Hifi Pig review of the Audiovector SR3 Avantgarde loudspeakers costing £6500.

Danish folks don’t just produce butter, they also produce some very fine hifi components and Audiovector loudspeakers are no exception to that. I have long felt that Audiovector are very much underrated as a brand and they should be more actively banging their own drum to tell the world that their speakers are imbued with both technical excellence, attention to details and fueled by their ceaseless passion to build very fine loudspeakers.  

I reviewed Audiovector’s diminutive QR1 speakers for Hifi Pig in early 2017 and was enamored by both their sound quality and appearance, so much so they became my benchmark speakers in the £700.00 bracket.

One of Audiovector’s many features is an upgrade path within any one of the same family range of speakers, so for example if you purchased the “base” level Super SR3 speakers, you can easily be upgraded to Signature, Avantgarde and Avantgarde Arreté as an affordable upgrade path without having to buy new speakers each time, as all these speakers share the same cabinet carcass.  There is also an active variant available. I hear tell there has also been a limited edition variant with an outer concrete liner, but the 100 built by Audiovector have all found owners.

CONSTRUCTION

If ever there was a good looking and truly handsome speaker, then the SR3 is it. The craftsmanship and build quality is stunning with the review pair finished in beautiful real Cherry veneer with a deep gloss finish.

The carcass is a side radiused design tapering rearwards, the rear panel is a full length wooden affair with two ports near the top which vent unwanted frequencies from the tweeter, while at the bottom is a large recessed plate housing three pairs of high quality connection terminals for tri-wiring, with all three sets linked by two metal strips for single wired use.  The terminals will accept bare wire, 4mm banana plugs or spade connectors. The base of the speaker is also wooden which cleverly hides the bottom facing bass reflex port and will accept M6 threaded spikes.  Audiovector supply a complete set of spikes which are reversible to a small ball foot for those owners who do not have the requirement for carpet piercing spikes.

The front baffle plate (another plastic moulding) houses three drive units, the topmost being an Air Motion Transformer folded ribbon tweeter measuring circa 45mm which is of Audiovector’s own design, followed by two carbon composite sandwich 165mm bass/mid drivers in a two and a half way configuration. These drivers have a Magnesium chassis, Titanium voice coil former components with a rigid three point screw fixing system, the mid driver also has a metal phase plug while the bass driver has a regular slightly inverted dust cap.

SOUND QUALITY

If I could sum up these speaker’s performance, it would be the word “lithe”.  Not lightweight if that’s what you have deciphered that word as being, let me be quite clear on that.

Given that there is only 2 x 165mm bass/mid drivers, there is no shortage of good solid and powerful bass output, more than I would have expected them to be able to shift a large volume of air considering their modest dimensions, but a full bass output down to an impressive 27Hz, with some real heft behind it.

That litheness continues up the frequency spectrum into the mids and treble too, with the composite mid driver crossing over seamlessly to the tweeter taking the treble range right the way up to a maximum of 52kHz according to the specifications.  Needless to say, I didn’t put this claim to the test during the evaluation.

This speaker revels in having the volume turned up and doesn’t seem to suffer from cone break up at these higher volumes, but there is a flip side to that because when you turn the volume down low, these speakers seem to lose their magical charm in that the punch and definition seems to roll off slightly, not that you would intentionally listen that quietly anyway.

On to some real music to put the SR3s through their paces and of course I began with my long term favourite ‘reference’ recording of Fink’s “Wheels Beneath My Feet” live album.  This album for me contains a whole raft of benchmarks that whatever component I review has to meet and hopefully exceed.  Bass kick drum is adequately represented in this album, along with the rest of the drum ensemble including snare, toms and floor tom drums, high hat, ride and crash cymbals all have  signatures that to me are a true yardstick of performance.  In addition to that we have the warm tones of Fink’s voice but his diction leaves a lot to be desired, although you should be able to hear the soft rasp his voice has.   Then of course there is the wonderful venue ambiances within each track, each recorded at different locations during one of the band’s many European tours, so has different “flavours”, some recreating the drummer’s snare rim shots so clearly echoing around the venue.  If I put my mind to it I could probably find equally good recordings to use as tests, but I know this album intimately and I know that some readers have also bought this same album to follow my results.

The album begins with hearing the audience clapping and cheering when the band begins to play and that sound is very revealing of a speaker’s performance.  If it sounds like bacon sizzling in a frying pan then I don’t usually hold out much hope for the rest of the album. Glad to say the Audiovector SR3s gave a very life-like rendition here so let’s press on.  Next, the drummer plays a short series of cymbal strikes as the intro, shortly followed by an acoustic guitar then some more cymbal strikes, all of which flowed seamlessly and effortlessly from the speakers.  I won’t go into a complete breakdown of the entire album, but I will move on to track 12 which is “Sort of Revolution” and that is my favourite track on the entire album, which also contains most of the bass benchmarks any component needs to meet and exceed.

Track 12 commences with the audience clapping in time and cheering, with a few whoops and whistles thrown in, then a solo bass guitar riff where I carefully listen to the way that instrument is being played. The gruffness of the bass notes has to be present and if I can hear the guitarist’s fingering of the frets then so much the better. The drummer’s contribution is a very powerful and solid floor tom strike as his opening gambit and that really has to be felt every bit as much as heard with the ears, while my listening room vibrates beautifully too. Top stuff. The whole track has a delightful propulsiveness about it and the venue’s ambiance adds to the pleasure of the performance, especially so when Fink’s voice and the drummer’s rim shots echoes clearly around the venue.  Way into the background you hear intermittent whistles and cat calls from the audience too. Full of energy and excitement, I cannot think of another track that has so many clearly defined parameters that not only sounds good to me, but also has so many sonic benchmarks as an added bonus.

As ever though, I will play a whole raft of music of different genres to ensure that I am not just dealing with a one trick pony that sounds great with my reference recording but may fall by the wayside with anything else, so none of my reviews are based upon one single album but many different types with good and bad recordings thrown in there as well (even some classical!), even though I may not explicitly mention this in the reviews themselves.

In my LP collection is a disc by Duncan Browne called “Streets of Fire” which I won’t part with even though I don’t currently have a vinyl spinner to play it on. I transferred it to a recordable CD some years ago but it never sounds the same as the original disc.  The official CD release is being sold at ludicrous prices so that wasn’t an option. I recently found the same tracks on another CD compilation by the same artist much to my surprise called “Planet Earth” so at least I can play it when the mood takes me. The quality is not far off my own efforts so it has been relegated to the poor-ish recording quality category although it does shine on one or two tracks so all is not lost. My favourite track is called “Nina Morena” and the bass and percussion is a delight even though it lacks polish and refinement, but the Audiovector SR3s didn’t do anything untoward with the sound quality.  

A soupcon of electronica now with Zero One’s “Ozone” CD which glad to say doesn’t suffer from musical phrases containing endless repetition as most other electronica albums seem to do and also blends in some real instruments to hold the listener’s attention. There is nothing worse than an endless drawl of the same music over and over again which to me smacks of “filler” to pad an album out, rather than any kind of artistic innovation and performance. Track 6, called “Glitch” is my favourite with plenty of deep bass and some perky tom tom playing and a real hook to the sound. This album was very competently handled by the Audiovector SR3s, in fact that was the very point I fell in love with these speakers for the crisp clean refreshing way this album was reproduced.

I am no fan at all of classical music, in point of fact I have only one CD in the entire music collection of this particular genre.  My best use for playing it during an evaluation is it is a very reliable way of assessing imaging, instrument separation, width and depth of the sound-stage.  Pleased to say that the Audiovector SR3s were excellent in all those attributes.  I really am positive that classical (and no doubt Opera) fans will appreciate this level of performance.

Now I thank you for your patience in reading this review thus far, but I am just about to add a twist that still defies any logic with and completely flies in the face of established thinking about speaker performance.  Intrigued? Then read on . . . . . . . . .

As I mentioned earlier, the speakers are supplied with M6 floor spikes and they were used throughout the evaluation to penetrate a thick carpet and underlay in my listening room.  While the Audiovector speakers were incumbent, I was sent a set of Solidair Audio magnetic suspension bridges for review and of course I tried them under the Audiovectors.  Well it would be rude not to I say.

I’m going to save some typing here by copying my comments from the Solidair Audio review:

“Using no rationale at all behind the choice, I decided to fit the speaker bridge units first under my own resident floor standing speakers and marvelled at the way they swayed about like a Weeble without toppling over.  Don’t know what a Weeble is?  It was a toy brought out many years ago that had a spherical base with a weight inside which made the character roll about back and forth, side to side.  Not connecting with that?  Try visualising an intoxicated person unsteady on their feet while standing still then, with just a bit more tilting in any direction.  Have we got there? . . . . . .

