Celebrating 50 years of Naim Audio with the limited edition NAIT 50

/ Audio T Cheltenham/

As Naim Audio celebrate their 50th anniversary this year, the audio sommeliers from deepest darkest Salisbury had the brilliant idea to create a limited edition run of the NAIT 50 integrated amplifier as a homage to the Original NAIT 1 that was introduced in 1983 and helped to forge the legend for them all those years ago.

Open That Box…..Quick!

Can you tell what it is yet?

Totally Redesigned

Every part of the new Naim NAIT 50 has been redesigned. Naim very proudly boast that it is a ‘big box’ audiophile Naim integrated amp but in a small box.

The original NAIT is certainly one of the most recognisable pieces of hi-fi equipment ever made and personally I have loved this diminutive marvel in (almost) all its forms over the years (I personally wasn’t so keen on the MK3 version though… I feel they lost their mojo a little there!), and I have been really looking forward to seeing if this new version sounds as good as I remember the old ones used to especially the MK1 and MK2 which were my most favourite.

Small amp with massive attack

Just Wow!

Even fresh out of the box the new NAIT 50 delivered that trademark Naim sound and was really enjoyable but after a few days worth of running in the sound blossomed and became instantly recognisable with that typical NAIT like fast, rhythmic, dynamic and detailed presentation that I was hoping it would do. I picked out my CD copy of Mezzanine by Massive Attack an album that I adore and know inside out and gave it a play. The sound was immediately just wow! The soundstage was huge with instruments seeming to just hang in the air totally free of the speakers and it was so easy to follow all the strains of the music all at the same time… No mean feat for this small 25 Watt’er! I very quickly began to realise that this was a rather special little amp and was an addictive listen. I found myself listening to the whole album as I was able to hear things within the NAIT’s almost holographic, exciting presentation that I was sure I had never heard before and I love it when that happens.

There is also a headphone socket on the front panel to access the very same new discrete transistor headphone amplifier that is to be found in Naim’s new super duper Classic series. There is no remote control but then that would spoil the retro appeal now wouldn’t it?

1973 And All That..

This is indeed a special little monster and other manufacturers now have a serious competitor, albeit only for a limited period because there will only be a total of 1,973 NAIT 50 produced, so don’t hang around too long as they are likely to sell out very quickly and will almost certainly become a bit of a collectors item! And for those of you that ask, it’s 1,973 units to commemorate the year Naim was founded, not the year the NAIT 1 was released - That was 1983.

What’s Round The Back

Even looks great from the back

On the rear there is a dedicated MM Phono stage for your turntable and streamer and auxiliary inputs on Naim’s preferred 5 pin din sockets. The loudspeaker outputs are banana sockets. Mains is via a 3 pin IEC socket and Naim supply one of their own superduper Power-Line Lite mains cables for superior electrical contact. The instant on switch when in the “on” position will keep all the sensitive audio circuits permanently powered up for optimum sound quality.

Conclusion

The NAIT legacy lives on in the limited edition NAIT 50. I am actually so impressed with this latest regeneration I may just want to purchase it myself! It is practically perfect. And if your interest has been piqued and you would like a listen to the amazing Naim NAIT 50 for yourself then please feel free to contact us at Audio T Cheltenham, the kettle is always on and we always have biscuits too!

Thanks for reading

Andy, Jon and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham.

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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Don’t You… Forget About Me! Hi-Fi We Miss When It's Not Around…

/ Audio T Reading/

Don’t you… forget about me… Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t you ever wonder why a song line randomly pops into your head, then naggingly plays on repeat internally for an eternity? Well on this occasion, there was surely a reason that the Simple Minds classic, along with other addictively good (and addictively bad) bangers, had infiltrated every part of our subconscious; Recently at Audio T Reading, we took our superb Sennheiser HD 820 closed-back headphones to Audio T Swindon for a customer demo, and literally as soon as they’d left us, we were yearning to have them back! The HD 820 just wouldn’t let us forget about them, because here in the shop they have become one of our ultimate can’t-bear-to-be-without products. We thought this would be a great opportunity to share more of our other most-missed items, and if you’d like to know why we cry into our pillows at night when these audio dependables leave the shop, then please read on…

SENNHEISER HD 820 – HOW I WISH… HOW I WISH YOU WERE HERE

It would be mischievous to keep you all in suspense having already mentioned the Sennheiser HD 820, so let’s get into why these headphones have become one of the go-to reference tools in the shop and why it induces panic every time they go missing... First of all, it’s hard to assign a sonic character to these cans and we find their great strength lays in largely telling it as it is. They are unerringly accurate. When we want to know how a particular piece of equipment in a system affects the overall sound, out come the HD 820. If we want to block out the ambient noise in the shop by way of best-in-class passive isolation, then we can count on the HD 820 – there have been times when the wearer of these headphones hasn’t heard the phone ringing right next to them, even with no music playing through the Sennheisers! Nevertheless, for a while now, the primary use for the HD 820 headphones within the shop has been to check the resulting sound quality from turntables after a cartridge fitting has taken place, or when various alignments and general turntable fettling have been performed. If, say, the vertical tracking angle of a tonearm isn’t quite right, or when trying to find the sweet spot for the cartridge tracking force, then the Sennheiser HD 820 are the headphones we regularly rely upon to hear exactly what’s happening and to fine tune the sound. Whenever these sweet cans leave our shop, we can’t help but wish they were here (à la Pink Floyd)…        

SOLIDSTEEL SS-6 – NOTHING COMPARES 2 U

It was unfortunately more than seven hours and fifteen days (thanks to the late & great Sinead O’Connor) since someone took our lovely SolidSteel SS-6 speaker stands away. When these beauties temporarily escaped our clutches, a collective sigh could be heard from us (as well as from our standmount speakers!). We’ve grown really fond of the SS-6 stands, especially in the raw metal finish, which just look so mightily fine with every speaker that they regally hold aloft. These stands aren’t just style over substance though – the solid yet lightweight design means that they store very little acoustical energy, helping the speakers to project with trueness and almost as if they’re not on stands at all. Their tripod design means that, unlike a boxer that’s gone twelve rounds with Muhammad Ali, they never rock or sway even a micrometre and maintain a sure footing at all times. This makes the SS-6 a demo-room dream, speaker stands that we can set down quickly and confidently, with full trust that they’ll do the job right. Quite simply, very little compares to them, and if anyone takes these away from us, we’ll most certainly get another demonstration pair…

NAIM UNITI ATOM HEADPHONE EDITION – AIN’T NO SUNSHINE WHEN SHE’S GONE

We’re still anxiously awaiting the return of our demonstration Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition (HE), and this time we are wondering if she’ll stay (Bill Withers, we salute you). Can there be a more complete solution for headphone listening than the Uniti Atom HE?

  • Balanced and single-ended outputs? Check.

  • Oodles of glorious Naim power to drive all but the most ridiculously inefficient of headphones? Check.

  • High quality on-board streaming? Yes.

  • Elegant design as well as robust build quality? You bet.

  • Multiple connectivity options such as Bluetooth and Airplay 2, Roon Readiness, Tidal and Qobuz streaming platforms… yes, yes, yes!

The list goes on! This is currently our go-to audio product for demonstrating the quality and potential of various different hi-fi headphones. There is something about the sound of the Uniti Atom HE that is just right… clarity and insight, dynamics and fullness, speed and finesse, sheer musicality – it’s all there waiting to be tapped straight into your favourite cans. It even makes for a wonderful preamp when paired with, say, a set of powered speakers, like the excellent Acoustic Energy AE1 Active. When we need a headphone amp that can pretty much do it all, the Naim Uniti Atom HE is what we turn to. And when we walk to the spot where it normally resides, only to find that it’s gone AWOL, we can be sure there is only darkness every day…

 

I AIN’T MISSING YOU AT ALL - A HAPPY ENDING

While (like Aerosmith) we don’t want to close our eyes, prefer not to fall asleep, and definitely don’t want to miss a thing, the good news is that you don’t have to miss anything at all (just ask John Waite). And if you would like to know of many more great hi-fi products that we would miss like crazy, but would be equally happy for you to take away for demo or procure for keeps, then please don’t you… forget about us… and please do get in touch with your nearest Audio T store. We’re always looking forward to seeing or hearing from you. For now, we’re off to search all around the world for our beloved demo audio equipment, our babies… (Lisa Stansfield).

Thank you for reading. Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

SolidSteel can be found at the following Audio T stores

Forgotten Gem? The Dynaudio Emit 10 Loudspeaker

/ Audio T Swansea/

It’s a hard fact in life that if we’re not occasionally reminded of the existence of a thing, that thing will fall out of the day-to-day consciousness. This is sometimes the case when you’re surrounded by so many Hi-Fi and Home Cinema goodies day-to-day… We have one or two such items in our shop that through no fault of our own, or indeed their own, have perhaps become not actually invisible, but now occupy a blind spot. So let’s refresh our minds and take a look at a beloved favourite…

THEY’RE EMIT 10S! WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT IT? here mounted on solidsteel ss-6 stands

A DYNAUDIO SPEAKER, BUT WHICH ONE?

There is nothing in their appearance to suggest they warrant a snub. The Dynaudio Emit 10 are attractive enough, with their plain and neat little cabinets, made of 18mm thick MDF have a chamfered baffle and a vinyl finish which is available in black, white or walnut. This is a step up from the painted finish of their predecessor, the Emit M10. They’re designed to be played in a small room, and their proportions reflect this.

Maybe it’s the components?

The star of the show here is Dynaudio’s own Cerotar tweeter, which derives from the extremely well received tweeters in their Confidence range. A great deal of Dynaudio’s 40 year long high reputation is built on their tweeters and one finds Dynaudio HF units in a great many other loudspeaker brands spread across the planet.

The midrange/bass unit is a highly damped design with its dust cap bonded to the voice coil behind and two magnets driving it – all the better to control the magnetic flux, we are reliably informed. The crossover was designed by the team behind the wildly successful Heritage Specials. No complaints here about that.

THE INEVITABLE CLOSE-UP WITH BOKEH SHOT.

The Emit 10 aren’t particularly difficult to drive, the 6 Ohm rating might suggest they may be, but when paired with modest amplification like the dinky Rega iO, they fill out the space they’re in very happily, creating a credible soundstage that does not suggest that more power is required. Listening to them in smaller rooms with modest amplification is a delight.

With this environment and partnering equipment the Emit 10 reward you with a beautiful, authentic and organic sound, filled with detail and with very little artifice. The decay of strings and cymbals is particularly natural and satisfying. Their nearest competitor, the Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2, might go louder and have more high frequency sparkle, but we feel that they can’t match the Emit 10s engaging and involving nature that allows you to melt into the music.

THAT REGA IO AMPLIFIER with a limited edition walnut rega planar 1

In conclusion, the Emit 10 deserve to be on everyone’s (who has a modestly sized space in which to play) short list of speakers under £800. In terms of transparency and authentic reproduction they have few peers at this price. They do have a limitation however – if you want to play music loud, look at the larger sibling the Emit20s.

in their preferred habitat of our music salon, rather than on a shelf, weeping softly because they’re all alone.

To experience what I mean I implore you to come over and listen to them. It’s the only way to be sure...

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Bowers & Wilkins can be found at the following Audio T stores -

What is Future-Fi™? Exploring the Options at Audio T Bristol

/ Audio T Bristol/

Back in 2016 the Venerable Bede of Hi-Fi reviewers, John Darko, coined the term “Future-Fi™”… 7 years on, where are we now? And what are the options? Traditionalists and hardcore audiophiles, look away now... This blog may not be for you!

Broadly speaking, traditional Hi-Fi consists of a source → amplifier → loudspeakers. The source may include a Turntable, CD Player and/or Streamer; The amplifier may be split into a preamp and a power amp – sometimes with associated power supply units for those modules and not forgetting the tagliatelle of cabling and interconnects. Every unit has its own unique job to do and this uncompromising approach, by its modular nature will deliver the highest audio quality and is robust. Any future improvements in DACS, preamp options or a better source can be easily plumbed into this Hi-Fi arrangement with the associated benefits easily appreciated.

However, unless you have a large space, dedicated listening room or have a penchant for a living space to resemble a recording studio, this approach may be visually intrusive. Also, there is the all important PAFF (Partner And Family Factor) - we are not all fans of black monolith obelisks, rack fulls of equipment and prefer our tagliatelle squid inked with mussels, calamari crackling and mozzarella purée, not laid out on the living room floor.

“Beam me up Scotty” - Marching onwards, let’s breakdown Future-Fi™ into back end integrations; Super Integrated amps, JAS and All-in-ones and front end integrations; active and streaming speakers…

The Super Integrated Amp

An integrated amp will have the pre and power stages in one box and usually includes a headphone output, phono stage and a pre out, which enables the connection of a power amp to upgrade the performance, bypassing the power stage of the integrated - just using the pre of the integrated.

Now, the Super Integrated has a DAC. This is normally in the form of a optical and/or COAX input. This allows you to connect a TV, streamer or CD directly to the amp. Invariably the DAC in the integrated is tuned to the amplifier, thus you get a sound profile of the integrated for all your sources and ONE volume control. Examples of this include the Rega Elicit, Rega Elex & Leak Stereo 130 to name but a few.

