TAGA HARMONY TCD 50 CD player costs $444 plus taxes and is a fully-fledged, full-size CD player that whilst being budget-friendly, certainly seems to be well specified. Stuart takes a listen.
ROTEL A12MKII, ROTEL CD14MKII AND ROTEL RCD-157MKII MODELS INTRODUCED
Japanese HiFi brand Rotel is has introduced the new Rotel A12MKII integrated amp, Rotel CD14MKII and Rotel RCD-1572MKII CD players.
ELECTROCOMPANIET EMC 1 MKV REFERENCE CD PLAYER REVIEW
Stuart Smith and Electrocompaniet seem to have missed the memo that Red Book CD is dead and buried as he has an extended play with the Norwegian brand’s £4999 dedicated silver disc player. More »
Musical Fidelity’s M2si and M2SCD are distributed in the UK by Henley Audio and cost £699 each. Ian Ringstead tries them out.
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Cyrus Audio, the British manufacturer known for designing and manufacturing HiFi amplifiers, DACs and CD players, has introduce their new XR series.
British audio company Audiolab has added a second CD player to its flagship 8300 component series. The 8300CDQ joins the existing, 8300CD and adds the following facilities:
In 2017 Exposure Electronics launched the ‘XM’ series of hifi components, designed to be compact and affordable. Since then, the series has grown to include a phonostage, an integrated amplifier, a preamplifier, mono power amps and a headphone amp.
French company Metronome Technologies make a whole host of kit for the digital domain, here Stuart Smith tries out their AQWO CD/SACD player and DAC with valve output stage costing £13,870 Euros as tested.
The £4100 Lector 707 CD Player, here with the top level power supply, the PSU-7T, is made in Italy, has a valve output stage and a top loading transport. Dominic Marsh and Lionel Payne. put it through its paces. More »
The £4100 Lector 707 CD Player, here with the top level power supply, the PSU-7T, is made in Italy, has a valve output stage and a top loading transport. Dominic Marsh and Lionel Payne. put it through its paces.
McIntosh has launched their new MCT80 SACD/CD Transport. They want you to “Enjoy your CDs all over again!” More »
The AudioWorks will be exhibiting at the North West Audio Show, showcasing a system never before seen in the UK. More »
It’s that time again, when we announce the winner of our High End Munich “Hifi Pig Loves You” Award. There has been a real mix of winners over the years and different hifi shows that we attend. From high end manufacturers to local hifi dealers and even a music enthusiast for his talks at the Cranage show. Last year’s High End Munich prize went to British brand Avid Hifi. It is not just for the best sound at the show, though of course that is a part of it. We also take into account how the people running the room treat their audience, the effort that they have taken putting the system and the room together and the kind of music that they play. Hifi Pig loves rooms with a sense of fun, that look like are enjoying themselves and are not scared to play something a little out of the ordinary for a hifi show. Generally it’s a tricky one to judge, especially at the High End where the standard is incredibly high and we often feel torn between several rooms.
Many of us of a certain age will remember the radiogram, now Ruark bring it bang up to date with their R7 Radiogram costing £2000. John Scott gets a bit nostalgic in what is a bit of a departure for Hifi Pig. More »
A recording by Astor Piazzolla “the single most important figure in the history of tango” will be the first MQA recording to be released on compact disc in Japan. The album is “A. Piazzolla by Strings and Oboe”, recorded by the UNAMAS Piazzolla Septet and mastered by respected producer and mastering engineer Mick Sawaguchi. More »
Chord Electronics’ flagship Reference range and its full-size Chord range is to benefit from a new solid black machine-polished acrylic side panel option. More »
Chord Electronics has added a high-resolution USB Type-B input to its CES-unveiled Blu MkII upscaling CD transport. The USB input takes the place of the optical output seen on the prototype at CES and has been implemented following dealer demand for Blu MkII’s upscaling technology to be available to a wider range of digital devices. More »
Bryston distributor PMC, is introducing the Bryston BCD-3 CD player to the UK audiophile market, to bring the benefits of its “class-leading” CD transport and digital to analogue converter technology to consumers who are still loyal to the CD format. More »
Bryston has announced the introduction of the BCD-3 CD player. The BCD-3 joins the family of digital products in the Bryston lineup, including the BDA-3 DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter). More »
Japanese brand CEC’s belt driven CD transports are legendary in audiophile circles but have had traditionally been out of the reach of most people. The £2600 CEC TL5 CD Transport, sold by Definitive Audio in the UK, puts this exotica much more within the grasp of more people and Janine Elliot couldn’t wait to get her hands on it to review for Hifi Pig. More »
Creek Audio Systems have recently introduced their Evolution 100 range and here we have two of the line-up for review – namely the Evolution 100CD (£1350) and the 100P (£1350) which Lionel Payne will review for Hifi Pig. More »
At £900 for the amplifier and £995 for the CD player these two units from Audiolab are relatively inexpensive but well specified. Ian Ringstead plumbs them into his system and rather likes what he hears. More »
Mitchell and Johnson’s trio of CD Player, Amplifier and Streamer cost a total of £947 which puts them very much in the budget category but can they satisfy sonically? Dominic Marsh finds out for Hifi Pig. More »
Roksan Audio is adding the blak series of components to its portfolio. The blak series is being introduced as an entirely new design for Roksan – both in terms of sound performance and visual appeal. Featuring a robust, industrial design the blak series is the audiophile solution for those seeking “superlative performance and features within a ‘statement product’ aesthetic, but without the esoteric high-end audio price tag” say the London company’s recent press release.
Handmade in the UK and at a specialised facility in Germany, the range is initially launching with an integrated amplifier and a CD player. These will be followed over time a comprehensive range of products that will offer the same performance-for-cost ratio.
