light edition - December 2013
hi-fi for grown-ups grows up Welcome to the latest edition of the ‘light’ version of our consistently irregular indoctrination booklet. During the last two days of August 2013 we had a ‘do’ at the Trinity Events Centre in the Suffolk Showground. This Hi-Fi Show, and it really was a surprisingly grown-up affair involving six proper dem rooms, celebrated our suppliers and customers, surviving 20 years of our existence. Our visitors seemed relaxed and stayed, well, at least until we unlocked the doors, to hear a wide variety of products including some that were either very new (PMC Fact 12, Naim Ovator 800) or yet to be released (Rega Saturn DAC-with-a-CD). Mainly, though, our guests appeared to enjoy chatting, listening to music, drinking teas, coffees and beers. Oh, and munching the excellent cake. Thanks to all who came and to the suppliers who supported us, far too many to list. Thanks too, to everyone who has kept our little business bobbing along. I’m afraid it’s ‘Oscars’ time: The brilliant customers, my long suffering wife, Rhea, daughter Ellie who lost a childhood to Hi-Fi (but did OK!) and Andy, our loyal and hard-working co-director who has contributed massively to what has been a surprisingly successful decade since he joined. So another year has gone by, what to tell you? The following pages give a very condensed run-down. Some products deserve their own sections but space constraints beat us. Nottingham Analogue is alive and well. We have both Ace Space and Dais turntables here along with arms. Lyra Delos and Kleos cartridges have been excellent partners for both Linn and Nottingham decks and Dynavectors have remained popular, and rather more freely available, too. We have a wide range of Lehmann Audio phono stages and headphone amplifiers, both in stock and for audition. Trilogy electronics continue to impress and the headphone amplifier and phono stage have been particular favourites. A new lower cost pre-power combo made its first public appearance at our show and it should be available very early 2014. Finally, a little aside, the other day a customer refered to playing music on a ‘vinyl player’. I felt very old.
Forty, it’s the new . . .
First of the iconic brands to hit the big fouroh this year was Naim. They had a party to celebrate too. So thanks to them for a most splendid ‘bash’ back in the heady days of summer. Middle age has not slowed Naim down, in fact there is a real sense of momentum down in Salisbury. In 2013 we have had the arrival of the high end Ovator 800 loudspeakers, revised software for the streaming products with additional features now woven in, such as the ability to share the same music simultaneously over various zones in ‘party mode’. The big news, though, was three new amplifiers: The Nait 5si joins the CD5si to make a very fine introduction to Naim’s products. Beefier, cleaner and more ‘sorted’ than the already excellent Nait 5i mkII, it even has a headphone socket. A new Nait XS-2 (the old one was called XS-2 as well, so eBay is having a melt-down) moves the game forward in a broadly similar way. More muscular and ‘fleshed out’ than before and also with a headphone socket. We were never great fans of the old SuperNait. It had much to commend it with the in-built DAC but as a ‘straight’ amplifier our recommendation was always the cheaper XS. The new Supernait 2 has gone purist. Stripped of a DAC and extraneous buttons, it now has the new DR power supplies and is genuinely brilliant. Headphone socket? Yawn. Yes. It does not suddenly outclass the 202/200 and pre-powers above, but it holds its head very high. We carry the entire Naim range from UnitiQute to 500 series on demonstration. Two of the three Ovators are here (the 800s are a wee bit big!) We also have all the CD players. Despite the dominance of streaming, we are seeing a steady, if diminished, market for silver disc players.
Rega’s Party Planar
See what I did there? 2013 has witnessed a fair amount of new products from still-booming Rega. Above is the limited edition 40th anniversary RP3, sorry, RP40, a sort of optimised go-faster version of the RP3 turntable complete with a matched and liveried up TT-PSU. Buy it while you can. From us . . . please! The new and quite radical RP8 turntable had a bumpy start in life at the turn of the year with production only hitting full swing in the Autumn. The package price with the Apheta cartridge is deeply appealing and the combination sounds magical. The deck suits the cartridge and vice-versa. Proper synergy and a high end performer at a mid-range price, in our humble opinion. One was auctioned for charity in Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s RED Auction. It hit $40,000. And is going to a home in London. The new Aria phono stage is terrific, the new cables excellent and affordable. All in keeping with Rega’s down to earth philosophy. The new Elicit amplifier is a powerful and very competitive alternative to Naims all-dominating Nait XS-2 and, just arrived, we have the Saturn DAC too. It sports asynchronous USB and a CD player for good measure. All looking good but writing this leaflet is taking precedence! 2014 will see the arrival of the RP10. It’s similar to the RP8 in structure but has a new higher-end arm, ceramic platter and improved power supply. A cost-no-object top end turntable, the Naiad is still in the offing and a lower cost than Apheta, as yet unnamed, moving coil cartridge is promised too.
Linn to the kore
Linn, also turning forty, have introduced a sort of “keel lite” sub-chassis/arm board upgrade for the LP12. It’s made from a combination of folded box-section aluminium and a machined arm-board made from a single billet in the Linn factory, the basis is also the new standard sub-chassis for all new turntables. Very good it is too. We have the skills and parts to bring your
We might not be huge in home cinema but we do stock some impressive products. The Anthem’s electronics are considered best in class and the new MRX510 and 710 receivers are now in stock. We have been very impressed with Sony projectors. The VW-55ES is here and the 4k 500ES available too.
