Show Convert launched the Plato Class A all In One Hi-Fi system which we are taking a closer look at here.

Essentially it's the same product as the earlier model but with a better Class A amplifier.

Normally a class A design would generate a lot of heat and as such you will find that they are usually large with an array of heat sinks to dissipate the heat. Convert have used some clever technology to avoid this and as result you get class A performance without the bulky box. In fact we think that it looks very modern, uncomplicated with clean lines and just the right amount of curve. It would even look good on a sideboard we think.

The 15 watts you get with the class A operation doesn't sound a lot, and indeed it isn't when you turn up the wick, the Plato caters for this scenario by switching to A/B operation when needed pushing out 50 watts of A/B power. What do they say, “when the going gets tough...”

So, what else does the Plato do? It would probably be easier to describe what it can't do. The initial idea Convert had was to create a device that will record Vinyl in a sophisticated no nonsense way.

Plenty of ins and outs on the rear.

That initial idea is delivered in spades as there is not a better vinyl ripper on the market. It will handle both MC and MM cartridges and records up-to 24bit 192khz. When you drop the needle on the record it will intelligently look up the recording online and deliver the album art and track names as well as split the recording into tracks. This is very clever and couldn't be simpler.

As well as recording Vinyl you can also record your cassettes or any other analogue format just plug in and away you go. The Plato is also a streamer and a ripper. The observant amongst you will have noticed from the picture that it doesn't have a CD draw. They get round this by supplying a USB drive along with an android tablet which gives complete control over the unit. The 2TB of internal storage you get should be enough for most but as it is a streamer as well it would be easy to expand on that if needed.

We listened to the unit using a variety of music including ripped vinyl (which sounds really good) recordings from the hard drive and recordings off our network. The class A 'sound' smothered us not in a soft gooey way but in way that is very pleasing to the ear. Nothing we played tripped the unit up. So the Pixies Doolittle album didn't sound harsh at all as it often can. Massive Attack's Mezzanine sounded great with a very pleasing bass that was not necessarily as tight as some A/B amps can muster but with texture that those amps only hint at. The all important mid range is handled excellently, with Teardrop off Mezzanine touching the back of the spine if you know what I mean.

All in all we think the audio performance is excellent and that coupled with it's massive feature list the Convert Plato deserves a place in the shop. You may not need all the features it offers but even if you just need storage and streaming in an attractive package it is well worth a listen. As always don't take our word for it, come and have a listen.

Convert Technologies Plato Class A is available for demonstration at Audio T Bristol.

The New Leema Quasar Is Out Of This World!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Ruark MR1 MKII At Audio T Cheltenham

Updated in 2017, the Ruark MR1 MKII are a compact active high fidelity loudspeaker designed and can be used in different ways.

The MR1 MKII are a two-way bass reflex speaker system utilising a 20mm treated textile dome tweeter and a 75mm long throw bass driver with a powerful neodymium magnet. Power is provided by a 20W Class A-B linear amplifier incorporating a high quality switch mode power supply. Most compact active loudspeakers available today use digital amplifiers, which in many cases give an artificial sound when compared to the Class A-B amplifier used in the Ruark MR1 MKII.

Ruark MR1 MKII

The Ruark MR1 MKII offers a Line audio input and a digital optical input. They also incorporate Bluetooth APTx for wireless CD quality playback from Bluetooth enabled devices (Phones, Laptops, etc) They also offer a subwoofer output for connection to an active subwoofer enabling increased bass response.

Rear of MR1 MKII Master Loudspeaker

The MRI MKII is capable of providing great sound throughout your home and can be used in several different ways:

TV
Connect the MR1 to the audio out (Line or Optical) to provide HiFi quality sound far beyond the capability of the built in TV loudspeakers. Attach a subwoofer and get true movie sound from your chosen movie. (We have found that the MR1 will outperform most reasonably priced TV sounders / Sound bases on the market).

Turntable
Connect a turntable to the line input via a phono stage and experience the outstanding quality of vinyl through a truly compact system.

Sound On The Move
Add a BP2 battery pack (Optional Accessory) to the master loudspeaker and you have a truly portable HiFi system. Get graeter sounds when you are having a Barbecue or take it on holiday to provide a true HIFi system in your Caravan. If you travelling you can disconnect the stereo loudspeaker and the Master will revert to an active mono loudspeaker which you can take with you when you travel.

