The long-awaited party: Chord Electronics' Ultima Integrated Amplifier

/ Audio T Swansea/

Long-standing customers of Audio T Swansea will be very familiar with our penchant for healthy amplifiers, especially ones made at Chord Electronics’ The Pumphouse, down in bucolic Kent. You may be similarly familiar with our mantra “One big one is better than a couple of little ones” in reference to the phenomenon of a single, high end integrated amplifier very often performing better than a two-box pre/power system of the same cost. I am unrepentant for deploying it here.

The 125-watt amplifier, launched at the High End Show in Munich, is designed by Chord Electronics’ founder, owner and chief engineer, John Franks. It is the first new Chord integrated amplifier in seven years and the only full-width model in the company’s range at present.

The Ultima Integrated is styled somewhat differently from its CPM-appellation predecessors. The design matches Chord’s critically acclaimed Ultima power amplifier range and bears a strikingly close resemblance to our Ultima Pre3 preamplifier, to the occasional confusion of staff.

Those familiar with Chord Electronics will recognise the house style, even if they somehow miss the gold Chord badge mounted centre-top, in its elegant, CNC-machined recess.

that gold chord badge. “ostentatious? MOI?”

Ultima styling has drawn a varied response (mostly positive), with comments akin to ‘It looks like it should be in Flash Gordon’s rocket-ship’, ‘Have they used Lang’s “Metropolis” for inspiration?’ and ‘Why am I reminded of “Bioshock?”’

The first thing I remarked when it was lifted from its carton was how menacing it appeared. Putting the demon into demonstrator, our black anodised unit is finished with the signature Chord “Integra” legs and it looks very… purposeful. When powered up, the (also) signature Chord internal LED illumination spreads a pleasing aquamarine glow over its surroundings through its perforated top plate and its power button, which is actually a frosted sphere about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Très chic.

the beautifully machined aluminium top cover and perforated plate reveals components bathed in an aquamarine glow. (it’s my favourite colour)

my goodness it’s pretty. red ring on the input selector denotes xlr input engaged. the power button glows red during standby, green upon power-up and aquamarine when it’s ready for action.

Flanking the power ball/button/indicator is the volume/input selector knob and the balance/AV bypass control. Pushing the volume knob in yields a satisfying click and cycles through the inputs, the ring of light around the knob changes colour to indicate which input is currently engaged. Holding the balance control in yields a similar click, a purple illumination is displayed and the volume/input selector is bypassed for AV, more of which later...

mmmm.…aquamarine. i’ve got a lovely jumper that colour.

The rear panel has a row of five robustly manufactured analogue inputs; a standard XLR, three RCAs and an XLR marked AV Bypass. (This is for use with a home theatre processor/pre-amplifier and bypasses the Ultima’s volume control, enabling a direct signal from the processor’s output sockets and allowing the system volume to be controlled from the processor.) Should you wish to add a power amplifier in future, an XLR pre-amplifier output is also present.

i’m sure we can all appreciate a robustly built rear

note the handy earthing nut (no phono stage) and those safely radiused heatsink fins.

All inputs feature individual buffering and are selectively filtered against potential ingress from radio frequency interference. Selection switching is via microprocessor-controlled sealed relays. Below is a 10A IEC power socket and below that are a pair of loudspeaker terminals. The rest of the rear panel is taken up with neatly machined heatsink fins.

Powered up and glowing softly, initially Ultima appears to take a fair turn of the volume pot to elicit a usable level, until you realise that this amp is so deathly quiet and free from noise, that you are able to keep turning the volume down and still hear everything on the track. This is particularly useful trait for late-night listening sessions. Conversely, turning the wick up yields very satisfying weight and scale, with no apparent trace of noise or distortion until pushed way beyond the bounds of decency and the safety of your hearing. It will go very loud indeed and yet it’s just so very… clean.

paired with the excellent linn selekt dsm media player.

a rega Planar 10 turntable & aria phono stage, black rhodium cables and dynaudio contour 30 speakers complete the picture. the components are sitting on a solidsteel hy4l rack.

Connected to our Rega Planar 10 turntable, Aria phono stage, Linn Selekt DSM media player and Dynaudio Contour 30 speakers with Black Rhodium cables, needless to say electronic music absolutely shone with huge ambient soundscapes filling the room with tight, extended bass. Acoustic instruments shine too. The textures of plucked strings, struck skins and resonant bodies are simply presented for you to enjoy. Nothing added, nothing taken away, performers’ techniques are revealed, but not exposed so ruthlessly that you are distracted from the music. Singers in particular are given an honest treatment that demonstrates their skill, passion and artistry without getting distracted with forensic detail. The Ultima is clean, not clinical, the music presented with a creaminess I haven’t heard in Chord Electronics’ umm… electronics before. It really is very, very good indeed.

But don’t take my word for it, the Ultima Integrated is on demonstration in our ground floor dem room. Skip over to the shop and I’ll play you a tune or two…

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

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Chord Electronics can be found at the following Audio T stores

Audio T Cheltenham and the Rega Planar 6 Turntable

/ Audio T Cheltenham/

Vinyl is the most popular way to enjoy listening to music and with sales of albums and turntables still on the increase what better excuse can there be to spin some lovely new(ish) vinyl on a the Rega Planar 6 which is a rather wonderful record spinner!

Because the Rega Planar 6 has been in the current turntable line up since August 2017 I think that it is due a bit of a re-appraisal. Evolved from the RP8 and the RP10 the P6 offers a rather enormous improvement over the ever popular P3 and not enough people know about it! So here goes…

Rega p6 in our demo room ready to play

Features, Benefits and Advantages…

Like the Planar 8 and the Planar 10, the Planar 6 is constructed around a unique and extremely rigid, ultra light foam core plinth and HPL laminates. This helps it to deliver a level of performance far beyond anything else at this price. The Planar 6 comes supplied with the RB330 tonearm and a dual-layer float glass platter for extra stable speed control. The supplied Neo Mk2 turntable power supply provides convenient selection between 33 and 45 rpm speeds, advanced anti-vibration control, and electronic fine speed adjustment.

close up with the Exact cartridge

The Planar 6 benefits from a single piece, machined aluminium sub-platter, a new 24 V motor hand tuned and matched to its own Neo power supply and custom drive pulley, fitted with the Reference EBLT upgraded drive belt as standard.

Rega’s double brace technology between the platter bearing and the tonearm base, with integral custom matched aluminium tonearm and hub pillars, ensures maximum rigidity and accuracy between the record surface and the stylus tip. This again is something rarely seen on any other make of turntable.

close up of the cross brace between the arm and main bearing housing

Factory fitted cartridge options are…Exact (MM), Ania (MC) or Ania Pro (MC). You can also buy it without a cartridge, if you would like to fit one of your own choice. The Dynavector DV20X2 moving coil works rather well IMHO.

Now time to play some music.

Another wonderful album from 2023. The Delines and The Night Always Comes.

Record store day limited edition

The Delines are an American band from Portland, Oregon. Formed in 2012 they describe themselves as a "retro country soul band". I describe them as just brain meltingly gorgeous. Guitar player and chief lyric writer is the novelist Willy Vlautin and hence each song is like a little story. In fact this album is described as the soundtrack to his novel of the same title. The real star of the show here though is the band and the production. There is a palpable sense of being present with the band in the studio as they are playing. The soundstage as rendered on the Rega P6 is so big and so spacious that you feel as though you could just reach out and touch the band. The bass is deep and bouncy and tuneful. The trumpet and keyboards are off the scale dreamy and Amy Boone’s vocals offer a true widow into the tortured soul of Lynette ( the book’s protagonist ).

Then I moved on to this little gem…

Furling by Meg baird

Suffice to say anyone with even a passing interest in Joni Mitchell needs to listen to Meg Baird. Known for her previous work with Espers and more recently, Heron Oblivion, she continues in that tradition with her atmospheric and ethereal vocals. The music is dreamlike and lysergic, with breathy vocals and hushed piano accompanying her understated guitar prowess. She is joined by Mary Lattimore on harp, and she utilises vibes as well, adding to the overall shimmering dreaminess of the tracks. The whole album is just a Joni fan’s meet God wet dream, but my own personal highlight is the song “Cross Bay”. The guitar picking is sublime and the lyrics really are poetry. Once more the Combination of the Rega P6 with the Exact cartridge really brings the music to life. Sound hanging in the air in between and around the loudspeakers.

One more test for the P6…

Primrose green by ryley walker

The audible antecedents of Primrose Green are the extravagantly inventive music that Tim Buckley, Davey Graham and John Martyn made in the 60’s and 70’s. Walker doesn’t just sound like them; he is possessed by a similar spirit. I came upon this album during a visit to local second hand record specialists The Vinyl Vault in Cambray Place in Cheltenham. If you’ve not been there then you are seriously missing out. It is quite probably the best source of used vinyl for miles around! Anyway…played on the P6 the mix of folk-rock and hazy Grateful Dead jazz is delightfully disorientating. There is more than a hint of Danny Thompson in that bass playing too. Special mention goes to the title track for extra genius. “Head full of Primrose Green”….I think I know what he means!

also available in white

To Conclude…

If the Planar 10 and Planar 8 are out of reach price wise and you hanker after a chunky hike in performance over a Planar 3 then this groovy spinner of groovy grooves (?!?) will be the place to get off. It offers substantial improvements in both sound quality and build quality over the P3 and gives you much more of an insight into the music that you would normally expect with much more expensive turntables.

The Rega Planar 6 turntable is currently available for demonstration at our Cheltenham store so if you fancy a listen call them on 01242 583960 for a chat.

Thanks for reading.

Andy, Jon and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham Store.


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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Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores -

DALI Katch G2 - a minimalist marvel.

/ Audio T Oxford/

Dali Katch G2

We don’t keep many portable Bluetooth speakers in stock here at Audio T Oxford; in-fact, there is only one we often recommend... the DALI Katch.

Don’t mistake this as us giving our customers little or no choice, we are just convinced that it is the very best product available, and here is why…

Design

It is a stunning piece of industrial design, modern and stylish and easy to carry (thanks to the inclusion of a soft leather strap) or pack. The build is of the highest quality, with a sturdy metal case housing, where competitors would opt for cheap plastic, not to mention the smart and easy-to-use controls.

Available in three tasteful finishes; Caramel White (my favourite), Chilly Blue and Iron Black. Just looking at it instils a pride of ownership, reinforced by its tactile looks and feel.

Technical Stuff

The Katch measures a compact 138mm x 268 x 47 (H x W x D) and inside this box are no less than six drivers (two tweeters, two mid / bass units and two passive bass units). These are powered by a 2 x 25W digital amplifier. It utilises Bluetooth 5 which allows for APTX and APTX HD/ AAC. A Mini-Jack input is incorporated, as is a USB port, which can also be used as a charger.

Top view with power button

The battery will last for a class leading 30 hours (though this depends on musical content and volume). A full battery charge will take approximately two hours.

The specification claims (considering the compact dimensions) a bass response to 49Hz and a 95dB SPL. I couldn’t actually believe it would go that low, but lo and behold, when I played a 50Hz test tone through it the bass was indeed there. The volume had dropped a little bit but I couldn’t deny that it was indeed making itself felt. I didn’t check the SPL claim, but it certainly goes more than loud enough for the majority of ears.

5O Hz test tone

Sound 

Of course, whilst looking good is an advantage, it needs to back this appearance up sonically.

