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Fell Audio’s Amazon tie-up brings affordable British-made hi-fi to millions

24 April 2025, Carlisle, Cumbria: Fell Audio, the disruptive new British hi-fi manufacturer shaking up the market with its remarkably affordable, UK-made hi-fi, is now available on Amazon UK.

This strategic expansion introduces Fell Audio’s British built CD player and amplifier to a vast audience, with the benefits, familiarity and convenience of Amazon’s shopping platform within a relatively sparse hi-fi landscape, positioning Fell Audio as Amazon UK’s only British hi-fi offerings.

Designed to demystify hi-fi for newcomers and offer exceptional value for seasoned enthusiasts alike, Fell Audio’s products are proudly manufactured in Britain. The Fell Disc CD player (£499) and the Fell Amp integrated amplifier (£599) combination is the most affordable UK-made hi-fi system currently available; a streamer will also be available later in 2025.

Each product is backed by Fell Audio’s industry-leading five-year warranty, demonstrating the brand’s commitment to quality.

This move complements Fell Audio’s existing sales channels, including its website and Peter Tyson’s online store, telesales, and physical retail locations in the North of England.

Amazon advantages for buyers

Music lovers can enjoy the convenience and familiarity of Amazon’s user-friendly platform which allows for seamless browsing, selection and purchase from an accustomed interface. Customers can also benefit from Amazon UK’s fast and reliable delivery service, including options for next-day or same-day delivery in select locations, plus Amazon Prime UK members can take advantage of potential exclusive benefits such as free and expedited shipping.

Amazon UK also offers a variety of payment methods, including credit/debit cards, Amazon Pay, and gift cards, providing customers with flexibility and ease during the checkout process.

Commenting on the Amazon UK deal, Fell Audio’s Product and Design Lead Luke Tyson said, “For newcomers to high-performance audio, buying hi-fi for the first time can seem daunting, expensive or too technical. Fell Audio’s products, with their intuitively labelled capacitive-touch buttons, were designed with newcomers in mind and reaching these newcomers on Amazon UK, one of the world’s largest and most trusted marketplaces, makes perfect sense.

”The traditional approach of selling hi-fi through high-street shops is becoming increasingly difficult with many retailers moving high-end to survive. Larger operations, such as Fell Audio’s parent company, Peter Tyson, have successfully invested time and resources over the last decade to bring their retail experience online, serving hi-fi communities less able to visit shops. Amazon UK represents the next step in online for Fell Audio, offering the product to millions of UK users.”

More about Fell Audio

Launched in November 2024, family-owned-and-run start-up Fell Audio debuted with two new products: the Fell Disc CD player and a feature-packed integrated amplifier, the Fell Amp. A music streamer is set to follow in 2025.

British manufacturing at entry-level prices distinguishes Fell Audio from competitors, giving the company an extraordinarily competitive edge in terms of quality. With unparalleled affordability and great sound, Fell Audio’s offerings are compelling for newcomers and established audiophiles with an eye for a bargain.

Price and availability

The Fell Disc (£499) and Fell Amp (£599) are available in the UK only (Europe and beyond will follow in 2025) via the Fell Audio website, from Peter Tyson online, in-store and via telesales, and from Amazon UK.

Out of The Box – Mon Acoustics

Our ‘Out of the Box’ Series features companies who might slip through the net from time to time. Companies with something more than hot air, who make loudspeakers but make them with a rare passion that drives them and shapes the products they design and build.

When did you start the company?
March of 2022 

Is making a loudspeaker an ‘art’ or a ‘science’?

Designing loudspeakers is a fascinating blend of both art and science. On the science side, it’s all about precision and accuracy, using principles of physics and acoustics to ensure accurate sound production. For instance, Hoffman’s Iron Law highlights the technical juggling required to optimise bass extension, efficiency, or enclosure size, particularly given our speakers’ compact designs. Advanced tools help us measure frequency response and distortion, which is especially important as we use aluminium materials for our cabinets.

The art side involves subjective adjustments by ear, making the sound not just accurate but emotionally engaging. This process translates the scientific aspects into the attack time, sustaining phase, and release time of sound, creating the unique DNA of Mon Acoustic speakers. The design of the speaker enclosure is also an art form, aiming for visual appeal that complements various interior spaces. Ultimately, making a loudspeaker is an interplay between science and art—technical accuracy balanced with emotional and aesthetic elements.

What makes your loudspeakers different to other brands?

At Mon Acoustic, our loudspeakers combine a deep passion for music with cutting-edge technology. Designed in South Korea, our speakers deliver precise, harmonically pleasing sound even in confined spaces. The SuperMon Mini speakers exemplify this philosophy, offering top-tier technology and audio quality in a compact design. The PlatiMon VC1 provides a wide, deep soundstage with crisp imaging, while the PlatiMon VC2 offers unparalleled adjustable tunability with options to customize the listening experience. Our commitment to natural sound is reflected in our name, Mon Acoustic, blending approachable luxury with superior sound quality.

What challenges do you face in making and selling loudspeakers?

Balancing technical precision with emotional resonance, sourcing premium materials, and building brand exposure are key challenges. As a new brand, gaining exposure and trust is difficult, but growing sales channels and dealer connections give us optimism.

Where do you hope the company will be in five or ten years?

We envision Mon Acoustic becoming a globally recognized leader in high-fidelity audio, expanding our product range, strengthening international market presence, and fostering a community of audio enthusiasts.  

Mon Acoustics

 

Out of The Box – Lyngdorf Audio

Our ‘Out of the Box’ Series features companies who might slip through the net from time to time. Companies with something more than hot air, who make loudspeakers but make them with a rare passion that drives them and shapes the products they design and build.

When did you start the company?

Lyngdorf Audio was founded 2005 in Denmark and initially started with its DNA products, fully digital amplifiers
and a digital room calibration
named RoomPerfect. The first loudspeakers followed soon after and included a very unusual open dipole speaker. Today, we also have multichannel processors, power amplifiers and installation speakers for home cinemas. On top of that we have a long-standing collaboration with the piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons to create extraordinary loudspeakers and complete audio systems of the highest quality. 

Is making a loudspeaker an ‘art’ or a ‘science’?

Technically it is mostly science and measurements, but then every loudspeaker from every manufacturer would be very similar. Loudspeakers are much more interesting than that, so it also involves some creative thinking, literally out of the box, both acoustically as well as aesthetically. 

What makes your loudspeakers different to other brands?

Maybe typical for a Danish brand, we first think of living rooms when we think about loudspeakers. How and where would people place the speakers? Most people don’t live in an anechoic chamber! With many of our speakers and woofers we follow an acoustic idea that works with the room, not against it. 

What challenges do you face in making and selling loudspeakers?

Loudspeakers are often chosen by size, paper specs, and price points. However, once placed in someone’s home, what really matters evening after evening is the music performance and the aesthetics. This means loudspeakers need to be experienced, and work well in real rooms. 

Where do you hope the company will be in five or ten years?

Modern homes and rooms become less acoustically ideal, and today people also want to hide tech or integrate it in a smarter way. Lyngdorf Audio can lead this way with its advanced RoomPerfect room calibration, digital amplifiers with integrated streaming and sound customisation, and extraordinary loudspeakers. We have also developed several installation speakers to complement our benchmark-setting Lyngdorf AV processors, and every year we see more and more fascinating multichannel projects – not only for movies, but also for immersive Pure Audio or Dolby Atmos Music experiences. 

Where can consumers hear about your products and find out more?

We have dedicated Lyngdorf Audio retailers where a product demo can be arranged, but also our Lyngdorf Audio website shows some inspiring cases and rooms.  Of course there’s also our Find a Dealer page.  

Lyngdorf Audio

Out of The Box – Linkwitz

Our ‘Out of the Box’ Series features companies who might slip through the net from time to time. Companies with something more than hot air, who make loudspeakers but make them with a rare passion that drives them and shapes the products they design and build.

When did you start the company?
LINKWITZLAB started with first publication in Wireless World, London, 1978.

Is making a loudspeaker an ‘art’ or a ‘science’?

Actually both, the physics and psychoacoustics are science, while I’d consider the  cosmetic design (within the boundaries of physics) as an art form.

What makes your loudspeakers different to other brands?

1. The full range dipole radiation pattern, not just open baffle. And far from box speakers´radiation pattern. This leads to an unrivalled life-like and believable soundstage presentation. Furthermore you can expect the legendary powerful dipole bass , with 66% less room node excitation and separate toe-in feature for optimizing in-room setup.

2. The absence of resonating boxes or even resonating air columns (like in ported speakers). This avoids coloration and thus avoids distraction of our brain. 

3. An all analogue signal path with a phase-coherent active crossover and 10 channel amplification. Each driver is fed by his own amplifier. An easy load for the amplifier. It avoids frequency dependent load changes.

4. Dedicated high quality dipole drivers, long stroke, ultra low distortion.

5. The purely form follow function look with high tech materials, ranging from Panzerholz-Alu Sandwich via Panzerholz Walnut veneered to dampening transparent acrylic. 

What challenges do you face in making and selling loudspeakers?

Supply chain issues during Covid pandemic. Spreading the word is crucial in order to be seen.

Where do you hope the company will be in five or ten years?

Hopefully still among the best manufacturers worldwide.

Where can consumers hear about your products and find out more?

At worldwide audio shows like Chicago, Munich , Washington, Singapore and in more than 20 LINKWITZ Lounges worldwide.  

