The Latest News From Audio T Cheltenham

This is a bit of a break from the normal specific product related blog as we're not blogging on one particular Hi-Fi topic! This time around the intention is to keep you up to date with a number of things that are new or about to happen.

The first thing is...........

Naim 555 Network Player Summer Roadshow

We are very excited to have the opportunity (alongside our Bristol store) to host one of the Naim summer roadshows to launch the amazing new ND555 Network Player/Streamer. Tickets are available to book from the We Got Tickets website and they are FREE!!

A not to be missed opportunity to hear what is being hailed as the best streamer in the world being put through it's paces by the guys from Naim in person! If you have any Naim type questions of your own this will be the place to be!

The event takes place at the Gables Hotel in Falfield on Thursday 6th of September at 7:00 pm which is just off Junction 14 on the M5.......it's got to be a fun evening!! I will not add any more except to advise you to read the previous two blogs from the Brighton and Oxford stores for lots of in depth stuff to whet your appetite. 

The second thing is...........

We now have the rather lovely Spendor A7 floorstanding loudspeakers in store and available for demonstration. We think they are the best thing Spendor have made for a while and that's really saying something!

The third thing is...........

We are rather proud to announce that we now have ATC loudspeakers in store! 

We have three models in total the little SCM7 the slightly bigger SCM11 and the floorstanding SCM40 all of which sound great and are running in nicely.... see the picture below....

The fourth thing is...........

We have totally redecorated our AV demo room and given the shop a fresh coat of paint. Our AV demo room now has a 9ft fixed frame screen and an Optoma UHD65 4K projector looking rather lovely, in fact the best picture we have ever had in our dem room! Come and see!! There is always something playing and it always looks great and sounds even better!!! By now you'll probably have noticed that I like exclamation marks!!!

And fifth and finally...........

One of those "you really must listen to this" moments. 

This is a fairly recent album by the Yes legend Jon Anderson and Flower Kings Guitar maestro Roine Stolte. It sounds more like Yes than Yes have done since the 1970's and I'm not making that up .......it's true!! This comes across as a companion piece to the work of genius that is Tales From Topographic Oceans and if that was ever your fave Yes LP then you will adore this one.  It is called Invention Of Knowledge and does not have a dull second on it. If you thought Yes were no more then think again!! There go those exclamation marks again!!! 

Well that's it for this blog ....I'm off to play this on the new ATC SCM40 floorstanders to put them through their paces properly. You are always welcome to bring in some of your favourite music too and do the same .... you will be forever smitten!!

ATC Loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T: Brighton, Bristol, Cheltenham, Portsmouth

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

New Acoustic Energy 309 Floor Standing Speakers Punch Well Above Their Weight

Acoustic Energy have been purveyors of top quality loudspeakers for over thirty years now and have got pretty good at the dark art of making pretty boxes that will make your music sound wonderful and lovely! The latest 300 series builds on the fabness that is the 100 series and the floor standing AE309 raises the performance bar for a £1000 speaker by a significant margin.

The Acoustic Energy AE309 build quality is up there with the best. With mass loading in the cabinet making a very heavy and inert cabinet which is just perfect for housing a 28mm aluminium dome tweeter featuring what AE have trademarked Wide Dispersion Technology or WDT for short. The bass/mid driver is a new design too and uses a ceramic aluminium sandwich cone and long throw motor system. The cabinet itself is seamless (so you cannot see the joins) and boasts a very chunky 18mm thick high density MDF material designed to control cabinet vibrations and reduce colouration in the music.

Before listening properly to the AE309's we ran them in for about a hundred hours and yes this really does make a big difference. For the purposes of this blog we listened to them on the very lovely new Arcam CDS50 SACD/CD streamer and SA20 integrated amplifier (see last blog from the Swindon store for more info). The results are quite simply astonishing. Rarely have I heard a system costing this little sound this good! It is a real giant killer!

They sounded sooooooo good that I decided to put them through their paces good and proper! I brought in my CD copy of Natural Selection by Land's End. Now to say this is nicely recorded is a bit of an understatement. It is quite possibly the best recording of a rock band (of the progressive variety) that there has ever been! Plenty of so called top quality recording studios and their engineers and producers should be made to sit down and listen to this .... they would be thoroughly ashamed of their miserable efforts! Why does the word Oasis spring to mind here I wonder(wall)! None of that compression rubbish on this one and it's all the more lovely for it! 

