Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2 Series Stand Mount Speaker Stunners!

When B&W announced that they were replacing their popular and classy CM range, we were pleased and intrigued as to how they would develop an already successful product.

B&W 705 S2

The more expensive CM models had the tweeter placed in a discrete housing on top of the cabinet, decoupling it from the main enclosure. This looks a bit odd, but has the happy effect of providing a much more open and airy soundstage by placing instruments firmly in a solid stereo image. This is direct trickle down technology from the imperious and top of the range B&W 800 Series. Curiously, we found them more difficult to drive than the non-discrete enclosure versions that required much more capable amplification. However the demanded increase in amplification (and source) quality was always rewarded well. 

Tweeter without the Monkey Man

The Bowers & Wilkins 700 range has strong echoes of this former glory, in that the top of the range floorstander the B&W 702 and standmount B&W 705 (picutred) have an advanced version of the trick tweeter housing on top of the cabinet, plus a whole host of developments, not the least of which is the ‘Carbon’ tweeter itself. Colour choice remains the same at Satin White, Gloss Black and a very handsome Rosenut.

With the need for quality amplification in mind, we thought we’d set Naim’s £2k Uniti Atom one-box media player/amp the job of driving our 705s. We were very pleasantly surprised. The music sprang rich, solid, full and remarkably clean from the speakers, with a much bigger soundstage than we were expecting. A bit easier to drive than the outgoing model, so it appears, plus sweeter sounding and better timing. Insightful with instruments and vocals locked in space, lets acoustic music wash over and melt you into the sofa. If you’re in the mood for something more aggressive, you’ll be leaping about the lounge like a crazy lounge leaping thing! They're a lot of fun too.

Would I have these in my home? Yes. In white please Father Christmas.

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

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas at Audio T Preston

It's that time of year again when stress levels start to rise and we have to juggle our already busy lives with even more shopping. We are of course talking about the dreaded Christmas shopping and all that it entails. Who gets this, who gets that etc and did we remember Auntie Mildred?

But fear not as we at Audio T Preston have a few stocking filler suggestions for those of you who have loved ones who love vinyl.

A jealously guarded sanctuary to some and a mystery to others, the humble turntable or “record player” or 'record deck' as it is often called, has risen in prominence again and is once more a core feature in any respectable Hi-Fi system. No matter whether you are the proud owner of one of these disc spinning lovelies or know someone who is, we have got a whole load of great gift ideas to make the whole experience even more enjoyable.

The tonar Dustaway brush is a great little accessory for cleaning the the surface of your records and removing unwanted dust before playback. With soft carbon fibre brushes and a velvet pad it's a steal at only £17.

Another great vinyl cleaner is the new Project Vinyl Clean putty. A green gelatinous substance (think 80's slime) that you roll around the surface of the record as it picks up all the nasties and removes static. It can also be used to clean the stylus and for only £10.95 it would be rude not to.

For a deeper clean give your older records a good bath with the Knosti disco-antistat cleaner. £50

For the ultimate clean you could use the very effective Pro-ject VCS Vinyl Cleaning System. which will bring your old records back to life! Don't take our word for it. Why not bring a few of your older records and test its effectiveness for yourself.

Weight for it!
One of the most important factors in any turntable is getting the correct balance in the tonearm so as to provide the right amount of downforce for the cartridge. Most decent turntables give you the ability to do this in their setup but if you want to be super accurate you'll need one of these.

The mighty Rega Atlas, a digital weighing scale, which will tell you exactly how much downforce is being applied to your stylus.

Also for you consideration is the Pro-Ject Measure It Digital Stylus Force Gauge.

Can you hear me Mother?
If you are buying a turntable to give to someone this Christmas then make sure that they will be able to use it on the big day. You need to know if they have an input labelled “Phono” on the hi-fi / amplifier / sound system. If not then you will probably benefit from one of these:

The Project Phono Box MM is a phono pre-amplifier that boosts the signal from a turntable and makes it suitable to play on any other analogue line input. 

The Rega Fono A2D does the same job and also features a USB output so you can record any of your records onto your PC or Laptop.

These are just the entry level phono stages, we do carry a much wider range is store for newcomers or veterans who have more advanced record player based Hi-Fi systems.

