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DALI Epicon 8 floorstanding loudspeaker

There aren’t very many loudspeaker companies that do in-depth research and build their own drive units in this business. DALI is a rare exception, and one that has been making some impressive technological breakthroughs in recent times. The Epicon series is DALI’s flagship range, comprising two floorstanders, a bookshelf, and a centre channel for home cinema systems. They have fabulous finishes, distinctive woodpulp cones with a maroon colouring, and all but the bookshelf has a ribbon tweeter.

The Epicon 8 is the daddy. It’s a ‘three and a half and a half way’, in that it’s a conventional three-and-a-half way loudspeaker with the ribbon tweeter counting as an extra half way in its own right. The suffix 8 springs from its use of eight inch (200mm) bass drivers that, alongside the 165mm midrange, benefit from DALI’s analysis of loudspeaker magnet systems. This research identified that eddy currents induced in a conductor by variations in the magnetic field cause breaks in power to the motor system. DALI’s engineers found that they could reduce the effect of these eddy currents by using pulverised rather than solid iron ferrite for the edge of the gap where the voice coil sits, where its lower electrical conductivity is most beneficial.

This soft magnetic compound (SMC) also displays lower lag time between magnetisation, induced by the voice coil, and demagnetisation. It doesn’t make for a more efficient drive unit in sensitivity terms, but does produce less heat and results in lower distortion. SMC was originally developed for diesel rail injectors, but being first out of the gate, DALI has patented the technology’s use in the hi-fi universe.

The drivers themselves are made from doped wood pulp which is essentially a slightly coarser version of paper, it was selected because the lower uniformity of the material avoids high Q resonances. These are bonded to soft rubber surrounds with carefully selected glues, the softer rubber chosen because it delivers better low level sound quality. This does not, I’m told, make for lower longevity as has been the case with softer surrounds in the past.

High frequencies are produced by a 29mm soft dome that hands over to a ribbon tweeter at 15kHz, making the latter effectively a supertweeter. The ribbon is specified to 30kHz, but has a relatively low output and good horizontal dispersion. This may be why DALI recommends that its speakers be positioned without toe-in.

DALI does not make any special claims about the Epicon 8 cabinet save that it’s constructed from a laminate of MDF sheets. These allow its sides to be sculpted into an inherently stiff curved shape, and the multiple layers of glue give it a degree of a self damping. DALI does mention that there are ten layers of lacquer, which produces a finish that’s remarkable even by the high standard of speakers at this price.

 

The cabinet has a two small reflex ports on the rear and a detachable base that accepts some very nicely machined, black chrome plated spikes with a chunky M10 thread. Alternatively, there’s a set of rubber feet that will be less useful in hand-to-hand combat. Bi-wire terminals can be linked with a suitably shiny bridging plate, but for best results use jumpers made out of your speaker cable if not bi-wiring. Sensitivity is quoted at 89dB for a five Ohm nominal impedance, an odd figure, but a realistic indication of impedance across the range: like most DALIs, the Epicon 8 is an easy load.

DALI is also into music, which is not to say that other speaker manufacturers aren’t, but DALI makes this clear by producing compilation albums that contain tracks that are not by obscure artists and selected purely for sound quality. Instead the company finds great sounding pieces of music and goes through the not inconsiderable rigmarole of obtaining permissions, mastering, and pressing up CDs. The latest example is Volume 4: The Art of Sound and contains 15 tracks including songs by Eva Cassidy, Laurie Anderson, Infected Mushroom, Jacques Loussier, and James Blood Ulmer. It was the latter’s ‘Crying’ [Live at the Bayerischer Hof, In+Out Records] that DALI used to impress me after these speakers were man-handled out of their boxes and hauled into place in the listening room. And it was easy to hear why they chose it; the kick drum on this track is awesome – as powerful, deep and substantial as any I have heard – and big bass drivers are hard to beat with this sort of source material. As the Epicon 8 has two of them, the effect is rather entertaining.

The Epicon 8 has a generous bottom end. It’s not overblown or thick despite a rear firing port, but warm and rich with the ability to deliver oodles of timbre where the instruments and voices warrant it. This is also an uncannily smooth and clean speaker. Its presentation is as luxurious as its finish, but this luxuriant sound is not because of something the speaker does, but due to something it does not do – as if a form of distortion we were hitherto unaware of has been eliminated. This is not as daft as it sounds; some types of distortion are so ubiquitous that we take them for granted, but when they go away it’s instantly obvious that they are one of the many additions that audio systems make to the sound. A high fidelity component should have as little effect as possible on the signal it reproduces, but inevitably this is a goal that is essentially impossible to attain: you only have to consider what effect a piece of wire can have on sound to understand. So the aim of audio hardware should be to add as little as possible, and with SMC alongside the other refinements in the Epicon 8, DALI has made a big step in that direction. The benefit of this is an ease and resolution that is rare even in speakers at this price; it’s revealing in an effortless fashion, which makes for a very addictive listening experience.

The Epicon 8 pulls details out of recordings like rabbits out of a hat, and things that you didn’t know were there become apparent. Laurie Anderson’s ‘The Dream Before’ [Strange Angels, Warner Bros] has some quietly spoken words on it where some of the sibilants disappear; here they are back, still quiet of course, but present. This attention to detail benefits pretty much everything you play, bringing out notes, tone colour, and image shape with equal ease. I particularly enjoyed the sound of the voices and guitars on Dave Rawlings ‘Machine’ (Nashville Obsolete, Acony), a recent release where it’s clear that they have gone to some lengths to get a decent sound. This extends to the image depth as well, which is better than I had realised, and serves to make the gorgeous balladeering on the album all the more poignant. It makes me want to play some Gillian Welch albums (pretty much the same band), which aren’t in the same sonic league, but the stronger songwriting makes up for a lot.

You don’t have to play great recordings to enjoy this speaker; just play great music and you’ll soon be having fun. I plucked Frank Zappa’s ‘Magic Fingers’ [You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol.6, Zappa Records] – not the original Flo and Eddie version, but a later one with Ray White (or possibly Ike Willis) on vocals. The sound on this is good for a live concert of its era (1980) but the performance is stunning, and the DALIs let you know this without trying. This track features another powerful kick drum (the Epicon 8 seems to like them) as well as some fine high tempo playing from one of Zappa’s many well-honed ensembles. This speaker does the important job of bringing the concert alive in your living room with panache. It has the ability to produce decent SPLs, yet remains calm and composed, which is more than can be said of this particular audience when things got going.

When the recording is stronger, the levels of realism go up in proportion. This was achieved with Janine Jansen’s Prokofiev [Decca]; the violin playing totally escapes the cabinets and takes its place in the room with absolute conviction. The effect is enhanced when the basses join in thanks to the scale that they add, but it’s the purity of the mid and treble that makes the lead instrument so convincing. Few speakers can render the softness that a violin is capable of because most introduce at least a soupçon of grain: the Epicon 8 is extremely refined in this regard and thus leaves very little imprint on the end result.

This degree of transparency inevitably means the Epicon 8 is a slave to whatever goes before it. Most of the listening was done with a Naim NAP 250 DR power amp, Townshend Allegri pre, and the Leema Libra DAC with Melco N1-A source over USB. This system clearly suited the DALIs, but out of interest I also tried Marantz’s relatively affordable but highly capable PM14 S1 SE integrated amplifier. This brought more richness and warmth to the presentation albeit at the cost of less gripping timing, the Naim’s speciality. Adding the matching SA14 S1 SE CD player/DAC produced a more muscular and pacey sound, one that suits funk/jazz classics like Conjure’s Music For The Texts Of Ishmael Reed [American Clavé]. Here the bass was juicy and ‘phat’, the instruments really well separated, and the detail resolution impressive. It’s not the sweetest of recordings, but this system proved that neither does it have any inherent glare. Again, tone is king; in this case it’s the electric guitar that stands proud, proving that treble can have body that equals the rest of the range.

 

Going back to the Townshend/Naim pairing, I also tried the CAD CAT transport and 1543 MkII DAC as a front end, which readers of issue 132 may recall is a pretty special digital source. It’s also a sound that perfectly matches the DALIs’ finesse and detail retrieval, so the system created a truly ‘reach out and touch’, super deluxe sound. A close miked piece by Sarabeth Tucek [Get Well Soon, Echo], where the recording level is clearly on the hot side, is nonetheless capable of raising the hairs on your neck when delivered with the degree of transparency presented by the Epicon 8. You can hear the effects that have been used in the studio, but there is nonetheless a ghostly presence to this performance that perhaps relates to the subject matter; the death of the artist’s father.

