LATEST ADDITIONS

Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 26, 2016  |  0 comments
Ming Da has been producing valve amplifiers for over 22 years and is gaining fans worldwide. Furthermore as with this example here, after the amp’s arrival in the UK, Malvern Audio Research upgrades key internal components, swaps in higher quality valves and adds a three year warranty. Taken altogether, this China/UK partnership feels highly compelling and without compromise. This Dynasty Duet 300 Plus is an incarnation of an existing Duet 300B triode amp design, but now employs zero feedback and claims many other audio improvements.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 25, 2016  |  0 comments
Budget two-way speakers the LX-2 and LX-3 (shown) are the debut models from Mission’s latest entry-level loudspeaker range, the LX Series. Despite their affordable price tags, Mission informs us that the new models have been designed to deliver compelling musicality. For the LX Series the company has produced a tweeter with a neodymium magnet (selected for maximum magnetic force in such a small space) and a 25mm microfibre dome. This is partnered with the 130mm mid/bass driver unit (one in the case of the LX-2 and two for the LX-3), sporting cones fashioned from an advanced fibre formulation apparently selected for its superior self damping and excellent stiffness.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 22, 2016  |  0 comments
Quad's reputation as one of the world's greatest audio brandsis largely based on its iconic electrostatic loudspeakers, whichfirst set the hi-fi scene alight in 1957. Any Hi-Fi Choice reader will know all about Quad's impressive legacy, and successive loudspeaker models from the Cambridgeshire-based company have been able to justifiably boast that its approach gets closer to the original sound than its challengers. Like the company's S Series released last year, the new Z Series combines advanced Kevlar-coned bass and midrange drivers with a specially designed ribbon tweeter. The new lineup comprises two standmount models and two floorstanders.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 22, 2016  |  0 comments
In the 1986 hit, Huey Lewis and the News famously sang: “It’s hip to be square”, but is it really? Could it be that the man behind the eighties powerhouse The Power Of Love hadn’t quite managed to get his facts straight? There’s no doubt that when it comes to the most popular shape for loudspeakers, square – or perhaps more precisely rectangular – is the way to go. But what if someone were to break from the norm and come up with something a little bit more exciting looking? Could it really be possible to get a high-end performance from a shape other than those boring four straight lines that make up an oblong? And while they’re carrying out the process ofreinventing the audio equivalent of the wheel, how about making just one of the things, rather than the pair that we’ve hadto make room for up to now? Enter the clever folk at Geneva, who with the AeroSphère Large (HFC 407) have created something that looks more like a piece of high-concept furniture than a way to impress your friends and terrify audio traditionalists. Beneath that slightly flattened 40cm orb, is a rather more angular forward-facing structure that houses two 25mm tweeters, a brace of 102mm mid/bass drivers and an upward-firing 152mm subwoofer. These are configured within three separate acoustic chambers and powered by individual, DSP-optimised Class D amplifiers capable of some cunning fine tuning to suit your room via a free app that can be downloaded from the Geneva website.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 21, 2016  |  0 comments
Being un-square is good, and being a single unit that’s a doddle to accommodate – whether on a sideboard or, as here, it’s dedicated £149 single-column stand – takes us back to the days of mono when having to find the room for two loudspeakers was an inconvenience yet to come. Not that the AeroSphère Large is mono, of course. It isn’t even stereo in the conventional sense. As you might well imagine, pulling a quart-sized soundstage out of a pint-sized pot requires a degreeof trickery and psycho acoustic manipulation.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 20, 2016  |  0 comments
Representing Noble Audio's flagship universal-fit in-ear monitor (IEM), the new lauminium- chassis, 10-driver Kaiser 10U is now shipping directly. Replacing the acrylic K10U, the Kaiser 10U is a 10-armature, low impedance, four-way design that's claimed to deliver a wide frequency range and the best-ever performance from a portable IEM. The 10 drivers are assigned to bass, midrange, mid/high, high and super-high frequencies and the IEMs are claimed to have an impedance less than 35ohm. Featuring a detachable cable with industry-standard two-pin configuration, a Pelican 1010 case (which is claimed to be crush-proof), a black velvet soft pouch, 12 pairs of ear tips (four kinds in three different sizes), two Noble Audio bands or amp bands, a cleaning tool and an ownership card, the K10U is available to buy now for £1,150.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 19, 2016  |  0 comments
First introduced in 2006, Furutech's Demag was intially greeted with scepticism – why on earth would an LP that's made from plastic need to be demagnetised we all found ourselves asking. Now in more enlightend times, we understand that the culprit is actually the pigment that's added to the plastic during the manufacturing process as it contains small amounts of a ferrous material that becomes magnetised as the record spins on the turntable. Enter Furutech's Demaga Alpha, which is also designed to to discharge the magnetism residing on optical media (CD, DVD, SACD etc) as well as vinyl. The Demaga Alpha can also be used to keep interconnect cables, connectors and power cords demagnetised to prevent magnetic signal distortion.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 18, 2016  |  0 comments
The hybrid Unico range from Italian valve specialist Unison Research combines valves with other solid state devices to provide more power and features than traditional valve technology alone can offer. The Unico CD Due joins the range as the new flagship source, and shares the same 'three-panel' design of the range-topping Unico 150 amplifier. The CD player supports apt X Bluetooth streaming and also incoporates a DAC equipped with USB, S/PDIF, AES/EBU and Toslink inputs, which all route through the built-in ESS Sabre ES9018K2M chip. The USB input uses XMOS to handle PCM signals up to 384kHz and DSD256.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 15, 2016  |  0 comments
Cabasse has unveiled the latest addition to its Artis Series, the Murano, which is claimed to benefit from innovations initially developed for the reference La Sphère. These include the coaxial midrange tweeter and specific technologies that were incorporated in the design of the woofer. The honeycomb dome membrane, borrowed from La Sphère’s woofer, and the long-throw motor system are claimed to enable Murano's 17cm woofer to provide clean and deep low frequencies. Meanwhile, guided by a long voice coil in the 45mm deep air gap of a 4kg oversized motor, the driver is described as giving the bass the sort of purity and strength that is unexpected from such a small device.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Apr 15, 2016  |  0 comments
Not wishing to rest on its laurels, Austrian-based audio specialist, Pro-Ject, has introduced another model to its comprehensive line of turntables that spans an impressive range of models to suit just about every budget. The RPM 9 Carbon sits towards the upper end of the range and makes use of modern materials combined with new manufacturing processes to produce a deck with an extra-heavy, mass-loaded sub-chassis that is decoupled from its support surface using magnetic feet. The teardrop-shaped plinth is manufactured from an advanced sandwich construction of MDF, carbon fibre and steel pellets that has all been subjected to a thermo treatment. The polished 7.

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