the signals yearbook 2014-15
issue sixteen
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hen we kicked off Signals in summer 1993 we could never have imagined producing the 16th edition of a newsletter let alone one with a picture of a £125,000 amplifier on the cover. Talk about hi-fi for grownups! In 2013 British audio stalwarts Linn, Naim and Rega celebrated their 40th anniversaries just as we hit our twentieth. We held our first pukka hi-fi show to celebrate, an event repeating itself in 2014 in the shape of Audio Show East and all this has led to some reminiscing. The brands that we stock may have changed significantly over the last 21 years, but some product types have either stayed with us or come full circle. Back in 1993 DACs were becoming popular and audio cables were just becoming a commodity in their own right. Turntables were trouncing CD players and valve amplifiers were going through a renaissance. Sounds a lot like 2014! Working as an audio dealer involves picking your way through a minefield of options and, more than occasionally, making some terrible purchasing decisions. Mistakes, rather usefully, lead to knowledge and it was evident quite early on that an audio outlet can either be a stockist with a vast array of unedited choice or a specialist who works to put together successful system combinations. A proper understanding of our products allows us to bring real value to the selection process. We aim to earn our way with helpful guidance that stops short (hopefully) of being combative or overly opinionated. These days, we look at some of our internet based opposition listing every brand under the sun and wonder how they can make sense of so many variables. The following pages contain a smattering of the various products that we carry. It’s not a full product list but, hopefully, you will find it interesting and perhaps even illuminating. The best aspect of our business is the interaction with the people we meet. The rapport usually generated during comparative listening sessions never ceases to surprise us. Blind ‘box shifting’ via the internet seems like a cheerless (for us), not to mention mistake-prone (for the buyer), alternative. As ever, our sincere thanks to all who have kept us afloat, now for 21 years. Crumbs!
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treaming. Now this is a very current subject. It is any method by which musical or video data can be presented for replay remotely from the storage location via a wired or wireless
go with the flow
network. On-line services, such as BBC iPlayer, Spotify or Qobuz fit this category, as does music stored on a computer hard drive or network drive that is replayed by a separate replay device which, bafflingly, is usually called a streamer. It is certainly big business. As a principle, it has two advantages over good old CD. The first is convenience. CDs can be copied and stored away out of sight. Control is usually via tablet computer, with the iPad being the default choice. You can search for music, construct playlists and access music that has been downloaded from the internet. Often, you can also play songs that someone has on their iPod or phone to a very respectable level of quality. The next advantage is that you can access better than CD high resolution music, now available freely (not for free) at levels up to 24 bit 192 Khz. To put this in context, this represents over six times the amount of data on a standard CD and 50 times as much as on your average iPod MP3 rip. Properly served on a clean network, the best streamers are roughly on a par with the best CD players. But the high resolution potential and convenience are definitely beginning to turn heads. We have stand-alone streamers on demonstration from Naim, Linn, Chord and Arcam. A modern trend has been towards all-in-one systems, where all you need is a pair of speakers. The quality end of this market is handled magnificently by Naim (their entry level UnitiQute is pictured above) and Linn. Arcam will have products launching soon. Access to ‘premium’ on-line servces and Android support are due to come to Naim September 2014.
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brand that has been finding its feet over the past couple of years is Scottish based Simple Audio. It’s a network player in the Sonos mould but with some differences. Unusually for a device at this level, it can access 24/192 music files, so it is ideal for use either as the basis of a good quality multi-room system or to allow the serious audiophile access to the full music library from secondary locations in the
When it was launched, Simple had a whiff of the half baked about it but there was something appealing too about the UK manufacture, the build and the performance. The tech support is solid and helpful. Always a good sign. Sound quality from the improbably compact anodized aluminium and glass cased streamer / amplifier (pictured left) was never in doubt, well above, shall we say, the obvious alternatives, even on standard resolution music. Nevertheless the latest version with a much more powerful processor, running fresh software, actually sounds better still. There are two versions, one with an internal amplifier and another that connects to an existing amplifier or A/V receiver. Software updates are handled via the PC or Mac (OS X Mavericks or later) and fresh updates seem to be coming along fairly quickly. Best of all, it is proving to be stable, easy to use and offers one of the best search facilities for finding music. There is in-built access to WiMP (HiRes) and Deezer online streaming services.
