Hifi Pig

KEF has been awarded a Dolby Atmos Award, in recognition of the company’s “Leadership in introducing Dolby Atmos for the home”.

As a key launch partner for Dolby’s introduction of Atmos for the home last autumn, KEF developed a high-performance Dolby Atmos-enabled speaker, the R50. The R50 has received much critical acclaim, and has been subsequently installed, along with compatible KEF R Series speakers, at several Dolby offices around the world to demonstrate the “incredible sonic benefits of Atmos, the innovative new surround sound format”.

In addition, many audio dealer showrooms around the world have chosen KEF loudspeakers as the optimum way of demonstrating Dolby Atmos, and in recognition of this, Stephen Auld of Dolby Europe Ltd this week this week visited KEF UK, to present managing director Steve Halsall with the award.

Advanced Communication Solutions (ACS) has announced its partnership with other leading British companies Meridian Audio and Asprey to create 1,000 sets of limited edition, bespoke moulded earphones, endorsed by legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, with a generous donation from each set going towards funding vital research being carried out by UK charity Action on Hearing Loss.

Further enhancing the package is a signed, limited edition portrait of Sir George painted by legendary drummer and painter Gilson Lavis.

The concept of the Sir George Martin Signature Custom Earphone was sparked by Sir George’s desire to encourage research, education and awareness of the life-changing impact of noise-damaged hearing loss.  After a discussion between Sir George and ACS founder Andy Shiach, this unique collaboration was formed to protect people’s hearing and raise vital funds for Action on Hearing Loss, the only UK charity dedicated to funding research into treatments, devices and cures for hearing loss and tinnitus.

“The George Martin Signature Series earphones designed by ACS are at the cutting edge of earphone technology allowing you to experience the music you love with clarity at a safe sound level. I am also very grateful to ACS for supporting Deafness Research UK’s important work with a generous donation from the sale of each set of George Martin Signature Series earphones.”
Sir George Martin

The result is the launch of this unique earphone package, which is based on the ACS Pro-Audio Custom In Ear Monitor Series.  Each earphone contains three balanced miniature speakers – a large dedicated bass speaker for sub frequencies and upper bass, a mid-range speaker for low and high midrange frequencies and a tweeter for the high frequency range. A three-way crossover directs the correct frequency range to the right speaker, with all of the speakers and electronics housed in ACS’s soft silicone custom ear mould. Cabling is taken care of by ACS’s new  Linum® cable series, which was designed by Danish micro cable specialist Estron®.  Each cable is made up of 6 litz wire conductors of 7 individual strands, with each strand constructed from silver plated copper with enamel coating. The earphones are delivered with an innovative UK developed and manufactured hearing dose management unit, HDMPro, designed to keep the output from the earphones within the limits set by the EU noise at work legislation.

To package this quintessentially British product, Asprey, who since 1781 has developed into the finest British jeweller and luxury goods house, were commissioned to design and manufacture the beautiful, individually hand-crafted presentation case that accompanies each pair of Sir George Martin Signature Custom Earphones.

Meridian Audio, winners of the Design Council Outstanding British Product Award an unprecedented three times and who continue to push the boundaries of sound, also add British excellence to the offering. Their new Meridian Explorer2 digital to analogue converter (DAC) unit is also included.

To further enhance the uniqueness of this exclusive product, legendary UK drummer and painter Gilson Lavis was commissioned to paint Sir George’s portrait and a signed and numbered print is included as part of this very Best of British offering, making this product a truly once-in-a-lifetime exclusive.

The ‘George Martin Signature Series’ is a strictly limited edition. There will only be 1000 pairs available worldwide with a UK SRP of £2250.00 including a donation of £250.00 to charity Action on Hearing Loss.

“High Technology specialist Entotem attended the Bristol Sound and Vision Show 2015 from the 20-22 February to officially launch Plato their innovative home entertainment system. Plato has been in development for the past two years, and Entotem chose this show, the largest in the UK to be its launch platform. A hugely successful launch show was perfectly topped off with a Clarity Alliance Best of Show Award” says the company’s latest press release.

Plato provides users the opportunity to playback vinyl through built in pre-amp and power-amp, and record each track in 24bit/192 kHz format which is then stored within 2TB hard drive with track recognition and album image downloaded from gracenote.

Powered by a bespoke Android OS, Plato will also stream to network connected TV and speakers, both audio and video, simultaneously; Touch screen operation supported by an Android companion app (IOS to follow) round up some of the many features offered by the Plato system.

On receiving the award, Martin Boddy commented:

“It is a great honour and privilege to receive this award for Plato, especially because it comes from our industry peers. The Entotem engineering team have worked incredibly hard over the last two years to bring something new, innovative and exciting to the market. We believed we had something very special, and this award fully backs up and endorses those feelings.

“Being selected by the Clarity Alliance for one of its Best of Show Awards demonstrates how Entotem has been embraced and accepted by the industry, and that is something that all new entrants continually strive to achieve. It really was an extremely proud moment for the whole team.”

Absolute Sounds has contacted us to say they are delighted to announce its appointment as the sole UK distributor of
Wadia products.

Wadia on Wadia…

“At Wadia Digital, music is the bridge between sound and experience – where engineering and artistry come together to create audio components of timeless design and exceptional quality. Wadia Digital represents the finest in digital audio performance and we strive to develop components that balance our knowledge of technology with a passion for music – to create inspiring musical experiences that exceed every expectation. Our goal is to connect you with the sounds, the experiences, and the music of your life.

“For over two decades now, Wadia has focused on one goal: developing and applying technology to provide the most engaging and realistic musical performance from digital sources. Our philosophy is straightforward – we believe there is musical magic encoded in the numbers stored on your discs and drives. We believe that if every bit of information is unraveled, the feelings and emotions of your favorite artists will be communicated with more clarity and transparency, resulting in a more engaging listening experience. Wadia has spent years compiling an array of concepts and techniques to make our products extract, decode, and reconstruct the subtle cues to transform sound into music.”