Anyway ...... rant over ...... back to the task in hand. I started track five which is called My Home and was immediately struck by how accurate Acoustic Energy's marketing blurb was! Wide dispersion is bang on the button here. The soundstage created on the AE309's was huge. There was a real and tangible sense of width depth and height with the guitar on left coming from so far out of the box I had to open my eyes to see if he was actually there!! Then a drum rolls across the back all the way to the opposite side and a synthesiser explodes in the background - it is just WOW!! 

In fact whatever this system was given to play always sounded clean open and superbly detailed. You get a proper insight into the mix and it becomes totally absorbing and engaging. They produce a sound that I don't believe I have ever heard from a floorstanding loudspeaker at this price before. I think that they could become a bit of a Hi-Fi classic. Leave them off your shortlist of speakers to demo at your peril 

To sum up .... I have heard systems costing way more than this sound a fraction this good. The Acoustic Energy AE309's are game changers and if you would like to arrange a no obligation demonstration to hear for yourself we would be more than happy for you to bring in some of your own favourite music we can supply the tea coffee and biscuits! 

Acoustic Energy loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cheltenham, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Swindon

Special Speaker Alert! Neat Iota Xplorer Are Here!

The Neat Iota Xplorer - hand crafted by the boffins at County Durham's finest loudspeaker manufacturer - is the new big brother to the smaller Iota Alpha's, which has been one of our most popular little speakers of recent times. 

Anyone who has heard or indeed owned a pair of the smaller Iota Alpha and hankered after that next step up will adore these. Bigger than the Alpha's and with the same overall shape as them but still not a big loudspeaker by any stretch of the imagination. The Neat Xplorer very cleverly conjures up oodles of extra bass extension (not boom) by using the iso-baric double bass driver trick which fools the drive unit on the outside into thinking that it is in a cabinet that is way bigger than it actually is! Genius or what!! This system is not easy to get right but Neat have well and truly nailed it with this design. It sounds for all the world like they have their own built in subwoofer!

Another big stroke of speaker boffin design genius puts Neat's very own P1-R3 170mm bass/mid range drive unit and the rather grandly named Air Motion Transformer (AMT) together. and are mounted side by side in their own rear ported enclosure separate from the bass units. Designed and built this way to give a cleaner sound with a wider dispersion of the stereo image.

The enclosures have a tuned rear port, we have found they work equally as well placed close to the  the rear wall or in free space . They are isolated from the floor by some rather smart and very shiny coned spikes. This also keeps the isobaric bass units on the bottom the ideal distance off the floor!

We gave the speakers an initial listen fresh out of the box with results that were OK but not great, so we left them on for two weeks running eight hours a day, giving them the best part of 80 hours of quality running time playing a combination of Kraftwerk's Tour De France  and Deadmau5's Random Album Title! Going back to them again after all this time they sound like a totally different pair of loudspeakers!

My initial thought was "Wow" .... bass was now deep and tight just when it needed to be. Top end now sweet and nicely extended. Mid range now nicely open lending voices that type of expressive detail that makes you hang on every word.

The one thing that makes the most difference to the overall presentation of the sound though is how these speakers manage to throw an image way outside of the boxes. It sounds like the walls of the room disappear and you are left with the image of the music just hovering in the air   in front of you . a lovely experience and a rare one too! Not many speakers of any size or price can quite manage this!

Amongst lots of things I played one of my favourite demo tracks which is Get Miles by Gomez from the Bring It On album. This piece has cavernous deep bass which was very deftly handled by the isobaric bass system but the thing that struck me the most was how easy it was to hear right into the mix. The three vocal parts spread across the soundstage. Drums far left, guitar far right. I was totally sucked in to the music! But then I suppose that is exactly what a good loudspeaker should be doing!

Oh and the electronics being used to make all these lovely noises......... the new Arcam CDS50 CD player and SA20 amplifier from the new Arcam HDA range, with my favourite Rega Couple interconnect and Chord Company Odyssey speaker cable ...... but then that's a blog for next time!

Why not come in and have a listen and we'll even make you a cup of Audio T.

Jon, Farid & Andy, - Audio T Cheltenham

Neat Acoustics loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading

Unboxing ProAc Response DT8 Floorstanding Speakers

When we first heard the ProAc Response DT8 speakers we all were blown away by the performance and all agreed that these floorstanding speakers were needed in our product line up...so here they are being unboxed in store.

Supplied with 2x black acoustically transparent crimplene speaker grills and 8 silver spikes. Our demo pair are in the natural oak finish and look fantastic.

The speakers themselves stand at 978mm (on spikes) 193mm wide and 229mm deep, so a nice neat option for a floorstanding speaker.

