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Plato by Entotem recognised for innovation at Sound and Vision Show 2015

High Technology specialist Entotem attended the Bristol Sound and Vision Show 2015 from the 20-22 February to officially launch Plato their innovative home entertainment system. Plato has been in development for the past two years, and Entotem chose this show, the largest in the UK to be its launch platform. A hugely successful launch show was perfectly topped off with a Clarity Alliance Best of Show Award.

The high-specification Plato provides users the opportunity to playback vinyl through built in pre-amp and power-amp, and record each track in 24bit/192 kHz format which is then stored within 2TB hard drive with track recognition and album image downloaded from gracenote.

Powered by a bespoke Android OS, Plato will also stream to network connected TV and speakers, both audio and video, simultaneously; Touch screen operation supported by an Android companion app (IOS to follow) round up some of the many features offered by the Plato system.

The opening day, for press and trade, was extremely busy with Entotem providing hourly demonstrations to highlight Plato’s key features to a keen and very positive audience. This positivity was mirrored as news was received that Entotem had been nominated for the most innovative room 2015 as part of Clarity Alliance’s Best of Show Awards. And at the awards evening the announcement came the Plato by Entotem was category winner.

On receiving the award, Martin Boddy commented: 

“It is a great honour and privilege to receive this award for Plato, especially because it comes from our industry peers. The Entotem engineering team have worked incredibly hard over the last two years to bring something new, innovative and exciting to the market. We believed we had something very special, and this award fully backs up and endorses those feelings. 

“Being selected by the Clarity Alliance for one of its Best of Show Awards demonstrates how Entotem has been embraced and accepted by the industry, and that is something that all new entrants continually strive to achieve. It really was an extremely proud moment for the whole team.”

End

Contact: Andy Hughes ([email protected])

07970513896

01332 291972

www.entotem.com

Bristol Sound & Vision Show 2015

The Bristol Show (more formally, The Sound & Vision Show) runs at the tail end of February at the Marriott City Centre hotel near Bristol’s Cabot Circus development. Now in its 27th year, the show has seen audio eclipsed by home theatre, only to return to a position of dominance. It has seen a market eroded by iDevices and smartphones, only to claw back with headphones. Now, it’s seeing audio begin to regroup, thanks to the vinyl revival, streaming, and wireless connections to phones.

Bristol has become the largest show on the UK calendar; the National Audio Show may be more oriented to high-end audio, but Bristol has become something of a bell-weather, allowing us to gauge the enthusiasm real-world customers have toward today’s audio equipment. And judging by this year’s show, the ‘buzz’ is returning. This show has a distinct price ceiling – except for a few notable exceptions, most audio equipment at the show is in the hundreds or low thousands of pounds level – and much can be ordered at a discount at the show itself, which makes for a more immediate ‘tell’ on the success of a product.

It’s also perfectly timed to show products seen at CES for the first time in Europe, several months before the Munich High-End Show. However, it has also become a showcase for new products in its own right, especially from UK manufacturers wanting to give the home audience an advance preview of upcoming products.

 

Arcam took an ‘it’s all good’ approach to music replay in its demonstrations, demonstrating its new £1,500 A39 Class G integrated amplifier alongside the £800 SACD/CD/streaming CDS27 launched last year. This allows users who are in transition from disc-based to streaming/networked music to have their cake and eat it. Which is kind of the point of cake, when you think about it!

Auden Distribution was showing the excellent digital streaming Aria range. The company ‘s top £3,800 Aria was playing through a Young DAC, Albarry mono, and Amphion loudspeaker system, while the new £2,300 was playing direct to Burson electronics and yet another pair of Amphions. We’ll be looking at the Aria very soon…

Audio Note is a consistent show-goer. The brand always has a strong presence. This year, the company played its ‘latest’ products – although neither the £660 new arm or £30,000 Tomei ‘ongaku light’ integrated amp are that new. Nice sound, though.

Booplinth is a clever new replacement plinth for the evergreen Linn LP12. A rich aftermarket of luxury plinths for the 42 year old design have arisen over the years, but the £1,650 Booplinth is the first made entirely of solid bamboo laminate, free from glues, screws, or clamps. The plinth – made by Quadraspire (itself celebrating 20 years in business with the launch of brass upgrade parts and its new £1,000 per tier X-Reference bamboo shelf) – was on demonstration, compared to an otherwise identical LP12 with standard plinth. The difference was marked. Booplinth is only available from the Booplinth site, or through the Manchester-based Brian and Trevors store (Brian and Trevor being the originators of the Booplinth),

Chord Electronics is on a roll. Following in the wake of the mighty Hugo, the company has addressed comments raised by making a desktop version, the £2,995 Hugo TT and a Hugo in a Chordette box, the £995 2Qute (both first seen at CES). However, the new £6,995 CPM 2800 MkII ‘digital’ amplifier, which can offer up to DSD 128 on its USB input, and features the same Spartan 6 FGPA seen in the Hugo.

 

Creek Audio has been absent from Bristol for a few years, but it returned with style thanks to its new £1,500 120W Class G Evolution 100A amplifier, complete with AMBIT tuner and Ruby DAC plug in modules. Creek stablemate Epos also announced active amplifier modules for its range. More on that later…

Cyrus showed its new £1,750 per channel Stereo 200 ‘hybrid’ stereo amplifier, which combines Class D power with its own Speaker Impedance Detection circuit, to ensure the amp and loudspeaker are always speaking the same language. This allows Cyrus to deliver a healthy 200W per channel from the popular Cyrus half-width ‘singing shoebox’ design.

Based in Derby in the midlands of England, Enotem is a bold new start-up with a bold new concept called Plato. This combination Android-based streamer/ripper/storage/DAC/preamp/power amp is equally at home with music and video files, will play anything up to 24/192 precision, can even rip Blu-ray, and includes a 2TB hard drive. Price to be confirmed, but expect something in the £2,000-£3,000 mark for the full device.

The Melco ‘computer audio without the computer’ source has been shown before, although at the show it was appearing in a number of demonstrations with great success. However, the company distributing Melco was also showing its new £2,100 Exogal Comet, a fully upgradable, open architecture DAC designed by Jim Kinne; better known for the Wadia 27 Decoding Computer.

Exposure showed a new version of its popular 3010 preamp. The new 3010 S2D preamplifier adds a built in digital converter that can accept both coaxial and USB inputs, and yet the price remains keen at £1,060. Matching mono amps remain unchanged at £1,900 per pair. Also on show but not playing was the £1,700 integrated amp from the same family. The DAC board is a dealer-fit device, for £325.

Furutech’s side brand Alpha Design Labs has announced an ‘alpha’ version of its hugely popular GT40. Combining DAC, phono stage, ADC for recording, and headphone amp, the £395 ADL GT40 alpha now samples to 24/192 precision, and includes a light to show when a recording is clipping. Clever, smart, small, and cool… what more do you need?

 

The show has a very strong local following, with lots of British brands getting a lot of attention, but there are notable exceptions. This year, Hegel was one of the international newcomers, showing virtually the whole range, playing from a MacBook Air, and an iPhone, into a pair of the new white-finish KEF LS50 via lots of Nordost Blue Heaven cable. Anders from Hegel has a remarkably laid-back presentation that wins friends quickly, playing whatever the audience wants, even if it’s not the usual order of things. You want to hear a DAC straight to a power amp… no problems! It helps that the sound was damn good through every configuration, of course.

IsoTek always puts on a highly successful show, and this year was demonstrating with GamuT electronics and loudspeakers. The company’s range of power products were making big changes to sound as usual, and this year saw the launch of the new £325 EVO3 Venus mains conditioner, a part of the company’s entry level discovery range.