So how does it perform in the real world? The answer is astonishingly well. The DALI allows for either a ‘clean’ or ‘warm’ presentation. I much prefer the ‘clean’. Listening to Shelby Lynne’s gorgeous cover of Dusty Springfields ‘Just a Little Lovin’, the sound is truly engaging and refined.

 

Moving on to Lou Reeds ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ shows just how good the Katch is rhythmically, it times really well.

Just for a laugh I put on ‘Hey Now’ by London Grammar. If you have ever listened to this track, it has the most stupendous bass; bass that can make some seriously capable systems struggle. This turned out to be most interesting, because rather than hearing the distortion that I expected, the Katch neatly filtered off the very lowest registers and gave an assured, if not quite full range, performance.

Want Stereo?

The DALI also has another trick up its sleeve: if you purchase two of them, you can create a stereo pair: So, for the travelling audiophile or for space-conscious home use, this could be portable Nirvana.

Conclusion

The Katch is at the more expensive end of the compact portable Bluetooth speaker spectrum, but it is most definitely worth the outlay. Prepare to be surprised!

If you are fishing for a high-quality compact Bluetooth speaker, the Katch can be caught (groan) at any Audio T branch.

Thank you for reading.

Jon and Rob.

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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Maximum Minimalism - ATC SCM 50 Active Towers with the Linn Selekt DSM Organik

/ Audio T Bristol/

This Hi-Fi setup takes the minimal approach for maximum performance. Highly accomplished ATC SCM50 ASLT paired with the Swiss army knife Linn Selekt DSM installed with the upgraded ultimate Organik DAC.

Sunday afternoon, disappearing into an indulgent binge watch of Grand Design episodes certainly is a feast for the senses. There is a general theme. The home-builders state a budget of £X that Kevin McCloud adds 100% £X based on £2,500 per square metre all-in building cost. After marriage collapse, bad health, ancient ruins/sewage pipes/spring well unexpectedly uncovered, the final cost is £X squared, but rising from earth - an ECO concrete, larch clad, glass, steel contemporary monolith of geometric perfection of a naturally beautiful space that somehow compliments it’s surroundings.

The ATC SCM50 ASLT

Arriving from ATC in two large flight cases, I imagined myself as a roadie setting up for a Pink Floyd Wembley concert. Along with a handful of other manufacturers, ATC are pro studio monitors company first - with their home Hi-Fi selection evolving from this deep history. Unlike some speaker manufacturers, ATC make the drivers themselves. The SCM50 comprise of the High frequency tweeter 25mm ATC SH25-76S, The SH25-76S tweeter is the product of over 40 years' experience building one of the world's finest acoustic transducers - a dual suspension tweeter that minimises distortion. Mid 75mm ATC Soft Dome and the low frequency 243mm Driver.

This Super Linear bass driver overcomes one of the longest standing obstacles in speaker design - that is the detrimental effects of magnetic hysteresis. The magnetic characteristic of the steel used in the magnet assembly of a loudspeaker is inherently non-linear due to magnetic hysteresis. This results in a distortion of the input signal in the loudspeaker causing audible colouration.

ATC’s solution to this lies in their super linear magnet development to add rings of the SLMM to the magnet assembly pole and front plate, adjacent to and concentric with the loudspeaker voice coil. The effect of the rings is to reduce 3rd harmonic distortion by between 10-15dB between 100Hz and 3KHz. The addition of the SLMM produces a significant improvement in sound quality, reducing the level of distortion so dramatically as to reveal another layer of information to the listener.

The resultant improvement in the quality of the reproduction of human voice and piano testifies to its success. And certainly, anyone familiar with the ATC sound know that this is exactly where they excel - mid range revealing, characterful clarity. You can read more about this technology here.

Positioning was really easy to set up. The ATC are handed and depending on your listening requirements and room, positioning with bass port on the inside or outside gives really good flexibility.

Amplification

This loudspeaker design includes the equivalent three MOSFET power amplifiers totalling 350W per channel. The 200W direct coupled amplification in the bass promises excellent low-end power; the mid headroom matches it with a 150W feed, while the high frequencies get 50W, In the Audio T Bristol dem room, measuring 7m long x 5.6m wide with 3.25m high ceilings, the ATC SCM50 ASLT never felt under powered and indeed had a lot of presence.

Source

The Linn Selekt DSM has three levels of DAC performance level; Standard, Kataylst or Organik. The entry level DAC is still capable of 24/192, The Katalyst uses it own stabilised power supplies and voltage reference point. This mean that any "crosstalk" from other audio channels and circuitry are isolated and give a cleaner/purer music.

We fitted our Selekt DSM with the Organik - Linn’s own in house DAC. Most manufacturers take off-the-shelf chips, compliance check, programme and tweak to get the best out of them. Linn’s route is via FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) - deep programmable logic far more efficient in terms of processing time as well as offering very tight timing when compared with optimised code running on 3rd party chips. Organik uses an 8-layer circuit board, facilitating optimal delivery of power and clocks to the DAC. Power for the conversion stage is generated by a discrete regulator, and delivered using multiple internal power planes.

The Organik occupies the stratospheric rarefied air of top performing streamers. The strength is clarity and engaging with an emotional depth of performance, that is so difficult in the digital realm. With Organik DAC in line out mode and direct XLR outputs straight to the ATCs it was unquestionable, this is one of the most synergistic systems we have encountered.

We experimented with adding ATC’s own pre amp, the CA-2 Mkii, and that improved things again. We suspect that ATCs SCA2 or Chord Electronics Ultima Pre 3 would be an even better match.

Also, we upgraded the standard power and XLR cables to Chord Shawline, which significantly improved stereo image, noise floor and detail.

In summary

For me the most successful Grand Design is when the contemporary minimalism is contrasted with a the personal touch and sometimes bold statement interior. Think chintz - translating themes from nature and exotic locations onto wallcoverings, fabrics and bed linen in bold colours. No shying away from rich textures and opulent accessories.

This is what we have here with this system - minimal boxes with maximum punch. Breathtaking clarity, dynamic range and a truely High End Hi-Fi system that could out perform a passive equivalently priced system and would require a lot more power amp budget. Indeed we tried this, as we had the SCM50 passive crossover units - think Naim 350 mono blocks (at £12,000) to exceed the performance of the SCM50ASLT.

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.

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ATC Loudspeakers can be found at the following Audio T stores

Brighton Audio T says Happy New Year to 2024 with our Naim New Classic 300 series/Proac speaker week

/ Audio T Brighton/

Hi folks, and welcome to this month’s article from us here at Audio T Brighton. We are happy to announce a joint Naim Audio New Classic 300 series and Proac loudspeakers week from Tues 23rd January through to Saturday 27th January 2024.

Link to the event is here - or click on the image below.

Rather than review each product individually, like we have done before in our previous blogs, we would like to invite you to visit us and hear both ranges in our Brighton Audio T store during this week. We will be demonstrating different pairings of our extensive catalogue of Naim Audio and Proac speaker products and you can let your ears decide. Our resident Naim Audio and Proac loudspeaker gurus and company representatives will be here in person on Thursday 25th & Saturday 27th of January respectively and they will be more than happy to answer questions you may have about any of the products in their ranges.

If you would like to join us during our week long event and reserve your space, please call us on 01273 609431 or email: brighton@audio-t.co.uk

To inform you of what’s on show ahead of the event, earlier Audio T blogs and links to these will be strategically placed throughout this article to enable you to gain some insight into what will be demonstration during our Naim New Classic 300 Series and Proac Loudspeaker event.

Put it in the diary...

We have waxed lyrical about Naim Audio and Proac products before and especially when they are paired together, so let’s have a look at the possibilities.

Naim 300 series system with Proac speakers

The main engine room behind this event is the Naim New Classic 300 series components, consisting of: Naim NSS 333 streamer/dac, Naim NAC 332 preamp, Naim NPX 300 power supply and last but not least, Naim NAP 350 monoblock amplifiers.

Our turntable of choice for the event will be a Linn LP12 Klimax with a Radikal 2 and Linn Ekstatik cartridge.

Naim’s class leading designs have all the powerful sonic magic needed to light-up the wonderfully natural range of Proac speakers on demonstration.

If you would like to find out more before your visit, Naim’s latest range can be seen and read about in its full glory in our recent blog Here.

Other Naim offerings here at Audio T Brighton

In our other listening area we have some more Naim products, including the current Naim 200 series: Naim NSC 222 streaming pre-amp and Naim NAP 250 power amp. For turntable joy we have our Rega Naia turntable with Rega Aphelion 2 cartridge into a Rega Aura phono stage on demonstration.

What’s on offer Tuesday 23rd January - Proac Tablette 10 Signature

Firing things off, let’s start with Proac’s baby, the Tablette 10 Signature speakers. These really do fit a quart into a pint pot sonically, and you can read more in my ramblings about the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures in our earlier blog here.

Wed 24th January - Proac Response DB1 and Proac Response D2R

Our focus on Wednesday 24th January will be two more stalwarts from the Proac range, the Response DB1 with Proac’s high quality dome tweeter and Proac Response D2R with a ribbon tweeter. The Proac Response DB1 has proven to be a popular choice at our Brighton store because of its sweet, transparent and spacious sound, whilst the Proac Response D2R offers an extremely focused and detailed sound with a different flavour owing to the ribbon tweeter and new to our shores, so to speak. It is also worth noting that the Response D2 is available with Proac’s high quality dome tweeter as an alternative if desired.

Thursday 25th January - Proac DT8

On Thursday 25th January we’ll turn our attention to the DT8, which are Proac’s entry-level floor standing loudspeakers and equipped with their quality dome tweeter and part of a 2.5 driver speaker design. The Proac DT8 deliver a substantial sound at an attractive price, so anyone looking for their first foray into floor standing speakers should have these on their audition list.

To find out more, read our Proac blog here.

We are pleased to announce that on Thursday 25th, our Naim representative, Darren Woodyatt, will be available to answer questions about any of Naim’s extensive current range of products.

Friday 26th January - Proac D30R

On the Friday 26th January we’ll turn our attention to the Proac D30R. These are our penultimate speaker for our Naim/Proac week and offer a substantial sound for a large room and respond well to our Naim New Classic 300 series monoblock power amps, the Naim NAP 350. Where bass extension and power are desirable, these need to be heard to be believed.

Saturday 27th January - Proac K3

So we finally get to the big fella! Our coup-de-gras speaker of the ProAc/Naim week is the ProAc K3 floor standing speaker. At over 40kg each, these monsters throw out a full-range sound that really needs to be heard, with detail, clarity and extension in spades!

We are privileged to have the company of our Proac representative, David Johnson, for this final day in our week long demonstration of the Naim New Classic/Proac loudspeaker exhibition. He will be more than happy to answer questions about any of the extensive Proac loudspeaker range, so make the most of being able to quiz him fully.

As always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so get in touch to book a demonstration.

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.

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There is nothing like a dem, nothing in the world…

/ Audio T Portsmouth/

As hi-fi and audio visual retailers we are always delighted to share our knowledge and to engage with customers’ questions on a variety of topics. The most common questions tend to centre on how one brand or product compares to another.

We can certainly talk about product specifications and give our unbiased personal views based on our own listening experiences. But beyond this things get more complicated…

Audio T Bristol Demonstration Room

A typical, and entirely reasonable, customer question might be something like: “How do these speakers compare to those ones?” Most customers are not asking about differences in driver or cabinet construction. They want to know how they sound compared to each other.

Or, to take another question we often hear: “What sounds better, a good CD player or a similarly priced streamer?” Entirely reasonable questions. The trouble is that there are often no objective answers to how things sound.