We hope to see you in store before the big day, but if we if we don't we hope you have a great Christmas

Ian, Gavin & Andy

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

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

Naim Uniti Atom and Bowers & Wilkins 707 Combine For Sublime Sound

We have partnered two of the most respected brands in Hi-Fi together to create a fantastic sounding Hi-Fi system for under £3,000. We have paired the extremely well reviewed Naim Uniti Atom £1,999 all in one music streamer with the new released compact B&W 707 speakers £799.

B&W 707 in Rosenut

The Naim Uniti Atom is a compact, stylish, music streaming system in a single box. Amongst its features are UPNP streaming, Internet Radio, Spotify, Tidal and Chromecast, combined with a high quality amplifier, make it a remarkable sounding and versatile piece of hi-fi. 

Naim Uniti Atom

The B&W 707 standmount speakers are the smallest speakers in Bowers & Wilkins new 700 series range that recently replaced the popular CM range. The new 700 series employs trickle down technology from their flagship 800 series. They come in 3 attractive finishes, real wood rosenut veneer, gloss black and satin white. The range counts down to the biggest 702 model (£3299) which along with the 705 (£1799) have the distinctive tweeter on top, separated from the main cabinet.

B&W 702 in gloss black

When paired together the two make a very compact and capable music system, with a big presence. The combination offers plenty of insight into the music and a surprising amount of bass weight, and should work very well in a small or medium sized room.

Naim Atom and B&W 707 system

We have this set up on demonstration at Audio T Portsmouth, so why not pop in for a warm beverage and have a listen in our comfortable demonstration room.

Thanks for reading, Nick, Joe and James and we hope to see you in store soon.

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

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

Bowers & Wilkins Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones PX Have Arrived

Bowers & Wilkins have launched a brand new pair of wireless noise cancelling headphones, called the PX. They are available in a space grey and a soft gold finish.

B&W PX

What's in the box? The Bowers & Wilkins PX come shipped with a nice case, a usb-cable for charging and a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable so you can use them wired to your phone or tablet, just in case you run out of battery power. The 40mm full-range drivers are angled inwards for better sound performance and are hidden under the magnetic ear pads.

We charged them out of the box and not long after we are able to have a good listen. They are very light, comfortable and sound amazing.  

We paired the B&W PX via Bluetooth to an Android phone and later to an Apple iPad and it paired within seconds. Music from Tidal HiFi, a music streaming service, was the first we tried and wow, the PX’s soundstage is big and open and they can go fairly loud without any hint of distortion. 

Play "Till Tomorrow" of Yello's "Touch Yello" Album or "Hey Laura" of Gregory Porter's "Liquid Spirit" Album and you know what I mean. 

The built in proximity sensor called 'Wear Sensor', which stops playback as soon as one ear cap is lifted or when you take the headphones off. Put them back on and playback continues - it's a nice feature when someone wants to talk to you. This option can be switched on or off via the PX set up app if you prefer.

How well does the noise cancelling work?

Bowers & Wilkins have designed an app  (Bowers & Wilkins Headphones) available for the Android Play Store and Apple App Store to set up the noise cancelling for the PX. Open the app, touch the volume + button on the PX's and you are ready to go.

Now you see a button called environment filter, switch it on and this gives you the choice of 3 settings - Office, City, Flight and Voice Pass-through if you prefer to hear a bit more what is going on around you. 

The noise cancelling works really well and it is up to you if you use it with music or just to cancel off the noise around you whilst on a long-haul flight and you want to close your eyes for a while.

All in all we are very impressed with the build and sound quality of these stunning Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones.

Please feel free to come in for a listen. 

Thank you very much for reading our blog and we hope to see you soon.

Stefan & Andy - Audio T Swindon  

Bowers & Wilkins Hi-Fi products are available from the following branches of Audio T:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

REL 212SE Sub Bass System Unboxing and Demonstration at the Manchester Store

REL acoustics based in Bridgend in Wales, are renowned for producing the worlds best sub bass systems for the most demanding stereo and multichannel Hi-Fi systems. Recently, they went beyond the call of duty by personally bringing a 212SE subwoofer and demonstrating it for a customer in our Manchester store.

A very big box contains the REL 212SE

Unboxing the REL took us the best part of best part of 10 minutes, we were impressed with the welcome pack you receive and it felt more akin to unboxing military equipment with just the flight case missing.

Piano black finish is widely used in the Hi-Fi industry and varies from one manufacturer to the next. REL take considerable pride in their finishes and will go that extra mile to give them the edge over others. The 212SE simply looks stunning and the gloss black just looks deeper, akin to concours d'Elegance. 