At 26 kg each they are not the lightest of speakers but when in position the soundstage has to be heard to be believed, with the downward firing bass reflex port they are a joy to position in any room.

The downward firing bass reflex port.

Using the silk dome tweeter the higher frequences have the smoothness you expect from the classic ProAc delivery, being that of a sound you can happily listen to all day long.

The 2x 165mm bass/mid drivers work in tandem together to deliver a bottom end that is tight and quick.

Available in black ash/mahogany/cherry/maple/oak..also available in ebony & rosenut at a slightly extra cost as these are premium finishes.

Coming in at £1950.00 the ProAc Response D8 will be a great addition to any system.

Available to hear now in store at Audio T Preston.

Ian, Gavin & Andy

ProAc loudspeakers are available at Audio T Brighton.

New Spendor A7 Floorstanding Speakers Paired With Naim's NAC -N272 and NAP250 DR Amplifiers

Over the past week we have been putting the new Spendor A7 speakers through their paces, and we are impressed.

Visually they are still in keeping with the traditional design Spendor are known for and come in a range of pleasing finishes such as Black Ash, Dark Walnut, Natural Oak and now for a little extra Satin white.

Classically beautiful A7

The new A7 is a major revision for the award winning A6R, a tough act to follow. With more dynamic range and resolution with elements of D7 technology and changes to the cross over making the A7s a real step up. For full specifications click here

The A2 looking up to its big brother the A7

One element of the new A range that is worth mentioning, is that none of the speakers come with grilles. They are now an optional extra at differing prices depending on the model. The A7 is the biggest in the A-line range but is by no means a particularly big speaker. There are two other floorstanders in the range, in decreasing order of size they are the A4 and A2, which is a very compact and competent floor stander indeed. Last but not least is the A1 stand mounted speaker (A-line range).

Spendor A7 rear

After 5 days of playing the A7s day and night we sat down for good listen. We paired them with a very popular Naim combination, The NAC-N272 streaming pre-amplifier and the NAP 250 DR power amplifier.

 A briliant combination

We started of with Nils Lofgren ''Keith Don't Go'' from the brilliant Acoustic Live album. The A7s really brought the performance to life. We were all tapping out feet and would have been singing along but we didn't want to ruin the experience. The bottom end was big, warm and controlled allowing the vocals to soar creating loads of space around Lofgren which brought all of the emotion out of the track. After a few more tracks we changed to ''The Sound of Silence'' by Disturbed from the Immortalised album. An amazing version of the well known Simon and Garfunkel song. The powerful, rich vocals were clean and well nuanced and again with beautifully controlled bass. After a few more snippets of various tracks we were all in agreement that these are a serious competitor at the price and are very much in our top selection of favourite speakers. In short, the A7s like the rest of the A-line range have managed to retain the familiar sound of Spendor, but added so much more giving them greater dynamics and intricacies, a much more spacious and involving performance able to to cope with all kinds of music comfortably.

We love them and we think you will too. Call Nick Joe and James at Audio T Portsmouth to arrange a demonstration or home loan

We look forward to seeing you soon,

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

New Neat Iota Xplorer Loudspeakers on Demonstration at Audio T Brighton

Neat have taken the concept of the groundbreaking Iota Alpha to a new level with this intriguing additional model to the Iota range.

Introducing the Iota Xplorer. This exciting new design uses the same basic configuration as the Iota Alpha, in an enlarged form. The top section is sealed off from the lower, and acts as a two-way infinite baffle loudspeaker. It houses Neat’s own P1-R3 170mm bass/midrange drive unit alongside an Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter in a horizontal array, as per the Iota and Iota Alpha models

Our nice natural oak demonstration pair can be used with or without grilles. Interesting visually and more discreet than most loudspeakers, we believe these will be popular with the ladies. Gentlemen please take note!

The lower, ported section of the Xplorer houses not one, but two of Neat’s P1-R2 bass drive units. These are similar to the R3 unit, but specially tailored for extended low-frequency response. One unit is located on the bottom panel, facing the floor, whilst the second is located internally, directly above the first, in a sealed iso-baric arrangement, handling only low frequencies and acting as an integral subwoofer system. Iso-baric loading allows deep, well controlled low frequency (LF) bass performance from a compact enclosure.

Upside down!

The Iota Xplorer delivers a compelling portrayal of all types of music. Like the Alpha, the Xplorer belies its small stature with a full-range agile presentation and huge soundstage, which projects far beyond the modest confines of the cabinet.

