The Stereo 845 features four matched 845 valves, two 6SL7 first stage valves, two 6SN7 output driver valves and a GZ34 driver stage rectifier. The four 845s can be user-calibrated using Icon Audio’s built-in ‘easy bias’ meter and deliver a rated continuous output of 40 watts per channel. While Icon’s MB845 monoblocks achieve around a […]
Following the launch of the Prime Headphone Amplifier, Meridian has announced the introduction of the Prime Power Supply, a reference-quality, high-current design based on the new linear power supplies developed for Meridian’s 800 Reference Series and specifically built for audio applications. The Meridian Prime Power Supply can be used to power a range of Meridian […]
Ted Martin was a VIP guest of honour at Meridian’s Huntingdon HQ on 17th December in an event held to celebrate the fact that Martins Hi-fi is Meridian’s longest serving retail partner. Ted and his brother Mike founded Martins Hi-Fi in January 1968. Sadly Mike died in 1979 leaving Ted to carry on the business […]
Raven Audio’s Nighthawk is an integrated amplifier that is self-biasing so you never have to adjust tubes. The chassis is manufactured of sturdy 14-gauge carbon steel with an aircraft-grade aluminium faceplate and a small-signal tube plate on top. At $1,595 it would seem Raven Audio doesn’t skimp on quality; the handles are made of schedule-20 […]
Resonessence Labs are a Canadian company whose DACs we had reviewed in the past. We’d ben told very good things about their little Herus DAC and headphone amp and so Hifi Pig got Danny Worth to give it a listen. “The presentation of the sound was crisp and clean, with a great openness to the […]
Parasound have introduced a new version of their Halo JC 3 phono preamplifier, the Halo JC 3+. The new version adds independent load adjustment for MC cartridges and improvements to the dual mono phono module circuit boards which have been designed by John Curl. “Six years ago we asked John Curl if he would create […]
Quad has unveiled the 9AS – a pair of compact active speakers complete with an inbuilt DAC (from Quad’s Elite series of CD players) allowing coupling up of desktop and laptop computers, disc players and other digital devices. Preamp functionality allows users to switch between multiple digital and analogue sources, and also adjust volume levels on […]
Young consumer electronics brand i-box unveils Max – big brother to its recently launched portable wireless speaker, Trax. Like its sibling, Max is a Bluetooth, NFC-ready design, clad in i-box’s distinctive orange and black livery and designed to be used with all manner of smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers. However, while Trax is small enough […]
Hifi Pig gave you a sneaky peak of the new all in one player from Cyrus Audio way back in September and now the company has officially announced the launch of its Lyric Series – its first ever all-in-one music system range. At launch, two products are available; Lyric 09 and Lyric 05 Lyric 09 […]
iFi have announced the iCAN, a palm sized 167g battery powered, 150mW headphone amplifier. The onboard lithium-polymer 1400mAh battery is said to give over 70 hours of juice and the company’s DirectDrive output with no coupling capacitors is said to offer “smooth, natural sonics and bass slam”. Input is via a either a pair of […]
Kimberly Wyatt of Pussycat Dolls fame was recently announced as the face for the Monster iSport FREEDOM Headphones so we thought the best person to review them was Linette (with a useful addition by Harry our 16 year old and fairly active son) as clearly the other reviewers for Hifi Pig don’t really fall into […]
Audioengine has launched two new products clearly aimed at lovers of computer-based music. First up is the Audioengine D3, a 24-bit USB DAC and headphone amp. It slots into the USB socket of any Mac or PC and “instantly improve the audio output to headphones, powered speakers or any music system”. No additional power supply, […]
The Chord Company’s Epic loudspeaker cable, has been upgraded with the release of Epic Reference. The new upgraded version is said to bring “even greater accuracy across a wider bandwidth than the original and brings all the performance benefits of separately shielded conductor construction”. Epic Reference is based on 2×12 AWG 19-strand silver-plated oxygen-free copper […]
Akiko Audio, whose Tuning Sticks Danny reviewed last month, have introduced a new power block called the Powerbase Quattro. It’s built from high quality aluminium and stabilised with block connections, whereby the Furutech inlets are firmly anchored to the base. Akiko’s Aerostar wires made from eight runs of silver plated copper wire and isolated by […]