Here comes the Mirror Man...

REL use Australian MDF for the cabinet. Speaking to a representative from REL, he explained that it was because they have found it to be flatter and smoother and the quality much higher than other suppliers. 

Shiny happy people..

The REL 212SE has two active 12inch drive units and a passive radiator keeps the design in a closed cabinet, meaning no restriction on where the REL can be positioned because of porting issues. The 3rd drive unit at the back of 212SE helps too.

REL's demonstration really revealed another depth of music unheard by many stereo loudspeakers due to the physical limitation of their cabinets. Obviously bass is far more prominent with the REL, not in the sense that you automatically assume; bigger is better comes to mind, however this could not be further from the truth! Agility, depth and subtlety are all expanded within the soundstage. The REL 212 SE revealed ambiance which was lost in translation before introducing the 212SE.

Chromey bling bling badda bling!

Customer Film and Music Heaven

And the end result is a triple sub set up using twin REL 212se's with a REL T7i enforcing the centre channel. All using REL longbow and Arrow wireless technology, which means no trailing cables.

The customer is over the moon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yes the driver is dark blue!

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

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

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

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

Thanks for reading. Paul, Jason and Francis.

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

Linn Sondek LP12 Turntable Open Day At Audio T Brighton this Saturday 18th November

Join us between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm to explore the range of performance available from the legendary Linn Sondek LP12. We will have on demonstration the 3 main variants of this classic design; Klimax, Akurate and Majik.

First introduced over 40 years ago, it has been refined and developed and being a modular design, older LP12's can be upgraded with improved modern parts, including the motor and power supply, sub chassis, tonearm and cartridge, etc.

You are welcome to bring along your own LP12 for upgrading assessment, and to compare with the demonstration LP12's. Bring along some favourite records too.

Majik LP12 the first step on the LP12 ladder

Akurate LP12 external power supply, upgraded sub - chassis tonearm and cartridge

Klimax LP12 fully loaded LP12 with all the top upgrades.

Please call 01273 609431 to book a time.

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

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. To book your place on Friday, click here, to book your place on Saturday click here

Exclusive offers available for attendees on the day.

We look forward to seeing you.

Stefan and Andy

A Streaming Revolution! The Chord Electronics Poly!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Come And Hear The Naim Uniti Atom, Star And Nova In Store On Wednesday 15th November

Experience The New Naim Uniti Atom, Star & Nova music players on Wednesday 15th November at Audio T Preston.

Join Ian, Gavin, Andy and a representative from Naim on Wednesday 15TH of November from 1pm AT Audio T Preston to hear the new Uniti Atom, Star and Nova music players. 

Attendees can enter a FREE PRIZE DRAW* To wIn one of 3 Mu-So Qb'S worth £649 each.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR PLACE

Snacks and refreshments will be provided.  We look forward to seeing you.

The New Rega Apollo CDP CD Player Has Arrived!

The new Rega Apollo CDP CD Player has arrived and it is designed to match the style of the award winning Rega Brio-R amplifier. Is is a top loading design housed in a custom compact aluminium case.

Top Loader!

The Apollo CDP sounds really nice, detailed and rich as we expected it from Rega. We connected it to the Rega Brio-R amplifier and yes , this is a very nice music system and all you need to do is to add a pair of speakers - Done.

A rack of Rega!

Next to the analogue outputs are one optical and one coaxial output. This gives you the choice to use the analogue outputs into your analogue inputs of your amplifier or connect it to a DAC like Rega's DAC-R .

It comes supplied with a system remote control that can also control a Rega amplifier.

Please feel free to come in for a listen in one of our demonstration rooms and please bring some of your favorite CD's if you like.

Thank you very much for reading our blog and we hope to see you soon

Stefan and Andy - Audio T Swindon

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

Don't Give Up On Your Old Vinyl Records The Project VC-S Record Cleaner Can Bring Your Vinyl Back To Life

Have you ever bought a record from a second hand store or a car boot sale and thought that you'd struck gold, but when you got it home and played it sounded like a full English fry up? Well fret no more because the Project VC-S record cleaner is here to rescue your vinyl!

The Project VC-S comes with a bottle of cleaning fluid and a goat hair brush to help you evenly spread the fluid over the surface of the record and get it down into the grooves. Then using the vacuum pump it will suck all the fluid off to leave a shiny clean record. The fluid is 100% eco-friendly and contains no alcohol which can damage the vinyl!