. . . . . . So what effect overall did the supports make to the sound?  It really was a classic case of bass tightening, yet losing none of the power.  The floor tom whacks in the track “Sort of Revolution” on Fink’s ‘Wheels Beneath My Feet” album had real weight and body behind them, the best I have heard them yet, to be truthful.  Treble and midrange seemed to leave the speaker cabinets entirely and just hung freely in space, so imaging was three dimensional and almost walk around realistic. However, a pair of Audiovector SR3 Avantgardes was soon wobbling about nicely on the bridges when they arrived for review and the already excellent SR3’s sound quality moved up a notch or two.”

Now that really did shake me, as I was almost brainwashed into believing that speakers should be rigidly mounted on floor spikes to make the speakers more steady, especially on a carpeted floor and restrict cabinet movement during speaker cone excursions – like the recoil from firing a gun.

The sound certainly moved up a notch or two and then some. I was so impressed I will order a set of those magnetic speaker bridges one day from Solidair Audio when I can afford it.

AT A GLANCE

CONCLUSION

Leaving aside the sonic improvements derived from the Solidair bridges, I will summarise my findings with the Audiovector SR3’s in their own right.

They are indeed a very speaker and there wasn’t one single aspect of their performance that was a disappointment and they clearly passed all of my benchmark tests with consummate ease.

They are quite a large imposing speaker for sure and it is the way they are built and finished to a very high standard that makes you quickly forget they are indeed a large speaker and will fit into many home decors without being overly intrusive because of that.

My review notes now remind me that they are not comfortable at low level listening and in all honesty you wouldn’t run them at that low a level just to appease your neighbours – I know I wouldn’t.

I am also going to say that it is an immense shame that the name “Audiovector” doesn’t receive the recognition they rightly deserve and am hoping this Hifi Pig review will go some way towards remedying that.

All in all then a well built great sounding speaker that deserves an audition.  I highly recommend them.

Build Quality:  Have seen none better

Sound Quality:  Accurate but not etched and analytical, very easy to listen to for long periods.

Value For Money:  Not a cheap bargain for sure, but definitely a long term “keeper”.

Pros:  Plonk them on a set of magnetic bridges and they astound.

Cons:  Low level listening isn’t the best way to hear these speakers perform.

Price: £6500

D. Marsh

Submitted by email for editing and publication 19th February 2018.

Based around Auralic’s Lightning DS Streaming Platform, which is one of the most intuitive and responsive software systems around for devices of this type, Polaris incorporates a wired/wireless streamer, a music server – via additional HDD/SSD, a DAC, a moving magnet phonostage, a preamplifier and a stereo power amplifier. Dan Worth tries out this £2875 box of tricks.

“Polaris utilises AURALiC Flexible Filters and Femto Master Clock, supports quad-rate DSD and PCM up to 32 bit/384kHz. The powerful internal stereo amplifier module can deliver a continuous 120 watts per channel into 8 ohms or 180 watts per channel from its on-board, high power, high efficiency Class D modules…”

Read the full review here

The recent revival in vinyl and explosion of new turntables has spawned an equal number of new phono stages from the bargain basement models to the highly specialised audiophile units costing thousands. Nick Gorham from Longdog Audio noticed that the market was short on quality budget units, so he decided to design one to appeal to most newcomers to vinyl or those on limited funds. The result is a very straight forward moving magnet only unit costing £199. Ian Ringstead takes a listen. 

CONSTRUCTION

As a budget unit the PH1 arrives in a simple cardboard box but well packaged to protect it and has a standard plug top switch mode 12v dc power supply. The unit is compact and comes in a nicely made aluminium case with very good quality phono sockets for the input and outputs. Nick usually designs very high-quality products with higher price tags than the PH1 but his experience in electronic design has allowed him to eek as much as he can out of the limited budget to produce a truly bargain-basement unit. Nick uses a combination of isolated and regulated power supply technology, along with second stage inductive filtering and a third stage of active regulation. No electrolytic capacitors are used as Nick believe they can impair the sound quality, instead film capacitors are used for the filtering and smoothing. Quality precision components are used throughout the unit to achieve a highly accurate RIAA equalisation curve. Noise and distortion is extremely low, and hum is negligible. I can testify to that.

One end of the case has the two phono socket inputs with an earthing post and a blue power LED. The other end has the two output phono sockets and the 12v dc power input socket. There are no facilities for adjusting level or capacitance due to the unit’s budget, so the fixed level is a good compromise and keeps everything simple for the user.

SOUND QUALITY

As a budget unit moving magnet is the affordable option, I dug out my trusty Goldring G1092 and AT95E with paratrace stylus. That’s the beauty of my Jelco arm as it has a detachable headshell  making comparisons so much quicker and easier. I tried out a complex album first, Yes’s Tales from Topographic Oceans, an album I know very well and one that I heard recently at their 50^th anniversary concert. If you are into progressive rock, then this album is a real treat and deserves higher recognition than it got when it was first released in 1973. It was very brave of a band then to release and then perform live the whole album which consisted of four sides all twenty odd minutes long. I queued for three hours outside the Sheffield City Hall with a school mate in my sixth form wagging it from school to get tickets for that concert. Fortunately, we got the last tickets and it was a great concert. Being progressive rock the mix on this album is very dense at times when all the musicians are playing and really going for it, so it requires a good turntable, arm, cartridge and phono stage to clear away the dense layers and portray them accurately.

I know what my Luxman, Jelco and cartridges can do but what about the PH1? The great news is that it performs remarkably well. There was no hum and the noise floor was very quiet through my speakers. I was greeted with a very clear and articulate soundstage. Jon Anderson has a very clear and distinctive voice which is very pure and high-pitched, and this came through beautifully. Chris Squire, the bassist, plays very complex rhythms and unless a system can produce these correctly then the result is very disappointing. I love tight fast rhythmic bass guitar which Chris Squire excels at and it was easily heard acting as the backbone to the music along with Alan Whites frantic drumming.

The PH1 was more than capable of casting a clear image with depth and all the musicians came over as a cohesive unit. Rick Wakeman on keyboards showed his flamboyant style and deft ability to change the pace instantly like a rally driver hurtling down a forest road going hell for leather. When hearing this music live I marvel at the musician’s ability and if my system can get near to the real thing then I am satisfied. Steve Howe, a fabulous guitarist who has an amazing collection of many acoustic and electric models, including slide guitar, sounded sublime with his precision clearly portrayed through my Audio Physic Avanti’s and sounding holographic, a trait they are famed for. The PH1 didn’t let me down here, coming up trumps once again.

Randy Crawford is a fabulous singer well known for her singles “You Might Need Somebody” and “Street Life” with the Crusaders. I played Secret Combination, an album I have loved since it came out in the late seventies. I spent many a happy hour listening to this album in my bedroom when still living at home and even now it sounds fresh and thrills me. It’s a laid back album compared to my progressive rock collection, but it allows me to chill out and relax when I don’t feel like rocking. The arrangements are simple, with a horn section and superb backing musicians from the likes of Jeff Porcaro on drums, Steve Lukather on guitars and a whole host of who’s who session musicians. No wonder it’s a great sounding album. The album oozes quality and the PH1 lapped it up bringing out all the nuances of the different performers skills and touches. I love to be transported to the studio and wish I could have been in the recording sessions on the mixing desk grooving to the beat of the music. This album does that in spades when reproduced properly, and emotionally I was moved. Another album that transfixes me is the Crusaders “Rhapsody and Blues”. Here were three jazz musicians at the top of their game, who are as tight as a drum when they performed together. The arrangements flow seamlessly and are truly magical to my ears. The PH1 again conveyed the inner beauty of the tunes and allowed the spacious recording to really reach out in my living room and let me drift away (no drugs were involved in this listening session !!). This album always amazes me whenever I play it on a good set up and this set up did just that. I listened to other albums of course but the three listed stood out for me.

Even in my system costing £15000 at face value prices, the PH1 did not disgrace itself. I would be normally using a much more expensive phono stage (Gold Note PH10) which has the performance and versatility I need, but buyers on a tight budget with a moving magnet or high output moving coil won’t be let down.

CONCLUSION

Is the PH1 a giant slayer? Maybe not, but for such a restricted price I can’t help but admire its verve and joie de vivre. Keeping it simple has paid dividends in its performance and the money has been spent wisely on the components inside the case to extract maximum benefits.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Excellent for the money with a nice case and good socketry.

