December 17, 2021

From Italy Sonus Faber to Fine Sounds UK - Sonetto I Speakers

December 17, 2021/ Cardiff

A few months back we wrote a blog to introduce the new Sonus Faber ranges, distributed by Fine Sounds UK. This month we thought we would delve a little deeper into Sonus Faber, and take a closer look at the the Sonetto I bookshelf speakers.

The Sonus Faber Sonetto 1 is a very pretty loudspeaker with some some fantastic finishes available to compliment your home décor. Gloss Black, Wenge, Wood or Satin White as featured here are the available finishes. These slick cabinet colours are teamed with a hand-sewn leather top, a designed feature filtered down form the Olympica range.

All of the Sonetto range incorporates the Lute shaped cabinet that is not only pleasing to the eye but sonically important. This shape ensures that there are no parallel surfaces in the internal construction, offering perfect control over the internal resonances.

Bespoke Accessories

To complete the stylish look of the Sonetto I, Sonus Faber have created a bespoke pair of Sonetto Stands, manufactured from extruded aluminium to give it the rigidity needed for the performance expected from such a standmount loudspeaker. A nice touch to give piece of mind is the bolt on system for the top plate to the base of the speaker. The Soft velour on the base of the speaker and the top of the stand give a perfect seat for placement before bolting down. A nice extra is the cut out in the back of the stand upright for cable management.

Performance

Now let’s take a look at the sonic performance of the Sonetto I. Sonus Faber talk of the "voice" of its loudspeaker ranges and this voice is provided by the combination of cabinet construction, silk dome tweeter and natural fibre midwoofer and the front reflex port.

The silk dome tweeter is constructed with D.A.D (damped apex dome) technology and the mid-woofer with its natural fibre air dried diaphragm delivers high end performance at an affordable price. This technology has filtered down from their flagship Reference and Olympica ranges to achieve such high sonic presentation.

If asked, we would describe the Sonetto range as incredibly smooth without lacking punch or detail. The bass is defined, tight and tuneful and the treble is smooth, sweet and not fatiguing. The midrange offers detail in vocals that other loudspeakers at this price struggle to achieve. I think I could put my feet up and listen to these speakers all day and I wouldn’t get tired.

We have found the Sonetto I easy to place in most rooms. If space is tight it is surprising how well they perform close to the wall due to the shape of cabinet and the front mounted bass reflex port .

The System

For the purpose of this demonstration we used a system consisting of -

Leema Acoustics Elements amplifier - (Soon to be a permanent fixture at Audio T Cardiff, so watch this space for a future blog)
Bluesound Node 3 Wireless Network Music Streamer
Rega Planar 8 fitted with a Dynavector 20x cartridge
Trichord Dino Mk3 phono stage
All hooked up with Chord Company Epic X speaker cable and Shawline interconnects.

Demo tracks we've enjoyed on the Sonetto 1 include

Pearl Jam - Yield - Vinyl
Jessie Ware - Mirage (Don't Stop) - Tidal Streaming
Little Simz - Point and Kill - Qobuz Hi-Res Audio

Pearl Jam’s , Yield, is an album recorded in the 90s and when played on vinyl can be a little on the loose side in the bass, but the Sonetto I has no problem in controlling this and offers an immersive experience. Jessie Ware - Mirage offers a disco style with some pace. The vocal reproduction on these speakers is superb, along with the presence and timing of the modulated rhythm guitar. If you are looking to improve your stereo hi-fi or expand on your home cinema the Sonus Faber Sonetto I is a must to audition and are exceptional contenders in their price range.

Thanks for reading.

Nick, Kerrin & Matt - Audio T Cardiff

Keep up to date with everything going on at Audio T Cardiff by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Sonus faber can be found at the following Audio-T stores

December 17, 2021

A THREESOME YOU MAY NEVER HAVE CONSIDERED

December 17, 2021/ Brighton

So here we have it . . . a three move checkmate! “What do you mean? Is that even possible?” I hear you say! All will be explained forthwith.

In an attempt to be topical ,with the world chess championships just having taken place and frankly because I have an interest in playing the great game myself, I will attempt to use this chess metaphor in my Hi-Fi ramblings and not be too “en passant” in the process.

Having written several blogs on specific brands and models as well as my Facebook Vlog series “Great Pairings”, I thought that it might be wise to mix it up and take a look at even more components.

In no particular order, other than the “Source first” premise; Auralic Altair G2.1 into a Quad Artera stereo power amplifier followed by Proac Response DB1 speakers.

Our opening gambit - the Auralic Altair G2.1

Let’s start with the front end first. The Auralic Altair G2.1 is a fully featured source component, offering extreme flexibility for inputs as well as lots of inbuilt goodies as well.

Now if you are a chess player, you will know about openings, middle game and end game strategies. If you will excuse the metaphor, the Auralic Altair G2.1 demonstrates an abundance of opening options, with an excellent phono stage built-in, a wealth of of digital inputs and replay through an excellent built in DAC and a high quality preamp stage.

Some people would call the Auralic Altair G2.1 an “endgame” product, which is where the chess analogy falls a bit short really, given that there are no speakers involved at this stage, although one can certainly see audiophiles being happy enough with the sound quality to go no further up the audiophile tree than this, but more on sound quality later.

auralic altair g2.1 front panel - understated quality

Auralic altair g2.1 inputs/outputs - a plethora of choice

You can see the streamer input options above, with multiple inputs for network/hard drive playback, both balanced and unbalanced analogue line inputs, the usual digital coaxial and optical inputs and on the right, the preamp outputs to feed the power amp, which in this case was the Quad Artera stereo power amp…

Middle game authority - the Quad Artera stereo power amp

Continuing with my chess analogy, the middle game comes from the Quad Artera stereo power amplifier. The Quad 405 amplifier was world renowned and this is a modern update of that very same design, with an output of 140W per channel and the warm, mellifluous sound that continues the Quad heritage of high quality music reproduction.

I have spoken about the quality of the Quad Artera amp in combination with another Auralic product, the Altair G1, in an earlier Facebook vlog, which you can view Here.

Endgamers - The Proac Response DB1

For anyone else familiar with the glorious game of chess, these might be considered the knights in the range of Proac speakers. The Proac Response DB1 is a magnificent beast, here donning a beautiful walnut finish. These are a 2-way ported bookshelf design with an 8 ohm impedance and a recommended 20 - 100 Watts for driving amplification.

Here at Audio T in Brighton we are very fond of the Proac range of speakers, with everything from the foals in their range, the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures, to their stallion siblings, the D20R and DT8 floorstanders.

Checkmate . . . A Victorious sound

Worthy of the great chess players, Garry Kasparov or Magnus Carlsen, and providing a sound quality and synergy as rare as a three move checkmate, this threesome really jelled in our listening room.

So my initial listening was done with vinyl with a Linn LP12. Perhaps not the most usual means of playback for a system like this, especially with a digital streaming DAC/preamp like the Auralic Altair G2.1 that has so many inputs for modern music listening tastes. However, the phono input on the Altair G2.1 was a revelation, helped somewhat with a quality turntable like the Linn LP12 combination.

Gling-Glo with Bjork on vocals sounded magnificent. The level of detail and tonal quality on Kind of Blue by Miles Davis was mesmerising. In fact, the sound of this threesome of Auralic Altair G2.1, Quad Artera and Proac Response DB1’s, whilst listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan’s posthumous album, The Sky is Crying, was so captivating, I’d gone into a bit of a trance and failed to hear our front doorbell go a couple of times.

Moving onto the streamer section of the Altair G2.1 proved no less rewarding. My usual menu of the Oscar Peterson Trio album We Get Requests and Gerry Mulligan meets Ben Webster, provided a level of musical insight and clarity a cut above most of the competition and certainly worthy of the price increase between the Altair G1 and the Altair G2.1. Now bearing in mind the fact that the Altair G2.1 composes of a quality phono stage, headphone amp, separate streamer, DAC and preamp plus a reliable app to service its functionality, it seems a veritable bargain.

Post Game review

The three musketeers discussed; Auralic Altair G2.1, Quad Artera and Proac Response DB1’s should really include D’Artagnan as well, in the form of the Linn LP12, given its significant contribution to the sound via the Auralic’s phono input. This system proved to be a sonic “coup de gras”, providing great flexibility and fine synergy in its sonic prowess. This isn’t always a given in the hifi world and returning to my chess analogy, similar to many games of chess that I’ve played, where pieces just seem to get in the way of each other and the ensuing stalemate that arises, this is one of those rare occasions where this doesn’t happen, cutting through to the core of musical pleasure just like Magnus Carlsen would if he played chess against me.

A quick addendum to this will be that we’ve added the Proac Response DB1’s to our demo range of speakers, such was the enjoyment they provided during the course of our audition of this system.

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Auralic can be found at the following Audio T stores -

Quad can be found at the following Audio T stores -

Proac can be found at the following Audio T stores -

BRIGHTON

Linn can be found at the following Audio T stores -

AUDIO T - THE UK's OLDEST INDEPENDENT SPECIALIST HI-FI RETAILER

December 15, 2021

The Fabled Faber's Fascinating Fine Sound - Olympica Nova I

December 15, 2021/ Audio T Bristol/ Bristol

Italian manufacturers have always been famous for their iconic designs. A visit to the Haynes International Motor Museum proves this. Exemplified by many, all time classics; the Bristol 401, Alfa Romeo 2000, Aston Martin DB6, Jenson Interceptor, Bentley Continental & far too many Ferraris to mention - all penned at Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera in Milan. But this Italian excellence isn’t unique to the automotive world…

Sonus Faber represent classic craftsmanship.

Here we have Italian flair - like a classic Riva Aquarama Motoscafi cruising the canals of Venice. Handmade works of art steeped in traditional virtues with modern technologies used to enhance creations. Their speaker ranges are referred to as collections, with the Olympica Nova coming in line after the Reference and Homage ranges. There is an essence of luxury boutique that exudes Italian quality, with the philosophy of Sonus Faber founder, Franco Serblin, clearly still bursting through. And beneath the veneer are solid foundations of exquisite sound.

These speakers have been brought to us by the UK distributor, Fine Sounds.

The cabinet's asymmetrical lute shape is an original design concept that allows versatile positioning of the speakers to tune the bass response in any room. Inspired by nature, the lines follow the flow of a circular spiral motion, achieving a more organic cabinet structure.

There are a number of Sonus Faber core technologies that permeate the ranges and are intrinsic to the vocalisation of their creations.

Sonus Faber’s very own D.A.D (damped apex dome) technology is a localised dampening of the tweeter. In a standard soft dome tweeter, apex anti-phase behaviour is responsible for the high frequency early roll-off. D.A.D tweeter technology allows better reproduction of high frequencies.

The “Stealth Reflex” system, is an innovative “para-aperiodic” interpretation of the tuned loudspeaker. It allows reduction of acoustic volume dimensions, providing greater extension in low frequencies response and reduction of distortions, it also eliminates spurious wind noises, typical of traditional reflex systems.

The most significant peculiarity of the Olympica Nova range regarding positioning in the environment, is that the side reflex channel is handed. This means there is a choice to position the speakers with the reflex channel outlet facing internally or externally, according to the acoustic conditions of the room used or personal taste.

Test System

Sources:
Linn Klimax DSM - Qobuz Streaming, Rega Planar 8, Audio Note CD2.1X/II CD Player

Amplifiers:
Rega Aethos, ATC SIA2 150, Rega Osiris, Naim NAP 250, NAC 282

All-In-One:
Naim Uniti Star

Accessories:
Rega Aria Mk III Phono stage, Chord Odyssey X - Speaker cable, Naim NACA5 - Speaker cable, Audioquest Cinnamon Ethernet, Audioquest Vodka RCA Interconnects, AudioQuest NRG-Z3 IEC Mains Cables

Setup & Listening

The Sonus Faber Olympica Nova I do seem to offer a wider stereo image and larger sound stage than expected. System wise - they were well handled by the Naim or Rega setups above. Personally, I found the Rega and Sonus Faber combination had a magical synergy. This could be because of their 4 Ohm rating better utilises the Rega power. However, the Naim amplification with Linn streaming brought forth a clarity and control that really is astounding.

