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Music Interview: Dana Gillespie

Dana Gillespie’s career has spanned 60 years – the 75-year-old singer-songwriter and actress released a series of singles on Pye Records when she was 15, and then signed to Decca –her 1968 debut LP, Foolish Seasons, featuring Jimmy Page on guitar, is one of the great ‘lost’ albums of British folk-pop.

Since then, she’s had her friend, David Bowie, write a song for her – ‘Andy Warhol’, which she covered on her 1973 album, Weren’t Born A Man, appeared in Hammer horror films, sung backing vocals on ‘It Ain’t Easy’ from Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, been the first actress to play Mary Magdalene in the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar, supported Bob Dylan on his 1997 UK tour – she first met and befriended him in 1965 – and forged a successful career as a blues musician. 

Incredibly, this spring saw the release of her 74th album, First Love, produced by Marc Almond and Tris Penna, and it marks a change of direction for her – moving away from blues to rock and pop, as well as working with outside producers.

Apart from the track ‘First Love, Last Love’, which she co-wrote, it’s an eclectic collection of cover versions, including songs by Green Day (‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’), Morrissey (‘Spent The Day In Bed’),  Leonard Cohen (‘Dance Me To The End of Love’ – on which she duets with Almond), Bob Dylan (‘Not Dark Yet’), David Bowie (‘Can You Hear Me?’), Jake Bugg (‘Simple As This’) and Lana Del Rey (‘Gods and Monsters’). 

There’s also a stripped-back, piano and vocal version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ and a song called ‘Brewer Street Blues,’ written by Almond – a haunting ode to ‘60s Soho nightlife, which Gillespie was a part of as a teenager. hi-fi+ got her on the phone to talk about the new album and her colourful career. 

SH: I love the new album – it’s great…

DG: Thank you – that’s very nice of you to say so. It’s the first time that I’ve done something that’s not blues for a long time. With blues music, you put an album out and it just trots along nicely, and you sell it at gigs, but you never expect much coverage. The blues market means I can still keep singing when I’m 108, if I live that long. 

How did the idea for the album come about and how did you end up working with Marc Almond and Tris Penna on it?

Marc Almond did a version of a song called ‘Stardom Road’ [in 2007] that I did on my 1973 album, Weren’t Born A Man, which also had the Bowie song ‘Andy Warhol’ on it. 

I didn’t know Marc then, but he loved the song… I didn’t write it – it was written by two guys who were in a not very well-known band called Third World War. 

Tris Penna was producing Marc at that time, so ‘Stardom Road’ was the thing that connected us. Quite a few years went by… I knew Tris and because he was friendly with Marc, I met him, and the three of us used to go and have quite funny lunches together. 

Dana Gillespie photo by Christina Jansen press press 1 hi res copy
photo by Christina Jansen

One time, Tris and Marc were talking to each other, and Marc said, ‘I really think we should take Dana to the next level…’ in other words, away from just the blues. He said, ‘How about I produce a new album with Tris and finance it?’

So, he did it – we chose a third of the songs each. Having Marc’s input meant that on this album I sing a Lana Del Rey song.

I love your version of ‘Gods and Monsters’ – it’s great to hear a 75-year-old woman using the F-word…

I know – we all say ‘Oh, f*** it’, or whatever… Marc found that song and he also found ‘Dance Me To The End of Love.’ I would never have thought of doing a Leonard Cohen song – well, I did in the ‘60s, but that was when I was folky. 

I found ‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’ – I always liked that song. It was a hit for Green Day – it’s also got the word f*** in it… Marc suggested a song by Jake Bugg [‘Simple As This’] – I’d never even heard of Jake Bugg. Again, it’s got the F-word in it. 

I love the song that Marc wrote – ‘Brewer Street Blues.’ Brewer Street is in the red-light district of Soho – that was when it was a red-light district and when it was fun, in the ‘60s. I used to be out at the Marquee Club or the Whisky A Go Go, listening to blues acts. 

In those days, you could go out and be safe – you weren’t going to get stabbed – and nobody had guns. Very few people even had passports, because it wasn’t so long after World War II. I was 13, but nobody bothered to ask me why I was going into the Marquee Club to listen to The Yardbirds. I can remember hearing Davy Jones and the Manish Boys – he turned into Bowie… I was so lucky to have been in an era when music was innocent, and life was innocent and lovely. People weren’t in the music business for money – you were in it because it was what you loved more than anything else. 

How do you feel seeing Soho now? It’s changed so much…

I just have to accept that everything changes – there’s sod all I can do about it. When I walk down Denmark Street, there is a twinge of sadness. It was there that Bowie, when he was still Jones, and I used to sit, with other various musicians, in the café Gioconda… It has a plaque above it, saying it was where musicians met, but it doesn’t name any names. In the early days, musicians who were writing would meet in there because it was the street of publishers. 

Bowie and I both wanted to be known as songwriters – you had to go into the offices and perform your songs. We had kind of parallel lives in the early days – I was signed to Decca for two LPs in the ‘60s and he was on a small subsidiary of Decca called Deram. I had my second album on Decca produced by the fantastic Mike Vernon, who also produced something for Bowie – I think it was ‘The Laughing Gnome.’ 

Bowie and I used to go to Ready Steady Go [the TV show] and into the green room, where you networked. He was very good at networking – I wasn’t. I’d be down on the dance floor. Bowie and I always remained friends.

There’s a Bowie song on your new album – ‘Can You Hear Me?’ It’s quite a simple, stripped-back arrangement…

It was taken from the demo – I don’t like doing songs where you copy the original, or the one that’s been a success. His version on Young Americans is very different – I thought it would be nice to do it stripped-back.

The first single from the album was a Morrissey song – ‘Spent The Day In Bed.’ He said your version is better than his… 

Yes – he’s a friend of Tris’s. I’ve never met him – somebody wrote on my Facebook that he’s got weird eyes…

So did Bowie…

Exactly. The Morrissey song was suggested by Tris, and, as I don’t mind spending the odd day in bed… I used to do it more when I was younger, but I’m now so busy I never get to do it.

I really agree with the sentiments of the chorus, which is, ‘Stop watching the news, because the news contrives to frighten you…’ 

That’s what attracted me to the song, and because it’s slightly leftfield. Let’s face it, Morrissey has got almost two million followers on whatever it is people follow him on, and that song just seemed to sum things up – especially these days, when the news is totally depressing. I don’t know when you go to print, but somebody might’ve pressed the nuclear button by then!

I love the Dylan song you’ve covered on the album – ‘Not Dark Yet…’

I love it as well, but I’d never ever thought of doing a Dylan song… He did ask me to be his opening act on his British tour in 1997, and I’ve known him since 1965. I was very young then – a couple of weeks past 16, so I was just about legal, but, in those days, nobody cared about what anybody did. There was no social media – you just went and had fun. 

In the evening, after he’d been on at the Albert Hall, The Stones and The Beatles came in – I was the youngest person there by far. It was heady stuff – it was eye-opening. Dylan was always a gentleman and extremely nice. 

With all the guys I’ve known, in whatever sense (laughs)…. I don’t want to be too graphic, because I don’t know what sort of magazine this is… I’ve always had really good relationships as friends. I think that’s because they were all musicians – musicians function differently…

Jimmy Page, who played all the guitar bits on my first album in 1968… I stayed friends with him through the years. 

Through him and The Yardbirds, we used to go and listen to Indian music in the ‘60s – that was when The Beatles were heading off to see the Maharishi. The sitar was a rather exotic thing, and it was really difficult to buy a stick of incense then, which is laughable now. 

It’s unusual for you to make an album of songs you haven’t written – although you co-wrote the track, ‘First Love, Last Love…’ You normally produce your own music, so what was it like working with producers?

It was such a relief, but I knew that Tris and Marc both know music very well… I was there for the mixing, but I could sit back and let the reins be held by other people – what a joy! I offered up my musicians – they did fabulously. The whole thing was recorded quite quickly – we took a couple of days to rehearse… blues musicians don’t rehearse much… Both Marc and Tris were really impressed with them – it was just great.

It was thanks to Tris that we did ‘Dreams’, which was written by Stevie Nicks – everyone knows it from the Fleetwood Mac album, Rumours. 

Fleetwood Mac and I had the same management agency in the ‘60s. Tris suggested the song, and it’s so different to the one on Rumours – some people don’t realise it’s the same song until we get into the chorus.

It’s been lovely to do an album without any responsibilities on my shoulders on the production side, and it was great to have some songs chosen for me. Obviously, if I hadn’t have liked them, they’d have been slung out – there were a couple that never made it. All in all, I’m extremely happy. 

The photographer who took the front cover, Gered Mankowitz, who also photographed The Stones and Jimi Hendrix, has been photographing me for 60 years, since I was 15.

This year was my 75th birthday – I’ve made 74 albums. I’ve included the show albums, like when I was in Jesus Christ Superstar, and I ran the Mustique Blues Festival in the Caribbean for 20 years – I made an album every year. Although I’m not on every track, they’re my albums. 

I also made albums of Indian music – bhajans – which were released in India. If I’m lucky enough to make another album by the end of this year, it will be 75 – I can say one for every year. 

First Love is out now on Fretsore Records. It’s available on CD and vinyl – black or limited edition, translucent red.

www.dana-gillespie.com

Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature

The hi-fi industry might tail the automotive sector in enthusiasm for a special edition but some companies do seem keen to make good on that deficit. Bowers & Wilkins has used ‘Signature’ models for quite a while now but, in recent years, has significantly increased the rate at which they appear. The preceding S2 family of 700 Series speakers saw Signature versions arrive a year or so after the ‘cooking’ versions, and the 800D4 models followed the same pattern. Sure enough, twelve months after the S3 range of 700 models launched, the 705 S3 Signature and Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature have arrived for our edification. 

The choice of these two models is not accidental. During the launch event, it was revealed that Bowers & Wilkins feels that only designs that use the company’s ‘Tweeter on Top’ design principle can be tweaked to Signature status (which suggests we will never see a 600 Series Sig model). The 705 and 702 are among the 700 models so equipped (along with the 703), making them the logical choices as the largest of each type of speaker. 