noughts and ones
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aving talked in basic terms about streaming, the elephant in the room, so to speak, is the serving. You need to have a centralised store of music that can be accessed by the replay device. For most streamers, the required protocol is a thing called Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). Any PC or Mac computer can offer this service quietly in the background and quite a lot of clever Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices can do it to varying levels of ability. This is a complex area, though, and it is worth delving a little before purchasing. Even Raspberry Pi offers an option for the technically savvy and a very cheap and effective server can be set up with their computer for the masses. Stand alone units exist that can do the disc copying, titling and serving in one seamless package. We carry a few of them and are familiar with the relative merits. The Naim Uniti Serve and HDX offer the best audio quality and, arguably, browsing experience, but they are quite costly.
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ith UPnP streaming, fresh thinking is required over what constitutes a cleaner signal path. Old analogue logic keeps raising its head when potential buyers talk of keeping everything close together with nice short cables. In truth, the data storage devices generally have noisy power supplies (noisy hard drives too) and are best kept some distance from the listening room. Wireless is great for controlling these systems but it’s not the best way to get the music to the playing device and a simple local wired ethernet network is inexpensive and reliable. The network data is transferred in what they call ‘packets’, which means that signals do not degrade in the same way as analogue connections. Still, Chord have some funky ethernet leads (left) to tempt!
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ne area that has raised its head quite frequently is that, if the data is on a computer, surely the cleanest audio path is simply to apply a Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) to the Mac or PC and use something familiar like, say iTunes to control it. It’s a popular way of working and has been the driving force behind the renaissance of what had been becoming one of audio’s footnotes: the DAC. The current crop of DACs including something baffling called Asynchronous USB do work very well indeed. Affordable offerings, such as the Arcam IR DAC give stupidly good results. The DAC of the moment, though, is the Chord Hugo. It has redefined what should be expected of a small portable product (also a headphone amp) costing an admittedly ‘premium’ £1400 by outclassing devices that cost thousands more. Ironically, for what is effectively a portable upgrade for the iPhone or laptop, it gives its most compelling performance fronted by serious digital source via a coaxial or optical digital link. Reports and discussion over the staggeringly good results obtained with Naim’s NDX streamer looked in danger of breaking the internet in June / July 2014! There is a gold from sand belief out there that clever DACs can rescue data and produce pristine sound from any digital source. This has never been true and the fundamental characteristics of digital sources never completely go away. Hugo is magnificent but always a whole lot more so when the source is every bit as good. Computers can muddy the waters here, because simple changes of data handling within the device, swapping to J-River from iTunes, for example, or running Audirvana can bring big improvements. To our ears, UPnP streaming still has the edge though.
terminal overstatement
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t would be reasonable to suppose, in the light of the preceding pages and the endless press reports of the terminal decline in CD sales, that the silver disk medium is already dearly departed. This is not entirely true! Whatever the prognosis, now is a terrific time to be buying CDs with prices lower than ever before. It’s also very logical to invest, since most downloaded music is below CD standard and a reasonable amount of the ‘hi res’ reissues are of debatable worth. I should say that newer recordings, native to HD, are a different thing entirely. The biggest news, though is that CD players are still finding buyers. Naim still make four different stand-alone players, three of them being upgradable with power supplies and two that can support external DAC upgrades. The newest one, CD5si, was released in the last year or so. Two of the Uniti products play discs directly. Rega have three CD players in the range, with Apollo-R and Saturn-R both being relatively new arrivals. The Saturn-R is actually presented as a fully featured DAC with computer friendly Asynchronous USB and a CD transport thrown in! Arcam have stand-alone disc players and their CD player / streamer will be in production by the time this is printed. Launched at our very own Audio Show East event, in fact. Chord still make a couple of players, as do Roksan. Indeed, the Roksan Caspian M2 CD Player is one of our more interesting recent arrivals.
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he Naim DAC V-1 is one of an increasing number of ‘niche’ headphone amps that are also DACs. The V-1 is intended to be used with ‘phones, directly into a power amplifier or as a line level source. The matching NAP100 power amp is pictured with it. It has an in-built Audiophilleo A-USB input for the computer and very good it sounds too. It can form the basis of a stand-alone system good enough for primary use or as a super system for the study. With a variety of digital inputs and remote control, it has proved to be something of a cult ‘hit’, and very suitable for the sitting room too.
