LATEST ADDITIONS

Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jul 23, 2018  |  0 comments
Spendor introduced its new two-way A7 floorstanding loudspeaker at The Bristol Show back in February. It’s described by the British speaker brand as a major revision of the acclaimed A6R, which impressed us when we reviewed it back in HFC 381. The A7 has a slim and contemporary-looking cabinet, available in black ash, dark walnut, natural oak and satin white finishes. The base of the plinth has four machined steel stabiliser inserts, secured directly into the main cabinet structure.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jul 23, 2018  |  0 comments
Just like the summer weather, the British floorstanding loudspeaker market is hotting up. We’ve seen several impressive high value for money floorstanding designs of late that offer serious hi-fi clout for a relatively low outlay. Regular readers will have marvelled at the 3050i from Q Acoustics that we reviewed last month, which received a coveted Editor’s Choice award and is the hottest, value floorstander we’ve seen so far. But contenders are already lining up to take its crown – including this month’s £600 cover star, Fyne Audio’s F303 (p46), and Monitor Audio’s Monitor 300 (p60), priced at just £550.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jul 20, 2018  |  0 comments
The latest network components from Primare – the I35 Prisma integrated amplifier and CD35 Prisma CD player – are the first outing for the Swedish manufacturer’s whole-home, high-fidelity control and connectivity platform. According to marketing director Terry Medalen, Prisma “provides a complete spectrum of system management from a single point of control”. The platform not only allows network playback from both stored and streamed media, wi-fi and Bluetooth connection, but also multi-zone control – all managed from any mobile device through a dedicated system control app. Rated at 2x 150W (8ohm), the I35 Prisma is the first integrated to use a reworking of Primare’s Class D amplification tech, and includes a DAC stage with support for up to PCM 768kHz and DSD256 formats.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jul 19, 2018  |  0 comments
Wilson Audio is perhaps best known for its high-end floorstanding loudspeaker designs with their uncompromising levels of performance and money-no-object designs. We've been lucky enough to experience some of the brand's extraordinary models at The Hi-Fi Show Live showcases runby our sister title Hi-Fi News, and the brand is sure to draw eager crowds once again to its UK distributor Absolute Sounds' listening rooms at this year's event running from 10-11 November – advanced tickets on sale now through eventbrite. co. uk.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jul 19, 2018  |  0 comments
Flat’s all folks! Warped vinyl can be the bane of the record collector, but help is at hand in this excellent guide to restoring your beloved music to pristine condition again, along with some top tips to ensure that it doesn’t happen in the first place. Click here to learn more. This is the end “The end of owning music” screams Rolling Stone magazine in this alarmist, but admittedly rather thought-provoking piece on what the future holds for physical music, featuring insight from industry insiders, record label owners and Jack White. read it for yourself here and see if you agree.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jun 26, 2018  |  0 comments
IsoTek has unveiled a trio of new mains conditioner products that include a mains power cleaner, mains synchroniser and 12-way power conditioner. Kicking off with the mains power cleaner, the new EVO3 Gemini is a compact two-way solution rated at 10A and offering filtration of common and differential mode mains noise. It costs £249 and is available from July. The Syncro Uni incorporates DC-cancelling electronics to reduce transformer hum when used with hi-fi separates.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jun 26, 2018  |  0 comments
It’s all very well filling your hi-fi rack with numerous separates, but there comes a time when space becomes a premium, when one box is so much more desirable than four or five. And that’s where Gold Note’s superb IS-1000 comes in. Described as the “complete all-in-one super integrated”, this quite phenomenal box of tricks neatly bridges the gap between a traditional integrated amplifier and a networked music streamer. At its heart, the IS-1000 is an integrated amplifier with a Class A/B output section capable of a 2x 125W into 8ohm (doubling to 250W into 4ohm loads).
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jun 25, 2018  |  0 comments
Chord Electronics opted to use the High End Show in Munich (see full show report in the July issue, now on sale)to debut its next-generation analogue amplifier design – claimed to be its first fundamentally new topology since the company’s inception back in 1989. Developed and implemented by Chord’s owner and managing director, John Franks, the Choral Étude stereo power amplifier is describedby the Kent-based company as heralding a new era for powerful, wide bandwidth, low noise and low distortion amplifiers. Based upon multi-feedback and dual feed-forward error-correction amplifier technology, the new design intelligently adjusts and compensates the high-powered MOSFETs, which have been arranged into two banks of four. Power output is rated (conservatively according to Chord) at 150W into 4ohm or 300W in bridged mono mode and comes from proprietary ultra-compact switch-mode high-frequency power supplies – one of which controls the auxiliary rails, while the othertwo feed the high-current active power rails.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jun 22, 2018  |  0 comments
Designed to appeal to hi-fi newcomers and experienced audiophiles alike, Pioneer’s new A-40AE integrated amplifier (pictured with the N-50AE network audio player) has been tuned to deliver low distortion coupled with fine resolution and clarity. Boasting a claimed 2x 76W power output into 4ohm, analogue connections include five line-level inputs. Turntables are catered for thanks to a moving-magnet input, while digital options include optical and coaxial inputs. There are terminals for two independent pairs of speakers (for individual or parallel operation), capable of taking 4mm banana plugs.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Jun 21, 2018  |  0 comments
Flagship loudspeakers are usually designed to stand out but as range toppers go, few models are as instantly recognisable as Focal's eye-popping Utopia III Evo series. The Utopia DNA has been around since 1995 and as with any crowning model or series, the current Utopia III Evo lineup is the very embodiment of what the company's ambitious team of designers, engineers and craftsman can achieve and a complete showcase of the French company's impressive audiophile capabilities. Back in May, the brand chose the High End Show in Germany (see Show Report in the July issue) to introduce two revamped models to its flagship Utopia III Evo series, which is now in its tenth year, with the Grande Utopia EM Evo and Stella Utopia EM Evo floorstanding loudspeakers. Focal has been in business for more than 35 years and all its products are designed and developed at its base in Saint-Étienne.

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