One of the most consistent product range at the show, Moon electronics were springing up in several rooms. Quietly turning out great sound, the products are proving exceptionally popular among big-hitter loudspeaker companies, because Moon consistently makes loudspeakers sound good. This 35 year old company was used to great effect in the Nordost room, once more just getting out of the way to let the demonstrations speak for themselves. I had thought I had photographed the new 430HA headphone amp, playing the equally new Heimdall headphone cables, but this is pretty cool and very tidy in its own right…

Music First Audio is best known for its passive magnetic preamplifiers and step-up transformers. However, it recently teamed up with Nick Gorham of Longdog Audio, to develop its two-box, shunt-regulated, valve based MM Reference phono amplifier. With inductive passive EQ wound by MFA, this £10,000 dual mono phono preamplifier was one of the stars of the show.

 

Naim Audio showed its brand new NAC-N 272 streaming preamplifier, one of the stars of the show. Members of the press were given a look and listen to this networked audio, DSD-compatible, upgradable £3,300 preamplifier prior to the Bristol Show, but it was playing to the general public through a suitably compatible system, ending in Focal loudspeakers. This is a product that offers a lot, both for future Naim upgraders, wanting the convenience of something like a SuperUniti with the added power options of a combination, and for those wanting to upgrade a preamp and add streaming without extra boxes. It also offers the promise of DSD support coming to other Naim streaming devices. Possibly even existing Naim devices. Naim had several official stands and rooms at the show, demonstrating everything from the new mu-so right up to the mighty Statement.

Onkyo announced a new direct drive turntable, the £399 CP-1050. First shown at CES, this cool-retro design features an aluminium S-shaped arm with detachable headshell, and adjustable feet, the new deck will be sold as a complete package with MM cartridge. Only available in black, the CP-1050 has shades of classic Thorens about the design.

Pristine Vinyl Ltd is a new company with a whole new product in prototype form. The ViVac RCS1 (pictured above – £1,795) is a record cleaning machine with a difference or two. It uses the wet/dry cleaning system most commonly associated with Keith Monks models, but manages to make the cleaner look elegant enough to stay in the same room as the record player, and not sound like a motor launch. The idea being if it looks good, sounds good and isn’t too complex to use and clean, you’ll clean more records. The ViVac RCS2 (pictured below – £1,995).

The £1,050 Pro-Ject 2 Xperience SB turntable, sold as a complete package with carbon-fibre Evolution arm and an Ortofon 2M Silver cartridge was first seen in prototype form at CES, but was part of a group of rooms by Pro-Ject distributor Henley Designs. Pro-Ject’s turntables are flying off the shelves at this time, and with an improved speed control, better arm, and lovely finish, it’s not hard to see why with decks like this.

Quad announced its next range at the show. Coming at the end of the year, the new Artera range will feature at first the £1,500 CDP CD player/preamp, with a USB and analogue inputs, and balanced outputs, and a matching Power 140W current-dumping power amplifier for the same price. These will be followed by the all-in-one Artera One streamer for around £2,000 and an Artera Play standalone streamer, at a price yet to be confirmed.

A limited run of 500 Rega RP1 turntables with the company’s Carbon cartridge will be sold especially to celebrate Record Store Day in mid April. These £239 turntables are fitted out in special livery for the event. Apparently more than half are already sold, so get your order in quickly. There will be more on Rega’s new loudspeakers soon.

 

Sound Hi-Fi has introduced a clever second arm board for the SME 10 turntable. The arm board outrigger is simple to fix, and designed to have the fit and finish of a SME itself, which says a lot. It costs £199, and can be fitted to a new SME 10, it becoming the £3,250 SME M10-D (arms not included). As the distributor of Miyajima cartridges, it makes sense to have an arm for stereo and one for mono!

We have already discussed Technics’ return to the audio fold, but Bristol was the first time the brand’s new digital player, amplifier, and speaker systems were shown to the UK public at large. The £3,300 C700 system (ST-C700 streamer, SU-C700 amp, and SB-C700 standmount speakers) were best suited for smaller rooms, while the £37,000 R1 system was consigned to a downstairs passive role. The smaller system, complete with optional CD player, sounded a lot better than its earlier outing in Audio Lounge late last year. And the Technics online music store is beginning to deliver the goods, too. This system holds a lot of promise.

AJ van den Hul himself was there, giving seminars on cartridge evaluation, design, and performance clinics, repairs, and retips for those bringing in cartridges. There’s also a Point One turntable and a new Crimson MC with one ohm coil impedance, and new carbon nanotube cable coming. The system at the show sounded good with vdH cartridge and phono stage, an EAT Forte S deck with EAT-branded Ikeda arm, Tsakiridis Devices integrated amps and ProAc loudspeakers.

VPI has streamlined its range recently, and there’s a new kid on the block; the £3,750 Prime. Supplied complete with the latest version of the company’s 3D printed tonearm, and standard low noise 500RPM motor, this replaces the basic Classic turntables and Scoutmaster, and sounded excellent with a ‘NOS’ Kiseki cartridge through Moon electronics and the KEF Blade 2.

Finally, there seems to be almost a war raging between ‘Chinglish’ brands Ming Da and Icon Audio. Each has its own interpretation of the biggest, heaviest tube amplifier possible, and both seem determined to cram the most amount of audio equipment in the smallest room possible. Icon showed its potent 200W push pull £12,500 per pair MB81 monoblock amp, each sporting a pair of the immense Russian GU81 transmitter tubes, while Ming Da went for more of a tower of power, with its £34,950 per pair Cantible Grandé MC-998A monoblock featuring Chinese FU80 military power triodes and pumping out a healthy 80W in pure single-ended Class A.

As ever, this barely scratches the surface of what was on offer. We’ll cover loudspeakers, headphones, cables and portable audio soon, but there’s a lot more we had to skip there simply isn’t the time to cover everything!

Audiomica Europa Ultra Reference and Genimides Ultra Reference

If we’re honest, when we describe a cable as ‘very good’ or even ‘excellent’, all we’re really saying is that it spoils the performance of the system less than the alternatives. Whether you agree or disagree with that premise, occasionally you may get to hear a product, whether a cable or anything else, which recalibrates your expectations. The Europa and Genimides Ultra Reference products from Audiomica form a part of that recalibration process.

Recalibration on this scale is comparatively rare now; most products are at least ‘competent’ these days, sometimes even ‘decent’. OK, so ‘good’ tends to cost a bit, and ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ are seldom less than expensive. So hearing a pair of products that redefine what you thought was possible, and which don’t require the sale of a kidney, or indenturing your first-born child into slavery, especially in a sector of audio where ‘expensive’ can mean ‘staggeringly expensive’, is something to savour.

Even those of us who believe that cables form a fundamental component of a well thought out system can balk and blanch at the ultra-high-end pricing of some übercables. So, it is refreshing to come across a cable brand that can put a marker down on the outer edges of the performance envelope, at a price attainable by an audiophile, rather than an oligarch. Audiomica Laboratories is barely known outside its native Poland and has only comparatively recently begun making inroads into export markets. No doubt its location plays a part in the cost equation, but whatever the reason, it is high time the brand crossed more people’s radar screens.

The Audiomica range is extensive and the prices are, by and large, at the sensible-to-aspirational end of the market. The Europa and Genimides Ultra Reference cables use pure silver conductors, FEP dielectric material, and the designs show great attention to detail in the application of screening and connectors. If you’re not a fan of pure silver cables, stay with me because I wasn’t either, before I tried these cables in my system. Audiomica appears to eschew directional markings so, having had a quick listen both ways round, I picked one, marked the upstream ends for consistency, then stuck with it for the duration of the review.

 

The cables sit one notch down from the very top of the Audiomica range; a 1m pair of Europa Ultra Reference interconnects costs £1,330, while a 3m pair of Genimides Ultra Reference loudspeaker cables is a modest (by high-end standards) £1,800. These prices may put the Audiomica cables in an odd position in the marketplace: too expensive for many to contemplate, yet too cheap to be taken seriously by those in search of the best available. That would be a shame, because these cables are truly remarkable, and capable of delivering a level of performance from a system which I think it would be very hard to exceed, and not just ‘for the price’.