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ow this product is getting something of a reaction! Super purist manufacturer, Naim, have already had a great deal of success with Uniti all-in-one (bar the speakers) systems. This is being taken one step further with the mu-so, a system that includes even the speakers in the single chassis. And, my word, it both looks and sounds the part. All digital amplification, masses of power and the familiar control interfaces for both IOS and Android devices. This is what the kitchen needs, stick it under the TV, have the best bedroom clock-radio. . . in the world. Ever. In this (real) world, this is probably all the hi-fi that a lot of people will ever want, too. Available in the Apple Store, John Lewis . . . and Signals!
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t is hard to imagine our business had there not been the chance conversation with Doug Graham, Naim’s Sales Director, around twelve years ago. Dealing with the team at Salisbury has been a remarkable experience, and in a good way. They have taught us much and our business has benefited hugely. So thanks go to them. I’d like to think that the symbiotic nature of our relationship (Doug will like this line) means that it has been almost as good for Naim as Signals. So, it’s 2014 and they have become the dominant serious audio brand in the UK. If any single item defines Naim, it has to be the amplifier. Not in the singular, mind you, the range is now enormous, stretching all the way to the astonishing Statement pre-power combo pictured below. Over our decade and a bit of selling their electronics we’ve had reason to stock almost everything they make. Our current demonstration portfolio ranges from the smallest phono stage to the 552 preamplifier and 500 Power amp, with all the bits in between. 2013 saw the introduction of revised versions of the entry point Nait5i amplifier, now si, the Nait XS-2 now the XS2 (too complicated to explain) and Supernait which got a ‘2’ suffix. Progress? Ish!
It used to be so simple. Great Nait5i amplifier, fantastic Nait XS, well worth the upgrade, and jack of all trades SuperNait with in-built DAC that left the purist trophy to the cheaper, nimbler XS. The story is now different with the SuperNait 2 all the better for losing the DAC and acquiring Discrete Regulator (DR) magic. It’s more powerful than before, as is the revised, more refined XS-2. The big Nait is now taking sales from its smaller brother. The new integrated amps are all top performers at their respective levels. There is a downside, though, in that they seem to have diverted eyes from the more accomplished pre-powers further up the range. Down-sizing is fine but segregation of boxes and power supplies was done for a good reason. Besides, the Supernait 2 is not, as some seem to believe, a NAC282 and NAP250 in a single chassis. The NAC202 / NAP200 which are next up the ladder will still show it a clean pair of heels in the clarity / dynamics / spirit department. The paradox here is that adding a NAP200 or 250 to one of the Uniti series has become a point of interest. And it can be worthwhile too, by the way. Naim’s big development a couple of years ago was the progression to DR and it effectively applied a substantial upgrade to most of the amplification range. If you have not had your HiCap2, Supercap, XPS, PS555 or 552PS upgraded, you really should consider it. Referring back to that pesky Supernait 2 for a moment might illustrate the relevance: The DR within it is so significant that adding an older HiCap2 power supply is a downgrade whereas a DR HiCap improves it greatly.
