Audio Pro, the specialist loudspeaker company from Sweden has announced the latest addition to its wireless multi-room airoomaudio range – Allroom Air One, a single stereo speaker that combines Apple Airplay and DNLA compatibility with modern leather-covered Scandinavian style.

Additionally, Audio Pro’s ‘Direct Link’ feature allows for users without a wireless network to stream direct from their device whilst additional sources can be connected via USB, analogue 3.5mm and optical digital TOSLINK inputs.

The speaker uses four drivers (2 x 1” soft dome tweeters and 2 x 4.5” bass units) driven by a 100W amplifier (4 x 25W Class D amplifiers) under the command of DSP (Digital Signal Processing). If additional bass reinforcement is required, users can attach a subwoofer such as the matching Living LVSUB. There’s also a free app that can be used to control the loudspeaker.

Allroom Air One is available now from in red, white or black and has a UK SRP of £499.00.

 

Sponsorship button

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Mark Levinson brand the № 52 Reference Dual-Monaural Preamplifier has MArk Levinsonbeen announced.

The № 52 is an all-analogue, true dual-monaural design with a two-chassis configuration that separates the analogue audio circuitry from the control section to maintain the “purest signal paths possible”. It provides a comprehensive complement of inputs including three balanced XLR and four unbalanced RCA line-level inputs, and a dedicated phono input that is selectable for moving coil (MC) or moving magnet (MM) cartridges. Two sets of XLR and RCA stereo preamplifier outputs are provided, along with an auxiliary pair of XLR and RCA outputs that can be configured for fixed or variable level output with independent source selection. This enables the auxiliary outputs to function either as a third preamp out, a pass-through full-range subwoofer output or a record output.

The Mark Levinson № 52 offers a unity gain SSP (surround sound processor) output that provides the ability to integrate the audio sources that are connected to it into a home theater system, whilst still maintaining independent stereo operation for 2 channel sources. The № 52 provides extensive control and system interface connectivity via Ethernet, Mark Levinson’s proprietary ML Net, 12V trigger and IR control ports. In addition, a USB port facilitates possible future software upgrades. The № 52 is supplied with a remote control that can also be used to operate other Mark Levinson components.

Its control section features mirror-imaged DC power supplies and AC regeneration circuits for clean and stable power delivery and signal purity. Individual left and right DC umbilical cords are used to connect to the audio sections in the second chassis, and control signals are delivered via a third cable to keep them isolated. The audio chassis is laid out in a mirror image, left/right configuration with isolated and independent circuit boards for the volume, main and auxiliary signal paths, and extensive shielding for critical components. The chassis is constructed from heavy aluminum extrusions and plates.

 

Sponsorship button

 

Harman’s JBL announce the introduction of its S3900 loudspeaker, a three-way floorstanding tower that utilises JBL S3900professional-grade drivers and components in a dual 10-inch-woofer design.

“We designed the S3900 to be slimmer and easier to fit into a wider range of rooms, yet still deliver high-quality music and theater reproduction,” said Jim Garrett, Director of Marketing and Product Management, HARMAN Luxury Audio Group and Loudspeakers. “The S3900 shares technologies with our new flagship Project Everest DD67000 and Project K2 S9900 to offer all the classic JBL sonic strengths – effortless dynamics, exceptional clarity and resolution, a natural tonal balance and precise imaging of vocals and instruments in an expansive sound field”.

Measuring 39.6″ high by 14.6″ wide by 14.5″ deep, the S3900 embodies a core JBL design philosophy of combining  dynamic (cone) woofers with horn-loaded midrange/high-frequency and ultrahigh-frequency compression drivers. The JBL S3900 employs two cast-frame 10-inch pulp-cone woofers each incorporating dual 3-inch voice coils and high-power neodymium-magnets.