Linkwitz Lounges

KEF LS60 Wireless Active floorstanding loudspeaker streaming system

What’s better than a wireless all-in-one audio system? A wireless all-in-two audio system, that’s what – because true stereo sound is a joy forever. And while it might not have got in on the ground floor where wireless all-in-two audio systems are concerned, KEF didn’t have to sprint up too many flights of stairs to get into the elevator – ever since 2017’s LS50 Wireless, the company has been there-or-thereabouts whenever the conversation turns to ‘wireless convenience without sacrificing authentic hi-fi quality sound’. 

On a pound-for-pound basis, the performance of the current KEF wireless streaming system line-up is hard to lay a glove on. It doesn’t do any harm that every model in the line-up is, to a lesser or greater extent, visually quite individual and interesting, too. But the company has taken things to the next level with the LS60 Wireless – the company bills it as ‘wireless hi-fi speakers’, but we all know the truth. This is a wireless all-in-two streaming system – just on a larger scale than we’ve become used to from KEF.

Lifestyle appeal

Of course, it’s the vexed notion of ‘lifestyle’ that’s a big part of the appeal of the whole all-in-two wireless streaming system market – or, at least, the lack of disruption thereof. Any number of music lovers struggle to accommodate a full-on, full-size audio system – too expensive, too ugly, too big, too jarring when introduced into otherwise carefully considered interior design vocabulary. KEF gives every indication of understanding this entirely – and so before any discussion of how the LS60 Wireless performs, it’s perfectly valid to consider the way it looks.

These are extraordinarily slender loudspeakers – ignore their stabilising plinths and they’re just 13cm wide. Name a narrower floorstanding speaker. Not easy, is it? Even when you take the plinths into account, they’re just 21cm across – and so they’re hardly about to stick their oar too assertively into your interior decor choices. And the selection of matte finishes – ‘carbon’ black, ‘mineral’ white, ‘titanium’ grey and ‘royal’ blue, with ‘Lotus Edition’ British racing green as a cost option – does no harm whatsoever when it comes to delivering a harmonious look. Add in the drama of the driver array in each skinny tower and you’ve a striking and, arguably, elegant pair of loudspeakers here.

Ah yes, the driver array. Each tower features the 12th and latest version of KEF’s Uni-Q driver; at 100mm, the smallest Uni-Q drive unit since the 75mm model in the KHT1005. Here it features a 19mm vented aluminium dome tweeter in the throat of a 10cm vented aluminium cone that covers the midrange frequencies, and incorporates a tweeter damper gap and new ‘Z-Flex’ driver surround to minimise distortion and create as even a dispersion as possible. 

The tweeter is also packing KEF’s acclaimed ‘Metamaterial Absorption Technology’ (or ‘MAT’, to use its rather underwhelming acronym). MAT is designed to absorb those soundwaves that radiate from the back of a drive unit and disrupt its forward output – it’s the tweeter dome that’s getting the MAT treatment in this instance. A plastic disc printed with a maze-like pattern sits behind the tweeter, and each of its ‘routes’ is the ideal length to absorb a specific range of frequencies. KEF reckons the MAT method is so effective that it can absorb 99 percent of these unwanted soundwaves.  

Uni-Core

For low frequencies, KEF has deployed its Uni-Core driver technology that’s recently taken a good share of the praise lavished on its KC62 subwoofer. The intention is to liberate a whole lot of bass presence from unpromisingly small enclosures (by subwoofer standards, the KC62 is very small indeed) by combining force cancellation (which requires drivers to be positioned back-to-back), concentrically arranged voice coils and one shared motor per pair of drivers.

For the LS60 Wireless, two pairs of 14cm Uni-Core drivers are used in each speaker, positioned equidistantly around the forward-facing Uni-Q array in an arrangement KEF calls ‘Single Apparent Source’. This layout debuted in 2011’s witheringly expensive Blade loudspeaker, and is designed to give the impression of information from all parts of the frequency range originating from a single point – with precise stereo imaging over an uncommonly large area the ultimate goal.  

KEF has specified Class A/B amplification for the tweeter – 100 watts of it per speaker. The midrange cone gets 100 watts of power per side too, but this time it’s of the Class D variety. Class D is also used to drive each of the eight (count ‘em!) UniCore bass drivers – there’s a total of 1000 watts available, which my rudimentary back-of-envelope calculations reveal to be 125 watts per driver. All the amplification is boxed off in the lower half of each tower, where it can’t disturb the drive units – heatsinks that vent at the rear of each speaker keep operating temperatures acceptable. 

As is usually the case with an all-in-two speaker system, the LS60 Wireless features a ‘primary’ and a ‘secondary’ speaker. Both speakers require mains power, of course, but other than this the secondary speaker features just a pre-out for a subwoofer, a USB-A slot for servicing and an RJ45 socket for a hard-wired connection to the primary speaker. It’s worth noting that the two speakers are perfectly happy to maintain a wireless connection, but this arrangement results in all sources being resampled to 24bit/96kHz PCM resolution – wire them together using the generous length of cable KEF provides and 24bit/192kHZ PCM resampling is the result. 

Story eARC 

The primary speaker, too, has connections for mains power, a pre-out for a subwoofer, a USB-A slot for servicing and an RJ45 to connect to its partnering speaker. In addition, it features an HDMI eARC socket, digital optical and digital coaxial inputs, a pair of stereo RCA analogue connections and an RJ45 socket for ethernet connection. Wireless connectivity runs to dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth 5.0 with SBC and AAC codec compatibility – a wired or wireless connection to a network brings Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast into play. And the LS60 Wireless is also Roon Ready and UPnP-compatible. If this array of options where sources of sound are concerned seems a little tentative, the KEF Connect control app allows you to integrate Amazon Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify and TIDAL music streaming services as well as to access internet radio.

The app itself has evolved to the point where it’s now a perfectly usable, stable and logical interface – a big advance on those bad old days when a KEF all-in-two demanded the use of two apps to exploit all of its functions. These days KEF Connect allows access to all playback functions, room configuration and EQ adjustment, phase correction, a bass extension limiter and plenty more besides. 

The company also provides a little remote control handset, more (it seems to me) for the sake of box-ticking than for any compelling necessity. If your smartphone is temporarily unavailable, the remote control will let you select input, adjust volume and access basic playback controls too. 

Expert time

It’s certainly worth investigating the ‘expert’ set-up menu in the control app, as it’s possible to exert quite an influence over the eventual performance of the LS60 Wireless. Certainly if your room is towards an extreme of one kind or another – lots of glazing, unusual shape, generously stocked with soft furnishing or what-have-you – you can mitigate it to a fair degree.

And once that’s done, of course, it’s just a question of playing some favourite music from a favourite source or two. During the course of this review I listened to internet radio and TIDAL via the KEF Connect app, a Rega Apollo CD player into the digital coaxial input, a Panasonic DP-UB820 UHD Blu-ray player using the HDMI eARC socket, and a Clearaudio Concept turntable via a Chord Huei phono stage into the stereo RCA inputs. And it’s fair to say there’s merit to each of these methods – and plenty of it. 

No matter where you start, it’s the integration of all those drive units that’s most immediately impressive. Obviously there are qualitative differences between a 160kbps stream of France’s FIP internet radio station presenting Sous les Jupes de FIP and a 180g vinyl reissue of Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins [4AD], but where stereo focus and coherence is concerned the LS60 Wireless never wavers. The soundstage it creates is wide and tall, with plenty of elbow-room available on it, but it’s simultaneously tightly unified and orderly. The notion of a ‘single apparent source’ of sound is delivered on from the get-go. 

Low-frequency information is deep and textured, controlled at the onset of each note or hit with something approaching fanaticism, and absolutely loaded with detail both broad and fine. The KEF can summon prodigious levels or straightforward punch, but within that it’s a subtle and insightful performer. The authority over the bottom end means it’s able to express the Frafra rhythm of Florence Adooni’s Kinne [Philophon] with absolute assurance as well as no little enthusiasm. Edges are straight and true, and the decay of bass information is observed just as carefully as the attack.  

Analysis vs entertainment

A similar balance between ‘analysis’ and ‘entertainment’ is struck through the rest of the frequency range. There’s considerable bite and shine to the top of the frequency range, a real impression of attack when the music demands it, but at the same time the LS60 Wireless shapes treble information deftly and never loses the run of its high-frequency reproduction even at significant volume. And the midrange acuity that’s apparent during a listen to a CD copy of The World’s Biggest Paving Slab by English Teacher [Island] leaves you in absolutely no doubt that you’re getting the complete and unexpurgated picture. There’s an immediacy to the way the KEF all-in-two handles a vocalist, as well as profoundly impressive insight into their character, their attitude and their technique, that is endlessly engaging. 

Hans Zimmer’s blaring, droning soundtrack to Dune: Part 2 [WaterTower Music] gives the system the opportunity to demonstrate its dynamic potency – and it’s safe to say it doesn’t disappoint. The KEF can shift from ‘tense, urgent whisper’ to ‘all-out firefight’ in an instant, and the distance it can put between these two positions (in terms of intensity as well as sheer volume) is extreme. There’s a gratifying amount of texture given to the sonic abstractions Zimmer indulges in here, and a real sense of outright scale. If you want your new all-in-two system to double up for movie night, the LS60 Wireless has the midrange fidelity, the scale and the completely confident soundstaging ability to make even the most accomplished soundbar sound confined and passive.

Overall tonality is carefully neutral, and the KEF seems perfectly willing to get out of the way of recordings in order to allow them to express their particular flavour without hindrance. The sensation of unity and singularity is extremely strong, even when playing a scissors-and-glue collage like Music Makes Me High by The Avalanches [Modular] – despite the sheer number of drivers involved in the system, the LS60 Wireless integrates the frequency range with the same sort of confidence it demonstrates when describing a soundstage. 