Other features provided include a compact remote control for source, volume and function selection. Auto standby is also built in (Ideal when using with a TV as the MR1 will turn on when the TV is switched on and turn off when the TV is switched off).

Sound Quality
Christopher Frank - Latano Mystery (Pacific Coast Highway) - Playing via Bluetooth the high end detail is very impressive and is coupled with a very open and expansive midrange. For such a compact loudspeaker there was no hint of boxiness and the bass extension was extended and tight. We then added a REL T-Zero Subwoofer to the sub out socket and were amazed at the results. We now had a compact system that was performing as well as a well integrated full size Hi-Fi system.

Sade - Hang On To Your Love (Diamond Life) - Sade's vocal was extremely realistic and lifelike. Again detail retrieval was extremely impressive and the MR1 offered a very good sound stage. The bass was extended and very tuneful. (We then added the REL T-Zero we again got outstanding results.)

KungFu Hamster listening to Sade... he's a smooth operator!

The MR1 MKII are available in Rich Walnut and Soft Grey Lacquer finishes. If you are looking for a affordable compact active (doesn't require an amplifier) loudspeaker system the Ruark MR1 MKII really should be on your audition list. 

Ruark Audio lifestyle and portable Hi-Fi products are available from the following branches of Audio T:

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

Audio T Southampton And Hundred Records, Romsey, Celebrate RSD 10th Anniversary!

Just a quick reminder that Record Store Day 2017 is nearly upon us.  The tenth anniversary of vinyl celebration, supporting local independent record stores, is on Saturday 22nd April.

We are happy to, again, be linking up with Hundred Records in Romsey and encouraging all of our customers to visit Mark's store during his third (already?) Record Store Day.  Those who have met Mark will know that he is very passionate about music, especially vinyl!  If you haven't visited Hundred Records then RSD would be a great time to do so, with many exclusive, limited edition releases available only at Record Store Day participating stores.  Mark is extending RSD for the whole weekend this year, opening 11am to 3pm on Sunday as well as 8am to 5pm Saturday to give you even more chance of finding a rare vinyl release!

Don't leave Mark's store without an RSD bag, the contents of which will include an exclusive to Audio T Chandlers Ford (Southampton) RSD discount voucher, and our latest Music at Home Guide!

And what better way to enjoy your exclusive new RSD vinyl than playing it on a limited edition Rega RSD 2017 turntable!

Rega have pulled out all of the stops for RSD's tenth anniversary, producing an exceptional turntable at the same £250 price of a standard Planar 1.  The RSD17 is limited to a production run of 500, and combines the high quality plinth, glass platter, bearing and mat from the RP3 with the tonearm and cartridge of the P1, making this the best Rega limited edition RSD deck so far.

In the unlikely event that the performance, price, and great looks aren't quite enough to persuade you, around 40 of the 500 are signed by some great musical artists!

We are taking orders now for the Rega RSD17 now but they are going fast so best contact us to reserve one now and ensure that you can collect your turntable on Record Store Day as soon as you've bought your new vinyl from Mark at Hundred Records!

Good luck tracking down some vinyl rarities.  We look forward to giving them a spin here and helping you to get the very best sound from your precious albums.

See you soon,

Alan and John

Looking For An Easter Gift For The Music Lover In Your Life? Then Arcam rPlay Is An Eggcellent Choice

If you love music then you are literally spoilt for choice these days with a multitude of different formats, such as vinyl, CD and streaming, which allows you to listen to your music stored locally on a hard drive or from an Internet subscription service such as Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify. 

Streaming has been around for a while now and provides a great deal of convenience in how you listen to your music. When streaming music, you can choose from music stored on a computer or network attached storage device (NAS) - a hard drive accessible on your home network) - the files held on your local network can either be downloads from the Internet such as iTunes or CD rips (copies of a CD held locally on the network hard drive) or an Internet music subscription streaming service such as Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer or Spotify. 

Many people want more choice and like to listen and discover new music, or listen to music that hasn't been listened to for a while. This is what Arcam's rPlay music streamer does really well and is simple to set up and use.

Let's take a closer a look at it.

The rPlay can be set up wirelessly or directly connected to the router. Once connected download the DTS PlayFi App for iOS or android. There are fixed outputs for connecting to an integrated amplifier or variable outputs if you want to connect the rPlay to a power amplifier. There is also a digital output for connecting it to a DAC - digital to analogue converter - which can further improve sound quality.