The S3900 utilises a JBL 175Nd-3 midrange/high-frequency compression driver with a 2-inch AquaPlas™-coated titanium diaphragm, loaded into a 90 by 60 degree BiRadial® horn. “The AquaPlas treatment maintains the superlative transient response of titanium while providing added damping and rigidity for more natural midrange and high-frequency reproduction”. The 138Nd 0.75-inch pure titanium ultrahigh-frequency compression driver, which extends to beyond 40kHz, is mated with a 60 by 30 degree Bi-Radial horn.

The S9300’s bass-reflex enclosure has a rear-firing port and is rigidly braced and damped at critical points; all contribute to the speaker’s high sensitivity, “neutrality and freedom from coloration”.

The JBL Synthesis S3900 will be available in February 2013 at authorized JBL Synthesis installation specialists at a suggested retail price of $10,000/pair.

 

Sponsorship button

 

Cambridge Audio have announced the launch of their latest universal disc player – it spins pretty much every disc format camout there including Blu-ray, DVD, CD, SACD etc. The new Cambridge Audio disc spinner also plays just about any digital file, and can access network streaming services too.

The 752BD can access drives, laptops and desktop machines via wi-fi/ethernet as well as memory sticks etc and there’s on-board support for internet streaming services such as YouTube.

Its Marvell Qdeo video processor upscales video sources to Full HD and can perform realtime 2D-to-3D conversion whilst audio is converted into the analogue realm by five Wolfson audio DACs (digital-to-analogue convertors) to 24-bit/192kHz.

 

Sponsorship button

Timestep are not your average hi-fi manufacturer, they are also internationally renowned designers and T-01MC frontmanufacturers of state-of-the-art weather satellite systems of all things and now Timestep have announced the launch of the new T-01MC moving coil phono stage.

The T-01MC is a minimalist design, avoiding any unnecessary switching that would “introduce extra contacts and therefore noise and distortion” and should offer great performance with 95% of moving coil cartridges. It has been developed and tested with a wide spectrum of cartridges ranging from the Denon DL-103 to the Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement and overall design has been by the renowned Dave Cawley. The phono stage can be ordered in custom configuration to suit specific cartridges, and subsequently T-01MC PCBreconfigured to perfectly match any moving coil cartridge.

The design of the T-01MC avoids the use of integrated circuits and instead FETs (field effect transistors) are used in a fully discrete dual-mono zero negative feedback design.

The gain and input loading are fixed as in most situations this feature is a set-once process.  The settings chosen  should be great for the vast majority of moving coil cartridges on the market however, custom input loading can be specified and can be altered by Timestep at any time.  The company say that this method saves “considerable cost over switchable units, as well as providing the shortest, cleanest signal path ensuring the highest performance”.

The unit comes in at £995 and has a whopping 6 year guarantee.

 

Sponsorship button

 

Hi-Fi distributor Sound Fowndations has announced the addition of the CANOR TP134 valve amplifier to its portfolio of TP134 blackhigh quality audio components.

The CANOR TP134 is a high quality stereo integrated amplifier that uses EL34 output valves to generate 35 watts per channel operating in pure class A up to 10 watts per channel. The circuit boards feature patented CMT (Canor Milling Technology) which means that areas of the circuit board are precisely removed to give the circuit similar electrical characteristics to one direct wired with air dielectric cables.

The TP134 features a high quality relay attenuator volume control which the company say provides a “more direct signal path with fewer contacts than typical volume controls leading to precise control and higher sonic performance”.

All control electronics, such as input switching and volume adjustment, are fed from a separate section of the power transformer and the control circuitry is only active when being used which Canor says avoids degradation of the sound quality of the amplifier.

Further the Canor TP134 boasts double copper foil shielding between the mains transformer to prevent mains noise from affecting the performance, a high capacitance anode power supply filtration providing “tight and accurate bass performance”, audiophile quality polypropylene capacitors in audio signal paths, custom designed bifilar wound output transformers “providing maximum power evenly across the entire bandwidth.

For the terminally lazy the TP134 is supplied with a remote control – Hifi Pig REALLY wants a remote control!