Hifi+ writer Alan Sircom dropped a reference track in a review that runs counter to the ideals of Hi-Fi sound. His argument is best read Here, but in summary - using Electronic music to evaluate a systems performance is counter intuitive, since the synthesised instruments created have no real world equivalents and most reviews focus on 'real' world reproduction of real instruments. Trentemøller’s Chameleon on the album Last Resort, has a square wave bass that has transients impossible to create in the 'real' world. I have tried this track with a number of speakers, and whilst it is unrealistic to expect speakers to reach 20Hz (or even hear that frequency), what does materialise in ported speakers is a chuffing sound in the bass that blurs these transients - some more than others. One of two things happen with this track - the speakers give way to chuffing or the room gives up to rattling and annoying resonances. The bass speed of the Nova Olympica I is full, no port noise with complete room control. And whilst a standmount speaker, it can't reach Mariana Trench like bass - it degrades so gracefully as to not matter.

It's rare that we use a CD Player as a source for reviewing speakers, but a recent expedition to the shops meant that I had a new selection that I was eager to explore. Every Kingdom, the debut studio album from British singer songwriter, Ben Howard, features the track Old Pine. The sparse opening yielded a beautiful separation, solid deep sound stage. The transients of the acoustic guitar superbly handled. Ibrahim Ferrer, Buena Vista Social Club, Marieta- Ry Cooder's production feels alive with a real sense of the live recording space. The voice of Ferrer soaring with Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea gravitas. Moving through Moby Play, Sir George Solti Mozart Symphony 40, Bert Jansch Black Swan - no matter what the genre - the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova I show their speed and versatility to open up the emotion of the music without any colouration, but a vocalisation that is unique, rare to find and extremely accessible - there is always a great feel of grip, smoothness, relaxed, yet with great detail.

In summary

Like the inescapable magnetic draw of Italian taste, flair, design and shear drooling excitement. This is a sumptuous loudspeaker - think Italian Truffles with a full bodied red - Fettuccine al tartufo served with a smoldering Brunello di Montalcino 2007.

Thanks for reading.

Justin, Max & James - Audio T Bristol

Be sure to keep up to date with what’s going on in store by following us Facebook and Instagram.

You can have a listen to the music we used in all our demonstrations, and test systems in our listening rooms with the constantly evolving Audio-T Bristol Qobuz Playlist - Here.

Sonus faber can be found at the following Audio-T stores

December 15, 2021

FROM PORTSMOUTH TO GLASGOW - A LINN FACTORY TOUR

December 15, 2021/ Portsmouth

When you think of Scottish musicians, you may conjure up such artists as Annie Lennox, Simple Minds or even Franz Ferdinand. But whether you intended to or not, it’s more than likely that your mind has already been invaded by those sulky twins, Craig and Charlie Reid, better known as The Proclaimers. The earworm has already been planted and your belting out lyrics from their best known number “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”… Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Ironically though, 500 miles is roughly the distance from Portsmouth to Glasgow. The very same trip that we took whilst on a golden opportunity to visit Linn…

Once we arrived at the factory, it was straight to business, lunch orders. The most important part of any event. Once those lunch orders were placed, and the hungry stomachs were addressed, it was time to delve into the beating heart of Linn.

Linn was founded when Ivor Tiefenbrun went into his local audio shop to buy himself the best home music. When he got home however, he wasn’t satisfied with the quality. The music wasn’t toe tapping and the soul was lacking. So he boxed up his newly purchased equipment, took it back to the audio shop, and was told he needed bigger speakers. He got home with these bigger speakers, to find the sound was better, but not better enough. After a few rounds of this he had the best system that the shop could provide, and still wasn’t finding the music engaging enough - It still wasn’t moving his feet!

So, being an engineer by trade, Ivor decided to start experimenting with his equipment for the best sound. Rotating speakers, moving the amp and other equipment around the room. Finally he found the sound he was after by placing the turntable outside the listening space and in his hallway. He found that this meant he could isolate any external vibrations the speakers cause that would interfere with the turntable. This gave him the quality in the music source he was looking for.

This was against the thinking of the time. Surely with a system the speakers produce the sound, thus are the most important component? Ivor may have very well struck gold with this concept. The source is arguably the most important part of the signal chain. If something is bad going in, it will inevitably be bad coming out.

This started a thesis in his head, an idea to design his own turntable from what he had learned. The aim was to improve the turntable to be as perfect a source as possible.

Thus the creation of Linn Audio and their LP12 Turntable.

The Linn LP12

The LP12, now being a turntable with over 40 years of design behind it, allowing the model to be the near pinnacle of turntable engineering. Streamlined through the years to include only what it needs to sound the best to your ears, all stemming from that concept that inspired Ivor originally, “rubbish in, rubbish out”.

But wait, the turntable isn’t the true source? The record you place on the turntable is the true source? So to support his new turntable design, Linn Records breathed its first breath.

These roots still hold strong today. There is a sense of quality in even their simplest ideas which brings so much life to not only their products but the atmosphere they choose to create.

The Factory

me and agamemnon (From the online store) styling the latest linn fashion

The idea of bringing us up to Scotland was to open the curtain on their company, to show why they have been successful in the Hi-fi industry for so long. So once we don our fabulous Linn lab coats, it was time to explore.

The factory itself was originally designed in the 1980s by The Richard Rogers Partnership (of Millennium Dome fame) to stand as a state of the art modern facility. Since the 1980s it has gone through a range of additions to bring it into the modern day, but still with the original design at its heart, much like the company itself.

We were shown through the whole process of manufacturing their products, from the humble beginnings of machining sheet metal, the circuitry, the final assembly, to the export of the products. This detail walkthrough enabled us to see the energy that is poured into each step of the process to enable you to bring a little bit of Hi-fi history into your everyday enjoyment of music. Not only that, they rigorously test the products throughout with different aspects of quality control and measuring. Ultimately meaning the product you receive is one they know you will love, one they are proud to put their names on.

Linn Service reference units to compare any repairs to to ensure your product works as intented

When it comes to servicing their products, the data they collect during the manufacturing process gives them a unique insight in the unlikely event that a problem arises. So when it comes to supporting their products, Linn have your back.

And all in all that is the recurring theme around the Linn factory, a very welcoming magical place where the focus is on the people. This is the way all Hi-Fi brands ought to be, music and music systems are a very personal thing, so it made sense to me that at Linn I had the feeling of a chocolate factory or a village in the North Pole.

Talking about the mythical feeling feels suitable as with Linn comes a whole history, with both customers and those who work there. It was mentioned how tone arms made by certain employees at the factory have ascended to legend as they are said to have a superior sound to them, a love letter to the hand made nature of the products.

Furthermore we discussed the heritage that can come with a Linn turntable. The LP12 design has been adjusted and changed in a way that allows any LP12 to be updated to current specification, meaning there are some cases of turntables being passed down a generation or two while still being upgraded to the standard of the modern Klimax LP12.

So all in all, we got a lucky chance to have a look around the heart of Linn and talk to some of the people in charge who keep it beating for the love of music and the goal to pass that down and share it.

Thanks for reading

Jake, Nick and Luke at - Audio T Portsmouth

Linn can be found at the following Audio-T stores

December 10, 2021

ARCAM HI-FI - HIGH PERFORMANCE STREAMING AND AMPLIFICATION

December 10, 2021/ Swindon

Arcam, a renowned manufacturer of H-Fi and AV equipment, based in Cambridge, have mad a very successful career of creating Hi-Fi components for more than 40 years and home cinema electronics for more than 20 years. Here at Audio-T Swindon, we like them so much that we thought that it would be a good idea to show you a selection of the Arcam Hi-Fi we have in store.

Amps, CDs and Streamers… Oh My!

In store, you will find a whole host of Arcam goodies. On the top and middle shelf of our lovely Hi-Fi Racks Podium XL, we have three integrated amplifiers, the SA10, SA20 and the SA30. On the bottom shelf you see the network music streamer ST60 and the CDS50, a CD/Network streaming player.

SA10 Class A/B Amplifier

The tour starts with the SA10. This is Arcam’s most affordable of the three amplifiers. It offers a healthy 50w per channel, 5 analogue inputs including a built-in moving magnet phono stage for a turntable, and three digital inputs (to connect the TV or set-top box to the amplifier). The Pre-Out sockets on the back allow you to connect the SA10 to a power amplifier for any possible upgrade you may want in the future.

The SA10 can be integrated into a home cinema system via processor mode. This option is also available on the SA20 & SA30.

The USB socket is used for software updates and the network socket for IP control in multi-room/ custom installations.

SA20 Class G Amplifier - What does “G” mean?

The SA20 looks very similar to the SA10 but the amplifier offers a powerful 90w per channel rather than the 50w per channel of the SA10. It is a Class G hybrid power amp which operates in Class A up to 12 Watts then switches in an additional power supply that produces Class B for situations that require greater power. The difference between this and a classic Class A/B design is that there is a transition area where both power supplies are operating which is claimed to eliminate crossover distortion.

The SA20 with upgraded speaker terminals and built-in MM phono stage

SA30 Class G - A Full Streaming System

The SA30 is the flagship of the three amplifiers and this time Arcam have added a lot of extra features - First of all it is a full UPNP streaming system, supporting Google Cast and AirPlay2 and all you have to add is a pair of speakers. The Class G amplifier is powerful at 120w per channel and it will drive most speakers without any problem. It is Roon Ready and supports MQA (Master Quality Authenticated - available from Tidal Hi-Fi streaming service).

An ARC socket for the tv and a built-in phonostage for MM and MC cartridges

The TV can be connected via an optical cable or via an HDMI cable into the ARC socket (Audio Return Channel). The aerials for a wireless connection to the home network are supplied and you can connect it directly to the network router.

What music to stream? Stream music from a NAS drive, or a music streaming services like Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Napster, Hi-Res audio or internet radio. Spotify is not mentioned in the free Arcam control app, MusicLife, but it works. Simply open the Spotify app, play a song , select the Arcam SA30 - done. Enjoy your music.

What about turntables ? No problem, on board is a turntable phono stage that supports both cartridge types, moving magnet and moving coil.

Dirac Live Room Correction

The built-in Dirac Live room correction technology is there to help reduce unwanted resonant frequencies caused by the room. Download Dirac Live to your laptop (Windows or Mac), measure 13 positions around your room and the software calculates and corrects the colourations.

Two source components - ST60 Music Streamer & CDS50 CD Player/Network Streamer

The ST60 music streamer is the latest edition to the range of Arcam two channel products. This UPNP streamer plays music from services like Tidal (including MQA support ), Qobuz , Deezer, Napster , Spotify and internet radio. It supports Google ChromeCast and Airplay2 and it is Roon Ready.

On the back are four digital inputs (2 optical and 2 coaxial) and a USB socket if you wish to connect a USB hard drive to play all your ripped music files . The default for the output level is set to fixed when connected to a pre-amplifier or integrated amplifier but it can be changed to variable output if you decide to use the ST60 as a pre-amplifier, connected to a power amplifier.

The CDS50 is CD player and a network streamer in one box. and it can be set-up wirelessly or connected to your router via a network cable. The CD player plays CD’s and SACD’s (Super Audio CD), the network streamer streams music from Tidal, Qobuz, Napster, Deezer, CDs ripped to a NAS (Network hard drive) and even from a USB stick.

Arcam CDS50 cd player and network streamer in one box

We hope that you have enjoyed the tour. All mentioned products are available to listen to at Audio T Swindon and if you are interested in an Arcam product that isn’t mentioned in this blog, please give us a call on 01793 538222 or send us an email to swindon@audio-t.co.uk.

Thanks for reading - Stefan & Andy - Audio T Swindon

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on Facebook to keep an eye on what’s happening in store.

Arcam products can be found at the following Audio T Stores

December 02, 2021

ISOTEK V5 AQUARIUS CLEANS UP AT AUDIO T SOUTHAMPTON!