Other Signatures

In keeping with other recent Signatures, the fundamentals of the Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature are unchanged from the standard 702 S3. It’s still a 3.5-way floorstanding speaker with a downward firing port and plinth arrangement closer in design to the 800 Series models than its smaller brethren. The carbon-domed tweeter is placed in its own torpedo-shaped housing at the top of the cabinet, leaving the cabinet itself to house a 150mm woven ‘Continuum’ midrange and three 165mm aerofoil bass drivers. 

Turning the standard speaker into a Signature is a series of incremental changes rather than a major modification. The changes to the tweeter are limited to the use of the same mesh that is featured in the 800 Series Signature models.

A detailed change

It’s a detailed change, but Bowers & Wilkins says that it helps high-frequency dispersion. Both the midrange driver and the bass units receive uprated motor systems that focus on the ‘spider’ part of the rear mount and benefitting from data collected in the creation and production of the 800 Series drivers. 

In keeping with other Signature models in recent years, a significant amount of effort has been expended on the crossover that ties everything together. Something quite interesting about this is that the standard 700 models, in turn, benefitted from lessons learned in the creation of the S2 Signatures, which means that this S3 Signature crossover is- very loosely- tweaking existing tweaks. The board is heavily revised without changing any of the crossover points or the basic behaviour of the crossover itself. These changes included doubling the polypropylene caps controlling signal to the tweeter and using Mundorf Angelique wiring where appropriate. The bass drivers gain massive new inductors that further help the Signature’s bass extension over the standard 702 S3. Connection is made via a set of upgraded speaker terminals. 

Specific finishes

Two specific finishes are offered to ensure that people know a Signature when they see one. The first is the same Midnight Blue Metallic that first appeared on the 800 Signatures, and that could well wind up becoming ‘Bowers & Wilkins Signature Blue’ used on all Signature models going forward, but at the time of the formal unveiling, this had not been decided. This is partnered with the same Datuk Gloss Ebony used on the S2 Signature. In this regard, the 700 Series gets a better deal than the 800s as the Datuk is a truly lovely finish and rather more subtle than the Burr wood option on the more expensive range. One detail change I like more than I thought I would is the use of gold trim rings on the drivers, which combines nicely with both finishes. 

Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature blue finish

Given that the standard 700s are immaculately made, it should not be a huge surprise to find that the Signatures are no less flawlessly bolted together. The size and quality of finish evident on the 702 S3 Signature had me fairly convinced it was more than £7,000 and while I’m guarded about describing any object of the nature as ‘good value’, it looks entirely competitive judged against rivals. My only real bugbear with how the Signature is presented is that the end opening packaging requires higher ceilings than many would-be owners possess. 

Impresses from the beginning

Shorn of their boxes, though, the 702 S3 Signature impresses from the very beginning. Placement is hassle-free, partly down to the downward firing port and fixed boundary arrangement that this generation of 702 moved to, and they haven’t presented a significant challenge to the resident Cambridge Audio Edge A. This is very firmly a device that doesn’t require you to suffer for your art, and so long as they aren’t jammed into a corner, they will function effectively, although they will do their best work in a larger space.

With this done, though, the Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature builds on an ability that the normal 702 already does well. This speaker delivers scale with an imperious ability that borders on the addictive, but it is an oversimplification to say that they make everything sound big. Paul Brady’s The World is What you Make It on Spirits Colliding [Fontana] is a perfect example. Brady himself sounds entirely correct; a believable human adult placed just off-centre. The kick drum that supports the opening bars, though, has effortless heft and scale. It’s more than bass (although be under no illusion, there’s plenty of that); it’s an ability to take a large instrument and give it that genuine sense of scale and impact. 

There’s also a consistently impressive presence to the upper registers that has consistently impressed me during testing. Emily Wolfe’s sultry vocals in Medusa on her eponymously titled debut album [self released] grab and hold your attention thanks to a heady combination of scale, tonal realism and out and out energy.

Seamless relationship

The relationship between the tweeter and midrange was already seamless in the standard speaker but here they cease to be two drivers at all. Everything from 500Hz and up simply happens with a cohesiveness that seems to bely anything so base as a mechanical process happening internally. 

There’s a large green fly in the ointment here in the form of the Acoustic Energy Corinium that passed through directly before the Bowers & Wilkins. With something built around hooks and engagement like Fields by Junip [City Slang], the Corinium has the upper hand at making the fast flowing Howl something that stops the rational part of your brain listening to the music objectively and simply has you stop taking notes and listen instead. Across a selection of high tempo material, the Acoustic Energy has the edge over the Bowers. 

Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature rear blue

This challenge wilts under the sheer scale and impact that the Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature can deliver though. The Sunday punch of that trio of bass drivers asks questions that the Acoustic Energy; and indeed most other floorstanders at the price, cannot answer. Whether you are seeking to replicate the swell of a full orchestra or some entirely synthetic electronic bass note, the 702 S3 Signature is able to make good on reproducing it with a combination of clout and control that is borderline addictive at times. No less impressive is that this palpable low end is also something that doesn’t require deeply antisocial levels to achieve. At almost any listening level this is a speaker that will handle the demands of whatever you play on it. 

Final part

The final constituent part of the Signature models I’ve tested in recent years is that they also offer a level of fun that their more conventional siblings don’t always manage. The 702 has its work cut out here because the standard model is perfectly capable of being extremely entertaining but there’s still a fluency when you press on with Regina Spektor’s fabulous Live in London [Sire] that appeals as much to the heart as it does the head. This is a superb live album; spacious and able to give a sense of the crowd and venue but above all, it’s joyous and the Bowers & Wilkins captures that joy with every note. 

This latest Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signaturee might not have the price point to itself, such is the strength of the competition, but it makes a very compelling argument for itself. This is not a wholesale reinvention of the speaker it’s based on, instead it takes a seriously capable speaker and makes it that little bit better. The result is a heady blend of competence and emotional engagement that is sure to win many friends. 

Technical specifications

  • Type: Type: three-way vented-box floorstander
  • Drive units:
  • 1x 25mm Decoupled Carbon Dome high-frequency
  • 1x 150mm Continuum cone FST midrange
  • 3x 165mm Aerofoil Profile bass
  • Frequency range: -6dB 28Hz – 33kHz
  • Frequency response: 46Hz – 28kHz ±3dB
  • Nominal impedance: 8Ω (minimum 3.1Ω)
  • Recommended amplifier power: 30W – 300W into 8Ω on unclipped programme
  • Sensitivity: 90dB spl (2.83Vrms, 1m)
  • Cabinet finishes: Datuk Gloss, Midnight Blue Metallic
  • Price: £7,000, $9,000, €8,500 per pair

Manufacturer

Bowers & Wilkins

www.bowerswilkins.com

0800 232 1513 (UK only)

More Bowers & Wilkins reviews

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HSE Masterline 7

Founded in Switzerland by ex-Studer legend Robert Huber in 1987, HSE makes a small but extraordinary range of audio electronics, of which the Masterline 7 phono preamplifier is arguably the most famous. HSE (or HSE Audio, or even HSE Swiss: names are not important when you are this far up the mountain) used to make both professional and domestic equipment, and the company’s EQ1 four-band parametric equaliser and M4000 microphone preamp for SSL 4000 desks are still highly prized among well-heeled studio owners, engineers and producers. 

HSE still makes pro audio equipment to order, but the lessons learned in making uncompromising equalisers for studio use could be ported into making uncompromising phono equalisers for home use. The rest is solidly built history, albeit a history that is 24-carat gold plated in its most important areas.

A small range

The company is not one to flesh out its line with dozens of products. It’s a small range of ultra-fi. Alongside the Masterline 7 (or ML-7), there’s a matching Masterline 8 line preamplifier (which lists a Weiss DAC as one of its available options; such is the degree of finesse we are at here). There is also a Referenceline 7 two-box, dual mono phono preamp for those whose criteria – or bank balance – doesn’t quite reach the peak of the ML-7.

There is also a variant of the HSE ML-7 called the Masterline 7 VAREQ. Either specified as the ML-7 is built for you or available as an upgrade (for a premium), VAREQ gives you control over EQ curves other than RIAA. The four controls for these EQ settings are built into the top panel of the phono stage.

More than switch-flipping

As the name suggests, this is more than simply flipping a switch from ‘RIAA’ to ‘Decca’. There are 12 settings for roll-off (the amount of damping at 10kHz) and the turnover frequency for the high-pass filter. The 16dB and 500Hz settings for the RIAA curve are highlighted in red on the four rotary controls.

However, the model tested was the standard HSE Masterline 7, and it’s said that the RIAA-only version outsells the VAREQ curve model by about 5:1. Doubtless, people who want to shout about the importance of additional EQ curves (or lack thereof) will have something to say about this, and will likely say it loud, but that ratio says a lot.  

There is an additional option. The existing external AC70 power supply can be boosted to the AC300. As the name suggests, this adds 300VA of additional toroidal transformer ‘beef’ alongside the line DC filter and soft start (inrush limiter) found in the standard AC70. This can be used with all three Masterline products.

Necessary complexity

The phono preamplifier has 37 different gain settings, 24 impedance settings and 12 capacitance settings, although these are set to match popular cartridge designs like Ortofon, Lyra, and ZYX. The ML-7 can be built with higher gain on request if you are trying to link the HSE phono preamplifier to some impossi-load (such as some of the Audio Note Io models). As this is a truly dual mono design, these settings are not ‘commoned’ so you have to set them individually on each channel.

However, far from being unnecessarily obtuse, this is a necessary complexity in action. At this level, the phono stage is so precise that tiny differences in cartridge coil winding between the left and right channels can be resolved, and small variations between the left and right settings are more than just fine-tuning. There are also those purists who will use the gain setting as a volume control and do without a preamp. They can gain-ride the central VU meters like a boss. I don’t think turning those two gain knobs like a safe cracker while playing a record does it for me, but your mileage may vary.

Not scratching the surface

We’ve barely scratched the – beautifully made – surface of the HSE Masterline 7. The three balanced-only XLR inputs are built to a high grade and matched by the single XLR output per channel. All have an independent ground-lift switch at the rear in case of hum loops. Eight mini-toggle switches on the front panel control everything from the choice of input through activating the passive 15Hz subsonic filter to the brightness and scale of the VU meters. 

HSE VU meters

If the connections and controls are comprehensive, the internals take it to a new level. The HSE ML-7 has an Equivalent Input Noise of -144dB across the frequency range. EIN is a figure used in the pro-world to determine the noise of a microphone preamp. In phono preamp terms, the HSE is quieter than the noise floor of many good DACs. This was easy to demonstrate. It was unbelievably quiet.