Price is £2495

 

Sponsorship button

 

Hifi Pig reported on the Yamamoto YDA-02 DAC way back in March of 2012 and now the company has announced a headphone amplifier to add their range of high end audio kit. HA-03

The Yamamoto HA-03 uses two of the C3M valve from Siemens and a very simple circuit design to deliver upto 1.4 watts per channel into headphones and 1 watt per channel can be delivered to loudspeakers should yours prove efficient enough.

Switching between two inputs is possible by the flick of a small toggle switch.

 

Sponsorship button

 

KEF has announced the introduction of the X300A, an active design primarily conceived to partner a PC or Mac desktop KEF_x300Aor laptop computer with inbuilt amps and DAC. Connection is via a 96kHz/24 bit USB digital input.

Unlike many typical active computer speakers, which have a single class D ‘digital’ amp on each channel, the KEF X300A has two class AB amps in each speaker, one for the LF/MF and one for HF.

Users have the ability to switch between desk, free space and desk/wall modes with high quality EQ, and the sound is adjusted to be optimal whichever location the speaker is put in. Desk and stand modes are selected by a switch on the rear panel of the master speaker; wall mode is selected via a foam plug for the rear mounted reflex port.

A standard 3.5mm analogue input is included so that mobile phones and MP3 players can be connected as a secondary source.

Price: £600.00 per pair.

 

Sponsorship button

hORNS, the Polish loudspeaker manufacturer whose Mummy loudspeakers we reviewed recently, have expanded the hORNS SEOSfinish of their SEOS FP- 10 from 8 standard and RAAL colors into some lovely looking veneered finishes, G Point-Audio, the company’s UK distributor, tells us . Pretty much any wood is available on request and a handful of standard finishes will be available too.

We think the new finishes look excellent and are sure to be a hit WAF-wise and the new matching stand certainly set the loudspeakers off very nicely indeed! The stands come in a standard black finish but on request can be built and finished in the same colour as the loudspeakers front panel. Having hollow legs the loudspeaker stands can be filled with your choice of dampening material (lead shot/sand)  which is said to add more gravity to the bottom octave.

Stands are £ 300 and the veneered SEOS FP-10 cost £3000 a pair from.

 

Sponsorship button

 

Photographs from T.H.E Show in Las Vegas 2013. Many thanks to Lucette at Nicoll Pr for all her hard work in sourcing these photographs for Hifi Pig. You can also see pics from the T.H.E Newport Beach 2012 here. More »

Hifi Pig has only just heard the news of this nifty looking bit of free kit but will be putting it through its paces over the Linux audiophilecoming weeks..

Audiophile Linux is an operating system created for quality audio reproduction alone. It’s created by audiophiles for audiophiles and it’s absolutely free offering a latency of less than 10ms on playback.
It installs just like any other GNU/Linux but with the advantage of being tweaked specifically for high quality audio playback.

 

Sponsorship button

 

10. January 2013 · 2 comments · Categories: Hifi News · Tags: ,

British newcomer Computer Audio Design (CAD), is a specialist high-end audio company that aims to achieve the CAD DAC“finest sound quality from computer audio sources”. Designed and hand-built in the UK, CAD’s debut offering, the CAD 1543 DAC, has been built as a “no-compromise” asynchronous USB DAC.

The CAD 1543 DAC has been built on a design principle that seeks to minimise components in the signal path. The DAC is also unashamedly computer-orientated in recognition of today’s high-resolution digital music files and yet “has been designed to deliver the same natural, effortless sound that’s inherent in the best analogue source components.”

The CAD 1543 DAC is built around a dedicated, non-magnetic acrylic chassis, has been optimised to work with a computer and painstakingly designed to minimise disruption to the incoming signal. To this end, the DAC has a single high-quality USB input, plus one set of RCA outputs which the company says “enables the signal to pass through the DAC without encountering the highly degrading effects of unnecessary switching. It also allows a super-short signal path (of just 1cm) from the USB board to the DAC.”

Designed by Scott Berry, a British-based US-born electrical engineer, the 1543 DAC has been conceived over several years.