The JAS Hi-Fi

This is a new term that we’ve coined at Audio T Bristol - JAS (Just Add Speakers). Surprisingly, this can be as simple as a Bluetooth input like the new Rotel A11 tribute. This is the late Ken Ishiwata’s final design for an affordable great sounding amp. Many of our customers have started there Hi-Fi journey with this Rotel and a pair of Acoustic Energy AE100², and stream via a phone or ipad directly to the amp and then add a better source at a later date.

The likes of the Audiolab 9000A and the Roksan Attessa Streaming Amp both have four digital inputs and Bluetooth Receivers with the Attessa adding streaming by way of the BluOS streaming from Bluesound. The Marantz Model 40n utilises the Denon & Marantz streaming platform, HEOS. The JAS sector arguably tops out with products such as the Naim Uniti series Atom, Star and Nova and then the truly amazing Linn Selekt DSM with its myriad of modular design features, as reviewed earlier this year.

All-in-One

Sometimes our living spaces and our listening objectives do not allow for two channel speaker setups. For example a kitchen area, dining room or art studio/craft space where ambient listening that takes up very little space is needed.

Ruark Audio, a brand with a heritage founded in true hi-fi speakers, offer a range of all-in-one solutions from the compact R1 MK4 to the larger R5 and more models to come later in the year.

Naim also offer all-in-one solutions in the form of the Mu-So 2nd Generation and the more compact Mu-So QB 2nd Gen. Whilst these models are superb stand-alone products that feature Focal speaker drivers aligned for room filling detailed audio, they can also be integrated in to larger, multi-room Naim systems via the bespoke Naim app.

Another notable Hi-Fi manufacturer that is also known for a popular all-in-one product is Bowers & Wilkins. Now in its second generation, the Zeppelin has become an iconic item in the lifestyle and interior design world.

The Active Lifestyle

We’ve looked at the amp combining input source functionality, now let’s look from the business end. Speakers combining amplification is nothing new, but lately technologies have allowed speaker manufacturers to finely tune the speaker performance.

Theoretically, this is the perfect scenario - the speaker designer tunes the amplification and crossover to achieve maximum performance out of the speaker design. And certainly, in our opinion comparing active and passive versions, such as the ATC SCM40A or Acoustic Energy AE1 active, that is the case. Indeed, beautiful combinations of the AE1 active with a Bluesound Node as the source and preamp or the ATC SCM40As with a Naim NSC222 as the source and preamp are a marvel.

The Super Actives

Combining a streamer, DAC and source inputs into active speaker now gives a complete system that consists of just two stereo loudspeakers, doing away with need for any boxes of electronics. The new Dynaudio Focus range is the benchmark for this implementation. An absolute breeze to set up, an intriguing deep and detailed sound, a plethora of streaming services integration, Roon ready and Hi-Res streaming at your fingertips and we look forward to reviewing these very soon. The range consists of: Dynaudio Focus 10, Dynaudio Focus 30,Dynaudio Focus 50

In Summary

Low box count does not necessarily mean Lo-Fi. Future-Fi™ is here to stay and the options are becoming more compelling than ever with excellent Hi-Res streaming services cheaper than ever. Whatever your flavour of Hi-Fi, Audio T is here to help!

Thanks for reading.

Justin, Max & James - Audio T Bristol

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Bluesound Node X Anniversary Edition.

/ Audio T Manchester/

It's incredible to think Bluesound has existed for ten years now. Streaming High Definition audio has transformed the way we audiophiles listen to our digital music choices. For the past few years, the Bluesound NODE has been without doubt the best introduction to this, and at a very budget-friendly price. Over the years Bluesound has increased the fidelity with every new version of the NODE introduced, and now to celebrate the 10th anniversary, they have released the ultimate limited edition to celebrate; The NODE X.

Chromey has X wings, finally.!!

Resplendent in it's limited edition silver finish, to mark it out from the standard NODE streamer, the NODE X has had it's audio performance turbocharged; the on-board DAC has been upgraded to a reference levels ESS Sabre DAC.

And headphone users take note, as symbolized on the front panel where the standard model's convenient headphone socket has been upgraded from a 3.5mm socket to the larger 6.35mm connection, hinting at a much more serious thought given to headphone amplifier quality. Behind the upgraded socket lies an upgrade in amplifier, with no lesser technology than from the World famous THX Labs, and their AAA (Achromatic Amplifier Technology) ensures what THX Labs claim to be the ultimate in a no-compromise headphone audio experience, with the highest levels of fidelity and the lowest distortion. The other handy little extra is the included remote control for the NODE X, a further upgrade in practicality.

The NODE has always been a bit of a 'Swiss Army Knife' in its approach. Especially given its ultra-compact dimension. Download the BluOS app to your mobile device, and you have a full-blooded streamer capable of accessing all your local audio files on your network, your PC, or via a hard drive or pen stick plugged into the rear of the unit. Even without the BluOS installed, the NODE's can stream from any Bluetooth-enabled device, up to 24-bit resolution is supported with the latest coding.

Apple users can enjoy the latest AirPlay, for lossless play from any Apple device. It is even possible to add other digital and analogue sources to the unit, handy if you have more than one Bluesound device, enabling easy multiroom set-up. The in-built DAC can even be used to upgrade your TV sound, with an up-to-the-minute HDMI channel for audio interfacing. Every streaming service is catered for within the Bluesound BluOS app, Spotify, and the higher quality master quality Tidal and Qobuz. MQA audio support has been native on Bluesound products since its introduction and of course 24 BIT 192Khz playback resolution. Comprehensive analogue and digital outputs are fitted too. If you can find a DAC to improve on the ESS Sabre fitted to the 'X... Internet radio is also embedded into the BluOS operating system. Did we say this really was a Swiss army knife!

The original NODE never fails to impress sonically. Given its low entry-level price, it is a real bargain. But the upgraded limited edition X takes the fidelity even higher, with more precision, and weight. Cleaner cut sonic details and a much more precise sound image. The normal NODE is a seriously amazing piece of kit for a very modest price, but the limited edition X takes it to another level.

Our Node X is on demo, so pop along to our Manchester store to take a look and have a listen.

Thanks for reading,

Haden, Munir, James, & David - 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 our social media channels below…

Bluesound can be found at the following Audio T stores -

CDs are back in fashion! - A trio of Marantz Players to consider; The SA10, CD60 AND CD6007

/ Audio T Brighton/

Hi all, and welcome to this months blog. The vinyl revolution has long been underway, with new record pressing plants opening up all the time and record stores re-purposing their shelves to accommodate this revitalised interest and make room for additional stock. Even the humble compact cassette has been given a new lease of life, with artists such as Metallica and Taylor Swift releasing their latest albums on tape. So what about the venerable compact disc? There are definitely signs of life for CDs and we are going to take a look at three players from the mighty Marantz.

Unless you’re into music playback in a big way you may not have noticed that music stores have changed beyond recognition in recent years. The shelves saw records diminish in number during the 80s and 90s in the wake of the compact disc era, almost to the point of extinction. Now, the opposite is happening and CDs are being replaced by records once again, with sales of vinyl massively increasing, along with the interest in record players and their ancillary equipment; cartridges and styli. Streaming has become all the rage and the majority of listeners are adopting this new technology for its portability benefits, choice of music and the reclaiming of domestic shelf space!

Why the CD resurgence?

Despite all of these changes and numerous benefits, CDs have once again started to become popular, with sales increasing during the post lockdown period. From a personal point of view, I hadn’t stopped buying CDs on a frequent basis, with second-hand bargains in charity shops and record stores to be had.

$ music format sales from 1973 - 2021. CD sales are in orange

So the next obvious question is why? I’ll briefly mention a few of my thoughts below, but there are many more than I’ll highlight here.

Firstly, playback and purchase habits have changed for several reasons. The most obvious being cost, with vinyl being very expensive compared to new and especially second-hand CDs. The cost of living crisis is making many people rethink how they spend their money and CDs are a good alternative to streaming services, especially if you’re selective about your music playback. CDs give you the chance to make a one-off payment for your music rather than effectively paying for it every time you play it.

Secondly, like with records, folks enjoy the physical ownership and tactile experience of putting on a CD, with album art and information available in sleeve or booklet form. There is also slightly less of a tendency to flick through tracks and actually listen to an album in its entirety.

Thirdly, you are not subject to the whims of artists or record companies removing music titles from online streaming services. Neil Young is notorious for removing his catalogue from Spotify, which is of course his right to do so, but it doesn’t help the Neil Young fan, unless you own a CD or record of your own. I’ve seen many copies of Neil Young albums available on the second-hand market at bargain prices.

Finally, the quality of the source of the music is pre-determined by the CD master you own and the information printed on the disc. All too often, streaming services have several versions of the same album available at different levels of Hi-Res playback quality. What this numerical data doesn’t tell you though, is how good it sounds. This can vary hugely depending on the choice of stream you select. With your own CD you know what to expect!

I have spoken at length about the virtues of streaming services in one of my earlier blogs. If you would like to read this to ponder the “CD Vs Streaming” debate, click here.

CD player choices...

One of the problems with the decline in CD sales was that manufacturers failed to continue to support older players. CD mechanisms and laser assemblies went out of production and replacements were harder to obtain or ceased to exist. Unfortunately this has meant that some very good older CD players are no longer supported, forcing owners to replace or upgrade an existing model in order to continue playing their precious CDs.

Annoying as this is, some manufacturers have continued to see CDs as an ongoing source of music playback and this is where Marantz comes in as one of the leading players, pun intended, in providing the hardware to do so.

Long-standing Marantz...

Marantz audio consolette circa 1953

Marantz has been around for seven decades as a major Hi-Fi manufacturer, producing some of the most highly regarded equipment, including CD players from the inception of the CD format during the 1980’s.

the original marantz model cd-63 from 1982

For the remainder of this article, we’ll look at three of Marantz’s current range of CD players and see what they have to offer…

From top to bottom: marantz CD6007, CD60 and SA10

Marantz CD6007...

marantz cd6007

The Marantz CD6007 is the baby of the current Marantz range. Stemming from a line of previous iterations of award winning CD players, the CD6007 inherits their established qualities.

rear of the Marantz cd6007(top) and Marantz cd60(bottom)

The CD tray is a pretty standard affair of good quality and has a smooth action when opening and closing. The back panel of the Marantz CD6007 is fairly similar to the Marantz CD60 in terms of inputs, albeit with a slightly different layout. Build quality on the entry-level CD player is very good for the money but the Marantz CD60 is clearly a step-up in construction quality, with visibly more sturdy bracing via additional bolts in the rear and a more hefty feel, which inspires confidence. Manufacturers often talk of building to a price point and the look and construction certainly reflect that.

Marantz CD60...

marantz cd60

The Marantz CD60 is a very elegant CD player with a nice pearlescent effect on the sides of the front panel when the light catches it right. A design style that Marantz is planning on expanding to other ranges. The CD60 is dimensionally slightly taller and considerably deeper than its younger sibling and this needs to be factored in when putting it on a shelf, so buyer beware and make sure you measure your space.

marantz cd6007(top) and Cd60(bottom)

From the front, the button layouts are slightly different but ergonomically they feel of reasonable quality, albeit slightly too small for my personal taste. The senior generation may enjoy bigger, clearer function buttons, or perhaps I’m just speaking for myself?

From a sound quality point of view, they both perform very well but there are clear sonic differences that your hard-earned pounds pay for. In isolation, the Marantz CD6007 is a smooth sounding player that doesn’t do a lot wrong, leaving out sonic aspects that would highlight its failings. You can hear why it is a What Hi-Fi? award winner in its price class, being a great all-rounder. Not Ian Botham quality but you get my drift.

The Marantz CD60 is a less murky affair, with added extension, detail and dynamic impact. Worth the extra outlay I’d say.

Marantz SA10...

marantz sa10 sacd player

Introducing the Marantz SA10 Super Audio CD Player. Now this is in a completely different league in terms of both construction and playback performance.

You’ve only got to lift the thing to get an idea of what I’m on about. In the previous paragraph I mentioned the great cricketing all-rounder, Ian Botham, and it may not be cricket to say this, but it’s like lifting him!

The copper chassis is a thing of beauty and designed to reduce the interference that can detract from audio performance.

marantz sa10 rear inputs

There are a plethora of inputs on the rear of the Marantz SA10 including; balanced or single ended outputs, USB playback via external storage or laptop, optical and coaxial inputs, so the Marantz SA10 can form the hub of a high quality digital playback system.

Conventional audio playback can be through normal Red Book CDs or via the SA10’s coup-de-gras, SACD playback. Via the medium of SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc), which is clearly shown on the display when playing, sound quality improves dramatically. The gains in detail, dynamics and warmth are massive. Realism is on another scale.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Marantz SA10 is no slouch in normal CD playback either, but if you’re going to make the sort of outlay financially required for this player, you need to have a system commensurate with its price/performance and a pretty significant collection of SACDs to make it worthwhile.