The HSE Masterline 7 features twelve discrete Class A gain stages and two low-noise zero-ohm Class A head amplifiers. Built to last (HSE claims at least a 30-year life expectancy), the phono preamp is built into a milled-from-solid aluminium block with 20mm thick walls. This not only makes the ML-7 free from any transmitted vibration, but it also aids EMC shielding. The ML-7 sits on its own ‘Vibfree’ support platform.

Hand made

It’s all built using the highest quality hand-made Swiss components, and the Bill Of Materials reads like a Who’s Who of audiophile top-grade components: ELMA, Goldpoint, NKK, Panasonic, WIMA, Neutrik, and Schurter, as well as HSE Audio self-wrapped coils are used. All these electronic components are hand-selected to an impossibly tight 0.2% tolerance. Even the internal wiring is the patented silver-Teflon wiring developed by HSE. Finally, the heavy toroidal transformer in the external power supply chassis has the best static and magnetic shielding. 

HSE says the ML-7 is “When highest Swiss quality engineering meets Italian design.” The champagne gold front panel with 24-carat gold knobs and details, the two central VU meters and overall styling are not one for ‘understatement’ as befits the country that bought us the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, but in the flesh, it has a timeless elegance that is hard to get from the pictures. It’s no shrinking violet, but neither is it garish.  

A phono preamp of this gravitas and resolution isn’t going to be used with an entry-level Rega or Pro-Ject, but the ML-7 doesn’t automatically require ‘back of the wine list’ products. It should be ‘intelligently’ – and not simply ‘expensively’ – partnered. For example, it’s surprising – and probably completely academic – just how much music you can get from a good upper middle tier cartridge costing about £5k when it’s used a £70k phono preamplifier.

Imposter syndrome

I’m dancing around the sound quality for a reason. I’m thoroughly lost here. Not just lost; lost in music. The HSE Masterline 7 is beyond what I thought possible from LP, and I feel like I have a bad dose of Imposter Syndrome. I may be close to hitting my two millionth word written about audio, but I need someone who’s done more audio reviews than me to finish my sentences here. This one is above my pay grade… Figuratively and literally.

Take ‘Murmuration’ from Go Go Penguin’s V2.0 album [Gondwana]. I’m used to the extremely fast and detailed drum work, often blurring to the point where it almost sounds better in a digital format. But here, that extremely detailed drum work was super-fast, coming out of absolute silence and extremely dynamic and precise. It also conveyed the excitement of a first listen and the track’s energy.

It’s almost academic pulling out different types of music to describe the HSE Masterline 7 because it’s so far ahead of the pack. But the two towers upon which high-end audio was originally built – classical and jazz – are played with gusto and passion here. There is so much information on tap that you almost absorb the liner notes of an album through osmosis. But the ML-7 is so revealing that you hear different musicians’ individual playing styles, and not necessarily on instruments you know well. It’s easy to pick out the playing style of Ray Brown on This One’s for Blanton! [Pablo] but it’s just as easy to pick out how carefully he’s channelling the playing style of the late Jimmie Blanton, which rarely comes through.

Classical dynamism

Similarly, in classical pieces like the Maazel/Vienna Phil rendition of Tchaikovsky Symphony No 4 [Decca], the dynamism and flow of the music are perfectly played. Around this time, the HSE makes you wonder if we didn’t take an almighty wrong turn in choosing a digital audio future. Classical listeners were the first to adopt CDs because of the absence of surface noise; they might be shocked at how much music they get playing, even crispy records from the 1960s, and how much of that music never makes it to digital. This astonishing phono stage brings out so much information in all aspects that your normal vocabulary is suspended. 

I could play Duke Ellington back-to-back with Taylor Swift and Niels Frahm up against Willy DeVille. Each record was perfectly rendered, sometimes small and close-knit, other times expansive and energetic.

You want it darker?

The music got dark with Frahm and brightened up fast with Taylor Swift. This last wasn’t the best recording, but the HSE ML-7 makes the best of a bad job, and ‘Anti-Hero’ is enjoyably punchy, if way too close mic’d. 

A record that doesn’t get played too often anymore is the 12” Annihilation mix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Two Tribes’ [ZTT]. But in so many ways, this track is telling and – sadly – probably just as relevant today as it was in the mid-1980s. First, it’s as dynamic as it gets and shuts down lesser mortal phono preamps. Let it rip here, playing at ear-shredding club levels if your system can take it. It also makes you wonder how much of that mix Trevor Horn heard in the studio and if he knows how much is on record. Because until I heard it through the HSE Masterlevel 7 phono preamplifier, I had only guessed. For example, there’s a double-tracked tom-tom mid-way through the ‘Condemn me!’ part of the mix that is inaudible elsewhere and clear as day here.

Unexpected volume

Playing this 12” showed the only issue with the HSE ML-7. We so associate phono stages with self-noise and background hiss that – when there isn’t any – we are unprepared for the volume we get. From the quiet of the run-in groove, I set the level higher than expected, and when that air-raid siren kicked in at the opening of the track, it was loud enough to send people nearby running for long-gone bomb shelters in panic. Fortunately, this was at the end of a listening session, so I could give my ears a well-needed rest. 

I’m in awe of what the HSE Masterline 7 can do with your recordings. The absence of noise is remarkable, but it’s backed up by reproduction that moulds itself to the record playing. It’s as detailed, spacious, or rhythmic as the LP allows. You feel like you are listening to your albums anew, and the feeling is sublime. The HSE Masterline 7 might cost a lot of money, but you get a significant amount of phono stage in return. Wow! 

Technical specifications

  • Type: fully balanced class A, dual mono phono preamplifier 
  • Inputs: three XLR balanced pairs
  • Output: one XLR balanced output (24dBu)
  • Gain: 0 to 82 dB, 1 kHz (37 positions)
  • Impedance: 7.5 Ohm to 1.2 kOhm and 47 kOhm (24 positions)
  • Capacitance: 33pF to 680pF (12 positions)
  • Floor noise (according to EIN): -144 dB, 22 Hz to 22 kHz (49.8 nV)
  • RIAA: passively balanced +/- 0.05 dB
  • Total harmonic distortion: not measurable
  • Frequency range: 1.5 Hz to 150 kHz
  • Channel separation: greater than 120 dB
  • Dynamic space (headroom): greater than 24 dB
  • Subsonic filter: passively balanced 15 Hz, 18 dB / octave
  • Finish: champagne, silver, black
  • Dimensions (WxHxD): 446 x 88 x 410 mm
  • Weight: 14kg (with Vibfree support)
  • Price: £69,998, VAREQ £83,498 VAREQ upgrade £18,000

Manufacturer

HSE Audio

www.hseaudio.com

UK distributor

Absolute Sounds

www.absolutesounds.com

+44(0)208 971 3909

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Sigberg Audio Unveils Saranna: An Active Full-Range Floorstanding Speaker

Oslo, Norway – March, 2025 – Sigberg Audio is proud to announce the upcoming release of the Saranna, a true full-range floorstander that plays down to 20hz in room and is unique in several ways.

Available for pre-order between March 18th and May 1st. Expected to start shipping August 2025.

The Saranna is a 3-way directivity controlled active speaker, delivering tight, rich bass down to 20Hz and exceptional clarity across the midrange and treble. Its discreet design hides twin 8” rear mounted drivers capable of unleashing relentless dynamics! The excellent coaxial driver ensures the Saranna also captures the tender nuances of vocals and individual instruments with breathtaking clarity and a huge soundstage.

Key Features:

  • Full-Range 8” Coaxial Main Driver: A single, high-performance coaxial driver with powerful neodymium magnets covers almost the entire audible range, ensuring the Saranna functions as a true point source with exceptional imaging and soundstage.
  • Cardioid Midrange Design: The vented midrange chamber reduces unwanted reflections, resulting in increased clarity and an improved This design ensures that the rhythmic and punchy nature of the upper bass and lower midrange is directed towards the listener, minimizing room-induced muddiness.
  • Rear-Mounted 8” Subwoofer Drivers: Strategically positioned to maintain a sleek front profile and couple with the rear wall for added headroom, two 8” drivers deliver deep bass without compromising the speaker’s aesthetic appeal.
  • Designed to work well in real rooms: Saranna can be adjusted to different rooms or positions at the press of a button, and provides tight bass and a large soundstage even when placed close to the wall.

The above combines to a package that can fill even a large room with rich, natural sound and a huge soundstage.

“The Saranna is a paradox,” says Thorbjørn Sigberg of Sigberg Audio. “It offers relentless punch and dynamics to unleash the full barrage of rock and metal at any volume, yet it can turn around and touch your soul with tender nuance, pulling at heartstrings with breathtaking clarity in vocals and individual instruments.”

The Saranna’s soundstage and sound quality threatens to rival even Sigberg Audio’s flagship MANTA speaker system, and that is no small feat!

Pre-orders for the Saranna opens up on March 18th of 2025. For more information and to stay updated on the latest developments, visit the product page on the Sigberg Audio’s official website.

The website also features a background article on the Saranna design and development.

Price:

Sigberg Audio Saranna is sold direct to consumer from www.sigbergaudio.com, and retails at 249 995 NOK / pair. This includes shipping, taxes and import fees, as well as free setup support and advice. We currently ship to most countries. There’s a limited pre-order period from March 18th to May 1st where Saranna is available at a 10% introduction discount.

Bernard Butler: Good Grief

Good Grief is the latest album from singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and former Suede member, Bernard Butler. It’s his best album yet – a very personal, intimate, honest and reflective collection of songs, which, lyrically, tackles subjects including his religious upbringing and Catholic guilt, his teenage years when he was dreaming of a life in music, anxiety, the companionship of solitude, and, how as a young man, he was often shamed for showing his emotions.

Butler produced the album, and plays a lot of the instruments: guitars, drums, bass, piano and violin. He’s also joined by a small amount of guest musicians, including long-time associate Sally Herbert on violin, who arranged the strings, cellist Ian Burdge, and violinist Jo O’Keefe.