A kit to clean those pesky little 7 inch singles is available at an extra £110 and a lid is available for £25. Fluid is available in various sizes up to a litre which will clean around 1500 records!

In the picture is my latest purchase of the 12 inch 45 of Don't Give Up by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush which sounds great on the LP but is just stunning on the 12 inch. This copy looked great in the shop but sounded a little snap, crackle and poppy when I played it. One spin on the VC-S has made it sound like it is brand new!

Pro-ject VC-S Record Cleaner

Anyone with a serious second hand vinyl habit owes it to their ears to see and hear what one of these marvels can do to a dusty slice of vinyl and you're welcome to bring in one of your crackliest records to clean so you can see and hear the results for yourself. 

The cleaner comes with everything you need to get started for £349.

Jon, Andy and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham

Pro-ject 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 Big Thank You to Everyone Who Made Our Naim Uniti Event a Great Success

We had a great time at our Naim Uniti Roadshow event at The White Horse Hotel on Tuesday evening.  

Thanks to all who attended and much gratitude to Naim for making the event possible, especially Daniel Raggett (against the wall) for helping us to ensure everything went smoothly, Naim guru Phil Harris for answering technical questions, and most importantly, Naim brand ambassador, Jason Gould (by the left speaker) for his entertaining and informative presentation of the new Uniti range, all the more remarkable considering how jet lagged Jason was, having just got off the plane from Rocky Mountain Fest!

The Stables event room at The White Horse, as ever, looked great and, I'm sure all who attended will agree, that the sound was superb, even the baby Atom making a tremendous job of driving the PMC Twenty5 26 speakers.  It's not the usual pairing; compact £2000 system with large £7350 floor standers, especially given the scale of the room with vaulted ceiling, but it's testament to the capabilities of the new Uniti range and explains why the products took a bit longer than expected coming to market.  It was well worth the wait.  Unsurprisingly, the bigger Uniti Star and Uniti Nova sounded even more effortless with their enhanced control of the big PMCs.  A Uniti Core CD ripper and server provided the music for all three Uniti systems.

Those who didn't make it to our Naim Uniti event, and missed out on the chance to win a Naim Mu-so QB,  are welcome to join us, once again at The White Horse, at 7:30pm Thursday 9th November, for a spectacular Arcam Cinema event, also featuring PMC speakers, Sony projector and Chord cables.  We will be showing a full length movie for an authentic cinema experience and you might even win an Arcam rPlay music streamer worth £399.00!

See you soon,

Alan and John

Join us in Uniti on Thursday 9th of November at Jurys Inn Brighton

On Thursday 9th of November we will be showing the new Uniti range from Naim Audio, at the Jurys Inn located at Brighton Station

We will be joined by representatives from Naim Audio, who will not only demonstrate the products but answer any questions you may have about them.

It all begins with the Uniti Core

NAIM UNITI CORE

From there you are able to add your network player of choice, starting with the Uniti Atom.

Naim Uniti Atom

If you have a larger room or even a larger room and bigger speakers it could be the Uniti Nova that would suit you best.

NAIM UNITI NOVA

If you are one of those people who like to still play CDs and also have the ability to rip them to some local storage such as an SD card or USB drive then the Uniti Star would be just the job for you.

Naim Uniti Star

We will be demonstrating these through a pair of ProAc Response D20R loudspeakers and the ProAc representative will also be there if you have any questions regarding their speakers.

ProAc D20R Loudspeakers

So please don't be shy, come along and experience an evening of great products and great tunes, tickets can be booked here, if that isn't enough all attendees can enter our FREE prize draw* to win one of 3 Mu-So QB's worth £649 each.

*T&Cs apply. Mu-So Qb prizes are for the entire roadshow not per event. One entry per person. Prize draw will take place after the final roadshow event on the 9th November and the lucky winners notified by phone or email and published in the Audio T eClub newsletter.

Julian, Paul & John look forward to seeing you on the night.

Naim Uniti products are stocked at all branches of Audio T.

ProAc loudspeakers are stocked in Brighton and Preston.

Rega Apollo CD Player and Brio Amplifier Two Compact Hi-Fi Wonders

We've been playing with the latest versions of the Rega Apollo CD player and Brio Amplifier and are loving the music they make.

The new Rega Brio is an improved version of an old shop favourite. Not only has the casework been redesigned but the circuitry has been given a good going over and now includes a high quality headphone amp for all you can fans out there. Of course, being Rega, there is still the great moving magnet phono stage for your precious turntable!