THE Naim 300 Series in the AUDIO T BRIGHTON Listening room

What sounds great to one person might sound too bright/too bassy/too relaxed and so on to another. And what sounds fantastic paired with one system may sound less good in another.

In short, sound (what we actually hear) is very often highly subjective being dependent on a huge number of factors right down to the way our brains are wired.

Audio T Oxford Showing off their new audio note system

Sure, most hi-fi enthusiasts can tell decent sound reproduction from that served up by poor equipment. But the only way to find a sound that really suits you is to listen to the equipment yourself.

And that is where Audio T’s bespoke demo rooms come into their own. It is part of the service that distinguishes Audio T as an independent hi-fi retailer.

Not only do our demonstration rooms allow customers to road test equipment and make comparisons but a demo also helps build relationships during which customers feel comfortable talking about their hi-fi and music. It’s an interactive process.

Often matching and mixing components in the demo room ends up in happy coincidences when, for example, you are demoing a record deck for a customer who turns out to be just as impressed with the sound of the speakers and/or the amp you paired it with.

Of course, our listening spaces may differ sonically from customers’ home listening rooms and our pairing equipment may differ from their own systems. That’s why we also offer home loans.

Music is one of life’s great pleasures. We put great amount of time and effort into finding music we enjoy and then listening to that music.

Why would we then risk playing that music on equipment bought on spec, or solely on the strength of a shopfloor sales pitch or magazine review, when we don’t know how it sounds?

There are surely few things more disappointing for a hi-fi enthusiast than eagerly plugging in a new component at home only to be seriously underwhelmed.

Our main demonstration room at Audio T Portsmouth

So, if you’re considering some new hi-fi in 2024 or just want some advice on your system, then drop in for a chat at the Portsmouth store. Or, if you prefer, you can call us on 0239 266 3604 or drop us a line at portsmouth@audio-t.co.uk

Thanks for reading.

Alan, Luke and Stephen - Audio T Portsmouth

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Matty’s Gear Of The Year Round-Up of 2023

/ Audio T Cardiff/

Matt from Audio T Cardiff reflects on all 2023’s Hi-Fi events with the best and brightest products of the year and looking forward to what’s to come in 2024.

Christmas has once again been and gone, and my how fast 2023 flew by! It feels like a blink of the eye and almost the whole year has passed. Now that we’re in 2024 I have been reflecting back on last year’s events, such as my first time at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show, new dealerships and the latest greatest equipment that arrived at our store throughout the year.

Some of this new equipment that arrived has lead to me expanding my own Hi-Fi system (believe you me there will be more changes on the horizon, as we say, there’s always room for improvement). One of the most wonderful things about working in the Hi-Fi industry is discovery, finding that next piece of equipment that makes a change to how you listen to your Hi-Fi systems and, more importantly, sharing all of my discoveries and listening experiences with you all. So, let’s take this fantastic ride to discovery with me through 2023 and see where we end up.

The beginning is a wonderful place to start.

The Audio T sales team at the bristol hi-fi show 2023

This year started for me at one of the most momentous events in the Hi-Fi calendar, you guessed it the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2023. As you may know this was the first show I have worked at, and it has left a great impression on me in a good way.

For those of you that have attended The Bristol Hi-Fi Show before, you’ll know it gives us the chance to check out and listen to the latest and greatest manufactures have to offer. You may have even read the blog I wrote about my first time at the show, talking about my experience. For those of you that haven’t read it yet, you can do so here.

I recall seeing and listening to a great many products such as the rather exciting Rega Naia turntable, Naim’s New Classic series, the Cyrus New Classic as well as a great many other brands, which I will talk about shortly, but for now let’s talk about the new arrivals…

Decisions decisions!

The first new arrival is the one that made a major change on the amplification side of things to my own Hi-Fi system. This led me to a major shootout between three major team players in the £2000 integrated amplifier bracket: the Rega Elicit Mk5, Audiolab 9000A and the Cyrus Classic Amp. You can read that blog here.

Each amplifier brought something very different to the table sonically, but the winner for me being the Cyrus Classic amp. Nonetheless, each amplifier brand as you know sounds very different, for very good reasons, as each manufacturer has their own idea of what sounds right. As I always say, there’s no wrong answers in our own individual Hi-Fi journeys, it’s all in the ears of the listener and what we feel sounds right to us. For me, the end result was Cyrus as I felt it was the true star of the show, but you may choose something different to me!

Speaking in volumes

dynaudio evoke range at audio t cardiff

dynaudio special forty in the stunning BLACK VINE HIGH GLOSS

Another big arrival for us at Cardiff this year was Dynaudio. This loudspeaker brand has been a favourite of mine for some time, in fact around this time last year I bought my stunning walnut Evoke 10. To me these speakers just keep sounding better and better.

But I digress. Although Audio T has been an official retailer of Dynaudio for some time, we hadn’t previously stocked them in this particular store before. As well as taking on the full Evoke range, we also took on the rather stunning Special Forty.

Dynaudio as a brand has never ceased to impress me. I remember them from my professional audio days. As many of you know, they are used in some of best recording studios around the world. To this day, the fact that you are getting a lot of the same materials and technology in their domestic loudspeakers is something that makes Dynaudio stand out from the crowd.

It’s all in the Naim

Naim classic event Bristol november

Naim 200 Series setup in our Cardiff shop

Going back to early in 2023, I caught wind of the new Naim Classic Series being released and was lucky enough to see the new designs and specifications of the full 200 series. Knowing the reputation Naim has for building great amplification had certainly peaked my interest and as a result I made a beeline for the Naim stand at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show.

I sadly didn't have much time to listen to it but I knew this system would sound phenomenal in our store and we soon got our hands on the NSC 222 streaming preamplifier, the all new NAP 250 power amplifier and the NPX 300 power supply. We set the system up in our demonstration room with one of our favourite pairs of floor standing speakers, the unmistakable Spendor D9.2. We all listened for a good few hours and were amazed how fantastic this system sounds. The Naim streaming platform sounds superb. The whole system sings quality, living up to Naim’s long standing reputation.

Moving forward to September of 2023 (as you may have seen in yet another blog of mine) I had a wonderful trip over to visit the amazing people at Naim to see the New Classic Series and I got to listen to the whole range, including the 300 Series which was otherworldly in its sound. If you get the chance to have a listen to both the 200 and 300 series, I highly recommend it! Put it this way, I'm still thinking of saving up for a new system myself.

A great welsh giant is in the building

Leema Acoustics tucana ii aniversary front panel

You may have already guessed it, but the Welsh giant in question is Leema Acoustics. With their new preamp and power amp combination, the all new Quantum Range which I talked about in my previous blog. It’s been a year since I first heard this combination and now they are finally here, trust me it was worth the wait! To think they are hand built at this price point is phenomenal.

Each time I plug them in they never disappoint. The control and specification of the Neutron preamp performs way above its price point, feeding the class AB monster of the Graviton power amplifier, which never seems to run out of steam, making me want to turn it up and listen more. This combination is unparalleled in my humble opinion, not just in build and performance but price as well. For me, the other big highlight from Leema Acoustics this year was meeting Mr Lee Taylor, the man who’s behind all of those great designs from Constellation through to the new Quantum.

The only way is Essex - Or should I say the only way is “Naia”?

Rega naia Zirconium toughened alumina (ceramic) central bearing

One of the biggest announcements of 2023 has to be Rega’s new high-end turntable, the Naia, one notch down from Rega’s legendary flagship model the Naiad.

Although visitors weren’t given the opportunity to listen to the prototype at the show, we were able to see the turntable on a bespoke mirrored plinth that allowed us to view all of its technical wonders. And boy, is it something rather special! Borrowing a lot of its technology from its big brother, this is a true masterpiece of engineering excellence.

Whilst at the show, our rep showed me the sub platter and bearing assembly, which has a Zirconia toughened alumina (ceramic) central bearing enabling the sub platter to spin effortlessly, a marvel of engineering.

rega naia lifestyle press shot

Fast forward to November and the UK sales manager of Rega, Rob Noble, brought us the Naia fitted with the Aphelion 2 moving coil cartridge to have a listen for ourselves. The demo system we put together for the Naia was a bit of a Rega family affair, with the Aura phono stage running into the Aethos integrated amplifier. On this occasion we used an old favourite on the loudspeaker front, the Spendor D7.2.

After the amp had a good amount of time to warm up, each of us took a turn to listen to this truly amazing turntable. Whilst enjoying the Naia I could soon hear what all the hype is about, it truly has that lively sound which Rega is known for but there are a lot of other things going on. For instance the noise floor on this turntable is next level. Don’t let this turntable’s looks fool you, whilst it does look like Planar 10 from a distance, they are very different from one another. The turntable sounds like the needle is glued to the grooves, giving the perfect stereo image. The more I listened to it, the more detail came through. All I can say is this turntable is highly addictive.

Summary

Reflecting on 2023 and the equipment I have seen and heard, it’s safe to say it was a great one! I feel the equipment I've talked about today is just the tip of the iceberg. As you know, there are many other great brands and products we’ve taken on including Lyngdorf with their groundbreaking room correction software.

Looking forward to 2024, the big question on our lips is what’s to come next at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show, and what great changes are afoot in the world of Hi-Fi.

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

Matt, Nick and Kerrin - Audio T Cardiff

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

Rega, Naim and Chord Company can be found at the following Audio T stores

Cyrus can be found at the following Audio T stores

Audiolab can be found at the following Audio T stores

Spendor can be found at the following Audio T stores

Leema Acoustics can be found at the following Audio T stores

Lyngdorf can be found at the following Audio T stores

Rega Naia & Aphelion 2 Cartridge - Chromey and Haden investigate

/ Audio T Manchester/

Many years ago, Rega was famed for their upper end budget record spinners, the classic Planar 2 and Planar 3, utilising the classic RB300 and RB250 tonearms, sold by the tens of thousands. Not to mention the production of improved and refined models continue to this very day.

As the company has grown, so has the choice of turntables offered. The budget Planar 1 offers audiophiles on a budget a real taste of high fidelity sound far in advance of any single competitor for the money. Moving up, the Planar 6, 8 and 10 really offer serious and significant upgrade paths, technology developed for the higher-end decks has filtered down and found it's way in to the more budget models.

Roy Gandy - Co Founder and OWNER rega

In 2009 Rega started work on making the absolute best turntable they could produce. The result was the Naiad. An extremely limited edition run of turntables, available only to those that Rega felt worthy. However, to make Naiad remotely affordable, Rega had to order parts in quantities of 50, this set the figure for the maximum number of Naiad Rega would ever be able to manufacture, each one painstakingly assembled by hand by a team of their most highly skilled team, including Rega’s CEO, Phil Freeman. To this date, Rega has now made and sold more than 30 Naiad at a cost of £29,999 each.

Rega have chosen to close the gap between the performance offered by the exclusive Naiad model, and the excellent Planar 10. Enter the Naia…

At first glance, you might mistake the new reference Naia model for the older Planar 10 model. The black chassis, white ceramic platter, and polished aluminium arm tube give similar styling clues... But in truth, the only 'common' part is Rega's highly developed 24V motor, every other part is a substantial upgrade from the already sublime Planar 10.

CHROMEY AND THE REGA NAIA

Rega was the first company to sell a modern injection die cast tonearm, in the form of the original 1980s RB300 (and lesser sibling, RB250). This arm not only won awards for its sonic abilities, but industry design awards for its innovation. The arm fitted to the Naia is a true reference. Similar to the arm fitted to the Planar 10, it features a low-mass polished one-piece aluminium arm tube, dubbed the RB-Titanium, above a mere number, the Titanium references the core of the arm, which, as you may have worked out, is machined from titanium. Rega can proudly boast this is the most rigid and most accurate sound reproducing tone arm they have produced.