The CAD 1543 DAC also boasts “highly advanced” power supplies which have their own mains conditioning. The DAC also has a captive mains lead and eschews a mains power switch in keeping with the company’s fewer-components-means-better-sound philosophy. Further features include: extensive internal isolation; no active devices in the output and visco-elastic polymer feet.

Over 90% of the DAC’s components come from UK manufacturers, including the acrylic case, power transformers, PCB boards (and assembly), PCB supports, the LED backlight and mains power plug. The DAC is modular in design, allowing upgrades and updates to be added over the unit’s lifetime. The special acrylic casework also enables rear panel changes to be introduced cost-effectively if required, in the future.

The CAD 1543 is available now priced at £6,900 (standard finish) with custom finishes and colours available on request.

Technical specifications

  • DAC chips: 16 x TDA1543/N2
  • Input: single asynchronous USB, with full galvanic isolation from computer
  • Output: unbalanced RCA (extremely high-quality, low-mass Tellurium copper)
  • Sampling frequencies: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz and 176.4kHz operation
  • Bit depth: 16 bit (will play any bit-depth)
  • Maximum output voltage: ~1.65Vrms
  • Output impedance: 135 ohms at 1kHz
  • Can drive most power amplifiers directly using digital volume control

Sponsorship button

Audiolici is a Portuguese audio company based in oPorto. The company was founded in 2007 and specialise in the 9A25 copydesign and manufacture of valve based pre and power amplifiers.

Their latest product is the Audiolici A-25 valve amplifier which is an integrated valve amplifier. The input selector of the A-25 is designed around four pairs of low power miniature relays with all processes being controlled by electronic circuits to reduce crosstalk between right and left channels.

The input stage of the amplifier uses a double triode 6SL7 and the push pull output power stage is based on one pair of 6L6Gc in the A1 models and EL34 in the A1/25 models.

The amp operates in class A.

 

Sponsorship button

Iconic Danish hifi and electronic manufacturer Bang and Olufsen has announced that is to close up to 125 of its shops.beolab-5 The company will also take control of its operations in China and Brazil where they are seeing rapid growth –  The company is also experiencing  good and rapid growth in Russia and India as those economies continue to flourish.

The UK has 74 Bang and Olufsen stores and most of the announced closures will be in the Europe market, but individual stores that will close have not been officially announced. Closures are expected to be within 18 months.

 

Sponsorship button

The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) has helped Rega Research Ltd to meet the demand for its range of Hi Fi imageproducts which are all conceived, designed and manufactured at its custom built facility in Southend, UK.

Rega employs 74 people and has a turnover of over £6 million, was founded in 1973, it is now recognised as a World Leader in the design and manufacture of great value-for-money, high quality turntables and a range of other hifi products including loudspeakers, CD players and amplifiers.

Rega’s turnover growing by 50% in recent years and they recognised the time had come for them to make a major investment in a an MRP (material resource planning) system, to support its innovation capabilities and help meet the continued increase in demand for its products and turned to MAS to help with the implementation of the system.

“Previously, we had relied on spread sheets for our stock control, but needed to introduce a more sophisticated system to help us to deal more efficiently with the increase in orders,” explained John Tozer an accountant at Rega.

“The MRP is still a ‘work in progress’ but we are already reaping the benefits including being able to ensure we hold correct level of stock of crucial parts required for the smooth flow of production and  also safeguard against  tying up money by overstocking parts.

“MRP is also playing a vital role in the capacity planning of production which allows us to provide  better feedback (including delivery dates) to our customers,” he added.

John worked closely with MAS Advisor, Barrie Hughes, who became a regular visitor to Rega whilst the system was being installed. “Barrie was very encouraging and helpful from the first day he walked into the factory.  The combination of his in-depth experience and friendly and insightful approach put everyone at ease straight away. He ensured that our staff were fully trained and ready for the changes ahead.

“When the current recession began to bite, many of our competitors ‘battened down the hatches,’ but we took a conscious and deliberate decision to do exactly the opposite. We hired new sales staff and brought out a range of innovative new products which has paid dividends.