Struggling to ‘yes, but…’

It’s customary at this point to muster a “yes, but…” or two in order to demonstrate that I’m difficult to please and a man of some discernment – but in all honesty, I’m struggling. Yes, a wireless system is never actually wireless if you want to introduce sources that aren’t apps on smartphones – but that’s hardly an issue that’s unique to this KEF system. And it’s true that the KEF Connect app did forget what it was doing on a couple of occasions during my time with the LS60 Wireless (on both occasions it was supposed to be continuing with a TIDAL playlist) – but other than this, I have nothing.

So if you’re interested in some extremely impressive engineering clothed in some notably attractive and fairly unusual loudspeakers, in a big serving of hi-fi audio credibility balanced against convenience that’s easily described as ‘painless’, KEF – not for the first time – has the all-in-two for you.

Technical Specifications

Type: Floorstanding loudspeaker system with integrated amplification, DSP, and wireless connectivity

Driver complement: Uni-Q 19mm vented aluminium dome tweeter within 100mm vented aluminium midrange cone array; 4 x 135mm Uni-Core force-cancelling bass driver

Amplification power (w)/type (per speaker): 100/Class A/B (tweeter); 100/Class D (midrange); 500/Class D (bass) 

Frequency response: 31Hz – 24kHz

Crossover frequencies: 350Hz; 2.8kHz

Inputs: HDMI eARC; digital optical; digital coaxial; stereo analogue RCA; RJ45 ethernet; USB-A (service only); RJ45 interspeaker connection

Wireless inputs: dual-band wi-fi; Bluetooth 5.0; Apple AirPlay 2; Google Chromecast; Roon Ready; Spotify Connect; TIDAL Connect; internet radio

Outputs: subwoofer

Digital audio sample rates: up to 24bit/384kHz

File types: AAC; AIFF; ALAC; DSD; FLAC; LPCM; MP3; MP4; OGG; WAV; WMA; MQA

Dimensions (hwd, cm) (per speaker): 109 x 21 x 39 

Weight (kg) (per speaker): 31.2

Finishes: carbon black; titanium grey; royal blue; mineral white; british racing green (cost option)

Price: £4,499, $4,999, €4,999 per pair (£5,499, $5,999, €5,999 British Racing Green ‘Lotus Edition’)

Manufacturer

KEF

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Dynaudio Evoke 30 floorstanding loudspeaker

Inflation, perhaps second only to time, makes fools of us all. Regarding hi-fi, the ‘key price points’ are a moveable feast that coalesces for a few years before being superseded as the value of money changes. When I first became interested in audio, the £150 stand-mount bracket was an example of one of these price points; indeed, it could muster double-digit group tests, but it no longer exists. One of the closest current equivalents to the sheer density of that historic segment – until fiscal inevitability intervenes – is the space of around £3,000 and the range of floorstanding speaker models available. The Dynaudio Evoke 30 enters this hotly contended sector of the loudspeaker world.

If you were looking for a ‘type standard’ of the speakers contesting this sector, the Dynaudio Evoke 30 would be a strong candidate. The smaller of two floorstanders in the range and two stand-mounts and a centre speaker join it. The Evoke range incorporates a significant proportion of the critical technologies that make a Dynaudio a Dynaudio. These technologies mean it’s somewhat different from most other models scrapping it out. 

Tweeter talk

Take the tweeter. The ‘Cerotar’ 28mm soft dome unit looks normal enough but features significantly different thinking. An evolution of the Esostar tweeter, it possesses a second ‘Hexis’ dome behind the visible one designed to reduce unwanted reflections coming back through the tweeter. Strontium carbonate Ferrite+ ceramic magnets provide the necessary power to drive the assembly to its upper-frequency roll-off of 23kHz at +/- 3dB. 

This hands over to a pair of 140mm Esotec+ mid-bass drivers that operate as an overlapping pair in a 2.5-way configuration. One driver works up to the tweeter’s lower frequency roll-off of 2.3kHz, while the other doesn’t begin until 1.2kHz. The Esotec+ is the evolution of design ideas that date back to Dynaudio’s founding. Made of Magnesium Silicate Polymer, which has been used for all Dynaudio mid-bass designs, it makes use of aluminium voice coils that are larger yet lighter than more traditional copper designs, as well as offering a more consistent field for the neodymium magnet that sits inside it. 

Dynaudio quotes a lower frequency roll-off of 40Hz (again at the more rigorous +/- 3dB figure), but there’s a degree of understatement in this, which we can return to later. To do this, the drivers are marshalled by a crossover, which is a second-order device that supports single wiring only in the great Dynaudio tradition. The mid-bass drivers are assisted in their work by a significant-sized rear port for which Dynaudio supplies foam bungs if required, although they generally suggest running them without if you can. 

Cabinet of delights

The cabinet follows another Dynaudio tradition of adopting a trapezoidal shape when viewed from above, with the two sides of the cabinet tapering to a narrower rear panel. This is useful in terms of reducing unwanted reflections and minimising standing waves but it also serves to reduce the perceived volume of the cabinet as a whole. The cabinet itself is immensely solid in terms of feel and contributes to the 15kg all-up weight of each speaker. Tap your knuckles on any part of the speaker, and you’ll get sore knuckles, unlike anything approaching a hollow noise.  

This cabinet sits on a series of outrigger feet and spikes that are shrunken versions of the arrangement seen on the larger models. As a nod to domestic realities, as well as carpet piercing spikes, more floor-friendly domes are supplied too, but having long since ruined my floors reviewing speakers that are not so equipped, I went with the spikes. It is possible to use the spikes to impart a small degree of rearward lean if you wish to experiment, but this isn’t something that Dynaudio categorically recommends doing. 

Aesthetically, the Dynaudio alters your perception the more time you spend with them. The review samples arrived in white, which is rarely my preferred colour for anything, and my initial perception of the Evoke 30 is that it is subtle to the point of dullness. Compared to the Focal Aria Evo X No3 (which also has the smaller No2 in the range at almost the same price as the Dynaudio), the Evoke lacks a bit of visual drama. Spend a day or two with the Dynaudio, and your mood towards them changes. For starters, they are almost perfectly proportioned; the measurements of the cabinet itself and the size of the drivers within it all have a harmoniousness that you continue to appreciate the more time you spend with them.

I also suspect some other finishes would increase visual interest, should you wish. In addition to the white, there is a black gloss finish, but the wood veneers are by far the most interesting. Dynaudio has always been adept at choosing veneers that are subtly different from the mainstream (the original birch veneers for the Special Forty, in particular, were inspired). While the walnut finish is reasonably traditional, the ‘Blonde’ wood option is pleasingly different to most other veneers doing the rounds and suits the proportions very well. Grilles are supplied and feature magnetic trim tabs for a welcome lack of perforations and fixings that complements the driver fittings. 

On paper demands

In keeping with several Dynaudio models over the years, the Evoke 30 presents on-paper measurements that might look somewhat more demanding than many key rivals. It has a quoted impedance of four ohms, which is standard fare for Dynaudio designs for several years and something that has become more common with rivals, too, but the stated sensitivity of 88dB/w is a fraction lower than what you might expect from a speaker of these dimensions with that impedance. The reality is that Dynaudio seems to be fanatically honest about measurements and rounds down rather than up. The Evoke 30 might not be my first choice for single-ended valve amp owners, but more mainstream options shouldn’t struggle. 

Some aspects of the Evoke 30 require you to put in a little work, though. At a basic level, the pair of speakers will produce an acceptable stereo image from the moment they are a reasonable distance apart and pointing in the same direction. However, extracting a truly compelling soundstage with a little depth and presence outside the cabinets took more effort and fettling. After some tests, the best results in the test space were obtained with the two speakers very close to the outer edge of the (admittedly 1.6 metres wide) equipment rack and with a relatively shallow toe-in. Once this had been done, Dynaudio created an unfailingly convincing presentation. However, this required more work than I have had to put in with several other designs that I’ve recently reviewed. 

From here, though, the Evoke 30 gives more than it takes. The modesty with printed numbers is also readily apparent with the bass response on offer. Dynaudio is a master at this; I don’t recall testing anything from the company that didn’t deliver a low-end heft that makes rivals feel somewhat anaemic. In the Evoke 30’s case, it doesn’t obliterate the quoted 40Hz figure quite as emphatically as some models I’ve tested. However, it still delivers a remarkable level of low-end shove for a cabinet this svelte. 

However, this isn’t some unsubtle bludgeon of a speaker but a device that imparts authority utterly convincingly. The integrated drum and synth line in Sheryl Crow’s What I Can Do For You on Tuesday Night Music Club [A&M] is felt as much as heard but imparted with an agility and cohesion that means that this oddly propulsive track retains its energy and drive even as it plumbs depths that a slim cabinet less than a metre tall has no natural right to be doing. 

What is arguably more impressive is that this weight is not wholly dependent on percussive force either. The enormous orchestral swell of Humility on Kamasi Washington’s Harmony of Difference [Young Turks] is as weighty and convincing. The Evoke 30 might be one of the smaller designs available at this price point, but it gives away nothing to burlier competition.

Bass master

Crucially, this mastery of the world below 80Hz is a single attribute of a talented speaker rather than its sole reason for existing. The Evoke 30 remains utterly composed and impressively detailed as you push up into the midrange. There is a point during Jackson Browne’s The Road [Asylum] where there is a pause between the end of part of the recording in a motel room in Baltimore and resuming at a larger scale on stage. Crickets can be heard outside the window at the end of the first sequence. They’re audible on almost every speaker, but here, they’re individual insects rather than a ‘cricket noise.’ It’s a tiny example of Evoke 30’s ongoing desire always to do more than the bare minimum.