We played the Marantz SA10 through our Naim NSC222, Naim NPX300 and Naim NAP250 system into both Proac DB1 standmount speakers and more recently, the Proac D30RS floorstander speakers, to great effect.

proac d30rs through a naim nd5xs2 and naim supernait 3

Summing up the Marantz power trio...

The Marantz CD6007, Marantz CD60 and Marantz SA10 are a great trio of CD/SACD players and offer customers a good choice at various price points. Well made and sonically at the forefront of their respective price classes, the Marantz range continues their reputation for making excellent CD players since the dawn of the CD age.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

ProAc can be found at the following Audio T stores -

Audio T Cheltenham And The Linn Majik LP12

/ Audio T Cheltenham/

It’s the week that Linn have announced the new super duper 50th anniversary £50k Jony Ive (of Apple fame) tweaked redesign of the iconic LP12 and I have just rediscovered my love of the entry level version that Linn call the Majik LP12 and it shaves an absolutely massive £46,300 off the cost of the new anniversary version LP12-50!

Falling In Love Again

The Linn Majik LP12 With Krane arm and adikt cartridge

Of late here in Cheltenham things have tended to centre around the Rega turntables and it has been a while since this little beauty has been taken out for a spin. I thought it was time to change that. The Linn Majik LP12 comes complete with a Krane tonearm, and Adikt moving magnet cartridge, Majik power supply and the rather amazing new Karousel bearing. Owners of older Sondek would do well to look into upgrading old Cirkus bearings to this chunkier, better made version!

At Audio T, we understand the importance of a seamless turntable setup experience, which is why we go the extra mile for our customers. As with all Linn turntables the Majik LP12 will be assembled, set up and installed by one of our Linn trained staff for no extra charge.

Get Into The Groove

Adikt and krane ready for action

Part of the secret to the performance on offer here is the Krane tonearm. This is made to Linn’s exacting specification by the analogue boffins at Clearaudio and it locks that Adikt cartridge in the record groove rock solidly. The record I was playing at the time of re-discovering this groovy vinyl spinner was one of my all time favourite demo albums… Khmer by Nils Petter Molvaer.

Brave New World

such an amazing recording

This has only fairly recently been released on vinyl for the first time, although it first saw the light of day in 1997. Better late than never though eh? Stunningly recorded with some of the deepest bass in recorded music history. It is a wonderful pressing and recording produced by the wizard at ECM that is Manfred Eicher. Massive beats and throbbing grooves underpin the Norwegian trumpeter’s fiery solos in a project that forms a bridge between ECM’s improvised soundscapes and the brave new world of trip-hop, drum and bass, ambient/illbient, techno, industrial, electronica and samples. It is total genius and should be in every self respecting audiophile’s record collection. Played on the LP12 Krane and Adikt combination, this produced the kind of soundstage that was so large that the walls of the room just melted away and the music was left hanging in the air in front of me. It was one of those goose-bump inducing moments that meant I just had to play the whole album! I really do think that for what it was doing this punchy little entry level package was performing way above it’s pay grade. The music was sounding natural, unforced and portrayed the emotion and expressive detail in the music supremely well. The deck was tonally accurate with amazing detail retrieval, making this record a real joy to listen to.

Close up of the adikt

Any Colour You Like…

The Majik LP12 is one of those products that punches way above its weight and provides an ideal entry point into the wonderful world of Linn turntables. A definite improvement over old versions and a great taster for what the LP12 is capable of should you wish to take advantage of any of the myriad upgrades that are available. Unlike the new 50th anniversary deck this one is available in pretty much any colour you like for a little extra money!

Los Endos

If your interest has been piqued and you would like a listen to the amazing Linn Majik LP12 for yourself then please feel free to contact us at Audio T Cheltenham. The kettle is always on and we always have biscuits too!

Thanks for reading…

The three musketeers - Andy, Jon and Farid

Andy, Jon and Farid -

Audio T Cheltenham.

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Linn can be found at the following Audio T stores

It all started with a love of Dynaudio…

/ Audio T Oxford/

This month’s blog is something a bit different from our usual fare. Here we explore the front to back process, interaction, relationships and issues involved in a successful and happy customer transaction. Our customer, Rob, has contributed to this article and given his own input on how it went from his point of view… 

Introductions 

Rob got in touch with us at Audio T Oxford as he had recently moved into a new house and knew we are an authorised Dynaudio dealer. He wanted to discuss options on the best system he could have (active or passive), all whilst incorporating his enthusiasm for Dynaudio products.

The Brief and Its Development

High ceiling space - addressed by tuning in The focus 50’s and REL s/512’s

From our initial discussion we qualified Rob’s needs as these are key to a happy customer. We discussed his musical tastes, current music library and his passion for streaming and exploration of new music.

Something that a lot of people underestimate is the discussion around his physical home environment, room dimensions, technical requirements, and any challenges to be overcome to get a great system, matched to his home; both in terms of décor and sonic excellence. Within this we had a clear challenge to drive what is a very large horizontal and vertical space.

We started with a menu of choices and, as luck would have it, we had a Dynaudio Event at Audio T Oxford on 9th November 2022, which Rob attended. The intention was to enable him to get some ears-on experience of the active Dynaudio Focus 50’s that he had already extensively researched on paper, as well as ask some questions and get feedback from the Dynaudio experts on hand. We could then start to establish and formulate a closer approximation of what he was looking for.

Working within the context of a demonstration and/or musical event is one thing, but Rob correctly decided that he needed some time on his own with the system so that he could explore its technical and flexibility of settings, the DSP options and whether he could get an emotional connection with the music and sound quality of the system.

We arranged for Rob to come back in-store and set-up the Focus 50’s with a Innuos Zen Mini MKIII acting as a Roon Core. He spent most of the morning listening to a variety of music, some from his personal collection and some new, courtesy of Roon’s “deep dive” AI suggesting suitable music alternatives. 

The Order

To cut a long story short, Rob placed his order that very same day for a system comprising the Dynaudio Focus 50s, two REL S/812 subwoofers (to be connected via wireless Airships), and an Innuos Zen Mini MKIII (2TB SSD) as a Roon platform and to enable him to download his considerable music collection. The large twin subs were required to shift the air and engage with what is a very large space. 

The décor requirement was achieved by ordering light colours with the ability to hide equipment away in a cupboard where necessary, and with wireless sub connections. The Wireless Speaker and Audio Association (WiSA) connection between the Focus 50s adding to the minimalist look.  

view From the drivers seat - Innuos Zen Mini s and Airship Senders in the white cupboard. WISA wireless connection between the speakers ……..now Unleash the music!

Rob was also interested in a WiSA connection to his television and longer-term enabling DIRAC Live room tuning, both of which can be accomplished through the Focus 50’s. 

Planning & Installation 

Like any project, the idea is to bring things together at the right time, make sure the customer, all the team members and external experts are in the communications loop, test all assumptions are correct and build in a margin for unexpected surprises through consistent due diligence. The aim of all this is to get things lined up and tested so that they can be right first time, wherever possible. All of this was particularly important as we had the skill, but I personally had no actual previous experience of bringing together such a diverse and flexible system involving this relatively new form of technology.

The installation team comprised of Bill Livingston from Dynaudio, our own Kevin Starkie (Audio T Sales and Marketing Director) and Rob from our Oxford store. The installation took the best part of a morning, which included setting up the Focus 50s for room positioning (left master speaker in corner, right in open space), installing, and configuring the Innuos Zen for Roon and installing the two wireless subs and then tuning them to their local environment. And last, but by no means least, getting the music into the room!

Finished Installation - birds eye view from the upper gallery. showing the positioning of the two REL s/812 subs.

Robs Customer Comments

Rob has now had the system for a few months, and these are his comments on his musical and hi-fi journey, how he found the experience of developing and installing the system, and how it fits his lifestyle and sonic requirements…  

1. Can you give us some details of your various music and AV systems and musical journey?  

Started way back in 1979 when my grandparents bought me a radio. I discovered Radio 1 and was hooked! There are too many components to mention but my first ‘proper’ amp was a Rotel receiver with a beautiful analogue radio dial. My first ‘proper’ record player was a Dual CS505. Then university beckoned so it was a real mish-mash of hi-fi. Much later, when I could afford it! I bought second hand Dynaudio Audience 62 speakers, which were already 10 years old but sounded great. Next was a Naim XS2 amp and the synergy was fabulous. I was hooked! My love of Dynaudio has existed ever since. I have always been intrigued by active speakers, to me it just makes sense that the manufacturer finds the best synergy between amp and speaker and does it all for you. When Dynaudio released the Focus series it was a bit of a ‘no brainer’ as it also incorporates streaming capability, Dirac Live, sub-out and is Roon Ready.  

2. What range of music do you like and how has it developed? 

Electronic music will always be my mainstay. My mum used to listen to Vangelis when I was very young and it has clearly influenced me ever since. I still rate Vangelis as an early pioneer of electronic music alongside of course Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and the like. Now my musical taste is very broad, from jazz (big fan) to classical and almost everything in between. So a tough ask for any system to get them all right!  

3. In what way is music important for you? 

In so many ways. I will pretty much always have music playing and definitely whilst travelling. I’d be lost without my headphones as I travel a lot! But I am also a big fan of just sitting down and listening to an album, from start to finish and uninterrupted. I think this has been lost to a certain extent and would advise anyone to give it a go. I am a huge fan of Classic Album Sundays for this very reason, so check it out.  

4. What did you think about the process we developed to help define your system? 

I think the key part was being able to meet Otto and Bill from Dynaudio and with Rob’s input it became clear that my living room would need to ‘go large’! It is a huge space, so we wanted to ensure we could adequately fill it with sounds, hence the Focus 50s and two REL S/812 subs. 

5. How did you find the support throughout?

Exemplary. To have all these experts on hand to discuss requirements and set up was extraordinary, and I know I was very fortunate to have the Dynaudio team on hand. On the day of installation, I had Rob, Kevin and Bill all setting up the system in my living room, you cannot wish for a better service.

6. How happy are you with your end system? 

In short – Very. As this is a new house it has taken a long time to complete the furnishings, which I knew would also make a difference to the sound, in a good way. Now that this is finally complete, I can tweak and find the best balance. Next steps will be sound treatment, and then Dirac Live on the Dynaudio which is a fabulous feature to include. I was new to Roon too and I love it. It has so much functionality and has introduced me to new acts and artists, and all in a beautiful interface on a tablet device.  

7. What could we have done better? 

Nothing of note 

8. Any other comments? 

Just to say a huge thanks to all involved with this setup at Audio T and Dynaudio.

Summary

So, thanks go to Rob for trusting us to do this system and for agreeing to and contributing to this article. We know how busy he is and we really appreciate the time he has given from his very hectic schedule. 

Also, thanks to Bill and Otto from Dynaudio for their close support and experience, and to REL and Innuos for their technical support and insight. 

If you would like to know more about these products and how they work together, or for anything else, why not give us a call at the Oxford Store? We will be happy to work with you to get the outcome you are looking for.  

Thanks for reading.

Rob & Jon - Audio T Oxford 

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Dynaudio can be found at the following Audio T stores

· BRIGHTON

· BRISTOL

· CHELTENHAM

· MANCHESTER

· ONLINE STORE

· OXFORD

· PORTSMOUTH

· READING

· SOUTHAMPTON

· SWANSEA

· SWINDON

Innuos can be found at the following Audio T stores

· BRISTOL

· CARDIFF

· CHELTENHAM

· MANCHESTER

· ONLINE STORE

· OXFORD

· PORTSMOUTH

· READING

· SOUTHAMPTON

· SWANSEA

· SWINDON

REL can be found at the following Audio T stores

· BRIGHTON

· BRISTOL

· CHELTENHAM

· MANCHESTER

· OXFORD

· PORTSMOUTH

· SOUTHAMPTON

· SWANSEA

· SWINDON

· ONLINE STORE

· READING

· CARDIFF

PLEASE NOTE: Both Roon and DIRAC software require a personal direct customer purchase, subscription and licence. In the case of DIRAC we recommend the use of a certified DIRAC installer which may include a separate fee. Only Roon was used in this install, DIRAC is an option that the customer may wish to undertake in the future.   

"£2K Tone Monsters" - The search for a new Hi-Fi Amplifier

/ Audio T Cardiff/

Thank you for once again joining me on my long sonic journey through the world of Hi-Fi and once again I am looking to make a change to my own Hi-Fi system. This time I’ll be looking to change my amplifier…

One of the most wonderful advantages of me working for Audio T is being able to search for that perfect sound in my own system and in-turn help others on there on their respective high-fidelity journey.

Within the Hi-Fi industry we often say that the source is the most important part of the system. As we know, this is where the music starts. But I, like many others, feel equally passionate about the important role the amplification plays. I always refer to the amplifier as the heart of the system. Every different amp brand bringing a different character to the sound coming from the speakers. Amplifier brands can be categorised in three or more ways like sounding forward, laid back or even neutral; some amplifiers out there defy all of these characteristics. You could say it’s searching for the holy grail, the thing we all hope to find in our HI-Fi systems - that tone, that perfect stereo image and the system synergy between source, amplifier and speakers. You may have heard me say this before, but I want a record to sound like a live band in my living room. To sit back and close my eyes and picture where all the band members are on stage putting a smile on my face or bringing a tear to my eye, truly engaging me in the music and the performance.