Already sounding engaging after just running in overnight, there will be much more to come as they run in and open out further.

Suitable for use with Naim Uniti models and above; well anything rather good really.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Size (hxwxd): 74 x 30 x 22cm
Weight: 18Kg each
Impedance: 8 Ohms (minimum ~5 Ohms)
Sensitivity: 88dB/1 watt
System: 2.5-way, iso-baric bass reflex, incorporating integral iso-baric subwoofer.
Drive units:
1 x Neat P1/R3 170mm LF/Midrange unit
1 x AMT HF unit
2 x Neat P1/R2 170mm LF units.

Finish options. Satin white. black oak, natural oak, American walnut.

Neat loudspeakers are available at the following Audio T stores:

Brighton, Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading

Russell K Red 120 Loudspeakers

We have had the latest speakers from Russell K, the RED 120 for some months now and have proven such a hit that they have become our best selling model at any price at present.

Red 120 Walnut

So what makes them so successful? The answer is a combination of many things.

Firstly, in walnut in particular, they are visually striking but at the same time exceptionally compact. Indeed the pre-mounted plinth is smaller than that of a speaker stand for a bookshelf speaker, this and the fact they are absolutely not fussy about room placement and general set-up make they extremely room friendly.

Red 120 Walnut

Secondly, and most important really is their sound. What shocked us and floors all those that hear them is their sense of scale and amazing depth for such a small cabinet. These speakers throw a huge image in front of you with an uncanny sense of coherence top to bottom. Due to the compact nature of the enclosure and 6’’ drivers mean they are incredibly fast and time on point.

Red 120 Walnut

So what, one may ask is so new? Well, it’s a combination of both new and old design principles that are at work here. Although the cabinet measures just 20cm wide and 19 cm deep the sides are thin walled a la BBC monitor compared to the front baffle which means the ‘play’ along with music rather than damped. Indeed, there is also no damping material inside either but there’s not a trace of boxiness. The secret is the internal bracing which controls the resonances so they remain in time with the music rather than smear it, thus the cabinet is acting much like a musical instrument hence the large-scale presentation.

Red 120 Walnut

The other key design feature is the port tuning. Russell has not been tempted to implement the commonly used 40/80hz which is designed to excite the resonances of the average UK room with an 8’ ceiling. Instead the port is tuned to a low 24hz. Although there is little output at this frequency, the speakers in-room response is nothing short of remarkable and not a trace of that 80hz bloom.

Red 120 Walnut

But what sets this model apart for us is that they work exceptionally well within more modest systems but at the same time can deliver awesome results with better partnering equipment. Indeed they work wonders with a Naim Uniti Atom or even a Rega Elex-R.

Ultimately we feel there is nothing not to like about the RED 120 so we're not surprised by its immediate success.

Red 120 Walnut

Come on in and have a listen.

Russell K loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Enfield, Portsmouth, Reading

The Stunning New Bowers and Wilkins 700 Series Loudspeakers

Any new speaker from B&W causes excitement and the new 700 series doesn't disappoint!

Shown here are the 702, 704, and 707

Although this range bears some visual similarity to the outgoing CM range they are in fact completely different speakers in almost every way. All the drive units are radically different to those in the CM range and utilise trickle down technology from the famous Diamond 800 range and also some tech unique to this range.

B&W 707 Standmount Speaker

Taking the wonderful little 707 as an example the first thing you'll notice is the old yellow Aramid Fibre cones, so long a trademark of B&W speakers, has been replaced by a shiny new silvery cone made from their new proprietary material Continuum™. Not only is this a sonically superior material it also looks really smart in the new 700 cabinet work.

Although you can't see it through the snazzy (and very protective) cover on this 702, the tweeter is also a completely new design using a carbon dome, which offers less break up in the higher frequencies than the previous aluminium tweeter. There have been other changes to the driver chassis and the new Aerofoil™ configuration of the bass cones.

All of this results in a very handsome range of speakers.

But enough techy stuff, these speakers really do sing! A newly established favourite combination with some of the shops is to partner the little 707 with the wonderful new Naim Uniti Atom. 

Our dem room favourite at the moment is the B&W 702 with the Quad Artera Play and Artera power amplifier. This system produces huge dynamic range and frequency response, we've been throwing all sorts of music at it from Outrospective by Faithless to Bjork's Utopia with a little country blues from Chris Jones Roadhouses and Automobiles and the speakers have just sailed through with grace and occasionally scary levels of dynamics.