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hord Electronics (progenitors of Hugo!), are based in Maidstone, Kent. They are not to be confused with Chord Cables although their accounts departments are apparently well versed in swapping payments received in error. Since 1989, under the leadership of proprietor John Franks, Chord Electronics has been pushing the boundaries of innovation, creating some of the planet's finest hi-fi, home cinema and professional audio equipment. Chord Electronics' philosophy of ongoing evolution and refinement continues to deliver landmark audio products with extraordinary performance and unrivalled design features. Born from the highly demanding world of aircraft avionics, Chord Electronics maintains a commitment to exemplary engineering, cutting-edge technology and exceptional build quality. Designed for high performance over the long term, Chord products are renowned internationally for their advanced technology which is amongst the best in the world. Chord's collaboration since 1996 with Robert Watts, a digital design genius with 30 years' DAC technology development experience, has produced a number of advanced digital products that are, quite simply, without equal. Chord's achievements have been recognised in the media, too, with magazines and websites from around the world awarding Chord products the highest accolades. Chord's passion for sound quality and exemplary engineering continue to produce audio equipment with exceptional insight into recorded music. Sparkling clarity, unrivalled transparency and huge reserves of high-quality power are trademarks that have become synonymous with the brand. Chord is trusted and admired internationally, and its global customer base includes: the BBC; EMI's Abbey Road Studios (London); Sony Music Studios (New York) and Skywalker Sound to name but a few. They were a new arrival to us in 2013 but already we feel like old hands. As mentioned above, DACs have come to be seen as Chord’s particular forte for the the past couple of decades and it was these, along with the new streamer products, that first piqued our interest. Not to mention the very agreeable approach of Colin Pratt, their sales manager. Their DSX1000 streamer is capable of driving a power amp directly, so our first amplifier purchase was the SPM1200 MkII looming from the top of the page. The combination is effortless, open and extremely powerful in a very understated way. There is something of the character of passive controllers that we’ve used in years past and adding the CPA 3000 preamplifier brings increased authority, scale and vigour that we judged to be positive. Reassuringly, nothing seems to be lost in adding the extra layer. The more expensive CPA5000 brings even greater resolution, dynamics and clarity. We formed the rather convenient opinion that the lesser pre-amp still seemed somehow more in keeping with the DSX1000 and 1200. A particular Chord strength is in the portrayal of timbre and harmonics and it has the capacity to simply allow you to revel in the sound of a voice or instrument. Timing is very good, but it is not an aspect that is brought to your attention. It feels dangerous to rave about something, particularly when we have a strong and justifiable following for A N other maker but there is room in world for choice and we do feel that Chord have their own particular and very musical strengths that go rather further than simply not being the all conquering brand! One area where these products score unequivocably is in power and control. Need to drive some Magneplanar 3.7s? The SPM1200/II is will do it with guts, and to serious levels. To think it’s is only the second power amp up the range, too. . .
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rcam have had a rough old time in recent years. Their desire to focus on quality A/V, an area of the market abandoned by just about every other UK specialist manufacturer, coupled with some well documented reliability issues meant that there was not a lot to keep us engaged as a
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dealership. Other than in supporting the devices already sold, that is. In late 2013, one of our longstanding customers, really must offer him a chair next time he comes, asked about the new IR DAC. A quick chat with Arcam and we were trying out the A19 amplifier (it’s great) and playing with IR DAC which is arguably even better in terms of value.
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ith the arrival of Roksan, we now have all the main players in the quality £1500 £2000 amplifier stakes. The recently revamped Caspian M2 series features a superb CD player, complete with balanced audio outputs, the integrated amplifier beaming at you from above and a matching M2 power amp. Once upon a time, we had the luxury of being able to write in opinionated terms about the products I / we regarded as ‘best’. Now that we have Rega, Roksan and Naim, all different, all seriously good, with subtly different features, foibles, and cable preferences. Really, the partnering
So we are talking again. The vibe out there seems to be that revised manufacturing arrangements and fresh designs have put the old issues to bed. The next phase of the rehabilitation is to get some fresh blood into good old two channel. The new A/V receivers are well regarded and the top end unit uses a technology called “class G” for the power amplification. This is now in the new A49 integrated amplifier, pictured left, as well as the matching P49 power amp. There is a C49 pre as well. From a quick play, A49 is very good. Special, even. Certainly good enough to get our order for when production commences. We were touched when the idea was mooted of launching their brand new audiophile streamer / disc spinner at our August 2014 Audio Show East. This is really more a case of dates coinciding, but we are happy to revel in any kudos we can get. There is real cause for optimism. The excellent D33 DAC came out in 2012 but it looked lost, needing partners. Here they come!
equipment, coupled with your personal taste, will be the deciding factor. Sonic characteristics are punchy, fairly warm but decently clean and open. Essentially, I can truthfully reel off all the ‘woody’ words that make it sound friendly and appealing. You can specify black or silver for the fascia but the casework is in slightly brushed stainless steel whatever the choice. Looks great but does fingerprint somewhat. And while I’m slagging it off, this is Signals, after all, the handset is the work of Satan. Pale grey text on silver and 27,000 buttons. OK, I exaggerate and once you are used to it, the controls are logical enough. Besides, it sounds brilliant!