This effortless extraction of detail is achieved without there being any accurate perception of embellishment or hump at any part of the midrange; indeed, depending on what speakers preceded the Dynaudio in your system, you might find the sheer even-handedness of what it does to be slightly sterile. In reality, Evoke 30 will find every shred of emotional content in a piece of music; it simply does not need to embellish it further. It will also respond with considerable transparency to your partnering equipment. The partnering amps used during my time with them were the resident Cambridge Audio Edge A and Naim Supernait 3, both of which offer a somewhat different presentation from one another. The Dynaudio reflected these differences while working happily with both. 

In many ways, the upper registers mimic this detailed and transparent behaviour, but this simple statement undersells quite how good Dynaudio’s driver is in the Cerotar tweeter. The Evoke 30 combines a genuinely impressive level of energy and detail with resistance to aggression. This makes the Dynaudio Evoke 30 a tremendous partner for less-than-perfectly mastered music collections. It is possible to play a rip of the original 90s CD version of Everything Must Go by The Manic Street Preachers [Epic] at appreciable levels and still derive some satisfaction from the process. You can immediately switch to Craig Armstrong’s immaculately mastered It’s Nearly Tomorrow [BMG] and not feel you are being given a smoothed-off take on proceedings.  

All this adds up to an impressively tractable speaker but one that doesn’t feel compromised in the level of engagement it generates while seemingly doing its utmost to keep even decidedly imperfect material sounding good. One

extended session ended up listening to a vinyl copy of Drop by The Shamen [Moksha Recordings], an album from when they were still a psychedelic Scottish pub band rather than their more widely known electronic era. The Dynaudio sliced through the limitations of the pressing and mastering and delivered the quirky but engaging songs in a manner that, while still unquestionably ‘hi-fi’, was also more than that. 

What the Dynaudio Evoke 30 is, then, is something that contests this current three grand pinch point in a way that is superficially by the numbers – as noted, almost a type standard – but in reality, is something rather more interesting. It possesses virtues that will win many friends: sensible dimensions, immaculate build, and attractive proportions, even before they play a note, which will endear them to many. It does all this while displaying every sonic virtue that Dynaudio holds dear with no perceivable compromise. When you are at a price point where everyone wants a piece of the action, your offering must indeed be very good. Dynaudio has accomplished this with bells on, and the Evoke 30 should be at the top of any audition list.

Technical Specifications

Type: 2.5-way, rear-ported reflex floorstanding speaker

Drive Units: 1x 28mm Cerotar soft dome tweeter, 140mm MSP mid-woofer, 140mm MSP woofer

Frequency Response: 40Hz-23kHz ±3dB

Sensitivity: 88 dB @ 2.83V/1m

Rated Impedance: 4Ω

Crossover: second-order, crossing over at 1.2kHz, 2.3kHz

IEC Power Handling: 200W

Finishes: Black Gloss, White Gloss, Blonde, Walnut

Dimensions (WxHxD): 18x90x26.7cm

Weight: 15.5kg

Price: £3,050, $3,999, €3,500 per pair

Manufacturer

Dynaudio

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Connected-Fidelity Unity cables

There’s no denying that cables can be a bit contentious. Schools of thought range from those who think paying more than the price of a round of drinks for a cable is a waste of money, through to those who think that spending the price of a new car on cables is the best way to ensure they enjoy the full performance of their audio components. Both ends of this continuum are well catered for, and their advocates seldom demur from their purchase decisions. However, things get more difficult in the middle ground, where a cable can be an upgrade from low cost designs, the stepping stone to something extraordinarily exotic, or – for many music lovers – the final destination. 

UK based Connected-Fidelity fits squarely in that middle zone. A three metre pair of their Unity Two loudspeaker cables costs around £1,000, and a one metre pair of the Unity interconnect is around £600. What you’re getting for that money is high-quality componentry and top-notch construction quality. All Connected-Fidelity cables are also deep cryogenically treated, to optimise the benefits of the ultra pure copper used in the conductors. Connected-Fidelity is a relative newcomer, and doesn’t have the comfort factor of a familiar brand in its favour, so it’s fairly clear they’ve made a decision to let confidence-inspiring build and materials quality do the talking. The indigo coloured outer sheathing is attractive, and distinctively businesslike, so if we’re partly buying with our eyes, we’re definitely still interested, too.

Construction and materials

The Unity Two loudspeaker cable uses ultra-pure, oxygen free copper (UP-OFC) in a multi-strand layout using cores of different diameters to optimise signal transfer across a wide frequency range. There’s also an infill of natural fibre damping, to reduce any microphonic effects and the nicely-finished, gold-plated copper connectors seem very securely attached using ‘air tight’ termination (no soldering), and mate snugly with equipment terminals. The cores have a total cross-section area of 4mm2 and are said to be able to cope with up to 800W output into an 8Ω load (the slightly cheaper Unity One has 2mm2 core area in a similar construction, for applications where that level of power handling capability might be thought unnecessary). 

The Unity interconnect ups the materials ante even further, using ultra-pure single crystal copper (UP-OCC) signal and ground wires, with two layers of RF shielding – both a foil, and UP-OCC braid wrapping the signal cores. Terminations use very secure ‘air tight’ connectors, this time silver-loaded solder connects to a silver plated signal, and gold plated ground, with a locking collar and again, the connections feel firm and secure in use. 

Performance

The Unity Two loudspeaker cables are a fairly chunky 16mm in diameter and lay tidily when set up, no significant python-wrangling skills were required. The sound is similarly tidy; confidence-inspiring and communicative, the cables give a convincing account of the musical intent behind the recording. Shostakovich, ‘Waltz from Jazz Suite No. 1’ [HMV Classics] was as rhythmically neat and precise as it needs to be, tonal shading and orchestral shapes were convincingly set out and the whole experience conceded relatively little to my usual (significantly more expensive) loudspeaker cables. I’m a fan of silver-plated copper conductors, but the slightly warmer, richer and darker of the pure-copper Connected-Fidelity cables make a lot of sense. Perhaps more importantly, the Connected-Fidelity option was at no time compromising important musical features; it was more of a shift of tonal balance. It suits, for example, the slightly sombre, intimate, enveloping mood of Tonbruket’s ‘Sinkadus’ from Forevergreens [ACT], that sort of ‘Scandy Jazz meets Scandy Noir’ vibe. Keeping with the Scandinavian theme, Sir Charles Mackerras’ account of Sibelius’ Finlandia with the RPO [Tring] shows the orchestration to good effect, how Sibelius weaves the brass and strings together, or uses woodwind to contrast, and how the massed forces are mustered to create that majestic wall of sound at the close. 

There’s a piece by Graham Fitkin, ‘Untitled II’ from Flak [Fitkin] that really hammers home the idea that the piano is, first and foremost, a percussion instrument. Scored for four pianists on two pianos, it is rhythmically and dynamically complex. It’s also, in the wrong system, or the wrong room, relentlessly strident. The way the Unity Twos deal with it is to show you more of the underlying rhythmic and tonal structure, dialling back on the forceful, upper-register punctuation. It shines a little bit of unfamiliar light on the piece, now there’s more ‘swing’, less ‘strike’, and those moments where two different rhythmic structures move together and coalesce at a cadence are telegraphed clearly, and very satisfyingly.

The Unity interconnects continue the speaker cable’s style; there’s more interest to be found in the tone and timbre – take Max Richter, ‘On the Nature of Daylight’ from The Blue Notebooks [DG] this slightly darker, moodier approach helps one to focus on the beautiful string tone he evokes. This will probably also appeal to those for whom the Fitkin’s relentless treble energy is more of an assault than an enlightenment. Again, this may be down to their copper-only construction, but it is all the more apparent now it’s at the upstream end of the system. In the Fitkin piece, there’s an agreeably impressionistic take on the proceedings and again, it puts the music in a slightly different light. The two pianos are clearly separated spatially, one off to one side and well behind the other; there’s a good sense of depth and physical separation of the two parts, and the piece consequently takes on more of the sense of a conversation. We hear two parties exchanging ideas, rather than us being invited to dissect the ideas themselves; the harmonic and structural elements suggest that those cadences where the rhythmic structures align, can be seen as the conversation finding a point of rare agreement. It’s a fresh take on an old favourite; sometimes, being invited to view the forest rather than looking at the trees can give one a new insight into a familiar landscape.

Note that the Unity cables are not simply ‘good with classical’ but when something works well, I find myself drawn to the classical end of the spectrum. But what’s described here applies equally to female vocal, rock and if I knew how to throw a few shapes, electronica and dance music!

In the grand scheme of things

I’m always wary of ‘giant-killer’ claims for reasonably-priced kit and I’m not about to make one here, but for all the right reasons. What usually turns out to be the reason for the ‘giant-killing’ stance is that the item in question has a particular strength, which may mask weaknesses in other areas. Abundant energy can all too easily lead to waywardness in the wrong circumstances, for example, so whether abundant energy is a good thing rather depends on the partnering components. That’s not what’s happening here. While there’s always a compromise to be had at even 

the highest of high-end, there’s much to be said for a really good all-rounder. And this one covers both ‘comfort and joy’, with a sprinkling of ‘shock and awe.’ In the audio equivalent of ‘snog, marry, avoid’ that we reviewers often try to play, the wiser hands gravitate to ‘marry’ when long-term satisfaction is the aim. The Connected-Fidelity cables may not take you on the musical equivalent of bungee jumping off the Hoover Dam, but neither are they likely to get you into a fight on the high street on a Saturday night. There’s a lot to be said for that. 