Sound Quality: Clear with a very low noise floor and no hum.

Value For Money:  Excellent when compared to similar priced alternatives and well worth trying out. The designer has made the compromises where it matters so giving maximum value for money.

Pros: Great build and performance.

Cons: Only moving magnet with no adjustments but what do you expect for the low price.

Price: £199 direct from Longdog Audio.

Ian Ringstead

Australian manufacturer Burson’s Conductor Virtuoso V2+ comes with a DAC, a headphone amp and doubles the output of the original version to 8W into 16 Ohms. Janine Elliot dons her cans and takes this £1590 unit for a test drive. 

Burson and I have two things in common. The first one is that we both don’t like op-amps. Op amps might be great for pc’s and equipment short of space but there are many drawbacks having individual “components” printed on a miniscule composite the size of a grain of rice using a process of photolithography. The technology might be breath-taking almost following the Moore’s law in that the number of components in the space seems to get more and more every year, but this does mean that because they get smaller and closer together there is more likelihood of EMI noise and less tolerance to heat, let alone reduced specification. An op-amp could easily have as many as 50 inferior components squeezed onto it. Burson Audio do manufacture 8-pin op-amps such as the V6 Classic and Vivid, and whilst they still fit into conventional 8-pin DIP sockets what makes them different is that they contain discrete full-size components meaning that the ‘box’ they are in is significantly bigger in size.

Burson also share a dislike for Class-D amplification, though my preference for Class A is diminishing as the recent Class of 2017 and 18 have graduated. Burson is quite emphatic about how they feel;

“..class-D and class-T chips were created for the car audio industry and subsequently for mobile phones where power efficiency, size and budget are the driving design parameters so audio performance is secondary if that”.

They believe Class-D circuitry is overtly complex and reduces the purity of the music. I have listened to both Class-D and A headphone amps, and my favourite is class A and presently use a Class-A/b portable headphone amp for my serious portable listening. That said I have recently reviewed some highly recommended Class-D products from around the globe.

Today’s headphone amplifiers are becoming available  more and more with option for a built in DAC as we become more and more digitally minded. Even the latest top of the range Stax Energiser, the SRM-8000, comes with a blanked-off plate on the rear suggesting, perhaps, that a DAC card might one day find its way inside that unit.  Similarly, the Conductor V2+ is more than just a headphone amp. This is a three-in-one headphone amp, DAC and pre amp. It comes as a refined replacement to the original V1 headphone pre-amplifier, and in the “+” model denoting the addition of a DAC.  This is the third generation of Conductor, maintaining the looks of the original but with improved electronics. It keeps with Burson’s philosophy of being fully discrete and uses their excellent V5 SS op-amp.  As Alex from Burson proudly told me;

“The entire Conductor V2+ is pure Class A which means it is running at full capacity all the time. To us, using fully discrete, pure Class-A circuitry is the ideal design for audio amplification.”

Powered by two large 70W high density (lots of windings) transformers, twice the size of the original model, tuned to operate in pure Class A using Field Effect Transistors, the V2 doubles the output of the original model attaining no less than 8W in 16 ohm per channel to more than satisfy even the most inefficient planar cans.  Do remember that for thirsty 300 ohm Sennheiser HD650’s that does reduce it all to 500mW, though that is still more than adequate.  All this power does mean that it creates a lot of heat, and therefore the cabinet is carefully sculptured on 6mm thick aluminium around its body so that heat is dissipated uniformly around the whole casing. The case is effectively a giant heat sink.

Of course no ground-breaking DAC for 2018 could appear without the iconic ESS Sabre DAC, in this case the ESS9018S chip, though it is important to stress that the whole of any DAC is greater than the sum of its individual parts. The housekeeping around the DAC is equally as important. I have reviewed some lesser DACs that actually sound mightily impressive due to how the whole decoding, filtering and amplification stages work in tandem. This should also include the power supply connected to it.  As Alex from Burson informed me;

“The Digital section of the Conductor V2+ is powered by its own separate transformer and fully discrete power supply network”. 

The V2+ 9018 DAC board – one of several boards all beautifully laid out inside the unit – pushes the SABRE32 to its limits and employs 20 carefully-selected and matched components. The V2+ also employs the PGA2310 flagship 100 step volume control chip offered by Texas Instruments. Allowing a fine control of 0.5dB steps and dynamic range of 120dB and 0.0004% THD, this is a welcome addition to the circuitry. Whilst the trained human ear can pick up changes in volume as little as 0.5dB, this is generally only seen in the pro audio environment. Burson cleverly set the PGA2310’s op-amp output stage to unity gain so it essentially acts as a purely resistive volume control. When running digital audio the ESS Sabre DAC handles all of the volume itself, meaning it does not need to go through a separate analogue volume control. The Sabre controls the volume level for the DAC output sockets at the rear, meaning that the digital output is variable rather than fixed, as can usually be the case. Therefore the listener has the choice of how the volume levels are set;   pre-out stage uses the Texas Instruments 120dB volume  control, whereas the DAC output uses the volume control through the DSP in the DAC chip. I tried both, interestingly preferring latter, but there is the choice so you can decide your own favourite.

The unit has a classy yet sparse front panel with distinctive rotary control centre point and a button to toggle between two analogue (via RCA sockets) and three digital sources including S/PDif, Toslink and USB connectors. The volume control levels magically appear in blue dots behind the satin black or silver front panel left of the control. No need to look for pin holes on that front unit as there aren’t any. On/off toggle switch is from the rear of the unit. The unit has analogue and digital outputs meaning it can be used as a variety of applications, and as a basic preamplifier worked surprisingly competently during my review.  The unit comes with a cute aluminium remote to match the Conductor, and equally minimalist.

SUPPORT

The V2+ supports all major formats with coax/Toslink inputs up to 24bit 192kHz. Via the Win, Mac, IOS and Android compatible USB socket deploying the excellent XMOS  6-core chip it supports PCM up to 386kHz 16/24/32 bit, native DSD 64/128/256, and DSD over PCM (DoP) 64/128/256.

THE COMPANY

Burson Audio was founded by a small team of audio engineers founded in 1996, based in Melbourne, Australia, creating building blocks such as hybrid Op-Amps as well as complete audio products including a Class A power-amp mono-block, headphone amps, DACs and cables. Their philosophy is simple; have components that don’t interfere with the audio signal. Their philosophy is that if the equipment is designed well and transparent enough then the pace, rhythm, timing, dynamics and tonality will become a natural expression of the music, and they feel this cannot be achieved with standard circuit building blocks like IC chip op-amps, IC regulators, or standard transformers. Instead they research and develop their own discrete circuits so that every component in the signal path can perform at its peak.

MUSIC

The Queen Symphony from 1962 London born Tolga Kashif is not only a beautiful work based on Freddy Mercury’s iconic songs, but it is also extremely well recorded and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with vocal intervention from London Voices and London Oratory Boys’ choir.  Kashif spent two years composing the Queen Symphony. He conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at its debut concert on Wednesday 6 November 2002 at the Royal Festival Hall, attended by Freddie’s mother Jer Bulsara, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May, who all apparently found it very moving. After this it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios later in the year. This is indeed a very moving performance, though the complexity of the melodic lines and continuing pushing of famous idioms in the busy soundstage can make for a tiring listening. It necessitates playback through equipment with wide dynamic range, speed and clarity for it not to get saturated. The Burson succeeds on all these fronts. Where Queen’s musical style relied on a certain amount of outrageousness, Tolga continues this in his orchestration, something that takes decent decoding and amplification as well as excellent headphones to pull off successfully. Sennheiser’s new HD660S headphones replace the HD650 which has been around for many years and were my reference cans for many years, the new version having lower impedance making them more useable with lower-powered amplifiers, though that is not an issue here. I love these well priced cans because they can pick out individual phrases with engagement and detail that make listening through headphone such fun, and the new version pulls it off to a whole new level with a fullness and detail that justifies their use in broadcasting and recording studios around the world.

Shostakovich Piano Concerto no. 1 starts with a very decisive intro before the fun begins on the piano, trumpet and strings (Martha Argerich & Guy Touvron & Württembergisches Kammerorchester, Deutsche Grammophon).  This work is as emotional and similarly stuffed full with beautiful idioms as is the Queen, though they are not quite so tonally measured. Occasionally a simple tonal melody, such as on the muted trumpet, does allow you to breathe again and take in the scenery before heading off into another direction.  The Burson seems to understand the music and its clarity, force and musicality to show there is indeed harmony between the individual musical components, just as there is between the components in the circuitry. This is a great performance from the orchestra, soloists and electronics.