Audio cables in Hifi often split the audiophile community into believers and non-believers camps and so with no further ado here’s what Jerry thought about the Isotek EVO3 Premier mains cables. “At £95 or so for a 1.5m length, reasonably flexible and looking very well made and presented, this cable is by no means expensive […]
Van de Leur are a young and innovative Dutch company with just two products to their name for the moment. We had a look at and listen to their 002 preamplifier and the 402 power amplifier. “We first bumped into Pim Van de Leur on the last day of the Munich High end show, but […]
VPI Industries have announced the introduction of the Nomad vinyl playback system. The Nomad is comprised of a 10-inch aluminum tonearm, and 20-pound plinth and platter assembly borrowed from VPI’s Traveler turntable, a pair of Grado headphones and a pre-installed Ortofon 2M Red phono cartridge.The Nomad also has an onboard phono pre-amplifier and headphone amplifier […]
In his first review for Hifi Pig Richard Joyce takes a listen to the interesting looking and cleverly designed Pluto Ultimate loudspeakers. “The finish on the speakers is impeccable, and the gloss lacquer flawless. Their bases are made from a single piece of aluminium, machined from billet into which the adjustable floor spikes are screwed. […]
After making its debut at RMAF and the Tokyo Headphone Festival, the nano iDSD from ifi is now almost ready for shipping. The portable battery powered DAC (with headphone amp) plays ALL hi-rez formats including PCM (44.1-384kHz, DSD (5.6/6.2MHz) and DXD (352.8/384kHz) on pretty much any pad, iphone or computer operating system you can mention. […]
We got a message from Surrey based Magna Audio to tell Hifi Pig they are now offering a range of bespoke products and services. Their range of services includes making Tannoy GRF-R and GRF-R reduced footprint version replica speaker cabinets from top quality Scandanavian ply with choices of finish and with crossover customisations being available […]
Many of our readers will have seen and perhaps seen these beautiful looking loudspeakers made from glass at the various hifi shows around the world and were really pleased when we were asked to review them for French manufacturer Waterfall. “Perhaps not surprisingly, both the design and the manufacturing process for Waterfall Audio’s range of […]
Hifi Pig is immensely pleased to welcome our newest reviewer to the team, Richard Joyce. Richard often says that he started to learn to read music before he could read the written word, and whilst at Infant School took up the Clarinet, aged 6 and then Piano when aged 9. In 1979, aged 13, he […]
For two days Custom Cable of New Malden, Surrey will feature a “Sennheiser Headphone Circle” where five models from Sennheiser, including the range topping HD800 and popular Momentum models will be available for you to try. Connected to the company’s HDVD800 headphone amplifier and playing high-resolution music from computer or audio CDs, this will be […]
Berkely Audio Design have announced their latest DAC, the Alpha DAC Reference Series. The Alpha DAC Reference has been three years in development and uses bespoke components which the company says gives an “immediacy and presence of music reproduction that is simply real” Weighing in at over 40lb the unit is precision machined from a […]
Swiss sound system designer Geneva has now added the Model L Wireless to its range – its most complete all-in-one system to date. The new model offers the same compact dimensions as Geneva’s original Model L, but DAB/DAB+ radio, Bluetooth apt-X streaming and touch-sensitive cabinet-top controls, all driven by an up-rated sound system. There’s also […]
Yesterday saw the launch of the all new FREE Hifi Pig Magazine. The magazine will be a digest of the months reviews presented in a handy PDF format PLUS we’ll be adding lots of exclusive to the magazine content. In this months 60 page launch edition we’ve got nine great reviews, a dealer’s system profile, […]
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Chord Electronics’ DAC 64, the company will be launching something very special at CES 2014. Based on their FPGA DAC technology the company will be introducing a reference-level. Called the new device offers “studio-master-tape sound quality, advanced connectivity and uncompromising file playback capability, all from a palm-sized player”. Hugo […]
Following the introduction in October of two Tuned ARAY Ethernet cables, Indigo Tuned ARAY Ethernet and Ethernet Sarum Tuned ARAY Ethernet, The Chord Company has further extended the implementation of its proprietary cable-tuning technology into its digital portfolio with three new cables joining the Tuned ARAY family: Anthem Digital Tuned ARAY; Signature Digital Tuned ARAY […]