Spring 2013’s arrival was Chord Electronics. Amazing DACs, an excellent streamer and amps that can move mountains. Well, that will drive these bleeding difficult Magneplanar MG 3.7s, amongst other serious speakers. Quality stuff built in blighty and just that bit different in presentation too.
A year or two ago we took on Audioplan, a very specialist German speaker manufacturer. We liked the Kontrasts best but bought smaller Kantata stand-mounts. We were silly. The Kontrasts are extremely competitive speakers around the £6k mark so we now have both on demonstration.
With Focal now very closely allied to Naim, their speakers seem to be becoming rather better suited to the Salisbury made electronics. Terrific with the Uniti range and above, the new Focal Aria series with flax drivers is a real hit with a well judged balance that does not try to be too analytical.
One of the stars of our summer Hi-Fi Show, the new slim and pretty but very high end Fact 12s are now here on permanent demonstration. The 12s suit top-ofthe-tree Naim electronics too. Beyond the Facts, PMC have been winning awards for their excellent Twenty series too. Again, it’s all here . . .somewhere.
One of the most keenly anticipated products of 2013, the Kudos Super 20 builds on the success of the lovely Super 10. It’s a fine speaker but it does not eclipse its stand-mount sibling either. Both are here, along with the full range, right up to Titan level. Now, these Titans really are something special!
Sondek up to date and, in addition to Linn products, have the excellent Tiger Paw Khan top plate and sKale counterweight upgrades on hand too. Talk to us if you are looking to make some improvements. For electronics, we have the Majik and
Akurate streamers and amplification. In terms of functionality, these products are hard to beat and, with the right speakers (Kudos and PMC have both given memorably good results) they really can sound the business too. The Majik DSM / Kudos C10 combo is particularly compelling. “Does it actually get any better than this?” asked one customer. For 2014 we are led to expect some serious developments with the ‘exakt’ technology, which puts the entire audio chain within the speaker, filtering further down the range to Akurate level.
Headphones have become big business and one of the largest players in this market is Sennheiser. Last year, we discovered the joys of the high end HD800 ‘phones and this year we have been seduced by the HDVD-800 headphone amplifier / DAC. Besides looking I-want-it-what-is-it? cool, it also sounds exceptional with the 800 and other ‘phones. Swap to the unique balanced lead for the ‘800s and the ability improves still further. In stock and on demonstration. The new IE800 in-ear ‘phones offer a fantastic level of performance from an iPod / iPhone, albeit at a price. We have a pair here too that you can try. More inexpensively, Momentum and Momentum ‘On’ ‘phones (above) both sound great and maintain control of the Apple products via the in-line buttons on the jack cable.
posh CHORDs return
I’ll try to spare you too much of the usual angst. We are enthusing about something irresponsibly and unjustifiably expensive. The Chord Sarum Tuned Aray (yes that’s how they spell it) is a cable that seems to work in an unusually wide range of systems. It all remains subjective, of course, but the general consensus is that Sarum TA is a very good thing. Even in a Naim system. From mains cables through interconnects to speaker cables, we have had some stunning results in various situations. You are welcome to give them a try. Not for too long, though. They get missed! Other, more affordable Chords are here too, by the way, including Signature TA, Indigo TA and Epic Reference.
Signals supply and install audio, home theatre, smart lighting, control and multi-room products. But mainly, just really good music systems. Visiting is by appointment, please, and it is greatly appreciated if visitors use the gravelled parking area.
signals hi-fi for grown-ups
American made Audeze (oddeasy) has been making serious inroads into the high end ‘phone market over the past few years. What were once secret products are becoming well known. The two established models, LCD 2 and LCD 3 have just been joined by the LCD X and LCD XC, the ‘C’ denotes a closed back. All other models are open designs. We know and like the LCD 2 and 3 but have yet to get hold of the X or XC. All use planar drivers with more in common with electrostatic or ribbon speakers than conventional ‘phones. The balance tends towards the rich and vibrant or, as one reviewer put it, sumptuous. The overall feel reinforces this with soft leathers (or vegan alternatives) and wooden ear-cups. They are described as offering an easy resistive load. Nevertheless, as with other headphones, they still work better with some headphone amps than others and we have been particularly impressed with them on the Chord and Trilogy headphone amps. It’s rather academic, but an iPhone won’t quite cut it!
Signals UK ltd 6 St Mary’s Park Bucklesham Ipswich IP10 0DY Tel Email Web
01473 655171 enq@signals.uk.com www.signals.uk.com
Anthem, Arcam, Audioplan, Audeze, Audio Technica, Creek, Chord Company, Dynavector, Epos, Focal, Hutter, Isoblue, Kudos Audio, Linn Products, Lyra, MusicWorks, Naim Audio, Neat, Ortofon, Nottingham Analogue, PMC, Primare, Rega, Something Solid, Stands Unique, Sumiko, Tiger Paw, Trilogy, Wireworld