“Continued innovation and providing quality, cost effective products allows us to keep ‘one step ahead’ of our competitors and has always been at the heart of our ethos. Bringing MAS in when we did was certainly the right decision. Barrie showed a genuine interest in our products and manufacturing techniques and we would certainly turn to MAS again for advice and expertise in the future.”

 

Sponsorship button

The latest in the series of Conrad-Johnson vacuum-tube power amplifiers, the LP125sa is announced for release in Conrad Johnson LP-125sathe UK by Audiofreaks distribution. The high-end amplifier is a single stereo block and, at 125 watts per channel has ample power for the majority of high-end loudspeakers.

The LP125sa audio circuit consists of three stages. The input signal is amplified by a single-ended triode amplifier, the signal is then direct coupled to a cathode coupled phase-inverter and this high current, triode phase-inverter stage provides a balanced, low impedance drive to the output stage which is provided by two pairs of KT120s per channel.

The LP125sa boasts massive transformers and a small amount of loop negative feedback reduces distortion and achieves a reasonably high damping factor.

The power supplu in the LP125sa is a separate, low impedance, discrete dc affair and regulators are provided for the input and phase-inverter stages, “preventing the output stage from modulating these stages through the power supply”.

A built in bias meter allows for simple biasing of the valves.

The amplifier is available in a standard configuration for just shy of £8000 and a “plus” version with upgraded caps and resistors comes in at a fiver short of £10000.

 

Sponsorship button

Boulder Amplifiers has unveiled the 3060 Class A Stereo Amplifier at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. At nearly 450 Boulderlbs. and producing 900 WPC, the 3060 is by far the largest and most powerful stereo amplifier ever released by Boulder and comes as an addition to the existing 3050 monobloc amplifiers.

All audio circuitry within the 3060 is linear Class A, primarily derived from Boulder’s 3050 Mono Amplifier. Bias current is actively monitored and adjusted in order to increase efficiency and reduce wasted radiated heat energy. The 3060 utilizes 120 output devices to generate power output of 900 watts-per-channel into any load. It is capable of massive current swings, enabling the amplifier to drive any loudspeaker to realistic performance levels. Units will only be shipped operating at 240V AC mains feed (no 100V or 120V units will be produced) in order to guarantee full-rated power output. A complete array of protection and status monitoring circuits are continuously active. All metalwork is cut on Boulder’s own CNC machining centers and features the distinctly modern, angled appearance unique to all 3000 Series products.  A black granite and stainless steel platform is cut and polished to match the angled surfaces of the amplifier and is shipped with each 3060. The US manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the 3060 is $115,000 though prices will vary outside of the United States.

 

Sponsorship button

TEAC have recently announced the launch of a new series of hifi seperates called the 501 Reference series. The series 501-Reference_final_R976x488.pngincludes the AI-501DA class D integrated amplifier (pictured) with 192kHz USB Audio Input using BurrBrown PCM5102 D/A , the PD-501HR CD Player with 5.6MHz DSD-file-recorded disc nativeplayback, the HA-501full-analogue dual monaural headphone amplifier and finally the UD-501 DSD 5.6MHz / PCM 384kHz capable dual monaural D/A converter.

All the units are small footprint to fit on your desktop.

 

Sponsorship button

 

Hot on the heals of the DAC-V1  Naim have launched the NAP 100 power amplifier, which they say is a “classic expression of traditional Naim power amplifier engineering”. Naim’s latest addition to their nap100_3power amplifier stable offers 50 watts per channel at 8 Ohms, and 100 watts at 4 Ohms, the NAP 100 is a dual mono design based on the circuit topology found in the comapny’s SuperUniti all-in-one player. The NAP 100 has been designed to be used with its partner the DAC-V1, and either a computer or UnitiServe for example, to create what Naim say will be a “thoroughly modern system, bursting with Naim rhythm and clarity”.