Good Grief opens with the cinematic mini-epic and first single, ‘Camber Sands’, which, with its mariachi horns, piano and violin, is a soundtrack to jumping in your car and escaping from London to be beside the sea: ‘We’ll get away from this town where the pavement’s stained – it’s the backstreet of your heart that’s clogging up your veins…’

It’s like a scaled-back version of Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’, but rather than putting the pedal to the metal on Highway 9, Butler is hitting the M20 and heading for the East Sussex coastline.

It’s a striking way to start the album and is followed by the equally stirring ‘Deep Emotions,’ which has a gorgeous, folky, Bert Jansch-like acoustic guitar intro – Butler was a friend of Jansch’s and collaborated with him – but then slips into rock-soul territory, with a big chorus, finger clicks, soaring strings and a superb, liquid, ‘70s-sounding electric guitar solo.

There’s more lush orchestration on the wintry and moody ‘London Snow’, which was partly inspired by the city of London becoming a ghost town during COVID.

‘The Forty Foot,’ has some wonderful, spiralling acoustic guitar patterns and startling electric playing. It’s a shadowy and dramatic song about wrestling with Catholic guilt and it takes its title from the name of a swimming spot in Ireland, near Dún Laoghaire, in Dublin, which is where Butler’s parents are from. He recalls it from childhood holidays.

Not all of the songs on Good Grief  are new – ‘Clean’, a sparse, bluesy ballad that was written with Edwyn Collins, first appeared as a B-side in 2001, but Butler re-recorded it for this album.

There’s also another co-write on the record – final song, ‘The Wind’ is a beautiful, stripped-back, country-tinged track, which has opening lines penned by singer and actress, Jessie Buckley, with whom Butler made the 2022, Mercury Prize-nominated album, For All Our Days That Tear The Heart.

During the writing and recording of that record, Butler used certain techniques and processes which then informed the making of Good Grief.

‘Living The Dream’, with its Spanish guitar and whistling solo, mentions Butler’s teenage ambitions of being a musician and has echoes of some of the more epic moments on his debut, ‘People Move On,’ and his work with David McAlmont in the duo McAlmont and Butler.

Talking of old groups, ‘Pretty D’, is partly a love song, but was also written about getting a band back together – it was influenced by the black comedy The League of Gentlemen, in which the character, Les McQueen, former member of glam rockers, Crème Brulee, is left mortified and skint after a reunion doesn’t go quite as planned.

In the lyric, Butler sings: ‘Well, it’s been 20 years since you broke my heart, oh, 20 years, we’ve been falling apart…” Well, it’s been 25 years since Butler’s last solo album, but it’s been well worth the wait. 

This is a stunning, powerful and beautifully produced record that’s easily one of the best releases of 2024. Good grief, indeed.

Back to Contemporary Music

Luxman L-509Z integrated amplifier

Luxman, as a company, is celebrating its centenary this year, which is an extraordinary achievement and surely warrants the use of the adjective ‘venerable’ to describe it. And it’s not difficult to see why this brand has such longevity – and is so well-loved and respected among audio enthusiasts worldwide – when it delivers products like the outstanding Luxman L-509Z integrated amplifier.

IAG (the International Audio Group, Ltd) has owned the Japanese brand since 2009. IAG also owns several highly regarded British brands, such as Mission, Wharfedale, and Quad. However, unlike many of these brands, the production of which moved to China in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the design and manufacture of Luxman remain based in Yokohama, Japan. 

A short personal aside: My first experience with Luxman dates to 1981. A little more recently, I heard a predecessor to the L-509Z, the L-509fSE, when I worked in a high-end retail establishment in London about a decade ago. I thought it was delightful, but it did not fit into the owner’s long-term plans, so we did not take it on. The fact that this Luxman integrated amp was already well-established more than ten years ago shows the rarity of new models from the brand. This isn’t laziness; it’s because you don’t need to tamper with the classics. Regardless, when I heard this new model was coming into the UK, I metaphorically camped out on the distributor’s doorstep to get my review request in early.

Let’s Get Physical

It began with a courier groaning under the 30+kg weight of the very large box. I don’t do unboxing videos, but if I did, the viewer would have shared my astonishment to find the Luxman L-509Z encased in three cardboard boxes, like a Matryoshka doll. The packaging alone must weigh at least 3kg, but it is a harbinger of the company’s commitment to quality, which is still a hallmark of Luxman’s products.

I am used to lifting heavy audio equipment, but the Luxman L-509Z proved to be at the upper end of what my aged frame can manage. It is one of the best-built units that I have ever encountered. The build quality is beyond reproach. Having safely placed the unit on the shelf on my rack where my PrimaLuna EVO400 integrated valve amplifier usually resides, I could examine it in more detail. The finish on the silver casework was exquisite, and the visual impact from the front was beautiful. I love the retro look of the whole thing, particularly the pair of large VU meters that are proudly in the centre of the face plate and display in real time the output from the amplifier expressed in Decibels. Between them sits a pair of backlit seven-segment LEDs that show the current volume level, again in dB. 

Rotary dial

On the left is a large rotary dial for source selection, and immediately below that is the master on/off switch. On the same line is a smaller button marked ‘Separate’, which allows the pre and power amplifiers to be operated independently. There is then a line of slim rotary controls. The phono stage is first. It has three positions to match most cartridges: moving magnet, high output moving coil, and moving coils with a low output. The second is for speaker selection, with click stops for two sets of loudspeakers, allowing the amp to drive A, B, A and B, and to turn the loudspeakers off altogether.

The next three are tone controls, allowing for boost or cut in Bass, Middle and Treble frequencies. Setting the dials to the centre removes these controls from the audio path. The last of the six dials is for adjusting balance. Beyond that, there are two more small buttons. The first sets Line Direct, and the second is Mute. Two headphone outputs are available for the popular jack sizes.

Vent holes

The top panel has no less than 14 vent holes on either side and shows off the beautiful finish of the enclosure. Moving around to the rear, the fit and finish remain exemplary, with all the sockets being solid. There is nothing flimsy here. Looking from the left, we find a pair of RAC sockets with an earthing terminal alongside for connection to a turntable, with a gap to four pairs of RCA inputs marked Line 1-4. In the next group are three RCA inputs, marked Pre-Out 1, Pre-Out 2 and Main In. Next are a pair of balanced XLR inputs, both of which have phase inversion switches, for those components wired back to front, as it were.

The last two inputs are for integration of the unit to a home automation system, should you wish to use it thus. The bottom half of the rear panel is home to two pairs of multi-way binding posts for connecting two pairs of loudspeakers should you so desire. These can be run separately or together, although in the latter case, care must be taken to ensure that the combined impedance is suitable for the amplifier. All this is set out in the accompanying Owner’s manual. There is the IEC input for mains connection, which does not have an accompanying on/off switch.

Even the underside of the L-509Z deserves mention, fitted as it is with cylindrical feet made of cast iron, which must be significant contributors to the overall weight of the machine. A quick word of appreciation for the remote control is required here. It is constructed of aluminium, although the battery door is slightly incongruous, being plastic. The remote allows selection of input, volume level and muting, and will also work with any Luxman disc player released since 1996.

Technology

You can go to Luxman’s excellent website and read about all the wonders within that elegant but substantial frame. Luxman call the design concept as ‘single chassis separates’, with both pre and power amplifier sections using their LIFES 1.0 (Luxman Integrated Feedback Engine System), which follows work initially done in 2021 for the brand’s flagship power amplifier, the M-10X. The power output figures quoted for the L-509Z are 120W per channel into 8 Ohms and 220W per channel into 4 Ohms. For this review, I used my Harbeth Compact 7 ESXD loudspeakers, which are 6 Ohms across their entire frequency spectrum, and they proved to be an excellent match for the Luxman.

Volume control is another fine piece of engineering that incorporates LECUA-EX (Luxman Electronically Controlled Ultimate Attenuator – Excellent eXperience). This allows the user 88 steps between 0dB and 87dB. The knob feels very well-weighted, but the remote control allows a very accurate volume setting too, and that was how it was used here after the initial set-up.

For the review, I connected my Linn Sondek LP12, which was rebuilt mainly using Tangerine Audio hardware components and whose Ittok arm is currently fitted (and will be for the foreseeable future) with the excellent Vertere Dark Sabre moving magnet cartridge, to the phono input. My Yamaha CD-S3000 was connected to the Line 1 RCA input and also served as the DAC for an AURALiC ARIES Mini streamer, which has been upgraded with various products from Network Acoustics, and for our television sound as well. 

Listening To The L-509Z

As is my habit, I allowed the Luxman some time to settle into its new surroundings after setting it up. Streaming from Qobuz, I started off with Cara Dillon’s 2024 album Coming Home, to which I have been drawn regularly in the last few weeks. I was oblivious to this artist until one of her tracks was played at a British loudspeaker manufacturer whose production facility I visited. This Northern Irish singer/songwriter has one of the most beautiful voices I have heard and on this fine album she uses it to both sing and speak her deeply affecting lyrics, which are accompanied by sparse yet perfect instrumentation arranged by her husband Sam Lakeman. If that name rings a bell, he is the brother of Seth Lakeman, who is a highly regarded purveyor of fine folk music.

What I was not prepared for from the start of listening to the L-509Z was the magnificent soundstage which it would create. We use words like ‘holographic’ and ‘three-dimensional’ too often, which can somewhat devalue them, but they are entirely appropriate here. Ms. Dillon was right there in the room with me, well forward of the front plane of the Harbeths, with her gossamer voice grabbing the attention while the supporting instruments were arrayed around and behind her. Every tiny detail captured in the studio was given its own place in the mix. For detail seekers, the L-509Z is a perfect choice, but that is just one of its myriad capabilities.

First impressions count

My late mother, who specialised in sharing her endless supply of pithy truisms, used to say “You cannot undo a first impression”, and I was delighted that the L-509Z created a deep, lasting and very positive impression on me. During my brief but intense time with this amazing device in my system, I fed it a very varied diet of rock, pop, jazz, electronica, folk, large and small scale classical music as well as television sound, and there was nothing that knocked it off guard. A favourite album for more than half a century, my original UK pressing of the Who’s Who’s Next came blasting into the room with every element intact. Somehow that attention to detail never overwhelmed the musicality, and finally etched as it all was, it never felt overdone.