Sometimes, you don’t realise there is a problem until you hear a product which doesn’t have the problem. The Audiomicas are simply better at getting out of the way. They seem to excel at the important stuff, like pitch, timing, and dynamics, largely by not impeding those qualities to any appreciable extent. They do this while also delivering levels of subtlety, texture, and detail, which amply complement those most vital of attributes.

Taking the Europa first, I was struck by the degree of intensity to music conveyed by this interconnect. Short piano runs in Michiel Borstlap’s playing on 88 [Michiel Borstlap Trio, Challenge Records] stop being mere noodly flourishes and gain a real sense of purpose. Suddenly, you are much more aware what the players are about; music gains in shape and sense of direction. Any given line is deliberate and considered; any emphasis is ‘just-so’, because that’s what was intended. The performance is simply more skilful.

This is partly down to timing, in its most fundamental sense of when the various bits of the signal reach your ear. There is ‘rightness’ about the timing, as delivered through the Europa. Percussion, of which there is plenty on 88, suddenly makes much more sense, hitherto random bangs and crashes coalesce into inventive and skilful playing; the trio gel together as never before and the effect is a compelling, propulsive performance that carries the listener along with the music-making. The opening bass and sax riff on Jennifer Warnes’ classic version of ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ [Famous Blue Raincoat, RCA] catches your interest and draws you in, and there is a greater sense of storytelling to the vocals. The song goes from very good to great. It was always great, of course, but now it’s obviously great.

And so it goes on: the usually ebullient ‘Kramat’ from Abdullah Ibrahim’s Ekapa Lodumo [Tip Toe] is even more joyous and exuberant. From the moment the NDR big band joins the solo flute opening, there is an event taking place in front of you. It’s a big and impressive performance, and has been rendered so by many a big and impressive system in its time but which, for all their size and impressiveness, have rarely conveyed the way in which the various different elements combine into something quite as marvellous as this. ‘Black and Brown Cherries’ from the same album conveys a real sense of conversation between the piano and the horns. The piece builds in emphasis without becoming strident or over-excited, because the band, pianist, and percussion remain locked together.

 

Interestingly, this sense of heightened lucidity is not is not imposed on the music from outside. Sometimes when auditioning cables it is hard to escape a feeling that a cable is keeping a lid on things in the interests of coherence. Here, in contrast, you sense that the music is more dramatic and interesting because everything has relaxed into its proper place, any nervousness or edginess has gone, as has any sense of overt ‘control’, to be replaced by a natural ease and freedom – truly wonderful for conveying a big jazz band at the top of its game.

The Genimides loudspeaker cable behave entirely like the interconnects, suggesting a commonality of design. Dynamics are not simply big and bold, but expressive and decisive: not dynamics for dynamics’ sake, but part of the essence and vitality of the music. Moreover, there is never any worry that these dynamics will overwhelm proceedings, even when the system is playing at my customary neighbour-baiting levels, which can occasionally trip up a system. The speaker cable lets timing stay resolutely solid, instruments play together from deepest bass to tinkliest triangle, so that it is easy to get into that zone where you lose yourself in the music and stop listening to the sound it makes.

Borstlap’s piano articulation is now exquisitely judged and controlled, contributing to the sheer insistence of the music, which derives its sense of forward motion not just from the beat, but from an awareness that each phrase has a destination, a way to carry the listener along to the next line. The countless little dynamic pushes and inflections all add their own unobtrusive little contribution to the whole, and the Audiomicas are instrumental in allowing the system to get all this information into the room, intact.

Tom Waits voice on ‘Georgia Lee’ from Mule Variations [ANTI-] is truly affecting. When he sings, “Why wasn’t God watching?” you can sense the heartbreak. Most systems render this as schmaltz, but the Audiomicas gave me pathos.

Taken together, the Audiomica interconnects and loudspeaker cables allow the system to breathe freely with little sense of constraint. Yet this isn’t a licence to run riot, everything just takes its place and doesn’t intrude where it isn’t wanted. It’s a freedom from smear, hash, bloom, or other artefacts, which I’ve rarely heard, and it is very, very beguiling. Yet this isn’t a cable which wants you to love it because it sounds lovely. It just is what it is, and if your music is gnarly and raucous, a bit of The Bad Plus perhaps, then the Audiomicas just present that music a bit gnarlier and, er, raucouser.

 

Going back to Ekapa Lodumo by way of conclusion, as a means to convey the delights of Abdullah Ibrahim’s music, the Audiomica cable set is exceptional. That album doesn’t just pique my interest, it captures my heart, and if a cable can do that, it’s pretty much got it made in my book. Here, there is more sense of three-dimensionality, the big band is bigger, plays tighter with seemingly superior skill, and even more enthusiasm, but also with a greater sense of give and take between the parts. The piano has more bounce, and Ibrahim’s playing has more physicality.

This is not simply a big, brash, blowsy performance, but a properly thought through musical event. The chaos that is the first third of ‘African Market’ is now clearly conveying the riotous, joyous, cacophonous delight of a real African market, and when the piece settles into its groove, it is all but impossible not to be carried along. And why would you possibly want to resist?

Price and contact details

  • Audiomica Europa Ultra Reference interconnects: £1,330 (1m RCA termination)
  • Audiomica Genimides Ultra Reference loudspeaker cable: £1,800 (3m stereo pair)

Manufacturer: Audiomica Laboratory Company

URL: www.audiomica.com

UK Distribution: MusicWorks (UK) Ltd

URL: www.musicworks-hifi.com

Tel: +44(0)161 491 2932

Back to reviews 

Read more Audiomica reviews here

Eclipse TD-M1

The humble desktop loudspeaker often gets short shrift among audio enthusiasts. Our traditional obsession with a stereo system in the listening room now has a challenger in the headphone and CIEM environment, but there’s little drive to improve the loudspeakers that flank our desktop and laptop computers. Eclipse TD – never a company to follow the herd – is one of the rare exceptions with its £999 TD-M1.

In great fairness to Eclipse, the TD-M1 is not a typical desktop loudspeaker system. Granted it is small and has built-in (20W, Class D) amplification, but similarities end there. The rear-ported, single-driver pods sit on a levered foot, which doubles as a combination DAC, AirPlay, and amplifier module, all rolled into one. As ever with Eclipse loudspeakers, the 80mm driver is a ‘full-range’ design (as in, it covers the frequency range from treble to bass on a single driver, rather than this being a single drive unit that can cover the 20Hz-20kHz range in one). This little drive unit is not attached to the loudspeaker baffle at all, and is instead mounted rigidly to a rear mass anchor system, which makes a vibration-isolated three point contact to the mid-point of the speaker’s side view. In basic terms, the loudspeaker drive unit does what it needs to do while the loudspeaker cabinet does what it needs to do, and the two don’t interact. Naturally, with just the one drive unit, there is no need for a crossover network, and the amplifier inside the base unit could be considered active as a result.

 

A series of touch-sensitive lights give the user a basic indication of volume level, but this is not related and not matched to the volume control on the computer itself. This is because a computer’s output is best served flat-out, and any adjustment is performed at the amplifier end, rather than risk less than bit-perfection from the connected device. The DAC itself shows just how serious Eclipse takes the project: it’s a non-oversampling, 24-bit, 192kbps capable DAC, the kind of thing you would normally find in crushingly expensive, hand-made digital products.