The DALI Epicon 8 is a remarkable loudspeaker. Its warmth comes from the absence of grain across the board, and the capabilities of two decent size bass drivers. The fact that it worked in a narrow room proves that although the bass can be fulsome, it is also perfectly controlled. The mid and top ice the cake with a relaxed transparency that anyone will enjoy if they have a source and amplification that is at least clean. I really like the way that there is so little sense of strain; in this respect the Epicon 8 is easily on a par with the best at the price. DALI may not have the sort of boutique brand profile of the most revered speakers in high-end audio, but the company’s scale means that it can produce a genuinely high-end speaker at a far more sensible price than smaller operations. The Epicon 8 is a winner, no doubt about it.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Type: 3.5 + 0.5-way, five-driver, floorstanding speaker with reflex loaded enclosure
  • Driver complement: One 10mm × 55mm ribbon, one 29mm soft dome tweeter with 34mm surround; one 165mm midrange driver; two 200mm bass drivers with doped wood pulp cones
  • Crossover frequencies: 550Hz, 3,100Hz, 15kHz
  • Frequency response: 35Hz–30kHz (+/- 3dB)
  • Impedance: 5 Ohms
  • Sensitivity: 89dB/W/m
  • Dimensions (H×W×D): 1225 × 264 × 485mm
  • Weight: 47.5kg/each
  • Finishes: ruby macassar, black, walnut
  • Price: £11,499/pair

Manufacturer: Dali A/S

Tel: +45 96 72 11 55

URL: www.dali-speakers.com

Distributed in the UK by: DALI UK

Tel (UK only): 0845 644 3537

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Read more DALI reviews here

Meet Your Dealer – The Audio Consultants

Perhaps one of the most consistent specialist dealers in the UK, The Audio Consultants represents the independent face of high-end audio. Rather than ploughing the familiar furrow of standard brand names foreign and domestic, The Audio Consultants instead selects products on the basis of performance and quality.

The company’s founder, Stephen Harper, has been a keen audio enthusiast and fiercely independent purveyor of distinguished high-end audio for decades, and we caught up with him at his Aldermaston-based store to discuss the important things in audio today…

What brands/products do you stock?

I concentrate entirely on two-channel stereo, including sources such as turntables and CD players, amplification, loudspeakers, good quality signal cables, and power cords.

Our major brands are SME, Clearaudio, Nottingham Analogue, Audiodesksysteme, Edge Electronics, Furutech, Norma Audio, German Physiks, ProAc, ELAC, Harmonic Resolution Systems, and Acustica Applicata.

What inspired you to get into the industry?

Frustration really. Many, many years ago I had a full Linn/Naim system, including the ubiquitous LP12, and heard some vintage valve amplification at a friend’s house. I thought that it sounded really good and asked myself, “why does this sound so much better than the system I have, and that I have paid a lot of money for?” He also had a Townsend Rock turntable and that could not have been more different in sound to the LP12. I then sought demonstrations for current valve amplification in London and nearby Home Counties. Valve amplification was a bit rare in those days but even a central London dealer did not provide a very satisfying demonstration. So I thought, someone has got to do a better job than this – admittedly a bit arrogant of me. So my first operation was started in north London specialising in vinyl replay and valve amplification only. I did realise pretty quickly that not everyone wanted a valve amplifier so naturally I had to encompass some solid-state electronics, but chosen from a valve sound stand point. That is to say ones that have a more natural tonal balance and presentation.

What music do you listen to when doing a demo?

I encourage customers to bring in their favourite pieces of music and this can cover all types and styles. I have a whole bunch of CDs and LPs that would cover most genres available and these are used for two reasons. One is if some of the customer’s recordings are not good enough to illustrate the strengths of the equipment being auditioned. (Sometimes a favourite piece of music is great to listen to, but may not be the best to judge a high quality sound system by). The second is if I think the customer will enjoy a good recording of music of a similar style. I mostly have music that is well recorded, such as on the ECM or Reference Recordings labels. This is usually classical, both orchestral and smaller scale music that includes a piano, and what I call ‘chamber’ jazz: a trio consisting of piano, acoustic bass, and drums. This can tell you a lot about an audio system, if the recording is good. I personally like improvised music, as well as classical (composed) music, along with the better end of popular music. What is important is to recreate correctly the timbres of the instruments and the space in which it was recorded.

What is the best piece of advice you can give to someone who is looking to improve/upgrade their system?

Two pieces of advice really. Try to go to live music concerts as much as possible, and rely on your ears more than what the reviews and technical specifications say.

To judge what instruments really sound like you need to go to unamplified concerts, otherwise you are generally listening to an average PA system at best, or probably one that is too loud and heavily distorted. Unamplified music is today generally limited to classical music; even the jazz players seemed obliged to use amplification, often in venues where it is not needed. Even if you are not keen on classical music, it is useful to buy a ticket and go and hear what natural sound is like and what proper dynamics are all about. I know it is impossible to reproduce that in your home even with the “best hi-fi” system in the world, but with some you can get close to the feeling experienced in a concert hall, and the power of the orchestra. Once you get that right, most other genres of music are reproduced accurately.

Reviews, professional ones or those published on-line, have their place to help make a short list of the component worthy of upgrading. But it is very difficult for them to describe sound. There is also the question of does the person buying have the same criteria as those reviewing. Judging a piece of electronics based simply on technical specifications is more or less useless. There is no measurement device yet invented that tells you what sound is. They just measure electrical parameters. Your ears are the best judge of what subtle differences in sound are. These subtleties are what would make a person buy one component over a competitor.

Where do you see the industry going?

The higher end of the industry has probably reached such a level of technical excellence that it is difficult to imagine how much better electronics for the accurate reproduction of recorded music can become. They may have reached a pinnacle and it is really fine tuning from here on. However, this end of the market is very small in terms of buyers so the products end up being seriously expensive. Therefore, sadly, the industry is polarising, with very expensive audio components that only a few can afford and equipment that is bought purely on price. The middle ground for the serious audiophile with a limited, perhaps more realistic budget is not going to be catered for easily. This is not such good news and potentially excludes many who have a passion for music but want to reproduce more of what they hear at a live concert at home.

There is also an increasing trend with recent electronic designs towards a brighter tonal balance and a forward presentation, with or without depth of soundstage. All designed to be immediately ‘impressive’. The greatest trick that two-channel stereo pulls off is the illusion of depth. There are many components that do not portray depth and hence they have more of a ‘hi-fi’ sound, rather than a more correct representation of musical instruments with air and space around them. Some re-assessment of what is a natural, less impressive sound is required here.

Who has been your biggest influence?

In the early days Tom Fletcher, the designer of Nottingham Analogue turntables, showed me how simple, well thought through engineering principles produce a more accurate sound from LPs.

Also assisting in the set-up of a good Audiofreaks system at audio shows, based on Conrad-Johnson amplification and Avalon loudspeakers, demonstrated to me what a true soundstage was.

Talking to Lucien Pichette, then International Sales Manager for Avalon loudspeakers, illustrated how important room placement of loudspeakers was for creating not only a good soundstage but a more correct sound.

Finally, Italo and Fabio of Acustica Applicata have always been generous in passing on their knowledge and experience in how important it was to control room acoustic problems to obtain the best sound the audio equipment is capable of. They still are, and we are all still learning about the importance of room acoustics.

Stereo or home theatre, or both?

Two-channel stereo only.  For accurate music reproduction it is best to keep video replay out of the audio system, because of distortions introduced, so I have never embraced home theatre.

CD, DAC, or streaming, or all three?

CD and DACs principally. Steaming, or any form of computer based replay, has not proven itself to me yet. And I have tried many that are so called state-of-the-art DACs for this purpose. Most do not produce the musicality or the more natural sound stage presented by a physical disc.

I understand the theory that much higher resolution formats from a computer file are not possible via a physical format such as a CD, but the higher quality that should be present is not always evident in listening. It is still easier to get a very good, musically satisfying sound from physical discs such as a CD or an LP. This is something that should not be the case but that is what my ears are telling me now.

The ability to resolve the finest details that contribute to the illusion of a wide and deep soundstage seems missing. This is counter-intuitive, I grant you, but hopefully this may change with future developments of computer based music replay.

Have you been a part of the vinyl revival? How?

Since the beginning I have always concentrated on turntables and vinyl related products. For me vinyl never went away so the ‘revival’ is just business as usual. The more recent extra level of interest is most welcome but, in real terms, it is a small increase in the overall business activities.  

Meet Your Maker – Zellaton

There are very few family businesses in audio. Brands rarely pass down father to son; they either disappear, or get bought out by a larger interest. Sometimes the next generation becomes more of a figurehead than an important part of the company. That’s not how it was with Manuel Podszus of Zellaton audio, and grandson of founder Dr Emil Podszus. He has continued to develop and continue the Zellaton concepts down to today.

Podszus (the grandfather) began working on loudspeaker drive units back in the early 1930s, back when electrical recording and replay were still in their infancy. Materials science of the 1930s was in its infancy too; materials we take for granted today, like PVC and polystyrene, were at the forefront of technological development at the time, and inter-war Germany was one of the great centres of excellence in plastics development. In this period of intense development, Dr Emil Podszus set himself the task of improving the performance of loudspeaker units, both in terms of high-performance audio, and the more pressing issue of loudspeakers within telephones.