Technical Specifications

Unity Two loudspeaker cable

Type: Stereo pair loudspeaker cables, 4mm sq UP-OFC copper, natural fibre damping material, ‘air tight’ spade or banana terminals, deep cryogenic treatment

Price: Banana terminals 

  • 2.5m pair £849, $1,156, €856
  • 3.0m pair £949, $1,296, €957
  • 3.5m pair £1,049, $1,432, €1,058
  • 4.0m pair £1,149, $1,568, €1,159
  • 5.0m pair £1,349, $1,841, €1,360

For each additional 0.5m add £94 per set

For spade terminals, add £50 per set

Unity interconnect

Type: Stereo pair, pseudo balanced, multi strand interconnect using 0.82mm diameter UP-OCC copper, double-shielded aluminium foil/OCC copper, natural fibre damping, deep cryogenic treatment

Price: RCA-RCA pseudo balanced

  • 0.75m pair£529, $722, €534
  • 1.00m pair£599, $818, €604
  • 1.50m pair£699, $954, €705
  • 2.00m pair£799, $1,091, €806
  • 2.50m pair£899, $1,227, €907

For each additional 0.5m, add £100 per pair

Price: XLR male – XLR female

  • 0.75m pair£649, $886, €655
  • 1.00m pair£699, $955, €705
  • 1.50m pair£799, $1,091, €806
  • 2.00m pair£899, $1,227, €907
  • 3.00m pair£1,099, $1,500, €1,109
  • 4.00m pair£1,299, $1,773, €1,310

For each additional 1.0m, add £200 per pair

Manufacturer

Connected-Fidelity

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Nordost QBASE QB6 Mark III mains distribution block

Whether you view the mains block as a functional accessory or a fundamental cornerstone of a system determines your approach to its price. I’m firmly in Camp Cornerstone, but with a clear caveat – price doesn’t always reflect performance. I’ve been using the Mark II version of Nordost’s QBASE QB6 mains block, which back in the day cost around £1,600, for several years now. It’s the version with six UK-spec mains sockets instead of the eight Schuko fittings on the European-spec QB8. It’s been a stable and stabilising part of my system since it arrived because very few main blocks have come my way which get close to its performance, and fewer still challenge it, regardless of price. 

Now, Nordost has released the Mark III version of the QBASE QB6 (and the QB4 and QB8 versions for the markets which use US, EU or Australian-type mains connectors). The main visual difference is that the Mark III’s aluminium end caps are now anodised black rather than the plain silver finish of the Mark II. It’s just a stylistic change rather than a functional one, but it does help to distinguish a Mark III from a Mark II visually. The configuration and shape of the QBASE QB6 is essentially unchanged (but watch out if you are swapping these out because the position of the ‘Primary Earth’ socket, whose earth connection is configured to a lower impedance than all the other sockets, has moved). The slim, rectangular shape, as well as being practical and easy to site, continues to reflect Nordost’s thinking on the mechanical tuning of the casework partly by the proportions of the case itself, the better to manage vibrational effects. 

However, there are functional changes under the skin and one other external change, which I’ll get to shortly. The ‘Primary Earth’ socket remains with its lower impedance earth connection, but Nordost has also paid some attention to the earth paths within the unit. It’s still a star earth topology, but the internal traces for positive and negative are now physically separated from the earth, which now runs along the opposite side of the internal board (whereas in Mark II, they all ran alongside each other), to minimise noise from the live side being picked up on the earth. This, together with changes to the impedance of the lifted earths on all but the Primary Earth socket, is said to improve separation between all sockets and deter crosstalk between sockets via the earth paths. The PCB traces have also been beefed up to reduce impedance and improve current handling capability. The external earth socket, which is used for easy connection to Nordost’s QKORE grounding units, remains.

A base for your QBASE

The other external change is that Nordost now provides a pair of neat aluminium brackets, which can be bolted onto the underside of the unit via the fixings used for the rubber feet. Unscrew each pair of feet, offer up the bracket and attach using the machine screws that held the feet in place. The brackets then cradle the QBASE unit and permit it to be seated securely on a quartet of Nordost’s own Sort Kones (or, for that matter, any number of aftermarket cone-type equipment supports) rather than sitting directly on the floor. This isn’t just an opportunity to flog more Sort Kones, either; I’d go so far as to say that you’re unlikely to realise the full potential of Mark III’s performance unless you address how it is supported.

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone

I wasn’t unhappy with the performance of my old Mark II unit until approximately 30 seconds after I’d installed the Mark III. It turns out that everything was subtly averaged out via the Mark II, an effect not unlike the music being gently compressed. To be clear, most mains blocks I have heard do this to an extent, and the QBASE Mark II does it somewhat less than most. Until the Mark III came along, the effect did not draw attention to itself, and I would have described the noise performance as one of the strengths of the old Nordost block, which has always seemed to draw out more vibrancy and energy than most rival units. 

Take ‘Lisboa’ from The Absence by Melody Gardot (Decca). By comparison, the Mark II version sounds slightly airbrushed; via the Mark III textures gain definition and focus, the clock bells that open the piece are more clearly defined, and their pitch is better expressed – more obviously a melodic peal – this is not mere background colour, it’s contributing to the mood. A slight, and previously unremarked bloom in the bass has been addressed by better separation of all the individual musical elements, the bass doesn’t bleed into the overall presentation to anything like the same extent. 

‘Amalia’, from the same album, now there’s more texture and body to Ms Gardot’s voice, the better to appreciate the intimacy in the music; the band has a pleasing jauntiness, the guitar accompaniment in particular, assumes a more important role in proceedings. It seems the attention given to the earth paths has been highly effective in reducing the parasitic effects of earth-borne noise, letting all the separate elements in the music occupy their own space, and time. The old Mark II already outperforms most mains blocks I’ve encountered, so it’s been illuminating to discover how much more performance there is for the asking.

And that’s with the Mark III resting on the floor, as my old block had done. Time for some Sort Kones. Covered amply in these pages before so that I won’t dwell on the construction, but these come in various flavours; I already had a set of the entry-level AC Kones (aluminium post and base, ceramic ball), and Nordost kindly sent me a set of the intermediate BC (bronze post and base) Kones to try with the Mark III. The AC Kones undoubtedly moved things further in the right direction, improving timing and revealing more textures in the notes. 

Still, it wasn’t until I fitted the BC Kones that it was clear just how good the QBASE QB6 Mark III enabled the system to resolve and separate the individual parts and threads to the music. Take Stanley Clarke, and an old favourite like ‘Bass Folk Song No 10’ from The Stanley Clarke Band (Heads Up). With the QBASE QB6 Mark III on the BC Kones, the piece is an end-to-end funkfest; the inner harmonies have more colour, and the leading edges of notes are faster, cleaner and more tightly focussed. It’s easier to appreciate how he bends notes and plays with the timing, working with the percussion to create the funkiness. More information about his use of ornaments, string harmonics, and the textures and harmonies he creates. You can, of course, enjoy the music without all this extra information (as I have done with the QBASE QB6 Mark II), but even so, the additional performance available with the Mark III is somewhat more than just ‘nice to have’ and elevates familiar recordings to the level of ‘newly-discovered’ all over again. 

QB6-Mark-III

You don’t need the Sort Kones to appreciate the benefits of the QBASE QB6 Mark III. The changes to the internal wiring arrangements bring their suite of improvements to the party, but the Sort Kones do help to wring out musically significant improvements that build on those new strengths and virtues. Given the ease of using the new brackets, it is worthwhile to think about the QBASE + Sort Kones as a system. In those terms, the additional cost of the BC Sort Kones adds about 30% to the price of the QBASE QB6 Mark III, but if what the Mark III brings to proceedings matters to you, it makes a lot of sense.

In recent years it has become increasingly obvious to many that proper attention to mains power distribution is fundamental to getting the best out of your hi-fi system. More recently, the harmful effects of earth-bound noise have become apparent as techniques for dealing with it have improved. The Nordost QBASE QB6 Mark III builds on the considerable strengths of the units that went before it, bringing significant benefits to timing and the resolution of fine but musically important detail. Used by itself, it offers a fundamentally secure basis for a high-performing setup. Still, in making it easy to use with adequate support and isolation products, Nordost has firmly put the performance of the Mark III in the top tier. It’s not an inexpensive solution, but if you consider it an upgrade to your sources and amplification, it’d be hard to get this much improvement for a similar outlay anywhere else. 

 

Technical Specifications

  • Type: 6 outlet, unfiltered UK mains distribution block with earthing connector. Choice of 13-amp or 16 Amp IEC input.
  • Price: 13 Amp £2,300, 16 Amp £2,600
  • Eight socket QBASE QB8 Mark III available for US, EU, or AUS power sockets

Manufacturer

Nordost Corporation

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Band of Horses: Acoustic at the Ryman Vol 2

Band of Horses – the band that conquered the indie rock scene as the brightest star in that particular sky – has, since their meteoric start, been playing a bit under the radar. Their first acoustic live album, Acoustic at the Ryman is phenomenal. Earlier this year they released Vol. 2 from that same concert. Before having heard the album, I have one things to say. If you are a Band of Horses fan.. buy it! After listening, has my above recommendation changed? Go buy it… Now!

Unlike Vol. 1, Vol 2 also contain cover versions, from J.J. Cole for example. On Vol 2 the band have included more of their interactions with the audience. While Vol 1 is ten tracks of magic, each one worth the album purchase. Vol 2 does not exactly have the same density of great hits, it has real heavy hitters, like ‘Ode To LRC’, ‘Is There A Ghost’ and the ‘General Specific’ which closes the album.