I work from home, and most of that work is spent in front of a screen. It’s not possible to work with headphones, because I would be forever removing them to answer my landline or mobile phone (although this would screen the telemarketers…), so I’m a prime candidate for good desktop audio. What I didn’t realise is how much pleasure I would extract from good desktop audio. What I also didn’t realise is just how easy it is to find distraction techniques when the audio quality is this good. YouTube becomes a significant time-vampire, luring you onto the rocks of spending hours listening to hitherto-unexplored classical concerts (and strange, lurid K-Pop). Spotify becomes a constant companion, and the sonic benefits of a recent upgrade Audirvana over iTunes are readily apparent, because the TD-M1’s are more than capable of resolving the differences between the two formats.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that a point source loudspeaker gives good soundstaging. However, what is surprising is just how good this speaker system is at imaging under the most hostile of conditions in the domestic world; situated to the sides of a whirring, noisy, and physically large computer-sized box smack, bang in the middle of the place where soundstages get undermined. You get a feeling of true, unforced, three-dimensional sound, the kind you normally get with an extremely carefully manicured audio system. This came over well on the Recomposed by Max Richter versions of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons [DG]; although the looped, treated strings are folded into the mix, they have their own physical space in the soundstage. The whole effect is atmospheric, if a little ‘film-scorey’. This track also highlights the tonal accuracy of the TD-M1 – because Vivaldi is so well known, this mixed up version can sound broken and unsettling unless the tonality is absolutely right, at which time the music becomes precisely the kind of thing you might have expected Vivaldi to do with his music today.

Of course, bass is not on offer here. In fact, it’s the frequency extremes that are inherently the weak spot of any small, single-driver loudspeaker like the TD-M1, but it’s the lack of bass that’s perhaps the most obvious shortcoming. Curiously, I think this to be a good thing all told. The TD-M1 is more about precision than depth, and the bass roll-off is steep, but extremely well controlled. In the confines of an ultra-near-field environment (I don’t need to outstretch my arms to touch the loudspeakers), it’s easy for too much bass to overreach, adding boom and bloom to an otherwise crisp, fast, and clean sound. Less really is more here, although if my musical tastes ran more to those of the organ enthusiast or reggae fan, I may not have been so enamoured with the curtailed frequency response.

 

As above, so below, and the roll-off in the LF exists to a lesser extent in the HF. This, coupled with the non-oversampling DAC, can make for a treble that is at once exceptionally precise, detailed, and occasionally a little too forthright. Once again, this comes down to musical choices; Elgar’s Symphony No 1 [Vernon Hadley, LPO, EMI] recorded in Abbey Road for the Classics for Pleasure series in 1979 (don’t knock it, it’s a fine recording) was absolutely sublime, but ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ by Arctic Monkeys [Whatever People Say That I Am, That’s What I’m Not, Domino] played through the TD-M1 exhibited a touch more spitchiness than I’m used to. While the track has raw charm and a great sense of fun, it can easily sound ragged. Played through the TD-M1, the track just manages to stay the right side of exuberant, but the rough edges of the raw, guitar-based music, and poor ‘Loudness War’ recoding techniques with heavy-handed signal compression might go some way to explain a sound that gets brash and raw.

I don’t want to overstate this, however, and my relatively limited portfolio of such recordings prevents me from further investigation. It didn’t warrant further investigation, too, because at no time did anything detract or derail the listener from the goal of listening to and enjoying music. Our job is to be observational, rather than objectionable, or sceptic rather than cynic, and to overstate the shortcomings of the TD-M1 crosses over from the first class to the second. The TD-M1 is extremely revealing, and doesn’t suffer foolish recording gladly, so I don’t think it should be criticised for being good at high-fidelity in a high-fidelity context.

Stating the obvious, I’m mostly describing the TD-M1 used in the way I mostly used it. There is a lot more to the Eclipse TD-M1, though. I can see it being used flanking a TV for someone who discovered there is more to life than soundbars. I can also see it being used by those with no desire to play music through a wired-in computer, with AirPlay speaking from iDevice to speaker system perfectly. Reception, from the stubby aerial on the rear of the main speaker, is very good, although it’s not one for establishing a connection at extreme distances; somehow, I doubt this will ever be a demand, and the joy of AirPlay here usually falls to being less than about 3m from the loudspeakers. Besides, if you aren’t able to AirPlay tracks from your iPhone, while less than 3m from the TD-M1, I’d be more worried about things more catastrophic than dropped signals. AirPlay sounds particularly fine through the TD-M1, paradoxically by seeming to limit the top-end honesty slightly. I found any major differences in sound through both wired and wireless to fall with in a ‘good enough for government work’ catch-all. Which makes this one of the better AirPlay installations I’ve encountered. And while it’s currently uniquely Apple-oriented, by the time this review goes to press, it will be just as friendly toward Android devices, too.

 

Truth is, I’ve really enjoyed my time with the Eclipse TD-M1, to the point where I’m reluctant to give them back in a hurry. Desktop loudspeakers are not for everyone, but conventional loudspeakers in a living room are not for everyone anymore either, and I suspect there are more people out there today for whom the TD-M1 is a more acceptable proposition than the full-scale audio system. This is just a good, fun, active loudspeaker that just happens to be designed for the desktop. Try it, you might find it changes the way you listen to music. And for once, that isn’t an exaggeration! Highly recommended.

Technical Specifications

  • Ported single-drive active desktop loudspeaker with DAC
  • Drive unit: 80mm glass-fibre, full range cone
  • Frequency Response: 70Hz-30kHz
  • Input: Wi-Fi, USB B (for PC/Mac), USB A (for iPhone/iPod touch), and analog 3.5mm stereo mini jack
  • Amplifier power: 2x 20W, Class D
  • DAC: non-oversampling DAC to 24-bit, 192kHz precision
  • Impedance: 10kΩ
  • Dimensions (WxHxD): 155x242x219mm
  • Weight: 4kg
  • Finshes: Black, White, Silver
  • Price: £999 per pair

URL: www.eclipse-td.net

Tel: +44 (0)20 7328 4499

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Pro-Ject 2 Xperience SB Turntable Announced

Didcot, Oxfordshire – 17th February, 2015

Pro-Ject Audio Systems, the world renowned manufacturers of premium hi-fi turntables, are adding to their current range of record players with a new version of the hugely successful 2 Xperience design. The 2 Xperience SB is a high-quality turntable package that provides a first-class listening experience to anyone interested in pure musical enjoyment.

The new 2 Xperience SB incorporates over 20 years of turntable design experience to produce a relatively compact and affordable high-end vinyl record player that offers truly outstanding performance.

Based on the same basic plinth design as its predecessor, the 2 Xperience SB is available in four stunning finishes – Piano Black, Olive (shown), Walnut and Mahogany. It also utilises the same proven vinyl-topped sandwich platter to ensure a completely stable and reliable platform on which to place your records. Where the 2 Xperience SB is elevated to a new performance level is with the addition of a new motor, new automatic speed control and new tonearm.

The new precision motor is driven by an efficient DC power supply and regulated by a built-in electronic speed changer. So not only does the neatly integrated speed control offer easy switching between 331/3 and 45RPM, but it also acts as an AC generator for the motor to ensure a clean and stable power signal. The pre-installed 9CC Evolution tonearm has been proven by other Pro-Ject turntables – such as the EISA award winning Xtension 9 SuperPack – to offer an unrivalled performance for the cost. Benefiting from a light-weight one-piece carbon fibre tube that’s mounted inside a heavy assembly, which draws vibrations away from the signal wires, and finished with a sorbothane-damped counterweight; it typifies the audiophile characteristics of the whole turntable.

 

The turntable is supplied with an Ortofon 2M Silver cartridge pre-fitted. Based on the iconic 2M Red design, this special version found only on Pro-Ject turntables benefits from silver voice coils in the generator system to produce a clean, musical performance. An acrylic dust cover, screw-on record clamp and expertly engineered coned feet finish off the package. The 2 Xperience SB is a record player with the convenience of an affordable design but the sound characteristics of a high-end vinyl spinner.

The 2 Xperience SB will be shown in the UK for the first time at Bristol Sound & Vision Show, 2015. Visit us in Room 418 to get a first-look.

SRP £1,050.00

The Pro-Ject 2 Xperience SB will be available in the UK from March 2015.