So all in all a great success, A beautiful range of speakers with an exciting sound and a model to work in any room. There are six stereo pairs, two centre speakers and a sub. Come in, have a listen and sit back, relax and enjoy the music!

Boswell chilling to music on the 700 series

We also want to wish all of our customers and friends a very happy festive season.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yes the driver is dark blue!

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

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

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

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

Thanks for reading. Paul, Jason and Francis.

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

All New Bowers And Wilkins 700 Series With 800 Diamond Tech Make A Beautiful Noise

Introducing the new 700 series from Bowers and Wilkins. Our eyes are usually first to draw an opinion and we like what we see. Bowers & Wilkins have always had a reputation for creating some of the most undeniably beautiful and great sounding speakers on the planet i.e. Nautilus. 

The brand new 700 series has not been neglected nor skipped in design or quality and should be enough to convert anyone who isn't a fan of  'big speakers'. B&W have ditched their distinctive yellow cone for a slicker silver and black one and they do look the business.

The 700 series cabinet is quality as always, shown here in gloss black but it is also available in satin white and rosewood finishes. The new range also utilises tech from the flagship 800 series, which is stocked at out our Cardiff branch. Most notable is the new carbon coated tweeter, similar to 800 series but at less cost. Aerofoil bass cones, were developed using a computer and which varies the thickness and gauge of the drive unit as the distance from the centre phase cone increases makes big improvements to bass response. Aerofoil tech is taken directly from the 800 series.

The B&W 703's are out on display and now in our demo room in Manchester.

B&W have developed a new mid drive unit using a patented technology called Continuum weave technique, which is very lightweight but also tough and it makes the mid driver very easy to manipulate when dealing with the break up of mid range frequencies.

Other notable changes, which again, stem from the 800 series include decoupling the mid range unit. Since mid range frequencies are what we are most receptive to, for example, vocals and talking, this is where we are going hear things that don't sound quite right, which is more commonly referred to in the Hi-Fi world as colouration. By decoupling the mid drive unit from the cabinet, which will be vibrating predominantly from lower frequencies, this isolates and drastically reduces any transient/ interfering harmonics generated by the other drive units, which results in a clearer sound quality.

Chromey is taking full advantage of the new floating drive unit in the 700 series. Chill out dude, chill out. 

Bowers and Wilkins have also added two centre speakers to the new range. The new HTM72 S2. and the larger HTM71 S2 which will be added to our range later.

Our new 700 series is out on display and ready to demonstrate. Pop over to Audio T Manchester and take a look and listen. 

Dave, Simon, Mike, Haden and Munir should be on hand to help.

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

The New Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series 2 Has Arrived

The S2 700 series replaces and improves upon the CM Series and benefits from technologies used in the studio-grade 800 Series. Bowers & Wilkins have gone to town on this new range that comprises three floor standers, three stand mounters, a speaker stand, along with two centre speakers and a subwoofer. Available in gloss black, satin white or rosenut.

702 S2

With a Carbon Dome tweeter in a solid body housing on top of the cabinet and a decoupled Continuum midrange and three Aerofoil Profile bass drivers the 702 S2 flagship floor stander is very capable.

704 S2

A slim and elegant floor stander in store that delivers. The 703 S2 sits between these and is available to demonstrate by arrangement. 

706 S2

The 706 is the middle of the three stand mount speakers. The same mid sized speaker as the 705 S2 that benefits from the top mounted tweeter.

707 S2

The smallest of the 707 S2 Series can be demonstrated with our range of equipment in store along with the others, but you are welcome to bring along an amplifier that you own.

Julian, Paul and John at Audio T Brighton 01273 609431

Bowers and Wilkins Speakers are available in the following Audio T stores: 
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon

New - Neat Acoustics SX7i

In addition to our current line up of Neat Acoustics loudspeakers we have now added the top of the Momentum range called the SX7i.

The SX7i delivers the performance of a high end loudspeaker from a room friendly enclosure taking up no more space that a conventional stand mount loudspeaker. The SX7i utilises no less than five drive units. The upper section is effectively a two way infinite baffle loudspeaker housed in its own enclosure. High frequencies are handled via a SXT black anodised aluminium tweeter with a massive ferrite dual magnet assembly offering extremely detailed presentation with no hint of hardness allowing fatigue free listening. The tweeter is flanked by two of Neat's recently upgraded P1/R3 bas mid drivers.

These are then crossed over to the lower half of the cabinet utilising two further P1/R3 drive units utilising Iso-Baric configuration. The first bass driver is located at the bottom of the cabinet firing downwards. This is coupled with an identical drive unit above with a sealed chamber between the two drive units. Both drive units receive an identical signal and operate in phase. These are then housed in their own enclosure that is tuned via a rear firing reflex port.