Neil Young Crazy Horse ‘Live Rust’ album and the track “My My, Hey Hey” is an excellently recorded live album and the Conductor handled both the mid-range voice and the acoustic guitars with panache and sensitivity. If I had to criticise the DAC at all it would be the tight and detailed top-end can sound a little too bright at times. The close mic’ing of the bass is particularly vibrant, and the reverb from the almost ‘Supertramp-esque’ solo mouth organ is allowed to decay with no sense of digital noise. My home choice Class-A headphone amplifier, whilst losing some of that detail, is slightly easier on the ears. My AT W1000 closed back cans were able to offer a more refined performance with a greater sound-stage that was hard to put down.

The Modern Jazz Quartet ‘Blues on Bach’ is a brilliantly performed album, with a very open and detailed soundstage that tests headphones, DACs and amplifiers in one simple go, especially with the over-modulated audio in certain places. This is the same album I used in reviewing the Wyred 4 Sound DAC; a Class D headphone-amp-come-DAC. That unit similarly has an ESS Sabre DAC, though in that case the ES9028PRO chip is employed configured in quad differential mode so that with four D-A converters per channel they could achieve improved S/N ratio and output drive. The Burson however has chosen to use the ESS9018S chip and this time only using two channels of the 8, which with the other components on the board provides for them the best sound.

The bell “ding-dings” at the start of the track “Blues in A-Minor”, sounding like the London No9  Routemaster bus being sent on its way to the Royal Albert Hall, have weight and detail providing a surprisingly powerful bass for such a small sundry instrument. Add to that the vibraphone played by Milt Jackson travelling between the ears combined with piano and double bass and percussion, this is a memorable performance captured with finesse, power and detail. The V2+ at level 42 out of its 99 range is more than adequate for my ears on the HD650’s. Lower harmonies from harpsichord in “Don’t Stop this Train” combined with the vibraphone and bass melodic lines all work in harmony with control and weight and resolution. Only that the sound could be slightly too brash for the ultimate in Class-A sound, left me slightly wanting, though the shimmer and decay from cymbals was highly infectious. But at £1590 for such a well built and good looking product, this is still a worthy contender for your hi-fi rack. Even the analogue input is impressively musical and fast. This could easily be the basis for a complete hi-fi outfit, just requiring a power-amp and speakers.

Audeze’s LCD-X is a very efficient planar design which worked extremely well in the V2+. The slightly bass forward design allowed the punchy ‘Learning to Fly’ (Pink Floyd Momentary lapse of Reason) to take off and sound authoritative with clear ride cymbal strokes, and with the vox-pop under the guitar riffs equally clear and meaningful.  The wafer thin diaphragms and double-sided magnet array ensures a near zero distortion and uniform sound across the entire diaphragm, an ideal partner for this 3-in-one Melbourne-made kit, and this enabled a tight, and detailed sound. Unfortunately I had to give back the headphones so continued with the closed-back AT W1000’s I know so well. These are very efficient cans, and the most comfortable ones I have, but I have to admit the best sound I heard was from the less comfortable Sennheiser and Audeze.

CONCLUSION

This is a very detailed, powerful and quick sounding unit covering all frequencies and all types of music play with musicality and sensitivity. For a three-in-one box the V2+ is a very able and well thought-out product that also looks A+. That magical display and overall build well belies its price point, and the choice and design of components make it highly desirable. The amount of detail and power available per pound should make it highly desirable, particularly for inefficient planar headphones. Its sensitivity towards inefficient planar headphones is perhaps only slightly let down by the lack of sensitivity in some of the music I played, sounding a tad too clinical in the higher regions, but at this price I really won’t be complaining.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Excellent bullet-proof build with that magical display of volume level through the silver or black facia. Internally well-presented using top end components, including ESS Sabre DAC.

Sound Quality:  Impeccable resolution with an open yet tight and detailed presentation. Sound might be a little too bright for some.

Value For Money: At £1590 for a DAC, preamplifier and headphone amplifier this is a very competitively priced unit.

Pros: Very detailed and tight performance at all frequencies, particularly bass
Will easily drive the most inefficient Planar designs
Excellent build
Three units in one
Love the magical volume display

Cons: Top end can be a little brittle at high frequencies with some music

Price: £1590

Janine Elliot

The Parasound Halo 2.1 Integrated Amplifier with DAC is a fully featured integrated amplifier with an on-board DAC and much more. David Robson takes a listen to this £2999 well specified amp. 

Parasound are a brand I’ve known of for many years mainly for their Pre and Power amplifier combinations, but never experienced first hand. This American brand was the brainchild of Richard Schram whose first amplifiers appeared in 1981 and were mostly sourced and built in Japan. Richard Graduated from the University of California in 1968 and spent his time in his first job in a record and Hifi shop assembling turntables and speakers. Later on Richard was accompanied by expert amplifier designer John Curl to create their pre-amplifier and power-amplifier equipment. One of Mr Curl’s claims to fame include designing master recorders for Wilson Audio and Mobile Fidelity, and the mixing consoles used in live concerts by The Grateful Dead and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. So the chance to review Parasounds very first integrated amplifier was something I jumped at!

CONSTRUCTION AND FEATURES

The Halo has quite a comprehensive list of components and technology fettled inside its simple, handsome outer shell. Designed by John Curl and John Thompson this integrated includes a DAC, Sub woofer input and crossover controls, tone controls and both MM (moving magnet, 47ohm) and MC (moving coil, 100 + 47 ohm) phono stages and five line level inputs…among others.

For those interested in the numbers, the Halo has a Class A/AB configuration with 160 watts per channel (320w total), into 8ohm, and 240wpc into 4ohm with 45amps peak current output, thus making this amp able to drive virtually any speakers out there without a fuss. It runs 4-5 watts in pure class A and the remaining 155 watts in class A/B. Inside this Parasound there is also a 1kVA fully shielded Torodial transformer with independent secondary winding for each channel. There are three digital inputs, USB, Coax and Optical – the DAC is the well received ESS Sabre 9018kzm chip, allowing the USB input to operate at 384khz/32bit , both the Optical and Digital Coax to run 192khz/24bit, and DSD256, there is no MQA support provided on this model. The drivers for computers can be downloaded online from the Parasound website and are a doddle to install.

Unboxing the amp reveals a double box with plenty of well thought out padding etc which is a good thing as the amplifier itself is a seriously weighty bit of kit, coming in at just under 20kg, it looks and feels like it means business from the off. Also provided are both US and UK power supply cables, a USB (A-B) cable, assorted 5mm cables for power trigger switch, a remote control (RC5) and a set of easily read instructions. My review sample is provided in matt black but silver is also an available option.

Out the box, fit and finish are great and what you would expect at this price point. The buttons and volume control have a tight quality feel. The smaller knobs “feel” plasticky, and are a little small.

On firing the Halo integrated up, the relays click in with a secure authority. The blue LED on the volume control ( red on mute button ) and on input selection isn’t thankfully too bright, and doesn’t glare. Other functions on the front panel, include an On/Off button, Mute button, Volume control, Input selector, Tone on/off button with the associated Bass/Treble control, a Balance control (which cannot be bypassed) and a Subwoofer level control. There also are two 5mm jacks one for headphones and an Aux input for the likes of a Phone or portable music player. (Personally I would prefer a 6.35mm jack for headphones as most quality headphones come with this as standard). The one thing I think that has been omitted from the design of the amp is a display showing what signals the DAC is receiving. As a newbie to the whole streaming game I like to know what I’m getting or playing via my digital sources. This isn’t a huge problem and not a deal breaker by any means, but would be a useful addition. On the rear panel, there are comprehensive subwoofer and crossover connections with various options available. This Parasound Halo is sold as a 2.1 amplifier that can be integrated into a home cinema system and can be adjusted and connected for that purpose but this review will concentrate on its job solely as a Hifi amplifier.

The remote control supplied with the Amp is a chunky and simple affair, the basic switching between inputs is on there, volume and mute, and there is a handy button which lights up the rubberised buttons for use in low light. You do have to point the remote control quite accurately towards the front of the amp for it to connect and work though.

