Rega, QUAD and Spendor Hi-Fi System Focusing On Vinyl And CD!

We realise that not everyone wants to stream their music, some people like to keep it simple with CD and Vinyl. With this in mind we put together a quality mid range system (Under £4000 excluding cables) for a small to medium room that sounds great and focuses on more traditional formats.

Quad Solus, Rega Planar 3 & Fono MM

The honest shot showing the connecting cables!

Starting with the hub of the system, we have the Quad Artera Solus. The Solus is an amplifier / CD combo in the very high quality Artera casework giving it a really solid, hefty feel.

Quad Artera Solus

For our record spinner we chose the latest version of the iconic Rega Planar 3 with Elys cartridge and the Rega Fono MM phono stage. The Planar 3 is available in Black or White as well as the Red finish shown below, and without cartridge if you would prefer to choose your own.

Rega Planar 3 with Elys

Rega Fono MM

And last but not least, one of the most compact floorstanding speakers we have, the Spendor A2 in black. The Spendor’s are also available in Dark Walnut and Natural Oak. White is available at a premium. Grills are available as an optional extra.

We tried several pairs of speakers with the system and liked the Spendor’s the most. Although they struggle to fill a big room, the combination of subtlety and a very natural musical presentation won us over against some of their bigger rivals.

Spendor A2

Although this system is excellent with CD and Vinyl it does have potential to expand. The Quad Solus does have Bluetooth if you want to dip your toe into the streaming world. It also has digital inputs, and analogue outputs for the Quad Artera Power amplifier for a bigger room / speakers.

Quad Artera Solus Rear

Feel free to come in and have a listen. Thanks for reading Nick, Joe & James - Audio T Portsmouth.

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

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

Spendor Loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T: Cardiff, Cheltenham, Portsmouth, Swindon

The Twelve Hi-Fi Gifts of Christmas!

We here at Audio T know how hard it can be to choose a gift for your music mad loved ones so this year we have you covered. Here are our top twelve suggestions to help you give the gift  and joy of music this Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Sonos Play:1!

This diminutive wireless speaker has a huge sound! Using the Sonos excellent free app, opens up a world of audio streaming from your own collection, Internet radio and streaming services such as Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal. Perfect for the person who loves streaming music from their phone or computer.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Chord Electronics Mojo!

This little headphone amp/DAC has made huge waves this year, winning numerous awards and accolades and for good reason! The Mojo is simply stunning, transforming your phone into a mini hi-fi! Also pictured is the very useful Mojo cable pack and durable carry case (both sold separately) Perfect for those who are listen to a lot of music on the go. At the moment you can buy a Mojo and get a FREE carry case (Offer ends 05-01-2017)

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Denon D-M40 and Q Acoustics 3010 speakers!

This little system is fantastic as a entry into HI-Fi or as an additional system in another room in your house. Capable of playing CD, DAB radio and music via USB, this is a gorgeous combination of amplifier and speaker. Perfect for a first audio system.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Sennheiser HD4.30i headphones!

This headphones are amazingly good value for money, strong defined bass and punchy mids combine for a lovely sound and the fact they are comfortable and foldable makes them great for wearing on the go. Perfect for anyone who listens to music when they are out and about.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Sennheiser HD 599 headphones!

The HD 599’s are brilliant headphones for home use. They have a gorgeous open sound which never gets fatiguing and are easy to listen to for hours. Perfect for those who like to listen through headphones at home.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Dynaudio Emit M10 Loudspeakers!

We have been very impressed with the Emit line by Dynaudio, they have a balanced sound yet are still exciting to listen to and the little M10’s are no exception. Perfect for someone who needs new speakers for a entry to mid level system.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Rega Planar 1 turntable!

Vinyl is all the rage at the moment but to take advantage of this you need a good turntable, which is where the Planar 1 comes in, offering superb looks, build and importantly sound quality….what more do you want? Perfect for someone who wants to get into vinyl.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Project Debut Carbon DC!

The Debut Carbon is a large step above entry level. It comes with a fantastic cartridge in the Ortofon 2m Red and combined with the carbon fibre arm makes for a highly enjoyable combination. Perfect for those who want to take their basic setup up a gear.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Project VC-S vinyl record cleaner!

One of the best upgrades you can do in a turntable setup is clean your vinyl, the result is staggering. The VSC makes short work of this otherwise mundane task, using its powerful vacuum to suck up any dirt and excess liquid from the surface of your favourite record or LP. Also pictured is Project’s Brush it and Clean it (both sold separately), essential tools for any turntable owner. Perfect for those who are serious about their vinyl.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…an Arcam rHead headphone amp!

A lot of the time we just suffer with poor quality through headphones for convenience sake, however a good headphone amplifier can change that completely. The R-head is one of the best on the market at the price and can transform your headphone listening experience. Perfect for the person who wants better quality sound from their headphones.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a phono stage!

We couldn’t decide on just one phono stage so we thought we’d recommend a few, pictured are the Project Phonobox MM, Project tube box DS, Nytech Audio CDP122 and the Rega Fono MM. These boxes all have the capability to transform your setup, just let us know your system and we can recommend the best match! Perfect for someone who wants to either start or improve their vinyl setup.

On the twelth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a Naim Mu-so QB!

This mini system has taken the market by storm and with very good reason! The Mu-so QB allows you to play your music via, Wi-Fi, Tidal, Spotify, internet radio, Bluetooth, usb and many more with stunning audio quality. It makes a great additional to an existing Naim setup in the form of multi-room or serves as an introduction to high quality audio. Perfect for just about anyone who wants to add high quality music streaming to a room in their house.

We hope this list has been useful for you, and as always we are always here to help you in store to make further recommendations and provide demonstrations of anything in the store. Many of the items listed are included in our winter Big Red Sale so please get in contact for more information.

From Hefin, Nick and Gareth, at Audio T Cardiff we wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year