December 02, 2021/ Southampton

Here at Audio T Southampton, we are longtime fans of IsoTek and their range of power optimisation solutions. We have many long standing customers whose Hi-Fi and Home Cinema systems have been dramatically improved with the addition of IsoTek products. So when we were given the opportunity to try the brand new V5 Aquarius, we jumped at the chance…

IsoTek V5 Aquarius is available in black or silver

Just another mains box?

The original IsoTek Aquarius was arguably one of the most cost-effective power cleaning upgrades money could buy. The new V5 model builds on the Aquarius concept and takes it to a higher level.

This all new design is presented in a stylish, smooth, solid casework with no visible fasteners. A simple, yet effective style choice that looks very classy indeed. Hewn from a single block of aluminum and measuring 450mm in width, 350mm deep and 110mm high.

The V5 Aquarius isn’t packaged with your standard, cheap and cheerful IEC lead. IsoTek also include their award winning Evo3 Premier mains cable in the box as standard.

The Design

The V5 features a new circuit that offers twice the inductance, with a 40% increase in current leading to a more open sound stage, micro dynamics and detail with more immediate timing. Improved Direct Current Resistance (DCR) has been applied throughout the design. Part of the IsoTek goal being to reduce DCR bringing performance closer to the zero Ohms ideal, V5 Aquarius is at least 25% improved compared to its predecessor. Surge protection has been raised to an instantaneous 81,000A, offering the ultimate insurance of your cherished Hi-Fi or Home Cinema. This six-way mains power-cleaning unit sits far above the specifications of the market standard. Offering two high-current outlets that are dedicated for use with amplifiers, subwoofers and so on, with four medium-current sockets for other components such as streamers, record players and CD players. Each outlet of the V5 Aquarius has its own dedicated power-cleaning network, thus six power cleaners in one box!

Using the V5 Aquarius, you’ll find that both Differential Mode (a noise current loop) and Common Mode (a leaked signal) noise are dramatically reduced. Cross contamination of connected components is also kept to a minimum due to the multiple power cleaning stages for each output socket. Most power filters join output sockets together, running each in series. This is an error as Differential Mode Noise created by your connected electronics will cross contaminate from one output socket to the next.

The proof is in the listening…

It was fantastic to be given the opportunity to try the new Isotek V5 Aquarius in store. Opening the box revealed how well packaged this new mains conditioner is. If IsoTek put so much care in to the cardboard box, I can only imagine what wonders hide inside the chassis…

We were keen to hear V5 Aquarius in action, so without haste we built a high resolution system consisting of Auralic Aries G1 streamer as our source, a Chord Electronics M-Scaler, DAVE DAC/Pre-Amp and Ultima 6 Power Amp driving a pair of the brand new B&W 804 D4s.

It’s no surprise that this setup already sounded superb without the addition of any other peripherals, but the moment we connected the V5 Aquarius, was a game changer. The removal of mains noise and artifacts achieved by this wonderous little box can almost be likened to a window opening wider to allow more of the outside world in. the music to flow and fill the room even more effortlessly.

Over twenty years of developing clean power technology has definitely paid off with V5 Aquarius. As previously mentioned, removing differential mode noise, exacerbated by widespread use of switch-mode power supplies, and common mode noise, ever worsening due to the proliferation of RFI, has clear audio benefits, as does the sine wave correction and multiple filters. Adaptive gating ensures each connected product receives the correct level of differential filtration with no cross contamination between sockets. Two sockets are high current, designed for power amplifiers, with another four for source components and pre-amplifier.

Conclusion

In short it works amazingly well, sounds great, and looks superb too!

The V5 Aquarius is high quality design, yet highly functional and is an excellent upgrade for a complete audio or cinema system.

Should you have any questions regarding the IsoTek Aquarius V5 please contact us

Alan and Wayne - Audio T Southampton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Southampton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

IsoTek can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Don’t see your local store, but would like to discuss IsoTek? Contact Us.

November 25, 2021

THE YEAR OF THE THIRD SOLSTICE

November 25, 2021/ Brighton

Traditionally, there only two solstices in a calendar year. As 2021 draws to a close, the 21st December 2021 will see the convergence of, or even union of another solstice. Welcome the Naim Solstice turntable!

As the winter solstice approaches, this turntable shines as brightly as its summer namesake . . .

So the wait is finally over and boy . . . . . . .was it worth the wait!

As rare as a Hawkwind fan at Stonehenge, or to put it another way, rarer than a real druid on the island of Anglesey on a Summer Solstice, Naim have finally produced the turntable to follow on from their highly regarded unipivot arm, the Aro.

Unlike your average hippy druid, this turntable is a thing of beauty indeed, donning a gown worthy of a king. As you can already see from the picture above, the design and construction have been implemented to a high standard that fits in with the Naim aesthetic.

During this blog you will have the opportunity to see the Naim Solstice both inside and out, not an opportunity you will get in many places, unless you happen to be on the assembly team…

Beauty is more than skin deep

The construction and bracing of the Naim Solstice are first class with a very heavy and solid feel to it when held and inspected. Once lubricated the inverted ceramic bearing was ready to receive the precisely machined spindle. After the belt is fitted, the monstrously weighty platter is carefully lowered into position.

belt and spindle attached ready for the monster of a platter

Attach the counterweight and check the tracking weight is the exact 2.34g. “Why so precise?”, I hear you say…

Jason Gould, from Naim, went to great lengths to explain how long it took via auditioning before the decision was made on this particular tracking force and it was evident in listening that they got it spot on.

tracking weight of 2.34 grams ready to be applied

The other members of the Naim Solstice triage

NAIM SOLSTICE PHONO STAGE(LEFT) AND MATCHING POWER SUPPLY(RIGHT)

On the left we have the Naim Solstice phono stage and its separate power supply on the right. In the image below, one can see the flexibility the Naim phono stage offers with different cartridge manufacturers to fine-tune the resistance and capacitance of their particular model for maximum performance.

Naim Solstice phono stage - resistance and capacitance adjustments aplenty

All ready to Rock’n’Roll!

They say that, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”, or in the case, the listening. This certainly proved to be the case in the couple of hours we had with the Naim Solstice and we certainly felt well-nourished afterwards.

Playing Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue” and the track So What?, we certainly didn’t come away with that kind of feeling. On the contrary, the sound was very well balanced through the ATC SCM50’s and had the characteristic Naim house sound, with a good uniform tonal balance from top to bottom and a groove, dare I say, P.R.A.T.

John Coltrane’s sax on this classic track was exemplary, with an in the room, live sound, perfectly replicating the fidelity this recording purveys, in an era where recordings were un-edited and which makes them a sheer joy to listen to.

The Naim Solstice proved incredibly transparent and faithful to the recording, allowing a deep, musical insight into the minutiae contained in the grooves. It is evident with vinyl reproduction at this high a quality level of playback, why playing records keep the analogue enthusiasts away from digital playback altogether.

Other albums we tried included; Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “The Sky is Crying”, Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 revisited” and Roy Buchanan’s “That’s what I am here for”.

In each case, the Naim Solstice proved consistently faithful to the recordings, with soaring dynamics and an emotional attachment that pulls you in and keeps you on the sofa listening, except for the necessary changeover after each side of the record. Don’t worry, doctors say getting up off the sofa every twenty minutes or so is good for you and I would agree with them, but not necessarily for the same reasons as they might suggest, the desire to play just one more record is enough of a reason in itself.

Wrapping up . . .

Even though there are only two solstices in a calendar year, I can safely predict that we’ll be seeing more from the Naim Solstice over the coming year, especially as one can see and hear one of these whenever you like, assuming the £16,000 is within your means, of course. Chances are, if you own a Naim Solstice, you’ll be playing it on the equinoxes as well.

Naim Solstice with Naim ND555/PS + NAC552/PS + NAP500/PS

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores -

AUDIO T - THE UK's OLDEST INDEPENDENT SPECIALIST HI-FI RETAILER

November 17, 2021

WHAT CHANGES NOTHING IN YOUR HIFI BUT MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER?

November 17, 2021/ Cheltenham

The Cheltenham shop proudly announce two special days of REL subwoofer demonstrations, to show how the integration of bass via the perfect subwoofer can make everything else better and transform your system.

Save the dates of Friday 10th and Saturday 11th of December and book your free appointment in plenty of time, as these demonstrations are always popular.

The new TX series from REL both sound and look great.

For REL this quest has been a labour of love, born from a desire for a more perfect sound experience. It began with one man’s dissatisfaction with the performance of subwoofers available at the time. That search for better, that pursuit of perfect sound remains the driving force behind REL. It has persisted through changes in ownership, it has driven massive advancements in technology and innovations in designs. Turning loose the power, the drama and the fun that lies within great music and movies.

For our demonstrations we will be concentrating on the merits of subwoofers in stereo systems.

Rob Hunt from REL will be in attendance to spout forth words of wisdom and wit, and will answer any questions that might pop up regarding set -up, matching subs to systems/rooms, room pressurisation and the benefits of double subs. We will be using some nice gear from Linn eg an Akurate DSM, Akurate 2200 power amp, and Akurate LP12 turntable. There will also be speakers from Acoustic Energy and Neat Acoustics too. There will be demonstrations of the benefits of two subs in the same system with a stereo pair of T9/x and also in attendance…the mighty monster that goes under the name of The Carbon Special! The small but perfectly formed T Zero Mk3, T5/x and T7/x won’t be too far away either.

Book your session by calling the Cheltenham shop on 01242 583960 and speak to Jon, Farid or Andy.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram to keep an eye on what’s happening in store.

REL can be found at the following Audio-T stores

November 15, 2021

WE ARE LIVING IN A HI-FI WORLD AND I AM A NOW A HI-FI GIRL

November 15, 2021/ Enfield

Ever feel like you’ve been both in and out of your comfort zone at the same time? Where you have a tonne of knowledge in one area and virtually none in another? Almost like you know exactly what you're talking about but at the same time you don't have all the answers? Well, if that’s the case, you’re not alone. As the newest member of staff at Audio T Enfield, I invite you on my journey of discovery in to the world of Hi-Fi.

As a lover of music, my world wouldn't be right without hearing my favourite songs throughout the day. Having an ear for hearing almost every instrument in a song and being aware of every single detail throughout is something I consider a blessing - something only like-minded people will understand. Being possibly the biggest Spice Girls fan (literally an out-of-control fanatic with zero shame) threw me in the deep end of the world of music as a toddler, which in turn enabled me to be the musically minded person I am today.

Spice up your life

You see, although they come under the very broad, and sometimes unfair, umbrella of “pop music”, almost each Spice Girls song is a different genre in itself. Their debut album, Spice (released in 1996) is a mixture of conventional pop, acoustic, funk and Urban RnB, with favourites such as safe-sex anthem, “2 Become 1”, and bass heavy hit “Who Do You Think You Are”. Whereas their second album Spiceworld (released in 1997) consists very much of that era-defining “Bubble-Gum Pop” sound. Some tracks even mixed a bit of a Latin influence that was popularised at the time by the likes of Shakira and Enrique Iglesias. Fast-forward a few years, and their third album, Forever, truly embraces the ever-popular R’n’B vibe of the early 2000’s.

Despite being Spice Girls mad, or as I was recently called, a “Pop Princess” it's not difficult to gauge why I can happily listen to many different genres of music. My favourites have to be old school R’n’B, Hip Hop and UK Garage. Aside from the fact that the songs are blooming brilliant, they bring a whole feeling of nostalgia for me, as that's the just some of music I was raised on. As you can imagine I listen to a lot of digital radio stations such as Kisstory.

Where music meets Hi-Fi

So, with this burning passion for music just sitting there, I didn’t know where to take it - I came across a job opening at Audio T Enfield. I couldn’t help but think to myself, "my love of music would be so beneficial for this job". This is where we come back to our opening statement – I find music is my biggest comfort, I know it all so well; the systems we play them on however... let's just say I didn't have that much experience. So, at this point I feel like I'm already halfway there – I know what makes a good composition (to my ears at least)... But which systems would get the best out of my beloved music?