SOUND

So how does this amplifier sound? Over the last few weeks I’ve played music via the digital imputs from Chromecast (optical) and Laptop via USB. I’ve connected my CD player via RCA’s and Digital Coax. The sound from the Halo from the off was lively and involving, this sound has led me to the first album up, Michael Jacksons “Thriller”. The upbeat nature of “You Gotta Be Starting something” fits the amp perfectly, the 320w gripping the drivers and pumping out the bass lines without any blur or woolyness. The rest of the party comes in as crisp and detailed, and the volume can be increased to good listening levels and the sound stays balanced and intact. “Billy Jean” has similar effects, the punch from the speakers comes with a serious kick, detail remains good with the echo-like vocals giving atmosphere and ambiance to the track. There is a very slight hardening to the upper treble on some sound effects at high volume, but this doesn’t become acidic, doesn’t seem to alter the nature of the vocals and doesn’t fatigue. As for levels of detail that this amp can reproduce, on the track “Human Nature” there is a xylophone sound that follows the verse sung my Michael that I’ve never really noticed before. Once heard it became an ear worm and the track had to be played over and over. This style of bouncy pop suits the Parasound really well. One observation is that sound stage doesn’t really escape too wide from between the speakers, instruments are accurate and where I’m expecting them to be, but within the confines of the room. Although my narrow listening space limits this effect somewhat.

Moving onto something a little more laid back and soulful. Corrine Bailley Rae’s self titled album, is awash with smooth vocals and rolling bass. “Like A Star” initiates with simple vocals and an acoustic guitar, the vocals spill out out of the speakers with a honey coated stream of emotion, the creak of the guitar strings quite evident, showing the capabilities of the Halo. The song picks up pace with a thunder-like bass that rolls out as the music picks up to a full rounded presentation. The separation from the vocals, bass, acoustic guitar and the ticking of the drums and percussion is excellent and one not seeming to influence the other. “Till it Happens To You” has my pet hate to start, fake vinyl crackle! Although this is a pain worth bearing, as the song is sublime and the Parasound lets the music flow whilst keeping all the emotion of the track intact. There is a part in the song where Corrine’s voice gets relayed as if through an old radiogram, this sound becomes completely detached and withdraws around the soundstage, but it perfectly isolates and gives a great depth to the musical vista. The Parasound Halo can add bluesy soul to its tick list too!!

I need to try and find something to see if I can trip up this great performing amplifier! Slipping in an old classic I opt for Dire Straits “Love Over Gold”. skipping directly to “Industrial Disease” a veritable selection of slamming drums, organs and sound effects. The amount of detail that the amplifier conveys to the speakers has enough to not only give depth, but again atmosphere too with the hissing sounds come from left in a realistic fashion and sitting out wide from the main stereo image. The bass drum has weight and texture, the main vocal just sits a little further back than I would like, although its clear and precise. “It never Rains” follows two tracks on – sweet and clean, the Parasound seems to take everything in its stride and takes on all comers. Only when pushed hard do vocals and high tones harden a little, we are not talking biting into lemons here, and only at obscene levels. Its composure and grip tends to stay even and enjoyable throughout.

During my travels through the listening tests I’ve swapped between feeding the Halo from my CD via RCA, digital coax and via USB of the same albums ripped to .WAV to see how the internal DAC works and sounds. I’ve also used a streaming service via optical. My findings have all been positive, the ESS Sabre sound I’m familiar with as it is the same as in my CD player. Of all the digital connections I favoured the USB fed from the Laptop, this closely matched the sound produced by the RCA.

I have also had a little play with the tone controls – I found that when the tone controls where switched into circuit that the amp immediately lost some upper level of realism, it just stopped sounding as special as it had to my ears. I’m not an anti tone control guy by any means as I thought the ones used on the older Audiolab amplifiers of years back worked well. When you start to adjust and mess with the bass and treble it just unbalances the whole demeanor of what is a great standard of sound and the controls unfortunately don’t really have a positive impact on sound. Thankfully once turned off the amp falls back into what it does best and gets on with producing, “great music”.

CONCLUSION

This is a great sounding amplifier! It has plenty of versatility, and many strings to its bow. The DAC section works well. The fact you can use this amplifier as part of an A/V system, and add on a Subwoofer or just use it as a stereo lynch-pin says a lot about just how much Parasound have got right with their first integrated. I feel I would swap out those tone controls for an extra digital coax and optical input for today’s needs and some sort of wireless connectivity option would be a bonus also. These are minor personal design gripes for what is a fantastic sounding and entertaining piece piece of kit.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: A solid and well put together Amplifier with a handsome presence. Well laid out fascia and easy to use remote.

Sound Quality: The Parasound does great music making everything sound effortless, it has a dynamic and powerful presentation that will work well with virtually any genre

Value For Money: A well specified and feature laden amplifier. Which in turn can be the keystone and heart of a great sounding system making this a good value purchase

Pros: Great sound, good bass grip and sweet informative treble, tons of musicality. Lots of connectivity and options to play with

Cons: Unnecessary tone controls, too few digital inputs, and a larger headphone input would be nice. I’d also like to see some sort of display for digital input frequencies on the front panel

Price: £2999

David Robson

Leema Acoustics, based in Wales have launched an Anniversary edition of their well received Tucana II integrated amplifier. Hifi Pig takes a listen. 

“I recall having evaluated some Leema products before for Hifi Pig, namely their Elements integrated amplifier and Libra DAC, then more recently the Tucana Mark II integrated amplifier.  I was pretty impressed with the Tucana II, so while the memory of that amplifier’s performance was still fresh in my recollection Leema sent me over their “Anniversary Edition” for review.   It is a statement product to celebrate 10 years of being in business and my word the company has moved on in leaps and bounds during that relatively short period and their passion is clearly evidenced in their products, particularly so this product…”

Read the full review here

David Blumestein take a listen to the iFi Nano iDSD Black Label Headphone Amp/DAC costing £199.

“Rarely, if ever, have I classified a piece of gear, in this case a transportable rechargeable battery powered headphone amp/DAC as a no brainer. Sure, the unit has some flaws, nobody’s prefect, but at the price £199 you cannot fault it for what it is able to do in such a small package. I’m well aware of the gravity of that opening statement, but I stand by it…”

Read the full review here

Hifi Pig review of the latest cable from innovative UK company Wire On Wire. This time it is their 660 speaker cable that has, to say the least, an interesting, and configurable, geometry. Contains a video of the owner of Wire On Wire explaining the concept behind his cables. 

“Regular Hifi Pig readers may recall that I reviewed the Wire On Wire interconnects a while ago and so we now move on to their Experience 660s loudspeaker cables…”

Read the full review here

Hifi Pig review of the Audiovector SR3 Avantgarde loudspeakers costing £6500.

“Danish folks don’t just produce butter, they also produce some very fine hifi components and Audiovector loudspeakers are no exception to that. I have long felt that Audiovector are very much underrated as a brand and they should be more actively banging their own drum to tell the world that their speakers are imbued with both technical excellence, attention to details and fueled by their ceaseless passion to build very fine loudspeakers…”

Read the full review here

The Nomadic Audio Speakase is a brand new Kickstarter campaign by Morel featuring a fully featured open baffle Bluetooth loudspeaker system but pop it into its dedicated carry-on suitcase and you have a fully fledged loudspeaker system. Price is dependent on the package you take but for the case and speaker expect to pay around $400 on Kickstarter. 

Read the full review here

We had a very busy March, there was a lot of Hifi News and we brought you some brilliant reviews…including some things a little out of the ordinary! For all the news and review links read on!