His solution was to make a drive unit that coupled a very light diaphragm with a carefully optimised foam substrate, to produce a loudspeaker with the speed and stiffness required for audio reproduction. The difficulty faced with this design – it transpired – was that it doesn’t ‘scale’ well. Where pioneering plastics technologists in the 1930s quickly found a way to mass-produce their materials, the need to create a foam substrate of varying size across the driver meant Emil Podszus’ design remained essentially a bespoke design that could only be produced in tiny numbers. A very high performance design, undoubtedly, but one that precluded being supplied to the audio mass market. This kept the Podszus name out of the mainstream audio world, but the Zellaton brand that came out of this technology was resilient. Dr Emil handed the concepts down to his son Kurt, who then subsequently passed the baton down to his son Manuel. Beyond Zellaton, variants of the driver in Podszus-Görlich and Micro Precision guise have ‘form’ in the high-end, most notably as the drivers for the original – and extremely highly respected – Ensemble bookshelf loudspeakers.

 

The audio world is a very different place now. Where mass market has its place, now more than ever so too does bespoke, and Zellaton’s core concept fits well now; arguably better than ever before. Every loudspeaker is built by hand, and the drivers themselves are essentially ‘grown’ by Manuel over a period of several weeks. The process has a relatively high rejection rate, as the 0.006mm thick aluminium foil used in tweeter construction is not easy to work with, and the process of bonding foil to foam is not routine, even after nine decades of honing. Once completed though, the individual drivers are painstakingly pair-matched before being used in one of Zellaton’s range. The brand’s Reference models frequently win ‘best in show’ awards whenever they are exhibited, and more recently the little Legacy two-way standmount played to wowed listeners at the Bristol Sound & Vision show.

The brand has moved on past just making bespoke loudspeaker drivers now, and the cabinets made for the company’s loudspeaker range exhibit the same innovative and inherently bespoke nature. ‘Innovative’ where the loudspeaker cabinet has effectively free movement of air across the rear baffle, yet seemingly exhibits performance more akin to sealed box designs (think of it similar to Briggs’ sand-filled baffle, except folded in on itself and using constrained layer damping for airflow); ‘bespoke’ because all that brightwork on the loudspeaker is made by the people who make the shiny things on Rolls-Royce cars. These are inherently expensive loudspeakers, but the words ‘off the shelf’ have no meaning for Podszus or Zellaton, and the performance of the speakers reflects that change.

We had a unique chance to hear Zellaton’s current range at its Munich factory earlier this year, and the range is uniformly impressive in its detail delivery, speed, and freedom from the artifice that besets much of high-end audio. It’s one of those instinctively ‘right’ sounds that are as enjoyable as they are rare. Being the complete opposite of the ‘box of off-the-shelf drivers’ methods used by some high-end speaker brands, they are hard to come by, but worth seeking out.

And this year, at Munich High-End, Zellaton is expected to launch a flagship loudspeaker beyond even the performance of its Reference three-way, five driver floorstanders. This will not be cheap, but it just might be the best speaker at the show.

Watch this space…

The shock of the old

If you love music and the sound it makes, you need to play that music on good equipment. This becomes all the more important as you explore the wider repertoire of classical and jazz, with all the diversity of sounds and textures to explore. Good equipment can express the scale, dynamism, and sheer variety of timbres and tones available, making musical exploration all the more exciting and rewarding in the process. Good audio is important to get the best out of all kinds of music, but the significance of the audio equipment is often best realised when playing orchestral or jazz pieces: the old ‘absolute sound’ maxim holds as true today as it ever did, and unamplified instruments playing in a natural acoustic still represent a gold standard of sound, both in terms of recording and replay are the toughest arbiter of performance one can use.

However, in recent years, we seem to have moved in lock-step with the pace of technologies outside of the audio world. We now consider products – and even recordings – in mobile phone time. In other words, “either it’s brand new, or it’s not worth touching.” This is, frankly, ridiculous. Audio is a mature branch of consumer electronics (indeed, when the term ‘consumer electronics’ was first coined, it was synonymous with domestic audio). Although there are improvements and developments in audio components down the years, radical revolutions in performance are mostly in the past, and – with a few notable exceptions – cutting-edge equipment of a quarter of a century or more ago still represents a pinnacle of performance that is hard to improve upon. Things change, of course (the best CD player of 1991 isn’t going to be able to replay DSD or 24/192 digital files, and improvements in materials science have seen significant improvements to loudspeaker technology across the board) and things also wear out (if you haven’t retubed your Audio Research SP11 since you first bought it in the 1980s, you are in for a treat when you finally get around to it), but what was ‘good’ back in the day is still ‘good’ now.

What’s happened in the intervening years is an increase in the bandwidth of ‘good’. Inexpensive equipment made today is significantly better made and better sounding than its low-cost counterparts of a generation ago, and the super-high-end audio equipment adds greater headroom for those seeking the best of the best without cost considerations. In short, audio manufacturers have added a ‘better’ and ‘best’ to the equation, and made ‘good’ more affordable.

The fact remains, however, that the good of 10, 20, even 50 years ago is still very good. Some needs TLC to bring it back to full working order, in the same way a classic car needs periodic restoration. But somewhere in the move from Boomers to Millennials, the idea that classic components can sound ‘good’ and not just ‘sound like classics’ seems to have been lost to all bar a few hipsters.

 

The same seems to have happened with music, and recording techniques. I’ve been working through the back catalogue of Decca’s finest moments on a series of double-disc and box sets recently. Some of the best of these moments come from the late 1950s, from a time when studio engineers wore white coats and were experimenting with stereo sound as a new venture. Rather than multi-miking a venue, creating a too close sound of instruments where every valve press, finger squeak, or key stroke is heard with absolute clarity, these recordings often used a spaced pair of microphones with a single ambience microphone laid out in Decca’s distinctive ‘tree’ pattern, high up in a concert hall with natural ambience.

Many of these recordings represent the best in orchestra, conductor, and tonmeister working in true harmony. They are to the classical world what Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue or Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited are to jazz and rock. And yet, they often lie forgotten and ignored, and more current recordings (often featuring a young blonde musician in a little black dress on the cover) are preferred.

Music needs not to be played only in retrospect. Just because Ruggiero Ricci essentially ‘owned’ the music of Pablo de Sarasate in the 1950s doesn’t mean that no one else will ever match these remarkable recordings. And just because Julia Fischer is quite easy on the eye doesn’t make her recordings made in 2014 of the same any less powerful (Fischer’s mastery of both violin and piano makes her something of a force to be reckoned with, in fact). I find both versions are worth owning, because both have equal – yet different – merit.

I don’t like the ‘what have you done for me lately’ take on audio or music. I used the same system without significant change for more than 15 years, and have only recently explored ‘refreshing’ the equipment to keep up with the streaming world. And my music is a mix of the old, and the new. We need both, otherwise music descends into the shallow popularity contests seen every year on TV shows like The X Factor.

And that’s just terrible!

NORTH WEST AUDIO SHOW

The North West Audio Show is now in its third year and has proved itself to be a must for anyone interested in quality home audio and music.

TWO GREAT VENUES

This year the North West Audio Show takes place on Sunday 26th June over two fantastic venues, Cranage Hall and Wychwood Park. Both venues have been chosen for their wonderful facilities, ease of access and free parking.

FREE ACCESS

Unlike most other audio shows, the North West Audio Show does not charge visitors an entry fee to either venue and we’ve even gone as far as to provide a shuttle bus service between the two hotels so people attending the show need not miss any of the fabulous audio gear on demonstration.

SOMETHING FOR EVERY BUDGET

As well as high-end audio there’ll be plenty to suit all budgets at this years show, so whether you are just starting out on your audio journey, or are a seasoned audiophile, this is the show for you.

BESPOKE APP

Visitors to this year’s North West Audio Show will have the opportunity to download a free app to their mobile device that will help them navigate the show and enable them to access special offers and deals on the day.

LIVE MUSIC

Of course the main attraction to this kind of show is the kit, but there’s much more to see and do at North West Audio Show with live music and special attractions on the day.

CONTACTS: [email protected]       [email protected]

WEBSITE: http://audioshow.co.uk/

TELEPHONE: 07840183485

Tannoy Revolution XT 8F floorstanding loudspeakers

I first heard the Tannoy Revolution XT 8F at the Bristol Sound and Vision show in February 2015 and it was one of those moments where, even given the unfamiliar context of a show environment and somebody else’s system, there was something about these modestly priced floorstanders that caught my attention. A few months on, a review pair arrived and, in the context of my own room and system, that ‘something’ was still there.

The XT 8F is the largest in Tannoy’s Revolution XT series, the larger of two floorstanding designs. It uses a version of Tannoy’s familiar dual-concentric driver where the tweeter is set in the throat of the mid/bass unit, utilising the diaphragm of the larger unit to partly horn load its output. The advantages are in efficiency, imaging and coherence (all frequencies emanating from, effectively, a point source).

Of course, a loudspeaker retailing at £1,299 per pair is not going to be able to utilise the expensive drivers in Tannoy’s high-end Prestige or Definition ranges. Instead, the drivers for the XT series are all new and, inexpensive or not, they utilise some innovative technology. Both XT drive units cleverly share the same magnet, and utilise a sophisticated waveguide, incorporating a torus-shaped diaphragm for the high frequencies and an ‘Ogive’ phase plug, for better time alignment and coherence with the bass/mid element.