The Rega Apollo CD player is another tried and trusted favourite of the shop. It has also been re-housed in the new sleek casework. With its manual lid and push on CD mechanism it gives a little bit of the turntable experience to CD users.

I could talk for ages about technical specs and improvement, but the thing about these little bricks is they just make great music sound great. Most of all they're fun to listen to. Partner them up with some good interconnects and speakers of your choice - we've been having fun using the new B&W 707, or the Dali Zensor 3, or of course Rega's own RX1 and they sing. Kraftwerk's wonderful "3D the Catalogue" is rich and full of texture whilst on the album "Haunted" by Poe her vocals come across with wonderful warmth and clarity. They'll handle any music that you throw at them with ease and aplomb. Another hit for British made Hi-Fi!

So to sum up, with their sleek new styling and improved features the Rega Brio and Apollo continue to make music with a great sense of fun.

Come and have a look and listen we know you'll enjoy what you hear.

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

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

Return Of The Black! We Take A Closer Look At The New Arcam irDAC II DAC And Headphone Amplifier

We take a closer look at the Arcam irDAC II digital to analogue converter and headphone amplifier. With the current revival of high quality headphone listening, it was with interest we learned that Arcam's replacement for their much admired irDAC would sport the headphone output stage from their £4000 FMJ A49 stereo amplifier.

Handily, the digital out socket has been replaced with variable output analogue RCA phonos. This enables the unit to be used with a power amp or a pair of active loudspeakers which are often the choice of the desk bound audiophile. We also lose the USB-a port but keep the asynchronous USB-b port and Bluetooth functionality. It's also worth noting that the Arcam irDAC-II is capable of DSD128 replay.

Arcam were the first company to launch an outboard DAC way back in 1987 (with the revolutionary Black Box) and they re-entered the DAC market with the rDAC a few years ago. The brief for this unit was to produce an enhanced design that would raise performance and improve ease of use by a significant margin over the existing rDAC. Arcam tell me that their engineers have worked hard to isolate the digital and analogue stages and develop ultra low noise power supplies to reduce digital jitter to vanishingly low levels.

All of the inputs can be controlled through an IR remote control that will also give you transport control of a PC or Mac USB source.

So how does it sound?
Well, very good indeed. We partnered it with KEF's revered LS50 stand mount speakers, Arcam's own very capable A39 integrated amplifier and rPlay music source. It was an immediate improvement over the DAC in the rPlay – itself no slouch. Spacial information was much more apparent, instruments were solid and punchy with a much fuller, fruitier soundstage. It didn't seem to favour any particular musical style, be it the finely etched Laura Marling “Soothing”, Fink's intimate live recording of “Trouble's What You're In” or the pounding beats of Gentleman's Dub Club.

It's on demonstration in our music salon as we speak. Why not pop over and give it a try? We'll make you a brew while you settle in and immerse yourself in the music.

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

Naim Uniti Nova Music Player Shines Brightly

The long awaited Naim Uniti Nova has finally arrived. Joining its little brothers the Uniti Atom and the soon to be released Uniti Star the flagship of the Uniti range has a stellar (sic!) performance and it is beautiful too.

This is effectively the replacement for the Superuniti, but it is a completely revamped streaming system. With an 80W Naim class A/B amplifier it sounds amazing. We've been playing it with PMC and Russell K speakers to great effect. It will stream music across your network, has Tidal and Spotify built in, plays internet radio and has a USB input that will allow playback from an external drive.

The build quality is superb borrowing the beautiful silky volume control we first saw on the Naim Mu-So devices and as for the display...

This high quality LCD screen, with its built in proximity sensor, is easily visible from a distance and displays album art with great flair. There is also a bi-directional remote whose styling mirrors the unit and its volume indicators. Of course the Naim App can be used to control the Uniti Nova as well. There will be a version with DAB/FM radio in the near future as well and we will be able to retro fit that for you if you wish to upgrade the unit in the future.

So if you want an elegant one box system with that wonderful Naim musicality, battleship construction, ease of use, and the ability to drive almost any speaker, you really don't need to look any further than the Naim Uniti Nova

Why not come in and have a look and listen or join us as one of our many Naim Uniti events over the next couple of months.

Naim 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

Catch of The Day. Latest Products from Naim, Rega & Acoustic Energy .