The Search Begins…

Like we all do, when we start looking for equipment we set ourselves a realistic budget. In this case I have set my sights at £2000, which as we know there are many worthy amplifiers out there that fit the bill at this price point. But, not only should the amplifier sound right to my ears, like many of us out there, we must also think think about how it’s going to affect our pockets and how to achieve near perfection within a price point. I have luckily narrowed the list down to three contenders which I will tell you all about very shortly but before I do, I’ll tell you about what led me to this dramatic change in my system.

the three contenders

My last change to my system was my loudspeakers. I went down the Danish route with Dynaudio and now proudly own a brilliant pair of Evoke 10’s in stunning walnut. My current amp driving these speakers is a Rega Elex-R which is a fantastic bit of kit but there is a slight problem in that the the Evoke 10’s like a fair amount of drive from the amp to hear them at their best. The Evoke 10’s are a 6 Ohm speaker with 84db sensitivity which means turning the Elex-R up to a fairly high volumes. Now, as much as I enjoy my music at higher volumes, I don't feel my neighbour's would be too happy with that.

So, this brings me to the next big change in my system, the amplifier. So, as I was saying a little while back, what I am looking for in a new amp is as perfect a sound as possible, but I want great performance at lower volumes too.

The Contenders

So, after some deliberation, I was able to whittle down the selection to three contenders:

To help me along choosing an amplifier I have pretty much replicated my system at home…

The Setup

Who will win the race? Let’s dive in ears first and join me on this journey see where I end up!

The Shoot out

Starting with the Audiolab 9000A, this amplifier has been one of the most talked about and well reviewed amplifiers in its class since its release last year. Audiolab as we know has great lineage in Hi-Fi history, going right back to the early 80s with the original 8000 series. Many years down the line it’s now time to replace the 8000 series with the all new 9000 series. The 9000 follows in true Audiolab tradition being class AB design delivering 100 watts into 8 Ohms and 160 watt into 6 Ohms so this amplifier is no slouch. As well as having many analogue inputs it also caters very well in the digital department where I feel the amp really shines with Audiolab’s ESS 9038PRO flagship 32 bit digital to analogue convertor (DAC) chip on board. This makes the Audiolab 9000A amp something rather special, especially the many filter settings on the DAC like Audiolab’s M DAC+ it gives you plenty of scope to set the DAC to your own taste. Whether your source is CD or streaming this amp is certainly capable. Sound-wise the amp had great detail in its sound, well controlled with warmth of tone and full of character. I feel this amp is a bit of a swiss army knife of amps a great do it all machine for sure.

audiolab 9000a rear panel

The 9000A feels right at home with the Dynaudio’s with plenty of power to drive them especially listening to tracks like Led Zeppelin's - No quarter off the Houses of the Holy album. With John Paul Jones’s organ part at the start of the track I could hear fantastic definition with the chorus effect he uses leading perfectly into the rest of the track, drawing me in and enhancing my listening experience.

rega elicit mk5 speaker terminals

To me, the Rega Elicit MK5 is like putting on my favourite pair of Vans trainers. Being a proud owner of a Rega amplifier I feel this is very familiar amplifier and the Elicit certainly has that Rega amplification sound. It’s a true class AB monster of an amp borrowing it’s FET based preamplifier circuit from its big brother the Aethos. The Elicit MK5 also has a very capable DAC on board the tried and tested Wolfson 24 bit DAC giving fantastic warmth and easy going analogue feeling tones on the digital side. I do feel the Elicit MK5 party trick is analogue reproduction, when a turntable is connected this amplifier really comes alive. As I said, this amp has a very familiar sound which I am very comfortable with but certainly does have its surprises, such as its ability to drive some of the most demanding speakers out there including my Dynaudios. The Elicit MK5 will deliver 127 watts into 6 ohms which is plenty of power. This amp sounds great at low volumes as well as cranked up but it made me want to turn it up! It just gets better and becomes more alive and one with the music, especially when I put the new Extreme album “Six” on the track being their big single “Rise”. Nuno Bettencourt’s guitar tone was just soaring as well as every detail in the band. In short this amp seems to have it all, so far so good. I feel the Elicit is a superb analogue amp, that’s warm with a hint of vintage Hi-Fi tones as well as forward sounding, near perfect to my ears.

cyrus classic amp rear panel

The Cyrus Classic AMP is up next and thinking back two years ago when I first started working here at Audio T Cardiff the XR range from Cyrus was first released. I vividly remember being blown away by the sound of Cyrus. Shortly after Christmas that year I took home the Cyrus i7 XR and CDi XR and wrote a blog about them which you can read here. It’s safe to say that they certainly left an impression on me.

When we think about Cyrus as a company and how far they go back in the world of Hi-Fi, right back to 1984, they are a true heritage brand. Always striving to perfect the sound in our Hi-Fi systems, as well as delivering great value for money. Moving forward to late last year I had the opportunity to listen to the new Cyrus Classic AMP, and let’s just say, in my very humble opinion, Cyrus has definitely unleashed a game changing amplifier here. They’ve taken some of the tried and tested technology from the XR range and brought it to the newly revamped classic integrated amplifier. The Classic is a great example of an AB amplifier, packed with great simple features with more than enough power to drive the thirstiest speakers out there with 91 watts into 6 Ohms. This amplifier has tricks up its sleeve, such as DB level adjustment so you can match the input levels.

pink floyd - “division bell” lp playing on the REGa planar 6

This amplifier has a vastly improved lower noise floor, especially when using analogue inputs such as the turntable I'm using today. Other great features on the digital side of things are helped along by Cyrus’s 1st generation Q-XR DAC. Listening to this amplifier is an absolute joy, with a new level of detail in music I haven't heard before; drawing me even further in to the soundstage with the amplifier reproducing a warm yet clean and precise sound. This amplifier gives exactly what I've been looking for when I sit down and listen to a band and close my eyes. I can hear near perfect placement of musicians on the stage, perfect separation and timing, what we all hope for out of a Hi-Fi system. For instance, listening to Pink Floyd’s album “Division Bell” the track I used off the album was “Marooned”. The Delay effect David Gilmour uses on this track is a Tc Electronic 2290 rackmount delay. The detail from that effect is more noticeable on this Cyrus Classic amp and the decay from each note really lasts from Gilmour’s Fender Stratocaster. I know I must sound like a massive nerd listening out for such things in music, but this is one of the things about music I am so passionate about, discovering new things in songs I thought I knew inside out.

The Winner

You may have guessed it, the winner for me is the Cyrus Classic AMP as this amp seems to have everything I need from an integrated amp, simple yet with all the right features and I am now a proud owner of a Cyrus!

the cyrus classic amp is our winner

Even though I chose the Cyrus Classic AMP, the other two amplifiers brought fantastic things to the mix. For instance, the Audiolab 9000A is absolutely packed with great and useful features, not to mention it has one of the best looking front panels in the world of Hi-Fi. The Rega Elicit MK5 for me is still very much a great analogue monster of an amplifier. In short between all three have something for everyone in the £2000 amplifier range. It goes to show between all three brands they have certainly got bang for their buck!

I guess the big question for you all out there is, which amplifier would you choose? Let me know or why not pop in and see us and give them a listen and tell me which one would be the winner for you. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Matt, Nick and Kerrin - Audio T Cardiff

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Audio T Cheltenham and the Lyngdorf CD-2 CD Player

/ Audio T Cheltenham/

Just as the Compact Disc medium decides to fight back with a vengeance Sir Elton John was interviewed on breakfast telly earlier this week in his “record room” as he calls it. He actually said, and I quote “nobody buys CDs anymore do they?” But he is soooo wrong. Talking to the amazing staff at my favourite local music vending emporium they assure me that the CD is healthier and selling more now than it has been for years! And the perfect player to ride that wave of increased enthusiasm is quite probably this little beauty…..The Lyngdorf CD-2.

Pure Audio Drive

the Sleek and beautiful CD-2

Lyngdorf is the sister brand of Steinway, the people who produce the legendary grand pianos and as such shares the same revolutionary company DNA, and the important thing about this little marvel is that it has been designed specifically for Red Book digital audio only. Using this pure audio drive is simpler and better. All players that use a multi-format drive will inherently produce more digital noise and also be clunky and slow in use. Lyngdorf offer cutting edge research and development and boast that this player ranks up there with the very best on the market.

Happy Accident!

We came across the Lyngdorf CD-2 by happy accident really. We really wanted to stock and sell the Lyngdorf range of amplifiers (also lovely by the way), but we were told that in order to sell those we had to stock the CD player too. Initially we were not that keen but said yes anyway! A few days later, after taking delivery and having spent a little time running them in we were gradually coming to the conclusion that whatever we played through it was sounding rather lovely and customers began agreeing with us too. A couple of them even preferring the CD-2 to some very expensive alternative brand disc spinners….mentioning no Naims!

Blues Pills

First Album by blues pills on the nuclear blast record label.

For the purposes of supplying music to this blog I dug out my copy of the first album by Blues Pills. This is another one of those albums that I bought just because I thought that the artwork was so evocative of the hippie era long since lost. I also thought how could a record label called Nuclear Blast not be worth a punt! It hasn’t disappointed either. The combination of great female vocals from Elin Larsson with stinging guitar work from Dorian Sorriaux backed up by a powerhouse rhythm section of Zack Anderson on bass duties and Cory Berry on drums.

cover art by Marijke Koger-dunham

A Time Of Endless Flux

A bit of background here… Marijke is hailed as the mother of psychedelic art. She helped shape the imagery of the sixties as it exists in the nation's collective memory today. She turned the era's music into colours that pop, shapes that ooze and illogical patterns that evoked the creativity blossoming in the time of endless flux. It was the ultimate vision of hippie aesthetics, Koger-Dunham created album art and costumes for The Beatles, painted Eric Clapton's and George Harrison's guitars and painted the mural on the theatre that debuted the musical "Hair." She was enmeshed in both the musical and visual arts as member of "The Fool," a design collective and band, allowing her to seamlessly translate from sound to sight. Her imagery is dripping with freedom and passion. Plants shoot up with reckless abandon only to melt into washes of hallucinatory hues. Everything is growing and changing; mirroring the politics of the time.

Adding To The Vibe

Anyway I think that in this instance the cover art adds to the vibe and helps the music to come to life. I chose the track “Astralplane” and was immediately astounded by the detail retrieval of this player. This track has a double tracked guitar with one in the left channel and the other in the right channel. This combined with the atmospheric addition of organ by Robert Wallin was producing a soundstage that you positively jump into! Lovely bluesy old Fleetwood Mac at their prime kind of sound with power and passion and as for that guitar soloing….just wow! The CD-2 was able to portray both power and delicacy so that the bass drums and guitar never overpowers the passionate vocal performance and it is still easy to pick out and follow the organ part in the background. Nuances that are lost on so many other players.

Lee Morgan’s Charisma

Charisma by lee morgan… quintessential mid-'60s hard bop

Next on the playlist was this lovely slice of classic Blue Note jazz by Lee Morgan who is joined here by the altoist Jackie Mclean, Hank Mobley on tenor, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Billy Higgins is probably most famous for the Sidewinder album but I prefer this one, which was recorded with his band towards the end of 1966 just as Flower Power was beginning to catch on, and a bit of that is reflected in the blissed out summery jazzy grooves on this wondrous outing. One of my all favourite Blue Note albums (and there are lots of them!). Now you cannot go wrong choosing any of the tracks on this album but I decided to go for the aptly named “Somethin’ Cute”. I love this track for its sense of open-ness and space around all the instruments and the way that you can really hear the sheer joy of all the musicians and their interplay with each other. Just gorgeous, and the CD-2 lays bare the exuberance of the piano and bass in the background as the two saxophones and trumpet sparkle and shimmer in between the loudspeakers.

Charisma and then some

Shockingly Good

So on this basis Sir Elton could and should be well and truly proved wrong! This CD spinner is shockingly good. It proves that there is a lot of life left in the old format yet. Indeed this Lyngdorf CD-2 may well be the perfect CD player. It sounds great, it looks great and it is quick and easy to use. None of that clunky bluray/streamer mechanism malarkey that means your CD player takes ages to even twig what kind of disc it has in it and then makes you press the buttons multiple times as it takes an age to respond the button press! It out performs a whole host of CD players that would have cost you an awful lot of money even only going back a few years, let alone older players. Heck, it even out performs a lot of very much more expensive CD players that you can buy today, so on that basis alone you have to put this one on your audition list.

The End Bit

If your interest has been piqued and you would like a listen to the amazing Lyngdorf CD-2 for yourself then please feel free to contact us at Audio T Cheltenham. The kettle is always on and we always have biscuits too!

Thanks for reading…

Andy, Jon and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham.

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Lyngdorf can be found at the following Audio T stores…

Cyrus takes a new stance on a Classic, Chromey investigates!