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ondon based Trilogy rolled onto the Signals shelves a couple of years ago. Nic Poulson is the principal designer of all Trilogy Audio Systems products. Reassuringly, they manufacture eveything in the UK. Nic’s background was originally in broadcast engineering, training with the BBC in the eighties. The corporation's legendary high standards made a deep impression on him. He learned that the way to achieve true quality is to strive for excellence in every area and accept nothing less. He went on to found Trilogy in 1992 and quickly earned a reputation for producing designs that reflected his core values of performance, reliability, pride of ownership and value for money. Nic’s designs can also be found in runway lighting systems, guiding aircraft safely to land at major airports across the UK. His success in the exacting industry of aviation is further confirmation of his breadth and versatility as a designer. Our initial interest was in the stunning 907 phono stage and it remains our ‘high water’ reference point despite being cheaper than several of the alternatives against which it has been judged. The 933 headphone amp is a stunning piece of kit too, able to drive just about any high end ‘phone you can think of. We have the 909 pre-amplifier and 990 power amp on permanent demonstration. The preamplifier is all tube (albeit with masses of solid state control electronics) and the power amplifier a hybrid with solid state at the output end. I mean this in the most positive way when I say that they are not especially tube-like. They simply perform like really good, open and honest components that don't allow their inherent refinement to 'slug' the musical performance. Proper 'hear through' components with a lively, spirited nature. At 100 WPC, there are decent power reserves, but the 990 is not a muscle amp. It will drive some awkward speakers, though. The Magneplanar MG3.7s spring to mind. On top of that, the PMC Fact 8's and Audioplan Kantatas sound utterly joyful on the end of them. There is now a more affordable pre-amp (908) and compact 992 monobloc power amps pictured here along with a new integrated amplifier launched at our own Audio Show East 2014 event.
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ega launched their RP8 turntable in 2011. A radical design, using structural foam, it is essentially a skeletal deck designed to sit inside a framework that renders it utterly normal and, visually, unexeptional. Combining the benefits of a purist stripped bare design with the convenience of a lid and domestically acceptable normality says much about Roy Gandy’s approach. Add in the package deal with the impressively open and agile sounding Apheta cartridge (definately a synergistic match) and they had a sales success on their hands. Running into our Naim 500 system with Trilogy 907 stage feeding Kudos Titans, the RP8 was judged by several listeners to be the best turntable we’d ever had.
ven beyond turntables, Rega are on something of a roll at the moment, having updated their entire range of amplifiers in the last couple of years. Unusually, all of them, even the high end Osiris, are integrated units. Electronics designer, Terry Bateman, may have been busy, but he still finds time to leave bizarre or just plain cryptic messages on the circuit boards. The lovely new Elex-R integrated amplifier was launched mid 2014. It comes between the Apollo-R and Elicit-R products. The message on the board extols the virtues of EL34 valves. Is it valve based? Nah. The Saturn DAC (with a CD player chucked in for free) matches both the Elicit and Elex visually whilst the half-width Apollo-R visually matches the Brio (above).
A year or so later, the glass plattered, basic power supplied RP8 is joined by the ceramic plattered, supercomplex power supplied and better armed RP10 on a similar ‘chassis. First of all let’s get one thing out of the way: the ceramic platter will not fit on the RP8, the power supply will not plug into it and we’ve not tried swapping tonearms just to see. The RP10 (above) is a lot like an 8 but images bigger, is cleaner and is more resolving. Opinions? Here? Nah. We like them both, you decide! Perhaps unsurprisingly, from a company who also make turntables, the in-built moving magnet phono stages in all the amps are of extremely high quality. Moving up a level, and adding access to MC cartridges, the new Aria phono stage is brilliant. A superb device, with adjustable loadings spanning MM and MC. The range refresh extends right down to the headphone amplifier (called Ear, naturally) and the sub £100 Fono Mini which has a USB output, potentially handy for those wishing to copy records to digital format. The Apollo CD is terrific value and the new top-loading Saturn is definitely one of the best CD players around at the price. Crumbs you even get a free A-USB DAC. Oops, sorry, it’ s the other way around. Beyond the upper level turntables, the affordable tradition is maintained with the entry point RP1, which includes a Rega Carbon cartridge, offering impressive value for money. RP3 and RP6 come further up the range and again, high value products. The speaker range is excellent and is always held on demonstration. They work well with other makes of electronics too. With the revised Couple 2 interconnect and new Duet speaker cable, an all Rega system now sounds better than ever.
