What's new at Audio T Southampton?
/We are delighted to say that we have been extremely busy since we reopened after lock down. A big thank you to all of our loyal customers for your continuing support.
Now that things have calmed down a bit we would like to update you with some of the new product arrivals in our store.
We are long term fans of B&W speakers here, with 700 series amongst our favourites, so we were very excited when 700 Signature arrived.
Both models look stunning in the exclusive Datuk Gloss finish and the crossover and drive unit improvements, derived from 800 series (also on demo here), have raised performance to even greater heights, with more detail but a much sweeter treble, better imagery and deeper and more articulate bass.
Listening to some of Acoustic Energy’s current models made us realise what we were missing so we now have a few AE speakers on demo.
The slimline AE109 floor stander is a remarkably refined speaker for a very reasonable £499 in walnut, £549 in satin black.
Moving up a bit in price, the AE500 is a very worthy successor to the iconic AE1. It’s a very articulate but relaxed performer, which is easy to drive and locate and the finish is very good on both the speakers (£1000) and the excellent matching Reference stands (£350). What’s not to like?!
For those with a larger room to fill with sound, the AE509 has the same refined open top end with a weightier, but very controlled, bottom end. The gloss black finish is every bit as good as the satin white or walnut options. It’s a lot of speaker for £2300.
If your requirement is for a more compact solution, rather than a sizeable pair of floor standing speakers powered by hi-fi separates, the Ruark R3 ticks a lot of boxes. For £629 it provides DAB/DAB+/FM radio, CD playback, wi-fi streaming with support for Tidal amongst others, analogue and digital inputs, bluetooth, walnut (as above) or soft grey finish, and of course, it sounds great.
Staying small, the new baby amplifier from Rega is a stunner. It’s minimal in features, with just two line inputs plus MM for turntable, but we are yet to hear another amplifier to beat the Rega IO for sheer musical enjoyment at anything near the bargain asking price of £379 of this giant beater.
Last but by no means least, our smallest newcomer is this wonderfully crafted piece of hi-fi jewellery. Polychromatic balls embellishing an ingot of aircraft grade aluminium leave no doubt that the manufacturer of the Huei MM/MC phono stage is Chord Electronics. The exquisite build quality is matched by exceptionally transparent audio and imperceptible noise floor, breathing new life into even the most familiar vinyl. £990 seems a very fair price to rejuvenate a record collection!
Please give us a call or email if you would like to demo or home trial one of these new products, or anything else we have in store. We are currently open to appointment for booked demonstrations 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Saturday.
We hope to see you soon,
Alan, John and Wayne