Vol 2 opens with just Ben Bridwell and an acoustic guitar with the track St. Augustine. And right away you feel like you are back home with the boys. Band of Horses has somehow found a way to strike the perfect balance between folk and rock, keeping the best from both worlds and discarding the unwanted frills from both.

When we hit the third track For Annabelle you know, and the banjo trickles in and mixes with a great acoustic guitar and Ben’s glorious voice chimes in, you know you’re in for a great night of music. 

If you did not read the review of Vol 1 of this concert here in hi-fi+, the concert was recorded with an omni-directional microphone, upright bass, various guitars, piano and banjo. 

‘Ode To LRC’ is quite different than the studio album, with an ominous start, created by the piano, but then Ben’s voice breaks out of the cacophony of sounds and we recognise the track. This is a slower version than the studio album, but the backbone and soul of the track is there right alone with Ben’s vocals.

‘Monsters’ – a plucking banjo with Ben’s vocals – like many other tracks on the album, highlight the band’s inspiration and roots from American folk music.

If you’ve only heard Band of Horses with their trademark noisy, yet musical guitar chords and riffs you might wonder how their sound can possible translate well when they go acoustic. To my own surprise, it actually translates far better than I expected. I’m not sure I can imagine a group like Mogwai having the same ability to transition from electric to acoustic in anything like the same way. Having heard this acoustic concert live, as well as many of their regular electrical concerts, I actually thought it was the best concert I’ve heard with the band – and I think the “normal concerts’ were fantastic. The outstanding vocal harmonising of Band of Horses, along with their many pauses and tempo shifts in their tracks, is simply distilled in this acoustic format and somehow comes out purer and more crystallised. One of the ways they manage to try to recreate the harmonising of various electrical guitar chords in this acoustical format is to actually use the piano as backing for the main guitar of the particular track. It’s hard to explain how that works, but listen for it on for example ‘Is There A Ghost’.

This is a track that on the studio album starts slow with Ben’s vocals, just like it does on this acoustical album, then listen at 1;09 where the acoustic guitar chimes in, the piano chimes in at the same time, somehow mimicking the reverb of the electrical guitar that is missing.

Live at Ryman Vol 2, like Vol. 1,  is a must have for all Band of Horses fans. And for all fans of great rock, great folk, great indie rock. Hell, it’s a must have for anyone who enjoys great music. Vol. 2 might not reach the epic heights of Vol 1, but it’s freaking great!

 

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YG Acoustics Cairn

YG Acoustics has been producing world-class loudspeakers for over twenty years. Founded in 2002, the Arvada, Colorado firm has continued to improve upon its classic aluminium enclosures and non-ported approach to speaker design. It has also survived the gauntlet of passing the torch from its founder to a new management team led by CEO Dr. Matthew Webster. He and his team had the challenge of continuing to improve upon already world class award winning designs. They have taken on this challenge in a number of ways including adding an entirely new line of speakers called The Peaks which includes two stand-mounts, three floorstanding models and one subwoofer that occupy a new entry priced range in the YG stable. The team has also revamped the reference line including the introduction of the new XX3 ultimate performance loudspeaker at the top of the line.

Speaking with Dr. Webster at the factory in Arvada, Co. he spoke about being a fan of the original YG’s and owning their Reference XV Studio model himself. He spoke often as an engineer to the YG team about ideas for improvements. When an opportunity arose for his company Cambridge Acoustic Sciences (CAS) to collaborate with YG Acoustics in 2020 he was eager to do so. CAS brought with it a significant array of computer modeling and measurement expertise along with years of background in materials sciences. CAS also excelled at modeling electronics and physical systems allowing YG to test via computers a wide array of system iterations before spending money on expensive prototypes. In 2022 a merger of CAS and YG under the YG Acoustics name was completed with Dr. Webster at the helm.

Capital investments were made vastly increasing production capacity, staff and space. Industry veterans were added such as Steve Huntley from Boulder Amplifiers and Duncan Taylor from PS Audio alongside the existing world class YG team. 

A new Era

Launching a new era at a well known brand encompasses so much capital and effort. Unveiling a new flagship, at $225,000, is certain to get the attention of the audio press. So naturally, in the midst of all this, I am going to focus on the smallest member of the Peaks line, The Cairn stand-mount speaker. 

The Cairn is a modest sized two-way passive speaker weighing in at 12.5kg each. At 370 x 192 x 262mm (HxWxD) they are easily placed in most any small to medium sized room. Available in three finishes, Balanced Oak, Flamed Rosewood and Datuk Ebony they will blend nicely with most décor. The front of the Cairn (and all Peaks Line speakers) is milled aluminium, the rest of the cabinets is made from an inert inch-thick resin fibre. The fibre is shaped to spec in Europe by top woodshops achieving as inert a cabinet as possible allowing the drivers and DualCoherent 2 crossovers to shape the sound as designed by YG Acoustics. The ForgeCore Tweeter made famous by YG is used and the 15cm BilletCore Driver is machined in house from solid blocks of high quality aluminium.

I was able to watch as the technician took a fresh block of aluminium and create a new driver cone. The precision is impressive on the German Portatec milling machines resulting in a light and stiff cone that is incredibly responsive. All waste materials are recycled.

The machining was precise to a .001 of a mm and the machine creating the Cairn driver was the same one that machined the drivers for the mighty XX3. Indeed the care and craftsmanship found in the flagship translated equally throughout the entire YG stable of products from the BilletCore drivers to the DualCoherent 2 crossovers. Sitting in the listening room with a pair of Sonja 3.2’s, the Vantage Live powered speakers (Electronics via bel canto design) and the Cairn’s, Steve Huntley, Duncan Taylor and I discussed the focus of the staff on how each of the products throughout the company received significant attention. The question that was always asked was “How can this be improved?” A significant question given the computer modeling power now available post YG/CAS merger. While on the assembly floor I spoke with many of the people piecing together Reference Line speakers. All were enthusiastic and more than one pointed out an internal connection or brace that was now used throughout the line based on their personal suggestion and insight. That sense of value for the employees and trust from management always leads to superior quality. Something I have found universal in companies with that same top to bottom focus. It is a policy of continuous improvement that leads to high customer satisfaction.

Getting them home

Shortly after returning home the Cairns arrived in two boxes. One housed the pair of speakers and the other held the custom Cairn stands. Each Cairn arrives in a protective sock and the high quality WBT connectors come with a protective cover over them. You remove each cover and then screw on the rest of the connector before connecting your speaker wire of choice. I am using Silversmith Audio Fidelium’s for this review. The Datuk Ebony finish is beautiful, and the Cairns are solid and clearly well made. £1,950 is a lot for stands, however, I would recommend them. First aesthetically they are the perfect match for the Cairn’s. Machined to the same high standards as all things YG. Second, height wise they are optimized to a standard listening position, can be spiked (supplied) and they are easy to move as needed. Installation was straightforward and soon I was enjoying the benefits of precision machining and Dual Coherent 2 crossover design.

I connected the speakers to my Sanders Sound Systems Magtech amplifier (500wpc into 8 Ohms) and set the volume on the Pass Labs pre. Source was the Cary Audio DMS-700 DAC/Streamer. First up on the menu was Donald Fagen’s ‘Springtime’ from Kamakiriad (1993 Reprise). For a small stand-mount, this is a tough test. The walking bassline throughout the song digs below the rated 40Hz specs and as expected it was not providing the low end needed. However, the vocals, horns, tenor sax and percussion were wonderful. Spatial cues from triangles were precise. One of the things I enjoyed at YG’s listening room was walking from one side of the room to the other and experiencing the wide sweet spot due to the slightly oval shape to the ForgeCore tweeter. (You really cannot notice the shape when you look) The dispersion width is nicely augmented and allows more than just the centre seat to enjoy a quality performance. 

I had the same experience in my smaller listening room. Moving to the other seats on my couch the Cairns gave me a solid presentation even off-centre. Great for audio friends and company. I stopped the music and connected my SVS SB16 Ultra subwoofer and spent a few minutes dialing it in via the app controlled DSP. Restarting the song the added depth was beneficial. YG offers their Descent subwoofer to pair with its Peaks line speakers. The Descent has a specific setting just for the Cairn’s to make the match easy and it was a beautiful pairing while I was in their listening room. Having been a big Sub/Sat fan since the early M&K days I would consider this as a nice option and glad it is available. One other caveat, the Cairns are 86dB sensitive. I spent time with them using my Cary Audio CAD 300-SEI Class A tube amp and its 15 wpc. At lower volumes it was a sweet combo but there were limits. The 500 wpc Class AB Sanders proved to be a more flexible amp for them. 

Next up was Duran Duran’s power ballad ‘Ordinary World’ from their Wedding Album (1993 Capitol) This song has a lot of depth and layers. Speakers that can resolve the detail from within the milieu are few and far between. The Cairns handled things with aplomb. Simon LeBon’s vocals soar above the guitars and keyboards allowing the emotional nuance to shine through. Songs with sweeping scale can be a lot for a small stand-mount but the Cairns were up to the task brilliantly. ‘Ordinary World’ is an all-time hit for the band and one of my favourites. It was a treat hearing this presentation. I had the volume up, and the excursion capabilities of the BilletCore driver were as impressive as it was fast. The pairing with the ForgeCore tweeter was seamless and showcased the proficiency of these mighty little speakers.