This is a where the fun begins. You first select media server from the app and it searches for the network drives with your music on. Choose the drive and play music - it's that easy. You can then select Tidal HiFi from the app and start browsing through the vast catalogue of music and you can start discovering more music than you ever dreamed of. It sounds very nice indeed and it supports high resolution (Hi-Res) high quality music files up to 24bit/192kHz. 

The Arcam rPlay also allows you to stream Spotify, Deezer, Internet radio and will connect to devices with Apple AirPlay.

Another DTS PlayFi feature is multi-room playback. Put another rPlay into another room and control it through the same app, you can even name the room so you know which one you want to control, which is nice. Please have a look at the image below.

We think this little box of tricks sounds very good indeed, it is very easy to set up and use and can be integrated into any 2-channel stereo or multi-channel home cinema system. 

Please come and have a listen here in our shop in Swindon and we'll make you a nice cup of tea or coffee, while you listen to a few of your favourite tunes!

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Stefan and Andy

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

Audio T Swansea Celebrates The 10th Anniversary Of Record Store Day On 22nd April

Record Store Day is now less than a month away, and with it being the 10th Anniversary we will once again be teaming up with Derrick's Music of Swansea to make it the best event yet.

The 22nd April will be the day where we once again see hundreds of people descend on independent record shops across the country to snap up some very exclusive and rare recordings that have been published on vinyl just for this one day.

The master list of LPs, 12" and 7" singles that are being produced was published this week, yet again after browsing through it I realise that I am going to have to raid the piggy bank again!

To see the full list on the Record Store Day website click here.

World renowned manufacturer of turntables and Hi-Fi products Rega Research are once again producing a very limited edition version of their Planar 1 Turntable, which we will be giving away to one lucky customer at Derricks Music on the day in a FREE prize draw.

We will also be giving away a copy of the new book by Rega "The Vibration Measuring Machine"

As we get closer to Record Store Day we will be posting more about what goodies we will be playing etc, so keep an eye on the Audio T Swansea Facebook page.

Here's last years lucky winner receiving his new Rega RSD turntable.

Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225 Streaming/CD System Has Arrived At Audio T Swindon

We have just received the Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225 all-In-one music system and it is a brilliant Hi-Fi product. It has a built-in CD player that also acts as a CD ripper (recorder).

It comes shipped with either a 1TB (about 2500 CD's) or 2TB hard drive and if that's not enough storage space, you can fit your own 2,5" HDD or we can fit it for you. The M6 Encore 225 is available in black or silver .

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

The M6 Encore 225 Music System is supplied with a remote control, power cable, a network cable and a start-up guide. There are many tutorials on Musical Fidelity's website about how to use it and what it can do.

All you have to do is connect the Encore 225 to your network via a network cable (ethernet cable), connect up your speakers and then power it on - that's it.

This is a standalone music system with a built-in amplifier of 225W per channel. It has a CD player, CD-ripper, Internet radio, and a built in streamer which can stream up to 32bit/384kHz. If you would like to play a CD, press the home button on the front. You can set the CD to copy the music to the built-in hard drive so that you can stream it.

Music is stored and played back from the Encore's own built in hard drive. Music is easily imported from a network drive, usb drive or a computer. It is very easy to use and we are happy to show you how it works. The reason why Musical Fidelity wants all music to be stored on the internal hard drive is for speed of playback. It also reduces the chance of common network drop-outs and it means that there are no delays when playing a track or an album - I mean access is superfast. You can skip through the songs or fast forward with no delays.

It has analogue inputs, so you can connect a turntable with an external phono stage/amplifier; digital optical and usb. It is really versatile and it very easy to use. An additional bonus is that the music stored on the M6 Encore 225 can be accessed from existing UPNP music players in the house.

The Musical Fidelity Encore has a control app is free to download for both Apple iOS and Android.

Also available is Internet radio and Tidal (music streaming service).

The Encore can be controlled via the supplied remote control, the front buttons or via iOS and Android app. All information is displayed on the front colour display. As with all network products there are software updates to deal with but again thanks to Musical Fidelity, this is be done automatically over the network.

WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?
We think it sounds fantastic and it will certainly drive most speakers easily. We connected the Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225 to our Martin Logan EM-ESL that we have recently received (more about them in our next blog) and we were blown away with the resulting sound.

There is absolutely nothing we don't like about this music system. Please come in and have a listen and you are more then welcome to bring your own CD's to listen to and you can then compare the CD transport with the sound of a ripped and streamed CD. 

We look forward to seeing you - Stefan & Andy.

Musical Fidelity home audio and Hi-Fi products are available from the following branches of Audio T: 
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Southampton, Swansea

The Brilliant And Gorgeous Hana EL Cartridge

Audio T Manchester have just added a new range of Hana cartridges to our collection. This relatively new brand of cartridge from the land of the rising sun is causing quite a stir amongst people who have already heard them, and although first introduced in 2015 the company behind Hana, Excel Sound Corporation, have been producing cartridges for over 50 Years. We took in the Hana-EL and SL as our first foray into this new range.

Today's blog will take a quick look at the beautiful moss green Hana-EL MC cartridge and at the slick black Hana SL Shibata and maybe a few puns from a galaxy far far away.....

Hana in Japanese actually means "brilliant and gorgeous" which, for all intents and purposes is exactly how it sounds. Tested with our own Michell Gyro'SE' the Hana EL didn't let us down.  it gets you a lot of bang for your galaxy credits.

Stereophile magazine also took the Hana EL "low output" for a test drive and said "the EL's basic sonic character was highly musical and exceptionally non mechanical." (Vol.39 No.8 WWW)"

Excel Sound Corporation have being making cartridges for other manufacturers for over 50 years now and only recently have they decided to put their own name to a range of cartridges called Hana, which are hand made in Tokyo Japan.

All Hana cartridges have a highly rigid aluminium cantilever and a diamond stylus.

Ok, so our opinion on the Hana twins. Dave our manager and turntable jedi wanted to give the pair a whirl. He tested both the EL and SL Shibata on a Linn  LP12, Ekos arm with exceptional results. To begin with, the EL low output did an admiral job of sounding musical and detailed, certainly worth the admission fee.  

Then the Hana SL Shibata, is equally impressive, but is much more open, the extra height in the soundstage just lifts everything out and away of the speakers. What's more, the very low surface noise just adds to the detail, more than you would expect from just a Shibata upgrade, very good and again great value.

Hi-Fi Choice, Hifi World and Hifi Pig all gave the Hana cartridges glowing reviews.

Headshell Chromey! Headshell!! Thats a half inch mount....not your headshell mate...ahh never mind, come on now move along, move along and put your helmet back on, there's nothing to see here. 

The Hana SL Shibata mounted on our Michell Gyro SE.

The Hana cartridges are both on demonstration at our Manchester store and we have the Michell and Rega turntables on standby ready to show off the Hana's capabilities.

So please do pop along to our store on Bridge Street in Manchester and just ask Munir, Dave, Mike, Simon or Haden (on a Sunday) if you're interested in listening to the Hana, they will be more than willing to help.

Oh, and may the vertical tracking force be with you, all 2 grams of it.

Hana products are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Manchester and Reading

New Audioquest Nighthawk Carbon Headphones

Audioquest's Nighthawk headphones have been tweaked and enhanced...and have been reborn as the Carbon edition! We are going to take a closer look at the headphone and what you get as a package and give you some indication of the sound. Let your own ears be the judge!

Above shows the case with front cover. On the back shows main features and specifications. Full specifications can be found here. The travel case looks and feels well made.

Inside everything is kept safe and secure. Once opened you will find the user manual, pre-flight guide, cable (1.3m), 3.5mm adaptor, x2 ear pads and the headphones.

The pre-flight guide provides useful information like running in time (150 hrs), different tuning methods using either the leather (improved treble) or suede (enhanced bass impact) ear pads, cable button functions and best practice for looking after the silver plated plugs.

Above shows both the protein leather and ultra suede ear pads.

Here we have the 3.5mm to 1/4" adaptor & high performance long grain copper Audioquest cable (1.3m) with mic and smartphone control, terminated with silver plated plugs.

This picture shows the comfortable leather headband and deep ear pads which equates to long lasting comfort, you can even forget you're wearing them! The styling is beautiful.

The Audioquest Nighthawk Carbon headphones are exceptionally comfortable, with a more exciting sound when compared with the original Nighthawk's.