What the L-509Z does is bring all music to life, finding the inner strength in quiet passages while being able to belt out the climaxes with gusto without ever becoming fatiguing. The closing track on Who’s Next is, as many of you will know, is ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. I was lucky enough to be in the crowd at the Oval cricket ground in September 1971 when the Who topped the bill of a daylong festival of London-based bands. ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ that night was incredible, with the whole band playing and singing at the very best of their ability, and the whole place on its feet. That feeling was totally recreated in our living room, with me cranking up the volume to anti-social levels.

Happy confirmation

I then switched to vinyl replay and happy to confirm that the Luxman design team have thrown their hearts and minds into this too. First on to the Collaro mat on my LP12 was Congo Funk! hich describes its content on the album cover as “Sound madness from the banks of the mighty Congo River. Kinshasa/Brazaville 1969-1982”. Two slabs of all-analogue black vinyl on which are captured a host of West African musicians whose joyful playing is guaranteed to lift the darkest of moods. Having them transported thousands of miles to perform live in my living room was one of the highlights of my time with this extraordinary amplifier. 

An opinion I have seen regurgitated from time to time is that Harbeth loudspeakers are very ‘pipe and slipper’, which I take to mean that they are a bit dull and boring. I have always known as a Harbeth owner for well over a decade that such opinions can only come from a source that has never actually heard them. Pair them with a good amplifier and they will do a fine job, as they do every day for me. However, pair them with an extraordinary amplifier and that faintly patronising description is shown for its inaccuracy and ignorance.

Terrific

The Compact 7s here sounded absolutely terrific driven by the Luxman, and pulled off that disappearing trick that the best loudspeakers do in a really well sorted system. The soundstage seemed to go from wall to wall in the room, with commensurate height and depth. This happened whether the volume was dialled well back or advanced to window rattling levels.

The designers of the L-509Z obviously spent many long hours working on its voicing, to the extent that the tone controls were redundant on pretty much every record that I played. However, to pique my own curiosity and because you might want to know, I did spend an afternoon playing with them and it was an interesting experience. I started with a favourite from my small but growing collection of jazz records, Bass On Top by the Paul Chambers Quartet. Mr. Chambers was at the time the bassist in Miles Davis’ band, but on a day in July 1957 went to Rudy van Gelder’s studio in Hackensack New Jersey with three friends.

A single day

In the space of a single day this very gifted group (Kenny Burrell on guitar, Hank Jones on piano, Art Taylor on drums along with Paul Chambers on bass) laid down seven tracks – over 40 minutes of music – of what I suppose could be called mainstream jazz. Using the tone controls, I was able to increase or decrease each instrument’s place in the sound story, not in an exaggerated way but subtly. Mr van Gelder’s production skills were such that he got the balance spot on in the studio, but it was fun to see if I could do better – needless to say I could not. If you own a few less-than-stellar recordings, you may find it helpful to use those tone controls, but otherwise, I would class them as nice to have rather than essential.

Television sound was always crisp and well defined and once again the extensive soundstage worked very well. We watched our BluRay copy of Top Gun: Maverick (not very high brow I know, but very entertaining) and the F18s on full throttle sounded thrilling, while the dialogue and soundtrack really came alive through this “simple” two channel replay system.

Headphones

Finally, I did give both headphone sockets a try. The Owner’s manual reminds one to turn the speaker selector dial to the Off position before using headphones, so that was my first action. I plugged my Audioquest Nighthawk closed back ‘phones into the larger of the two sockets and lined ups couple of SACDs to play through the Yamaha. First up was the Rolling Stones 1969 album Let It Bleed. Afficionados of the band will remember that the inner sleeve of the album contained the instruction “this record should be played loud”, and that is faithfully reproduced on the fold out sleeve of the DSD version. It would be rude not to comply so once Gimme Shelter started I found a setting that was loud without being uncomfortable, and that in-your-head experience that can only come from this method of listening brought the band to life. 

To try the smaller socket I used a pair of Sivga ‘phones, and for them I played my treasured copy of Lyn Stanley’s Interludes. Ms Stanley is an absolute stickler for sound quality, and on this 2015 recording she was able to call on the cream of Los Angeles’ musical elite as accompanists, resulting in an album where her wonderful voice is centre stage but each musician has their own performance space. The Luxman transported me in to the studio with all of them, creating a sense of intimacy and involvement for the listener. It takes some chutzpah for a jazz vocalist to take on Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’, but Ms Stanley pulls it off with great panache. We were in strong goosebump territory here.

Final Thoughts

My brief time with Luxman L-509Z left me with an indelible impression. It is a behemoth, but every ounce, every gram of its weight translates into an outstanding performance. A fellow scribe who knew it was here asked me if I found it ‘bright,’ as he had read that others had reported it so. I’m afraid I have to disagree. For my taste, the designers of the L-509Z have created a magnificent flagship integrated amplifier. The voicing is perfectly judged, achieving incredible detail retrieval without sacrificing one iota of musicality. I could listen to recordings in a way only the best amplifiers can achieve. At the same time, it drew the very best from my source components and my loudspeakers, allowing me to appreciate fully just how good a system I have here.

I have spoken of the build quality, but it is worth repeating here. The L-509Z was built to give a lifetime of musical pleasure. God forbid it should ever happen, but I would add it to the short list of things that would remain intact after a nuclear catastrophe (assuming it was powered off at the moment of the explosion – EMP would fry the circuits otherwise!). As an armchair warrior, I can also highly commend the Luxman remote control, which is comfortable to hold and easy to use, with very tactile buttons clearly marked and spaced apart enough to prevent the wrong one from being pressed by mistake.

Flagship

As a flagship integrated amplifier, the Luxman L-509Z must be counted as a major achievement by the designers and engineers who brought it to life. It is an unashamedly analogue device in an increasingly digital world, but it is all the better for it. If I had the funds, I would bring one into my system in a heartbeat. I would pair it with one of Luxman’s high-end SACD/DAC units, and I think we could all live happily ever after. Is it expensive? Yes, it is. But it outperforms any separate pre and power amplifiers that I can recall at a similar price point, and in an era when you can walk into my former employer’s London emporium and lay down the price of a decent house in my part of the world on a system, I think it represents outstanding value. 

Technical specifications

  • Type: Solid-state Integrated amplifier
  • Power output: 120W per channel (8Ω), 220W per channel (4Ω)
  • Input Sensitivity/Impedance: Phono (MM): 2.5mV/47kΩ, Phono (MC-H): 0.3mV/100Ω, Phono (MC-L): 0.1mV/40Ω, Line: 180mV/47kΩ, Balanced line: 180mV/79kΩ, Main In: 1.1V/47kΩ
  • Output Voltage: Pre Out: 1V
  • Frequency Response: Phono: 20Hz-20kHz (±0.5dB). Line: 20Hz-100kHz (within -3dB)
  • Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.007% or less (8Ω, 1kHz), 0.03% or less (8Ω, 20Hz to 20kHz)
  • Signal-to-noise Ratio (IHF-A): Phono (MM): 87dB or more, Phono (MC-H): 70dB or more, Phono (MC-L): 62dB or more, Line: 106dB or more. 
  • Volume adjustment: LECUA-EX
  • Amplification feedback circuit: LIFES 1.0
  • Output configuration: Bipolar 4-parallel push-pull
  • Damping factor: 330
  • Max. amount of tone control: Bass: ±8dB at 100Hz, Midrange: ±8dB at 760Hz, Treble: ±8dB at 10kHz
  • Dimensions (WxHxD): 44×19.3×46.3cm
  • Weight: 29.4kg
  • Price: £10,995, $12,495, €13,000

Manufacturer

Luxman

www.luxman.com

UK distributor

IAG UK

+44(0)1480 447700

Read more Luxman reviews here

Back to Reviews

2025 Awards – Network Streamer

Our annual Awards are a celebration of the best in audio. Specifically, we have seen the best audio products over the last 12 months. In most cases, that means products introduced between late 2023 and the final months of 2024. However, if they are new to us, that counts too!

Over the following pages, we’ve found what could well be your next great audio purchase. We’ve tried where possible to cover the broadest spread of product categories and prices. We have also listed both award winners and highly commended products in many categories. In these categories, we have been almost universally blown away by the performance of these products. It’s amazing to think that an industry as inherently mature as audio (the first audio products predate the widespread home electrification schemes of the 1910s and 1920s, and the first branch of ‘consumer electronics’ was all hi-fi related) can still produce innovative products that move the needle and improve audio performance. But, each year, we keep seeing improvements in almost every aspect of the replay chain, and often those improvements are significant.

It’s also fascinating to see how the audio industry changes over time, which can be seen by how our categories shift from year to year. Certain products remain perennial members of the Award roster; it’s unlikely that any audio Awards will ever exclude loudspeakers or integrated amplifiers. However, we’ve noticed that categories that almost didn’t exist a year ago are now a significant part of the audio landscape. Network Switch, Network Filter, and Active and Streaming Loudspeaker categories were all sections of the audio world that either didn’t exist or were way outside of hi-fi+’s purview to be considered until recently.

Selection

Selecting products for awards is never easy, but our product selection process makes it harder. We want to replicate the experience of those who enjoy their audio devices rather than those who approach every component with a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp. That means we have a two-step pre-review process before a product reaches the review stage. A potential review product is loaned to the reviewer; if they feel it isn’t the kind of product they would buy, it’s sent to another reviewer who might be more in step with how that product performs. If, at that point, we can find no one who likes what it does, we send it back. Why? The product may not have been suitable for any of our review team members. If not, and the product is just wrong, we find denying it the oxygen of exposure is better than people buying it because “it can’t be that bad!” Or worse, the review is subjected to careful and unscrupulous massaging; I come from a theatrical background. I’ve seen excoriating ‘crits’ of shows dressed up to sound upbeat on billboards. The same goes for audio. If it’s bad, it’s far better not to have our name by it, than someone buy it!

The crème of the crop

This means that every review in hi-fi+ has already made the grade. Our reviews are already the crème de la crème. So, our Awards are the crème de la crème de la crème! That’s damn crème-y! But even in a list of products that is so admirable, there are always some that stand above the rest.

Audio magazines seldom exist in isolation. Our team interacts with people in the industry and enthusiasts. Some products keep coming up because they have ‘a bit of a vibe’. An example of this (from last year’s Awards lineup) is Soul Note. If the name ‘Soul Note’ is brought into the conversation at an audio event, it’s usually followed by someone else saying, “Oooh… that stuff’s nice!” There are always a few products each year that keep getting mentioned in and around the audio business. Some of those ‘vibe’ brands are in the pages of our Awards, every year.