The black chassis is based on the well used Rega theory of two rigid 'skins' filled with a light weight material, and then utilising a matching pair of braces to link the energy flowing through the deck. In order to achieve the ultimate balance between low mass and extreme rigidity, Rega has pioneered the use of graphene impregnated carbon and a Tancast 8 polyurethane foam core specifically for the Naia. Both super light and super rigid. In addition, the braces themselves are now made out of super rigid ceramic. Even the chassis feet have had much of their mass removed in a unique and bespoke manner, all upgrades from the Planar 10. Rega argue a high mass plinth system cannot help but to store some energy, and therefore 'smear' the detailed sounds recovered by the superb RB Titanium arm.

not sure you are going to go fast enough to leave orbit chromey!! Worth a shot i guess (pardon the pun)

You can see the concave in the platter above.

One of the standout visuals on the Planar 10 is the ceramic platter. The Naia ceramic platter is slightly deeper than the 10, but also has had more thought to it's design, the underside is concave, with rather than a 'lip' of mass at the periphery, as within the 10, the Naia gently smooths from thin at the centre to thick at the edge. The platter is much more inert, introducing less of its own sonic character.

Over the years, much has been made about the main bearing quality, and all Rega decks made feature a super quality main bearing. The Naia really pushes established manufacturing technology. In Rega's own words: “The Naia uses a custom aluminium sub-platter with a spindle and central bearing manufactured from ZTA (zirconium toughened alumina). ZTA was formerly developed for use in much larger machines used in the paper industry. The resistance against abrasion was much higher than alumina oxide, which makes it the perfect material to construct a central bearing assembly from. Exceptionally complex to make, production is similar to other oxide ceramics. Starting life as a powder preparation with spray drying, the piece is formed in an isostatic press (which applies pressure in all directions to create even density). The piece is then turned in a green state (before firing) then fired at 1600 °C for 3 days before grinding the bottom flange and bore and then final honing to match the spindle diameter. The spindle and bearing are then kept together as a set to guarantee the perfect fit.” All this assures unhindered platter revolution and absolute stability, and near perfect sound..

As mentioned earlier, the 24V motor is about the only significant assembly carried over from the Planar 10. A revised pulley sees no less than three drive belts, (as per the Naiad) to counter any belt slippage, linking to the precision sub platter. As per the Planar 10, a powerful power-supply and speed control drives the motor, but with the Naia, the motors drive waveform is derived through digital signal processing techniques, which further reduce any possibility of motor noise being imparted upon the refined sound.

chromey is at aphelion (for you astronomers)

Rega can supply the new Naia factory set-up with the Aphelion 2 cartridge, and as a set to listen to, as you would expect, it is a serious performer. The first thing that stands out is the openness and directness of sound. The deck liberates tunes from your vinyl collection. Each record played with such detail and fluidity. Pitch stable and solid, but open and lifelike reproduction. The deck is also incredibly quiet. Between tracks there is an almost deathly silence, the deck adds no mechanical noise. No rumble or noises from the motor or drive system. The turntable does its absolute best to disappear from the sound, and leaves you with just the music, with a lack of 'colour' to the sound. A sound that is defined by the records themselves, and not the deck.

As a range topping deck, featuring cutting edge technology, the Naia sets new heights in sonic fidelity from Rega. Ready for your own choice of cartridge from £9,999*, or complete with the Aphelion 2 for £12,499. On audition now at your local Audio T store.

Come along and speak to Munir, Dave, James and Haden for further information on the Rega Naia and Aphelion combo.

Thanks for reading

Haden, James, Munir & Dave - Audio T Manchester

Come along and speak to Munir, Dave and James at the store to arrange a demonstration.

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

Introducing Corinium from Acoustic Energy

/ Audio T Oxford/

Our customer, Martin, is a long-time user of Acoustic Energy. He has a dedicated home cinema setup with the aforementioned brand. When he came to visit us, he was looking to replace his Hi-Fi speakers at the time, which were the Acoustic Energy AE520. We knew exactly what he was after…

Martin’s trust acoustic energy ae520

Serendipity can be a good thing

Martin was fortunate enough to hear the Coronium at the same time that we did, and we were lucky enough to be joined by Mat Spandl, Managing Director and Chief Designer of Acoustic Energy and Paul Burnip (Acoustic Energy Sales Manager). The two had come down specially to demonstrate a pre-production pair of the long anticipated speakers and as Martin had already indicated to us that he was keen to listen to a pair, the timing worked out well for everyone. Plus, Acoustic Energy were more than happy to have the opinion from an existing fan and user of the brand.

Long story short

We loved the Coronium, as did Martin. So much so that he placed an order straight away and thus ordered the very first pair in the UK.

Three months later, the fantastic Tectona finish loudspeakers were ready for delivery; Paul and James (AE’s Industrial Designer) personally delivered the speakers and helped with the setup. Despite the fact that the speakers were brand new and still cold to the touch from a chilly December day spent in the back of the delivery vehicle, they instantly sounded fabulous in Martin’s room. During our short time there they really began to loosen up. With a hundred hours more under their belt, they will sound truly amazing!

After a couple of cups of coffee, during which time the tunes were played, James explained to Martin and myself the philosophy behind and the benefits of the Coroniums.

The words of Mat Spandl and the design philosophy

“With Corinium we believe we've built something which goes to the next level. This is a speaker which not only reproduces music, it produces a musical performance, it tells you about the musical intention of the artist, you hear the subtle inflections, the spaces between notes that separate the 'me too' from the really great. It can bring new meaning to familiar material, reinterpreting your favourite passages and bringing new life to your favourite old tracks.”

The Coronium’s are a philosophical design departure from previous Acoustic Energy speakers. Their profile is curved, to reduce standing waves. The cabinet is tilted for time alignment and is made from a composite of materials and is up to 50mm thick.

A synthetic polyester soft dome tweeter replaces the 500 series carbon fibre designs, because it is lighter. Brand new carbon fibre midrange and bass units complete the array, with the 120mm midrange covering five of the eight available octaves.

What this means in reality, is that in comparison to the AE520, everything has improved: The treble is more open, the midrange more lucid and detailed, bass quality is better (especially at lower listening levels), the speakers are substantially faster and dynamic.

 Finish options are:

  • Tectona wood (particularly gorgeous).

  • Matt white.

  • Matt black.

  • Metallic British racing green.

Our colleagues at Portsmouth have already done an in-depth review of the Coronium, which you can read here.

Job done

The Coronium are truly high-end speakers available at a very reasonable price - and they deserve to be heard.

We left Martin a happy man and I hope he has a fantastic Christmas listening to his favourite songs.

Thanks for reading.

Rob & Jon - Audio T Oxford

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, The Rega Naia And Their Records Of The Year 2023

/ Audio T Cheltenham/

Hi Pop kids and music lovers! It’s that time of the year when we look back and take stock of all the fun music we’ve played in-store during the year and shout about our favourite albums of 2023. Not necessarily music of audiophile quality, and perhaps not to everyone’s taste, but for many it is music that is joyous and uplifting. Music that makes you want to dance around. Music to transport your mind to other dimensions or just music that makes you think “What the F**k was that all about!”

secret stratosphere by william tyler and the impossible truth

Secret Stratosphere - William Tyler & The Impossible Truth

Released on the 31st March and without a shadow of a doubt my most favourite album of the whole year is Secret Stratosphere by William Tyler & The Impossible Truth.

A bit of background just in case you’ve never come across him before… William Tyler is a Nashville guitarist and composer. He spent years woodshedding and touring with Nashville groups like Lambchop and Silver Jews before breaking away to focus on his own version of instrumental guitar music. Secret Stratosphere is a live recording of William Tyler & his new band, The Impossible Truth, which shows him at a point of culmination where his place as one of the premier purveyors of prog/psych-country guitar amblings is cemented.

The band are totally hot and the music intense and other-wordly like a cross between Hawkwind and the Charlie Daniels Band. Drums are rock solid and thunderous with Tyler’s looping on lead guitar maintaining a post-rock ethereality, with chugging basslines beamed in straight from The Grateful Dead. There is even a Kraftwerk cover which is off the scale with trippy goodness! I can’t wait to hear more from this bunch.

no fixed point in space by modern nature

No Fixed Point in Space - Modern Nature

Next on my “Best of 2023” list is the third full-length album by Jack Cooper’s band, Modern Nature, which takes the palette of sound and themes that were honed on the 2021 release, Island Of Noise, and launches them into an expansive world of openness and vivid technicolour. It’s a music that hasn’t been heard before; as melodic as anything Cooper has produced in the past but framed by rhythms and instrumentation that reflect the chaos, unpredictability and colour of the natural world. It contains elements of folk, jazz and modern classical without being any of them. Definitely one for fans of late period Talk Talk. A beautifully recorded album and a totally quiet vinyl pressing too.

history by Bokanté

History - Bokanté

In third place comes History by Bokanté. Snarky Puppy guitarist, Michael League, formed the band in 2016 after hearing singer, Malika Tirolien. On this, their third studio album, Bokanté have mixed rock, jazz and blues with roots firmly in West Africa and the Arab world, bringing it all into the retro-modern present.

These nine tracks tell - with lyrics sung mainly in Guadeloupean Creole - of outsiders and seers, memories and joy; of black history, global unity and the futility of war. Of taking time to rest, feel, love. Of the redemptive power of music as a conduit, a change maker and a muse. The sound quality on this album is totally off the scale gorgeous… Definitely one of those albums to play to your friends when they come round to listen to your hi-fi!

careful of your keepers by this is the kit

Careful of Your Keepers - This is the Kit

Going back to the summer, we had the brand-new release from This Is The Kit, who are the musical project of Kate Stables and whoever joins her. I have been a fan of theirs since the first album came out and they have been improving with each release. This new one has had an injection of summary woozy trippy psychedelia, courtesy of production duties and musical guidance from Gruff Rhys... Him from the Welsh pop wizards, Super Furry Animals (just in case you didn't know).

A great collection of songs that also happen to be absolutely beautifully recorded too. This is one of those albums that will make your system sing. The recording puts so much of a sense of air around all the instrimentation that the sound just pops out of the loudspeakers and hangs in the air, the soundstage extending way out of the boxes left to right and up and down. The real treat though is that wonderful deep bass that seeps through at just the right moments! I suggest you treat your ears to one of these sharpish! Nice green vinyl and a locked groove at the end for extra weirdness!!

Unending Ascending by gong

Unending Ascending - Gong

November saw the release of Unending Ascending by Gong. A truly brain melting mash up of proggy, funky, drony, psychedelia and jazziness. Not much in the way of Radio Gnomes and Pot Head Pixies but who cares! The spirit of Gong is well and truly alive and safe in the hands of Kavus and his bunch of spiritual anarchists. I was looking forward to this one for ages and was not disappointed. If it wasn’t for the staggering brilliance of William Tyler this would have been top of the list!

The Rega Naia

The sound quality of this tiny selection of some of the year’s best vinyl has been raised to new heights by the introduction of the new top of the range, state-of-the-art turntable from Rega Research, called the Naia. It has not only moved the goalposts, it has changed the game! I knew that it was going to be good but this is just one of those wow products that comes along very rarely.