Now, from here I guess it's all about navigating the Hi-Fi world, getting to know the systems and their best qualities. But where to start? As I’m sure we all know, when it comes to Hi-Fi, your overall system is as strong as the weakest link. Each component is arguably as important as the next. But as far as I’m concerned, we should start with the source. And just as an excuse to show off my coveted Spice Girls vinyl, let’s start with turntables –

A first look at entry-level turntables

Project Primary E Phono

The Project Primary E is the most affordable turntable we stock at Audio T. It comes in two variates - The standard version and the Primary E Phono. The difference? Well, it’s all in the name. The latter has a built-in phono stage for those amplifiers that do not have one built-in. It also allows you to plug straight in to an active speaker.

This turntable was described to me as a “plug and play”, which fundamentally means it’s ready to go straight out of the box. So for a novice such as myself, it should have been a doddle. However, I found the built-in cables were a little bit fiddly and delicate with this turntable, especially the ground wire (not ideal for a clumsy person like myself). Nonetheless, the set-up was fairly straight forward (minus the fiddly cables). In this set-up I used the Rega IO Amp and B&W 607 S2 speakers.

Once more, the sound of a record I’ve heard time and time again surrounded me in it’s mist-like fashion and I sat, gathering every detail I could hear. There is a particular album track, “Last Time Lover”, which has many hidden instruments in the background that aren’t too prominent. This turntable, like the others, had made these background instruments come to the forefront with the rest of the track. The plucking of guitar strings sound sharp and the subtle trumpet smooth playing through the Primary E Phono.

Rega Planar 1

I hooked up the turntable with a Rega IO Amp and Dynaudio Emit 10 speakers – this was all pretty straightforward to set up, a few cables plugged into their correct places and Bob’s your uncle! Moving on from the technical perspective, I put the needle on the record and gave it a listen, with admittedly high expectations, and I was not disappointed at all.

The quality of sound that penetrated my ears was amazing! I could hear every part of each song so clearly – particularly on “2 Become 1”, where I’ve never been able to hear a consistent bassline, but this turntable proved to me it does indeed have a consistent and prominent bassline! Without popping this record onto the Rega Planar 1, I would never have heard it.

After inspecting the turntable more thoroughly, I was a little confused as to how you change the speed on the Planar 1. One of my colleagues informed me of the manual belt change required to move from 33rpm to 45rpm. As I didn’t have any 7” singles or 33rpm 12” I couldn’t help but try the album… Instantly, the Spice Girls turned in to Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was highly amusing.

Having listened to this album hundreds of times in standard CD or streaming quality, it was beautifully refreshing to hear it sound so much clearer and smoother – the music felt as though it was a light mist surrounding me completely. Overall, The Rega Planar 1 is a great turntable for those who aren’t looking to spend too much, but still want a record player that offers a high quality of sound. Especially when you consider that this is handmade in the UK, you get a lot of bang for your buck!

Rega Planar 2

On this occasion, I managed to set up the Rega Planar 2 alone; once again it was fairly simple, ensuring the cables are in the right place, using the same amp and speakers.

To offer the fairest comparison, I started the record from the beginning, listening extra carefully for any changes. Admittedly, I didn’t instantly appreciate the differences…

At a first glance, the Planar 1 and 2 look incredibly similar. If it wasn’t for the difference in the P1’s matte finish to the P2’s gloss finish, you would be forgiven for thinking they were the same product. But on closer inspection you’ll see there is much more to separate these two models…

So what’s the difference in the Planar models?

The Plinth

Let’s start with the plinth. This is the main platform (or deck) on which the turntable is built. These plinths are designed to be rigid to prevent unwanted resonance or vibrations being transferred from the motor, which can have a negative affect the music and even be heard through your loudspeakers.

Whilst they may look the same with the exception of their finishes, the Planar 1 plinth is made from a composite material and covered with a really hard resin material called thermoset laminate. The Planar 2 plinth is an MDF core coated in a high-gloss acrylic laminate. I’m sure there is some sort of reason behind this, but it has been decided by greater minds than my own.

Both Planar models use the same, low noise, 24v motor, but there is more to these two models.

The Platter

The platter is that spinning circular disc that you sit your records on. Whilst different manufacturers use varying designs and materials for their platters, they are important as they are crucial for consistent speed and good musical reproduction.

The platter needs to weigh enough to deliver a constant rotational speed but must not be so heavy that it will put the drive motor under unnecessary strain or potentially stretch the drive belt on start up.

The Planar 1 uses a resin platter that is heavier on the outside edge to help it run consistently The Planar 2 uses an extremely high quality 10mm float glass platter that not only performs better, but looks great too. Both come with a felt mat which sits on top of the platter to improve grip.

Tonearm

If, like me, you’re new to Hi-Fi, you probably thought that all tonearms were the same… Oh how wrong I was! The tonearm is a seriously important part of the turntable.

The RB110 on the Planar 1, uses a single piece aluminium tube with a rigid headshell. It’s a proper “plug and play” design.

The Planar 2 uses the upgraded RB220 arm. It is more adjustable which means you can use a wide range of cartridges other than the Rega Carbon that is fitted as standard.

If I’m being completely honest, unless you are a hardcore Hi-Fi enthusiast, you probably wouldn’t know what advantages the upgraded components give. However, there is definitely an improvement to the sound and detail you get from your records. I noticed this particularly during “Say You’ll Be There”, where there was an extra set of percussion during Mel B’s verse – the Rega Planar 2 made the presence of this particular sound very evident where I hadn’t heard it on the Planar 1 or Primary E. I do recommend playing an album that is familiar to you so that you can listen out for tiny details you wouldn’t normally hear. As for my experience, overall I did notice the quality improvement – the music sounded that little bit smoother, that little bit tighter, that little bit more prominent. I think it’s safe to say that the price difference is warranted in the improvement of sound.

The final thoughts…

To conclude. After careful comparison and analysis, I found that, whilst the Project Primary E Phono turntable gave an impressive performance for its price, there is a marked improvement in moving over to the Planar 1 or better still, the Planar 2. There is a noticeable improvement in quality when you switch over to the British made Rega turntables.

But why take my word for it? Why not book a demonstration today at your local store.

Thanks for reading.

Elena, Jason & John - Audio T Enfield

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T by following us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.

Rega can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Project can be found at the following Audio-T stores

November 13, 2021

HELLO HALO - THE GREAT BRITISH ICON EVOLVED - B&W 800 SERIES

November 13, 2021/ Bristol

All great manufacturers will have a product in their line up that takes the mantle of figurehead. Typically, these are built by dedicated teams and represent the brand's pinnacle in both engineering and manufacturing. The automotive world calls them 'Halo' cars - think of the BMW M3, Mercedes McLaren SLR & Audi R8. They define a brand's "this is what we are about" ethos, instantly recognisable, scream character and most of all capture the imagination. Revered & anticipated, Bowers & Wilkins statement of accomplishment - Audio T welcomes the new flagship B&W 800 series.

From their inception, back in 1979 with the model 801, the focus and constant evolution has been to engineer a loudspeaker with as little resonance as possible. Both the speaker shape and the materials it's made from exert a huge influence on how effective it is at controlling these unwanted resonances. Solving these limitations, as opposed to tuning them out, becomes more viable when higher prices supports the use of more exotic materials, the engineering and complex tooling required to form those theoretical designs to final production define that effectiveness - function follows form. As these rarefied technologies mature they trickle down to the more affordable ranges (as can be seen with the Continuum™ mid-bass driver in Bowers & Wilkins entry level 606 S2.

The Little Diamond

6 Years after the release of the third generation model, the new 805 D4 evolves from their 2015 D3 predecessor in a number of key areas. Most visibly the tweeter housing - now 35cm in length - twin decoupled from the enclosure below, aluminium top-plate with leather cover and Reverse Wrap cabinet manufacturing process. This cabinet improvement has allowed the sensitive crossover components to be housed separately on the back plate.

The drivers are the new 165mm (6.5in) Continuum™ mid-bass cone with stiff aluminium bass pods that afford exceptional bass extension and scale for a relatively compact speaker. The higher frequencies are handled by a 25mm diamond dome tweeter. A tweeter dome formed by chemical deposition of diamond material. The original Steyning Research Establishment (SRE) team having identified this as the optimum tweeter material for rigidity and lightness back in 2010, is further refined in clarity and great top end resolution. Typically a tweeter frequency response breaks at around 25KHz. B&W push this limit to 35KHz thus moving harmonic distortion out of hearing range.

Test System

Sources: Linn Selekt DSM - Qobuz Streaming, Rega Planar 10

Pre-Amplifiers: NAC 252, Rega Aura - Phono Stage

Amplifiers: NAP 300DR, Rega Osiris

Accessories: NACA5 Speaker cable, Audioquest Cinnamon Ethernet,
Chord Shawline Interconnects

Setup & Listening

The speakers require careful positioning, but because of the front port design, they can be placed fairly close to the wall. System wise - they are handled equally well by the Naim or Rega setups above.

Recently we discovered Kenny Burrell’s, Midnight Blue 2012 remaster - classic Blue Note sound an essential listen. The album opens with “Chitlins con Carne". Kenny's guitar bursts into frame on the left channel with a searing precision that sounds like the vinyl lathe operator jumped in on the gain controls just in time. Throughout this 1960s recording, those transients and initial attack of instruments are controlled well by the 805s. Depending on your preferred audio flavour, that transparency can feel dry, bright, a little hard and sharp, but never overly so or crass. That clean hard detail is well supported by a punchy mid range and bass performance that charms.

The opening huge kick drum on Semper Femina’s, Soothing, Laura Marling has a clean resonance, where you can hear the skin of the drum flexing - giving the illusion of a large room with the vocals soaring over a deep bass. The precision of the B&W impresses with speed and dynamic control.

Moving onto classical - Beethoven: The Piano Concertos, Piano concerto No.5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 "Emperor":2. Adagio un poco mosso, Alfred Brendel, Simon Rattle, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Philips. This beautifully recorded classical piece is a huge challenge. It begins very quietly and grows. The Piano is central and all the instruments easily identified and spot positioned with a nice rake, the flute and woodwind sections float over the piano. The 805's come into their own - impeccable at performing the detail. The execution, character and vocalisation of B&W philosophy is astounding. Reviewers have sometimes questioned the B&W sound as dry, over clean, too bright, but not here. With the right component & setup up the new 805 D4 is in a class of it's own.

Summing up, the new 805 D4 is a triumph. A great evolution from the D3. Incredibly well built, accurate, revealing with an immense sense of entertainment and a thrilling listen. In the words of Pink Floyd - Shine on you Crazy Diamond!

Thanks for reading.

Max, James & Justin - Audio T Bristol

Be sure to keep up to date with what’s going on in store by following us Facebook and Instagram.

B&W 800 series can be found at the following Audio-T stores

November 10, 2021

REQUIRE MORE GRAVITAS TO YOUR SOUND? YOU PROBABLY NEED A NAIM POWERLIN

November 10, 2021/ Audio T

So, what's in a mains power cable? After-all, it’s just that black “kettle” lead you need to plug the thing into the wall, isn’t it?

I beg to differ! Hopefully, I can convince you otherwise over the course of the next few paragraphs...

What follows is a quick review of the Naim Powerline mains cable, which I brought home from our Audio T Brighton store with me this weekend to audition and check out any improvements that may come my way.
So what are my conclusions after a short listening session, having wrestled the remote away from my children? Read-on to find out.

Out with the Lite and in with the “Full-fat” Powerline . . .

Currently, I have the Naim Powerline Lite that came in the box with my Naim Uniti Nova. Plugging in the “full-fat” Naim Powerline brought some subtle, but significant changes. What I will mention before going into sonics, is the connection to your socket on the amp requires some care because of the stiffness of the fitting. No biggy, just it is easy not to get the full electrical contact of the plugs if it isn't inserted all the way in. I suspect that the firmness of the fitting and tight contact may explain some of the sonic differences I will describe forthwith.

All cables sound the same, don’t they?

So, the first thing to note, is the additional body that the sound gains once the Naim Powerline cable was introduced. Now I would never describe the sound of the Nova as thin because it certainly isn't, but when you plug in the Powerline, instruments do seem to fill out. They get meat on the bone! There's an added layer of subtlety to the way detail is presented. It's not that there is more detail, it's just the way the micro-dynamics are portrayed, and the tonal characteristics seem to be more “real” than before.