Regarding product shortlisting, we’ve found that relying on the review published at the time is often more critical than cross-examining the memory of the reviewer months after the product was shipped back to the manufacturer. While, once again, those ‘vibe’ products stick in the memory, a reviewer that might look at several products a month – and has done so for many years – is unlikely to remember the nuances of something they tested almost a year ago. As reviewers, we should look at each product with fresh eyes, so we should purge our memories of what came before (some of the least valuable reviews compare the 2024 model with long-discontinued previous designs from the last century). The review itself is more of a snapshot of what the reviewer felt while reviewing it.

Trickle down

Many of the products over the next pages are the stuff of dreams. And some dreams don’t always come cheap. While some are in the ‘affordable’ class, many of these products are at the ‘aspirational’ end of audio. Some are at the ‘astronomic’ (literally… one costs as much as a short space flight). But crucially, what we’ve seen over the years is that these products form the basis for more attainably priced products. The lessons learned in making something that costs a small fortune filter down into the real-world.

This is not simply an attempt to justify sky-high prices, it’s an understanding that the bandwidth of audio is expanding in more ways than one. By making products that cost a fortune, companies haven’t abandoned the entry-level products. They’ve ceded the floor to a new generation of manufacturers. And they are winning Awards!

2025 Awards – DAC Cost No Object

Our annual Awards are a celebration of the best in audio. Specifically, we have seen the best audio products over the last 12 months. In most cases, that means products introduced between late 2023 and the final months of 2024. However, if they are new to us, that counts too!

Over the following pages, we’ve found what could well be your next great audio purchase. We’ve tried where possible to cover the broadest spread of product categories and prices. We have also listed both award winners and highly commended products in many categories. In these categories, we have been almost universally blown away by the performance of these products. It’s amazing to think that an industry as inherently mature as audio (the first audio products predate the widespread home electrification schemes of the 1910s and 1920s, and the first branch of ‘consumer electronics’ was all hi-fi related) can still produce innovative products that move the needle and improve audio performance. But, each year, we keep seeing improvements in almost every aspect of the replay chain, and often those improvements are significant.

It’s also fascinating to see how the audio industry changes over time, which can be seen by how our categories shift from year to year. Certain products remain perennial members of the Award roster; it’s unlikely that any audio Awards will ever exclude loudspeakers or integrated amplifiers. However, we’ve noticed that categories that almost didn’t exist a year ago are now a significant part of the audio landscape. Network Switch, Network Filter, and Active and Streaming Loudspeaker categories were all sections of the audio world that either didn’t exist or were way outside of hi-fi+’s purview to be considered until recently.

Selection

Selecting products for awards is never easy, but our product selection process makes it harder. We want to replicate the experience of those who enjoy their audio devices rather than those who approach every component with a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp. That means we have a two-step pre-review process before a product reaches the review stage. A potential review product is loaned to the reviewer; if they feel it isn’t the kind of product they would buy, it’s sent to another reviewer who might be more in step with how that product performs. If, at that point, we can find no one who likes what it does, we send it back. Why? The product may not have been suitable for any of our review team members. If not, and the product is just wrong, we find denying it the oxygen of exposure is better than people buying it because “it can’t be that bad!” Or worse, the review is subjected to careful and unscrupulous massaging; I come from a theatrical background. I’ve seen excoriating ‘crits’ of shows dressed up to sound upbeat on billboards. The same goes for audio. If it’s bad, it’s far better not to have our name by it, than someone buy it!

The crème of the crop

This means that every review in hi-fi+ has already made the grade. Our reviews are already the crème de la crème. So, our Awards are the crème de la crème de la crème! That’s damn crème-y! But even in a list of products that is so admirable, there are always some that stand above the rest.

Audio magazines seldom exist in isolation. Our team interacts with people in the industry and enthusiasts. Some products keep coming up because they have ‘a bit of a vibe’. An example of this (from last year’s Awards lineup) is Soul Note. If the name ‘Soul Note’ is brought into the conversation at an audio event, it’s usually followed by someone else saying, “Oooh… that stuff’s nice!” There are always a few products each year that keep getting mentioned in and around the audio business. Some of those ‘vibe’ brands are in the pages of our Awards, every year.

Regarding product shortlisting, we’ve found that relying on the review published at the time is often more critical than cross-examining the memory of the reviewer months after the product was shipped back to the manufacturer. While, once again, those ‘vibe’ products stick in the memory, a reviewer that might look at several products a month – and has done so for many years – is unlikely to remember the nuances of something they tested almost a year ago. As reviewers, we should look at each product with fresh eyes, so we should purge our memories of what came before (some of the least valuable reviews compare the 2024 model with long-discontinued previous designs from the last century). The review itself is more of a snapshot of what the reviewer felt while reviewing it.

Trickle down

Many of the products over the next pages are the stuff of dreams. And some dreams don’t always come cheap. While some are in the ‘affordable’ class, many of these products are at the ‘aspirational’ end of audio. Some are at the ‘astronomic’ (literally… one costs as much as a short space flight). But crucially, what we’ve seen over the years is that these products form the basis for more attainably priced products. The lessons learned in making something that costs a small fortune filter down into the real-world.

This is not simply an attempt to justify sky-high prices, it’s an understanding that the bandwidth of audio is expanding in more ways than one. By making products that cost a fortune, companies haven’t abandoned the entry-level products. They’ve ceded the floor to a new generation of manufacturers. And they are winning Awards!

Introducing ScansonicHD’s new M Series

March 2025 – ScansonicHD is thrilled to announce the launch of its new M series loudspeakers—three meticulously engineered models that bring an elevated audiophile experience within reach.

The M15.2 standmount, M20.2 floorstander, and M30.2 floorstander each exhibit ScansonicHD’s celebrated craftsmanship and blending of Danish design. The DNA and high end pedigree from sister brand Raidho is clearly audible.

A recent anecdote at an audio show exemplifies the M series’ extraordinary price-to-performance ratio. When one listener said, “The speakers sound great, but for EUR 20.000 they are a bit too expensive,” our team responded with a smile, “I agree, but the speakers only cost EUR 2.600 for a pair!” This perfectly captures our mission to bring the best in Danish design and innovation to passionate music lovers — without the premium price tag.

  • M15.2 – Euro Retail Pricing: EUR 1.500 for the pair
  • M20.2 – Euro Retail Pricing: EUR 2.600 for the pair
  • M30.2 – Euro Retail Pricing: EUR 3.500 for the pair

Key features of this new series are:

  • A Raidho inspired Ribbon Tweeter
  • Powerful passive bass radiators on the back
  • Very high quality crossover
  • Sandwich membranes

A recent show attendee mistook the M Series for a EUR 20,000 speaker due to its performance. The reality? These speakers start at only EUR 2,600 per pair. Discover world-class Danish design and engineering at an unbeatable value.

All models are available in black and white satin gloss finish from April 2025.

For more information, visit: www.scansonichd.dk

Innuos ZEN Next-Gen

For many years, the Innuos ZEN has been a cornerstone of the brand’s servers. Now in Mk3 form, this server offers 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB of hard disk drive capacity. It strikes an ideal balance between performance and economy. The ZENith Mk3 is the ‘performance’ option, while the ZENmini Mk3 represents the ‘economy’ entry point into Innuos music serving. Towering above these is the Statement Next-Gen. However, introducing the new Innuos ZEN Next-Gen server at the Munich High End 2024 upended the apple cart.

Let’s quickly address the big question: No! The ZEN Next-Gen is not replacing the ZEN Mk3; the original ZEN line will continue. This question looms large in people’s minds because the base model of the ZEN Next-Gen costs three times as much as the most expensive ZEN Mk3. Adding SSD storage and internal board options can increase Next-Gen’s price. In fact, up to over five times that of the Mk3. Hearing of the new ZEN Next-Gen, owners of the original ZEN range are understandably concerned. Is their next Innuos server out of reach? Fortunately, no! 

All Change!

Other than the ZEN name and the fact that both feature a black or silver aluminium chassis, nearly everything has been up for consideration in Innuos’ Next-Gen project. Perhaps the most significant change is the introduction of a new ‘PreciseAudio’ custom mainboard. This Intel Core I3-based four-core (with four virtual cores) board features 16GB of industrial-grade DDR4 RAM. It has had components removed, but it incorporates custom regulators specifically selected to enhance sound quality. Innuos now exercises complete low-level control over the mainboard. This allows Innuos to configure individual clocks and optimise hardware protocols for audio performance. Given that a surprising number of servers are built around an off-the-shelf PC motherboard with ‘minimal’ changes to the components on that board, this alone puts the Innuos ZEN Next-Gen into the top tier of dedicated music servers.

Innuos ZEN Next-Gen internal

The PreciseAudio board has a secondary bonus, but it is one that significantly improves performance. The Innuos-developed Sense 3 Operating System’s kernel now runs in real time, drastically reducing operating latency. This lets the ZEN Next-Gen allocate specific audio processes to dedicated processor cores. Translating from Modern Geek, this means interruptions are minimised. This has more to do with ensuring that audio processing is not interrupted than finding files quickly.  It helps reduce latency and power noise. Using custom Gallium-Nitride-based regulators Innuos specified for the system also helps reduce latency. This lowering of latency provides faster power to the processor.

Unable to resist a motoring analogy, Innuos claim this is akin to driving through a city and getting green traffic lights at every crossroad! Of course, Innuos isn’t based in London, where that would increase speed to nearly three mph!

Storage Options

Another big change is the switch from Hard Disk Drives to Solid State Drives, both for onboard music storage and a dedicated SSD to store the Sense 3 OS. This last has power-loss protection in the (hopefully unlikely) event of a power cut. This is a pragmatic and practical decision. If the drive holding the operating system is less likely to go ‘bang!’ in worst-case situations, fewer repairs will be needed in the field. No one wants to end up with an expensive metal brick, and power loss protection reduces the chances of that happening. 