Technical Information

Speed: 33 / 45 RPM (electronic speed change)

Drive Principle: Belt drive

Platter: 300mm MDF with vinyl top

Mains Bearing: Stainless steel

Wow & Flutter: ± 0.08%

Speed Drift: ± 0.5%

Signal-to-Noise Ratio: -70dB

Tonearm: 9” 9CC Evolution (carbon fibre)

Effective Arm Length: 230mm

Effective Arm Mass: 8.5g

Overhang: 18mm

Tracking Force: 10 – 30mN

Included Accessories: Dust Cover, Record Clamp

Power Supply: 15V / 800mA DC

Power Consumption: 4W Max. / <0.5W in standby

Dimensions (W x H x D): 460 x 160 x 360mm (dust cover closed)

Weight: 7.7kg

Bristol Show press launch: Kudos Audio to preview new flagship Titan 808 loudspeaker with ground-breaking Linn Exakt technology

As final preparations for The Bristol Show 2015 take shape, Kudos Audio is delighted to announce two very exciting developments to be previewed at the event.

Introducing the Titan 808: believe everything you’ve heard

Until now, the mighty Titan 88 has held its own as Kudos Audio’s flagship loudspeaker – and for good reason. Designed without compromise to be the clearest, most coherent and musically engaging loudspeaker the company had ever created, the Titan 88 was the embodiment of all of Kudos’ design ideals combined into one package. Featuring world-class components, many of which were custom-designed in collaboration with some of Europe’s top specialists, the Titan 88 sought to deliver the ultimate musical performance and was rewarded with a fervent cult following among audiophiles in-the-know.

Now Kudos is ready to unveil the prototype of its successor: the new Titan 808. Only the two isobaric bass drivers remain identical to those in the original T88. The mid-bass driver, tweeter and crossover have all been advanced and refined, while the all-new and even more complex cabinet features a stunningly avant-garde design.   

And there’s more…

 

Linn Exakt & Kudos

Kudos Audio has been working with industry leaders Linn to bring the incredible performance of Linn Exakt into the Kudos range of loudspeakers.

Launched by Linn in 2013, Exakt is a ground-breaking new technology that has revolutionized the world of hi-fi. It delivers the most direct connection ever made between the listener and the artist, and turns the loudspeaker into an intelligent, connected, software upgradeable product.

Exakt enables a wide range of performance- and personalisation-enhancing capabilities in design, in manufacture and in-home. Sources of noise and distortion that exist in the traditional analogue hi-fi chain are eliminated so what is heard is a more faithful reproduction of the music as it was recorded.

The Linn Exaktbox can be software-configured to optimise performance for any loudspeaker and amplifier combination, delivering all the benefits of Exakt technology.

In a system using an Exaktbox, the original analogue crossover in the loudspeaker is bypassed and instead, the Akurate Exaktbox performs the crossover digitally, while applying Linn’s Exakt technology to eliminate distortion, correct for drive unit variation and optimise the loudspeakers’ performance for the room.

In September 2014, Linn launched Exakt support for the iconic Bowers &Wilkins Nautilus. Now the team at Kudos is delighted to be working closely with Linn to develop Exakt support for its three top-of-range speakers: the Super 10, Super 20 and the new flagship Titan 808.

Press launch at The Bristol Show 2015

Members of the press are invited to join the teams from both Kudos and Linn in rooms 408 & 409 at 3.30pm on Friday 20th February, where we will unveil, demonstrate and explain the Kudos / Linn Exakt project.

Both teams will be present throughout the show, so please feel free to join us at any time. We look forward to seeing you there.

Contacts

Kudos Audio

Derek Gilligan

Tel:       0845 458 6698

Email:   [email protected]

Web:    www.kudosaudio.com

Linn Products Ltd

Andrena McBain, Marketing

Tel:      0141 303 5777

Email:  [email protected]

Web:    www.linn.co.uk

 

Press contact

For more information, product samples or high-resolution print-ready images please contact David Denyer on 07976 646 404 or [email protected].

About Kudos Audio

Kudos Audio began life as a maker of award-winning speaker stands until renowned designer Derek Gilligan took over the helm and Kudos was relaunched as a specialist in high performance loudspeakers. Since then, the company has gone on to win worldwide respect and numerous awards. Kudos speakers have established themselves as some of the best-sounding available, with each model setting a standard at its respective price point.

Why? Kudos takes an uncommon approach to loudspeaker design. In his earlier career as a live sound engineer, Derek discovered that traditional technical measurements don’t reflect everything that we hear. While these measurements are useful for fault analysis, they don’t necessarily optimise a product’s musical abilities. This inspired Derek to pursue an alternative methodology, using music as the primary tool in loudspeaker design and assessment. This departure from traditional approaches takes confidence and a wealth of experience, and contributes towards what makes Kudos different – as well as making it one of the fastest-growing UK loudspeaker companies in recent years.

Derek and his team, based in Country Durham, work closely with some of Europe’s finest suppliers to ensure that the best possible components, connections and craftsmanship are brought together in the development of the Kudos range.

Linn Products Ltd

Linn design and make the best music systems in the world. Based in Scotland and established since 1973, Linn manufacture everything in-house, from the electronics in their industry-leading Linn DS technology to the loudspeakers found in homes around the world. The iconic Sondek LP12 turntable continues to set the standard for vinyl playback and the latest digital stream players out-perform any CD or network music player available. Their latest Exakt technology has revolutionised hi-fi, delivering the most direct connection that’s ever been made between the artist and the listener. Putting intelligence into the loudspeakers, Exakt enables a wide range of performance- and personalisation-enhancing capabilities in design, in manufacture and for the customer’s room, heralding a new era of personalisation for hi-fi.

Linn systems are sold through a worldwide network of specialist retailers who also share a passion for enriching people’s lives through music. Linn were awarded a Royal Warrant in 2002 as suppliers of entertainment systems to the Royal Household, and received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2012.  

THE CHORD COMPANY SLASHES ARAY-TECH MAINS PRICING WITH NEW SIGNATURE POWER

16th February 2015 — The Chord Company, the UK’s biggest specialist A/V cable manufacturer, has introduced its proprietary ARAY technology into a sub-£1,000 mains cable for the first time

The new Signature ARAY power cable will be launched at Sound and Vision 2015

The Chord Company is set to revolutionise the power cable arena by introducing a £500 high-performance cable that draws on the company’s 30-year experience in producing high-quality A/V cables. Three decades of cable-building expertise have gone into the new Signature ARAY power cable which introduces the company’s proprietary ARAY conductor technology into a sub-£1,000 power cable for the first time.

Chord’s cable-building expertise is undeniable and the same principles, methodology and expertise Chord applies to its award-winning signal-carrying cables, have been applied to the Signature ARAY power cable. Like all of Chord’s power cables, the Signature ARAY features a very high-density braided shield in combination with a heavy-gauge foil shield, but what separates it from ordinary mains cables is the use of The Chord Company’s proprietary ARAY conductor technology, which has given the company’s ARAY-based signal-carrying cable range an extraordinary sonic advantage.

Additionally, the new Signature ARAY power cable has been fitted with a very special new high-performance UK mains plug and IEC connector. Mains plugs are notoriously tricky to get right, but The Chord Company has worked closely with a specialist company to produce high-performance plugs made exactly to specification. The plugs’ contacts have been heavily silver-plated and the terminals are designed to be very secure. Even the 13-amp fuse has been carefully chosen: The Chord Company’s research has found that fuses, along with every other part of the plug, can impact on sound quality. The plugs are so good, in fact, that they will be used on The Chord Company’s Sarum Super ARAY power cable; they’re the best mains plugs the company has heard!

About Tuned ARAY

The Chord Company’s Tuned ARAY technology was originally developed for the flagship Sarum cable range, but Tuned ARAY’s reputation for producing new levels of transparency, detail, coherence and musical involvement, soon meant the technology was introduced across a wider cable range, most recently digital and streaming products and, of course, mains cables.