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

Many Thanks

Simon, John, Claire & Mahmood

Audio T Enfield Tel: 0208 367 3132

Audioquest Headphones are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Bristol, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Dynaudio Contour Range Arrives At Audio T Oxford

The new Dynaudio Contour range has arrived in our Oxford Store. Consisting of four models Contour 25c Contour 20 Contour 30 and the mighty Contour 60. In this blog I will be concentrating on the Contour 20's stand mount loudspeaker.

Dynaudio is a Danish loudspeaker maker, founded in 1977 with a pedigree. Dynaudio builds exceptional quality loudspeakers for home systems, professionals and cars. Products from its professional division are used as studio monitors in recording studios across the world.  

The Contour 20 speakers are a large rear-ported design stand mount speaker, with a solid machined aluminum front baffle set into a beautifully finished multi-layer cabinet. Each speaker has completely new woofers, designed especially for each model, while all the speakers use Dynaudio's Esotar 2 tweeter, previously found on the company's flagship speakers.

In store we have tested the Contour range with multiple electronics brands. We found they really start to sing when partnered with high end, high current amplification. However you don't need to spend a fortune to get a great sound from them. We loved the sound the Contour 20's produced when partnered with the Quad Artera Pre/Poweramp combination. You can easily spend many times that amount on electronics and you will continue to release more detail, clarity and enjoyment from these amazing speakers.

The Contour 20 faces stiff competition at this price point from the likes of the Focal Electra 1008 BE  and the Kudus Super10. All three of these speakers are superb, however, in our opinion, the Contour 20's deliver class leading stereo imaging, substantially better depth, bass control and a fantastic mid-range that the competition cannot match. 

The Contour range are available in the following finishes: Walnut Satin, White Oak Satin, Piano Black, Piano White, Rosewood High Gloss and Bubinga High Gloss. Dynaudio offer a matching stand for the Contour 20's that are available in Black and silver.

As you can tell we love the speakers, and think you will too. If you would like to have a demo please call us on 01865 765 961 and talk to Jon, Dom or Paddy.

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

ARCAM's New rPhono Switchable Phono Stage Is The Latest Contribution To The Vinyl Revolution

In this months blog we take a closer look at Arcam's new rPhono switchable phono stage. We'll cover what it does, how to set it up and tell you which Hi-Fi system we tested it with.

Arcam have recently launched the rPhono. A potent switchable small case phono stage generously priced at £399. The rPhono is a compact and solidly built little unit satisfyingly heavy and well damped with a rubber base for extra isolation. A simple and subtle design that should blend well with most systems.

Being switchable means you can  either use a moving magnet or moving coil cartridge. Both inputs are adjustable allowing you maximize the performance of your favourite cartridge. As the rPhono supports both MM and MC you could (if you so desired) run two turntables, one of each, remembering of course to select the correct input when swapping from one to the other. The adjustment key in the bottom right of the picture resides in a little slot in the back of the unit making any setting adjustment a doddle.

On the back of the Phono stage are the switches to adjust the capacitance, load and gain to match the suggested specifications of the cartridge. Of course there is the input switch to choose between MM and MC on the far right and to its left is a rumble switch. What we found was when it was on it the sound was a little cleaner but not necessarily as musical. This may differ in different systems and racks. The settings are clearly mapped out on the back panel so no need to endlessly search through manuals to make sure you have got it right. On the whole we found it easy to set up, but of course we are happy to do this for you. 

SYSTEM
We ran the rPhono with a Rega RP8 and Exact cartridge and then a Rega Apheta 2 MC . Connecting the rPhono to the Rega Elicit stereo amplifier where a pair of Chord Company Epic phono leads and Chord Company Rumour speaker cable running to a pair of Spendor A5R's. The track used was Brose and Butter from Songs of Robert burns by Eddie Reader. It's a well recorded album with a lively quality and on a good system sounds open and fun. Although the system was quite highly specified compared to the price of the rPhono, we wanted to put it through its paces and on that level it did not disappoint.

If you would like to arrange your personal demonstration or home loan, including leads, please get in touch Nick, Joe or James at Audio T Portsmouth Tel: 02392 66360

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

Tiger Paw Tranquility Linn LP12 Turntable Bearing Upgrade

As the saying goes good things often come in small packages and in this instance they are not wrong! Yesterday a small cardboard box measuring 20cm x13cm x7cm found its way into our shop from Tiger Paw.  It was with some excitement, after reading lots of good things about it, that we opened it to reveal two metal discs with a unique array of rare earth magnets in them.