The ‘8’ in the model name denotes that this loudspeaker uses the 8” (200mm) version of this ‘Omnimagnet’ dual-concentric driver, coupled with a similar-sized bass-only driver. Tannoy says the new driver design, while saving useful space, also offers improvements to high-frequency directivity, phase-coherence, dynamic headroom, and overall accuracy of reproduction and imaging. The cabinets derive, broadly, from the previous Revolution range’s trapezoidal cross-section and the floorstanders employ a reflex-coupled dual cavity design. The port exits in a forward-facing slot at the foot of the cabinet, flanked by two nicely-trimmed chromed pillars and atop a neatly-machined plinth with four chunky, knurled adjustments for the spiked feet. The overall effect, in walnut stained real wood veneer, is classy and smart, and could easily pass for a considerably more expensive model on looks alone.

What impressed me when I first heard them was the degree of expressiveness they brought out in the music. Dynamics were unconstrained, and that familiar Tannoy openness and freedom was there. Not everybody will enjoy Tannoy’s uninhibited, somewhat loose-limbed approach, but if you’re one of those who enjoys a speaker that is not afraid to let its hair down, then the XT 8Fs deliver a lot of what makes the Prestige and Definition ranges so prized in terms of sheer communication of the intent behind the music.

 

Stanley Clarke’s ‘Soldier’ and ‘Fulani’ from The Stanley Clarke Band [Heads Up] was fast, dynamic and exciting on the XT 8F, with much of the speed and impact his bass playing has live. Lots of loudspeakers impress with a deep and powerful bass, but to properly appreciate Stanley Clarke you need a loudspeaker which can also do fast and tuneful bass, with oodles of attack. The XT 8Fs don’t disappoint in this area, and I suspect it is the integration with the high frequency output that contributes much to its success in this particular regard. Bass is certainly full, rich, and satisfying, with none of that wooliness or flabbiness you can get when a loudspeaker has perhaps been voiced to keep a lid on things. The overall effect, in terms of impact and scale, is considerably more engaging and entertaining than some of its peers.

Piano is rich in tone and powerful in effect, too: ‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’ by the Billy Taylor Trio, Music Keeps Us Young [Arkadia Jazz], had a sonorous and expansive piano, with agile and tuneful bass registers, and a strong sense of mass without being ponderous or heavy. That said, the piece just ‘is what it is’, enjoyable but without much sense of a musical journey to a destination. If it has a fault, the Tannoy probably lacks a little of the ability to convey the subtlest messages in the music. But then, it gives you much more than many others do of the big picture, in terms of space, freedom, and dynamics.

In some respects, the Tannoy comes across as the antithesis to something like the, broadly similarly-priced, Monitor Audio Silver 8s that I reviewed a few issues back. The MAs are very good loudspeakers that rarely put a foot far out of line. In comparison, the Tannoys are somewhat more bullish and, perhaps, a little uncouth, but they sure know how to have a good time. If the MAs are a well-trained Labrador, honest, reliable, and solid, then the Tannoys might be a Springer Spaniel, loads of energy, fun, and boundless enthusiasm, but prone to knocking over the occasional vase. Neither speaker has the monopoly on rightness, nor any fatal flaws, but you’d be unlikely to find that both will float your boat equally, and much will depend on personal taste and preference.

The downside to the Tannoys’ ebullience is a certain lack of finesse. I have a number of ‘system-killer’ tracks, one of which – Jack de Johnette’s ‘Ahmad the Terrible’ from Album Album [ECM] – I tried with the Tannoys in place. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t inflict this track on a modestly-priced component, it just feels unfair, but there was something about the Tannoys which hinted that they might not, in fact, fall apart at the seams. True, the presentation was a little shrill and slightly disjointed, compared to my regular Focal 1028Bes (which, let us not forget, are over four times the price), it didn’t really settle into its groove, and the band didn’t gel together quite the way I know they can. All that said, it did exhibit very good dynamics and got a lot closer to the essence of the music than many a loudspeaker I’ve tried it on, much to its credit. It probably serves to highlight what I’d categorise as the compromise in the Tannoy design; a mild lack of polish and subtlety (if Downton Abbey had a pair, they would probably remain below stairs). In a similar way, Melody Gardot’s ‘Amalia’ from The Absence [Decca] flowed in a very natural way, but lacked the ultimate sense of intimacy I was looking for. All that said, I’d rather have something come over as a little larger than life, than as halfway to the grave.

It’s not a high-end giant-killer, but it more than hints at what is possible, which is more than I can say for a fair few of its peers. It may seem as though I’ve focussed on the flaws rather than the good points, and it is important to keep in mind that any flaws are mostly shown in relief because most of the other stuff is entirely natural and doesn’t draw attention to itself. So, you perceive the really good stuff, the dynamics, the scale, and the ability to paint a big and interesting picture, and you get to know the niggles too, but the stuff which just quietly gets on with things doesn’t merit discussion. Me? I’ll take fun and a bit wayward over safe and secure every time, unless we’re talking brain surgery.

 

The XT 8Fs deliver huge dollops of the important stuff when it comes to conveying the essence of one’s music collection. Music flows in a very natural way, and retains a good sense of rhythm, when so coupled with the unconstrained dynamics and speed. That they may overplay their hand at times, while being a little impressionistic when you get down to the finer points, is not really to be deprecated, at this price, and I have to give Tannoy a lot of credit for refusing to play it safe with this design.

I guess, when it comes down to it, I want my system to entertain, not to impress. I’d like it to do both, of course, but that tends to cost considerably bigger bucks than are being asked for here. Any loudspeaker selling at the price point of the Tannoy, or even considerably more, is going to have some defining compromises, and the temptation for many makers will be to take care not to offend. That might have made sense if you were making hi-fi in Jane Austen’s day, but these days, good manners are less of a social asset than, perhaps, the knack of knowing how to have a good time. Actually, I suspect Jane Austen knew that too, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, like me, she found the Tannoy XT 8Fs much to her liking.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Type: Three-way, floorstanding speaker with bass reflex enclosure
  • Driver complement: one dual concentric driver comprising 25 mm Linear PEI dome with Torus Ogive WaveGuide and Omnimagnet technology, and 200 mm multi-fibre paper 44 mm voice coil; one 200 mm multi-fibre paper pulp cone with rubber surround and 44 mm edge wound voice coil
  • Crossover frequencies: 250Hz and 1.8kHz, passive low loss 2nd order low pass, 1st order high pass
  • Frequency response: 34Hz-32kHz (-6dB)
  • Impedance: 8 Ohms nominal
  • Sensitivity: 91dB for 1 Watt at 1 Metre
  • Dimensions (H×W×D): 1080 × 317 × 345 mm
  • Weight: 19.9Kg/each
  • Finishes: Dark Walnut; Medium Oak
  • Price: £1,299/pair

Manufacturer: Tannoy Limited

Tel: 44 (0)1236 702503

URL: www.tannoy.co.uk  

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Questyle CMA800R headphone amplifier

OK, I have to admit this review of the Questyle CMA800R had a painfully long gestation period, due to me getting it colossally wrong at the outset. You see, my ‘go to’ place for running headphone amplifiers in involves connecting them to a decent DAC and using my pair of ever-reliable Sennheiser HD-25-1 II ENG/Studio cans. This is because the HD-25 design is sufficiently sensitive to be driven by anything. And in the CMA800R, that wasn’t like putting the headphone amp in low gear; it was like switching it off!

So, when the CMA800R returned the sound of the Sennheiser HD-25-1 II, I made a rookie error: I expected ‘magic’ and benched the Questyle. And it stayed benched. It was only reading just how much the company’s QP1R digital audio player took our Publisher Chris Martins that I remembered this was lurking in the back of our storeroom. In fact, there were two of them, because one of the great joys of this headphone amp is it lends itself very easily to monoblock use. In fact, the CMA800R now forms just one part of the company’s top four-box desktop stack, comprising DSD-ready DAC, preamp, and mono headphone amps (the preamp, originally commissioned by Stax and designed to complement the Stax SR-009 Earspeaker/SRM 727MkII, can act as a useful controller in its own right, both improving overall performance and bringing one volume to rule them all). There is also a special Golden version, which uses higher specified components, as well as the gold finish. We’ll look to the full stack in a later issue – first it’s time to catch up with the CMA800R as a one-box headphone amplifier.

This is a pure headphone amplifier, without a DAC. The CMA800R has one stereo balanced and one stereo single-ended input (with a small toggle switch on the front panel, it’s almost best to think this a one-input amplifier), and a pair of single-ended outputs to a preamplifier. There is also a single full-balanced XLR input, should you decide to use the CMA800R as a mono pair of headphone amps. There are two single-ended ¼” TRS jack sockets for single-ended headphones, and a balanced headphone output XLR for one half of a true balanced headphone output.