Like the K3 range before it, all blak products will be available in three finishes – Anthracite, Charcoal and Opium – and all will be supplied with a stylish and intuitive system remote.
blak Integrated Amplifier
The blak Integrated Amplifier combines a high-end amplifier with a highly-specified USB DAC, a Bluetooth receiver and a dedicated headphone amplifier; all in one sleek chassis.
The amplifier section of the blak Integrated Amplifier uses hand- selected audiophile components throughout its circuitry, including high- quality relays. The chosen transformers are also tuned to ensure the best sound quality and current power available. This sophisticated internal design allows the amplifier to deliver > 150W (8Ω) output.
The blak Integrated Amplifier boasts sufficient inputs to cater for almost any high-end audio system. Alongside three RCA pairs, there’s also a balanced XLR pair input for superior source devices. There’s also a Moving Magnet-compatible phono stage inside.
For ease of use, the blak Integrated Amplifier supports wireless music playback via its built-in aptX® Bluetooth module. This allows for up-to CD-quality wireless streaming from compatible laptops and smart devices. For more advanced digital media, the amplifier also boasts a USB (Type-B) digital input for playback from a computer or laptop. The DAC allows for playback of audio files up to 24-bit/192kHz (PCM) or DSD128, offering an exceptional high-resolution performance.
Finally, whereas many other products include headphone inputs as an “extra”, Roksan have gone one step further with blak. Here the headphone amplifier sits within its own dedicated section, with an independent power supply and toggle switch.
Operation of the blak Integrated Amplifier is effortlessly simple either via the supplied system remote or through the front panel. The large, clear to read (yet dimmable) LED display shows the selected input and the over-sized volume knob has a visual indicator around its circumference to indicate the volume level.
SRP £2,750.00
blak CD Player
Internally the blak CD Player uses a totally isolated disc mechanism to eliminate vibration. Once extracted from the disc, the digital signal is managed by a DAC chip-set for bit-perfect conversion and an advanced digital clock for optimal performance.
For connecting to an external DAC there are three digital outputs available (S/PDIF, Optical or AES/EBU), or for connecting straight to an amplifier – like the blak Integrated Amplifier – there’s the choice of either unbalanced RCA or balanced XLR outputs. Once connected, the whole player is controlled with the supplied system remote or via the front panel; additional handy information is displayed on the dimmable LED display during playback.
SRP £2,500.00
The blak CD Player is available now in Anthracite, Charcoal or Opium finish.
Technical Information
blak Integrated Amplifier
Inputs: 3 x RCA (pair)
1 x XLR (pair)
1 x MM Phono RCA (pair)
1 x aptX® Bluetooth (wireless) 1 x USB Type-B
Phono Stage: MM Input
Gain: 76.75dB @ 1kHz
Impedance: 47kΩ Capacitance: 150pF
Line-Level Input Impedance: 24kΩ (XLR) 40kΩ (RCA)
Gain (at 1kHz, 8Ω): 37dB
THD: (at 1W, 8Ω, 5kHz): <0.02%
THD: (at 12W, 8Ω, 5kHz): <0.035%
Power Output (at 1kHz): 150W (8Ω) 230W (4Ω)
Frequency Response (at -3dB, 8Ω, 12W): <20Hz – >80kHz Channel Balance (at 1kHz, 8Ω): Better than 0.3dB
Cross-Talk (at 1kHz, 8Ω): <-104dB
Signal-Noise Ratio (at 1kHz, 8Ω): >76dB
blak CD Player
Outputs: 3 x Digital (Coaxial, Optical, XLR) 2 x Analogue Pairs (RCA or XLR)
Peak Output: 2.5V
THD (at 1kHz, 0dB): <0.001%
Linearity at 1kHz: >89dB
Jitter: <135ps
Signal-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): >108dB
Stop-band rejection: >100dB
TEAC has launched a compact disc player with a built-in DAB/RDS FM* tuner.
TEAC PD-301DAB – KEY FEATURES
- Precision slot-in CD drive mechanism with quick-loading and automatic playback
· Supports CD-DA, MP3 and WMA files on CD-ROM/R/RW discs
· Front USB Port for WAV, AAC, MP3 and WMA playback
· Built-in tuner supports DAB/RDS FM broadcasts
· 215mm wide and 61mm high, easy to accommodate
One of the most compact CD players available (it measures just 215 x 61 x 232mm), the PD-301 is the latest addition to the Reference 301 series of hi-fi components. A perfect partner for the AI-301DA amplifier, the player features a quick-loading slot-in drive that will also decode home-made discs encoded with MP3 and WMA content.
For those who also want to play back WAV or AAC files there’s a USB slot on the front panel for thumb drives. If your stored songs are accompanied by ID3 tags the song and artists names are shown on the player’s own display (MP3, WMA and AAC files only).
The PD-301DAB features a built-in digital-to-audio decoder (the Burr-Brown PCM5142, to be exact) but it also sports coaxial and digital outputs if, at a later stage, you decide you want to use the player as a digital transport partnered by an external DAC (the Reference UD-301 has built-in 192kHz up-conversion).
As mentioned, one of this player’s headline features is that it boasts a DAB/RDS FM tuner*, complete with 20 presets, ideal if you need to add radio listening to your hi-fi system but don’t want to invest in a separate tuner.
The PD-301DAB’s tuner section also offers upgrading potential. DAB/RDS FM signals received by the unit can be sent as digital signals (using the optical/coaxial outputs) from the player to an external DAC (44.1kHz/16-bit resolution) if you want to enjoy higher performance in the future.
*Both DAB/RDS FM and RDS FM-only versions of the PD-301 are available for purchase in the UK.
Price (both models available in either black or silver, available now)
PD-301DAB with DAB/RDS FM tuner – £349
PD-301 with RDS FM tuner – £299