05_ZEN_NEXT_GEN_Black_AES

The storage for music files is also well accommodated. A new Extensible Storage Management (XSM) feature in Sense allows users to seamlessly add M.2 storage via a slot at the bottom of the system. Alongside the internal storage, this creates a single storage volume of up to 16TB (you can add an additional 8TB of external SSD under the XSM system). This means there’s no need to worry about free space on each individual drive unless you are storing the entire canon of Western music in high resolution. The new system is also more robust; if one of the drives fails, only the contents of that drive are affected, and backup can restore files specifically from that drive. It’s possible to extend storage even further with Network Attached Storage, though this may exhibit greater latency than the onboard options.

Mad for Modules!

Unlike the existing ZEN range, the ZEN Next-Gen can be supplied with optional output board modules. This provides several advantages to the Next-Gen owner, allowing you to tailor the Innuos ZEN Next-Gen precisely to your needs. Therefore, if you are connecting to a DAC that only supports traditional digital connections, there is an S/PDIF board with optical, coaxial, and AES connectors. Alternatively, there is a USB version or even a configurable I2S option. This prevents the need to purchase and operate unused digital inputs and, as they are retrofittable, enables the ZEN Next-Gen to adapt to your system and remain future-proof. 

Speaking of future-proofing… the ZEN Next-Gen platform introduces an upgrade path, should you wish to take your ZEN Next-Gen to ZENith Next-Gen status. The inherently modular nature of the new ZEN Next-Gen platform means upgrading is easy. It also means your ZEN Next-Gen goes back to Innuos to become enZENithified. But the option is there.

04_ZEN_NEXT_GEN_Black_USB_DAC

Making the new ZEN Next-Gen so inherently modular means the chassis also needed to come under a lot of scrutiny. The nature of this new platform allows this degree of change and upgrade to Next-Gen models, which means it’s now a 10mm thick CNC-milled affair with custom vibration damping in the transformer platform. It also has a chassis grounding connection.

CD To Go

The ZEN Next-Gen omits one notable feature: the CD slot. Although it can easily rip CDs to storage, it requires an aftermarket CD drive to do so. The reason for this omission is twofold: the significance of CDs as a one-time musical data carrier has diminished in the West. Those who rip discs have largely done so already, and downloading files has replaced the practice of ripping new discs. Another significant reason is the harsh reality that disc drives are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Innuos has stocks of drives for its existing ranges (both for new sales and to repair current products), but adding extra lines of servers to its range depletes those stocks.

Numerous manufacturers of CD players and servers have discovered this the hard way; they launch their new products into the market, only to find the transport mechanism is declared ‘End of Life’, leaving the new product without any CD or SACD playback option. This is particularly harsh for products sold in China and Japan, where CD sales remain strong. Unfortunately, the reality of producing magneto-optical transport mechanisms becomes increasingly uneconomic each year. The ZEN Next-Gen’s lack of a disc draw reflects a reckoning with that harsh economic reality.

ZEN vs ZEN

In requesting an Innuos ZEN Next-Gen, it seemed like an obvious comparison to include a ZEN Mk3. It’s also worth comparing it to my Innuos Statement Next-Gen. There’s one thing all three have in common; they take a few days to come on song from cold. Fortunately, this isn’t one of those 500-hour run-in times, but letting it sit for two days before you listen critically makes a lot of sense.

The other thing they have in common; they deserve good up- and downstream components. Don’t sacrifice your Innuos ZEN’s potential performance (either) with a Netgear switch and some low-cost CAT5 Ethernet cables. Sure, the PhoenixNet switch from Innuos is an obvious choice, but even something like a decent network filter helps. 

01_ZEN_NEXT_GEN_Silver_Front

In hindsight, the ZEN vs ZEN title bout was unfair. The ZEN Mk3 put on a good show, but the ZEN Next-Gen thoroughly trounced it. There was so much more information available from the Next-Gen it made the ZEN Mk3 sound soft and rounded. It’s interface and track access times seemed glacial. The strange thing is if you listen to the ZEN Mk3 on its own, it’s an excellent server. And it’s damn fast even by today’s standards. But when you switch over to the ZEN Next-Gen, the flaws in performance and operation become all too apparent.

Speed king

The speed of the Next-Gen will be the initial attraction, even though it sounds so much better. If you go back to the Mk3 after playing with the Next-Gen, you end up mashing cover art on the Innuos app and wondering why it’s taking so long. 

One of the frustrating parts of audio reviewing is spending hours setting up two devices and days running them in, only to discover that the differences between them are so apparent that the listening test takes about a minute. That was the case here. I played one track on the ZEN Mk3, played the introduction again to lodge that in my brain, swapped the ZEN Mk3 for the ZEN Next-Gen, played the opening bars of that track, and swore a bit. The track was ‘Ghost Hardware’ by Burial [Untrue, Hyperdub]. Nothing sums up a grimy winter in London better than this track.

It sounded great on the ZEN Mk3, right up until I played it on the Innuos ZEN Next-Gen, when suddenly, those broken beats and glitchy sounds snapped into focus. The rhythm was tighter, and it sounded more hypnotic. It actually made me want to sit on the top deck of a big red bus in the wet, staring into the bleakness outside. The sound was cleaner, more precise, more energetic, and dynamic. It just got everything right.

Subsequent tracks covering everything from ABBA to Zappa only confirmed what had taken a few seconds to hear. The ZEN Mk3 went back in the box.

Making a Statement

The challenge match between Statement Next-Gen and ZEN Next-Gen was more interesting. Now, we had a fight on our hands! They trade blows. The two are very well-matched. It says something positive about the Innuos ZEN Next-Gen in that it’s ‘well-matched’ against a long-standing benchmark of mine and my ‘personal use’ server of choice. But this was more of a slugging match.

The two did not perform identically. Their sonic signatures were very different, but both were equally valid. The Statement has an expansive, lithe, and almost fluid sound. It produces a big soundstage and effortless dynamic shading. The Statement has grace and space to spare without sounding over-smoothed or warm. Playing jazz or orchestral music through the Statement Next-Gen is a sublime experience. Throwing car-sized sums at a music server is the only way to better it.

Slave to the rhythm

There’s that rhythm again helping the Innuos ZEN Next-Gen in the clinches. I’ve long believed the advantage of the Statement Next-Gen lies in its ability to be both expansive and detailed (for the traditional audiophile) while also being rhythmically tight (for the Naim user or similar). Nevertheless, the ZEN Next-Gen certainly had the upper hand in the rhythm stakes. Returning to that Burial track – by ZZ Top’s ‘La Grange’ [Tres Hombres, London] – the beat was more defined and crisper, with more precise leading-edge speed.

I don’t use the term ‘Pace, Rhythm, and Timing’ or ‘PRaT’ too often. UK enthusiasts overused it, and so few products have it. Computer audio largely forgets ‘PRaT.’ However, the ZEN Next-Gen has it. It times. It doesn’t trade much of that grace found in the Statement. This is more of a ‘now!’ sound, perhaps why I played a few Taylor Swift tracks through the ZEN Next-Gen.

The World Beyond Innuos

Comparisons are fine, but where does the Innuos ZEN Next-Gen sit outside Innuos-world? This is an easy question to answer because it stands very tall indeed. Like the Statement Next-Gen, it stands above its rivals at its price. And it continues to do so until you get into the super-high end of music servers. And, unless you like your music quite soft and a little saccharine, there’s not much to say against it. Innuos has hit it out of the park again! 

Technical specifications

  • Type: Music Server
  • Audio Outputs: Digital Output: USB (Up to 32bit/768KHz, Up to DSD256 via DoP, Up to DSD512 via Native DSD), 1 x Digital Output Module: PhoenixUSB, Phoenix I2S, AES/Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF (Sold Separately), Auxiliary Ethernet Port for Streamer or NAS
  • Connectivity: Ethernet: 2 x LAN RJ45 Bridged Gigabit Ethernet (LAN, Aux), USB: 3 x USB 3.2 Gen2 (Backup/Import, Aux, DAC), Chassis Ground: 4mm ‘Speaker plug’ port
  • Ripping: External USB-connected CD ripper required. 
  • Ripper Formats: FLAC (compression level 0), WAV. Playback
  • Audio Formats: WAC, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, MP3, MQA
  • Sample Rates: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz, 768kHz. DSD over PCM (DoP) up to DSD256. Native DSD up to DSD512 (on selected DACs) 
  • Bit Depths: 16bit, 24bit, 32bit
  • Web Interface: Modern Web Browsers from iOS, Android, Windows and OS X 
  • Mobile: Innuos Sense App for iOS/Android/Kindle Fire
  • Storage: 3D TLC SSD for OS. [Optional] 1 x PCIe NVMe SSD – 2TB / 4TB / 8TB (Factory fitted), [Optional] 1 x m.2 NVMe SSD (User or factory fitted)
  • Processor: Intel Core i3 (4 x Physical Cores + 4 x Virtual Cores)
  • Memory: 16GB DDR4 Industrial-Grade RAM
  • UPnP/DLNA: AssetUPnP
  • Streaming Services: Qobuz, Tidal, Deezer, HighResAudio, Internet Radio 
  • Finish: Black or Silver
  • Dimensions (WxHxD): 42×10.5×36.5cm
  • Weight: 12.7kg
  • Price: from £9,000, $12,000, €9,500

Manufacturer

Innuos

Homepage

ZEN Next-Gen

Where To Buy

+351 308 800 826

UK distributor

Innuos

+44(0)2475 200 210

Innuos

Back to Reviews

 

Prince: One Nite Alone

While Prince was still a major figure in 2002 his star was not quite as high as it had been a decade earlier. At this point, The Purple One was releasing material at a good rate with at least one album a year and had his own label NPG (New Power Generation) within the Sony fold. 

I must admit that while I was a fan in the eighties and like many was blown away by his live performances even on TV, my interest peaked with Sign o’ the Times but nothing thereafter inspired a purchase. In the intervening 30 plus years nothing much changed, then I sat down with turntable maestro Touraj Moghaddam of Vertere fame at the recent London show and spent some time listening to music on an MG1 turntable, FM Acoustics amplifiers and Mad Grand Maestro speakers in one of the better rooms at the Park Inn event. He played a side of Prince’s One Nite Alone which was re-released in 2020 on vinyl, purple vinyl natch, and which sounds remarkably good considering the colour and the poptastic nature of many Prince recordings.