The ‘CMA’ in the title stands for ‘Current Mode Amplifier’. This is the defining aspect of the headphone amplifier, and in many ways shows why Questyle chief designer Wang Fengshuo (Jason Wang) is so highly respected in the audio field that a company like Stax would approach him to build an amplifier. And it owes its development at least in part to a failed experiment. While still at university in 2004, Wang was debugging a failed current mode circuit that should have been processing communications signals, but was instead acting as a high-speed amplifier with vanishingly low intermodulation distortion. Wang, already a music loving audiophile, hit the books to see if this circuit had been used in audio amplification, and fortunately his teachers saw the innovator rather than the failed circuit, and let him run with the concept.

 

Wang and his classmates ultimately designed an exceptionally high performance audio circuit, and his search for other designs only partly bore fruit. He recognised that companies like Krell were beginning to explore the advantages of current mode, in the company’s CAST (current audio signal transmission) system, but where CAST uses current mode a means whereby signals can pass from device to device with the minimum of noise and distortion, Wang applied the technology across the entire amplifier.

Essentially, current mode acts as it sounds like it acts: the signal is amplified by modulating the current rather than the voltage. Current and voltage are not exactly strange bedfellows, their relationship is forged in Ohm’s law, and the resultant current mode amplifier creates an inherently low distortion and wide bandwidth design. Current mode is a very common amp design in high-speed communications and video processing. The CMA800R features an additional voltage-controlled current source and a current amplifier in front of a more traditional Class A output stage, but creating those two amplifier stages requires a low-impedance negative feedback circuit that reacts a couple of orders of magnitude faster than conventional voltage mode amp designs. In addition, the amplifier’s slew rate achieves a linear increase as input signal amplitude increases, in direct proportion to the input signal amplitude. When receiving a high amplitude signal, a current mode’s amplifier’s slew rate is much faster than traditional voltage mode devices, eliminating intermodulation distortion and ensuring a high amplitude signal, with an extremely wide linear bandwidth and an almost distortion free realistic playback.

The other big advantage here for Questyle is Wang is not simply an electronics designer, but a keen listener, and spent four years, 22 model iterations, and eight complete back-to-the-drawing-board circuit redesigns in order to make a circuit that is notionally a world-beater, into something that sounds a true world-beater, too. Having developed the CMA800R circuit, Wang Fengshuo then stacked the amp full of some of the best components you can get (Nichicon and WIMA capacitors, mil-spec DALE resistors, Shottky rectifiers, and a custom Piltron toroidal transformer), designed into an elegant, all-business milled aluminium chassis, and handed the manufacture over to electronics experts Foxconn. Well, if it’s good enough for Apple…

Going after a complete rethink in amplifier design is all well and good, but the more pivotal questions are ‘why?’ and ‘what does it do for the sound?’ In fact both questions are answered in one: using current mode delivers and amplifier that reacts to real-world dynamic signals we listen to (as well as steady-state signals we measure to) better than other designs. My rookie error with the Sennheisers actually masked what the CMA800R does so well – deliver the sound of your headphones, without grace or favour. With a pair of headphones designed for use with the output of any passing video camera, mixing desk, or smartphone, that’s no big deal. They are designed to deliver detail at this grade, but lack the nuance and finesse to go deeper into the music beyond a basic analytical level: that’s not a criticism of the HD-25-1 II, more a statement of design intent.

 

Push the headphone envelope and the CMA800R just keeps telling you what those headphones are capable of and what the DAC is capable of, too. Not in a revealing way (although if you use a DAC or a set of headphones that is lacking in some manner, the Questyle CMA800R will expose that limitation – it just isn’t so edgy that it sounds like its parading the limitations of other devices), but in a way that highlights everything about the up and downstream components.

The CMA800R is a phenomenally dynamic amplifier, too. In a way, it sounds ‘free’ in the way some of the best single-ended triode amps can sound with efficient loudspeakers, but without the lush midrange and lack of high-frequency extension. It’s extraordinarily detailed and transparent, too, and there’s one last feather in its cap: the other part of the name – that ‘800’ part comes from the fact the amplifier was designed as a result of Wang listening to the Sennheiser HD800 and thinking it was a great headphone in search of an amplifier. If you own a pair of HD800, this is your amplifier. Stop looking – this is it! And if you don’t own a pair of HD800, but something in the same vein, this is probably your amplifier too! In fact, the only limitation to the CMA800R is that some of the more difficult headphone loads would need more amplifier lifting power to drive them. Like, maybe, a second CMA800R…

I think the CMA800R is the headphone amp that grows with you. Good headphones require a great amplifier, and that’s where the Questyle CMA800R comes in. It’s so good, you might start to look at the matching CAS192D DAC, possibly even driven by the Questyle DAP. At which point the weak spot is your good pair of headphones, and you change the cabling for balanced operation. Rather than have to give up your great headphone amp, you just add another CMA800R. A few months later when you are done with using two volume controls, you’ll buy a CMA800P preamp. To someone who hasn’t experienced the CMA800R that sounds like hyperbole, but to someone who has, it’s the next steps in their headphone enjoyment plan.

It’s not in a reviewer’s interests to stop looking for the next big thing, but I can’t help feeling that when it comes to headphone amps, the Questyle CMA800R is all I’ll ever need. And if I need more, there’s always the second CMA800R! Very highly recommended.

Technical Specifcations

  • Type: balanced and single-ended headphone amplifier
  • Input:
One pair XLR stereo, one pair RCA stereo, and single XLR mono balanced
  • Output:
Dual 6.35mm stereo headphone jacks, three‑pin XLR mono balanced output, one pair RCA stereo pre-amp output
  • Gain: 15.5dB
  • Frequency Response:
DC–200kHz (+0, –0.3 dB); DC‑650kHz(+0, -3 dB)
  • Max Output Power: 180mW (7.5Vrms) @300Ω (stereo),
710mW (15Vrms) @300Ω (mono)
  • Sensitivity: 1.2Vrms
  • Impedance: 47KΩ
  • THD+N:
0.00038%@1kHz, 300Ω (stereo).
0.00026%@1kHz, 300Ω (mono)
  • SNR: 114 dB (stereo), 118dB (mono)
  • Dimensions (W×D×H): 33×33×5.5cm
  • Price: £1,599

Manufactured by: Questyle

URL: www.questyleaudio.com

Distributed in the UK by: SCV Distribution

URL: www.scvdistribution.co.uk

Tel: +44(0)3301 222500

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Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800 integrated amplifier

When it comes to amplifiers, Musical Fidelity can probably claim a unique authority over almost all their rivals, past and present, having offered just about every option known to man. So it was perhaps unsurprising that in 1999 the company launched a range of audio products using the fabled nuvistor – a thermionic device that offered all the benefits of tubes with added toughness, reduced noise, lower microphony, higher reliability, and extremely compact size.

Musical Fidelity’s earlier Nu-Vista designs are now discontinued, due to a lack of nuvistor bases. Fortunately, Musical Fidelity supremo Antony Michaelson was able to track down a new supply, making it possible to manufacture a range of Nu-Vista components for those of us who missed out first time.

The Nu-Vista 800 is a stereo line-level integrated amplifier offering around 300W per channel. The thick, brushed aluminium fascia has an exquisite feel to it. The two large knobs, for volume and input selection, feel impressively weighty and solid. The illuminated feet (which change colour three times to denote the amp’s status) and the valve glow adds a touch of ‘theatre’. It’s big, measuring around 50cm square, and about 18cm tall, and it’s a hernia-inducing 38 kilos, thanks in part to two huge power transformers.

Given that it’s 2016, I was slightly surprised not to see a USB input being offered. But the omission of any digital inputs is intentional – Antony wanted to keep the Nu-Vista 800 purely analogue. Fortunately, there is a matching Nu-Vista CD player, which provides pretty much everything you’re likely to need from a digital hub. According to Antony Michaelson, CD is not dead: in fact, the company’s CD players are proving extremely popular.

The signal paths in the Nu-Vista 800 amp are very short. The amp makes use of Surface Mount PCB design, with improved track layouts. The nuvistors themselves are mounted very close to the preamp circuits, with tracks at right-angles to minimise induced field effects. The net result is a sound hair-trigger sharp and immediate

The Nu-Vista 800 is a pleasure to use, and I particularly liked the volume control with its precise readout in decibels. The volume goes in fine 0.5dB steps, but the design of the Nu-Vista 800’s volume control allows fast changes in level – if required.

Normally, with electronic volume controls such as this, the change in level as you spin the knob is quite slow and measured. Since the control revolves continuously, you might have to turn it three or four times to get (say) a 10dB change. However, the volume control on the Nu-Vista 800 is sensitive to the speed at which you turn it.

Move it quickly, and it increases or decreases volume by a larger margin than turning it slowly. Great! The knob on the left controls input selection, and has soft indent points for each setting – CD, Tuner, Balanced, and Aux 1 and Aux 2. There’s also a by-pass option for home cinema use. The preamp offers unbalanced and balanced inputs and outputs

During use, the Nu-Vista 800 gets mildly warm to the touch. Unless you push it really hard, it doesn’t get hot. Nor is there any mechanical sound, despite the use of two monster transformers. Even with my ear literally right by the unit I could hear no transformer hum or buzz, and no residual noise whatsoever from the loudspeakers. In effect, the amp is effectively silent.