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or turntables, besides Rega, we have Nottingham Analogue and Linn. Great as the NA decks are, and we’ve sold a few of them this year, nothing new has happened, so no news to report. Linn, on the other hand, have released the Kore sub-chassis which is manufactured from an aluminum box-section and has a bonded alloy arm board. It looks a lot like the keel from outside, forms the basis of a very cost-effective upgrade for existing turntables and we are more than happy to bring joy to your life! All new turntables have a version of this sub-chassis but with the standard, rather than bonded arm-board. For the more adventurous, we have the full Radikal (DC motor / power supply) and Urika (in-built phono stage) that shares the same PSU. On demonstration with LP12 decks that can be specified to any point on the Linn ladder. Tiger Paw and, now, Tangerine make some great top plate and arm weight upgrades. It’s a long story, so best discussed, but we can demonstrate and fit these too. Latest versions of the Ekos SE arm have a slightly longer headshell, aiding fitment of non-Linn cartridges. Lyra, Kiseki and Transfigurations all fit and work very nicely indeed. Transfiguration? Oh yes, this has been another new cartridge brand arrival. Having got ourselves into an acquisitive frame of mind, we found it hard to draw the line. The baby of the range, Axia, is more of a direct Lyra alternative than the Kiseki. A little cleaner and more focused that the (cheaper) Lyra Delos, its particular strong suit is bass weight and control. Turntable matching has, so far, revealed no issues and it certainly suits Linn As always, we recommend that customers hear what they may be buying, so we are happy to establish the best product by way of demonstration. We remain Lyra dealers but the supply situation has been so tight over the past year or so that we have broadened our scope a little. In fact, Lyra also make the Linn Kandid which has a massive waiting list. Our cartridge demonstration portfolio is therefore: Dynavector (wide range), Kiseki, Linn, Lyra, Ortofon, Rega, Sumiko, and Transfiguration.
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iseki was a welcome new arrival in 2014. A well-established Japanese cartridge maker that suddenly released ‘New Old Stock” products followed by some differently designed New Stock (NS) ones. Andy fitted the Blue NS to our Nottingham Dais / Ace Anna combination (Trilogy 907 etc.) and we were utterly mesmerised by what we heard. Genuinely breathtaking stuff. with not just detail being dredged out of familiar recordings but real live people playing with spirit and commitment. And on instruments that themselves seemed to have more in the way of harmonics, textures and pure musicality than we could recall hearing before. We sent it straight back. Obviously :)
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h yes, Linn. Manufacturers of probably the world’s most famous turntable. It even has its own organised religion! Linn also make digital streamers, amplification and loudspeakers, together with producing the most relaxed ‘lifestyle’ pictures in the business. Even if they do have me aching to point out that the system either does not work or has had the cables air-brushed away. Currently, besides various flavour of Sondek LP12, we have the electronics at Majik and Akurate level. DSM products were introduced a year or two ago and they allow complete integration of analogue and digital sources and allow control via Apple, PC or Android devices. For the Majik this takes the form of a single box audio system (plus speakers). For Akurate, the DSM unit is a streamer and analogue preamplifier with a separate power amp. We’ve had particularly good results using Audioplan, Kudos and PMC loudspeakers with them. In fact the combination of Majik DSM with Kudos C10s was a proper discovery, sounding impressively well balanced and lucid. The Akurate power amplifiers can be specified with up to four channels, allowing bi-amplification in stereo. Bi-amping the PMC fact 8 and 12s certainly brought startling levels of proper musical improvement over the single option. The big arrival of 2014 has been Akurate Exakt. The Klimax version came out in 2013. This changes the replay process by sending the musical data via CAT5 cable to the speakers where all decoding, DSP and amplification is performed. With this system, the speaker is first set to a flat response (taking account of individual driver variances) and then adjustments made for room characteristics and speaker positioning. All this happens in the digital domain and it looks to be both clever and promising. We have yet to try it here, though. Pictured top to bottom
Majik system Akurate Exakt system Akurate DSM
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s mentioned overleaf, PMC products, particularly at ‘fact’ level, have proved very compatible with Linn electronics. The ultra clean ‘lifestyle’ looks of the fact series help their case too. Last summer saw the arrival of the high end fact 12 loudspeakers. Big brother to the similarly styled fact 8 and more accomplished in every way, the 12 is a three way device with PMCs superb dome midrange unit and the two deceptively muscular bass drivers working in parallel. When done well, the gains from a proper three way speaker outweigh the pitfalls of added complexity and the 12 is a very successful implementation of the design. As with all PMC products, the bass loading is Advanced Transmission Line (ATL). Tall, skinny and fairly deep, they offer Scandinavian looks and superb finish. It’s easy to dismiss a product that looks so visually appealing as being lifestyle eye candy. These are the real deal as a very serious speaker. As with all products, compatibility is the key and, whilst they suit the top end 500 series Naim electronics much better than the 8, there is still a sense, certainly in our room, that things are getting a little bit ‘dry’ at this level. Naim’s slightly looser electronics, such as NAP300, work very well indeed and our experience with Chord (SPM1200/II) and Trilogy are entirely positive.