Jazz gets more real . . .

This is especially noticeable in the jazz pieces that I listened to for this session.

I am particularly partial to the wonderful 1959 recording, Gerry Mulligan meets Ben Webster, which I highly recommend. Recordings from this era of jazz have a beautiful air of nostalgia and are often unedited in sound. You can almost smell the cigarette smoke when playing them!

From the aforementioned recording, on both, “The Catwalk” and “Who’s Got Rhythm?”, the Powerline added some additional nourishment to the sound of their instruments; Ed Thigpen’s cymbals and brush sounds gained an additional layer of detail and became more fully fleshed out and lifelike, sounding less like crumpled paper, which was unexpected and a pleasant surprise.

the oscar peterson trio - “we get requests”

Listening to Oscar Peterson's, “You look good to me”, and “D and E”, from the album We Get Requests, his piano was less jangly and warmer in texture. Bass-lines became tauter and with more apparent extension than before.

To my ears, this does seem to be a consistent sonic feature of the Powerline, in that the sound gains some fullness of tone. Swapping back the Powerline Lite made the differences all the more obvious - this is often a recommended technique because you often appear to “lose” more quality of sound than one “gains” the other way around.

A surprisingly significant upgrade to sound . . .

In summary, the Naim Powerline seems a worthwhile upgrade to the sound of a system, not in an “in-your-face” way, but with finesse and long-term benefits that will become evident as one listens more often.
Albeit not cheap, certainly for the Uniti Nova I own, I would still suggest that this is a valuable upgrade to add to your system.

Contact your Audio T dealer for a home demo.

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Naim can be found at the following Audio T stores

November 10, 2021

Pro-Ject X1 Turntable with Carbon-Aluminium Tonearm.

November 10, 2021/ Manchester

Here at Audio-T Manchester we have our regular turntable brand, Rega, that we turn to for all our vinyl needs.

However, we’ve always had a strong relationship with Pro-Ject, and over the last 20 years they’ve always had a presence at our store. So the arrival of the new X1 turntable from Pro-Ject piqued our interest once again.

Pro-Ject Audio were founded in 1991 and are headquartered in the northern part of Vienna. An Austrian company with it’s manufacturing based in the Czech Republic.

1991 was the era of compact disc and CD players, however, Pro-Ject stuck to it’s guns and kept it simple and along came the Pro-Ject Debut 1, which was a huge success and a great entry level introduction into vinyl.

Things have come a long way since then and Pro-Ject are probably one of the most prolific makers of turntables on the planet. We of course have chosen only a select few to stock at our stores.

Today’s blog will look at the Pro-Ject X1.

Our example of the X1 is in walnut and comes with a Pro-ject Pick It S2 cartridge, manufactured by Ortofon in Denmark. With a proper 1.5 kg frosted acrylic platter from Pro-ject, it’s perfectly weighted to nail those 33⅓ rotations.

The Walnut plinth has a nice chunky look and feel with a great finish and the adjustable feet help to keep everything on an even keel.

The 8.6” tonearm is a one piece affair with a built in headshell made from carbon and aluminium, and benefits from a built in VTA and azimuth adjustment. The Pro-ject Pick It S2 cartridge is moving magnet with an elliptical stylus. Pro-ject are aiming for a fast and dynamic performance, and with this configuration, we think they’re getting it!

The TPE- dampened counterweight bookends the arm nicely, to let you finely tune the tracking force.

Conveniently, Pro-Ject have added the option to change the speed electronically from 33⅓ rpm to 45 rpm with a simple press of a sensibly placed, integrated button; a welcome change from the add on box/belt changing shenanigans of previous Pro-ject decks at this price point. (78rpm is also available but will require a change of pickup cartridge).

So, how does it sound? The partnering of the carbon arm and the Pick It S2 gives the soundstage an open and lively feel. Lots of detail to be had from Goldfrapp’s ‘Seventh Tree’ album. Alison Goldfrapp’s voice portrays detail with depth, letting her hit the low notes while retaining the subtle highs she is capable of, certainly no flattening of the soundstage that some entry level to mid range cartridges can do.

Taking all that into account, keep in mind that after the Pick-It S2 has worn out it’s stylus, you can replace it with an even better cartridge that will potentially elevate the X1 to even greater heights; you can see why the Pro-ject X1 can quite easily be a long term investment in any set-up.

Our own X1 is on dem at the Manchester store, please feel free to call us and arrange a demonstration.

Thanks for reading.

Munir, Dave, James, Mike and Haden - Audio T Manchester

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram to keep an eye on what’s happening in store.

Pro-ject can be found at the following Audio-T stores

October 22, 2021

STREAMING IS BELIEVING - THE BRAND NEW ROKSAN ATTESSA STREAMING AMP

October 22, 2021/ Brighton

Here at Audio T, we are excited to announce we have taken delivery of the latest products from the Roksan Attessa range, including a turntable, CD transport, integrated amplifier as well as a separate streaming amplifier full of bells and whistles.

For this blog, we shall be focussing our attention on a product I’m particularly excited by, the Attessa streaming amplifier. So, without further ado…

First off, a little history lesson…

Roksan was formed in 1985 by Tufan Hashemi & Touraj Moghaddam. The name “Roksan” itself is derived from the name Roxana, daughter of the Persian King Darius. This closely reflects the Persian heritage and roots of both Hashemi and Moghaddam. Unsurprisingly, many of their product names have references to cities, places and famous people of Persia.

The name Attessa is a modified version of the Ancient Greek word, “Atossa”, which for fairly understandable reasons, could be misconstrued in English. Literally, this name means “bestowing very richly”. This is certainly very apt, as we will discuss shortly…

To quote from the Roksan website;

“Designed to combine all the wonderfully complex sound of a class-leading Hi-Fi system with the simplicity most listeners crave - making it easier to connect with devices, and with the people around you.
A home audio product which is not intimidating for the first time Hi-Fi consumer.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Bells and whistles

Roksan attessa streaming amplifier connectivity

Features include:

The one-touch dial control user-interface is both simple and intuitive to use. A simple push and turn selects different input options.
There are a wide variety of digital and analogue connections, including Bluetooth® and AirPlay 2
The Attessa has a built-in Moving Magnet phono stage, which allows turntable connection to accommodate the resurgence in vinyl playback.
SPDIF inputs will decode MQA encoded PCM streams including MQA CDs played back by the Attessa CD Transport
The MaestroUnite app allows setup for over the air updates. More on this below.

The business end…

around the back of the attessa streaming amplifier

Taking a look around the back of the Attessa provides plenty of scope for connectivity, with plenty of optical, SPDIF and analogue phono inputs to satisfy the inclusion of the rest of the Attessa range, or if you wish, to mix and match with an existing system.

Set-up and use

This is the first time we at Audio T Brighton have had the opportunity to have a hands-on play with one of the new Roksan Attessa family of components. At a quick glance, it is clear that this range of products are designed with quality, convenience and style in mind.

First impressions are very good, with a weighty and quality feel when it is taken out of the box. The large volume knob has a lovely, smooth motion to it and exudes a feeling of confidence in construction quality.

Set-up was nice and easy using the dedicated MaestroUnite app, which is free to download on Android, iOS, Windows and Mac.

Input selection is easy, with a mere push and turn of the front control knob to select the plethora of inputs available.

Roksan have made a very wise choice in utilising one of the better, tried and tested apps already available on the market (the BluOS™ app) rather than trying to create their own. This Attessa Streaming amplifier works seamlessly with the Bluesound option. Quite frankly, if I owned this unit, I would probably leave it set this way most of the time due to the ease of access to music through either streaming services and/or music stored on a server/drive on your network.

The Attessa proved equally adept using the turntable and CD inputs when tested in store with our Rega RP3 with a Audio Technica AT95ML cartridge and a Rega Apollo CD player.

We’ve been big fans of the Bluesound range of products here at Audio T Brighton. Roksan’s use of the BluOS™ app is an exciting move as it allows for streaming connectivity between Roksan, Bluesound and any other manufacturers who utilise the BluOS™ app.

So what does it sound like?

After unpacking the Attessa, we left it running on repeat over the weekend to give the electronics a good warm-up and run in.

First impressions; listening to Kruder and Dorfmeister’s - DJ Kicks, the unit produced a nicely neutral and well controlled sound with plenty of sparkle at the top end and fluid bass. The detail through the, all important, midrange was on-point as well.

Listening to some 50’s and 60’s jazz, the Roksan Attessa continued to give a good impression of itself, with good tonality, soundstage and sufficient warmth to allow the analogue recordings of the day to create the live feel that they so often have.

Listening to Billy Gibbons F Gibbons’ new album “Hardware”, using MQA playback on Tidal’s Masters gave the expected boost in sound quality and should prove a real “feather in the cap” for those who use Tidal as their streaming service.

Let’s sum things up…

The Roksan Attessa is certainly a great all-rounder, especially considering its moderate price point. It gets a huge two-thumbs-up from myself, Paul and John. It will serve any Hi-Fi enthusiast very well as a multi-sourced system. To add to all of this, it has a sleek look without the possible clutter of multiple boxes and the potential spaghetti around the back of your system.

It would be hard to find another product in the current marketplace at this price point that sounds this good, offers this degree of flexibility and user friendliness, so it gets a hearty recommendation. But why take our word for it? Why not contact us to book a demonstration at your local store today.

Many thanks for reading - Ade, Paul & John - Audio T Brighton

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on Facebook to keep an eye on what’s happening in store.

Roksan can be found at the following Audio-T stores

If you can’t see your local Audio T on the list, be sure to contact them for a demonstration.

October 05, 2021

IT'S OFFICIAL - MCINTOSH JOINS SONUS FABER AT SWINDON

October 05, 2021/ Swindon

Back in June we wrote a Blog in which we took a look at Sonus Faber, an Italian manufacturer of high quality loudspeakers that were a new addition to some Audio T stores. During a visit from the he UK distributors, Fine Sounds, we were also shown another brand of theirs, McIntosh Laboratory, an American manufacturer of some of the best looking amplifiers on the market. Now, several months on, we are very excited and happy to announce that both brands are now available here at Audio-T Swindon.

McIntosh Power - Let’s take a look

From a selection of five integrated solid state (or transistor) amplifiers we have decided to start with two, the MA5300 and MA7200. These amplifiers have such an iconic look that you can tell from a distance that they are McIntosh amps. Switch them on and you are greeted by two great looking blue VU meters.

MA5300

Physically, the MA5300 is the smallest amplifier of the range but looking at the output of an impressive 100 watts per channel into 8Ohms and 160 watts per channel in to 4 Ohms - This is only the beginning of our exciting journey into the McIntosh sound.

You get a lot of amp for your money that’s for sure. On the analogue side you get 4 phono inputs, one set of balanced XLR’s, pre-amp output, power-amp input and a moving magnet phono. The high drive headphone amplifier makes sure that you get the most from your headphones. Bass and treble control are also on board should you prefer to change the sound to your liking.

A very nice feature of this amplifier is the AV Passthrough. When the MA5300 is part of a Home Theatre system, the right and left front channels can ‘pass through’ from an AV processor or AV amplifier to the assigned input on the MA5300. In this configuration the MA5300 works as a power amplifier with a fixed volume output - Very nice.

The Digital Audio Module 1 (DA1) comes fitted and offers all digital inputs needed for a modern hi-fi set-up. An optional upgrade (including one HDMI ARC socket) to the Digital Audio Module 2 is available.

MA7200

Let’s take a look at the MA7200. What do we get? Everything we said about the MA5300 and more. Compared to the MA5300, the MA7200 is only about 4cm higher than the MA5300 but weighs a hefty 17 kg more, a total of 42kg. Blimey! This amp is a beast.

The amplifier delivers an output of 200 watts per channel regardless of your speakers impedance and this is because of McIntosh’s Autoformer technology.

AUTOFORMER™ TECHNOLOGY - DOES IT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?

The McIntosh Output Autoformer™ is a special transformer that is designed and manufactured in-house by McIntosh. This allows any speaker type to be used with a McIntosh amplifier and have all of the power that the amp is designed to deliver. McIntosh claim that other amplifier designs will not have even power with differing speaker designs. McIntosh amplifiers with the output Autoformer™ will deliver ‘All the Power You Pay For’ regardless of chosen speaker type.