 

Sponsorship button

 

 

 

The DAC-V1 is an asynchronous USB digital to analogue converter with multiple digital S/PDIF inputs, volume control dac-v1-nap100_news_0and a headphone amplifier.

  • High-speed asynchronous USB input up to 24bit/384kHz
  • 5 x S/PDIF inputs up to 24bit/192kHz (1 x BNC, 2 X RCA, 2 x TOSLINK)
  • Selectable fixed or variable analogue outputs (DIN or RCA)
  • Zero S/PDIF Jitter design in common with the original Naim DAC
  • Naim custom designed Digital Filtering with 16 times oversampling
  • SHARC ADSP21489 DSP for Digital Filtering and zero S/PDIF jitter
  • Classic discrete Naim preamplifier gain stage topology with selected components
  • High-quality Burr Brown PCM1791A DAC, in common with NDX and SuperUniti
  • Single ended Class-A headphone amplifier. Front panel ¼ inch headphone output
  • Optical isolation between digital and analogue sections
  • Naim digitally controlled analogue volume control for performance and precision
  • Linear power supply with 210VA transformer, windings for Digital, DAC and analogue stages
  • Operates with computers running OSX, 10.7 and above, Windows XP, 7 and 8
  • Floating or Chassis ground switch for optimum performance with any system
  • Field upgradeable firmware
  • OLED display for adjusting settings and checking incoming bit-rates
  • Control via IR remote control or front panel controls
  • DAC-V1 can control computer playback and volume
  • Compact non-magnetic low-resonance chassis and sleeve

Sponsorship button

Audion have today announced the release of their latest product Audion Select, a passive pre-amplifier. select front

“The name “Audion Select” has been given as it’s mainly an input selector and in the double entendre stakes its also quite a select product.” Said Graeme Holland of Audion.

The basic Audion Select is a passive pre-amplifier with 5 line inputs, 2 line outputs and an unattenuated tape loop. Volume control is by an Alps pot fitted and with ground loop lift switch and hard wired.

The chassis is designed to match the rest of the Audion range in looks and sound quality, and having the same size and shape will fit in with other Audion equipment when on your rack.

The retail price for the standard 5 channel model is anticipated at £475 and the Audio Slelect pre-amplifiers are available now and will be with our distributor (Deco Audio in the UK) in approx 1 weeks time. Select rear

There will be versions with 48way stepped attenuators, and / or silver wire, and possibly transformer volume control.

In future Audion will be developing a transistorized mm/mc phono stage (aimed at the Revolver market which Audion now owns), a select passive pre with balanced in/outs and even a headphone amp (valve) in the chassis.

 

Sponsorship button

Scott Nangle the Scotland based hifi retailer has announced they will be stocking the Stirling Broadcast BBC Monitors.LS35a V2 Cherry pr_0

The new Stirling BBC LS3/5a (V2) is designed by Stirling Broadcast and made in England to meet the exacting requirements of the BBC LS3/5a specification. This version uses the new Stirling SB4424 + SB4428 drivers, and a hi-grade ‘SuperSpec’ crossover, all housed in thin-walled ‘Reference’ matched veneer cabinets. The cabinets feature 9-mm birch plywood construction, removable veneered rear panel, fitted with double layers of bituminous pads. These cabinets are modeled after the famous LS3/5a serial number 001/002 pair. The ‘legendary’ sonic character of the original LS3/5a has been retained, with the new model having the added benefit of a five-year warranty and the assurance of the future availability of spare parts.

 

Sponsorship button

Recital Loudspeakers is a new manufacturer based in Mutzig in Western France not very far from Strasbourg who illuminehand-make their loudspeakers in France.

At the moment the company has just two loudspeakers in their range, the 2 way bass reflex Define and the 2.5 way Illumine (pictured).

The company utilises its “Pure Motion” technology which they claim will:

“Preserve the purity of the sound signal by broadcasting the original music without any flaw, faithfully reveal all the smallest nuances of the recording… a breath, a sound, an atmosphere and reproduce the soundstage with precise stereo imaging, with each performer finding its true place.

 

Sponsorship button