Articles
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Crystal Cable system
|As the name suggests, Crystal Cable is best known for its range of interconnects, loudspeaker cables, and power cords. However, keen-eyed readers will note that the brand has spent all of this decade manufacturing loudspeakers, ...read more -
Focal Kanta No. 2 and Naim Audio Uniti Nova system
|Synergy – when a system works in harmony to produce a sound that is as good or better than the sum of its parts – is not guaranteed. Even when two companies work under the ...read more -
Quad Artera Solus integrated amplifier
|This review highlights an international divide in the audio industry. Write about ‘Quad’ to many international audiophiles and it summons up images of classic electrostatic loudspeakers from the 1950s through to the present... and not ...read more -
CH Precision, Wilson Benesch, and Nordost system
|Suggesting that high-end audio has anything in common with Little Orphan Annie might seem like a stretch, but in one way at least they share a reality: for audio pilgrims who sign up to the ...read more -
Audio Research, Sonus faber, Transparent cable system
|Audio Research, Sonus faber, and Transparent Cable: that’s basically high-end audio royalty, all rolled into one extremely elegant and competent system. OK, so two of the three brands (Audio Research and Sonus faber) are subsidiaries ...read more -
AVM Evolution CS 5.2 streaming CD Receiver
|When I was an impressionable teenager, lusting after pretty much everything Bang & Olufsen produced, my parents’ rather more prosaic aspirations leant towards a music centre. For readers who don’t have roots in the seventies ...read more -
Linn Products Urika II phono stage
|Recently, we looked at the Linn Lingo 4 power supply, which transforms the Akurate-level LP12 turntable. It was formed from many of the concepts used in the top Klimax-grade Linn Sondek LP12. Technically, there’s not ...read more -
Mobile Fidelity Studiophono phono stage
|Mobile Fidelity’s Impressive Studiodeck turntable and Studiotracker cartridge were reviewed in Issue 156, and rightly applauded for their build quality, excellent sonics, and set-up ease. During the process of putting my final touches on the ...read more -
Aavik Acoustics U-150 Unity integrated amplifier
|When a company makes a hit of an amplifier in the high-end – even if actual sales are not huge, it’s sometimes hard to listen to criticism. Especially when that criticism is muted next to ...read more -
Chord Electronics DAVE DAC/SPM 1050 MkII stereo power amplifier
|I think it was Krell that got the ball rolling on heavy duty chassis construction for audio. Many have picked up this ball since the 1980s but no company (in the UK at least) has ...read more -
Sugden Sapphire DAP‑800 preamp and FBA-800 power amplifier
|For just over half a century, for almost as long as there have been transistor amplifiers in fact, there has been Sugden. The company moves to its own beat; it makes amps that don’t follow ...read more -
Bel Canto Design Black EX integrated amplifier
|Bel Canto Design has been producing terrific sounding gear for over twenty years. Based in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, the firm began as a tube specialist yet has evolved into a premier solid-state ...read more -
Exposure XM5 integrated amplifier
|Way back in the day when Exposure were the only real competitor that Naim had in the UK, both companies made a lot of half width black boxes. They were all ugly and, in the ...read more -
Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems Progression preamp and stereo amplifier
|The Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems Progression range is designed to sit under the mighty Momentum. But, unlike most brands that make the cheaper line ‘lite’ or ‘stripped-down’, D’Agostino makes the two lines entirely different ...read more -
conrad-johnson ET7 line preamplifier
|One of the foundation stones of American high-end, conrad-johnson has returned to its core recently. The company built its reputation on high-performance tube (valve) amplification, and although subsequent diversions into solid-state, and digital audio have ...read more