/ Audio T Manchester/

For those of you who think that change for the sake of change is the way to move forward and keep the Hi-Fi fires burning with "an all-new look", I'd say fair enough, but when it comes to case design from one of our oldest Hi-Fi manufacturers in the UK, Cyrus, the old adage goes: if it ain't broke...

So, fittingly, the Classic AMP has kept the original styling from the past 15 or so years, apart from a small but very welcome change. Gone are the "stick on" rubber feet and in come adjustable chrome feet, giving the Cyrus a "tougher yet sturdier-looking stance".

From Chromey to chrome

For instance, Porsche, known as one of the few car designers that have stuck to their guns for over 50 years, has kept roughly the same shape for the 911, and I personally love the look of the Porsche, as they also look tougher and meaner, even after putting on a little weight. But let’s not digress…

Old school Vs New school

The word “classic” in the new Classic AMP from Cyrus doesn't mean they’ve just reintroduced an old design back into their portfolio; on the contrary, the bods at R&D have completely re-designed the internals with upgraded components that mirror and reflect the new XR lineup, that's making waves for Cyrus at the moment.

What the Classic AMP does is give people with the previous kit and the same casework the chance to change out the engine room in their respective systems, and upgrade at the same time. It also affords the opportunity to fans of the classic styling to grab a great looking integrated amp with a small footprint.

Very Grounded

The Classic AMP has a built-in phono stage of a decent calibre, not ostentatious or showy, but just right. It can confidently hold its own against standalone phono stages priced anywhere up to £500. The 2 phono socket caps in the picture help against interference when not in use, again, a nice little touch from Cyrus.

Heady aspirations!

Hidden around the back you’ll also find a dedicated headphone output, for those moments when you don't want to disturb anyone during a late-night listening session. It's a 3.5mm jack that takes up minimum space on the rear panel and sounds great with most reasonably easy-to-drive headphones.

Its XR rated.

We listened to our Classic AMP at the Manchester store with a pair of Spendor A7 loudspeakers. And to say we're impressed is an understatement.

The Cyrus sounded open and detailed, with the bass control to rival amps way above this price point.

It sounded like "Cyrus", as in the Cyrus of old, clean, and refined, but with the added clout of the new XR range. The Classic feels like a recipient of trickle-down technology from the XR range, which is great.

Interestingly Cyrus is, and has been over the last few years, making up for lost ground that they may feel they've lost to the competition. The recent acquisitions and collaborations are bearing fruit.

We get the feeling that Cyrus's new stance on Hi-Fi is going to be a solid one.

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us

Thanks for reading,

Munir, James, & David - 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 our social media channels below…

Cyrus can be found at the following Audio T stores -

Is Bigger Always Better? A look at three little lionhearted loudspeakers...

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They say that good things come in threes… And that good things come in small packages. Well, recently here at Audio T Reading an opportunity came along for me to audition three high-quality and relatively premium little loudspeakers. This all happened a bit by chance, with all three speakers arriving like buses at the same time!

First up came the peppy Neat Petite Classic, drafted-in for a customer who was very keen to hear them. Then came the gorgeously finished Audio Note AX One, first unveiled at The Bristol Show 2023. And last but certainly no means least, the Harbeth P3ESR XD, kindly loaned by Gareth, our Reading store manager, from his personal collection of hi-fi goodies. Out of curiosity, I packed up the Neat Petite Classic to trial at home, but all the while thinking – “Why am I bothering? There’s no way these little ‘loudies’ can hold a torch to my own larger ATC SCM 11 standmounts”. As it turned out, they didn’t just hold a torch… They drew a sword and jousted with my 11’s all the way! In disbelief, I was left ruminating… “Why haven’t I considered premium smaller speakers before?” Please allow me to share with you more on this newest, most enlightening Audio T adventure…

A bit of backstory

Since acquiring my ATC SCM11 speakers, I’ve been so overjoyed with them that I’ve often wondered what direction I would take if I were to move on from them. How would I bring about an improvement in presentation and overall enjoyment? Just go bigger and pricier, surely. It seems logical that bigger gives you more! Proceeding with this one-dimensional perspective, my attentions turned to one of the best standmount speakers in our shop, the dynamic Dynaudio Special Forty, and also a floorstanding option like the sublime Spendor A7. Both of them sound fab in our main demonstration room… but in my own smaller, more flimsily built living room, the performance of both were hampered and could not reach anywhere near their full potential. With simply arranged acoustic music, they sounded great, but with more rhythmic or propulsive genres I found that both were over-exciting my living room and delivering the dreaded bass boom. Please let me be clear, the fault lays with the limitations of my room and not with the Special Forty or A7 speakers. I highly recommend listening to them as they’re both first-rate. Going back to my tunnel-visioned approach, I had lined up copious other large loudspeakers for audition as surely one of them would give me the ‘more’ factor I would be after. Then, as if by divine intervention, the following three little lovelies interrupted my one-track journey at just the right time…

NEAT PETITE – SHE’S A REALLY SWEET – CLASSIC

With the Neat Petite Classic atop of SolidSteel SS-6 stands and occupying the space in my room where I’m so conditioned to seeing my larger ATC SCM11, the Petite Classic by comparison felt like looking at a piece of paper side-on! On viewing, they just weren’t there. But upon listening, it’s as if they were everywhere – projecting high-quality, clean sound to all corners of my room. The air motion transformer (AMT) tweeter is incredible at conveying high-frequency information. Vocals sound hauntingly detailed and the ambience of the room where the original recording took place is delivered with absolute certainty – be it in a concert hall, or in a studio, all of the electricity and air of the venue came through distinctly, with great height and width. The big surprise with the Petite Classic is the sizeable bass on offer; it went surprisingly deep, was lightning fast, and seemed to belie the size of the speaker cabinets. This bass witchcraft, combined with the Petite Classic’s agility and detail retrieval, made for an engaging listening experience. Taking care with placement and the tuning of the rear ports only helped to make things better. The Neat Petite Classic were brighter than my ATC SCM 11, but not harshly so, and while my 11’s have more scale and authority, the Neats do what they do so well that I was mostly blissfully unaware of anything I was missing.

AUDIO NOTE AX ONE – NO AX TO GRIND WITH THESE

Whilst still buzzing from the previous dinky speaker discovery, these little beauties – the Audio Note AX One – turned up in the shop in a luscious European walnut finish. At first I wondered what that port was doing on the front baffle so close to the tweeter and mid-bass unit. I need not have worried; Audio Note know what they’re doing and take pride in doing things their own way. And without further ado, I took the AX One home… And my gosh what a treat it was to hear this compact communicator. The AX One a little firecracker! If you’re familiar with Audio Note, you’ll be aware of their musicality comes first approach. When listening to Audio Note equipment, three words tend to spring to mind: tone, timbre and swagger. The AX One has all the precision of a studio monitor, but with that beautiful Audio Note tone. They are one of the most informative speakers I’ve heard in my room, and that sweet tone did a great job of distracting me from their unquestionable ability to dissect a recording. Switching to a heavier stand helped with balancing the energetic treble and allowed the AX One to shine. This is a lively, fast and above all musical speaker that can place images in the foreground and background with exactitude. On heavier stands, they weren’t shy in the bass department either – okay, not quite the low-end that had my ornaments rattling! But the bass on offer exhibited texture and substance, if not the outright scale of my ATC SCM 11. I did, however, find the AX One slightly more revealing in my room.

P3ESR XD – NOT A CAR REG PLATE, BUT A SWEET HARBETH

By now, I’d all but forgotten about the existence of bigger speakers and found myself routinely chewing Gareth’s ear off about the joys of little “loudies”. Seeing that I was loving the small-speaker voyage, and perhaps in part to preserve his own sanity, Gareth rocked up with a box containing his very own Harbeth P3ESR XD loudspeakers and kindly offered that I could try them at home. At this time of writing, I still have them and can’t stop listening to them! These are one of the most complete sounding speakers I’ve ever heard. There isn’t a hint of harshness to them, even in my bright and lively living room. And with everything I play they just don’t seem to put a foot wrong. The P3ESR XD convey detail effortlessly, and with a slightly softer outline which brings a sense of organic-ness to their sound. Much like the Audio Note AX One, they image with astonishing aplomb. And with careful placement, they have a way of capturing the shape of instruments and sounds, giving a believable impression of three dimensionality. These little Harbeths have a fullness to their presentation that make them sound much bigger than they are. Compared to my bigger ATC SCM11, again outright scale is appreciably not as extended, but the P3ESR XD produce bass with definition and nuance, and in the lower midrange there’s a surprising amount of slam, ensuring kickdrums can be satisfyingly felt as well as heard.

Lasting impressions from the small speaker expedition…

It’s safe to say that I’m currently smitten with premium little loudspeakers. All three of the speakers featured are thoroughly entertaining in their own way and the key lesson learned here is that it’s possible to gain improvements in many areas of sound quality and overall enjoyment by going for a dinkier design. Perhaps the measurements, construction and acoustics of my living room dictate that a top-notch small speaker may yield better results than a bigger one? But on auditioning the Neat Petite Classic, Audio Note AX One and Harbeth P3ESR XD, it’s been encouraging to discover that all three sound way bigger than their physical dimensions suggest, and they don’t mind playing louder too. If I were blindfolded and asked to listen, I’m not confident I’d be able to correctly identify them as diminutive speakers. Which one of them is best? Well, it’s a matter of system matching, room integration and acoustics, and of course personal sonic and visual preference. All of these miniature marvels have their own unique musical boons. If like me you’re intrigued to discover more, my advice would be to get in touch with your nearest Audio T store. Our team can tell you more about these as well as other superb little offerings that we have. I’m now off to reluctantly pack up and return Gareth’s little Harbeths…

Thank you for reading. Rishi and Gareth – Audio T Reading

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

The incredible equipment in this blog can be found or enquired about at the following Audio T stores:

A customer’s journey to audio nirvana with Naim in 222 words…

/ Audio T Brighton/

This month we are going to focus on a customer’s system journey through time, not wanting to Naim names, of course. Just think of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, only more exciting! Our chronological journey will be heard through the ears of a long standing customer of Audio T Brighton, who has waxed lyrical about the performance of his newly acquired Naim system. It may take a few more than 222 words though, 250 or 300 perhaps! (See what we did there?)

An itinerary of our Naim journey...

Let’s have a brief look at the components we’ll be focusing on... the Naim NSC 222 streaming preamp, Naim NAP 250 stereo power amp and optional Naim NPX 300 power supply.

naim nsc222 streaming preamplifier

naim nap250 power amplifier

naim npx300 power supply

Not wanting to step on the toes of my colleagues, but an in-depth look at the new Naim 200 series has been written by Audio T Bristol, which you can read here.

Let the journey commence...

Naim 200 series with a Naim classic nap250dr

Paul is a regular visitor to Audio T Brighton and has waxed lyrical about his Naim and Linn kit over the past forty-or-so years he has traversersed through the hi-fi rabbit hole. He recently decided to purchase some new gear from Audio T as part of the Naim 200 series, including the Naim NSC 222 streaming preamp and Naim NPX 300 power supply.

I will let Paul tell you his story in his own words:

I bought my first Naim kit around 1981, getting a 42/110 with moving coil boards to use with my then LP12, Syrinx PU2 and Asak and shortly afterwards got a pair of Linn Kan speakers. It sounded great and I kept it for around 15 years pretty much as was, except for changing the PU2 to an Ittok and replacing the Asak in the later 80s with a cheaper cartridge, as at the time I could not afford another Asak level cartridge. There was also a change of speakers due to an ex-partner preferring bigger speakers with a fat woolly bass, one of my biggest regrets was selling the Kans but I did get a good price through the for-sale board in Jefferies Hi-Fi (now Audio T Brighton) and got a bargain Meridian 104 tuner from the shop, that I still have.

In the mid to late 90s I upgraded the 42/110 to a 32.5 with 72 boards, a 140 followed soon after with Hi-Cap. I also upgraded a Rotel CD to a Marantz CD10. I also got a pair of Rega Ela Mk1s. The Linn LP12 stayed as is, probably serviced a couple of times by John at Audio T Brighton as I had a cartridge fitted, again cheapish cartridges as money was tight then and the LP12 became very much a secondary source as I was buying and listening to CDs mostly. This system lasted until 2014, when my cancer prompted me to simplify my system and I bought a Unitilite to use with my existing speakers, but soon upgraded to a pair of Rega RX3s. I also had some work done on the LP12 and I got a Dynavector 10x5. I kept the Unitilite when I bought the Uniti Star in about 2018, having two good systems. At this time my intention was to stay with the Star/RX3 for the long term. 