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udos has been a Signals favourite since Derek Gilligan branched out on his own in 2006. The Titan T88 is the most expensive speaker that we sell but it is also, in our opinion and, particularly when used with top end Naim electronics, one of the very best. Despite fairly controversial looks, it has been astonishingly successful for us, able to work in a wide range of rooms and with more than just Naim kit too. As with others in the range, the finish is top-notch and the potential to have exotic veneers has added serious brownie points. The more modest pair of floor-standers pictured here are the Super 20, top of the three virtually identical looking Cardea series of floor-standers. Along with the sibling stand-mount Super 10, these have much of the Titan quality in a significantly smaller package. Though generally perceived as a Naim-centric range, the reality is that Kudos speakers work in other environments too, giving successful results with Linn, Chord, Rega, Roksan, Trilogy and Herron (bet we threw you with the last one). This is expected to remain true for the new X3, a more compact floor-standing speaker. Pre-production examples were shown at Bristol in February ‘14 with the final versions making their debut at our own Audio Show East. Sadly, no professional shots are available at the time of writing, so imagine the boxes on the left. But smaller.
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coustic Energy is a very new addition to the Signals portfolio. We have the extremely high value low priced 100 and 300 series. These start with ultra compact but surprisingly capable 101 stand-mounters finished in black or walnut woodgrain wrap and the very similar 301 in much higher quality gloss black or white lacquer. There are floor-standers, centre channel speakers and sub-woofers in the range too. The quality of build and finish on both is excellent but the sound quality is the surprise. Extended weighty bass, clean, dynamic open and refined. These are genuinely fun to listen to. Ideal for use with the Simple Audio, with which we have a special package deal, or any good quality amplifier such as Rega Brio-R, Naim Uniti Qute or Uniti Lite.
e’ve been stocking German brand Audioplan for a year or two now. We have two models. The Kantata stand-mount shown here and the Kontrast floor-standers. We used the Kontrasts at our Hi-Fi show in 2013 powered by Trilogy and they drew a lot of very positive comment, not least from the guys at Trilogy who were bowled over by them. Both come with Audioplan’s special non-spike feet and the Kantata comes with a special very low mass aluminum stand painted in Nextel. Using the Kantatas in our smaller room on the end of the Trilogy amplification has been revelatory stuff. Extremely capable top to bottom with stunning dynamics, scale, imaging and bass that seems unrestricted in terms of weight, extension and quality by the compact cabinetry.
ega have provided us with our most popular range of affordable but ‘serious’ loudspeakers. It is telling that we have two pairs of demonstration RS5s so that Andy can have a set at home. The range extends from the compact stand-mount RS1 through 3 and 5 to the large transmission-line loaded RS7. The fairly new high end RS10 is a significantly more complex and expensive affair and it uses a Balanced Mode Radiator for midrange duties. The compact RS3 and slightly chunkier RS5 below form the backbone of our Rega speaker sales. Well matched to their own electronics, as you would expect, they are also suit Naim, Arcam, Linn and Roksan very well.
nother speaker previewed at Bristol in 2014 was the PMC Twenty 26. It’s a substantial floor-stander at the very top of the Twenty series, replacing the final remaining ‘i’ series product, the PB1i, and doing it in style too. Driver complement is very different to the others, with only the tweeter carrying over from the rest of the range. It has a version of the PMC soft dome mid-range driver and 7” doped bass driver. This proper three way design, which can be tri-amped, is a real contender at the sub £6000 price point. We have the Twenty series on demonstration (including the home theatre centre speaker) along with fact 8 and, last years new arrival, fact 12.