All that beautiful titanium

I am not going to go in to any more detail about it here because I notice a recent blog from the Brighton branch which does just that very eloquently. What I will say about the Naia is that never before have I heard a turntable that can extract this much information from a record groove and still make it fun to listen to. It is that simple. There are quite probably a lot of very worried turntable manufacturers around at the moment, all scratching their chins and trying to work out just how they have all suddenly been left behind.

The Rega Naia turntable is currently available for demonstration at our Cheltenham store so if you fancy a listen call them on 01242 583960 for a chat.

Thanks for reading.

Andy, Jon and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham Store.

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 -

Say “Hiya” to the Rega Naia - Now at Audio T Brighton

/ Audio T Brighton/

Hi all, and welcome to this month’s article from us here at Audio T Brighton. I can honestly say that this month’s blog is going to be a bit special, in the announcement that we have taken delivery of the brand new Rega Naia.

To say I’m stoked at the arrival of this highly anticipated turntable would be an understatement. Spoiler alert, Rega have hit it out of the park with the Rega Naia! Let’s have a closer look and more importantly, a listen...

rega naia turntable

Rega Naia esquire...

Rega’s latest turntable, the Naia, is a fitting development to demonstrate how Roy Gandy’s engineering is at the apex of record player design after 50 years of his company’s existence. He should be very proud of his achievements!

Following on from the Rega Naiad, a limited production turntable at a stratospheric price and hand-built as a special order for well-heeled customers, the Rega Naia has evolved using “trickle-down” materials, engineering knowledge and manufacturing techniques to the point where it has become a more affordable production model, yet has sacrificed little of its illustrious predecessor’s audiophile qualities.

Rega Naia is sonically on fire...

To say that Rega have a game changer turntable would in our opinion be an understatement. Combined with a Rega Aphelion 2 cartridge, a Rega Aura phono stage and a Rega Aethos integrated amplifier driving either the Rega Aya floor standing speakers, the Neat Acoustics Motive SX2 floor standing speakers or the Neat Petite Classics on Solid Steel SS6 stands, the Naia turntable has had us all bewitched here in our Brighton store.

rega naia system in action

It has all the detail and dynamics you’d expect of a turntable at this level, it bestowed every record we played with a musical virtuosity and humanity we’ve seldom heard in a comparative system. We’ve literally been boogieing around the store like maniacs since its arrival, such is the musical involvement it deploys.

Another standout virtue with the sound from a Naia is it’s incredibly quiet background noise level. The Zirconium Alumina ceramic bearing, resonance controlled ceramic platter, RB titanium tonearm and low mass graphene impregnated carbon fibre skeletal plinth with Tancast 8 foam core graphene infused plinth, bestows this deck with a CD like quality in terms of noise levels, yet without that medium’s sometimes recognisable glare and digital quality.

Have you ever witnessed what I can only describe as cone-flap on vinyl record playback? Often this appears as unusually large bass-driver excursion during record playback and isn’t necessarily the result of bass-heavy music because it can occur during the lead-in and lead-out groove at the beginning and end of a record. The low-level rumble associated with record players can be emphasised by amplifiers, causing the cone-flap phenomenon, such that older amplifiers often had a rumble-filter to help reduce this. The Rega Naia has none of this, or at least none whilst I was listening, and may be part of the reason why this turntable is such a fantastic sounding deck. It allows the amplifier to play music rather than using amplifier power to try and reproduce low frequency noise, robbing the amp of dynamics because its power supply is drained by this low frequency noise.

One often hears the term ‘black background’ where digital playback systems are concerned, but not often with vinyl playback because of the often inherent noise of the medium. The Rega Naia is, to our ears, as close as one can get to mimicking the term ‘black background’ in analogue playback and a significant step forward in this regard.

In our experience, the only other turntable that comes close to the ‘black background’ quality of the Naia would be the Linn LP12 Klimax turntable with its Radikal 2 power supply and matching Linn Ekstatik cartridge, however that places it in a completely different price bracket.

rega naia with rega aura phono stage playing through a naim 300 series system

Personally, we all felt the Naia invigorated every system we played it through and sounded especially fine through a Naim 300 New Classic series system; composing of a Naim NSC332 preamp with Naim NPX300 power supply into Naim NAP350 monoblock amplifiers and ATC SCM50 speakers.

A Naia on perfect partner... the Rega Aura

rega aura phonostage

The Naia needs a sparring partner and in this article we’re looking at the perfect one. Rega’s top phono stage, the Aura.

The Rega Aura is a moving coil only phono stage and a mighty beast at that. You’ll certainly know when you try to lift it! To compare it with other phono stages, read our blog here. To summarise, the Rega Aura was my favourite amongst them with a lovely, mellifluous sound and it should come as no surprise that it works so well with the Rega Naia.

This Rega turntable A-Naia-lates the competition!

rega naia

All I can say is, I want one! The Naia is so stupendously good it annihilates the competition (pun intended).

It’s a beautiful design that is both complex and simple at the same time. Combine this with the humanity it brings to the records that are fortunate enough to be played through it, make this a game-changing deck for the money. Yes, it is a substantial investment, but if you value musical reproduction, you owe it to yourself to come in and give the Rega Naia an audition.

As always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so get in touch to book a demonstration.

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…

Chromey pre-empts his preamble about the precious new Preamplifier from prestigious purveyors of Hi-Fi, Naim, and predicts a premium powerhouse.

/ Audio T Manchester/

The Preamble

1974 seems like a long time ago for some, for Hi-Fi maker Naim Audio 1974 was their first year of business after founding the year prior in 1973 and - relevant to today’s blog - it's when they first introduced the NAC 12 preamplifier, which subsequently resulted in the release of multiple award-winning preamps over the years, that are still sought after by Hi-Fi aficionados the world over.

Naim are never a company to rush a new product to market. Their range has steadily developed from the original NAC 12 / NAP 200 combination over the last 50 years. The route of their design and philosophy has slowly progressed, and today we are celebrating the new NAC 332 preamplifier. A powerful design that bases itself on state of the art electronic design developed for the cool quarter of a million pound Naim Statement amplifier. The traditional black die cast enclosure sleeve has had a major upgrade to its design, as has the facia and electronics. Only the footprint remains similar to Naim's traditional separates range.

The Presentation

The fascia is balanced on the right-hand side by the rather pretty function buttons. The box design is broken up with a strip of high-quality perspex that extends across the top and down the fascia, with a bright and clear (and dimmable) Naim logo right in the middle. Rather than the rather solid, and rather staid-looking black cast sleeve, that has been a hallmark of the vast majority of Naim designs over the past 45 years, the construction of the '332 is much more esoteric in both design and quality of materials. Various high-quality anodised panels make up the lid and base, with a pair of complementary 'heat sinks' on either side. Nobody would or could ever accuse Naim of skimping on the build of their products, but these latest designs (including the NBC-TT phono stage, NSC 222 streamer/preamp, NSS 333 streamer, NPX 300 power supply and finally the NAP 350 mono-block power amplifiers) raise the design game by an utterly enormous magnitude. They look amazing, are built amazingly, which of course helps and aids the sublime sound quality.

The Preliminaries

The new volume control dominates the fascia. Not only is it pleasing on the eye, but Naim's volume control is pleasing on the ear too. For generations conventional volume controls have been based on a potentiometer, literally the volume control is a resistive element wiped by a pointer. This simple arrangement was used back in the 1920s, and despite being heavily refined over the years, there are always mild errors which translate to poorer sound. Electronic alternatives rely on either electronic switches, resistor ladders, relays, or even specially-made integrated circuits for the job. Each design has its own quirks, and Naim have cleverly combined two types into one control; the resistor ladder and the integrated circuit. The ladder network offers the highest fidelity, and is the most costly. On the negative side, the network can make clicks when adjusting the level. The integrated circuit has much poorer sound, but is devoid of clicks. Naim have cleverly combined both, so you have the best sound of the resistor ladder, but the noise free option of the integrated circuit. Of, course, this tech was taken from the Naim Statement.

The Preconnections

Connections on the rear include fully assignable phono sockets and XLR connections, with outputs and inputs in both those formats. There are also 'Burndy' connections for power supply upgrades, and more traditional Naim DIN connectors to connect to the matching NBC-TT phono stage, which can be powered from the '332, and of course both designs can be upgraded with the appropriate matching power supplies.

Prepare yourself

Of course these physical design upgrades would be pointless if there wasn't such a huge upgrade within the handsome solid case. As previously mentioned, the new '332 borrows heavily from the top of the line Naim Statement, and being blunt about it, is a huge upgrade on previous classic Naim preamplifiers. The sound is more open, wider and more detailed, without losing the classic Naim pace rhythm and timing... the unit's sonic qualities are simply sublime. Matched with the complementary and equally impressive NAP 350 power amplifiers and NSS 333 streamer, the NAC 332 comes closer to that Naim statement than ever before… And for around a tenth of the price!

We have ours set up in Manchester, so come along and talk to us about a personal demonstration.

Thanks for reading

James, Munir, Haden & Dave - Audio T Manchester

Come along and speak to Munir, Dave and James at the store to arrange a demonstration.

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…

Shutting Off The World With Noise Cancelling Headphones!

/ Audio T Southampton/

Good tidings audiophiles! I am sure most (if not all) of you have used headphones before, and I imagine many of you use them in your daily lives as well. As an avid headphones user myself, I have used a myriad of different brands and types, including some of the more exotic styles!

In this article, I will be briefly talking about Bluetooth headphones in particular, and what my experiences have been with the ones I have used. I will also go over the pros of the headphones I used for the purpose of this blog, and will be including two honourable mentions as well!

But first, I wanted to tell you why having a pair of good ANC (Active Noise Cancelling) Bluetooth headphones is so crucial in this day and age, and it all comes down to your day-to-day life. If, like me, you are someone who enjoys a daily walk or prefers to take public transport, you will know that the world can be rather noisy, with so many other people and vehicles going here, there and everywhere! So listening to your favourite tracks whilst out on your business for the day can be difficult, and sometimes unenjoyable. With a pair of high quality noise cancelling headphones, all of those issues I mentioned above would all but disappear, allowing your music to shine a lot brighter and clearer.

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2e

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2e

The first pair of headphones that I trialed whilst writing this blog were the brand new Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2e Bluetooth ANC headphones. I was simply blown away by them. They also come with a USB-C to USB-C cable if you want to make use of the internal DAC, by-passing the Bluetooth element entirely! Below you can find a list of pros for the headphones!

Pros

⦁ The B&Ws were quite comfortable to wear, providing a nice tight fit around my head. Meaning, of course, that they wouldn't slip/shake off!

⦁ The ANC works extremely well to mute the outside world, making the music I was listening to whilst out and about really able to sing.

⦁ The headphones have a very tight and punchy bass, which worked fantastically for the music I was listening to at the time, whilst still providing clear vocals and beautiful highs.

⦁ Headphones can be customised for your listening pleasure via use of the Bowers & Wilkins app!

Focal Bathys

Focal Bathys

Next up I tried the Focal Bathys, and I was thoroughly impressed by them! Same as the PX7 S2e headphones, these also come equipped with a USB-C to USB-C cable to make use of the fantastic inbuilt DAC.

Pros

⦁ The Focals were very comfortable to wear, providing a good balance of a tight fit and comfort.

⦁ The ANC was simply phenomenal, shutting almost everything away other than the occasional loud car. Combined with the tight and comfortable fit, it helped me to beter focus on my music.

⦁ The overall sound was quite fantastic in all, not too much bass whilst providing a fantastic amount of detail to everything I was listening to.