Soundtracks provide some great one off tracks and Ed Sheeran’s ‘I See Fire’ from The Hobbit Desolation of Smaug (2013 Watertower Music) is a good example. A simple production with acoustic guitar vocals and percussion the song is delivered in an almost hushed style. The delicate plucking of fingers on nylon strings is nearly three dimensional as Ed delivers this heart felt song. The Cairns ability to deliver vocals is outstanding and are one of the best I have heard in my listening room. Clear and lifelike the song is delivered with great space and dimensionality. Given the song’s topic it has an almost “sitting around the campfire” feel to it. That sense of intimacy is rare and a treasured commodity when spending time enjoying a night of music. Perhaps only a reviewer considers the value of a well-designed crossover while listening, but this type of track reveals it to me. Dual Coherent 2 indeed. 

Staying with the vocal theme, I put on Alison Krauss title track ‘Forget About it’ (1999 Rounders Records). Alison has about as pure a voice as I have heard since Karen Carpenter. This self-produced album shows that voice off well as she sings this song about loss and regret. Framed by acoustic guitar and dobro the depth and clarity is palpable. Many of her solo and Union Station albums capture this quality and a first class system fronted by topflight speakers reveals this extensity. Listening sessions like this provide for me one of the great joys in auditioning new world class gear. Sitting back I remind myself I am listening to the smallest and least expensive of the YG Acoustics family. The Cairns have had the same attention to detail and adherence to quality as any other YG speaker. 

Enjoyment, not investment

Thinking back to my interview with Dr. Webster a few things came to mind. First, his belief that you are paying for enjoyment and not an investment. He did not want to queue up music and be looking at a portfolio. He wanted to be present and in the moment with his music and not thinking about what was spent on the system. (Take that Alan Parsons!) Next, he said he wanted to focus on real world circumstances and build speakers that do not require absolutely perfect rooms or placement and still sound world class. Certainly you can tweak but do not obsess over the last millimeter. (We will still do that because we cannot help it.) Lastly, how excited he was to bridge his professional work with his audio passion. 

I like where he was coming from. Regardless how much is spent on speakers or a system when your friends leave and it is just you and your gear, are you happy? Does your system take the days stress away and let you relax and let the memories scroll through your mind to your favourite soundtrack for the day? I am confident if you add a pair of YG Acoustic Cairns to your system, they will do that for you. A musical conduit to your personal soundtrack. If you are searching for a small stand-mount speaker I cannot recommend them more highly. Audition a pair and let me know if you agree.   

Technical specifications

  • Type: 2-way passive stand mount/bookshelf speaker
  • Dedicated stand available
  • Drivers: ForgeCore tweeter, 15cm (6”) BilletCore driver
  • Frequency Response: 40Hz – 40kHz
  • Impedance: Average 8 Ohms, Minimum 3.9 Ohms
  • Sensitivity: 86dB
  • Dimensions: 14.6 x 7.6 x 10.3” (H x W x D)
  • 370 x 192 x 262mm (H x W x D)
  • Weight: 28lbs each, 12.5kg each
  • Price: £9,900/$8,500, Stands £1,950/$1,500

Manufacturer

YG Acoustics

www.yg-acoustics.com

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Astell&Kern A&ultima SP3000T

Another day, another wildly expensive Astell&Kern portable music player. And, what’s more, another wildly expensive Astell & Kern portable music player that supposedly improves on what the company claimed, less than 18 months ago, to be ‘the ultimate sound solution’. Say ‘hello’ to the A&ultima SP3000T, just the latest evidence that Astell & Kern is a complete stranger to the concept of overstatement.

Anyone familiar with the company’s work over the last few years will not be surprised to learn that with the A&ultima SP3000T, Astell&Kern has refused to compromise where specification, materials, build quality or standard of finish are concerned. The news that this results in a digital audio player that retails for comfortably over three grand will be equally predictable.

‘Refusal to compromise’ in this instance results in a machine that’s groaning under the weight of its own lavish specification. For instance, the SP3000T features a pair of AKM AK4499EX DACs as well as a couple of AK4191EQ DACs on a separate audio circuit. The AK4191EQ are applied independently to the left and right channels and are deployed to reduce the noise of the input digital signal in the manner of a digital delta-sigma modulator – so only analogue signals are processed by the AK4499EXs. 

Snapdragon

Then there’s the Snapdragon 6125 octa-core processor with 8GB of DDR4 memory. It’s deployed in a drive to deliver rapid system response and a stable, smooth user interface – and the CPU, memory and wireless communication components are all grouped together as a single SoC (System on Chip) for maximum efficiency and minimal digital noise or heat. And ‘the ultimate sound solution’ that was deployed in last year’s SP3000, the combination of power noise reduction, amplification and DAC-borne noise reduction called ‘Teraton X’ has now become ‘Teraton Alpha’. And it’s billed as – hey! – ‘the ultimate sound solution’.

Broadly speaking, ‘Teraton Alpha’ is a refinement of, rather than a reinvention of, ‘Teraton X’ – but with one major difference. The SP3000T deploys a couple of Raytheon JAN6418 miniature vacuum tubes in its amplification stage – these are military-grade tubes and form part of what Astell&Kern calls a ‘triple amp system’. After carefully matching and pairing the tubes, they’re suspended in a complex silicone PCB arrangement to minimise the possibility of microphonic noise derived from minor shocks or vibrations. 

And the result is the option to choose between ‘OP AMP’ mode (for ‘crystal-clear resolution and expansive soundstage’), ‘TUBE AMP’ mode (for ‘the natural warmth of a vacuum tube amplifier’) or ‘HYBRID AMP’ mode (for an ‘expert blend of the richness of analogue with high-resolution clarity’). Which sounds all well and good, of course – but what’s equally compelling is the fact that when ‘TUBE’ or ‘HYBRID’ mode is selected, the pair of Raytheon JAN6418s can be seen glowing through the rear of the machine. For some reason it puts me in mind of Uncle Monty’s “both bars on” monologue from the eminently quotable Withnail and I. 

Six filters

There’s plenty more, of course. Other highlights include a choice of six different DAC filters, for those who want to exert as much influence over the sound they hear as possible. Or there’s ‘DAR’ (digital audio remaster) technology, increasing the sample rate of your digital audio file in an effort to deliver optimal sound quality – 44.1kHz PCM, for instance, is upsampled to 352.8kHz and sub-96kHz content can be converted to DSD128. 

Should you want to make a wireless connection to your SP3000T there’s dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth 5.0m with SBC, AAC, aptX HD and LDAC codec compatibility. The 256GB of internal memory can be expanded by up to 1TB using a microSD card. Sample rates of up to 31bot/768kHz and DSD512 are supported, the player is Roon Ready, and can handle any digital audio file type around.

Things are just as comprehensive on the outside, too. The A&ultima SP3000T is a considerable 142 x 85 x 18mm (HxWxD) and 483g, and its 316L stainless steel chassis is plated in 99.9% pure silver. The pointily angular Astell & Kern design language is present and correct, and overall the SP3000T is a handsomely purposeful looker – it would be a shame, for any number of reasons, to slide it into the supplied goatskin case. At some point Astell&Kern is going to realise that very credible alternatives are available that won’t alienate vegans, but today is not that day.

The top edge of the chassis features a power on/off button and three outputs: 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced sockets, and a hybrid 3.5mm output that can be either an unbalanced analogue output or a digital optical alternative. On the left side (as you look at the 5.5in 1080 x 1920 touch-screen) there are four playback controls, and on the right is a jewel-like volume control. It sits in an over-designed recess, ahead of a light that glows in one of a number of colours (depending on the size of the digital audio file that’s playing). On the bottom there’s a USB-C slot for charging the 5050mAh battery – a single charge is good for 10 hours (if you’re listening to unremarkably sized files at unremarkable volume levels – up the ante and you can eat into battery life quite significantly). 

File Drop

It’s simple and quick to download your favourite music streaming service apps, and the ‘AK File Drop’ feature means an Android smartphone or a PC on a common network can wirelessly transfer content rapidly too. If you’re more the iOS type, you’ll need a hard-wired connection and some Android File Transfer-type software – but that’s hardly difficult to come by.

To test the A&ultima SP3000T, I mostly use Austrian Audio The Composer via the 4.4mm output, Sennheiser IE900 via the 2.5mm output, and Cambridge Audio M100 via Bluetooth (because I like the Matt Berry voice confirmations). And what seems most obviously apparent is that while there are sonic and qualitative differences depending on the headphones I use, they are far from pronounced. The character and the flavour of the Astell & Kern is always apparent. 

So no matter of it’s a 16bit/44.1kHz MP3 of Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock [Verve], a 24bit/192kHz FLAC file of Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night [Reprise] or a DSD64 copy of Make It Big by Wham! [Epic], the SP3000T plays no favourites. It’s an indulgently open, spacious and well-organised listen, capable of creating a soundstage that sounds larger and more defined than seems likely. Even recordings as complex as the Talk Talk album are laid out coherently, the spaces between individual elements just as apparent as their interaction and togetherness – the unity of the SP3000T’s presentation is so confident it seems almost casual.

And even though there are amplification and DAC filter options to be investigated, the tonal balance of the player doesn’t undergo any dramatic overhauls. It’s nicely and convincingly neutral, allowing the wholly organic, ‘live in the studio’ feel of the Neil Young recording full expression. The bottom of the frequency range is substantial, punchy to just the right degree, and – just like the rest of the frequency range – absolutely alive with detail both broad and fine. Control of the attack of bass sounds is absolute, and as a consequence rhythms are expressed in the most natural manner. The top end is equally substantial, which goes a long way towards balancing out the bite and crunch the SP3000T can generate when dealing with treble information. In between, the midrange is articulate and revealing, able to put you fully in the picture both when it comes to George Michael’s peerless technique and to Neil Young’s scandalous lack thereof.  