On the back you will see two banks of four speaker binding posts, the bottom post is for each of the negative cables and the positive cable connects to one of the positive posts above, marked 2, 4 and 8 Ohms.

There are eight analogue inputs including a Moving Coil and a Moving Magnet phono stage as well as six digital inputs.

SONUS FABER CLARITY

As well as taking delivery of McIntosh amplifiers, we have also received some more Sonus Faber loudspeakers, the Sonetto 1 and Sonetto 3. The colour choices are wood, white, black and wenge. The Sonetto range comprises of two pairs of bookshelf speakers, three pairs of floorstanding speakers, two centre speakers and a pair of on-wall speakers.

Sonetto 1

The Sonetto 1 is a two-way bookshelf loudspeaker and the smallest of the Sonetto range. They are front ported at the base of the speaker, which allows closer placement to the rear wall. The hand-sewn leather top is as a very nice feature of the speaker.

Sonetto 3

The Sonetto 3, a three-way floorstanding design, are the first of three pairs of floorstanders in the Sonetto range. The reflex port is on the underside of the speaker, making it easier for room placement. Non parallel cabinet surfaces ensure perfect control over internal resonances.

Sound Quality

For the purpose of the demonstration we used the Sonetto 1 connected to the MA5300, as a source we use an Innuos Zen Mini MK3 music server with Qobuz music streaming integration. Our demo room measures approximately 6 x 4 metres (speakers set up just a little more than a foot away from the wall) and we started with Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams. The bass is tight and very controlled at higher volume levels, the imaging on Jack’s voice is brilliant with just a little toe in, and the guitar sound crisp and clear. Next on the list is UB40, Kingston Town. A fantastic track with lots of rhythm and deep bass and the Sonetto 1 filled the room effortlessly. They may be the smallest speaker of the Sonetto range but don’t be fooled - they sound big.

We had the MA7200 powering the Sonetto 3 in the same room with the same source, roughly the same distance away from the rear wall. Instantly, we could hear a much bigger presentation of instruments and that the vocals sound more focused. You feel when a system sounds great and you want to play more music - It’s that great.

McIntosh and Sonus Faber are fantastic brands and we are truly happy that both are now available to our customers .

Many thanks for reading - Stefan & Andy - Audio T Swindon

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on Facebook to keep an eye on what’s happening in store.

For the time being, McIntosh products can be found at -

Swindon

Sonus Faber can be found at -

Bristol

Cardiff

Swindon

If these products aren’t stocked at your local branch, be sure to contact us.

September 29, 2021

VINYL TLC - GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR RECORD COLLECTION

September 29, 2021/ Reading

In the past 18 months, it would appear that many people picked up a plethora of weird and wonderful hobbies as a result of the lockdown. We’ve seen everything from baking & breadmaking, tie-dye, DIY home improvements or even those experimenting with arts and crafts.

Now, not all of us are into such messy or exhausting affairs. Some of us like to sit back and enjoy an album to its fullest. Perhaps you’re one of those that added to the surge in vinyl sales and have recently developed a vinyl addiction? Or maybe you rediscovered your old vinyl in the loft, where it has resided for the last 20 years? Maybe you’ve inherited a vinyl collection from a relative that’s had a clearout? Or, perhaps you’re already the owner of a large and cherished record collection? Whichever applies to you, the likelihood is that you’re not aware of the benefits of maintaining your beloved discs of plastic. Hey, you might not even know what’s available?! But never fear, we’ve got you covered…

The Project VC-E ALU, with cleaning brush and vacuum arm, cleaning mixture, carbon fibre brushes and some treasured VINYL!

Here at Audio T Reading we offer a number of solutions for playing your vinyl, from your very first entry-level turntable to the highest of high end audio solutions. Your records contain many treasured moments & memories, and when kept in good condition they give a satisfying sonic experience up there with other HD formats.

But the real question that isn’t asked all too often is how can I revive my vinyl and/or keep them in tip-top condition? I’ll be attempting to provide some practical, everyday ways of doing that. Obviously, it goes without saying that your records can’t necessarily be brought back to life if they are scratched or cracked, but the dirty and dusty ones can be easily revived with a bit of TLC.

Keeping your records clean will mean that the noise and crackles on the vinyl will be a lot quieter, if not silent. You’ll also be better able to access the detail and dynamics locked inside the grooves.

So, what causes record “wear”?

Well it can be from a number of causes. It’s best to cover all your bases.

Firstly, the stylus on your record player can become coated in debris (dust and various artefacts) picked up from unclean records as well as dust in atmosphere. This is why many people keep a style cover over their cartridge. This debris can build up around the stylus and cause mistracking (the inability of the cartridge to travel through complex grooves without distortion).

Another issue to watch out for is a worn out stylus. Sadly these things don’t last forever. In fact, many manufacturers suggest that most styli last around 1000 hours and should be changed every few years. It’s important to make sure you keep on top of this as it can again can lead to mistracking, not to mention it can cause damage to the records themselves.

Did you know that we service turntables and fit new styli and cartridges? Contact your local store to find out more.

You can keep your styli healthy by maintaining the correct playing weight and anti-skate bias. If you ever need advice on this, be sure to contact us.

The biggest perpetrator for cleanliness are the records themselves. Because of the polyvinyl chloride that they are made from, they are prone to becoming statically charged, meaning they attract dust and dirt to the surface. If left on, this grime can ingrain itself into the vinyl groove and again cause serious noise and mistracking, not to mention it stops the needle from doing its job and getting deep inside the grooves for all that high-fidelity goodness.

It’s a little known fact that brand new vinyl can be left with production residue on the surface. So we’d recommend even cleaning your new record purchases. So this isn’t just for old or second hand records.

What are the solutions?

The basic aim is to keep both your stylus and records as clean as possible. The practical every day approach is to use the following:

A carbon fibre stylus brush – used occasionally and carefully to keep the debris off the stylus
A carbon fibre record brush – to sweep across the record before playing it. It also reduces the static attraction

For cleaning your record collection for the first time, or occasionally thereafter, we would recommend either manual or powered record cleaning for deeper cleaning. Some of our favourite examples are -

The Project Spin Clean Record Cleaner Mk2, which is a highly effective manual cleaner, complete with cleaning kit. All you have to do is source some distilled water (readily available online)
The Project VC-S2 and VC-E-Alu are mains powered record cleaners, which thoroughly wet clean the record via a supplied brush, and then vacuum the liquid and remaining debris from the vinyl groove (the machine has a built in vacuum motor). The VC range comes complete with vinyl cleaning solution to mix with some distilled water. The VC-E is functionally smaller than the VC-S2 and will fit into an IKEA Kallax along with your records
Last, but not least, for those with deeper pockets, the Audio Desk Pro Vinyl Cleaner, which uses a wet bath enhanced by ultrasonics to loosen dirt in the groves and a drying mode which ensures that the vinyl is ready to play within 5-6 minutes.

Project VC-E ALU & kit and carbon fibre stylus and record brush.

Conclusion

If you you use either the mains powered or manual cleaners, your records will not need to be treated again for some time, other than with a carbon fibre brush.

The advantage of the mains cleaners is that they are much more effective at lifting out the grime and detritus from the groove, whereas the manual cleaners rely on soaking and air-drying. If you have a large record collection, we strongly recommend the mains powered cleaners, They make quick and efficient work of the whole process.

In addition to keeping your records in tip-top condition, as an additional bonus, all the above cleaning products will greatly aid to prolonging to the life of your stylus.

All those treasured moments, memories and sonic highlights can be preserved. After all, everything deserves a bit of TLC occasionally!

Rob & Gareth – Audio T Reading

Be sure to keep an eye out on what’s happening at the Reading store by following us on Facebook.

Project can be found at the following Audio-T stores

September 21, 2021

LIFE OF A ROOKIE… JOINING THE TEAM AT AUDIO T BRIGHTON

September 21, 2021/ Brighton

“Please allow me to introduce myself”… No, I'm not Mick Jagger, but new Audio T employee, Ade Pollard, his better looking twin. I’m a man of few words, taking the opportunity to give you some insight into the life of a new employee (that's me, not MJ, of course). So, come with me now on the first instalment of my '“Life of a Rookie” blog series…

In a former life …

After obtaining a degree in Mathematics from Leicester University, I spent some time working in retail at Boots the Chemists, before deciding to do a PGCE and become a maths teacher. I spent two years in a school in Northampton before moving down south to sunny Brighton, where I spent 30 years teaching at Blatchington Mill School and VI form, in Hove.

That was enough for me and I decided to “retire” from teaching, seeking to pursue other interests in the world of music and Hi-Fi. I have always had a keen interest in this area, so when the opportunity to work at Audio T came up, I jumped at the chance. Luckily for me, Audio T welcomed me into their family and so here I am. Fortunately, John and Paul are big kids, so it hasn’t been such a culture shock and I haven’t needed to get the cane out ….. yet!

Time for the Teacher to become the Student…

So, my new life here at Audio T began on Tuesday 7th September, where I was given the keys to the castle and spent some time getting to know the two gents at the Brighton store.

For those of you familiar with the Brighton branch, you’ll know that John and Paul are lovely chaps. It seems to have taken very little time to feel like I've known them for a long time. Being of a similar age certainly helped!

It's been a long time since I last worked in the customer service industry, and even then that was in Boots the Chemist. There are systems a plenty to get to grips with and products and spare parts you would have never known existed.

Boys and their toys…

Part of the joy in joining a company like Audio T is all the fun gadgets we get to play with. Now, a turntable I have always coveted, but never owned, has been the Linn LP12. Watching John and Paul take these apart to service is a sight to behold. It clearly demonstrates the mastery in engineering required to construct and assemble every component to create the top quality sound from vinyl that Linn have been able to make over the years.

During my first week, I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing John's 30 plus years of expertise in servicing several different marques of these magnificent machines. The care and attention to detail he shows whilst stripping, replacing, rebuilding and re-aligning these beauties is a privilege to watch. You can read about the detailed process in our previous blog Here. I hope to be able to emulate his skills once I’ve visited the Linn Factory in Glasgow to be trained by the finest engineers.

Audio T RP3 — Rega Planar 3 in a Sporty Red finish

In contrast to the LP12, I have also witnessed Paul's skill in servicing the Rega Planar 3. In engineering terms this is a much simpler turntable, but quality often comes in many different forms.

I was privy to some interesting techniques including a very a rather unique way of removing the bearing (a trade secret of course). This is all useful knowledge for me personally because I can practise these techniques on my old 1980's RP3 deck and get that back into action.

Beyond the gear…

It has been a pleasure to chat with the many new and old customers that have come into the shop and it has tested my knowledge of the various combinations of Hi-Fi available. But I'm pleased to say I’m happy with my recall but there is much to learn.

So, stay tuned and find out how I get on with my journey in the wonderful world of Hi-Fi and Home Cinema.

To be continued . . .

Thanks for reading - Ade - Audio T Brighton

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Audio T Brighton by following us on Facebook and Instagram

Linn can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Rega can be found at the following Audio-T stores

September 15, 2021

RECREATING THE CINEMA EXPERIENCE AT HOME WITH REL 3D

September 15, 2021/ Swindon

Everytime I watched a movie at my favourite local cinema, I left with a smile, always so impressed by the quality of the sound. Original movie soundtracks are mixed for big venues, with lots of big speakers. The question is - Is it possible to add more depth and detail to our own home cinema systems without changing the front, left and rear speakers? The short answer to this is - Yes, add THREE REL Acoustics subwoofers and experience what is called - REL 3D

How does it work?

REL 3D refers to a set-up that each of the three groups of speakers in a traditional 5.1 home cinema system (front left/right, centre and surround channels) are underpinned by a REL subwoofer to improve depth and body to create a better, tighter and bigger sounding bass. Check out the picture below for a better representation of what I’m talking about.

The plan, the room and the set-up

To put this method to the test, we thought we’d go ahead and put a system together in our store demo room. And as the saying says, “Go big or go home”, we decided to “Go big” set up a 9.2.4 Dolby Atmos home cinema sound system with REL 3D.