Bristol Sound And Vision 2018 Coverage

KEF Launch New In-Wall Loudspeaker

TAGA Harmony HTA-800 Amplifier Launched

Onkyo TX-NR686 7.2  Channel AV Receiver

MT2 Precision Turntable From McIntosh, A £4995 Entry Level Deck

Black Cat Releases Lupino Cable

TAGA Harmony TTA-500 Valve Amplifier Released

Denon Release AVC-X8500H 13 Channel AV Amplifier

Audeze Launch Mobius Headphones

Brainwavz S0 IEM Noise Isolating Earphones Released

Feliks Audio’s New Echo Headphone Amplifier

Goebel High End Release Epoque Aeon Loudspeakers

New Clearaudio Tracer Tonearm

Schiit Introduces Lyr 3 Modular Hybrid Headamp/Preamp

Aqua La Voce S3 Discrete DAC Upgrade

Connected Distribution Bring Soundcast To UK Market

Russ Andrews The Supplier AC PSU

New Launches For Linn’s Katalyst DAC Architecture

Scansonic New MK-5 Stand-mount Loudspeaker

C SEED Compact Giant Screens And Retractable Speakers

Tutti Studio Matti Portable Speaker

New Audio-Hungary Qualiton APX 200 Vacuum Tube Power Amplifier

DS Audio Stylus Cleaner ST-50

Elipson’s New Music Centre With HD Playback And Google Chromecast Audio

DigiBit Introduces Aria Piccolo+ Music Server

Hifi Pig Is Growing

Nile Rodgers Appointed Chief Creative Advisor At Abbey Road

Cambridge Audio Celebrate 50 Years With Edge

pNEUANCE Audio pNEUPOD NP-1 Isolation Device

Roon Launch Nucleus And Nucleus+ Servers

Top 10 Things To Experience At Axpona, 13-15 April 2018

‘Wheelchair For Ricky’ Update 2018

Naim’s Three New Network Players

Focal Listen Wireless Chic Headphones

New Power Cables From Chord Company

New Denon HEOS Home Cinema Soundbar System

And the reviews:

Leema Acoustics Tucana II ANNIVERSARY EDITION Integrated Amplifier

iFi Nano iDSD Black Label Headphone Amp/DAC

Wire On Wire 660 Speaker Cable

Audiovector SR3 Avantgarde Loudspeakers

Nomadic Audio Speakase

Longdog Audio PH 1 Moving Magnet Phono Stage

Burson Conductor Virtuoso V2+ Headphone Amp/DAC

Parasound Halo 2.1 Integrated Amplifier with DAC

Made in Finland these floorstanding loudspeakers from Amphion in Finland cost £3600. LIonel Payne takes a listen for Hifi Pig. 

Amphion Loudspeakers are based in Kuopio, Finland and were established in1998. Although they began life as manufacturers of loudspeakers solely for the domestic market, more recently they have moved into the professional and studio market and I understand this has been a very successful move.

CONSTRUCTION 

The Amphion Argon 7LS are an updated version of the Argon 7L’s and I’m reliably informed that there are several subtle alterations with one major difference being the replacement of the twin rear ports for a pair of passive radiators. Amphion explains, correctly in my opinion, that this change produces a much more even, flatter response in the lower regions as ports tend to be tuned to one specific frequency and can sometimes produce a chuffing sound. The bass response of these loudspeakers cannot be faulted at the price point but I will write more on this later in my review.

Standing 1160mm high with a width of 191mm and depth of 305mm, the Argon 7LS’ s have a modern understated elegance about their appearance. Available in a choice of standard black or white or a premium walnut veneer finish with further colour options for the fixed grills, they are a two-way design with the titanium 25mm dome tweeter set into a Corian waveguide which helps with dispersion as well as creating excellent integration with the two 165mm aluminium woofers which flank it in D’Appolito fashion. The crossover point between woofers and tweeter is set at an unusually low 1600Hz which allows the tweeter to handle all of the critical hearing range of 2 to 5kHz.

My review pair arrived in white with black grills and black plinth. I’ve never ever considered that I would like to have a pair of white loudspeakers before, but quite surprisingly, I really found them attractive as they blended well within my décor.  Round the back are the two aluminium passive drivers and a single pair of speaker terminals. These terminals are like nothing I’ve seen before: made of heavy duty plastic, they will take both banana plugs or spades and, despite my initial reservations, I came to rather like and appreciate their well thought-out design.

SOUND QUALITY 

One of the biggest selling points for these Amphion loudspeakers must surely be their claim that they are less susceptible to boundary interaction than most. I’m often asked what is the most important part within the Hifi chain and most people are astonished at my answer of – “your listening room itself”. I’m sure anyone ever attending a Hifi show can fully understand this after hearing what appear to be amazing systems fail miserably simply because they do not work correctly within the constraints of the room allocated to the exhibitioner.  

I was extremely keen to test the Amphion claims and set about moving the loudspeakers closer and further away from both back and side walls. I can happily report that unless you plan to put these speakers virtually touching the back wall there shouldn’t be a problem with their placement. Of course, that’s not to say that given the opportunity to play with their placement, you will not be rewarded. I actually preferred their mid-band presentation the most when I had the speakers around a metre from the back wall: this provided a real presence and veracity to both male and female vocals in particular. However, the Argon 7LS loudspeakers are great communicators and can be thoroughly enjoyed from any position.

The largest compliment I can give to a loudspeaker is that they simply disappear and let you enjoy the flow and rhythm of the music and this is exactly what the Argons do. If I were to highlight any particular strength that they possess, I would have to pinpoint their superb bass control and output. They reach a claimed 28Hz at the low end and I don’t doubt that figure for an instant. However, I have heard many a loudspeaker reach these kind of lows and still get the overall balance wrong, but happily the Amphions are bang on with their heft, tightness and sheer dexterity. Anyone who loves to pick out the bass guitarist, or indeed the drummer within the soundtrack will love these speakers. Listening to the re-mastered Beatles classic, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a case in point: my favourite track from this legendary album is the final one, A Day In The Life, and the reproduction of Ringo’s drumming is superb – or to quote the lyrics from the song in order to express my reaction  – “Oh Boy !”

I paired the Argons with several amplifiers and found them all to be a good match. My reference Musical Fidelity Tri Vista 300 hybrid amplifier worked a treat and the Argons clearly highlighted the strengths of this amplifier’s dexterity at the low end of the sound spectrum.

Listening to the track ‘Horsemen’ by New Model Army from their ‘Between Dog And Wolf’ album was a real treat. The track opens with an incessant low drum beat and an ethereal female humming. Listen carefully and there are also a few strikes of drumsticks upon one another and some background clapping in tune with the drumbeats. The Argons produced all of these sounds with great separation of the individual instruments in a most impressive manner.

Moving on to something a little gentler I put on Damien Rice’s album ‘Live From The Union Chapel’. Listening to the haunting duet between Rice and Lisa Hannigan ‘Then Go’ from this album highlights how well the titanium tweeter handles the vast majority of the midrange. Rice and Hannigan’s vocals intertwine beautifully and the acoustic environment is very well laid out. Other amplifiers used were a pair of Nord One SE UP NC500 Mono blocks (Class D) paired with a Morgan S500 valve preamplifier, an original Rega Elicit integrated as well as an old classic Audio Innovations S500 integrated valve amplifier pushing out a mere 25 watts per channel (8 Ohms). All these amplifiers had the Amphion Argon 7LS’s singing beautifully. Particular mention should be made of the partnership with the AI S500 classic valve amplifier as the pairing were extremely well  matched and proved that the loudspeakers are easily driven and present a fairly benign load.

CONCLUSION 

At a price of £3600 the Amphion Argon 7LS’s are in a very competitive market with many rivals. What a product needs in this situation is a unique selling point and I believe the Argons have just that ! You wouldn’t believe the number of audiophile friends that I have who struggle from one equipment change to the next without addressing the major fault within their system – the room itself. However, here is an alternative – a pair of loudspeakers that work extremely well in almost all rooms. If you do have a difficult listening room (there are many of you out there) you owe it to yourself to book a home demonstration of these loudspeakers. For those of you that have a non-problematic listening room please don’t discount these Amphions as they are rather good with that wonderful quality of being able to simply disappear and let you listen to the music. And if you love listening to tuneful and powerful bass notes then you should definitely give these a listen.

The Amphion Argon 7LS are highly recommended.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality : Very well made and solid design

Sound Quality : Good overall sound with tremendous, dexterous bass

Value For Money : If you have a difficult listening space they could prove to be an absolute bargain

Pros : Fantastic bass response. Does what a loudspeaker should : it gets out of the way and lets you simply listen to the music. Ideal choice for audiophiles with a difficult listening room.

Cons : In a price range that has many competitive rivals. 

Price : £3600

Lionel Payne

Copyright Hifi Pig 

No part of this review may be published in part or in full without the prior consent of the editor of Hifi Pig 

Submitted for publication March 19th 2018 by email 

The recent revival in vinyl and explosion of new turntables has spawned an equal number of new phono stages from the bargain basement models to the highly specialised audiophile units costing thousands. Nick Gorham from Longdog Audio noticed that the market was short on quality budget units, so he decided to design one to appeal to most newcomers to vinyl or those on limited funds. The result is a very straight forward moving magnet only unit costing £199. Ian Ringstead takes a listen. 