Tiger Paw Tranquility LP12 Turntable Upgrade Kit

There is nothing new about about magnetic levitation in fact it is used by some other small exotic turntable manufacturers and has been on the news recently showing a floating platter, in fact we can remember this technology dating back to the Pickering Gyropoise from the early 1960s'.In this instance, though, it doesn't actually raise the inner platter from its thrust pad but it does dramatically reduce the force and friction between the two surfaces by up to 90%.

Disc 1 friction fit around Linn LP12 inner platter

Another major advantage of this upgrade is the fact that no changes to the original turntable are required and the 2 sections fit around the existing bearing spindle and inner platter with no screws or bolts required. It is also fully backwards compatible with pre Cirkus bearings and standard sub chassis, so no matter what level of LP12 you have everyone can benefit.

Disc 2 fitted around the Linn LP12 bearing

We started our listening test with Bjorks' early Gling Glow album, a close miked and slightly forward recording, and straight from the off the differences weren't small, in fact, it was dramatic, the control on the bass, unveiling of the top end and the drop of the noise floor all contributing to an overall spatial effect creating a more natural feel to the tracks, less like a record more of an experience. Record after record went on everything from the newly re-issued Paul Weller Wild Wood all the way back to lesser well recorded albums such as the The Allman Brothers live A&R studios recording from 1971. Whilst it can't make a bad recording great, they can become a whole lot more believable meaning you can just relax and listen to the music rather than getting hung up with the limitations of the recording.

Full spec Linn Klimax LP12 with Ekos tonearm, Kandid cartridge and Radical power supply. MC Billy Blaster can't wait to jump in, spin some discs and throw some shapes!

This is a must have for those treasured vinyl discs, it is  easy to hear to why and in our opinion a big upgrade for a small investment. So don't delay, bring in one of your favourite LP's and have a listen for yourself.

Join Julian, Paul and John in the Tiger Paw Tranquility of vinyl replay and give us a call on 01273 609431 to arrange your personal demonstration.

Tiger Paw Hi-Fi products are available in our Brighton, Reading and Oxford stores.

RNLI Music And Hi-Fi Evening - A Big Thank You!

A big thank you to all who attended the RNLI Hi-Fi and Music Evening at The White Horse Hotel, Romsey on 28th February.  We are delighted to report that the evening was very well attended and a great success, raising over £1300 for the RNLI from ticket sales and the raffle.

Many thanks to all from Naim Audio, Dynaudio and The Chord Company for their enthusiastic support of this event, and to The White Horse for generously providing such a superb venue to showcase a stunning hi-fi system.  

It would have been impossible to set up this system in the limited time available without the skill (and muscle!) of all involved.  The Dynaudio Evidence Platinum speakers are over 6 feet tall and weigh nearly 150kg each!  Naim's Statement amplification is no lightweight either!  The multiple lengths of all ChordMusic cable variants was a significant contribution to the great sound, not to mention the £250,000 system value!

Thanks for all the positive feedback since the event.  It was always going to be an impossible task to cater for everyone's musical tastes but we hope we were able to give a flavour of what is possible with such an aspirational system, truly bringing music to life with realism and scale.

Nearly £500 was raised from the raffle, mainly due to the high quality of the prizes generously donated by Naim, Dynaudio and Chord.  Congratulations to the lucky winners of a Naim Mu-so QB, Dynaudio Xeo 2 and Chord Shawline especially!

We would also like to thank Mark Wills from Hundred Records, Romsey, for his enthusiastic support and donation of all record sale profits on the night to the RNLI.  Thanks Mark.  (Watch this space for details of our Record Store Day 2017 link up with Mark coming very soon!)

One of our customers commented afterwards: 

"Thank you for the excellent demo on 28th Feb. It was the best set up I have heard and it was good of you both to give up your time - the contributions from Dynaudio , Chord and Naim were much appreciated".