Stack of dynamics

There’s an absolute stack of dynamic headroom available, so when the Talk Talk recording shifts up from ‘whispered vocal with tentative guitar accompaniment’ to ‘numerous individuals all having at their instruments as if their lives depended on it’, the Astell&Kern is able to describe the changes in volume and intensity with absolute positivity. It’s equally alive to the more monitor, but no less significant, harmonic variations apparent in that single guitar, and gives proper context and weighting to each and every transient occurrence sound the rear and sides of the Talk Talk stage. 

Best of all, though, is that for all its fearsome powers of analysis and insight, the SP3000T doesn’t indulge in them as a technical exercise. It is first and foremost an entertaining and engaging listen, ‘musical’ in a way that not every alternative product (including, it must be said, some Astell&Kern models) is inclined to be.

So while I don’t doubt there will be another Astell&Kern ‘ultimate sound solution’ along soon enough, the A&ultima SP3000T is more than good enough to be getting on with. 

Technical specifications

  • Type: Hybrid portable music player with expandable storage
  • Storage: 256GB integrated, expandable by up to 1TB via microSD
  • Analogue inputs: n/a
  • Digital inputs: USB-C (charging only)
  • DAC Resolution/Supported Digital Formats: PCM: 8kHz – 384kHz (8/16/24/32bit);  DSD Native: DSD64 (1bit/2.8MHz) / DSD128 (1bit/5.6MHz) / DSD256 (1bit/11.2MHz) / DSD512 (1bit/22.4MHz); WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
  • Analogue outputs: Unbalanced out (3.5mm) / Balanced out (2.5mm, only 4-pole supported) Balanced out (4.4m, only 5-pole supported)
  • Digital outputs: Optical out (3.5mm)
  • Frequency Response: ±0.005dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) Unbalanced / ±0.003dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) Balanced ±0.006dB (Condition: 20Hz~70kHz) Unbalanced / ±0.024dB (Condition: 20Hz~70kHz) Balanced
  • Distortion (THD + Noise): 0.0005% @ 1kHz, Unbalanced / 0.0004% @ 1kHz, Balanced
  • User Interface: 5.5in 1920 x 1080 touch display 
  • Other Features: Bluetooth V5.0 (A2DP, AVRCP, Qualcomm® aptX™ HD, LDAC)
  • Dimensions (HxWxD): 142 x 85 x 18mm 
  • Weight: 483g
  • Price: £3,199, $2,999, €3,599

Manufacturer

Astell&Kern

www.astellnkern.com 

UK distributor

HEA Distribution 

www.headistribution.com 

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Shunyata Research Altaira

In a remarkably short time, Shunyata Research has become high-end royalty. The brand’s power products and cables are synonymous with high-performance audio systems. And now, with Altaira, the same approach comes to system grounding.

‘Altaira’ is an Arabic girl’s name meaning ‘high-flying bird’; the first-magnitude star ‘Altair’ is derived from the same root. However, due to persistent autocorrect issues, ‘Altaira’ was repeatedly changed to ‘Altair’. The resulting frustration, evident in the angry typing sounds from my keyboard as I manually corrected this whole document – twice – could be heard two rooms away. And that’s the criticism done with!

It’s complicated!

Audio reviews want things neatly tied up. Add X to Y to get a great sound. But sometimes, life isn’t that simple, and when it comes to grounding, a cookie-cutter approach results in cookie-cutter performance. I’ve used grounding products with a more ‘one-size fits all’ approach, and while sometimes they work wonders, other times they fall flat. They never seem to undermine the performance, but sometimes you are left wondering what all the fuss is about. A degree of necessary complexity is required to match the range of earthing options in audio electronics.

The further up the audio food chain you go, the more complex the approach required. When dealing with the constraints imposed by price, manufacturers must refrain from taking elaborate floating ground approaches in mid-priced audio equipment. On the other hand, when you get into the highest of high-end, such considerations are baked into the manufacturing decision-making processes of many audio companies. Often, these requirements differ from product to product (occasionally even within the same brand) and that requires a more tailored approach than simply adding a grounding tag to a case screw.

Shunyata Research takes a more considered, case-by-case approach with Altaira. Well, almost; in every system, the Altaira components are connected to the distributor or the wall itself. Most prospective Altaira owners are likely already familiar with Shunyata Research, so this means ‘connected to the Shunyata Research Everest’ (tested in Issue 210). The juice aside, how you configure a system largely depends on whether the electronics have fixed or floating grounds. For example, products from Soulution or Constellation Audio have a floating ground and often require a dedicated Altaira box per product. Other systems – such as CH Precision – take an even more complicated approach to grounding, allowing more user interaction and requiring a different Altaira pathway. 

A system with good ground continuity might require one Altaira box with everything connected. Most start at the preamp, and their grounding schema radiates from there. In addition, if there is a call for more than one Altaira, the breakpoint is often between digital and analogue electronics… but not where you might expect. After many listening tests, Shunyata Research realised that a Digital-to-Analogue converter should sit in with the rest of the analogue kids. In contrast, the rest of the Digital Crew (transports, clocks, etc) all hang out together. Regardless, the Altaira boxes are joined in almost every case, and the ‘primary’ one (typically the analogue side) then connects to the power. 

Dealers undergo extensive training to develop good pathways for systems and have plenty of datasheets that work with known conditions (such as the Soulution, er, solution mentioned above). 

Chassis and Signal

In the most basic terms, the Altaira system breaks down into two components; the Chassis Hub (CG-NR) and the Signal Hub (SG-NR). The Chassis Hub is the nearest Shunyata Research gets to ‘My First Grounding’ as it’s a six-terminal unit designed for simple systems. Each terminal has its own dedicated ‘zone of isolation’ (I would have preferred ‘Fortress of Solitude’ but some damn Kryptonian already took the name). Each of these zones is filtered, and tuned to the frequencies most commonly found riding the chassis grounds of components.

 For more elaborate systems, the Signal Hub is also a six-terminal unit, but is designed to filter frequencies that plague the signal ground of components. This is the hub best used for systems where you might want to separate blocks of components (such as analogue and digital). The grounding cables themselves come in all grades, and there are additional Ground Tail adaptors that can be used with practically everything. There is a wealth of information about planning and building a grounding solution, which could be summed up by the phrase ‘let the dealer do it’!  

Shunyata Research Altaira is a robustness test on a dealer’s claims. If a high-end dealer not only supplies Altaira devices but has analysed the different requirements of each product in their portfolio, you know they have taken ‘due diligence’ to new levels. If they show up at your doorstep armed with Altaira products and a multimeter to establish the right way to work on your system, they are going the extra mile as standard… they are far more likely to go the extra mile to build you a better system. 

Get Grounded

When done correctly, grounding is a very positive step forward for a system. It reduces audio ‘ bad hair days,’ even on relatively humble systems. For example, the Chassis Hub makes a Primare I35 Prisma-based system sound more coherent and poised. But as you raise the audio equipment stakes, the performance improvement increases. That coherence and poise always shine through, but the sense of order and balance this brings to a system and far greater bass definition makes for a more ear-opening experience. 

The best way to judge this is with Taylor Swift records. While I can almost hear the sharpening of pitchforks at the mention of ‘Tay-Tay’ in an audio magazine, Midnights [Republic] is one hell of a good recording marred only by slightly over-rich vocals. Tracks like ‘Anti-Hero’ can sound slightly flat on good but ill-matched equipment, swamped by the mix, but here you get that thumping LinnDrum and retro-synth backing track, and her voice is clean and extremely articulate, with the reverb no longer swallowing her up. It’s like your whole system went on an extensive fitness regime to cope with dance music.

The same applies to whatever albums you played that attracted you to that system. They sound better; more composed, exciting, better recorded. You feel a closer connection to the music, whether that be the stadium introspection beloved by Swifties or some never-ending modulation on a Beethoven piano sonata. 

Instrument tonality and space within a mix is notably improved with the judicious use of Shunyata Research’s Altaira in a system. Those instruments are rooted in space and have a sense of harmonic and tonal structure, even when playing with very different instruments in the same band. This is especially prominent in ECM recordings where they blend instruments from around the world; Zakir Hussain’s Making Music from 1987, where his tabla playing is at once a fine counterpoint to Jan Garbarek’s soprano sax, John McLauglin’s blindingly fast guitar runs and Hariprasad Chaurasia’s ethereal flute. When it melds perfectly, it’s a work of spell-binding wonder, and it melds perfectly with Altaira. You reach deeper into your record collection for longer periods as a result.

More realism

Typically, when it comes to grounding devices, we sit on the ‘try it before you buy it’ fence. For a good reason: what might work in one system might not work in another. With Shunyata Research’s Altaira system, the chances of a grounding system not working in your system are reduced because of the degree of analysis that goes into setting up your system’s grounding approach. That can only happen with a system as flexible as Altaira and with people willing to determine the requirements of your audio equipment. 

Ultimately, these products spread way beyond a single review. Shunyata Research is providing an integrated approach to improving the performance of all systems, from the down-to-earth to the stratospheric. Altaira is a big part of that integration; the results are remarkable. This grounding system demands attention to detail, but the rewards are more than worth the effort.

Technical specifications

Chassis Ground (CG-NR) and Signal Ground (SG-NR) 

  • Ground posts: Six for component connection, one master ground post 
  • Dimensions: 36 x 9 x 14cm 
  • Weight: SG-NR, 3.4kg, CG-NR, 3.6kg. 
  • Price: £3,000, $2,998, €2,998 per hub; ground cable price range from £300, $300, €300 to £1,290, $1,290, €1,290. 

Manufacturer

Shunyata Research 

www.shunyata.com

UK distributor

Boyer Audio

www.boyeraudio.com

+(0)330 223 3769

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