My regular amplifier is a Musical Fidelity Kw-750 partnered with a Classé CP-800. From time to time I’ve dallied with low-powered tube amps, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but I always go back to the Kw-750 with a sense of relief because it’s utterly bomb-proof. No matter what music I play, no matter how loud, it never bottoms out. It has endless headroom, and I like that.

 

On paper at least, the Nu-Vista 800 isn’t quite as powerful as the Kw-750. But it has the same sort of muscle and drive; subjectively, even more so, perhaps. How? Well, the Nu-Vista 800 delivers music with an attack that’s almost fearsome. It produces an immediacy and bite that really is quite exceptional. The sense of presence and focus is amazing…

This amp is an interesting mix of opposites. On the one hand it’s exceptionally clean and very tactile. Transients have impressive attack, and the whole presentation exudes an ‘abruptness’ that makes the music sound crisp and alert. At the same time, there’s a lovely rich/sweet tonal sheen and liquidity that createsa very relaxed and flowing impression.

And then there’s the bass… The very first track I listened to was the scherzo movement from Leonard Bernstein’s DG recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. It sounded wonderfully spacious and airy, with a very holographic ‘out of the speaker boxes’ soundstage. I really felt I could listen right through the sound of the orchestra, so that even the tiniest detail was audible.

But, as well as the music, I was aware of some distant traffic rumble, and also some rostrum thumps from the energetic Bernstein. These spurious sounds were not obtrusive; they simply added to the experience of being there in the hall. The traffic noise almost seemed disembodied – as though it really was coming from the distant ringstrasse…

No question; the Nu-Vista 800’s bass is quite exceptional. It has impressive depth and weight, while at the same time being unusually clear, very solid, and powerful. It almost seemed to add an extra octave; I hardly exaggerate. It really does seem to extend the low frequencies. And the extra bass weight has a reciprocal effect at the top-end, making the treble sound sweeter and airier.

Even my wife noticed the difference. Over the following few weeks, she’d spontaneously remark that things were sounding good – meaning, ‘better than usual’. It was true; my thoughts were exactly the same! Not that everything played via the Nu-Vista 800 was all sweetness and light. It’s actually a very revealing amplifier – one that shows small differences quite clearly.

The use of Nu-Vista tubes might impart a certain sweetness and liquidity, but there’s nothing falsely euphonic or rose-tinted about the overall presentation. The Nu-Vista 800 can sound lean and mean when it needs to, and doesn’t pull its sonic punches. In comparison, my own regular Classé/Musical Fidelity combination proved kinder and more accommodating.

However, by not pointing-up differences as keenly, although the Classé/Kw-750 combination was perhaps more forgiving, it was also more generalised and less distinct. It was definitely less special! Going back, I really missed the immediacy of the Nu-Vista 800, and its ability to create a holographic soundstage. It produces vivid stereo imagery, with crisp ‘placement’ of voices and instruments.

I used the new amplifier more or less straight from the box, without giving it much ‘burn in’ time. It sounded great, but after a few weeks’ solid use, I definitely felt the Nu-Vista 800 seemed to ease-up a bit, and become a bit more relaxed. There was still no lack of that crisp immediacy, but the overall presentation seemed more supple and flowing.

At £8,000 the Nu-Vista 800 is not exactly cheap. But you undoubtedly get a lot for your money; solid build quality and a very high standard of finish. If you doubt the quality, just try to lift the amp! My old Kw-750 was very well finished, but the Nu‑Vista 800 is on an altogether different level. It oozes quality.

 

But, don’t be fooled; the Nu-Vista 800 is absolutely the genuine article in all the areas where it really counts; sound quality, build quality, and finish. It’s an amp to invest in, secure in the knowledge that it’s built to last a lifetime. Antony himself believes it’s quite possibly the best-sounding amp MF has ever made, and on balance I think he may be right.

The Nu-Vista 800 offers a winning combination of speed, dynamics, bandwidth, headroom, and attack – plus brilliance and warmth. Yet such words only scratch the surface. With this amp, the total effect is greater than the sum of the parts – even though the parts themselves are superlative. It’s certainly made a deep impression on me, and undoubtedly raises the bar a good few notches.

Technical Specifications

  • Inputs: 4x Line Level RCA / Phono, 1× Line Level XLR Balanced
  • Outputs: 1 pair line level RCA connectors, constant level Line outputs, 1 pair line level RCA connectors, preamp outputs for e.g. bi-amping
  • Power output: 330 Watts per channel into 8 Ohms
  • THD+N: < 0.005 % typical 20Hz–20 kHz
  • Signal to Noise Ratio: >107dB ‘A’ – weighted
  • Frequency Response: +0, - 0.1dB, 10Hz to 30 kHz
  • Dimensions (W×H×D): 48.3 × 18.7 × 51cm
  • Weight: 39 kg
  • Price: £8,000

Manufactured by: Musical Fidelity Ltd

URL: www.musicalfidelity.com

Tel: +44(0)20 8900 2866

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Styl:us Show 2016

It’s surprising that no-one came up with the idea sooner, but an audio show dedicated to all things vinyl is – in hindsight – an obvious choice for a niche show. Over the weekend of the 23rd-24th April, at the Park Inn just outside London’s Heathrow Airport, a small but energetic group of manufacturers, distributors, and dealers assembled to showcase the latest in top-notch turntablism.

The show size was either a problem or an opportunity to visitors. With less than 20 rooms given over to the event, show-goers were either happy that they could take their time giving each one a useful amount of time both in listening and discussing the products on show, or they raced around the show as if it had 200 rooms and considered it poor value for money. Meanwhile, manufacturers were not sure whether to expect a cohort of hipsters, or a cabal of older vinylistas who had not been to a show in 25 years. The reality, in both cases, probably sits somewhere between the two poles: a niche show is always going to attract a niche crowd, both in terms of visitors and exhibitors, and Styl:us was no exception. I still think the show was largely reaching the older end of the vinyl spectrum (the end of the ‘vinyl’ era, rather than the start of the ‘vinyls’ age), but overall it was a positive first effort.

Ammonite Audio chose the ‘bazaar’ (as opposed to the ‘bizarre’) approach to its range of vinyl accessories, Jelco tonearms, and Miyajima cartridges. This worked really well for the audience attending the event

Stephen Harper of The Audio Consultants spent most of the weekend demonstrating the importance of good record cleanliness, with before and after demonstrations of showgoers LPs ultrasonically cleaned with the Audio Desk Systeme

Clearaudio turntables and GamuT electronics and loudspeakers were popular choices at the show, appearing in several rooms, including the lecture theatre

The innovative Plato media playing system by Entotem is about to be updated with a new Class A amplifier stage, which will be followed by a sensing power supply for truly international playback. The Plato’s LP ripping system is particularly clever and one to watch…

The show wasn’t totally about vinyl. HiFiHeadphones was allowed in to demonstrate its wide range of headphone amplifiers and loudspeakers… as long as they played them through a vinyl source! The MrSpeakers Ether and Ether C headphones were a popular choice

 

Inspire Hi-Fi is more than just a maker of hot-rod modifications for Linn LP12 and Roksan Xerxes turntables. The company’s Monarch Direct Drive turntable is a popular choice, too, especially with the brand’s X200 Mk 2 carbon fibre arm. The complete package (less Audio Technica cartridge) in its 12″ guise comes to £5,250

Perhaps little known due to its tongue-twister name, but the Lejonklou dual mono preamplifier, and dual mono power amplifier system made some of the most exciting sounds at the show, when played through a Tiger Paw modified LP12, Hana cartridge, Aurasound Vida phono stage and Totem Element floorstander loudspeakers

The best sound at the show was thanks to Music First Audio, with an Audio Note front end feeding a Classic MM phono Amp, Baby Classic MC step-up, and Baby Classic preamp, into Howes modified Quads and Graham Audio loudspeakers. Refined and elegant sounding

 

A newcomer to the domestic audio world, Protec Audio Supports uses its pro-audio heritage to produce high-performance, low cost equipment supports, including this turntable wall shelf with optional colour changing LED panel

The PreAudio range of tangential tracking turntables is gaining a lot of friends, in part thanks to its low cost, high-performance appeal. The models – bundled complete with a matching Audio Technica cartridge – range from the £1,200 AT-1602 to the new ATM-1401 flagship pictured, which comes complete with an ART-9 cartridge for £7,900

Even Sony was getting in on the act, with its vinyl-ripping-to-DSD PS-HX500 turntable first seen at CES 2016

Townshend was showing a prototype of its Seismic Platform specifically for the Technics SL1200 turntable, and the effect of its Seismic bars on loudspeakers, but it’s perhaps the sentiment of the slipmat that sums this show up best!

Vinyl Passion was one of the many companies at the exhibition demonstrating modified Linn LP12s. This one was a real beauty in the flesh!