“As a budget unit the PH1 arrives in a simple cardboard box but well packaged to protect it and has a standard plug top switch mode 12v dc power supply. The unit is compact and comes in a nicely made aluminium case with very good quality phono sockets for the input and outputs. Nick usually designs very high-quality products with higher price tags than the PH1 but his experience in electronic design has allowed him to eek as much as he can out of the limited budget to produce a truly bargain-basement unit. Nick uses a combination of isolated and regulated power supply technology, along with second stage inductive filtering and a third stage of active regulation…”

Read the full review here

Australian manufacturer Burson’s Conductor Virtuoso V2+ comes with a DAC, a headphone amp and doubles the output of the original version to 8W into 16 Ohms. Janine Elliot dons her cans and takes this £1590 unit for a test drive. 

“Burson and I have two things in common. The first one is that we both don’t like op-amps. Op amps might be great for pc’s and equipment short of space but there are many drawbacks having individual “components” printed on a miniscule composite the size of a grain of rice using a process of photolithography. The technology might be breath-taking almost following the Moore’s law in that the number of components in the space seems to get more and more every year, but this does mean that because they get smaller and closer together there is more likelihood of EMI noise and less tolerance to heat, let alone reduced specification. An op-amp could easily have as many as 50 inferior components squeezed onto it. Burson Audio do manufacture 8-pin op-amps such as the V6 Classic and Vivid, and whilst they still fit into conventional 8-pin DIP sockets what makes them different is that they contain discrete full-size components meaning that the ‘box’ they are in is significantly bigger in size…”

Read the full review here

The Parasound Halo 2.1 Integrated Amplifier with DAC is a fully featured integrated amplifier with an on-board DAC and much more. David Robson takes a listen to this £2999 well specified amp. 

“Parasound are a brand I’ve known of for many years mainly for their Pre and Power amplifier combinations, but never experienced first hand. This American brand was the brainchild of Richard Schram whose first amplifiers appeared in 1981 and were mostly sourced and built in Japan. Richard Graduated from the University of California in 1968 and spent his time in his first job in a record and Hifi shop assembling turntables and speakers. Later on Richard was accompanied by expert amplifier designer John Curl. One of Mr Curl’s claims to fame include designing master recorders for Wilson Audio and Mobile Fidelity, and the mixing consoles used in live concerts by The Grateful Dead and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. So the chance to review Parasounds very first integrated amplifier was something I jumped at!…”

Read the full review here 

David Robson takes a listen to the relatively budget “The Element Superior” interconnect from Scottish brand Atlas Cables costing £72.50 for a 1 metre pair.

It’s been a little while since I’ve had some Atlas cables in for review, and I was pleased when Andy from Atlas made contact and asked if I would take on a pair of the new Element Superior RCA’s by Atlas Cables Ltd originating and operating from Kilmarnock in Scotland since 2001, and making some of my favorite no-nonsense cables.

When new cables are developed or a new line introduced, there is always something in their make-up that is a little different from their predecessors or peers. This cable has some new technology incorporated within that is sure to boost the performance, without taking it out of it perceived value for money foothold within the marketplace.

CONSTRUCTION

The new technology incorporated here is in their joining of the conductor to the RCA plugs. There are several ways to do this, soldering, crimping and compression screws. There are pros and cons to all styles of connection, the ultimate aim for whatever connection used, it’s to have as little effect of the signal path and purity as possible, adding or taking nothing away from the music being replayed. Atlas have researched and invested in some new equipment to address this issue and have found “Cold Weld Crimping” has won out over soldering on listening tests. This, incorporated with the 100% calibrated compression fittings for both the signal and return conductors has they say, very little or no effect on the characteristics of the cable. The internal copper cable has been increased by 20% to aid in giving a natural character to the sound. This sits wrapped in a stabilised foamed and polyethylene dialectric and polyethylene outer. The cables have their own brand non-conductive “Integra” RCA plugs as terminations. These I have found to be very good on the other Atlas cables I have tried in my little man-cave.

SOUND

Out the box these  cables are silver gray in appearance and quite flexible. The Integra RCA plugs look very nice and quite classy. There is no directionality printed on the cable so I hook them up in the direction of the printed writing on the cable sheathing. I hook The Element Superior up to my Dac, they slip on effortlessly and feel secure and in no way easily dislodged. Left for a good 72-100 hrs to settle them in, I pop Derrin Nauendorf’s “Natural” album into the CD Transport. The Atlas cables are attached to the pre-amp via a digital coax and DAC then the Atlas superior to the Pre Amp.

Normally when I have a cable change there is an immediate change to my usual sound, there was very little change from my reference. The sound came across smooth and sleek, no obvious peaks or troughs. Mr Nauendorf’s song “ Too Much Wine” where the track is guitar and drum led with a smattering of percussion came crashing crisp from my set up, the leading edge to his guitar was sharp without being ice hard. The transients had finesse and lasting realistic decay. “I Won’t Turn My Back” sees a single acoustic guitar and vocal come stirring out from an inky blackness. The weight of the strings comes across as clean as you would like, the Atlas Element Superior delivering just the right amount of detail to put it up there in the big league. Again, vocal bass weight is delivered with a great realism and has Mr N’s words hanging out in smack in the centre of the performance.

Swapping to an old classic, Dire Straits “Telegraph Road” The title track is atmospheric, the delicate nuances of the intro carry out of the speakers with deft lightness, the accompanying low bass rumble is tight and clean the rumble of thunder some way off in fantasy land, no fuzziness to the tonal delivery. Once into the vocals the Element Superior has great separation, music and voice in an open space, with individual instruments easily followed. During music with quiet passages you can hear a slight background noise with some lesser cables, the Element superior doesn’t suffer this fate I’m glad to say! This effect would spoil the delivery of “Private Investigations” again a atmospheric and haunting track, the Atlas brings this all together in a coherent musical story. The sound effects of breaking glass and shoe fall on paving stones is portrayed with texture and realism, not a crunch and scrape. For the cost of this cable it can easily play with some other higher priced alternatives. Together with the detail the verve this cable puts out keeps rhythm and fun factor going and keeps you focused on the passages of music and song, it carries enough bass weight and bounce so not to sound lifeless or sterile. “Industrial Disease” is a track that has this effect plenty going on to get your teeth into. The sound effect of air escaping throughout the track can become irritating as it seems out of time with the beat at times but it’s not harsh or piercing and becomes part of the entertainment. A very enjoyable experience.

CONCLUSION

This is yet another great cable from Atlas. It’s well constructed and falls well into where it’s aimed at in the market. Seems to have the balance just right. If you’re looking to take a safe step into the “better” cable market this is an excellent starting point. If you’re already moving up that Hifi ladder this cable won’t unbalance your sound, will in many ways enhance it.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Excellent, and surpasses its price point.

Sound Quality: Easy going, detailed and neutral sound. No elements that would make me worry about adding it to any system.

Value For Money: Another great cable from Atlas. Putting those on the road with a view to their first foray into cable upgrading onto the right path for very little outlay.

Pros: Great, even and balanced sound. Clean and neutral and doesn’t try to impress in any one area.

Cons: Nothing of note. Does everything it should and nothing it shouldn’t at this price.

Price: £72.50

David Robson

Made in Finland these floorstanding loudspeakers from Amphion cost £3600. LIonel Payne takes a listen for Hifi Pig. 

“Amphion Loudspeakers are based in Kuopio, Finland and were established in 1998. Although they began life as manufacturers of loudspeakers solely for the domestic market, more recently they have moved into the professional and studio market and I understand this has been a very successful move…”

Read the full review here

David Robson takes a listen to the relatively budget “The Element Superior” interconnect from Scottish brand Atlas Cables costing £72.50 for a 1 metre pair.

“It’s been a little while since I’ve had some Atlas cables in for review, and I was pleased when Andy from Atlas made contact and asked if I would take on a pair of the new Element Superior RCA’s by Atlas Cables Ltd originating and operating from Kilmarnock in Scotland since 2001, and making some of my favorite no-nonsense cables.

When new cables are developed or a new line introduced, there is always something in their make-up that is a little different from their predecessors or peers. This cable has some new technology incorporated within that is sure to boost the performance, without taking it out of it perceived value for money foothold within the marketplace…”

Read the full review here

Alan Clark at Kralk Audio in Yorkshire, England has designed a budget range of speakers and called them The TBD range, standing for The Dogs B******s. Ian Ringstead auditions the TDB4s, the second smallest of the range and costing £355 to £465, depending on the finish chosen, to ascertain whether these really are the dog’s danglies, or indeed a dog’s dinner.  

Regular readers will be aware of Kralk Audio’s speakers as I have reviewed them several times. Alan Clark the designer and owner was speaking to me last year saying how he wanted to design and sell a budget range of speakers suited to the lower end of the market and for the price conscious fans on limited funds. He went around several dealers to see what was currently out there and to get a feel for current trends to see what he was up against.