Price and availability

The Signature ARAY power is available now priced at £500 (1m), plus a £100 supplement for each additional metre.

Press contact

For further information on The Chord Company, images and review requests, please contact Dan George: +44 (0)7899 808918 or [email protected]

First Listen: Aurender Flow portable headphone amp/DAC/preamp

Most audiophiles associate the name Aurender with the firm’s range of highly accomplished music servers, and rightly so. More than many competitors in the field, Aurender has demonstrated that it is keenly attuned to the needs and wants of serious music lovers—listeners who pay careful attention to even the smallest and finest aspects of sound quality and of product design. But now, thanks to the advent of a lovely new product named the Aurender Flow ($1,295 in the US), Aurender may soon become known the maker of an exceptional—and exceptionally elegant—portable headphone amplifier/DAC/preamp. If Aurender’s Flow has its way with things, then performance-minded headphonistas may soon start to consider the Flow as a possible alternative (and a somewhat lower-priced alternative) to the superb Chord Electronics Hugo. Here’s why I offer that comment.

The Flow is similar in size to the Hugo, though differently shaped (the Hugo is configured to be used in ‘landscape’ orientation, with its widest side toward the listener, while the Flow is meant to be used in ‘portrait’ orientation). Among the more obvious visual differences between the Flow and the Hugo involve the fact that the Flow is noticeably thicker than the Hugo, has a bead-blasted matte silver finish (much like certain Constellation audio components do, has a gently undulating wave-contoured top surface, and sport a large-diameter, ring-shaped volume control at the centre of which is an enourmously informative status display window.

 

Let me come right out and say it; the Flow is drop dead gorgeous to look at and a tactile delight in day-to-day use. If you are the sort of listener who likes products that combine refined aesthetics and fine sound quality in one package, the Flow might be ideal for you. But more importantly, it is versatile, easy to use, technically sophisticated, and sounds very good.

In practice, the flow gives users options that many other headphone amp/DAC makers do not. Thus it offers three basic source inputs:

  • Optical S/PDIF,
  • USB 2.0/3.0, or
  • Its own (optional) onboard mSATA storage.

That last item is an unusual one, but the Flow’s designers had the foresight to reserve interior space (and appropriate socketry) within the Flow’s chassis to allow users to add mSATA storage if they so desire. Thus, in a sense, the Flow could be viewed not just as an amp/DAC, but as a player, too.

Most DAC makers claim their products are Window/Mac compatible, but the Flow goes further to support USB audio playback from iOS and Android devices, too! Accordingly, the Flow’s Host menu offers five options:

 
  • USB2 (for connecting to PCs with USB 2.0 ports),
  • USB3 (for connecting to PCs with USB 3.0 ports),
  • Mac,
  • iOS, and
  • anDR (which of course stands for Android).

In support of all these options, the Flow ships with a rather impressive collection of accessories including:

  • A high-quality screwdriver (used for opening the Flow’s chassis to install mSATA drives, if desired),
  • A high-capacity USB power charger (to charge the Flow’s beefy 4450 mAH Samsung Li-ion battery),
  • A 6.35mm headphone plug to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter,
  • A 6.35mm headphone plug to stereo RCA jacks adapter cable (for those instance where owners might wish to use the Flow as a standalone DAC or DAC/preamp),
  • A standard TOSLINK to mini-optical adapter cable,
  • A mini-USB to mini-USB cable (ideal for use with most Android devices),
  • A short USB A to USB 3.0 adapter cable, and
  • A longer USB A to USB 3.0 adapter cable.

About the only thing not included (for obvious reasons) is the Apple USB Camera Kit that is required to establish Apple Lightning to USB connections.

 

In keeping with Aurender practice, the Flow offers a number of subtle but sonically worthwhile features and user-selectable options—options that some makers of portable amp/DACs tend to overlook. For example, the Flow gives users the choice of USB power charging modes:

  • CHG+ (which always charges up the Flow whenever a charging capable USB host is connected),
  • CHG- (which forces the Flow not to be charged when a USB host is connected, but does allow charging from a USB power charger), and
  • CHGA- (which is an “Automatic” smart-charging mode that allows charging from a USB host, but only when music is not playing.

The DAC section of the Flow uses the popular and well-regarded ESS9018K2M DAC chip, which supports PCM playback at resolutions up to 32-bit/384kHz, or DSD playback (via DoP mode) for DSD64 and DSD 128 files. Filter settings for digital playback are surprisingly extensive, including:

For PCM playback,

  • pcm0 (a fast roll-off PCM filter),
  • pcm1 (a minimum phase PCM filter said to “virtually eliminate ringing from signals”), and
  • pcm2 (a slow roll-off PCM filter that is “an in-band filter” where “output signal will be slightly attenuated).

For DSD playback,

  • dsd0 (a noise-shaping filter with bandwidth or BW = 47.4kHz),
  • dsd1 (BW = 50kHz),
  • dsd2 (BW = 60kHz), and
  • dsd3 (BW = 70kHz).

Finally, the Flow gives users three analogue output options:

  • VAR (where variable analogue output is enabled via the headphone jack),
  • 2V (a fixed-level, 2V analogue line-out setting), or
  • 5V (a fixed-level, 5V analogue line-out setting).
 

My point is supplying all this detail is to give you some idea of just how meticulous and thorough Aurender’s engineers have been in configuring the Flow for use by difficult-to-please, detail-minded Audiophiles. In short, the Flow should please even the more finicky enthusiasts amongst us.

Another aspect of the Flow that deserves mention is usability. Honestly, some products as complex as the Flow have been known to arrive at the Hi-Fi+ office with not all of their features documented or working as described. For the journalist, this often means a certain amount of “forensic product investigation” is in order, simply to figure out how the unit does (or doesn’t) work.  But the Aurender is not like this at all; in fact, our sample has proven to be one of the best-documented and most easily used audio products of its type that we’ve ever encountered.

Right out of the box, absolutely everything about the Flow worked as advertised and with no set-up glitches at all. When you’ve encountered as many “almost working” audio products as we have over the years, then you’ll quickly realise the Flow’s flawless, trouble-free operation is actually a pretty big deal.

How does it sound? Well, I’ll save detail comments for the full-length Hi-Fi+ review that will follow in a few weeks’ time, but I’ll give you my general first impressions for now.  First off, I would say that in comparison to some devices I’ve heard that use the ESS 9018K2M DAC, the Flow manages to achieve a more natural and organic sound (as apposed to a detailed but perhaps slightly ‘clinical’ sound) than most. Since this is also a characteristic I associated with the wonderful Chord Hugo, I consider it a worthy accomplishment on Aurender’s part.

 

Second, I would say that the Flow really let’s you hear and savour the differences in resolution and musical nuance that today’s better high-res digital audio files afford. In a sense, then, the Flow’s sound quality seems to scale upward dramatically as you provide source materials that have increasing levels of musical ‘data density’. This characteristic, as you can imagine, make the Flow exciting to listen through because, at its best, it seems geared toward helping listeners tap all that higher-res recordings have to offer.

As to power, I’m not ready to comment on the Flow’s output capabilities just yet, other than to say that it seemed to have (just) enough oomph for the fairly power-hunger HiFiMAN HE-560 headphones, yet was quiet enough for use with the wildly sensitive JH Audio Roxanne custom-fit in-ear monitors. So far, so good. Stay tuned for more details in our upcoming Hi-Fi+ review.

Until then, Happy Listening to one and all.

Heretic Audio Huron 3SV floorstanding loudspeakers

Note Audio, the company behind Heretic Audio, also runs a shop in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire called Deco Audio. Deco Audio is one of those rare audio stores that supplies extremely high performance single-ended triode amplification, and is one of those equally exceptionally rare stores that listens and puts together systems based on sound quality rather than profit margins or manufacturer decree. As a result, Note Audio was able to spot a distinct gap in a niche market; the need for a high-sensitivity, triode-friendly floorstanders that gave good bass from low output amps, and that didn’t cost a fortune. The Huron 3 and Huron 3SV is the result, although why ‘Huron’ (an indigenous tribe in North America, and the second largest of the Great Lakes), and what happened to ‘1’ and ‘2’ is shrouded in mystery.

