Hi-Fi Choice

Using a poor-quality USB cable to connect a computer to a DAC can result in effects that will interfere with the quality of the audio signal that’s transmitted. These unwanted effects manifest themselves as errors in the digital data stream, which the DAC has to correct and can introduce jitter and other issues that can degrade the audio signal. What’s in a name? The Blue USB cable is the baby brother of TQ’s Black USB cable, which employs a special blend of materials for both the conductors and insulators and aims to minimise phase distortion. We reviewed the original back in 2014 (HFC 383), but the construction has been “tweaked” despite the name staying the same.

I am sure many readers will have fond memories of putting together their first hi-fi separates systems, based on thumbing through hi-fi press review pages of the time in search of the best-sounding components to satisfy their quality audio itch at an affordable price. For me, my first hi-fi setup was an eclectic bunch of components comprised of a Rotel integrated amplifier, Sony CD player and a pair of Tannoy Mercury standmounts. I don’t recall the exact model numbers, but I’ll certainly never forget the lively and engaging sound this beer-budget system delivered and the fun I had playing disc after disc. It’s a long way from my system today, but it set me on the hi-fi path and this month’s bargain standmount Group Test aims to do just that for seekers of high-quality audio.

Committed to vinyl replay long before the current popularity of the medium, Creek Audio’s OBH range of phono stages has been around for 25 years. The OBH-8mk2 is the latest iteration of the design and is the entry-level model in the range, sitting just below the long-running £300 OBH-15mk2 (HFC 407). The OBH-8mk2 is a straightforward moving-magnet phono stage with fixed loading and no user adjustments. The new design uses an integrated circuit for the gain stage powered by a 24V supply, which is something that has been present on OBH designs since their inception.

Has hi-fi got better in the past few decades? Take loudspeakers for example; low-cost designs from the seventies were somewhere between dreadful and dire, but improvements in design and manufacturing now make it possible to do so much better. This point is beautifully illustrated by the new Monitor 300. To be frank, the price has you wondering if the company has inadvertently left off a zero. From a distance it looks like a swanky high-end floorstander – indeed, you could say the same from moderately close up.