Finally here's a list of key contributors to the success of the RNLI event on the day, with apologies to anyone overlooked:

Chris Green (RNLI Romsey and District Chairman and event organiser) and RNLI volunteers

Daniel and Mark Raggett (Naim Audio)

Bill Livingston and Kala Lingham (Dynaudio)

Alan Gibb, and daughter Angela, Matt Peddle (The Chord Company)

Staff of The White Horse Hotel

and us at Audio T Southampton (Chandlers Ford).... Alan and John, plus John's brother in law, Mike

Thank you

How To Take Care Of Your Precious Records In The New Age of Vinyl

With vinyl sales soaring and turntables becoming ever more popular it's important to care for your records and record playing equipment so here's a few tips and products that we'd recommend for seasoned vinyl addicts and newbies alike.

The Bear essentials for great sounding vinyl replay!

KEEP IT CLEAN!
There are many products out there to help with this but first and foremost is a humble duster! If you keep the area around your turntable free from dust there will be less to build up around your stylus and on your records, remember records tend to generate static so they'll attract dust. This is where the humble anti-static brush comes in very handy like the one from Audioquest in the picture above. There is also a similar product for cleaning your stylus (also pictured above) It's not uncommon to have a major build up on a stylus which can make it sound like the cartridge is failing.

For cleaning records with a heavier level of grime Pro-ject make two great products. The Spin Clean is a manual "wet cleaning" system for only £90 and if you want your records restored to sparkling brilliance try the fantastic Project VCS machine, which removes dirt and grime brilliantly. Then store your records in anti-static sleeves to help maintain their condition.

Boswell is the original vinyl care bear and says that "Vinyl hygiene is imperative for the best sound reproduction".

CAREFUL SET UP
This is where we come in. Getting the set up of your turntable right will give the most rewarding musical experience, whether you're a Dire Straits or Ed Sheeran fan. We can adjust and set up almost any turntable here in store and are always happy to help you do this.

For those of you who like to tweak and play, and there are many opportunities for this with turntables, we have a wide range of mats, stylus force measures, and pucks and clamps available.

One other essential accessory to keep your precious vinyl safe in transit, is our wonderful limited edition Audio T 50th Anniversary record bag and teddy bear carrier modelled here by Boswell.

It's available from all our Stores (bear not included!)

THERE'S ALWAYS AN UPGRADE PATH
No matter what turntable, as long as it's working and of a decent standard, it is always possible to improve its performance. You can change the cartridge, sometimes the cables, and the phono stage as well. At Audio T we have always prided ourselves on our knowledge of turntables and getting the best performance out of them. Why not come in and see us, or give us a ring and have a chat about how we can do that for you.

We look forward to seeing you. 

Paul, Francis and Jason

Project Classic Turntable Arrives At Audio T Cheltenham

The Cheltenham Branch have just taken delivery of the new Project Classic Turntable. Designed by Project for their 25th Anniversary the aptly named Classic has taken design inspiration from 1960/70s classics such as the Thorens and Linn.

The Classic is a two plinth design allowing the motor to be well isolated from the main bearing and arm greatly reducing the transfer of mechanical and electrical energy produced by the motor. Rather than using springs for the suspension (renowned for causing set up issues) the Classic utilises Thermo Plastic Elastomers to isolate the two plinths. This not only offers excellent isolation and anti resonance properties but also allows easy set up straight out of the box. We had our demonstration deck up and running and sounding fantastic in two minutes.

Kung Fu Hamster hasn't seen a spinning wheel like this before!

The deck is supplied with a newly designed tonearm with some radical design concepts. The arm tube is constructed of a composite sandwich material comprising of carbon fibre and aluminium. The carbon fibre offers excellent rigidity and reduced mass while the aluminium provides excellent damping. A new ultra low friction bearing assembly is used enabling excellent tracking. Even the the nickel counterweight is TPE damped to reduce resonances. The arm has full VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) and Azimuth adjustment allowing easy cartridge change / upgrade.

Kung Fu Hamster takes a closer look at the Pro-ject Classic platter

The deck is supplied with an Ortofon 2M Silver moving magnet cartridge. This allows the Classic to perform to a very high standard out of the box but with the quality of components utilised in the deck a cartridge upgrade is a great opportunity in the future.

LISTENING
To audition the Project Classic we set it up with a Rega Elicit amplifier using its excellent on-board phono stage and coupled this with a pair of Neat acoustics SX2 Loudspeakers. We played a wide range of vinyl and achieved excellent results with all types of Music.