The first thought was this five-driver loudspeaker was a three-way design, but four of those five drivers are a virtual line array of 170mm doped paper cone mid-woofers (with rubber surrounds) used in unison, alongside the 25mm soft dome tweeter in a deep horn waveguide. So, in fact it’s a two-way design (more accurately a two-and-three-halves way design). Heretic Audio has gone for a simple second-order crossover network, albeit with high-grade film capacitors and oversized air-core inductors to give it a 12dB per octave slope and, although the crossover point itself is not publically stated in Heretic’s literature, in fact it is in the lower presence region (specifically, 2.7kHz) and just outside the all-important midrange where vocal articulation reigns supreme.

We got the 3SV edition, which stands for Silver Version. How this differs from the standard version is the use of Heretic’s own cotton-covered pure silver wiring, closer pair matching of drivers, and the replacement of ferrofluid with a larger damping chamber in the tweeter and a lot more visco-elastic damping in the cabinet. And of course, those components in the crossover are of the highest specification.

 

The key to making a loudspeaker that works with almost anything is to make it efficient and a very easy impedance load. That second-order crossover network helps, in that it avoids evil phase angles and nasty low impedances across the frequency range, but even by these standards, the Huron 3SV is a benign load. It has a nine ohm nominal impedance and at its worst, the minimum impedance is only 7.5 ohms, which means it can be used with practically any amplifier without troubling it. Moreover, with a suggested sensitivity of 95dB/w/m, it won’t have a problem playing at comfortable listening levels almost regardless of room size and amplifier power. Heretic goes on to suggest the Huron 3SV can cope with an unclipped load of 200W, which is not only impressive, but in a typical room, could be loud enough to be truly anti-social.

Huron 3SV’s low front port does help efficiency and bass response, but it also means the loudspeaker is easy to position. It can work surprisingly close to the rear wall (although anything closer than about 30-50cm from the back wall compromises soundstage width and especially depth), and is equally at home in free space. Hi-Fi+ might stress the point at times, but the fact remains room sizes (especially those in the UK and some parts of Europe and Asia) are getting smaller, and our loudspeakers need to be more pragmatic with respect to placement and positioning. In these aspects, the Huron 3SV is a refreshing change, and far removed from the laser-guided precision installation demands of some of the more fussy ends of the loudspeaker catalogue. However, I’d suggest Heretic Audio possibly supplies the loudspeakers with foam bungs to fit in the ports, for those rooms where loudspeaker bass needs taming, or where listeners sit close enough to hear the port resonance at around 50Hz.

Heretic Audio suggests 200 hours of full run-in, but also claims the nasty bit is over and done with after 20 hours or so. We were somewhere between the two when testing commenced, and didn’t notice any significant tonal shifts in the performance over the test period. Contrary to sceptical dogma, this shake-down period does have an effect (especially with loudspeakers) and isn’t just there to either soften up the listener or put them outside the cooling-off period for returning goods. It is also worth noting that designs like the Huron 3SV that use ‘traditional’ materials (fabric instead of metal domes, doped paper instead of plastic cones, ferrite magnets instead of rare-earth metals, and rubber surrounds in place of sci-fi materials) can require some further running in if they are stored for long periods; I had a pair of Audio Note AN-E loudspeakers that sounded great, then I moved house and put them into storage for a couple of months and when they finally came back, they needed a prolonged running in a second time. I would assume the same applies here.

Audio Note AN-E loudspeakers are a perfect parallel here, because there is much that the Huron 3SV shares with that standmount design, tonally at least. Granted the Huron 3SV has more bass because of more bass drivers, and the original AN-E has now gone through myriad upgrades and enhancements, but the two have a lot in sonic common. Both have a sense of effortlessly natural presentation, which is very much at odds with both the ‘boom/tizz’ sound of many modern loudspeakers and the overly impressive soundstaging of others. Like the AN-E, the Huron 3SV loads the room in a way few conventional ‘cone and dome’ speakers ever manage to achieve. And also like the AN-E, the Huron 3SV is effortlessly dynamic, which makes music sound like real music played by real musicians.

I found myself listening more to piano sonatas and string quartets than larger scale orchestral works, not because the Huron 3SV cannot handle larger orchestral works, but because its dynamic shading made Maurizio Pollini’s piano all the more real [Beethoven’s Late Piano Sonatas, DG], more like a real pianist playing. Note however, that this is a very different presentation to the kind of detail-oriented version of ‘real’ one might be used to from listening to Quad Electrostatics or BBC loudspeakers. That is more about resolution and spatial precision, where the Huron 3SV is about energy and solidity.

That line array of bass drivers helps bring some bottom-end heft to the sound, which helps carry a bass line better than many of the light and loose, high-sensitivity speakers in use today. I wouldn’t call the bass of the Huron 3SV ‘taut’, but these things are relative, and anything taut enough to prevent Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony [Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra, LSO Live] from being tarred with its ‘ugly duckling’ brush, and bring out the bold harmony, almost early-Romantic-era beauty of the melody, and the drive of the low strings from the outset is more than good enough. But that’s the key and core of the Huron 3SV; the presentation is melody and harmony, rather than transient response and ‘inky silences’. I can well imagine that will prove off-putting to many who are more used to listening to music through loudspeakers than live, but the Huron 3SV is a fine example of the goals of the ‘absolute sound’ in so many respects. Paradoxically given that last observation, it’s those instruments that are never heard unamplified that highlight what the Huron 3SV does well, although playing well-recorded rock [‘Heartbreaker’ on Led Zeppelin II 2014 Remaster, 24/96 download, Atlantic] shows just how much presence and energy this loudspeaker can put into a room.

 

High sensitivity is hard to do without a trade-off, and there’s a temptation to think the trade-off in the Huron 3SV is going to be coloration. In fact, that’s not ‘quite’ the case. The caveat is that, if you use these loudspeakers with something big, powerful, and possessed of a high damping factor (a big solid-state amplifier, in other words), the tonal balance can exhibit a ‘shouty’ quality in the upper midrange and top, at the same time becoming a touch dry and lean in the bass. However, I’m fairly sure Heretic Audio (and many supporters of tube amplifiers in general) would lay the blame at the amplifier itself, especially in the way solid-state amps sound across the midrange and treble. I’m not entirely in disagreement with this mindset, having experimented with SET amps, and I think that the loudspeaker works best in partnership with more tonally rich sounding valve designs rather than electronics that tend toward ‘lean’ and ‘dry’.

The Heretic Audio Huron 3SV is not for everyone, but for those who need a good valve-amp friendly floorstander with excellent bass and truly no-nonsense appeal, you’d be hard pressed to better this loudspeaker. Check it out!

Technical Specifications

  • Type: Two-way, five-driver, floorstanding reflex speaker.
  • Driver complement: One 25mm soft dome tweeter in custom waveguide; four 170mm doped paper mid-bass drivers.
  • Crossover frequencies: not specified
  • Frequency response: 30Hz – 20kHz
  • Impedance: 9 Ohms nominal
  • Sensitivity: 95dB/W/m
  • Dimensions (HxWxD): 104x24x46cm
  • Weight: 25kg/each
  • Finishes: natural cherry, walnut, satin black or white as standard, high gloss black or white to order.
  • Price: £4,000 per pair (std finish), £4,500 per pair (high gloss black or white)

Manufacturer: Heretic Audio

Tel: +44 (0)1296 334477

URL: www.hereticaudio.com

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Cambridge Audio Aeromax 6 floorstanding loudspeakers

Cambridge Audio (fast becoming just ‘Cambridge’) has used balanced mode radiator (or BMR) mid/treble drive units in its loudspeakers since the launch of its Minx range, but it was the company’s Aero models of 2013 that really caught the enthusiast’s eye. Aero couples a BMR mid/treble unit with conventional bass drivers, but does so in a cabinet that shows its limitations all too readily for some listeners. The latest Aeromax range (comprising Aeromax 2 standmount and the Aeromax 6 floorstander tested here) was created to provide superior enclosures, but ended up bringing more to the party.