Prior to the pandemic, I had vaguely considered upgrading to a separate system as the NAC-N272 with a power amp would have sounded better, against this I would have lost the benefits of the Star ripping and functionality so stuck with what I had. Then the pandemic happened and I found myself at home a lot more and listened to a lot more music again, mostly ripped CDs but Vinyl was being played more. Audio T started selling lots of ex-dem products, which I saw from the monthly email, and I spoke with John about getting a 250DR as a first step, with the expectation of the 272 replacement arriving sooner than it did. Shortly afterwards a pair of SCM40s were available ex-dem, so I jumped at them. 

naim uniti star and rega rx1 speakers

This system worked really well in my old home and in some way buying the speakers before I moved was a bit of a risk. Fortunately, they work as well if not slightly better in my new room. After moving I was listening to music more and getting back into listening to LPs more. Once the NSC 222 was announced I soon ordered one with a NPX300 to use with my existing 250DR. Around the same time I finally went for the upgrades to my LP12 that I had been talking about with John for a while, initially I was going to do the upgrades in two stages but fortunately decided to do them all at once. 

The upgraded LP12 arrived back slightly before my 222 was ready. It was so much better that I began listening much more to LPs again. Once the 222/300 arrived, the MM input and preamp stage improved the sound quality even further. The 222 is a significant improvement over the Star as you would expect. The SQ in all aspects is improved. In the 70s the concept of “musicality” was formulated and the system did become more musical. In today's terminology, “PRaT” was improved. The system 6 weeks in is still improving and I am listening to Rips and LPs much more than I did and listening to Radio 6 less. TV hardly gets a look in these days.

Atc scm40’s on the end of a naim nsc222, npx300 and nap250dr.

Summing it all up...

We would very much like to thank our customer, Paul, for providing us with such a detailed hi-fi history for this blog. There are many positives to be taken from this, including system satisfaction, sound quality and good customer service from Audio T. Once again, I hope that our future potential customers can see the value in dealer service over speculative purchases from online retailers, where the personal touch and face-to-face conversation still offers a better and more rewarding experience.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Audio T(akeover) with Audio Note at Bristol: Hi-Fi versus Real-Fi. Music's Finest Conductor and a Concert Cellist

/ Audio T Bristol/

What if you could listen to an accomplished passionate and energetic musician, with an original artistic vision, filled with warmth and depth simultaneously with a Hi-Fi system dedicated to the quest of re-creating that performance with maximum realism, emotion and intensity?

I refer to Robert Harley, editor in chief of the Absolute Sound magazine - “High-End audio is about passion – passion for music, and how well it is reproduced”. Here at Audio T Bristol we did just that with an unusual event...

The Contenders

Vincent Bélanger hails from a prominent family of musicians, many of whom have contributed greatly to develop the musical scene in Quebec, Canada. He attended Master Classes with Yo-Yo Ma (Lyon, 2001) and Catalonian master, Lluis Claret (Montpellier, 2001). With grants from the "Fondation des Jeunesses Musicales du Canada" in 2002, he went on to study with renowned French cellist, Yvan Chiffoleau and won First Prize in the Cello Master Class. He premiered as a competitor at the Young Artists Show, presented by CBC, Canada national network, in 2004. His album "Lâ", launched in Spring of 2011 (Fidelio label), won the "coup de coeur" of Radio-Classique, Quebec and Montreal before its official public release. It also received praise from the press and the public in Canada and overseas. It was ranked as best seller for several weeks on the USA's audiophile download website HDtracks.

The Audio Note system hails from Brighton from a prominent family of engineers, many of whom have contributed greatly to the High Fidelity world of tuned audio circuits.

Audio Note’s product range is built around a series of ideological and technological performance platforms from which they have developed a wide and comprehensive product range.

The platform levels are created to demonstrate that increases in price are consummate with suitable improvements in sound quality. Typically, this means using silver in key areas of signal path, uprated materials and tighter tolerances of components.

The Equipment

Audio Note TT3

The turntable is fitted with an Arm Two, IQ 3 cart and PSU 1 power supply, Our colleagues at Reading reviewed the Audio Note TT3 - read here and we have to concur - a stunning turntable. It’s hard believe that this is an MM setup given the amount of detail retrieved and the smoothness. Comparing to other turntables - the TT3 has the punch of a Rega Planar 10 and the airy-ness of a Linn LP12, but a musicality that is very difficult to describe. It feels revealing and complimentary to any musical genre almost regardless of quality of recording.

Digital Done right - CD 3.1 CD Player

The CD3.1x/II is the first model of integrated CD player in the Audio Note range to feature the highly regarded Analogue Devices AD1865 digital to analogue converter chip, the same device that they use in there more costly stand alone DACs. This 18bit device has consistently outperformed every competing chip they have tested regardless of specification or price.​

The transport is an in house modified Philips CD mechanism, designed purely to read true Red Book CD, which Audio Note believe is still the best possible Digital music format currently available.

The analogue output stage features two ECC88 dual triode valves and custom designed and manufactured Audio Note (UK) copper foil capacitors. Tantalum resistors are also used in critical areas, offering a quite remarkable level of performance.

Audio Note Meishu Phono Tonmeister Silver

We reviewed the level 2 Meishu Tonmeister back in 2021 (you can read it here). It’s hard to explain, but the Tonmeister leaves you with an emotion - no matter what you’re listening to. Music is reproduced to a different level of expression. This is the single malt equivalent of Hi-Fi. At Level 3, the amplifier is Class A single-ended directly heated no feedback triode, The Silver upgrades over the standard version specification with AN HiB C-core output and interstage transformers, AN silver (AN-V) and copper internal wiring, a combination of AN Standard and AN KAISEI Electrolytic Capacitors, 1W AN Ni-Chrome and 2W AN Tantalum Resistors in selected places. The most notable improvements over the standard Tonmeister is the depth of sound stage, timbre and transients - faster and tighter.

Speakers - AN-E SPE

Again, level 3 Speakers are the AN-E SPE Hemp in a Birch burl piano gloss finish. These speakers have a 1” tweeter & 8” high efficiency Hemp bass driver with Silver voice coils, 97.5 dB efficient, AN-SPe internal Silver cable, internal crossover, copper inductors.

The Session

Beginning with an introduction from Daniel Qvortrup, Director and son of founding Director Peter Qvortrup, Daniel explained the setup and the system. I was intrigued by the speaker placement, very different from many setups. The Audio Note AN-E benefit from being close to the corners of a room and near the walls. I expected the soundstage to be recessed and boomy, but not at all. The soundstage was quite forward and truly three-dimensional. I have never experienced a system capable of this and what is even stranger - move around the room a little and the soundstage stays locked between the speakers. This off-axis response is astonishing.

Vincent Bélanger then took over the reins, with an intriguing repertoire that had us captivated. It is a very special experience to be that close to a cello and see and feel the performance. Truly magical was a moment when Vincent played with an ensemble, the other instruments played by the Audio Note system. Listening to the difference between the real life instrument of the cello and the Audio Note system, which seemed to blend so perfectly, was a beguiling experience.

Consonance, the second album by Vincent Bélanger has his arrangement of Ravel’s Bolero, the centerpiece of the album and an “act of revenge for cellists and double bassists” as the original work neither has cello of double bass playing the melody. The album is a celebration of the expressive richness of the cello and is well worth seeking out.

All in all this event was an intriguing and highly enjoyable experience. Thank you Vincent, thank you Audio Note & a big thank you to all who attended and we look forward to welcoming you again - stay tuned for the next Audio T Events by subscribing to our newsletter.

Justin, Max & James - Audio T Bristol

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

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

A first step into Hi-Fi - A conversation with a customer…

/ Audio T Swansea/

A young gentleman by the name of Aled popped in to see us a short while ago at the behest of one of Swansea’s great audio institutions - Derrick’s Music. Our young hero has been collecting vinyl for some time, but was suffering with a sub-optimal record replay system and had asked the inimitable Chris at Derrick’s for advice:

“You need to have a chat with the lads in Audio T. Tell them I sent you and take a couple of records 😉” (Diolch Chris – Mae’r siec yn y post! - That’ll be Welsh for “The cheque’s in the post!”)

And what follows is an account of that fateful day…

Armed with a box of records and a cup of tea in hand, we trot upstairs to our demonstration suite to test the Rega Planar 1 and 2 turntables, a Rega iO amplifier and a pair of Acoustic Energy AE100² speakers…

An alumnium record case with many vinyls in it.

“i’ve brought a couple of records” - We love it when customers bring along their own collections

the rega planar 2 turntable

I span the Planar 1 and played Aled’s copy of Wet Leg’s ‘Chaise Longue’ – all familiar, boppy teenage fun “Yeah – that sounds great!” he said. I then swapped over to the Planar 2… “Haha! Wow! How is that even possible? There’s just so much more…drama. And the drums are really solid now. Can we...err...play a track from the Blondshell album next? I’m going to see her in a couple of weeks.”

“How is it possible?”

“Well” I said, “Let me see, the Planar 2 has a stiffer plinth; proper Rega one-piece, fully adjustable, cast aluminium tonearm rather than the bonded two-piece on the Planar 1, and a glass rather than resin platter. It all means that the cartridge can track more accurately in the groove which gives us more information and it has much less noise going into it. Same cartridge - but it’s supported more effectively. And yes, of course we can.”

I hadn’t heard Blondshell on vinyl before. Ms Teitelbaum’s atmospheric vocal on the track “Veronica Mars” is presented in a very pleasant, sweeping, open soundscape before the contrasting, dense, lo-fi crunchy guitar effects condenses the soundstage in front of us.

So, in the interest of transparency, I swap the turntable back to the Planar 1. The opening vocal soundscape is still enjoyable, albeit less convincing, but it’s the lack of weight and the congestion and thinness of the grunge guitar FX which disappoints; “Oh no! That doesn’t sound right at all. Ewww - what’s going on there?”

Back to the Rega Planar 2 and…

“Oh much better – that sounds right now. I don’t think I’ll be having the Planar 1. It’s great value and everything, but I couldn’t go back to it, not after hearing the Planar 2. Are there ummm…any different speakers I should listen to? These are really nice, but for maybe a little bit more there errr…might be something even nicer…?”

A quick trip down to the shop floor and five minutes later we’re listening to Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2s Anniversary speakers. “Oh it’s crazy how much more I can hear in there. How much better can it get Ade?”

Actual footage of Ade’s facial expression during this conversation 😅

“Oh OK. Right. Realistically, am I selling myself a little bit short here then?”

the rega planar 3

“Well, one of Rega’s favourite turntables, the one they really seem to love despite not being the top of the range, is the Planar 3…”

“It’s the Volkswagen Golf of the range, the most bang for your buck and one with a large upgrade potential. You can start with a modest cartridge like the Audio Technica VM510CB and it’ll flatten that Planar 2. And, when the urge grabs you, you can upgrade to the Neo power supply which will give you a big improvement, then you can really go to town on the cartridge.”

the rega Planar 6 6 WITH NEO POWER SUPPLY

“OK that’s cool - so what about the amp?”

“Well, as you heard, the Rega IO is amazing value at £420*. The next Rega amp is the Brio which is usually £700. However, Rega were about to release a replacement when they found a load more Brio parts that they didn’t know they had, so they’re currently doing the Brio for £549! That is silly cheap for an award winning amp of that performance, but once they’re all gone, that’s it.”

the rega brio amplifier

“Can I have a listen - have we got time?” asked Aled.

“Aye, no trouble whatsoever, it won’t take long, but you did ask to audition them, so remember that it’s not my fault when you can’t live without them. I did warn you.”

“Err…OK Ade.” I think Aled might look a touch unconvinced.

After I spin a couple of records, Aled decides on the white Rega Planar 3 turntable that comes without a cartridge as standard and accompany it with the Audio Technica VM510CB cartridge, a Rega Brio amplifier and Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 Anniversary speakers.

Deposit taken and a day later I receive some photos of the room via email. It’s a touch smaller than I expected, but it’ll be just fine. A few days later, Aled appears with a big grin and three new albums in-hand; “I’m moving my room around and I’m going to need somewhere to put the speakers and will the turntable be OK on the cabinet in the photo?”

So I advise, “Bowers make dedicated stands for your 607s called STAV24s and if you find that the cabinet is causing problems there’s an isolation platform called the zaZen available from a nice Canadian company called IsoAcoustic for your turntable.”

“Have you got them here?” he rapidly asks. To which I reply, “It’s your lucky day sir!”

“I’d better take them with me”. I’m beginning to like this man’s style!

About a week went by and Aled’s turntable arrived in-store along with the speakers. I got to work fitting the blue Audio Technica VM510CB cartridge. It does look rather snazzy on that gloss white Planar 3.

job done, tea and jaffa cakes discreetly out of shot.

The install

Once Aled had returned from a gigging trip to the Big Smoke, we arranged a morning to install the system.

It’s a small space, hence the compact speakers, so I set them up for an intimate, small-venue feel. It’s an aural aesthetic that Aled prefers.

an intimate venue…

The much-feared resonant cabinet had been moved to the rear of the room and replaced with a rigid table, (complete with beer fridge underneath), for the turntable and amp. Keen to not waste even a minute, the IsoAcoustic Zazen plinth was already in place and Aled had built and levelled the STAV24 stands. Good man.

bjork sounded great. note the rare autographed blondshell album. sometimes if you ask nicely…

After a few minutes tweaking the speakers position, we still had too much upper/mid bass. The 607s are a rear-ported model and using the supplied port bungs, we calmed the bass response down effectively. We could hear more than just the one note, but it still wasn’t quite right. Fortunately the Bowers & Wilkins bungs are two-stage, meaning that the centre of the bung can be filled or removed. Deploying the supplied reflex port bungs in their 1/2 size format (like a big foam Polo mint) calmed the bass down to give us a credible couple of octaves that we couldn’t hear before. The soundstage is quite near-field and it’s like the artist is speaking directly to you. The $64,000 question though…is Aled happy?

i do indeed aled. cheers!