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aim launched the Ovator series in 2009. This started with the 600 which was joined by the 400 about a year later and, in 2013, by the massive 800. These are radical speakers which use a flat wide bandwith Balanced Mode Radiator to cover everything from around 400 Hz upwards. Unlike previous Naim designs the Ovators work in free space, although as little as 6-8 inches from a boundary can work with the 400. The 600 and 800 can be specified for active use and there are SNAXO crossovers available for them. Naim loudspeaker designs have always been ‘Marmite’. Strike that. Any interesting loudspeaker will polarise opinion, and these are no different. The ‘love’ lobby say things like “they don’t sound of loudspeaker”. You decide!
agneplanar make ribbon panel speakers. They are not electrostatic designs but do have quite a lot in common with them. Starting off with the distinctly affordable MG12 and slightly larger MG1.7, we have achieved some wonderful commercial own-goals in selling a speaker far cheaper that the customer was considering. Transparency, refinement and realisim are strengths. Bass wallop and grip, scary dynamics not so much their bag. These sound completely different from the Ovator yet, bizarrely, have quite a lot in common too. Up to 1.7 level most amplifiers are fine, above that, they become quite hard to drive well. In fact, the desire to get the large MG3.7is sounding special was part of the process that led us to Chord. . .
eat’s Motive range, now in revised "SX" form, really has stood the test of time. All share the same 5.5" doped paper bass / mid driver and (revised) anodised inverted dome tweeter. There has been significant development work and these new products are more grown-up and refined, removing the need for the previous 'SE' version. Their relative lack of placement sensitivity is very un-Neat, not to say, most welcome. As before, all are clean, dynamic and musical with the sort of mid range resolution that affordable loudspeakers rarely manage to achieve. Reviews of the SX range have been positively effusive, so buyers can be reasssured.
ocal loudspeakers have made a reappearance at Signals Towers. We had a frustrating relationship with them in the past because, good as they are, they never seemed quite right with Naim. And we don’t half do a lot with them! The great merger of 2012 was between these two brands and the upshot is that the new high quality, but affordable, Aria range most certainly does suit Salisbury’s finest. Not entirely surprising, since Naim was used in the development. Range comprises 906 stand-mount and 926, 936 and 948 floor stander. The future synergy between the brands looks distinctly promising and Focal Utopias are seen as the default choice for demonstrating the new Naim Statement amplification.
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eadphones are the fastest growing area in audio. Suddenly it’s cool, apparently, to wander around outdoors with enormous ‘phones on your head. Even ignoring the fashion market, serious personal listening has never been so popular and here we fococus on Sennheiser, one of the largest manufacturers of proper ‘serious’ headphones, and in the 800 series in particular. The HD 800 phones pictured above are one of the reference phones that we keep on permanent demonstration. Light, comfortable, incredibly resolving and ‘open’ in character, they have proved to be easy to drive, making them compatible with many of the headphone amplifiers that people actually buy. Mind you, their own HDVD800 DAC / amp below, is one
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of the very best out there. Add the optional CH800 balanced cable for the HD800 and you can take advantage of the increased clarity and dynamics that balanced operation brings to them. Maintaining the ‘800’ theme to the end, are the fantastically fabulous IE 800 inears. These high end ‘phones are worthy of something commensurately pricey but they also bring an iPhone to life. They come with a range of silicone earbuds to fit most users. To be sure, we have a demo pair that can be tried. These possess astonishing bass weight, refinement and clarity. Musical too. Feeling the love? As Club Orpheus dealers, we also have some more modestly priced Sennheiser (and other) alternatives too!
Signals are dealers for: Acoustic Energy, Anthem, Arcam, Audioplan, Chord Company, Chord Electronics, Dynavector, Focal, Hutter, Isoblue, Kiseki, Kudos Audio, Lehmann Audio, Linn Products, Lyra, Naim Audio, Neat Acoustics, Ortofon, Nottingham Analogue, PMC, Primare, Rega, Roksan, Sennheiser, Simple Audio, Something Solid, Sumiko, Transfiguration, Trilogy, Wireworld
Signals UK Ltd., 6 St Mary's Park, Bucklesham, Ipswich, IP10 0DY tel 01473 655171 + 655172 www.signals.uk.com enq@signals.uk.com We also lurk on facebook and twitter