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

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

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

SOLIDSTEEL SS-6 – NOTHING COMPARES 2 U

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

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

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

Balanced and single-ended outputs? Check.
Oodles of glorious Naim power to drive all but the most ridiculously inefficient of headphones? Check.
High quality on-board streaming? Yes.
Elegant design as well as robust build quality? You bet.
Multiple connectivity options such as Bluetooth and Airplay 2, Roon Readiness, Tidal and Qobuz streaming platforms… yes, yes, yes!

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

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

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

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

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

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