Articles
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Web Exclusive: Arcam irDAC digital converter
|We’ve been running very late with some of our more value-led reviews, in part because things that are easy to lift tend to get moved out of the way when hernia-inducing high-end products get hefted ...read more -
Why do bad things happen to good systems?
|As audiophiles, we have all experienced this. Despite all our care, attention, and diligence, that textbook high-end supersystem just sounds flat, drab and uninspired. You might have spent years building it, months tweaking it, and ...read more -
Nordost Valhalla 2 cable system
|Nordost has put a lot of faith in mechanical tuning recently. The company discovered that a cable’s mechanical properties (including its physical length) are vital to in its sonic performance. The results of this investigation ...read more -
Unplanned obsolescence
|A few years ago, at least one set of conspiracy theorists were proved right. After the reunification of Germany, historians were sifting through the archives of the Osram factory in the former East Germany, and ...read more -
Stax SR-009 / SRM-007tII 'Kimik'
|We have already touched upon the Stax SR-009. Our Publisher, Chris Martens, has a great deal of respect for the product, both when it is driven by Stax ‘energisers’ (Stax-speak for electrostatic headphone amplifiers) and ...read more -
Conrad-Johnson MF2550SE
|Most people associate conrad-johnson with amplification, specifically valve (tube) amplification. But the company has a long history of also producing good solid-state electronics; it just doesn’t do it that often. In fact, the last solid-state ...read more -
Usher BE20 DMD Dancer loudspeaker
|The Usher Be20 DMD, the top of its Dancer range, cost £15,750 per pair. For a loudspeaker this powerfully built in today’s market, that’s chicken feed. This is a solidly built piece of equipment (123kg ...read more -
Analogue Works Turntable One turntable and Design/Build/Listen The Wand tonearm
|Turntable maker Tom Fletcher left a considerable legacy in his passing. There’s Nottingham Analogue of course, which Tom handed on to family and co-workers as his illness progressed. Then there is (was?) Fletcher Audio that ...read more -
Devialet 250
|I’ve had a Devialet D-Premier more or less since the get-go. Which, on reflection, is only about four years. In that time, it went from being a stylish, thought-provoking piece of audio technology, via genre-bending ...read more -
CD’s comeback concert?
|In 2011, I spoke with one well-known US distributor who sells, among other things, a brand with a strong presence in the magneto-optical world. If you are considering a high-end CD or SACD player, this ...read more -
Van Damme UP-LCOFC loudspeaker cable
|There is something of a Cold War in audio, between those who think cables sound different, and those who think they don’t, or can’t. Setting aside the militants at either end of the bell-curve, there’s ...read more -
Meet Your Maker - Hideaki Niskikawa of TechDAS
|The TechDAS turntable system has quickly become one of the most important vinyl replay systems in today’s high-end. The Air Force One and now Air Force Two turntables are rated by many as the best ...read more -
Audiovector Si3 Signature Active Discreet
|We’ve come a long way in a very short time. A few years ago, the audio world was relatively stable; you bought a CD player and an amplifier, wired these to some loudspeakers, and you ...read more -
OPPO BDP-105D Audiocom Signature
|The first rule of hot-rodding is “start from a good base.” Working with an already excellent donor product gives one a canvas upon which great things can be based. Sadly, that maxim seems entirely lost ...read more -
Riggers with attitude
|Britannia Row Productions started life in 1975 as a permanent base for Pink Floyd’s tour PA and technical crew. It quickly became a business in its own right, hiring out lights, sound, staging, and crew ...read more