Phil Collins - I don't Care Anymore (Hello I must be Going Album):
The Classic provided excellent bass weight and control. The drums were extremely tight and fast and at no time did the sound become confused. Information retrieval was  very good with an excellent soundstage. At no time did the deck become confused.

Helen Watson - You're not the rule (Blue Slipper Album):
The Classic offered a great sense of timing. The sound was exceptionally tuneful and for such a complicated piece of music at no time did the classic get confused or appear to lose detail. The vocals were portrayed with excellent realism and emotion.

Stanley Jordan - Eleanor Rigby (Magic Touch Album):
This gave a superb sound stage with a great sense of openness and clarity. The attack on the strings was easily heard and again we were surprised how a deck at this price point held everything together. In fact my biggest problem listening to this track was concentrating on the deck rather than the music as the Classic made it sound so involving.

CONCLUSION
Overall this record deck offers outstanding sound quality for such an affordable price. It offers superb build quality and standard of finish. It is easy to set up and integrate into virtually any hi-fi system. It also offers the opportunity to upgrade with the addition of a better cartridge. The Ortofon 2M Silver offers great sound when purchased with the deck but a future upgrade will reap great benefits. Overall we cannot recommend this record player highly enough and would strongly advise a demonstration if you are in the market for a turntable at this price point.

We look forward to seeing you in the near future and be rest assured if you come in for a demonstration you will be given a warm welcome. (And tea and coffee).

Jon, Farid and Andy

Click here to read more about the Pro-ject Classic Turntable tech specs and customer reviews.

Pro-ject turntables and Hi-Fi products are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, Portsmouth, PrestonReading, Swansea, Swindon

A New Look For Audio T Preston Showcasing Naim Rega & KEF

We've been busy creating a new look at Audio T Preston. We hope customers old and new like the new record decor!

Phase one, a blank canvas

By far, our most popular products at the moment would have to be the turntables, so we wanted to create a display to show off the range we keep.

We also wanted to have a great sounding Hi-Fi stereo system to show off what's possible, and by partnering the Naim Audio & KEF Reference together we have definitely achieved that.

With just a little help from Ike ....who knows his stuff!

So come and have a listen, we have Tidal ready to play any genre of music you like on a world class Hi-Fi Naim NAC-N 272.... Naim NAP 250DR.... KEF Reference 3 speakers.... Chord Company Sarum cables

The Naim NAC-N 272 is a state of the art streaming pre-amplifier, which has features such as Spotify, Tidal, UPNP, Internet radio and Bluetooth all built in as standard for all your streaming needs as well as the conventional analogue and digital inputs for connecting other devices to it.

This Naim NAC-N 272 pre-amplifier can also be controlled by the remote control supplied but, for ultimate control you can download the free Naim control app for sit down palm of your hand convenience. We have connected this to the Naim NAP 250DR power amplifier which provides plenty of power whilst being able to deliver the level of finesse that Naim electronics is known for world wide.

We then added a pair of KEF Reference 3 floorstanding speakers in the stunning copper black finish which looks fantastic and delivers a very detailed and big sound stage. A great partner for the Naim system.

Finally we added the Sarum cables by The Chord Company which when connected to your Hi-Fi of any ilk lifts veils and uncovers layers of music that you didn't know was there!

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

KEF Hi-Fi products (Preston reference only) are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Portsmouth, Southampton, Swansea, 
Swindon

Chord Co Cables are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Online, Oxford, 
Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon
 

Dynaudio Re-Contour The World

The new Dynaudio Contour range has arrived. Consisting of four models Contour 25c Contour 20 Contour 30 and the mighty Contour 60

Contour 60

We have had tremendous fun with this range since they have arrived especially with a track called Suck my Bass by Bass Mekanik. The frequency range of these speakers really must be witnessed.

WARNING!! THIS TRACK IS NOT SUITABLE FOR MOST SPEAKERS.

The Contours cover everything you could want from a loudspeaker stunning appearance that is finished to the highest standard and of course a truly remarkable sound offering vast amounts of detail wonderfully deep and controlled bass and amazing imagery.

In short you have got to hear them.

Contour 20

At Portsmouth we have the 20s 30s and 60s on constant demonstration. Either book a time for a demonstration or just pop in and be wowed.

We look forward to seeing you at Audio T Portsmouth

Nick Joe and James

Dynaudio Loudspeakers are available at the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Swindon