Caught at last!:

They may well be seven months late but oh boy was it worth the wait; finally we have the fantastic Naim Uniti Atom & Uniti Nova on demo and (limited quantities) in stock!

Naim uniti atom

Naim uniti nova

Straight out the box these really impressed but fully run-in they are nothing short of astonishing; seemingly able to drive almost any of our speakers. Finally, all-in-one systems that don't mean one has to use with small or budget speakers. 

The latest haul from Rega:

Rega's fabulous new Ania MC cartridge and the Fono MC phono stage have also been 'landed' here as well as the much anticipated RP6 replacement, the all new Planar 6 turntable, now available for demonstration; 'another big step for'... Rega well done guys! Full details available here.

rega planar 6 inc. ania mc cartridge

details: twin layer glass platter and machined hub

ania mc cartridge available separately £495

rega fono mc £248 (also avalable, new version fono mm £198)

fono mc rear showing dip switches for load and gain adjustment

'Caught, landed and fully prepared': 

Acoustic Energy's brand new AE109 is now on demo. At last a sub £500 (£549 in black) floor-standing loudspeaker that really shines. Stupendous value we think.

all new acoustic energy ae109 also available in walnut £499.99

Rega Turntables Are Superb And We Couldn't Make It Any Planar

Here at Audio T Preston we are pleased and proud to say that we stock the entire British made Rega Planar turntable range, from the modest entry level Planar 1, all the way up to the range topping RP10.

Rega Planar 1
This is a great entry level record player for anyone starting out listening to vinyl. It's easy to set up, and you can buy with confidence knowing that you are buying British and getting the best performance you can buy at this price point. The RB110 tonearm with the Rega Carbon cartridge combination works really well together. It sounds great and is easy to use and easy on the pocket. The P1 is available in two different finishes black and white and costs just £248 and is excellent value for money.

Rega Planar 1 Rega's entry level turntable

Rega Planar 2.
The next step up the Rega record player ladder is the P2. Whilst this turntable shares the Rega Carbon cartridge with the Planar 1, this is where the similarities end. The Planar 2 has the RB220 tonearm, which requires minimal set up to get the best from your vinyl collection. It also introduces a heavier glass platter, which increases performance. Like the Planar 1 this turntable is available in black and white finishes and costs only £375.

Rega Planar 2 Turntable

Rega Planar 3.
This multi-award winning incarnation of an iconic turntable has managed to improve vinyl reproduction even further. With structural bracing top and bottom between the sub platter and the RB330 tonearm, this turntable has been the benchmark model for avid vinyl listeners for many years. The RB330 arm requires the standard set up, however for even better performance this can be purchased with a variety of Rega's own cartridges to improve sound quality. We're on hand to guide you with the set up and offer a cartridge fitting service so that your music sounds as good as this turntable can reproduce. The Planar 3 is available in black and white finishes.

The Rega P3 record player

Rega Planar 6.
The newest edition to the range features the Neo PSU electronic speed change, advanced anti-vibration control and user adjustable electronic fine speed adjustment which until now was only found on the RP10. With a two tone black finish, dark matt grey at the top and high gloss black around the edges, this player looks stunning. We have our Planar 6 fitted with the Ania moving coil cartridge and the performance is outstanding. The Planar 6 can also be purchased with Rega Exact moving magnet cartridge.

Rega P6 turntable

Rega RP8
The RP8 is a ground breaking turntable which takes Rega’s design further than ever before. With low mass, high rigidity plinths combined with an electronically controlled low vibration motor, it makes this player a true force to be reckoned with. The RP8 is the first of Rega's “skeletal” design turntables with a new plinth using custom materials and the RB808 tonearm. Our demonstration RP8 is complete with the Apheta 2 MC cartridge. You can also get it with the new Ania MC cartridge.

Rega RP8 turntable

Rega RP10.
As with the RP8, the RP10 utilises the skeletal design and space age materials, however the RP10 is fitted with the RB2000 tonearm, which is simply stunning both in appearance and in performance. The RB2000 tonearm requires the standard set up (we can fit this for you) and has a ceramic platter and a dedicated power supply, which is the same size as Rega's Brio amplifier. The combination of the changes from the RP8 to the RP10 make a huge difference in performance and make this turntable the one to aspire to own. The only way to truly appreciate just how good your music on vinyl can sound, is to bring it in and take any Rega record player for a spin in our comfortable demonstration rooms. 

The range topping Rega RP10 record player

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you in store soon.

Ian, Gavin and Andy - Audio T Preston

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