Everyone loves a freebie and we were really please to hear that Computer Audio Design (CAD), manufacturer of the CAD 1543 USB DAC, has created a number of free system set-up and optimisation guides, which are now available to download from their website. With computer audio destined to be the dominant source of high-quality music […]
McIntosh Laboratory has introduced the latest version of its free AP1 Audio Player app and very cool looking it is too for a freebie. Version 1.5 can be downloaded from the Apple Store, allowing iTunes® to be run with the classic look and feel of a full sized McIntosh component. Featuring the ‘McIntosh Blue’ watt […]
Commencing on the 1st November, Hi-fi and Custom Installation specialists Music Matters will be hosting a month long series of events based in their Midlands branches and London store showcasing a series of events for customers old and new – The Hi-Fi Festival! “We’re delighted to be hosting this four week Hi-Fi Festival as its […]
AKG have announced its new K812 reference headphones – a completely new open-back design. The K812 offers an oversized 53mm drivers and copper-covered aluminium voice coils partnered with adjustable headband and extremely soft ear pads which AKG say will ensure comfort in any application, for extended periods of time. “The AKG K812’s are not only […]
There’s a huge problem with HD music today say Benchmark and recent advances in high-resolution digital formats have well outpaced most existing amplifier technologies they say. Whilst recordings are possible that have dynamic ranges that exceed 120 to 125 dB Benchmark claim it’s hard to find a power amplifier that can deliver more than 100 […]
Oppo, those of the famous DVD and BluRay players, have announced they will be launching a new Planar Magnetic Headphone (PM-1) and a headphone amplifier (HA-1). The PM-1 headphones use an FEM optimised magnet system with very high energy Neodymium magnets. The headphones magnetic system and conductor patterns are said to be optimized for maximum […]
“The Cartridge Man is Len Gregory and he’s been making cartridges for a good number of years now. He used to produce a cartridge based on the AKG P8ES, but as AKG ceased production and were eventually bought this eventually meant that Len’s supply of components dried up. Around the same time (twenty-ish years ago) […]
Forming part of the bijou Chordette range, the new Qute EX adds a new chipset and circuit board which enables decoding at up to 384kHz PCM and DSD 128 over USB (against the QuteHD’s 192kHz PCM and DSD 64). Existing QuteHD DACs can be upgraded with the new chipset and board at the factory for […]
JoSound Cartouche loudspeakers use a Voxativ driver and an innovative bamboo construction that makes these €22 000 loudspeakers really stand out from the crowd. “We first came across the JoSound range of loudspeakers twelve months or so ago when we attended the Paris Hifi and Home Cinema Salon and were very impressed with what we […]
Norwegian-based manufacturer and quirkily named QNKTC (Quantization Noise Killed The Cat!) has unveiled its new competitively priced DAC, the £110 AB-1.2. The device has is roots in an open source project, as a hardware implementation of the Audio Widget venture. The project was started by an online group who wanted to develop the very best […]
Hifi Pig announced the launch of these new loudspeaker cables from Atlas way back in June and here Jerry takes a listen to them and gives his impressions of how they perform in his system. “The cables appear well made and very easy to use – the “Z-plugs” (4mm banana) on the set of cables […]
At the top of the Tellurium Q range the Black Diamond USB cable comes in at £636 for a 1 metre length. Dan gives it a serous listen and see if it reaches muster. “The Black Diamond, as all other Tellurium products, doesn’t come accompanied with a huge white paper of techno-babble, it simply comes […]
Keith Monks today announced that the new discOveryOne Record Cleaner had started production in the UK. Jon Monks, son of the founder, Keith, will be demonstrating the discOveryOne Record Cleaner during the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. Cleaning is a simple process of applying cleaning fluid and cleaning brush manually in the case of the standard […]
The next generation of Motive speakers from Neat Acoustics, the SX series, will be demonstrated for the first time in Atrium Room 422 of the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel at RMAF. The first and most obvious change from original to SX is to the tweeter. A newly designed, aluminium dome that is black anodised […]
Meridian Audio has announced the introduction of their Distributor 3, a seamless way of distributing audio from a central location to three additional “zones”. A zone can be built from a pair of DSP loudspeakers up to a full entertainment system with local sources. Each zone can be fed a discrete audio signal as well […]
When a manufacturer baptises a new audio component in honour of a Greek goddess whose name literally means “beautiful voice” and follows that up with a five-figure price tag, this represents a definite promise and considerable commitment on their part… but that’s just what Gryphon have done. Premiered in late prototype form at the Munich […]