We used a combination of Bowers & Wilkins 600 Anniversary front speakers, centre and surround channels , three REL Acoustics Tx Series subwoofers, four KEF in-ceiling speakers, a Denon home cinema amplifier and a Panasonic 4K Blu-Ray player.

Speakers

Bowers & Wilkins 607 Anniversary (rear speakers),
Bowers & Wilkins 606 S2 Anniversary (front speakers),
Bowers & Wilkins HTM6 S2 Anniversary (centre speaker).
KEF Ci160.2CR x 4 (Atmos in-ceiling speakers)

Subwoofers

REL T9x (front right corner - high level front left & right speakers and LFE)
REL T7x (rear left corner- high level rear speakers and LFE)
REL T5x (high level centre speaker)

AV Receiver

Denon AVC-X4700H - 9.2 channel amplifier that supports Dolby Atmos and DTS-X

Blu-Ray player

Panasonic DP-UB820 4K Blu-Ray Player

REL Acoustics Tx Series Subwoofers

From left to right we have the REL T5x, T7x and T9x - Ready to go into our home cinema system -

The hard work

I’m sure that many of us who have set-up a home cinema system before agree that the hardest part of it is getting down on your knees, crawling into narrow spaces, connecting all the components together and then trying to fit them all into cupboards, but it’s a great feeling once you’re finished and you know you’ve done a good job.

To start with, we positioned our left and right speakers, a pair of B&W 606 S2 Anniversary. We set them up like you would a conventional two channel system, striving for the best possible stereo imaging.

The REL high level is supplied with every one of their subwoofer

This done, we connected the main front subwoofer, a REL T9x using the supplied high-level cable to the front left/right speaker terminals of the Denon amplifier and set it up.

Why is this important?

With the use of the high level cable, the REL subwoofer is now like an extension of the two front speakers, working as one with them. It gets exactly the same information as the two front speakers and adds depth and clarity, allowing your speakers to sound bigger in the sound stage and infinitely better in their performance. The cable connects to the .1 channel (called LFE -Low frequency effects) on the back of the subwoofer and that is your front-end done.

Next we positioned the second subwoofer, the REL T7x, in the left rear corner and connected the high level cable to the rear speaker terminals on the Denon amplifier in the same way as the first sub. On top of the included high level cable, we added a second dedicated phono to phono sub cable to the LFE (Low Frequency Effect) channel. This dedicated input allows the AV receiver to send discrete content to the subwoofer from a Dolby or DTS encoded audio track.

The B&W HTM6 centre speaker sounds great on its own, but with the added support of a REL T5x, it grows into a bigger and deeper sounding speaker.

When fine tuning the system I love to use the opening sequence of the 2009 animated film, “9”. Produced by Tim Burton, this movie has a dark and ominous presence which puts the subwoofers through their paces.

The reward - It’s movie time!

To kick things off, we decided to start with the action packed, 2021 monster mash, Godzilla vs. Kong. There are so many great scenes to choose from, but you have a listen to Kong’s monster growl through the HTM6/REL T5x combination and you’ll know what we mean. Moving on to the moment when Godzilla and Kong fight under and above water, you can feel the weight of those two gargantuan beasts. The REL T9x & T7x are hard working speakers and never lose control of the dedicated LFE frequencies. This set-up is guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of most customers.

The next tester was the 2011 drama, War Horse, directed by Steven Spielberg. We could barely contain ourselves; we jumped straight to the iconic scene where the massive cannons are tirelessly pulled uphill by two rows of exhausted horses and put into position to fire. And then… this is hard to put into words… cannon fire with a satisfying bass so tight and loud it is a feast to the ears. A true reflection of the cinema experience this film was made for.

The conclusion

Now we’re not suggesting that everyone should go out and put three subwoofers into their room, we know not everyone will have the space. BUT, it’s a method worth considering when looking to improve the overall sound of your home cinema setup. Why not start with one main subwoofer and add more with time. You won’t be disappointed.

If you’d like to find out more about REL subwoofers or the 3D technique, feel free to contact us.

Thanks for reading.

Andy & Stefan - Audio T Swindon

REL can be found at the following Audio-T stores -

B&W can be found at the following Audio T stores -

September 15, 2021

THE LATEST FROM BLUESOUND - THE NODE 3

September 15, 2021/ Oxford

The Bluesound Node, a staple of any good Hi-Fi shop and show floor, has recently had an upgrade. With the little streamer being of respectfully high quality already we were curious to see whether the promise of a new DAC and processor really made enough difference to justify the latest iteration of an award winning streamer.

The Specification

Upgrading from the 1GHz ARM CORTEX A9 processor to the new Quad-core 1.8GHz ARM CORTEX A53 processor, Bluesound promised a smoother experience while streaming, allowing the overall experience to be uninterrupted, even when listening to the highest quality audio. Speaking of high quality audio, the DAC has gone from 32-bit - 192kHz to 32-bit - 384kHz, to allow for fully unfolded MQA audio (Master Quality Authenticated). Another feature of the new Node is the inclusion of an eArc slot, allowing for easy connection to a TV, something we feel is is always a welcome addition.

A touch screen panel has replaced the five button interface on the top, which allows for quick access to 5 preset options that can be linked to things like radio stations or playlists, a volume slider, a play/pause button and a network connection indicator light. A small quality of life change that I highly appreciate is how the ethernet port does not flash when a cable is plugged into it, as it did on the Node 2i, so there is no longer an annoying orange light flickering away in the background to distract me.

But the big question is…

Does it sound better? In short, yes! My personal setup is not ideal. Like many homes, the room is small and square, but it is easy to tell when something in the sound changes, as my distance from the speakers can only be described as intimate. Hooked up to a Yamaha amplifier I inherited a number of years ago, and a pair of Dynaudio Evoke 10’s, I listened to songs I knew well and knew how they sounded in my room, Petals by Tops, Cool for a Second by Yumi Zouma and Les yeux ouverts by Enzo Enzo to name but a few.

When playing Petals on the old Node 2i, the bass guitar ran the risk of becoming almost too overpowering if the volume was cranked up to an enjoyably loud level. However, I didn’t experience this issue with this new and improved Node 3. The jazzy, finger style bass becomes more controlled and instantly fits in with the rest of the mix as a whole, rather than a competitive solo instrument.

Whenever I’m in the mood and feel like transporting myself to some French jazz bar, I like to put on a bit of Enzo Enzo. The new Node 3 helped me do that perfectly. The sound stage and positioning I found during her rendition of Les yeux Ouverts makes the performance feel incredibly natural, as if you’re right in front of the stage. This is in no small part to the exceptional production of this track. To be fair, the listening experience with this track wasn’t too dissimilar on my old Node 2i, but I did find that songs that aren’t MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) are enhanced to new levels by the Node 3’s new and improved engineering.

Yumi Zouma’s, Cool for a Second, was able to fully showcase its chilled-out, clean, dream pop production without any restrictions thanks to the Node 3’s MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) unfolding technology. The New Zealand, alternative Pop quartet are a fantastic band to listen to when determining the clarity of a system due to their beautiful compositions of subtle synths and real instrumentation. Definitely one to check out.

BluOS Controller App

The BluOS controller interface is one of the easier applications to use from the plethora of options available in the industry. It is considered to be so sturdy that other manufacturers have taken to use it with their own products, such as as the brand new Roksan Attessa. This means you can actually use devices from different manufacturers in one complete multi-room system. Very clever!

As with many other apps, it gives you access to any drives of saved music libraries you may have, as well as a good selection of streaming services such as Qobuz and Tidal, meaning you’ll never be short on choice for what you can listen to.

In Conclusion

At its price point, the Node 2i was considered to be one of the best streamers you could buy. I think it’s safe to say that the Node 3 will continue that trend by doing everything that the Node 2i did so well, but better, and with several improvements on top of that. If you take all of this in to consideration, it really is a justified upgrade.

Please feel free to Contact Us to schedule a demonstration either in store or at home.

Andrew, Jon and Luke - Audio T Oxford

Be sure to keep up with all that is going on at Audio T Oxford by following us on Facebook and Instagram.

Bluesound can be found at the following Audio-T stores

September 01, 2021

DALI MENUET. A SPECIAL EDITION STUNNER!

September 01, 2021/ Cheltenham

Once in a while a rather special little product will come our way. The day that we were introduced to these brand new little wonders was just such an occasion. In a hotly contested area of the market already well populated with numerous offerings from the likes of Dynaudio, B&W, Monitor Audio, the ever popular KEFs and our personal favourites, Acoustic Energy, comes a brand new star in the guise of the Dali Menuet Special Edition. Make note of that “Special Edition” bit as there is a slightly cheaper standard version of the Menuet too but here we are concentrating on the rather special Special Editions!

The DALI MENUET SE in their new eye-catching finish, Wild Walnut veneer. Made from a variety of natural woods. Every pair is carefully matched and will be unique in appearance. No two pairs will look the same.

Perched on top of the Solid Steel speaker stands looking great and sounding even better !

The intention of this piece is not to list boring specifications and measurements, but instead to talk about the musical response. After all, isn’t that why we’re in this game?

What I’ll say is that we’ve got some extraordinary sounds out of these little beauties. We used them on the end of an all Rega system using the Apollo CD player and the Brio amplifier with a Rega couple interconnect and Chord Company Rumour X loudspeaker cable perched on top of a pair of Solid Steel SS6B loudspeaker stands. The sound of this set up… Wow!

Placement

Dali suggest that the Menuets are used pointing straight out into the listening room with no toe-in. Whilst this seemed like an alien concept to me, I thought I’d tried them the Dali way followed by varying degrees of toe-in. I have to say that Dali are indeed correct! When used with no toe-in the stereo image is just astounding. Yes there may be speakers in this price bracket that can create deeper bass, but in my humble opinion, none of them can throw a stereo image this far out of the box and I’ll take that over bass any day! I’m by no means saying that the Dali Menuets SE are light on the bass either because they are no slouches in that department, believe me.

I just want to take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous these speakers are in their Wild Walnut lacquered wood finish. This is the only finish these speakers come in, and they are beautiful!

Listening

Bass driver uses wood fibre reinforcement for ultimate low distortion reproduction.

As per the pictures, I started off my listening session with a little bit of Blue Note Jazz (thanks Harry). These recordings date from the early 1960’s, but played on the Dali’s they sound vibrant and incisive and most important of all, fun! The Menuets sounded particularly lovely with the track Spring by a band called The Innocence Mission, from the album the album called My Room In The Trees.. A song with a vocal that is to die for and is achingly beautiful and just sheer poetry… Try it for yourself and see what I mean.

Cover of the wonderful album by The Innocence Mission that goes by the title of My Room In The Trees….Try it!

The diminutive Dali’s created a wide soundstage and I was able to hear every little detail that was going on in the music. When I closed my eyes the speakers totally disappeared and the music was just hanging in the air in front of me. A truly amazing response for a speaker at this price. If stereo imaging is your thing, you really need to add these to your audition list !

I Thought this album was sort of appropriate!

Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe…how can a band that looks like this not be good?

To pay tribute to Dali’s Danish heritage, I thought I would treat them to a little bit of Prog Rock from the motherland in the shape of the totally ace album, W.W.W. from the band Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe. I really only intended to play the opening track, Second Floor Croydon, but it sounded so good that I had to play the whole album. First released in 1971 and featuring on John Peel’s, Dandelion Records, gives you a bit of a heads up as to the freaky proggy/avant-garde sounds that awaits. It is a rather well recorded album too, which always helps.

Features

Connection for speaker cable is via a pair of rather nice sturdy gold-plated terminals. Originating from the high-end EPICON series. Refined over the years, they ensure that the DALI MENUET SE always has the best possible connection regardless of speaker cable choice.

I think that the secret weapon of the Menuet is the oversized 28mm soft dome tweeter which is able to start and stop with great speed and precision due to the very low mass of the dome assembly as well as a very powerful motor system. This dome is approximately 30% lighter than comparable standard domes and the magnet in the motor system is made of the strongest neodymium material available. Never once did they sound shouty or over bright. It is also possible to position them very close to room boundaries by virtue of a rear mounted bass ports that fires down at a 45 degree angle to minimise reflections from the wall behind… Genius or what?