⦁ Using the Focal & Naim app, I was able to almost fully customise my listening experience. From changing the EQ to whatever suited my needs and desires, all the way to creating a sound profile perfect for my hearing capabilities, boosting any frequencies that my ears may have struggled with previously.

Honourable Mentions

Now, through the course of me trying out these different headphones, there are a couple that I wish I had the opportunity to trial, however I was limited to what we had in store at the time. However, it is still worth mentioning these brilliant headphones.

Sennheiser Accentum

Sennheiser Accentum

First on the list are the newly-released Sennheiser Accentum headphones. These have been receiving very good reviews online, and being Sennheiser they are bound to be good value for your money!

Once again sporting Bluetooth and ANC, you can almost guarantee that your day to day activities would run smoothly without any distractions!

Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4

Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4

The other pair of headphones I wanted to mention are the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4. These aren't as new as the others, however they are still reviewed and regarded as some of the best Bluetooth and ANC headphones currently available.

And that's all from me today! If you are on the hunt for a decent pair of Bluetooth ANC headphones for your day-to-day activities, then I consider the four mentioned to be some of the very best!

If you are on the market for something else though, or you have more questions about the headphones themselves, don't hesitate to give us a call!

Thanks for reading

Tiago - Audio T Southampton.

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

Focal can be found at the following Audio T stores

Sennheiser can be found at the following Audio T stores

It's a Streamin' Bargain - The Wiim Pro Network Audio Player

/ Audio T Swansea/

We were first introduced to the Wiim Pro by the lovely Ralph of the distributor, Henley Design. He told us all about it on the phone and persuaded us to take a couple into stock, promising that other, better informed Audio T staff had given it their seals of approval.

“It’s like Blackpool Zoo on mackerel day Ade, all these approving seals.”

“Alright Ralph, I’ll bite, send us a couple.”

the Wiim PRO NETWORK AUDIO PLAYER

The Wiim arrived a little while later and we immediately unboxed one. It looked attractive enough with its (now standard, thanks to Apple) radiused corners, is nicely made & feels pretty solid, considering its lightweight. Having demonstrations and customers to serve, I put it on a shelf where it lay, quietly forgotten, until Ralph put in an appearance at Chez Swansea about a fortnight later.

“How are you getting on with those Wiim Pros?”

“Ah..it’s on this shelf here look, but we haven’t plugged it in yet. Sorry Ralph.”

“For shame, Ade! Have you got five minutes? Enough time to make a brew..?”

Taking his cue from Ralph’s raised eyebrow, Andy beetled off to put the kettle on, whilst I connected the Wiim Pro up to its power supply, an ethernet cable and a pair of RCAs into our resident Rega Aethos integrated amplifier and Dynaudio Special 40 loudspeakers.

THE BUSINESS END OF THE WIIM PRO

Downloading the app took literally two minutes, as did logging onto the app and “finding” the player on our network. Another minute to synchronise my Qobuz account and we had tunes.

THE WIIM APP DISPLAYING THE QOBUZ MUSIC ‘NEW ALBUMS’ LIST

Five minutes, fair play.

I did faff about for another minute wondering why the level was a bit low before I found the Line Level function in the analogue output menu. (We’ll call it operator error.)

We let it run for a bit, had a sip or two of tea and started listening in earnest. First impressions are good – the Wiim Pro sounds open and clear, but a bit lightweight and two-dimensional when it’s compared to a Bluesound Node, but then it is less than a third of the price. It does however clip along a good rate, supplying enough musicality to get heads nodding and toes tapping. It isn’t harsh or shouty, nor is it muted and dull, it’s a credible music player and perfectly enjoyable. For a hundred and fifty quid, one cannot complain.

ooo look, Evanescence have reissued an album.

ooo look evanescence have re-issued another album

A long-standing customer (we shall call him Chris) came in as we were playing and asked if we had an affordable way of getting radio into his conservatory system. He’d moved his old hi-fi gear in there as they use it as a family room during Christmas and thought it would save him from playing CD DJ.

“Well now, Chris. What do you think of what’s playing now?”

“Sounds nice Ade, as always - what are we listening to?”

“That little Wiim unit there. Network streamer, hundred and forty-nine quid.”

“Oh aye? Cute looking thing. Does it do Radio 6?”

“Give me a minute…”

that non-exhaustive list of music sources

I opened the Wiim app again, found TuneIn in the list of music sources and after a short amount of faff trying to remember exactly how Auntie Beeb spells ‘BBC Radio 6 Music’ (not the Wiim’s fault but TuneIn’s algorithm, or possibly mine,) we had the enthusiastic Scouse brogue of Craig Charles introducing Chaka Khan’s “I Feel for You.”

“Yes Chris, it does do Radio 6.”

“That’s exactly what I’m after Ade, have you one I can buy now?”

“Yes I do.”

“Then take my money.”

one needs to select one’s desired output format

After Chris (Thank you Chris!) had left, I plugged the Wiim into the coaxial digital socket of our Rega Elex Mk4 amplifier. Changing the output on the Wiim from RCA to Digital Coax (not all the output sockets are live, all of the time,) the sound noticeably improved. With the Rega’s onboard DAC replacing the Wiim’s one and even though we’d dropped two grades of amplifier, the sound was appreciably better; fuller, warmer, greater weight and scale, an extra half-octave of bass and a sweeter top end. Well worth remembering. Again, compared to our Bluesound Node, it was lighter in weight and closer to two-dimensions rather than three, but still very enjoyable with no hint of the coarseness that one might expect at this price. Bravo Wiim, this is a bargain!

digital formats all the way up to 24bit 192khz. (although stapleton here tops out at 96)

You can link multiple Pros together to make a multiroom system, they’ll play with Siri, Alexa & Google Voice Assistant, you can set them to wake you in the morning and with the full-size optical digital input, you can run your TV/PVR/Playstation audio through it. Although you will probably need to play around with the lip-sync function of your telly.

the ability to function as a multiroom system too…

So why not give us a call and you can pop over to check it out. We might even make you a cup of tea…

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

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The Audio Note (UK) TT - Two Deluxe Turntable now at Audio T Oxford

/ Audio T Oxford/

Engineering for musical excellence

Audio Note (UK) is best known for its extensive range of valve amplifiers and digital products, but it has also been producing turntables and vinyl accessories for many years. The current range consists of three turntables, three tonearms and a range of moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges.

The TT2 Deluxe showing its two SYNCHRONISED motors, seen through the ACRYLIC platter

Featured here is the middle of the range TT- Two Deluxe version (available with a selection of real wood veneers), Arm Three/11 and IQI moving-magnet cartridge, supported by the optional TTOne/Two power supply.

Plinth

The unit is a full plinth-type design with a high-quality aluminium sub-chassis with optimised three-point suspension geometry. Where the TT-Two Deluxe differs from many other record decks is in the use of a pair of AC motors to spin the acrylic platter, instead of one. The two opposed AC motors offer twice the torque to the low-mass acrylic platter and also have the benefit of further stabilising the suspension. This is a difficult engineering process because if there is any variation in the motors, instead of improving playback, they will cause oscillation. So, Audio Note pair-match every set of motors to ensure that they behave exactly the same, whilst paying equally close attention to the chassis design, ensuring that the two work in harmony.

Tonearm

The Arm Three/II is situated at the top of the Audio Note range and is a very solid and easy-to-set up tonearm, specifically designed by Audio Note. The tonearm cable is UK–Silver Litz inside the tube and AN-Vx silver from the base to the AN GP RCA plugs. The arm itself is machined from a solid aluminium billet, tapered. The arm’s bearing design is described as “captured unipivot” due to its unique vertical and horizontal bearings. This 9″ arm complies with the original Rega arm board configuration, which makes it a compelling potential choice for turntables from other brands.

The excellent Arm three/11 with iq1 mm cartridge

Cartridge

The IQ1 cartridge is part of Audio Note’s moving-magnet range and is essentially an uprated Goldring design that uses higher-quality copper coils and a diamond stylus to obtain a much-improved performance over the stock model. Audio Note phono stages are generally moving-magnet designs, and the IQ series precludes the need for an external step-up transformer to obtain the required levels of gain.

High standard

The TT-Two Deluxe has an excellent overall finish and is of a very high standard. The TT-Two is not an especially heavy design, but its construction and attention to detail is outstanding. The unit is also supplied with a Perspex lid, which is a welcome addition.

On start up the TT-Two is impressively quiet. The Arm 3 cueing action and the general arm movement suggests that the engineering is excellent. Altogether, jewel like engineering precision and this shows when playing a record.

The magic starts

As soons as you put on your favourite record, the TT-Two immediately makes a very persuasive case for itself. The first impression is of an extremely low-noise floor. There is almost no background noise at any volume level and no hum whatsoever. The two motors allow the platter to spin up to speed almost instantly and pitch stability is rock solid.

Sonically, the TT-Two is a muscular and powerful performer. It manages to sound effortless across a wide variety of music and is possessed of excellent pace and timing. Fast paced recordings are delivered with real urgency, underpinned with a tight and potent bass that has shape, insight and just the right amount of depth. Music sounds full, natural and layered – dynamically it starts and stops with a real poise that underpins the performance, no doubt helped by the twin matched motors.

Audio Note has developed a unique skill set, based on the approach that the equipment should serve the music – here it shows, where voices sound very real and musical instruments sound more like live instruments. The combination of deck, arm, cartridge, and power supply combine to give an open sound with accurate tonality and startling acuity.

You get absolutely all the music in both a technical and emotional sense, to totally backup Audio Note’s banner statement “Music’s Finest Conductor”.

Summary

The TT-Two Deluxe is a truly fine turntable and one that impressed us considerably. It sounds outstanding an all Audio Note system and yet it will also work equally well outside of this.

An exceptional way to take a deep dive into your record collection and a considerable temptation to buy more vinyl!

However, these are just words… Audio Note systems really deserve to be heard and experienced. Why not hear it for yourself and contact us in Oxford to arrange a demonstration?

Thanks for reading.

Rob & Jon - Audio T Oxford

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

Chord strikes the right notes with system upgrade options

/ Audio T Portsmouth/

Cabling and other hi-fi ‘ancillaries’ like power distribution, isolation equipment and such like are viewed by some as snake oil – a case of marketing hype over real-world substance.

Those fortunate enough to have access to quality hi-fi products know different.

So when the chaps from Chord Company dropped by the Portsmouth store earlier this month with some goodies for us to listen to we piled eagerly into our demo room to try them out for ourselves…

No Noise Here

First up was the English Electric EE1 Network Noise Isolator (English Electric is a Chord Company brand). The EE1 is a palm-sized £250* box that is designed to block low frequency digital noise and reduce high frequency chatter.

We slotted it into our premium demo system comprising Naim NSS 333 streamer, NAC 332 preamp, two NAP 350 mono power amps and an NPX 300 power supply unit running into a pair of Dynaudio Confidence 50 floorstanding speakers. The EE1 sat between our English Electrics 8Switch and the NSS 333.

The EE1 improved clarity and definition. We’re certainly not talking night and day but for £250 it made a strong case for itself in terms of tidying up the sound.

It’s Burndy Time…

The next items for testing were Chord’s new Chord BurndyX power cables. At £2,765 for the pair these are significantly cheaper than the Chord BurndyT cables at £5,530.


We removed the EE1 and we listened first with the Naim-supplied Burndy’s. Could swapping a £2,765 pair of BurndyX power cables really make any meaningful difference to this £60,000 plus system?

Oh yes. It was immediately apparent that there was a lot more detail across all frequencies. Perhaps less expected was the obvious increase in the size of the soundstage, both in terms of width and height.