The first benefit this configuration is that the bass extension achieved is equivalent to an enclosure twice its size, thus offering extremely deep bass from a relatively small enclosure. The second benefit is that as both drivers are driven by their drive assemblies (Magnets) via the effective area of a single cone, which offers extremely controlled extended bass performance.

The drive units are housed in an extensively braced and damped cabinet constructed of high grade 18mm MDF. The cabinet sits on a pair of tri-laminate feet with adjustable spikes offering extreme stability and an overall cleaner presentation of the music.

Listening:
Straight out of the box and with no run in time, we were truly impressed by the musical performance offered - and this will only improve significantly with a few hundred hours run in time! We played 'And the Druids turn to Stone' from the album Universal Migrator by Ayreon via a Naim streamer and amplifier. The level of bass performance was truly outstanding for the cabinet dimensions and at no time became uncontrolled. the level of detail was a good as we've heard and  we heard information that we have never heard before! The sound stage and separation were truly outstanding. We have yet to play any music that has not impressed so far and this can only get better once they are run in.

These are truly outstanding loudspeakers and an audition is highly recommended. We look forward to seeing you.

Farid Andy and Jon - Audio T Cheltenham

Neat Acoustic loudspeakers are also available from following branches of Audio T:
Brighton, Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading

Acoustic Energy Brings Back Some Old Friends

Many years ago there were two best selling speakers from Acoustic Energy the AE109 and the AE100.

Now the company has resurrected those model numbers and having heard them, for very good reason, these two new models promise to be every bit the giant killers that their ancestors were.

The AE100 is a very compact stand mount speaker with a big heart. Like its bigger brother the AE109 they employ trickle down technology from some of the manufacturers more upmarket speakers, most notably the wide dispersion tweeter and rear facing slot mounted port.

The cabinets come in two finishes a rich walnut, or for a small premium in satin black. Coupled with their curved edges, sleek lines and compact dimensions this makes the AE109 and AE100 very room friendly.

Now to the good bit, the sound quality! As the eagle eyed among you may have spotted we've just received our Uniti Atom the wonderful small single box streaming system from Naim. Well what better device to try out some small but perfectly formed speakers with, than a small but perfectly formed system?

The sound from both speakers is surprisingly large and spacious with a richness and scale which completely belies their size. This has been very apparent on our new fave recording Kraftwerk's 3D the catalogue. This recording has subterranean bass notes and crystal clear highs, a perfect test of any speaker/system combo and the little Acoustic Energy speakers acquit themselves masterfully.

Needless to say we're quite excited by both of these products, why not come in and see why?

Paul, Francis, Jason, and Boswell - Audio T Brentwood.

Acoustic Energy loudspeakers are also available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Bristol, Cheltenham, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Swindon

New Monitor Audio 6th Generation Silver Series Arrive At Audio T Swindon

Monitor Audio have just launched the new Silver 6th Generation Series. This new range features two stand mounts, three floor standing, two centre channels, a pair of dipole/bipole surround sound speakers and an active subwoofer.

This is the new 6G Silver range:

Silver 50 (two-way standmounters)

Silver 100 (two-way standmounters)

Silver 200 (two and a half-way floorstanders)

Silver 300 (three-way floorstanders)

Silver 500 (three-way floorstanders)

Silver C150 (two and a half-way centre channel)

Silver C350 (three-way centre channel)

Silver FX (two-way surround speakers with switchable dipole and bipole configurations)

Silver W-12 (12in subwoofer with Class D amplification and 500W output)

The highlight of the new Silver series is a completely new version of the company's iconic gold dome tweeter, which has been fine-tuned in the quest for clearer, smoother and distortion-free highs. 
 

Silver 200 Floorstanding Speaker

Silver 200 Floorstanding Speaker

We think that the new Silver range sounds very good, fresh out of the box and after a few days of continuous running in they really shine and sound even better. We played Geiger Counter / Radioactivity (3-D) by Kraftwerk from the 3-D The Catalogue Album and oh boy, these Silver 200's impressed with a big sound and tight bass. Gregory Porter's "Hey Laura" of his album Liquid Spirit proves how emotional music can sound. Nice!

We then swapped them for the smallest of the range, the Silver 50's. Don't underestimate these little speakers by their size. We played the same music and wow, we didn't expect them to sound so big.