DSD is the new analogue!

Munich – Lindemann audiotechnik is known to be a specialist for excellent digital sources. With the “Musicbook:DSD“ and just in time for the HighEnd 2016, the German manufacturer is going to launch a new generation of their Musicbook: line.

For this purpose both the converters (Musicbook:10 and 15) and the streamers (Musikbook:20 and 25) were revised in significant respects. As the world’s first (!) high-end devices the new models offer the following feature combination:

  • resampling of all digital source data (e.g. from CD, streamer, USB interface, digital inputs and even Bluetooth)
  • in DSD 256
  • with subsequent conversion of the DSD signal in the Pure Path mode

The sonic gain of the new converter architecture is dramatic: greater dynamics, more vivid timbres and a new, totally “life-like“ atmosphere which closely resembles an analogue reproduction (with far better resolution).

The already comprehensive feature set of the Musicbook digital sources is supplemented by Bluetooth APTX and a USB audio port up to 384 kHz and DSD 256 and standardised for all models (DACs and streamers).

The streaming platform can now even process DSD files in the .dff and .dsf formats; moreover, we have integrated convenient multi-playlists, the TIDAL online catalogue and a new radio and podcast provider. The Lindemann apps (Android, iOS) were also further optimised.

The new Musicbook:DSDs will replace the previous Musicbook models. RRP depending on configuration. After the introduction of the new version, we will offer a full hardware upgrade to the new Musicbook:DSD version for all customer devices. Firmware updates, e.g. to new streaming services, will be available online free of charge as before.

High Rise

High-resolution audio (HRA) has had something of a mixed start in life. Touted as the Next Big Thing by the Consumer Technology Association before it was the Consumer Technology Association, the impact of good quality audio seemed not to make as big an impact as other notable flavours of the tech month. Wearables, ‘hoverboards’, and miscellaneous shiny gadgets quickly swamped HRA. The battle seemed lost; CD is in decline, low-resolution streaming is on the rise, and high-resolution seems the preserve of the aging audiophile community.

Or, at least, that’s how it seemed.

In fact, music played at CD resolution and beyond is quietly thriving, and growing in interest, especially in many Asian markets. Although still considered a niche, the growth of interest in HRA has caught the attention of a number of cellphone makers and telecoms providers, according to a recent report from Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tech-audio-idUSKCN0X82NR).

In the report, the reversal of fortunes of iRiver (now better as Astell&Kern), which has moved from near-bankruptcy to profitability in a just a few years is seen as an example of the change in this entire sector of portable audio. The brand was foundering when it made low-end MP3 players under the iRiver name, but now it relaunched itself as Astell&Kern and makes high-performance, luxury high-resolution players, and is now selling models like the AK380 costing up to $3,000, the company has of considerable benefit to its financies. One might be tempted to say ‘of course’, but if the market for high-end, high-resolution players simply was not there, then moving from MP3 to HRA would not be a recipe for revenue.

A&K is not alone in this. We have heard similar reports from a number of DAP and headphone makers, most notably Lotoo with its PAW Gold player and Questyle with its QP1R.

The writer, Jeremy Wagstaff, having visited CanJam Singapore, notes that an audience of young, professional Asian men are reacting to changes in their lifestyle and housing by eschewing traditional audio for a more portable audio world. This is entirely understandable; out cash-rich, time-poor world, coupled to the unfeasible cost of real estate in the big cities across the world, means people demand the best possible sound from devices that suit these environments, and they are ready, willing, and able to afford them.

It’s remarkable just how far this market has developed, and how fast. When Apple essentially ceded a lot of its upper-tier iPod market to the iPhone and iPad, spending a more than few hundred dollars on a digital audio player seemed impossible and absurd. Now, in some markets, the average expenditure on a DAP is closer to $1,000.

In part, the increased success of standalone DAPs and HRA files is in response to ever increasing mobile and domestic broadband connectivity. South Korea leads the field here; Seoul is considered the Wi-Fi capital of the world, and download speeds across the city mean it’s possible to access high-resolution audio files on the move with greater ease and speed than practically anywhere else on the planet, even though the rest of the planet is catching up fast. So, it’s perhaps little wonder that telecoms companies and phone makers in South Korea are regarding this burgeoning high-res market with envious eyes. When you think on it, a group of cash-rich bandwidth power users who will happily subscribe at a premium for an audio downloading service, is a demographic worth pursuing if you are the provider of the bandwidth and the subscription! Little wonder then that the feature lists companies like the Korean SK Telecom and Singapore Telecommunications as interested parties in this next wave of high-performance audio.

We can’t help but see this as an important part of the future of audio outside of Asia as well as inside. With ever-increasing mobile data rates, concepts like MQA gaining ground beyond the audio community, ever more professionals locked into twice-daily a commuter hell, and real estate prices squeezing those professionals into smaller premises, the need for good audio in very small spaces is universal in its appeal. Although audio’s legion of Social Justice Warriors in the Will happily play self-appointed protectors of other people’s bank-balances, the drive to get a better experience among those who can afford to enjoy the process looks set to continue.

We also feel this is both validation and vindication of our direction toward the headphone space in recent years. There is still a lot of reticence to explore a smaller audio habitat among ‘traditional’ audiophiles, and this can get somewhat heated at times as they feel their world is being swept away by the in-head ingress. But we feel these are just two sides of the same coin and can peacefully coexist.

Reading this market, though, what does seem clear at the moment is it’s one-directional. People with existing two-channel high-end stereo systems can – and do – discover the joys of headphones, custom in-ear monitors, headphone amps, DACs and the rest of this new world. But, at this time, there isn’t a significant amount of movement in the other direction, and headphone enthusiasts are not discovering how good loudspeakers and high-power amplifiers can be. Maybe this will change in time, or maybe – just maybe – it reflects how some traditional audio manufacturers need to climb out of their ivory towers and look at how the world has changed, and how they need to make products that meet the needs of the new bloods.

Kuzma 4POINT 14 tonearm

While many UK audiophiles are still struggling to come to terms with the notion of 12” tonearms that resolutely refuse to mount on their LP12s, those driving this particular arms race are already moving on to bigger and (they assume) better things, with arms as long as 16” becoming if not common, them far from the unusual sights they once were. It’s a situation that makes Kuzma’s innovative, musically remarkable and thoughtfully engineered 4POINT, with its 11” effective length, look almost conservative. Combining easy, repeatable adjustability of all geometric parameters with the sort of physical integrity and rigidity more normally associated with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the 4POINT’s relatively modest 280mm effective length is coupled to an offset pillar that allows it to use the same mounting geometry as a standard 9” arm. This incredibly sensible arrangement keeps the effective mass manageable, even if the arm’s total mass is on the high side. It also contributes to a performance whose balance of virtues exceeds not just the other Kuzma arms (a range that includes both 12” and linear-tracking designs) but most other tonearms to boot, making the 4POINT a genuine benchmark product.

Given the high regard in which the design is held, together with the dogma that afflicts so many audiophile buying decisions) I’ve been half expecting a 12” version of the 4POINT for some time: what I wasn’t expecting was a 14” version! For what is already a physically big arm, adding another three inches to the arm-tube – along with the larger counterweight to match – creates an absolute monster. Effective length is now 353mm: effective mass rises to 19g, making this the preserve of truly low compliance cartridges only (despite differential horizontal and vertical damping) and overall weight is now 2150g. The good news is that mounting geometry is now 291mm, equivalent to many 12” arms, so as long as your turntable will take a foot-long tonearm, the 4POINT 14 should fit. Best of all, at £6,250 the 4POINT 14 might just be the best arm out there, and in a world where arms can now cost close to £30,000, it represents great value. But, is more necessarily better or, when it comes to tonearms, is it possible to have altogether too much of a good thing?

As I’ve already noted, the 291mm mounting distance means that the 4POINT 14 should mount on any deck that will take a standard 12” arm. Having said that, the offset mounting means that the arm’s bearing housing itself and in particular, its extremely long counterweight stub, extend well beyond most armboards/towers, so you need to make sure you’ll have enough room to accommodate the beast, not only when parked but when it swings into action. I used a pre-cut arm block to mount the arm on the Kuzma Stabi M – in place of a standard 4POINT – and getting the arm under the ‘table’s lid was a considerable challenge. Even so, I could only run it with the lid open, although the security offered while the arm was parked was still extremely welcome. The use of the pre-cut mounting saved me from the second practical challenge. Kuzma mounts look like standard Linn pattern six-bolt cutouts: they aren’t. The Kuzma mounting collars have larger diameter extensions (a full 40mm) than the Linn ones, so you’ll need to get a board cut specifically – a standard Linn mount won’t work, even if the geometry is correct. Once you’ve got the mount in place, you still need to set the pivot to spindle distance, which at 342mm exceeds the beam length of tools like the SMARTractor (although I have a special, longer beam on order). That makes setting the pivot point somewhat hit and miss, and also means that you are limited to using Kuzma’s own two-point protractor. Nothing wrong with that, unless of course you want to use something like UNIdin geometry as opposed to the Kuzma’s Lofgren A. Finally, we come back to the question of effective mass. Don’t assume that just because your cartridge is happy in the standard 4POINT, it will be equally at home in the 14. The Lyra Dorian, which is perfectly happy in the standard 4POINT proved marginal, helped by its own low mass, when installed in the 14 for comparison purposes. Even the Fuuga, with its stated compliance of 7cu (at 100hz) generates a fundamental resonance around a low but acceptable 9Hz. You have been warned… Fortunately, the 4POINT 14’s incredibly adaptable damping will solve many problems, but it’s another thing you may find yourself having to deal with. Ohh… and don’t go thinking that you can simply lift a cartridge and headshell out of the 11” arm (assuming that you’re lucky enough to own one) and drop it into the 14”: the headshells might look identical and they certainly fix in the same elegant manner, but the off-set angle is different (19.5° as opposed to 15.35° for the longer arm).