“That’s brilliant Ade, it sounds fantastic and I’m so happy I came to see you. Someone said you like red wine, so I’d like to give you this to say thank you. I hope you like Rioja…”

Postscript: A few days later, we received an email:

“Hi Ade,

Thank you so much for installing my system, I love it and it’s changed my music world for good 😊 

I am glad you enjoyed the Rioja 

Thanks again

Aled”

Thanks for reading

Ade, Andy & Nic – Audio T Swansea

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

*All prices, credit terms and interest rates quoted are correct at the time of going to press but may be subject to change. E&OE

“Music is the Key to Everything” - How Music Makes A Difference In Our Lives

/ Audio T Cardiff/

In this months article, Matt from Audio T Cardiff takes a look at how we connect to music and how choosing the right Hi-Fi system can further ignite our passion for music and also expand our music collection…

Jimi hendrix Lp cover

Music in Evolution

If we really think about it, music has always been a driving force for us as a race. Regardless of our personal tastes, there is something for everyone. Casting our minds back roughly 40,000 years ago to early human civilisation, rudimentary handmade percussion instruments were being played around the fire, creating different rhythms, dancing and singing. People making their own musical entertainment, this was the start of it all.

Fast Forward around 38,200 years to the genius of Ludwig Van Beethoven with his era defining ‘5th Symphony’, jump again another 160-odd years to the late 1960s with yet another musical genius, Jimi Hendrix, which everybody will know for ‘Voodoo Child (Slight Return)’.

Moving forward again to the 1970s, we have the likes of Black Sabbath and their early track ‘Black Sabbath’ that believe it or not used to scare some members of the audience due to the rather ominous guitar tone of Mr Tony Iommi and Ozzy’s lyrical content (which never stopped me listening). Some would say this is where heavy metal started. Moving onto the 1980s, and one of my personal favourites, Van Halen. Mr Edward Van Halen turned music on its head yet again and changed how we think about playing the guitar and the evolution of heavy metal as we know it with tracks like ‘Jump’ and ‘Panama’.

Now, admittedly the aforementioned artists are particular favourites of my own musical tastes. It is important to remember that throughout these periods, there were countless artists pioneering different genres. Take for example Hip-Hop and acts like Public Enemy, who rose to fame with tracks like ‘Don’t believe the Hype’. And of course we can’t forget the Beastie Boys who believe it or not actually started as a punk band but became more well known for their Hip-Hop side with their breakthrough album ‘Licensed To ill’ and of course the track everybody knows, ‘Fight For Your Right’.

It’s safe to say that music is so deeply embedded in the human experience that we often take it for granted.

“Music is the key to everything”

Anyway, enough of me talking your ears off about music history as you all know there’s a hell of a lot more out there than the small number of artists I’ve just talked about. But what do all of these famous bands and acts have in common? They are all innovators in their different styles of music, and have all in some way influenced our lives and left their mark regardless of what music we’re into. Whether you’re into Classical, Hip-Hop or you’re an old rocker like me, we go out and buy their albums, go to their gigs and festivals and we are drawn into their music that has made a connection with us.

As my Dad used to say to me when I was very young, “Music is the key to everything”. It’s stuck with me my whole life, I even say this to my own kids to this day… I feel I was very lucky growing up. My Dad was a sound engineer working for Harlech Television (HTV) , which is now known as ITV Wales. At the time I spent a lot of time hanging out in the studios after school (probably much to his annoyance). The guys there would always play albums to keep me entertained. Even then I found music to be a beautiful distraction.

The first time I heard Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” was in those studios. The track “Time”, with the clock chimes, still makes me jump to this day. I also first heard Van Halen “Jump” as a result of hanging around the studios. Both bands and their albums are firmly implanted in my memory. It’s safe to say that my Dad was my biggest influence on my musical tastes. I feel he was definitely right when he said “Music is the key to everything”. I couldn’t imagine a day without music in my life, a day without music would be a very dark and sad one for me.

Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories

rega planar 8 spinning a covert lp

All of us will no doubt have a song or an album that brings back a memory. That magic when you first hear a guitar riff or drum beat, that person sing for the first time, the emotional connection we have with music. This sensory phenomenon is known as Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories (MEAMs). It can also be induced by Rhythmic entrainment, a process whereby an emotion is evoked by a piece of music because of a powerful, external rhythm in the music. For instance, Van Halen will always put a smile on my face, although the songs weren't always written about happy subjects, such as “Ain’t talkin bout Love”. Perhaps it’s the association that Van Halen influenced me to learn to play the guitar. Who knows?

To me Eddie Van Halen was and still is the coolest, although he’s sadly no longer with us his musical influence stays true till this day. Even going to my first gigs seeing my favourite bands, especially later on with my wife, have had a great influence on my musical taste.

When I talk of an emotional connection and how it affects us, as we know music can make us happy, putting a smile on our faces, make us dance or even bring a tear to our eye.

Music has the power to help and in some cases heal. There are many forms of music therapy. Many people think it is joining in and playing instruments as a group, but listening can have the same positive effects. This is no more apparent than when patients with crippling Alzheimer’s or dementia listen to a piece of music that reconnects them with favourite memories., making them lucid and talkative. Studies show that music has great benefits on our mental health. It never ceases to amaze me (I know this will sound cheesy), the power of music and what it can do.

It’s all for the love of it…

Over my years, especially in the music side of retail, I feel I’ve been lucky enough to see connections customers have with music first hand, with customers from my days in the pro audio industry handing someone their first guitar, hitting that first chord and watching their reaction, the look of excitement as the sound of the guitar comes to life, whether it being an electric guitar through an amplifier or playing acoustically, it’s that magic.

Years on, I proudly work for Audio T and I count myself very lucky to watch similar reactions, this time with customers listening to their favourite pieces of music on a high-fidelity sound system. Watch feet tap and heads nod, watching facial expressions change when they become engaged with that album or piece of music. There’s nothing like talking to like-minded people about such a great subject that I'm passionate about, as we’re all passionate about music.

Rega planar 10 rega aria with rega elicit mk4… And they call this a job?

recent vinly & coffee evening at mec coffee shop crwys road

As we know, the last decade has seen a massive resurgence in vinyl, with more independent record shops hitting the high streets, not just the veterans such as Spillers records and The Record Exchange, both situated here in Cardiff.

In fact, we’ve been running our own vinyl evening at our local coffee shop, Mec Coffee.

Sound Reproduction

Many of you will already own fantastic hi-fi systems, capable of reproducing music to the highest quality. But for those that don’t they might find themselves asking “Where do I start building a Hi-Fi system?”

One of our favourite entry setups consists of a Rega Planar 1 turntable, Rega iO amplifier and a pair of Dali Spektor 2 speakers, and maybe even a pair of Atacama Nexus speaker stands. This is a great example of how you don't have to break the bank to get a great sounding Hi-Fi system. There are many other choices in turntables, Rega has a fantastic range from the Planar 1 right up to the legendary Naiad.

But let’s not forget there is a great range of CD players and transports out there such as one of our favourite brands Cyrus Audio. With their new Classic Range and their flagship XR Range and fantastic QXR Dac. Their very existence proves CDs are very much alive and well.

But if you didn't want to go down the physical format route and perhaps look into streaming music, a great option would be the Bluesound Node streamer which you can plug straight into the Rega iO amplifier.

Streaming

Streaming music can certainly help with exploring new music, with services like Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz there’s a whole feast of music at your fingertips. For instance, I use it for exploring new bands and to decide whether I’m going to buy an album on vinyl.

new naim nsc222 streaming pre-amplifier

There are countless streamers available on the market, such as the previously mentioned Bluesound Node. There are other great streaming products out there like Naim’s Uniti range and Cyrus have also got a new range of steamers coming very soon.

As I know myself, choosing a Hi-Fi system is very much like choosing a musical instrument, both are very personal to the listener and as I always say “there are no wrong answers”. Whether you like more of a bright and lively sound or a warmer tone, there is something for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re using vinyl, CD or streaming; the amplification, the speakers even down to the speaker cable, each part of a Hi-Fi system is very personal. Much like the feelings and memories we have when we listen to certain songs.

So why not give us a call or pop in and see us to share your music experiences and let us take that journey through Hi-Fi with you.

Thank you for reading

Matt, Nick and Kerrin - Audio T Cardiff

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Bluesound can be found at the following Audio T stores

DALI can be found at the following Audio T stores

Cyrus can be found at the following Audio T stores

Audio T Cheltenham And The 50th Anniversary Rega P3

/ Audio T Cheltenham/

I must admit to having a big soft spot for the Rega Planar 3 turntable having purchased one myself back in 1983 when the RB300 tonearm had just been added to it and had significantly raised the performance level. It joined my A&R Cambridge A60 amplifier and Rogers LS7 loudspeakers to make a wonderful sound. Now to help Rega celebrate their fiftieth anniversary they have released the Planar 3 50th Walnut and I am here to tell you why it is rather special!

The Sticker on the box doesn’t give much away!

This Is What’s In The Box

nice innit?

In case you hadn’t realised, I am also a bit passionate about vinyl and have loved the Rega Planar 3 in all of its different guises and editions over the years but the new P3 50th Anniversary has to be right up there at the top. Everything about it is just that little bit special. It comes supplied with the upgraded EBLT Reference belt, which normally comes with the much more expensive decks. And it also boasts the 24 volt low noise motor fitted with the beautifully CNC machined belt drive pulley that is normally found on the Planar 6.

close up of the reference belt and upgraded drive pulley.

Custom Tuned PSU

The power supply, which gives you the option to change speed from 33 to 45 RPM, is specifically custom tuned to match each individual deck. That normally doesn’t happen until you go up to the Planar 6.

Custom tuned neo mk2 power supply.

The P3 50th Anniversary deck also comes fitted with the Exact which is the top tier of Rega’s handmade moving magnet range of cartridges. Built to the tightest achievable tolerances and using an advanced ‘Vital’ stylus profile, (a complex fine line micro-ground from a rectangular diamond billet). This advanced profile is guaranteed to extract more music from your vinyl by tracking the grooves with greater accuracy.

Close up of the factory fitted Exact cartridge.

The Plinth comes in the hugely popular new walnut wood effect finish, and is badged with exclusive aluminium plinth and lid badges for the finishing touch.

anniversary plinth badge completes the look

Let’s Play Some Music

Apart from my soft spot for Rega turntables I also have a serious fetish for great Prog Rock (as if you didn’t know already) and chose to check out the new Rega 50th Anniversary deck with a couple of proggy classics!

First on the P3 platter was “The Ghosts Of Pripyat” by Steve Rothery. Just so you know… Pripyat is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. It was founded to serve the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The city with a population of almost 50,000 was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, one day after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor went into meltdown and has stood empty ever since and has now become a tourist attraction!

Ghostly picture of deserted Pripyat.

If any of you reading this have even only half an interest in good Progressive Rock then this album by Marillion guitar genius Steve Rothery has to be listened to! I chose the 12 minute long track Old Man Of The Sea. Steve is joined on this track by both Steve Hackett (from Genesis) and Steven Wilson (from Porcupine Tree) and listened to on the new P3 I am immediately struck by how big and open the soundstage is. Bass depth and rhythmic propulsion is rock solid. Detail and background sounds are so easy to follow, and when all three guitar players unleash their guitar pyrotechnics towards the end of the song it is truly goosebump inducing! Sound quality on this album is top notch too!

Down By The Riverside

Next I chose another classic in the shape of the very first album by Polish Prog greats Riverside. The album is called Out Of Myself and the first track on side one is the rather amazing song that goes by the title of The Same River. This one is a real slow burner gradually building up to a crescendo of real rhythmic power and passion. The Rega P3 once again doing a wonderful job of keeping everything under tight control and portaying the whole thing within a huge stereo image….just amazing! It was so good I just had to play the whole album just to make sure!

The First Rverside LP…truly amazing.

SUMMARY OF THOSE KEY FEATURES

  • Walnut Effect plinth with custom aluminium badge.

  • RB330 Precision tonearm.

  • Exact MM cartridge factory fitted

  • Custom tuned Neo turntable PSU MK2 included.

  • 24 V low noise, low vibration motor, hand tuned to the custom Neo PSU Mk2.

  • Double brace technology.

  • 12 mm float glass opti-white polished platter.

  • CNC machined Planar 6 drive pulley for use with the Neo PSU.

  • Supplied with a smoked dust cover as standard.

  • Reference EBLT drive belt fitted as standard.

  • Anniversary Special Edition only available to buy during 2023.

  • Lifetime warranty against manufacture defects.