We were more than a little impressed that a pair of power cables could make such a difference. The Chord guys told us to think of the cables as another component. This takes a bit of effort, mainly because they aren’t a box filled with electronics. But when you think of the know-how that goes into these cables it begins to make sense.

Every BurndyX cable is hand built to order and uses multi-stranded silver-plated OFC conductors with high-density, silver-plated braid and foil combination HF shielding. The BurndyX uses cross link polyethylene (XLPE) insulation while the more expensive BurndyT use Taylon®. Both are terminated with their unique, crimped Choralloy™ plated connector pins.

As an immediate and significant upgrade to a medium-to-high-end Naim system it is hard to overlook the BurndyX.

PowerHAUS

Next up was the Chord Company PowerHAUS P6 Mains Distribution block fitted with the Chord Clearway power cables. We switched to a second system comprising a Naim Supernait 3 and CD5si, still running through the Dynaudio Confidence 50, if only because they weigh 50kg apiece and moving them takes a bit of time.


This entry level unit from Chord is still a pretty substantial block that majors on the quality of its internal wiring and the attention paid to its earthing utilising the company’s ARAY technology.

The sound grew with the £600 PowerHAUS P6 (the optional Clearway power cables are £130 per metre) wired in, delivering improvements in bass response and sound stage. The sense was that there was just more clean power on tap with the P6 which helped the Naim amp and CD player dig deeper.

In our opinion, all three items made a good case for themselves with the BurndyX delivering the most noticeable sonic improvement. To our ears at least, and in our systems, the performance of all three products more than justified their respective price tags.

It just goes to show, not everything is all marketing hype. There is a lot of substance to these products, so why not try them for yourself? Please give us a call and book a demonstration…

Thanks for reading.

Alan, Luke and Stephen - Audio T Portsmouth

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*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

A Quantum Leap Through Sound - Leema Acoustic's New Quantum Series Amplification

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In this month’s article, Matt from Audio T Cardiff leaps into the fantastic new Quantum amplification pre and power system from Leema Acoustics and takes a deeper look (and listen) to see what makes it fantastic value for money and a big combination tick…

My journey with Leema started not long after I joined Audio T, almost two and half years ago (my how time flies when we’re having fun!)

I listened to what I consider to be one of the best integrated amplifiers I have ever heard in a Hi-Fi system and quickly became one of my favourite two channel amplifiers in existence the Tucana II Anniversary. Going back over a year ago I wrote about this wonder of an amplifier, and at that time I was writing about the Tucana I was introduced to the pre production Quantum range at a Leema event we had in our store. The system comprised of the Positron streamer, the Electron CD player and the two components I am focusing on today, the Neutron preamplifier and the Graviton power amplifier. I remember being completely mesmerised by the sound of this new combination we had for our Leema event, and thinking at the time I can’t wait to get my hands on this fantastic kit.

LEE Taylor at the Leema Event Cardiff August 2023

Fast forward to the summer of this year where we had a pre launch event with Leema Acoustics to showcase the new quantum range. At this time I got my chance to meet the man himself, Mr Lee Taylor, and talk about his pursuit in sonic perfection. As he said to me, “You get out of a system what you put in, and perfection is not worth rushing as we all know it’s better to take your time and get things right”.

Perfection is what I personally feel about the new Quantum range, but we’ll get to that in a sec…

From talking with Lee, I think about the advice my Dad gave me many, many years ago about music and how it should sound. Lee seems to be on the same wavelength. We want music to be played more honestly, you want to hear those finer details in music, both good and bad (sometimes imperfection is perfection) as well as a great sound stage. No matter what source is feeding into the preamp, as we know the source is important, but arguably the amplifier is the heart of the system, breathing life into the sound we hear through the speakers.

Exciting times are afoot…

After what seems like a long time we have received our eagerly awaited delivery of our first Neutron preamplifier and our Graviton power amplifier. I can defiantly say they are worth the wait.

Now I get to do one of my favourite things, which is to get the equipment home and put it to the test, as there’s nothing like your own surroundings to get to know new Hi-Fi components.

Quantum Range Neutron Preamplifier

neutron preamplifier rear panel

Before I talk about my setup and how it sounds, let’s look at a few tech specs on Leema’s great power combination. Starting of course with the Neutron preamp. The preamp benefits from both balance and unbalanced inputs as well as RCA and XLR outputs to connect the power amplifier. The Neutron also has a rather good switchable moving magnet moving coil phono stage which comes out of Leema’s essentials range. It also has a very capable Wolfson digital to analogue converter (DAC) onboard.

Quantum Range Graviton Power Amplifier

leema graviton power amp rear panel

Now onto the Graviton power amplifier. The Graviton offers 150 watts into 8 Ohms, doing the maths the lower the impedance of the the loudspeaker the more efficiently it will allow the signal to pass, and in this case more watts into 4 Ohm rated loudspeakers. This power amp is a true class AB design with its oversized toroidal transformer. It also benefits from both balanced and unbalanced inputs as well as two sets of speaker terminals, which means you can run two sets of speakers if you need to.

System Configuration

Before settling down for a listen to this fantastic amp combo I will give you a rundown of all the equipment used in my setup.

dynavector 10x5 cartridge

Extreme - SIX

Demo Music Used

Now let the listening commence…

Vinyl

clutch - earth rocker

  • Extreme - Other side of the rainbow

Album: Six

  • Clutch - Gone cold

Temple of the dog - temple of the dog

Album: Earth rocker

CDs

  • Temple of the dog - Hunger strike

Album : Temple of the dog


After a good long warm up of the pre and power combination, the fun begins. Starting with the vinyl side of things I’d say this is where this pre and power combination really shines for me. Each Track sounds big and open with a wide sound stage. Instruments such as the Extreme track with Nuno Bettencourt’s twelve string guitar really chimes, and when the rest of the band comes in it doesn't sound messy. There’s perfect separation between vocals and instruments. On the Clutch track there’s a-lot of reverb and space in the track and I could definitely hear and feel more emotion in Neil Fallon’s voice.

On the CD side of things using the Neutrons DAC this didn't disappoint. The Wolfson DAC has more of an analogue feel to it, clean yet has that layer of warmth to it. The Temple of the dog track Hunger strike when it really gets going half way through with Mike McCready’s big riff, you can hear him really pushing his amp and really sounded how a Fender Stratocaster through a Marshall stack should. In short Quantum really performed well. This pre and power combination definitely controlled my Dynaudio Evoke 10 speakers and they are not the easiest to drive.

Leema has their own sound right from the Constellation range like the Tucana, Pyxis and Hydra. Sonically the Quantum pre and power combination sounds closer to the Pyxis & Hydra pair than Leema’s previous ranges of amplifiers, supplied at a fantastic price point too. The Quantum has definitely made that dream of owning a pre and power set up less of a dream and more of a reality, without breaking the bank.

If this has piqued your interest, then why not pop in for a demonstration and let me know what you think of the new Quantum pre and power.

Thanks 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.

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Leema Acoustics can be found at the following Audio T stores

Welcome to the future of Naim separates - the 300 New Classic series

/ Audio T Brighton/

Hi folks and welcome to this month’s blog from Audio T Brighton. In this month’s edition we will be reviewing the next chapter in the future roadmap for Naim Audio products - the 300 series including; the NSS 333 streamer/DAC, the NAC 332 pre-amplifier, the NPX 300 power supply and last but not least, the NAP 350 monoblock power amplifiers.

After the successful release of the 200 series of products from Naim in January 2023, the future framework of separates has finally been realised via its latest 300 series components.

Let’s have a look...

Introducing the 300 series...

naim 300 system partnered with linn lp12 klimax & atc scm50’s

Here at Audio T Brighton, we are proud to announce that we have taken delivery of the latest Naim 300 series hi-fi system. To say we have looked forward to this happening would be an understatement. In the following few sections of this blog we’ll break down the individual components of this system to see what they bring to the party. Without giving too much away at this stage, you’ll definitely want to party upon receipt of a system like this.

Naim NSS 333 streamer/DAC...

The Naim NSS 333 streamer/DAC is Naim’s latest standalone streamer, offering the newest power management and DAC architecture.

A natural successor to the established Naim NDX2 streamer, the NSS 333 streamer incorporates Naim’s latest reworking of a modern classic, with enhanced output offerings via balanced connections as well as the traditional single-ended RCA and DIN outputs to satisfy old-school Naimees.

Sporting the same visual design as the 200 series, the NSC 333 is fully upgradeable with NPX 300 power supplies, which conveniently simplifies the myriad of different power supply options Naim had available with their earlier hi-fi offerings.

naim nss333 streamer inside

Upgrades to the NSS 333 are additionally more nuanced than previous generations by having the option to use a *separate NPX 300 power supply on each of the digital and analogue sections. An extra box, but Naim have always been renowned for allowing their users to run upgrades by adding extra power supplies to their components; think HiCap and SuperCap for those familiar with the brand, the difference being that only one type of power supply is available this time, the NPX 300. Far less confusing and user friendly, I must say!

  • We must point out an E.U. legal caveat with running two separate NPX 300’s on a NSS 333 streamer - it will disable the energy saving 0.5W standby mode when used this way, so you will need to turn the units off to save energy when not in use, which to be fair, you won’t feel like doing that often because you’ll be too busy listening to music!

Naim NAC 332 preamplifier...

The NAC 332 is the latest generation of analogue pre-amplifiers from Naim. A significant step forward for Naim, the NAC 332 is a self-powered pre-amplifier, allowing for standalone use, somewhat of a step off the beaten track for Naim, who traditionally have required a separate power supply to enable their hi-end pre-amps to function at all.

This simplifies matters a lot, reducing box count, whilst still offering a superb level of performance and yet still allowing user upgrade with an NPX 300 power supply if desired. The same caveat applies to the use of two separate power supplies mentioned above, in order to meet EU energy saving regulations.

inside the naim nac332 pre-amplifier

Naim NPX 300 power supply...

The Naim NPX 300 power supply was the first of the 300 series components released back in January 2023. As part of Naim’s new range of components in the 200 series, the NPX 300 was the first of the 300 range but hinted at what was to come. The streamlined power supply range on offer from Naim means that the complexities of the old Classic components power supply upgrades no longer exist and the NPX 300 works just as effectively with both the 200 and 300 series equipment.

naim npx300 power supply internals

Naim has always considered their power supplies to be fundamental to enhancing sonic performance and the NPX 300 follows on in their design philosophy very nicely, with clearly audible benefits in all implementations of 200 or 300 series systems.

Naim NAP 350 monoblock power amplifiers...

Naim’s latest offering in amplification comes from an update of their famous and coveted NAP 135 monoblock amps from the 1980’s.

inside the naim nap350 monoblock power amplifier

The Naim NAP 350 is a pure class-AB linear amplifier, running from fully regulated DR power supplies producing 175W into 8 ohms and 345W into 4 ohms. It can deliver peak power of up to 1.7kW to drive impedance dips of complex speaker crossover networks, offering unparalleled performance in the range and a significant step on from the Naim NAP 250 stereo power amplifier released at the same time as the NPX 300 power supply.

Naim 300 system as a whole...

The 300 series components by Naim are a re-imagining of the old Classic systems known to Naim fans. They offer a modern twist on established products, with slick operation, efficient running and class-leading sonics with Naim’s famous reliability, after sales servicing and traditionally high residual values.

Naim that tune...

One of the defining qualities of Naim systems over the five decades of their existence and a reason for their customers returning for more, is their ability to play a tune.