 

Given the stellar, standard-setting performance of the 11” 4POINT, is the 14” version worth the bother? In the right system and given the right cartridge, the answer to that is definitely a yes. First listen was with the Dorian and I was totally unprepared for the sheer substance, power, energy, and drive generated by the longer arm, even with this accomplished but fairly modest cartridge (less than £500, remember). Adding just a touch of vertical damping brought extra stability, security and transparency to the picture, reinforcing just how critical arm and cartridge matching can be, but swapping between the standard 4POINT and the longer arm with Dorian’s in both simply served to underline the extra presence and musical authority produced by the 14. It was already hinting at greatness before I mounted the Fuuga, but that’s when things got really interesting. The Dorian serves as a perfect all-rounder for back-to-back comparisons between arms or turntables, but a product with the stature and ambition invested in the 4POINT 14 deserves something considerably better – which is exactly where the Fuuga comes in.

In many ways, tonearms work at a significant disadvantage. Their contribution is entirely passive and in a very real sense, they exist only to serve: in this case allowing the cartridge to do its job. Bearing in mind just how crude the actual mechanics of dragging a rock along a trench really are, helping the cartridge to be the best that it can be is a considerable challenge. Yet, the more you listen to the 4POIT 14 the clearer it becomes that this is exactly what it achieves. Just as the Dorian generates a shocking degree of musical authority, with bandwidth dynamic range and substance that go way beyond the pick-up’s asking price, the Fuuga (a cartridge that already excels in those regards) brings a presence and substance to musical performances that really set them apart: apart from the norm – but more crucially, apart from the process of reproduction and the system itself. Install the 4POINT 14 and it brings with it a sense of unfettered dynamic range, limitless energy, absolute stability, and total musical integrity, allowing the performers and the performance to be completely separate from the system. Sound is no longer projected from the speakers, taking on its own, completely independent existence within the room. Just as the 14 removed the dynamic and bandwidth limitations I’d always attributed to the Dorian, allowing that cartridge to grow and project, so it gave the Fuuga (and the Etna) an expressive and spatial freedom that was so free of system limitations that it moved the resulting performance much closer to the live event and the experience of the real. In the simplest possible terms, each of the cartridges used sounded like a bigger, better version of itself, with the result that they communicated more directly, making your brain’s interpretive function considerably simpler: as a result, you heard less system and a lot more music.

It would be very easy to get reductionist about this: it’s the reduced tracing error; it’s the increase in effective mass; maybe it’s all to do with the reduced offset or the almost 30% increase in the fineness of VTA adjustment. I really don’t think that it’s that simple. Instead, all of these factors (and a few others besides) are working in tandem to elevate the tonearm’s performance and eliminate it as a limiting factor. The result is an arm that has the musical ease, flow, spatial security, and expressive temporal integrity of arms like the FR66fx or Dynavector DV505 – tonearms rightly lauded for their natural, communicative qualities – combined with the power, precision, and focus of the standard 4POINT. Throw in the 14’s party piece – seemingly limitless quantities of sheer musical energy and utterly unimpeded dynamic response, and this is one seriously impressive performer. Put a 4POINT 14 in your system and sit back as your speakers apparently expand in size (at the same time as they disappear), your cartridge grows in power, and the musicians on your records don’t just wake up, they decide that today is the day. “Emphatic musical delivery” doesn’t even start to cover it. The power and sense of purposeful momentum are what you’ll notice first, but after that comes the realization that you’ve also gained subtlety, intimacy, immediacy and poise. There’s a more apparent range of tonal colours in play and a rhythmic fluidity that is as unforced as it is seductively involving.

The 4POINT 14 isn’t an arm for everyman: not because everyman won’t appreciate its qualities, but because not everyone can accommodate it. It’s demanding of space and it works best with exactly the sort of big, heavy, low compliance cartridges that attract big, heavy price tags. The Fuuga is a natural partner, as are Kuzma’s own excellent CAR pick-ups. I’d love to hear this arm with one of the platinum magnet Koetsus and the rejuvenated Kisekis beckon also. But if you have the space to mount the arm and the cartridge to partner it, then what the 4POINT 14 delivers is all of the practical benefits that helped make the standard 4POINT so attractive, along with a level of performance that, like the VPI JMW 3D tonearm before it, raises the level of musical invisibility possible from a tonearm. Until you hear an arm like the 14 you have no idea just how audible an impact your tonearm is having. The standard 4POINT is a very, very good arm; in fact, it is the most consistent, musically convincing, and engaging arm I’ve ever used at home – until now. The 4POINT 14 isn’t just better; bigger, heavier, and longer, it is both reductionist and pointless trying to put your finger on what exactly makes that difference, but it’s a difference that’s way too big to ignore. Is more necessarily better? I don’t think that’s a given, but once you hear the 4POINT 14, it’s awfully hard to go back.

 

Four points about the 4POINT

One of things that set the 4POINT arms (both the standard and 14” versions) apart from the competition is the way in which they manage to combine adjustability of all geometrical parameters with a rigidity that at least matches and probably exceeds all even remotely flexible alternatives. Typical gimballed arms, like SMEs or Linn tonearms, don’t allow on-the-fly trimming of VTA and simply can’t offer azimuth adjustment, while the complex structure of an arm like the TriPlanar introduces its own set of compromises. The structure and engineering of the 4POINT is an object lesson in functional elegance, offering a range of simple, repeatable adjustments that allow users to achieve far more accurate set up and, as a result, significantly better sound.

The massive tonearm assembly might look monolithic but is actually a complex and carefully considered component. The headshell is removable, allowing you to mount cartridges and even rotate between models, if you so wish – although that will require resetting the arm’s balance, bias, and headshell wiring. The tube itself is split just ahead of the bearing housing, where a long sleeve joint allows you to loosen the front section and precisely rotate it using an Allen key to achieve continuous yet incremental adjustment of azimuth. The counterweight assembly is a composite arrangement. The large, low slung weight allows you to alter its mass with the range of supplied rings that simply screw onto the stub and lock together, keeping it as close to the pivot as possible to help maximize tracking performance. The small weight in the upper position is used to set tracking force, its two parts lock together allowing you to vary the resistance to rotation. That might seem like a small thing, but when it comes to making those “so small you almost can’t feel them” adjustments to VTF that are the difference between a performance that is great and one that is truly magical, that and the simple red dots that provide a rotational reference are what make it happen. Finally, it’s possible to remove the entire arm-assembly, keeping all the adjustments intact and replace it with another complete unit with cartridge installed. It’s not as straightforward as the same operation on the VPI JMW, as Kuzma requires you to unlock the cable-retaining stub with an Allen key, but that also allows the use of a straight-through wiring harness, eliminating at least one junction in this critical, low-level signal path.

Arm-height can be set using a locking collar, but thereafter, a cam‑locked VTA tower allows in-play adjustment of this critical parameter, without any compromise in rigidity. Whether you are a “tickle it for every record” kind of listener, or simply want to optimize arm height when switching between standard and 180/200g audiophile pressings, it’s simple, incredibly precise and brilliantly effective. My only complaint? I’d like a finer scale on the rotating dial to make tiny shifts more repeatable, but that aside, the 4POINT is the very model of analogue set-up sanity. It allows you to optimize the arm for the chosen cartridge and then set that cartridge up, with every parameter separate, independently, and easily adjustable. If only all tonearms worked like this, the world would be a better place!

Technical Specifications

  • Type: 14” tonearm with unique Kuzma 4POINT bearing system
  • Arm mount: Kuzma
  • Mounting distance: 291mm
  • Spindle to pivot: 342mm
  • Effective length: 353mm
  • Effective mass: 19g
  • Removable headshell: Yes – Kuzma type, spare supplied
  • Fingerlift: Removable
  • Adjustments available: Overhang, bias, vta, azimuth, vertical damping, horizontal damping, c/w mass
  • Cable: Kuzma silver – optional cables and configurations available
  • Arm mass: 2150g
  • Price: £6,250

Manufacturer: Kuzma Ltd, Preddvor, Slovenia

URL: www.kuzma.si

UK Distributor: Audiofreaks

Tel: +44 208 948 4153

URL: www.audiofreaks.co.uk

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