Awards 2010

Best Turntable up to £1,500 Pro-Ject 6 Perspex Winning the Blind-listening Group Test (HFC 338), against competition that included a more recent version of last year’s award-winner, the 6 Perspex truly deserves this year’s top-spot. We loved its open and even-handed sound, the handsome design and its excellent build quality. Details PRICE: £1,280 (incl arm) TYPE: Turntable TELEPHONE: 01235 511166 WEBSITE: project-audio. com Clearaudio Concept Details PRICE: £1,100 (incl arm/ cartridge) TYPE: Turntable TELEPHONE: 01252 702705 WEBSITE: clearaudio.

Best Tuner Pure Sensia More than just a simple radio, the Sensia won over the judges, thanks in part to its excellent Pure DAB reception. It can also stream music over a wireless network and even surf the internet. That it does all of these things with aplomb easily makes it this year’s award-winner. Details PRICE: £250 TYPE: DAB/FM/web radio/media player TELEPHONE: 0845 148 9001 WEBSITE: pure.

Best Loudspeaker up to £2,000 Castle Knight 2 The Knight 2 marks a welcome return by one of the premier British speaker brands. New owners IAG have successfully kept the values that made Castle speakers special and updated the models for the 21st Century. We love the detail and explicit vocals coupled with fast and detailed bass. This top-fl ight performance is presented in a gorgeous, real-wood veneer cabinet fi nished to an extremely high standard, resulting in a worthy award-winner.

Best Loudspeaker cable Kimber 4VS The Kimber really stood out with a wonderfully natural and relaxed performance. It did a fine job of making itself unobtrusive and letting the music take centre stage. The traditional woven construction is retained and the fit and finish is extremely high. The price has even gone down since we reviewed it!.

Best Amplifier up to £1,000 Denon PMA-1510AE The ‘1510AE won us over with a clean and immediate sonic performance, coupled with a power output that is up to the task of driving virtually any speaker it is likely to encounter. For the price, it also enjoys excellent fit and finish and an extensive feature set, including bypassable tone controls and a good-quality MM/MC phono stage. A worthy winner. Details PRICE: £900 TYPE: Integrated TELEPHONE: 02890 279830 WEBSITE: denon.

Best CD Player over £1,000 Resolution Audio Cantata We loved the Opus 21 CD player by Resolution Audio and always felt that it was going to take something special to better it. The Cantata is that something. Combining the roles of standalone CD player with that of a media streamer and DAC, the Cantata handles all roles with style, possessing a sound quality that is the equal of more expensive players. Details PRICE: £5,995 TYPE: CD/streamer TELEPHONE: 01268 858222 WEBSITE: resolutionaudio.

Best Headphone Beyerdynamic T1 The T1 impressed us from the outset. Even before it was plugged in, the beautiful build quality and attractive design did wonders for its desirability. This was backed up by a strong and engaging performance that showed remarkable detail-retrieval, resulting in a very transparent and natural-sounding headphone. .