The Bit At The End

If your interest has been piqued and you would like a listen to the new Rega 50th Anniversary turntable for yourself then please feel free to contact us at Audio T Cheltenham. The kettle is always on and we always have biscuits too!

Thanks for reading….

Andy, Jon and Farid.

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

No Substitute for a Subwoofer - it’s not just thump

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When some people think of a subwoofer they likely imagine one that occupies the whole boot of a small souped-up car, with a “DOOOF DOOOF DOOOF” so powerful it startles pedestrians and sets off car alarms as it goes past.

In hifi it’s very different, the key is: a subwoofer should not be the component you hear the most in a system - actually you should hardly hear much of it at all, but you should definitely feel it.

The REL S/510 cranked up!

The Home Cinema bit

It’s easy to appreciate the impact of a subwoofer in your home cinema system, adding excitement to action films, adding more depth to atmospheric background noises or more drama to cinematic scores.

The Audiophile bit

Adding a sub to a 2 channel system currently seems to be more popular in the US than in Europe, but audiophiles are starting to catch on here too. We believe a subwoofer can bring a stereo system to life! A well set-up sub seems to add depth and clarity to the midrange of your existing stereo speakers no matter the size.

A subwoofer only lets you know it’s there once it’s been switched off - you’ll really notice the difference in the sound. Its main job is to underpin the sound of your main speakers with those lower frequencies, so what you hear sounds ‘fuller’.

How Low Can You Go?

Or more importantly, how low does our music really go? Bass notes are made up of a fundamental pitch, plus complex overtones and harmonics that give a note character and allow us to identify the instrument that created it.

In the old days of acoustic instruments in contemporary music, the bass player struggled to be heard over the drummer and the horn section. The advent of the Fender Electric Precision Bass Guitar and amplification in 1950 allowed the lowest bass notes to be heard much more clearly. A four string electric bass is usually tuned E, A, D, G with the fundamental frequency of the low E string at approximately 41.2 Hz when tuned to concert pitch.

In the early 1970s electric bass player Anthony Jackson tuned his Fender Jazz bass down to a low C. You should check out his amazing bass lines on Chaka Khan’s early solo albums and also with Steve Khan’s Eyewitness Band. He then commissioned luthier, Carl Thompson, to create a 5 string bass tuned BEADG, and later a 6 string “contrabass” tuned BEADGC, the low B having a fundamental frequency of 30 hz.

A 6 string bass alongside a rel subwoofer

Some genres such and metal or electronic music use even lower notes than this, some classical music has thunderous bass notes that makes an orchestra sound huge.

What Hi-Fi? have written an article specifically listing the best tracks for testing bass, which you can find here.

REL Subwoofers

REL Acoustics LTD was founded in 1990 by Richard Edmund Lord, on the basis of his dissatisfaction with the performance of available subwoofers at the time. By 2005, John Hunter and Donald Brody had taken over. Find out more about their chronological timeline and products here.

The evolutionary key element of the subwoofers’ design is the high input level, which came about from the design idea from Silicon Valley of more power and better performance with natural sound filtering. They also use musical instrument grade bracing on cabinets for a controlled bassline.

REL subs have very low latency even when using their Arrow wireless system… The quicker the drive unit moves, the tighter the bassline sounds. And it’s not just about how quickly a note starts, the timing of where the note stops is equally important with bass players often using space between the notes to create a groove.

REL Subs have two inputs: a high level input that is piggybacked off your speaker terminals using a special cable (provided) and a line level input. Each input has a volume setting for maximum flexibility.

Sub Optimal Placement…or optimal sub placement?

Low frequency sound waves become problematic when their wavelength starts to coincide with the dimensions of your room. This causes the sound to either cancel out at certain frequencies, or to combine and produce resonant notes. This will also result in an uneven bass response, with some parts of the room bass heavy and other areas completely lacking. If your listening position happens to be in one of these nulls then turning up the bass isn’t going to make any difference, it may even make the problem worse!

One trick to is to place your subwoofer in your listening position and then place yourself in various locations around the room until you find a spot where the bass sounds great…. that’s probably where your subwoofer should ideally go. It does however involve crawling around the room, so maybe wait until you’ve got the house to yourself, family members probably wouldn’t understand.

Although, let’s be honest, they probably already don’t understand.

The optimal placement for your subwoofer will often be very different to the optimal position for your main speakers, with subs near a wall or in a corner and the main speakers away from walls where possible.

Placing your full range speakers can often be a bit of a compromise between bass coherence versus soundstage, adding a sub you can allow you to make fewer compromises with your main speaker placement.

Sub Settings

Before experimenting with levels and crossovers it’s important to listen with the phase switch in each position, you want your sub to be working with your speakers and adding to the sound. If the sub is out of phase it will likely cancel out some bass, and not in a predictable way, one position will sound clearly better.

Crossover frequency

This controls the cut-off point of the sub and will depend on how deep your main speakers will play, you want enough overlap so that basslines don’t drop out at certain frequencies, but not too much that you get a bass hump.

Conclusions

While it may take a few hours to initially set your sub up for best results, and you may spend a few weeks making small adjustments, it’s definitely worth the effort.

Why not try it for yourself. Give your local Audio T store a call to find out more information about the products listed, and if you’re just passing by, why not pop in and take a look at them too?!

Thanks for reading!

Richard & John – Audio T Enfield

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

ProAc... A welcome new addition to Audio T Oxford

/ Audio T Oxford/

A proac family photo

Some background on ProAc

ProAc are a legendary British speaker manufacturer who combine a strong heritage and legacy with the latest materials and technologies. The company is a tightly knit family run operation; making loudspeakers that are revered by hi-fi enthusiasts, sound engineers, music producers and music lovers worldwide.

Today, ProAc produce high-quality and internationally renowned loudspeakers that embody a meticulous approach to both sonic design along with superb build quality.

The founder of ProAc (originally Celef) was a young engineer called Stewart Tyler. His initial aim was to build a compact speaker that possessed extended high frequencies and low bass extension, but also one that minimised cabinet colouration and would offer a natural midrange. Over time, Stuart grew the business, with his parents joining him to help run the new factory.

It was successful, but Stewart’s excellent engineering brain, along with new advances in technologies, drove him on to want to produce superior products. These new designs were so far removed from the older Celef models that Stewart decided they should be sold under a different brand name, and so they became ProAc (Professional Acoustics).

Tragically, Stewart died in 2021 but his legacy lives on though the fantastic range of speakers that ProAc currently produce.

What do we think about ProAc? 

The minute you unbox a pair of ProAc speakers you are immediately aware of the quality of finish of the cabinets, how well they are put together, and the quality of the engineering. So, a big tick in the pride of ownership box.

In addition to a definitive pride of ownership, the sound quality is outstanding; all possess a sweet treble, clear midrange and generous, even bass. They are dynamic, with a rightness and balance that allows you just to listen into the music. What could be better than that?

The speakers are generally a pretty easy drive and tend not to be overly fussy about room positioning, which can often be a bonus. Ten finishes are available, so it is easy to match to any room decor.

Currently, we are featuring the Tablette 10 Signature stand mount, Response DT8 and Response D20R floorstanders.

How do they sound? 

Here is a brief description of what we found playing these speakers, using the highly capable Rega Elicit amplifier and Saturn CD player combination. We also mixed things up with a Rega Planar 6 with Ania MC cartridge for our analogue delights and a Innuos Zen Mini for streaming.

The Response D20R - We would say that the D20R holds a particular sweet spot for us. Priced at £3825* (for most finishes), they are such a great all-rounder; so much so that it is really hard to pick any faults. The sound is warm, large, non-fatiguing, but detailed and dynamic. They possess a sweet and nuanced midrange and delicate treble (courtesy of the fabulous ribbon tweeter).

The Response D20 R in Oak

The Response DT8 – these floorstanders convey a great deal of the ProAc goodness, but in a more affordable package (from £2825.00 dependent on finish). They are contenders in their own right.

The Response DT8 in striking walnut

The Tablette 10 Signature – these small speakers are BBC LS3/5A size but much more developed. They work well on good quality stands and even up against the wall. The ProAc signature sound is there, with a surprisingly large soundstage and bass for such a small speaker. Ideal for smaller rooms and/or second systems (from £ 1905.00 dependent on finish).

The amazing Tablette 10 signature in Mahogany

Despite their professional history, ProAc speakers do not suffer some of the issues that many other monitor heritage speakers do; that of being incredibly analytical but so often sounding sterile and soulless. If you want to be truly involved in the recording and depth of musical experience, ProAc’s may well be just right for you.

Our Music

Shelby Lynn – Just a Little Loving (Streaming) 

The title track from Shelby Lynn album: The sound immerses the listener in an emotional and intimate way. It is such a lush, sweet experience. To us this music is all about emotion, and it’s hard not to be moved. If you haven’t heard this album, you really must: it is a beautiful recording.

Neil Cowley Trio – Spacebound Apes (Vinyl)

This whole album is a fine and expansive Jazz/electronic epic, that deserves playing all the way through. Wide dynamic range and swirling special effects, atmospheric with surprising deft and moving touches.

Late Night Tales Presents Version Exclusion – Curated by Don Letts (CD)

This collection presents a wide catalogue of Reggae and Dub and definitive mixes. A real joy to listen to on this system.

Summary 

If you would like to listen to ProAc loudspeakers, please get in touch. We think you will be impressed, just like we are. We have a wealth of experience. We are all about the music and working with you to get the result you want.

What do you think of this kit? Would you like to listen to it? If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

Thanks for reading.

Rob & Jon - Audio T Oxford 

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…

ProAc can be found at the following Audio T stores -

*All prices, credit terms and interest rates quoted are correct at the time of going to press but may be subject to change. E&OE

The Pro-Ject Colourful Audio System - Vinyl and music streaming at home

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What is the Pro-Ject Colourful Audio System? It is a music system put together by Vinyl specialist Pro-Ject Audio, a company from Austria, renowned for high quality Hi-fi equipment. The idea is a complete music system that doesn’t take up much room, is easy to set-up and most importantly, a system that sounds great. We have sold Pro-Ject equipment for a long time and we can’t wait to hear what it can do.

The Pro-Ject Colourful Audio System comes in five hand painted satin finishes, black, fir green, golden yellow, steel blue, and white plus a real wood veneer. The Speaker Box 5 S2 and Debut Carbon Evo are bundled in the same finish, the Maia S3 amplifier comes in a black finish.

The Pro-ject Colourful Audio System in Steel Blue

What’s in the box?

The Turntable - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo

The turntable is the award winning Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo. It comes fitted with a Carbon Fibre tonearm, rarely found on turntables below £500, a factory fitted and aligned Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, a new motor suspension, a heavy steel platter and all of it mounted to a very solid plinth with high adjustable dampening feet - This is a high spec turntable.

A switch underneath the plinth allows speed change from 33 rpm to 45 rpm and with an extra belt supplied, it will play 78rpm records, as well.

The Amplifier - Pro-Ject Maia S3

The Maia S3 is the heart of the system and it offers up to 40 Watts per channel. There are three analogue and three digital inputs, the latter very handy to connect a tv or set-top box or any device that has an optical or coaxial output. If you want to stream your music from your mobile phone, tablet or pc you can simply connect to the high definition AptX HD capable Bluetooth 5.0 input with a sound quality up to 24-bit & 48kHz which is better than standard CD quality. A pair of headphones connect to the front headphone socket.

The Loudspeakers - Pro-Ject Speaker Box 5 S2

The Speaker Box5 S2 are a perfect partner for the Maia S3 amplifier and we would say, they are the surprise in this system. They are easy to drive and with a 25 mm silk dome tweeter that delivers crystal clear highs and a 130 mm fibreglass bass/mid driver, this speaker gives full-bodied and lush mids as well as punchy and tight bass. A set of grills are supplied in the box.

Included Accessories

The Colourful Audio System comes with all accessories you need. Included is a three metre pair of speaker cables with fitted gold plated plugs, a 7” single adapter, an extra belt for playing 78 rpm records, power supply, a dust cover, turntable interconnect, 6 absorber feet to reduce vibrations if the speakers are on the same surface as the turntable and a set-up guide for the turntable.

Accessrories included with the Colourful Audio System

Sound Quality

The system is set up and the first record we play is Morning Phase from Beck. We have listened to this album many times and because it is so nicely recorded we couldn’t resist playing it again. This a very relaxing sounding album and this system made us feel exactly that - We feel chilled and happy. It is fantastic how good music makes you feel when it’s well recorded and played on a great sounding system.

Then we choose to play a track called Human from Sevdaliza. We stream it from Tidal Hi-fi, a high quality music streaming service and play it via Bluetooth to the Maia S3 amplifier. I picked up this track during an install from a customer’s play list, and this is a great system tester for bass to check what the system is capable of. It sounds crisp, punchy and powerful, incredible for such a small speaker. We can’t get enough of this.

Our verdict is - You like it ? Go for it. The Pro-Ject Colourful Audio System looks and sounds fantastic and it is fun to use. Please come in for a listen in one of our demonstration rooms and feel free to bring some of your own records.

Thanks for reading

Stefan & Andy - Audio T Swindon

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…