Silver 50 standmount/book shelf Speaker

Silver 50 standmount/bokshelf Speaker

As I mentioned before there are two centre speakers in the range, the C150 and the C350.

This is the new Silver C150:

Silver C150 Centre Speaker

Silver C150 Centre Speaker

Please came in and have a listen. Our opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday 9.30 - 5.30 and you can contact us on 01793 538222.

Many thanks.

Stefan and Andy - Audio T Swindon

Monitor Audio loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Southampton, Swansea

Acoustic Energy AE1 Active Loudspeakers Just Add Music!

Taking advantage of their pedigree of designing loudspeakers for the domestic and professional markets Acoustic Energy have now released the AE1 active monitor loudspeaker.

The AE1 active is a two way reflex enclosure utilising an aluminium dome tweeter with a unique WDT wave guide for seamless integration into the room. This is coupled with a pure piston ceramic aluminium cone bass driver developed from the original and legendary AE1 studio monitor. Both drivers are driven by two internal 50W class A/B amplifiers via a fully active filter networks per loudspeaker.

Taking advantage of many products now available on the market the AE1 active can be coupled with any equipment that has a variable pre amplifier output. One of the major benefits is you no longer need multiple Hi-Fi components to achieve high end sound quality. In the age of network streaming, Bluetooth and music streaming services, a fine sounding music system can be achieved of diminutive size. As an active (speaker with an amplifier built in) monitor the AE1 Active can also be used as a loudspeaker connected directly to you computer offering sound quality rarely heard from computer loudspeakers. They are also ideal for improving the sound of from your TV (In fact I don't think there is a soundbar on the market that will come close to achieving the sound quality you can get when using the AE1s).

Below we set up a few different music streaming systems with the AE1 actives.

Arcam rBlink - AE1 Active:

The Arcam rBlink is a Bluetooth receiver that can be connected directly to the the AE1 Actives via the audio out of the rBlink. Any product that is Bluetooth enabled such as a mobile phone, IPad or tablet can then be used to play directly to the AE1 Active.

Sonos Connect - AE1 Active:

Connect the Sonos Connect via its variable pre-amplifier output to the RCA input of the AE1 and you have a system capable of network streaming (music files from a computer / external hard drive), Internet radio and music streaming services such as Spotify Premium, Tidal and Qobuz.

Auralic Altair Pre-amplifier - AE1 Active:

The Auralic Altair is an exceptionally high quality network streamer. This can be connected via the balanced XLR outputs on the Altair to the Balanced XLR inputs on the AE1 Active. This will provide with a system of diminutive size that produces exceptionally high sound quality.

Each AE1 Active is equipped with an independent volume control and +/- 2dB adjustment for both bass and treble. They are available in Piano Black, Piano White and high Gloss Real wood cherry finishes.

Sound Quality:
We connected the AE1 Active to the Auralic Altair music streamer. Playing files recorded in FLAC (44.1 kHz) via an Innuos Zen Mini hard drive and the sound quality achieved was outstanding. Playing Mike Oldfield 'Not of this Earth' the sound stage was expansive with great sense of depth. The high frequencies were detailed with no sense of hardness, mid range detail was excellent and the bass went down to depths you really wouldn't expect from a speaker of this size. We then played 'Fast Cars' by Tracy Chapman. Vocals were extremely clear with a great sense of emotion. All the instruments were clearly defined with great power and attack.

All in all the AE1 offer superb value for the sound quality achieved at the price and is available now for demonstration.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Farid, Andy and Jon - Audio T Cheltenham

Acoustic Energy loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Bristol, Cheltenham, Online, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Swindon

New Russell K RED 120 Floorstanding Speakers Available

Discover a new world of music with Russell K RED 120 floorstanding speakers. They bring a fresh new sound to music that we thought we already knew!

The RED 120 join an already strong family of loudspeakers, the RED 50 bookshelf, RED 100 standmounts and RED 150 floorstanders.

The Russell K RED 120's are a compact floorstander which are closely related to the RED 50 as they share the same drivers and crossover. Despite the RED 50 and RED 120's shared components, extended low frequencies have been achieved by a carefully calculated cabinet design over the RED 50 bookshelf speakers, that deliver amazing results. 

High quality speaker binding posts are used to ensure performance isn't lost. 

The spikes to level the speaker is a solid straight forward design, which are adjustable from above. Also you may see that you can't see internal wool to dampen the inside of the cabinet... don't worry this is a very deliberate design decision. Russell K speakers don't follow many other designs, very simple crossovers, no internal damping and bitumen damped thin cabinet walls are just a few things that are done differently. 