The result was the TDB range. When asked what TDB stood for Alan in his inimitable Yorkshire way said “The Dogs B******s “. In other words, the real business or deal. You have to love him for his down to earth sense of humour. Initially there are four models in the range, the TDB2, TDB4. TDB6 and TDB8. Matching stands are available for each model too. 

CONSTRUCTION

To keep the costs down Alan has used chipboard for the cabinets instead of the more usual MDF or birch ply. Every model in the range is hand built to order using real wood veneer or any colour painted finish (extra charge applies for painted finish) the customer requires. Alan uses quality drive units and hand-built crossovers with Solen Capacitors and Falcon Acoustics coils providing quality parts for your money. Twin 100mm bass drivers and new 75mm x 25mm Planer ribbon tweeters are fitted for a detailed lifelike sound, and the cabinet is a twin ported bass reflex design. The cabinets are mirror finished for superior stereo imaging and the tweeters are recommended to be on the inside of the soundstage for best effect. Real wood veneers are used on 5 sides and black Leather look front baffle. The high-quality gold-plated speaker terminals are hard wired direct to the crossover.

The TDB-4 is a 2 way stand mounted speaker and was designed to give a detailed lifelike performance even at low to medium volume levels. They are suitable for small to medium sized rooms and come in real Oak veneer and leather look Vinyl baffle. Other painted finishes are available at an additional cost and I was given the Rosso Red finish to review. There are two 4” bass drivers and the twin port acoustic loading extends the bass for such a compact size. The new Planer ribbon tweeter is interesting and great to see in a budget speaker. The drive unit layout is mirror imaged to aid sound quality and stereo imaging. Also, a tweeter level pad gives the listener full control over the output from the tweeter in order that the user can balance the speaker system to the room acoustics or their personal taste.

The crossover is hard wired for extra reliability with high quality OFC wire and is a 12db Bessel unit with Solen capacitors and Falcon acoustics air core inductors. Terminals are over size 4-way gold plated with 4mm banana plug capability. The cabinets, as mentioned earlier, are 18mm braced chipboard with real wood veneer or paint finish. All internal bracing is screwed and glued for maximum rigidity and long life without rattles.

Alan supplies dedicated stands at an extra cost of course and a pair were also supplied for this evaluation. These are well put together and match the TDB’s ranges looks of solidity and great value for money.

SOUND QUALITY

Alan told me he had purposely voiced the TDB4’s like all the other models in the range to be different to the competition so as not to be another ‘me too’ speaker. I gave them a few days to run in and initial thoughts were mixed. A cross between a PA speaker and a hifi one was my first impression. After a few more days and going back to them I suddenly started to like them. You can certainly drive them hard and they are an easy load.  The twin 100mm bass drivers pump out the volume and the new 75mm x 25mm Planer ribbon tweeter gives a relatively sweet and detailed top end which can be adjusted to taste with the level pad control should you prefer a brighter or duller presentation. The soundstage did not extend hugely beyond the speakers but remember these are effectively a budget speaker which fair very well against the competition I have heard.

I put a favourite album of mine on Wishbone Ash’s “New England” which is 42 years old now and was made when they moved to America for a while. I love every track, so I never tire of listening to it and it is a good test if I enjoy it on a system. There are hard hitting rock tracks and some great atmospheric ones as too, giving a good balance on the album. The classic duelling twin lead guitar sound, is unique to the bands performances, and one of the reasons I love them. I saw them numerous times in the seventies. The twin bass drivers coped well with the bass guitar and kick drum which were the firm foundation to the tracks, whilst the lead guitars soared left and right in the sound stage and vocals were locked centrally and clearly defined.

The ribbon tweeters are a nice touch normally seen in more expensive speakers and they extend to 32KHz so giving air and atmosphere to the sound, even though most adults can’t hear above 12KHz as they reach maturity. The human ear and brain are very good at interpreting sonic information and feeling the sound even though you can’t hear it. It’s all about psychoacoustics and I find it fascinating. The fact you can adjust the HF output is a bonus, especially for those listeners who are sensitive to high frequencies or helping to control more difficult listening rooms with harder surfaces and reflections. (Of course, you can dampen a room with diffusers such as carpets, rugs, wall hangings etc, but a tweeter control is handy to have). Cymbals and hi hats were particularly well conveyed on the track “In all of my dreams you rescue me” which starts with cymbals and bass interspersed with the lead guitars and the plaintive vocals. The track has great rhythm and is imaginatively written, showing off the real talents of the band. It ends with the sound of crickets on a hot summers night adding an ethereal atmosphere which the TDB4’s handled well and then the next track suddenly rips in with great gusto. I like contrasts in music and both the speakers and Wishbone Ash acquitted themselves admirably.

When I went up to Alan’s house to collect the TDB4’s he let me listen to the bigger TDB6’s and TDB8’s. It was interesting to hear how different each model sounds, so I strongly recommend auditioning them if you can. The largest model, currently the TDB8’s, are Alan’s personal favourite and sound great on rock music, but they might not be to everyone’s taste. Isn’t that the point though of offering several models in a range? The fact they all differ

CONCLUSION

The TDB4’s I feel offer a good balance of qualities for most listeners on a budget, or who have smaller listening rooms. In a cheaper system than my reference set up using the Myst TMA3 integrated amp the TDB4’s were well suited and didn’t let the side down. If you crave more bass, then the TDB6’s or TDB8’s will satisfy your addiction. It took me a few days to like the TDB4’s, so either running in took a while or my brain was slower on the uptake than usual. Either way they are well worth a listen. The matching stands complimented the speakers superbly being the correct dimensions, nicely made and great value. They feature powder coated MDF tops and bottoms with leather look vinyl uprights to perfectly match the TDB series baffles. Gold plated adjustable cones for the base and Sorbothane isolators for the tops finish them off. The stands are only available for purchase with the TDB range and aren’t sold separately.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: For the budget, excellent with high quality parts and the usual Kralk Audio finish Alan is so good at.

Sound Quality:  Lively and engaging with good top to bottom clarity for their class.

Value for Money:  Alan has done a very good job of crafting and designing a cheaper range to cater for the budget conscious listener and finish is as good as any I have seen for a similar price from the bigger companies out there.

Pros: Great sound and quality finish, with high frequency adjustment, and an easy to drive, room friendly design. A range of stands to match are an added bonus and great value.

Cons: They took me a while to adjust to the sound but are worth the effort.

Price: £355 – £465 dependant on finish

Stands £60- £86 dependant on size and accessories.

Ian Ringstead

Review Equipment:  Luxman PD300 t/t, Jelco SA750 arm, and Goldring 1092, Tisbury Audio Domino phono stage, Myst TMA3 amp along with Temple Audio mono blocks and Tisbury Audio passive pre amp, Marantz SA11 S2 SACD player, TQ Ultra Black and Van Damme speaker cables, Way and Missing Link  silver interconnects, Hi Fi Racks Podium slimline rack.

TDB-4 Spec

Bass drive units………………… 2 x 100mm
Tweeter…………………………70mm x 25mm Planer Ribbon
Crossover……………………….12dB Bessel 3400Hz
Cabinet…………………………Twin bass reflex
Sensitivity …………………….  87.5 dB 1w 1m
Frequency range ………              35Hz to 32kHz
Power handling.                          60 watts RMS 120 peak
Ohms …………………………. 6 Ohms nominal
L-pad…………………………. -16dB to +3dB
Dimension H x W x D…….      .40 x 24 x 29cm
Weight …………………………10kg Each

Alan Clark at Kralk Audio in Yorkshire, England has designed a budget range of speakers and called them The TBD range, standing for The Dogs B******s. Ian Ringstead auditions the TDB4s, the second smallest of the range and costing £355 to £465, depending on the finish chosen, to ascertain whether these really are the dog’s danglies, or indeed a dog’s dinner.  

“Regular readers will be aware of Kralk Audio’s speakers as I have reviewed them several times. Alan Clark the designer and owner was speaking to me last year saying how he wanted to design and sell a budget range of speakers suited to the lower end of the market and for the price conscious fans on limited funds. He went around several dealers to see what was currently out there and to get a feel for current trends to see what he was up against.

The result was the TDB range. When asked what TDB stood for Alan in his inimitable Yorkshire way said “The Dogs B******s “. In other words, the real business or deal. You have to love him for his down to earth sense of humour. Initially there are four models in the range, the TDB2, TDB4. TDB6 and TDB8. Matching stands are available for each model too. “

Read the full review here