Conclusion

Anyway…. It’s safe to say that here at Audio T Cheltenham, we love these little Danish beauties and we’re pretty confident that you will too, especially if you’re tight for space these little Dali Menuet SE’s could be just the thing you need! Demonstrations can be arranged in store and are thoroughly recommended.

Thanks for reading.

Andy, Jon and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham Store.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on Facebook to keep an eye on what’s happening in store

Dali can be found at the following Audio-T stores

September 01, 2021

MONITOR AUDIO GROUP – A FAMILY DAY OUT

September 01, 2021/ Portsmouth

It’s safe to say it’s been a long old time since I’ve been to a hotel to listen to the latest innovations in Hi-Fi - February 2020 at the last Bristol Hi-Fi show to be exact! So, when I received an invite from the Monitor Audio Group to do just that, I jumped at the chance. So, off I headed to leafy Surrey, to the rather prestigious Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot.

For those of you unfamiliar with the newly rebranded, Monitor Audio Group, this comprises of –

Monitor Audio

First founded in 1972 in Taversham, near Cambridge. Iranian engineer, Mo Iqbal, sought to create a world leading brand of Hi-Fi speakers. Fast-forward 40 years and Monitor Audio is regarded by many as one of the leading manufacturers in the industry with an emphasis in innovation for both Hi-Fi and Home Cinema applications.

Roksan

THE XERXES TURNTABLE THAT KICKED THINGS OFF IN 1985

Acquired by the Monitor Audio Group in November 2016, Roksan was first founded in 1985 by graduates of the University of London, Imperial College London and Queen Mary College, Tufan Hashemi and Touraj Moghaddam. Forged in the fires of Moghaddam’s dissatisfaction of the Hi-Fi systems available at the time, the pair formed a formidable British Hi-Fi company, choosing names for the brand and their products that celebrated the mythology of their Persian heritage. The name Roksan itself is derived from the name of Roxana, daughter of the Persian King Darius. Not surprisingly many of Roksan's product names have references to names of cities, places and famous people of Persia. One such product was the Xerxes Turntable which launched the company to success. Soon after, the company poured their expertise into amplification and digital sources.

Blok

And finally, Blok. Acquired in April 2019, Blok is the manufacturer behind the stylish STAX range of Hi-Fi furniture. Whilst they can’t be grain matched, they can in essence be colour matched to the Monitor Audio speaker range. These are set to be with us in the near future, so if you’re interested in the Blok range, contact your local store for more information.

So, after a quick meet and greet, a coffee and a very welcomed bacon bap; we found ourselves in the “Windsor” suite, decked out with selected kit from the Monitor Audio Group. Before we could listen to the goods, we first had to find out what made the seventh generation of the Silver range so special…

MONITOR AUDIO SILVER 7G

Looks aren’t everything…

It’s not the most popular opinion, but Hi-Fi speakers are as much a piece of furniture as the racks that your records & CDs reside in, so it’s important that they look as good as they sound. Before getting in to the technical nitty-gritty of the speakers, let’s take a moment to appreciate the aesthetics at play here –

The Silver Series 7G have adopted a contemporary, crisp edge design. Not only has this allowed for a sharper look, it has also allowed the introduction of two new, real wood veneers: Natural Walnut and Ash*. It’s rare to find real wood veneers on a speaker of this price point, so this is a nice touch. If the real wood veneers aren’t your thing, you also have a choice of Satin White, Gloss Black and Black Oak – A colour for pretty much every listening space.

(*The Silver AMS 7G and FX 7G will only be available in High Gloss Black and Satin White)

To compliment the slick choice of finishes, Monitor Audio have also introduced new driver trim rings that are painted to match the tweeter rim and give a more balanced visual appearance, by reducing visibility of the rubber driver surround.

And finally, a feature of both function and design – The new outrigger foot system. These new feet are made from moulded ABS and feature a spun metal trim, developed for improved stability. They also have a new locking foot designed to work on both carpet and hard floors.

The technical nitty-gritty…

For years, Monitor Audio have brandished their Rigid Surface Technology (RST) woofers as a trademark of their look. These iconic, silver drivers are now in their second incarnation, derived from the Gold 5G’s RDT (Rigid Diaphragm Technology) development. The composite of the ceramic-coated aluminium magnesium (C-Cam) is considered by Monitor Audio to be the best material to improve the tensile strength of the cone, while being light enough to move quickly, giving the speaker the ability to translate the music accurately. Unlike previous versions of the Silver range, which featured the original smooth RST drivers; the RST II is complimented by a hexagonal dimple pattern, which allows it to handle the higher frequencies at an optimal level.

As if improved drivers weren’t enough, Monitor Audio have taken the opportunity to improve the performance of the speakers as a whole and given the crossovers a new lease of life.

Rather than just look at the crossover merely as an electrical component, Monitor Audio approach them as an acoustic requirement that should complement the drivers, even if it means using non-mathematical methods and splitting the frequencies in a non-symmetrical manner, as long as it benefits the tonal balance, phase and musicality of the speaker.

One thing that really came across in the presentation is that Monitor Audio are producing speakers that are really designed to allow the listener to get the most out of their musical experience.

ROKSAN ATTESSA

I’ll be completely honest with you. Roksan is not a brand that I’ve had a lot of experience with, so it was a good opportunity to learn about the brand and the new Attessa range. Something that I instantly liked about the range was how limited it was. Some brands release a product line with numerous iterations and combinations that is almost impossible to navigate, well not this one! The moderately priced Attessa family consists of a turntable, CD transport, integrated amplifier and streaming amplifier. The turntable is available in satin white or satin black, and the other components of the system come in either silver or black… And for possibly the first time in a very long time, I found myself preferring the silver finish over the black!

Both the Attessa’s integrated amplifier and streaming amplifier are not short of inputs. Both feature a dedicated MM Phono stage plus two more line level analogue phono inputs, accompanied by four digital inputs (two coaxial & two Toslink). There isn’t much more you’d want, especially if you’re planning on sticking with the rest of the range. As to be expected, the CD transport features a solitary coaxial digital output.

Now, I just want to talk about the turntable for a second… Some record players feature an optimised hardwired audio cable, others give you phono outputs to pick and choose your own aftermarket cables. The Attessa Turntable does a little of both. Whilst it does have the option for aftermarket cables, Roksan have paired it with a dedicated phono cable which they claim provides the optimum quality of musicality. “So why not just hardwire that cable?” - Well, the turntable features a built in Moving Magnet switchable phono stage (active/passive) that allows you to run to line level outputs or even active speakers. Very cool! There are a whole host of technical features that make this turntable impressive, you can find out more here.

Whilst on the surface, these seem like your run of the mill Hi-Fi boxes, beneath the chassis lurks some rather clever tech. The whole system can be used with with Roksan’s very own application, MaestroUnite. This clever software package will allow you to control your complete Roksan system as a whole, but will also automatically perform any firmware updates or bug fixes that you may have not known about unless checking the site. This is something a lot of manufacturers could benefit from. Not only does this work on smartphones and tablets using Android or iOS, but also on PC and Apple computers.

When it comes to the Attessa Streaming Amplifier, you’ll find the integration of BluOS™ technology. A tried and tested method brought you from the people behind Bluesound. This Premium Multi-Room Audio Technology allows you to not only stream from Roksan to Roksan device, but ANY product that utilises the same software. So for example, if you had a Bluesound Pulse 2i wireless speaker in other rooms of the house, you could stream the same music across the house… Great for parties!

Evidently the list of manufacturers using this application is growing. And what is even more impressive is if you use the turntable input on the streaming amplifier, you can then stream that record around your house with ease.

Right, enough tech jargon for one blog…

The proof is in the listening…

After a quick coffee break, it was time to get to the good stuff. Using the Attessa streaming amplifier as our source with a bespoke Tidal playlist curated by Monitor Audio (scroll to the bottom to find out more), we set through the Silver 7G range of stereo speakers from the 50 right up to the 500.

As you’d expect when ascending through a range of speakers, the musiciality, detail and clarity all improve with each step up. Bass response and sound stage are the most noticeable improvements. That being said, even the performance of the smallest member of the family, the Silver 50 7G, exceeded expectations considering it was working in a location well outside of its intended space.

The real winners of the day for me were the 300 and 500 7G. You can’t beat a big pair of floorstanders. They particularly shone with the track Uprising from Muse. Whatever your take on that band, it’s a great track for testing not only bass response of a speaker, but also how they deal with complex midrange arrangements.

Sadly we weren’t able to listen to the full range of the Silver 7G and missed out on the AV applications, which is a shame as the new AMS 7G and FX 7G look like they’d be an incredible addition to any home cinema system.

As with any Hi-Fi system, beauty is in the ear of the beholder! We strongly advise getting yourself to one of our stores to book a demonstration.

Thanks for reading -

Brad - Audio T

Be sure to follow Audio T on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with everything going on in our stores.

Monitor Audio can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Roksan can be found at the following Audio-T stores -

Demonstration Songs

Streaming Demonstration Playlist

Cara Dillon - False, False
Paul Simon - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Christine and the Queens - No Harm is Done
Billie Eilish - When I was Older
SHAED - Trampoline
Saycet - La Revolution
Nitin Sawney - Homelands
Cleo Sol - Why Don’t You
Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel
The XX - Together
Billie Black - Black & White
Beyoncé - Partition
Quincy Jones - Soul Bossa Nova
Sevdaliza - Human
Dominique Fils Aime - Strange Fruit
Dennis Edwards - Don’t Look Any Further
AC/DC - Back in Black
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
Muse - Uprising
The Who - Eminence Front

You can listen to Monitor Audio’s playlist of streamed tracks on Tidal Here.

Vinyl Demonstration Playlist

Madonna - Like a Prayer
Donald Fagen - New Frontier
Yello - New Frontier
Sade - Smooth Operator
Cigarettes After Sex - K

Audio T Blogs

Bespoke Accessories

Performance

The System

Our opening gambit - the Auralic Altair G2.1

Middle game authority - the Quad Artera stereo power amp

Endgamers - The Proac Response DB1

Checkmate . . . A Victorious sound

Post Game review

Sonus Faber represent classic craftsmanship.

Test System

Setup & Listening

In summary

The Linn LP12

The Factory

Amps, CDs and Streamers… Oh My!

SA10 Class A/B Amplifier

SA20 Class G Amplifier - What does “G” mean?

SA30 Class G - A Full Streaming System

Dirac Live Room Correction

Two source components - ST60 Music Streamer & CDS50 CD Player/Network Streamer

Just another mains box?

The Design

The proof is in the listening…

Conclusion

Beauty is more than skin deep

The other members of the Naim Solstice triage

All ready to Rock’n’Roll!

Wrapping up . . .

Spice up your life

Where music meets Hi-Fi

A first look at entry-level turntables

So what’s the difference in the Planar models?

The final thoughts…

The Little Diamond

Test System

Setup & Listening

Out with the Lite and in with the “Full-fat” Powerline . . .

All cables sound the same, don’t they?

Jazz gets more real . . .

A surprisingly significant upgrade to sound . . .

First off, a little history lesson…

Bells and whistles

The business end…

Set-up and use

So what does it sound like?

Let’s sum things up…

McIntosh Power - Let’s take a look

AUTOFORMER™ TECHNOLOGY - DOES IT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?

SONUS FABER CLARITY

Sound Quality

So, what causes record “wear”?

What are the solutions?

Conclusion

In a former life …

Time for the Teacher to become the Student…

Boys and their toys…

Beyond the gear…

How does it work?

The plan, the room and the set-up

REL Acoustics Tx Series Subwoofers

The hard work

Why is this important?

The reward - It’s movie time!

The conclusion

The Specification

But the big question is…

BluOS Controller App

In Conclusion

Placement

Listening

Features

Conclusion

Monitor Audio

Roksan

Blok

MONITOR AUDIO SILVER 7G

The technical nitty-gritty…

ROKSAN ATTESSA

The proof is in the listening…