We love them!

But come down and hear the difference for yourself

Many Thanks

Simon, John, Claire & Mahmood

Audio T Enfield - 0208 367 3132

Russell K loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T:
Enfield, Portsmouth, Reading

Musical Fidelity And Dali Making Beautiful Music Together

We have two Hi-Fi brands which are new to the shop this month Musical Fidelity electronics and Dali loudspeakers. As we have found, they are capable of making beautiful music together.

An array of Dali speakers and Musical Fidelity electronics.

Musical Fidelity is a well established British Hi-Fi company who have been exciting and innovating for many years.

Shown here are the M3si integrated amp, the M3s CD player and the M6si integrated. The M6s CD player will follow soon. All of these components follow the Musical Fidelity ethos of making accurate, but exciting music.

We're also having a lot of fun exploring the M6 Encore 225

Encore 225

This amazing one box system is a music store, CD player, streamer, and amplifier all in one incredibly intuitive and easy to use package. It sounds wonderful too!

Dali are a Danish loudspeaker manufacturer who have been going for over 30 years producing everything from budget to high end speakers. We're still discovering what these can do but we have representatives from the Spektor, Zensor and Opticon ranges plus the beautiful little Menuets and the rather stylish Katch portable bluetooth speaker.

So far we've been throwing all sorts of music at the various pairings, the M3 components with the Opticons loved the new Anathema album "The Optimist" (check it out if you like intelligent melodic rock) 

Both brands seem to major on creating large believable soundstages; a recording of the Tallis Scholars singing Tallis anthems filled the room with the sense of a cathedral, while the perennial "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd was huge!

We'll report more as we get to know these components, but suffice to say we're excited and looking forward to the discovery. Why not come and have a listen yourself?

And finally all components in this blog have the Boswell seal of approval!

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

Neat And Tidy Loudspeakers

We're are delighted to announce the arrival of Neat Acoustics loudspeakers, which are now in store for demonstration or available for home loan.

The Iota Alpha is a small floor standing speaker with a height of only 45cm with a down firing bass driver. We have found this such an easy speaker to work with as far as positioning goes and doesn't disappoint with timing and imaging, giving a very well balanced presentation. This is a small speaker that offers a big room filling sound.

Neat IOTA Alpha

Also in the range we have the Neat Motive SX2 at 76cm high a slightly taller floor standing speaker but still very compact and easy to place, we tried these with various electronics and they performed well with all, a very open sound with a controlled bass.

Neat Motive SX2

The last, but no means least the tiny Neat Iota, a very flexible in terms of positioning, measuring just 13cm high the Iota's can be placed almost anywhere, although a dedicated stand can be purchased for them if needed. We were very impressed with the imaging they gave, and the tight controlled bass gives this tiny speaker a room filling sound.

Neat IotA

If you're in the market for new loudspeakers why not come and have a listen. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Ian, Gavin & Andy

Neat Acoustics loudspeakers are available from the following branches of Audio T: 
Brighton, Cheltenham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading

New Naim Uniti Atom, Chord Electronics Hugo 2 & Russell K RED 120 Arriving Soon

After quite an extended period of having little new product to blog about; just like the proverbial bus, three come along at the same time... well nearly.

After numerous delays Naim has finally given a likely manufacturing date for the first of the superb Uniti products, the entry level Atom which will commence shipping by the end of this month, we can't wait. I first heard it at the official launch back in November partnered with a pair of Focal Sopra 1s. What seemed like a most unlikely pairing turnout to be a revelation and breaking most system building rules. This promises to be a top seller.

Naim Atom

Not wishing to rest on the laurels of their success, Chord Electronics have launched Hugo2. The original Hugo set the standard for portable a Dac/Headphone amp but they have been beavering away to produce what on paper promises to be a true bar-raiser...again; such is the genius of their designers and Bob Watts in particular. Due this month though we understand the first shipment is already completely sold out but we will have a permanent demo unit so don't delay.

Chord Hugo2 in silver and black

Missing from the line-up in the Russell K loudspeaker range is a slim, affordable floor stander which is by far the most popular speaker type at present. Well, the wait is over. Due to arrive in 2-3 weeks, the all new Red 120. A 2.5 way compact floor stander with a massive heart. We heard these a month back and were taken by them immediately. The competition better look out because these are seriously good!

Russell K Red 120 Shown here in walnut, other finishes available. 

Naturally I will be blogging about these three exciting additions and any others as soon as they arrive so watch this space as they say.

Simon & Marc - Audio T Reading