Not to be confused with One Nite Alone Live, on which Prince is joined by a full band and which contains only two songs from this album, One Nite Alone was recorded in spring 2001 at Paisley Park. And the artist is indeed almost totally alone on its ten tracks, the album states “Produced, arranged, composed and per4med by Prince”, however it seems that John Blackwell provides drums on two tracks, and the wee one’s doves, Divinity and Majesty apparently contributed “ambient singing”. What separates One Nite Alone from the majority of Prince’s output is that it is largely a voice and piano production. There are synth additions to fill out the sound but these are fairly restrained so you get a purity of Princely essence that is rare. The only similar album in the cannon is The Truth where he concentrates on vocal and acoustic guitar. 

One Nite Alone opens with the title track and a good choice it is, this is one of the strongest songs on the album and introduces the piano to excellent effect. His playing is reminiscent of Keith Jarret; there is the same solidity of tone and sense of controlled improvisation. The obvious difference is that where Jarrett warbles, groans, even moans along to the tune Prince has a voice to match the keyboard; on this occasion a high slightly ethereal voice that has clearly been recorded in a different acoustic and with plenty of effects. 

Happily this becomes less noticeable as the album progresses, what tends to always draw attention however is the occasional use of deep bass synth notes that seem somewhat excessive for the arrangement. They are blunt enough to be bass pedals as found back in the days of prog yore but are presumably part of the synth embellishments added to the mix. 

The sound isn’t overly compressed and the piano itself has a natural reverb that gives it a sense of body and space. ‘Ur Gonna C Me’ is another example of the high voice and pared back arrangement typical of this album, with no clear rhythm and a strange ghostly denouement. ‘Here On Earth’ uses a spoken intro along with bass and drums, it’s a jazz tinged ballad of sorts that brings a change of vibe of the A side. 

The fourth track is ‘A Case of U’, a surprise cover of the Joni Mitchell classic that limits itself to just two verses and chorus from the original, here the voice approaches the high register of Mitchell’s on Blue but sound richer thanks to layered effects. It’s a pity that this song isn’t longer but perhaps not surprising given that Prince rarely covered other artist’s songs, what is slightly odd is the way it peters out after a bit of jazz vamping. The highlight of the B side is the controversial ‘Avalanche’ which caused a stir with the line “Abraham Lincoln was a racist who said ‘U cannot escape from history’”. You hear more extreme stuff on ‘Womens Hour’ these days.

One Nite Alone shows that Prince could make intimate and beautiful music when he put his mind to it, that he could play piano better than many realise and that his late works warrant further investigation.

Back to Jazz

Oephi Immanence 2.5

I’m not sure how Oephi maker Joakim Juhl does it. Especially when you hear loudspeakers like the Oephi Immanence 2.5. Not only does he make a wide range of cables but there are half a dozen speakers in the range and even some electronics, yet there only appears to be one guy. He must get some help when things get busy but the Munich High End show is a place where things are almost permanently busy and he is usually on his own. This year he shared with Supatrac, Lucas Audio Labs and Moonriver and the former at least spent a fair amount of time in the room.

It was one of the booths on the ground floor, so it was not an optimal space. However, with the Transcendance 2 stand mounts, the sound was very engaging and detailed. I reviewed that speaker last year and got a stunning result. It has a typically explicit Oephi balance, but when correctly set up, it delivers a thrilling sound that kept me up way too late.

Bigger is better

The Oephi Immanence 2.5 is a bigger and more powerful loudspeaker that also uses the Purifi drivers that Juhl likes so much, but here, he combines them with a ‘true ribbon’ tweeter in a cabinet that stands a metre tall on its spiked plinth. It looks like plenty of other speakers, but the details differ. These include that the 2.5 indicates that the woofers share bass duties, but the upper one also covers the midband. Purifi makes these drivers in Denmark, but Juhl gets them to omit the doping process typically applied, leaving the plain, uncoated paper. This will reduce weight and damping, but listening to his speakers, it becomes clear that Juhl prioritises speed over other considerations.

Oephi Immanence 2.5

The tweeter is a large 100mm plus example of the breed, which means it has good power handling but would typically have limited vertical dispersion. Loudspeaker design is about choosing your compromises. The perfect loudspeaker has yet to be agreed upon. The choice here is immediacy and transparency, which Juhl found in this ribbon. The plinth mentioned above is black and bolted to the base of the cabinet to allow a degree of horizontal movement. Oephi call this ‘hard decoupling’ as it reduces the rigidity of the fixing provided by spikes and reduces vibration at specific frequencies but doesn’t offer broadband isolation.

Extreme inclinations

The crossover is the most extreme element in the Oephi Immanence 2.5. It consists of massive copper foil inductors, DC biased capacitors and toroidal inductors. This network has a lot of metal, and it’s not on a conventional PCB but hard-wired. This element must significantly impact the sound of these speakers because it is so extreme. There is one pair of cable terminals but they are nice, pure copper examples from ETI. As Oephi makes a range of speaker cables, one might expect them to encourage bi-wiring, but for maximum coherence, a single pair is often beneficial.

The unlacquered, oiled oak veneer cabinets give the Immanence 2.5 an attractive silk finish that is not common in loudspeakers—just don’t leave a cup of tea on top of them.

It took a while

It took a while to get the sort of results I was hoping for out of the Oephi Immanence 2.5s. Joakim had warned me that they are more explicit than the Transcendence 2s, but I failed to appreciate that this meant getting everything around them working its very best. For instance, I don’t usually fit spikes under loudspeakers, as the sound without is generally more to my liking. With the Oephis, this was not an option. The sound, while good, didn’t gel and could even be too aggressive.

I compromised by putting spike receptors on the carpet, which did the trick. It also took a while to find an optimal position for them. The Immanence 2.5s have twin rear ports so cannot be too close to a wall. However, they have a warts-and-all presentation that doesn’t take any prisoners in the mids and high. The bass needs to balance that presentation. This meant quite a lot of experimentation with distance to the wall and angle of toe-in; it was very worthwhile, however.

The timing/balance equation

These Oephi Immanence 2.5s exemplify that perceived tonal balance is directly related to timing, when the timing is right everything falls into place, tonal balance is no longer an issue. Rega’s products have this quality: when something isn’t quite right, they can sound forward and thin, but once the system is singing, it’s the most engaging sound in the world. Oephi’s speakers are like this with knobs on, if something isn’t right they can be ferociously forward but get the system and the cabling working and it’s a whole other experience and one you don’t want to put down. One that won’t let you sit down in fact, at least if there’s any rhythm in the music.

Ribbon tweeters generally have a fairly mellow, relaxed character but this one is much faster and more revealing than usual, it does leading edges like you wouldn’t believe and in my room at least could not be toed in to face the listening seat and remain comfortable. Get the angle right however and you get horn style dynamics and power handling, there is clearly something different going on in the crossover.

Vinyl love

These Oephi Immanence 2.5s love vinyl. They are very good at revealing the qualities of the black analogue disc that are rarely found with digital alternatives. I got a phenomenal result with John Martyn’s Solid Air on the Rega Naia. It was even-handed, presented with strong three-dimensional imaging, and fast but not bright. The voice, guitars, keyboards, and double bass all sounded vivid and real, not least the steel strings of the acoustic guitar.

The Oephis are very sensitive to dynamic nuances. They track fluctuations in the level of notes precisely yet deliver them in a natural fashion that enhances the sense of realism. An album of piano jazz that had been on heavy rotation for a while (Liv Andrea Hauge Trio, Ville Blomster, Hubro) started to reveal greater dynamic range than was previously apparent, and this increased its power to transfix the listener quite markedly. Essentially, it sounded more alive and accurate, and that’s a quality that is very attractive in any system.

Magical realism

On Laura Marling’s ‘Soothing’ (Semper Femina), the bass line was less obvious than usual, which allowed the voice and percussion to be more prominent in the mix. The fretless bass, which usually dominates, was strong but seemed more proportional to the vocals. Joni Mitchell’s ‘Court and Spark’, on the other hand, delivered actual magical realism. It was genuinely mesmerising in a way that rarely happens and indicated that the Oephi Immanence 2.5 is quite a bit more sophisticated than many loudspeakers at this price. This was one of those cases where the timing was so obviously good that the musical message transcended the tonal balance of its presentation. 

Oephi Front and Rear

I made an interesting discovery whilst reviewing Naim’s NSS 333, NAC 332 and NAP 350 electronics through the Oephis, and it’s one that Naim themselves have known all along: DIN plugs make for significantly better timing than RCAs. A basic Naim DIN interconnect outperformed the best RCA alternatives I could lay my hands on when placed between this streamer and preamplifier. Joakim agrees on this point and offers DIN interconnects to Naim users, alongside his other cables; he makes RCA interconnects and conventionally shod but unconventionally built speaker and power cables, where conductors are spaced more widely than usual.

Thrill power

I tried his Reference power cable with my Moor Amps Angel 6 and got a stunning result that didn’t change the balance but enhanced detail resolution and timing quite notably. Playing modern material like Nils Petter Molvaer’s Quiet Corners produced a polished, three-dimensional sound that excelled in bass extension and power. Taj Mahal’s Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff (1972) shows its age in the limited bass but delivers the energy and musical genius of the man in a live situation. I was glued to the sound again, powerless to do anything but listen and ascend.

Oephi loudspeakers are not for those in search of easy background listening. They are made to bring the thrill power of music into the home so that you can be fully immersed in its glory. You don’t need expensive ancillaries, but they do need to be well chosen, especially with digital sources. The Oephi Immanence 2.5 is an uncompromising loudspeaker worth its weight in musical magic. Listen if you dare. 

Technical specifications

  • Type: Two-and-a-half-way, three-driver, floorstanding speaker with reflex-loaded enclosure.
  • Driver complement: One 110mm ribbon tweeter; one 176mm Purifi mid/bass driver; one 176mm Purifi bass driver.
  • Crossover frequencies: not specified
  • Frequency response: 30Hz – 40kHz (in room)
  • Impedance: 6 Ohms
  • Sensitivity: 90db/2.83V/m (in room)
  • Dimensions (HxWxD):  1000  x 185 x 300mm
  • Weight: 22kg/each
  • Finishes: Oil treated oak real wood veneer standard. Walnut and custom finishes.
  • Price: £12,495, $13,495, €12,495 per pair

Manufacturer

Oephi Cables

www.oephi.com

UK distributor

Airt Audio

www.airtaudio.com

+44(0)1354 652566

More from Oephi

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