LATEST ADDITIONS

Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best CD Player over £1,000 Shanling CD-T2000 Compared to some of the CD players we’ve tested, the CD-T2000 is very straight-forward. It doesn’t play SACD or have digital inputs, but what it does do is perform at the very highest levels of the format. It has a smooth, natural sound that allows you to hear material as the artist intended without embellishment or harshness. Add the battleship build and the stunning aesthetics, and you have a player that is a treat for the eyes and the ears.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Digital to analogue convertor Rega DAC Rega has never made a DAC until now, but you’d be hard-pressed to notice, given how accomplished its first offering is. The Rega combines a useful set of inputs with fine build and a handsome appearance. It also sounds fantastic and won us over with excellent timing and an accurate and engaging tonality. The result is a product that has all the detail retrieval and slam and impact you could ask for, but it’s presented in a fabulously calm and inviting way.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Headphones Q701 Quincy Jones Signature Edition Any person with a track record like Quincy Jones was never going to put his name to any old product and the Q701 doesn’t disappoint. The AKG is a perfect package of clever technology, excellent build and funky appearance. Sonically, the Q701 is a star and recordings are faithfully captured with incredible detail retrieval and a real sense of ambience. Quincy does it again! Details PRICE: £500 TYPE: Dynamic headphone TELEPHONE: 01707 278100 WEBSITE: akg.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Innovation Award 2011 Classé CP-800 The pace of technological change in the hi-fi industry at the moment is positively relentless, but even taking this into account the CP-800 is revolutionary. Here we have a fully equipped preamplifier with extensive analogue and digital connectivity. The reason why the CP-800 wins our innovation award, however, is the USB input. This circuitry manages the seemingly impossible feat of making a ripped copy of a CD (played via USB) sound better than the original.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Interconnect Peerless Sigma Peerless is one of the smaller brands in the UK market, but if the Sigma is anything to go by, that’s set to change. The cable is a no-nonsense design that combines good-quality materials and sound design practice. The result is a cable that produces finely detailed images with an even tonal balance. It also includes an open and clear treble and good control of the lower octaves.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Loudspeaker up to £1,000 Epos Epic 5 The Epic 5 manages to get an awful lot right even before you connect it up. For starters, it’s a very handsome and well-built speaker for the asking price and we love the clever interchangeable baffles. Once connected, the news just gets better. The Epic 5 combines excellent detail retrieval, accurate and appealing tonality, and a fast and tuneful low end.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Loudspeaker over £1,000 Rega RS7 Winning a Blind-Listening Group Test (HFC 347) is always a considerable achievement. Winning against five dedicated speaker manufacturers (when your own product is part of a wider range of electronics) is remarkable, but this is what Rega has achieved with the RS7. Making use of a clever transmission-loaded side-firing bass driver, the RS7 demonstrates outstanding coherence and openness. As we noted at the time, it never fails to make listening fun and that’s surely the whole point.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Speaker cable Kimber 4PR The basic design and components of the 4PR date back decades: polythene-insulated connectors joined together in a special weave to reduce interference. While it might not be very radical, the 4PR won us over with a performance that combines detail, bass extension, superior imagine and sweetness to impressive effect. For sheer musical enjoyment, no other cable tested this year is on a par with the 4PR and for that reason it is our 2011 award winner. Details PRICE: £67 (2.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Network Streamer Naim ND5 XS Naim gave us a clear demonstration of its streaming talent with the formidable NDX. What we didn’t expect is that it would take almost everything that makes the NDX great and squeeze it into a product that costs £1,000 less. The ND5 XS has a superlative performance with streamed media and is also a superb internet radio platform. And if that wasn’t enough, the digital inputs and iPod functionality make it a true digital hub.
Ed Selley  |  Jan 10, 2012  |  0 comments
Best Support Atacama Duo 6 The Duo is an all-new stand from Atacama and combines a smart aesthetic with some clever, real-world design touches. The smaller rear upright is fitted to allow for unobtrusive cable management, while the larger front upright can be mass-loaded. The Duo 6 sounds lively and involving and lends a vibrancy to loudspeakers that is hard not to like. All this, plus the solid build quality and a very reasonable asking price.

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