The 300 series has a more modern sonic flavour, albeit not the same as older Naim systems, but it hasn’t lost the musical flow, PRAT and dynamics of old, achieving a cleaner, more detailed, resolved and spacious presentation than of yore.

I’m sure Mr Vereker would approve...

Julian Vereker, founder of naim audio

We are confident that Julian Vereker, the founder of Naim Audio, would be satisfied to find the sound of the latest 300 series converging towards his playback ideals and, should he still be alive today, a fitting culmination to 50 years of his design philosophy.

As always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so get in touch to book a demonstration.

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.

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SUMIKO Has Landed at Audio T Southampton

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Here at Audio T Southampton, we like to think we have a pretty good knowledge of the brands available in the Hi-Fi market, but once in a very rare while, we’re caught off guard and get introduced to something completely new…

We first came across SUMIKO here in the Southampton store when a customer walked through the door and asked if we could supply them with one of their cartridges. We were initially a bit taken aback as we had not heard of SUMIKO before, but boy are we glad we do now.

We were intrigued by this ellusive brand and ordered in three products from their range - Two moving magnet and one moving coil.

I went out to a customers house with the Blue Point No3 Moving Coil model in hand to put it up against his current cartridge on his Michell Gyrodec. It’s safe to say that the SUMIKO blew his cartridge away! I was amazed at how much detail and depth it had in comparison. It changed the whole soundstage of his Gyrodec. It sounded much more open and you could hear every note cleanly. We tried a few different albums from Elvis and The Beach Boys to classics like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon and Dire Straight's’ Brothers In Arms.

I left the customer with a new cartridge and huge smile on his face, and in all honesty, I couldn’t hide my large grin either.

I have since tried different SUMIKO cartridges on a few different turntables in store, and each time I am amazed at the way it breathes new life into each one!

A brief history of SUMIKO

For over 40 years, SUMIKO have provided an array of phono pick-up cartridges to discerning audio enthusiasts around the world. Boasting a portfolio of products that touches all price points and technologies.

David Fletcher with “the arm”

SUMIKO was founded in 1972 in Japan by three people, notably of which was American theoretical physicist David Fletcher. Before he co-founded SUMIKO he used to work for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, working on various different research projects. Unfortunately David Fletcher passed away early into 2021 at the age of 81.

Fun Fact: SUMIKO was named after one of the founders' wives.

MDC 800 Tonearm and Talisman A Cartridge

In the early days of SUMIKO they used to provide two services; the first being the import side of the business with introducing new and different brands to North America, ranging from Koetsu, Grace and many more. The other aspect of SUMIKO company is what they are primarily known for these days; that being, their spectacular cartridges, starting with the Talisman MC cartridges of which there were four: A, B, S and the Virtuoso. Another one of their founding products was the MDC 800 Tonearm, appropriately nicknamed "The Arm".

The RAINIER MM and Palo Santos MC Cartridges

Nowadays SUMIKO focus on their range of cartridges, with them now producing two different ranges, from the Oyster Series featuring the Rainier MM cartridges, all the way to the phenomenal Reference Series and the stunning Palo Santos Presentation Moving Coil Cartridge.

It really is a travesty that SUMIKO is not as well known here in the UK as they deserve to be. Superb quality at a lower price than a lot of their competitors. For us it was a no brainer to start stocking these and absolutely sing their praises.

If you’re interested in hearing one of these great cartridges or want to know more about their range please don't hesitate to give us a call and arrange a demonstration.

Thanks for Reading

Wayne - Audio T Southampton.

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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SUMIKO can be found at the following Audio T stores

From Cardiff to Salisbury - A Road Trip To Naim HQ

/ Audio T Cardiff/

This month’s blog sees Matt from Audio T Cardiff take a road trip over to Salisbury to visit Naim’s base of operations, take a tour around their factory and meet with one of the leading British Hi-Fi companies…

Naim HQ

Start of factory tour

On my long and winding journey through the wonderful world of Hi-Fi there has always been one brand for me that stands out from the crowd and represents phenomenal build quality, stunning looks and outstanding performance. The brand in question? You guessed it… Naim.

Recently, I had the great honour and opportunity to take a road trip over to Naim’s main base of operations in Salisbury and take a tour around their truly mind blowing factory, all whilst accompanied by Naim’s brand ambassador, Mr Jason Gould.

Naim Audio 50th Anniversary

This year, myself and Naim both share a milestone birthday within months of each other, we were both born in 1973 so I can say it was a bit of a birthday treat for me to visit the wonderful people at Naim.

Speaking of 50th birthdays, Naim has released an amplifier marking this landmark anniversary, the Nait 50 which I am very much looking forward to listening to.

naim nait 50

Interesting sidenote, one of the most important and influential albums in progressive rock was released in 1973. I’ll give you a clue, it has a prism on the cover.

Naim History

Before I take you on a bit of a virtual tour, let’s take a trip back in Hi-Fi history, to where it all started at Naim and talk a bit about their founder, Julian Charles Prendergast Vereker MBE.

Julian was very much a man after my own heart. A music enthusiast and an engineer, not to mention he was also a racing driver (I just love to watch the sport mainly). Julian retired from motor racing in his early 20s. He then went on to work for well known automotive racing modification companies such as Janspeed. Julian, like myself, also had a great interest in cycling and had a hand in designing the folding bicycle with Brompton Cycles, which are still very much around today.

Being a self taught engineer, he was able to turn his hand to anything. Julian was dissatisfied with the performance of the amplifiers & speakers of the time. So, armed with his true entrepreneurial spirit he decided to follow his passion for music and attempt to recreate the perfect performance in our living rooms. This led him to found the Naim Audio visual company in 1969.

A few years later he came up with amplifiers such as the original chrome bumper Naim Nap 200 power amplifier which was brought to the world in 1973. Many years on, Naim as we know it has very much evolved since the late 60s, but walking around the factory I could feel that Julian’s influence and passion is still very much there, ever pushing the boundaries of Hi-Fi, bringing us closer to true perfection in sound.

The Factory Tour

As you’d expect, our tour started at the front entrance, then led into a stunning demonstration room where we met our guide, Jason Gould.

Jason walked us through the factory to where the 500 series and flagship Statement series are made (as they say, it’s better to start at the top.) Jason then proceeded to tell us all about the design and production processes and how Naim decouple components away from the chassis and outer casing to prevent noise…

naim statement pre amp rear panel de-coupled

Staement pre amp internal

The input and output section of the Naim Statement pre-amp is fitted within a faraday cage to help with interference. There is aerospace technology in the case, it’s more outer space technology involved here with how the input and output circuits are decoupled. The circuit boards are mounted in a frame with suspension inbuilt, something normally seen in satellites. Jason was telling me this is where the aerospace technology really comes in to it and other design aspects of Naim such as aircraft grade aluminium used in things like outer casing.

The Classic Range

As you can see from the photos below, there are various stations where each component is meticulously built, ready for the next phase. Every unit is tested rigorously. As we know, soak testing involves putting a system through its paces with a typical production load, over a continuous period. In this case, powering each component on and off. This process is done to make sure when we receive our fantastic new equipment, it is fault and worry free.

A really interesting part of the production process is that they have prebuilt examples of every amplifier, CD player etc with transparent outer casing on them to show each technician where each board wire and component is positioned and decoupled from the chassis and outer casing. Each amplifier and product gets the same love and attention to detail. For instance one of the examples I looked at was a Nait XS3 and it was really interesting to see how everything was positioned inside the chassis.

A Whole Lotta’ Shakin’

naim factory cable shaker

No Naim factory tour could be complete without checking out the infamous Naim cable shaker.

As Jason said, there’s no scientific explanation behind this process but when a cable is manufactured it is highly taut when it is pulled from the reel and put through its manufacturing process. The machine is built to shake all of that tension out of the interconnect cables. This helps with decoupling, as a taut cable can become microphonic. Jason explained that if you put a non shaken cable and a shaken cable side by side in a demonstration you would chose the shaken one every time. In fact, a shaken one will be nice and loose and easier to dress i.e. it won’t be unruly behind your Hi-Fi system and looks a lot tidier.

Walking around this facility definitely shows there is so much passion for every product in Naim’s range from the Nait 5Si right up to Statement Series. You are truly getting sonic and build perfection at all levels. From the design process right through to manufacturing, even down to how every item is shipped out.

New Classic 200 & 300 Series

focal grande utopia

Once we had seen how everything was made, Jason led us back to the demonstration room where we sat down for a listen, or you could say a sonic tour for the ears through Naims’ new classic series.

I am already very familiar with some of the New Classic series. The New Classic 200 series is on demonstration in our Cardiff shop.

Naim has always blown me away with their level of sound quality and detail. Jason proceeded to take us through 200 series from the NSC 222 streaming preamplifier & NAP250 through a pair of rather magnificent Focal Utopia Scala Evo floorstanding speakers. Sonically, as I have found previously with this system, it performed above and beyond my expectations. Great sound quality teamed with good separation in the music. Next the NPX 300 power supply was added to the preamplifier. This change brought the system to a whole new level! I would describe it as more open and energetic, the sound stage is transformed but I have a funny feeling what’s coming next will change all of this…

Earlier in the day, when we first met up in Naim’s bespoke demonstration room, the thing that caught my eye immediately was the New Classic 300 series. I thought to myself, “I’m in for something rather special today”.

This moment is what it’s all about for me. As I have said before, it’s about live sound with me, thinking back to when I was younger closing my eyes to picture where everyone is positioned on the stage. This rings true for what’s coming next…

We started with the NSS 333 streamer the NAC 332 preamplifier and of course the NAP 350 mono block pair. What can I say apart from “buckle up, the ride is about to begin”. Naim has always blown me away, and in the case of the 300 series, the have excelled themselves. A really big step up in power and performance. For instance you could hear the breath of the singer on the microphone and so much more detail on things like reverb and decay of piano notes. Next up, a NPX 300 was added to the streamer. This brought better separation in instrumentation and more of a natural sound in vocals, but I feel the best is yet to come.

Lastly, an NPX 300 was added to the preamp. This changed everything! If you have ever heard the term “the speakers have disappeared and got out of the way” this is the perfect example. At this point it really felt like there was a live band in the room (in a good way of course). Instruments such as bass guitars and electric pianos sounded more real and vocals again sounded as if you were in a sound studio, listening to the vocals isolated for the first time. To say I was impressed with the New Classic 300 Series performance is an understatement, it left me lost for words! I’m seriously thinking of saving up for this setup

Today wasn’t just about Naim’s fantastic equipment. We got to meet some of the wonderful staff, engineers and designers, such as Mr Steve Sells who as many will know is the man behind many products, most notably the Statement range. I also got to meet Ian, who looks after customer orders and is also a very good friend with one of my favourite classic rock frontmen, Mr Paul Di’anno. He was the original frontman for Iron Maiden before Bruce Dickinson.

Not Just 200 and 300

No matter where you are in Naim’s range of products, you are part of a sound that started back in 1973, but much improved as time has gone on with the likes of the Mu-So range, Uniti Series, to the Nait 5Si all the way up to the Statement, Naim has achieved near perfection on all levels but they are always improving on things all the time. I can certainly see Naim on the horizon for me in my own system maybe the all new NVC TT phono stage.

Although I spent a day with these wonderful people, I think if they hadn’t said it was time for us to go home I think I would have been there all night listening to there fantastic equipment.

Why not book yourself in for a demonstration at your local Audio T and listen for yourself.

I’d like to say a big thank you to the guys at Naim for putting up with me for the day, especially Jason Gould, Darren Woodyatt, Steve Sells and Tom Goodridge.

Thanks 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…