Let’s backtrack a moment, though. Precisely what is a ‘balanced mode radiator’? It’s impossible to write this without a lot of TLAs (three-letter acronyms), but a BMR is a radical piece of engineering, which came out of the DMT (‘distributed mode loudspeaker’) technology project developed by NXT in 2001. Unlike DMT designs, the BMR is all about wide bandwidth, with a usable range from around 250Hz all the way to 22kHz.

The BMR not only offers wide bandwidth but also wide-angle uniform dispersion over its entire operating range. It achieves these goals by acting as a regular pistonic driver at low frequencies, where the action of a drive unit behaves in a uniform manner, but then switches to the distinctive ‘ripple-motion’ operating mode of DMT drive units at higher frequencies. A BMR driver also limits timing or phase issues simply by covering the broadest possible frequency range with just one driver. Even loudspeakers with concentric acoustic centres (such as Tannoy’s Dual Concentric drive units) arguably cannot achieve the same reduction in timing and phase problems, because they are still using two drive units that occupy the same loudspeaker frame or basket.. Although a BMR driver starts as a piston and ends like ripples in a pond, it’s all one drive unit, and the coherence it brings to the sound is clearly audible.

The theory behind balanced mode radiators is not easy to describe in print, but the technology is also hard to build, and harder still to put into a loudspeaker. This is one reason for the relatively small number of companies currently using the drive units (although both Naim and Rega also use the technology).

In the Aeromax 6, this BMR driver is a fourth-generation design, which isn’t found in any other loudspeaker on the market. The drive unit is 46mm in diameter and has a flat radiator panel made out of a honeycomb structured material, the main improvement over the third-generation BMR used in the Aero. Essentially, it’s a more uniform panel that has more consistent (or isotropic) properties, claimed to result in a smoother and more extended high frequency response.

As suggested earlier, the Aeromax models have a stiffer cabinet than the cheaper Aero designs, and the new Aeromax speakers look significantly better as a result. A plastic wrap veneer is replaced with black or white piano lacquer finishes, the cabling has been upgraded, and the cable terminals are more beefy. The changes are more than skin deep, as the cabinets have ‘superior’ bracing, which is additionally claimed to lock the drive units in place.

 

Both the cone drive units on the Aeromax 6 are bass drivers (or “high power subwoofers” as the website suggests), and despite appearances, this is a two-way loudspeaker. It’s also a reflex design, with a front firing port on its near metre-high cabinet. The Aeromax 6 comes with a bolt-on plinth that leaves a shallow gap under the main box thanks to alloy spacers on each fixing. Threaded inserts are provided for the lethal-looking conical spikes or the more peace-loving press-in rubber feet. The overall fit and finish is exemplary for the price.

The Aeromax 6 produces wide yet precise soundstaging with decent temporal coherence and plenty of low-end clout. With some material, the reflex port makes itself heard in a thickening of bass notes, but to no greater extent than most front-firing designs. At the other end of the scale, the mid and top are clean and devoid of the usual crossover issues. This, combined with the inherent coherence of BMR drivers, makes for very pleasurable long-term listening. It’s a fatigue-free driver that delivers plenty of level without complaint.

The stiffer cabinet is very beneficial, primarily because it no longer sounds boxy compared to its Aero stablemates; in fact, it is as inert as any speaker of the same size at anywhere near the price. Generally I would shy away from affordable floorstanders of this size because cabinet rigidity is usually compromised, but that’s not the case here. The Aeromax 6 delivers an engaging and propulsive sound where the material requires; Goran Kajfes’ The Reason Why Vol.1 [Headspin] is the sort of high energy, complex music that needs a loudspeaker that won’t trip over itself when things get dense. This Cambridge fits the bill with power and speed to match that of the musicians. The double bass on ‘A Touch of Trash’ [Patricia Barber, Modern Cool, Premonition] is a bit heavy-footed here, but the voice and guitar work are portrayed very nicely.

I wondered if the bass might be tauter with a less powerful amp than a 150 watt ATC P1, so I tried a pair of 50 watt, Valvet Class A monoblocks. Their use did calm things down in the low end and brought a delicacy to the overall sound. This worked wonders for tone, which means the shine of the brass on Henry Threadgill Sextett’s ‘Bermuda Blues’ [You Know The Number, Novus] is to die for and the band sounds tactile and real. The dynamics of the recording are brought to the fore with minimal effort and the three horns remain coherent despite the musical mayhem unfolding.

I tried using the supplied port bungs to tighten up the bass, and they tilted the balance upward a bit and smoothed out the low end without significantly restricting extension. However, the dynamic life went out of the music, and this proved too high a price to pay, so the bungs came out. Another trumpet proved once again how good the Aeromax 6 is with brass; the vitality, pace, and intensity that it can deliver without shouting at you is very enjoyable indeed.

 

A more appropriately priced amplifier, in the form of the Roksan K3 integrated, showed that the Aeromax 6 can also deliver very nice violin tone in the context of good image depth. This is a melodically strong amp and it delivered a fluent and finely detailed sound through the Cambridge Aeromax 6. A similarly priced alternative is Rega’s remarkable Elex integrated, which lets the loudspeaker deliver a more ‘warts ‘n’ all’ sound that communicates the essence of each performance extremely well. There’s greater emotional power, even if the overall picture is less glossy.

The Cambridge Aeromax 6 is both technologically and sonically a remarkable loudspeaker for the price. The incorporation of the latest generation of BMR driver gives it advantages that only the best can compete with, and unless you want a brighter sound, the competition does not look that strong at the price. There is a danger that serious enthusiasts will overlook the Aeromax 6 due to its low price and even brand snobbery, but that would be a mistake. In short, the Aeromax 6 is a remarkably sophisticated loudspeaker and one that many will find extremely enjoyable.

Technical Specifications

  • Type: 2-way, three-driver, floorstanding speaker with reflex enclosure.
  • Driver complement: One 43mm flat panel BMR mid/tweeter; two 165mm paper bass drivers.
  • Crossover frequencies: not specified.
  • Frequency response: 30Hz – 22kHz
  • Impedance: 8 Ohms nominal.
  • Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m
  • Dimensions (HxWxD): 980 x 240 x 344mm
  • Weight: 17kg/each
  • Finishes: black or white piano lacquer.
  • Price: £900 per pair

Manufacturer: Cambridge

URL: www.cambridgeaudio.com

UK Distributor: Richer Sounds

URL: www.richersounds.com

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Oppo HA-1 desktop headphone amplifier/DAC

Best known for its high-performance, high-value universal disc players, Oppo has expanded into the high-end headphone and personal audio electronics marketplace. First came the firm’s flagship PM-1 planar-magnetic headphones (reviewed in issue 115 and 116), and now we have the long-awaited HA-1 desktop headphone amplifier/DAC (£1,199), which effectively completes Oppo’s premium headphone system.

The HA-1 borrows analogue and digital audio technologies from the firm’s award-winning BDP-105-series disc players, but then ups the performance ante in several respects. To begin, the HA-1 provides a broader set of digital inputs and two sets of analogue inputs, giving owners outstanding flexibility in source selection.

Also, like the BDP-105D, the DAC section of the Oppo HA-1 is based on the ESS 9018 Sabre32 Reference DAC. This supports PCM formats up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD files ranging from DSD64 on up to DSD256. The HA-1 is supported native in Mac-based systems, but needs an Oppo-supplied driver set for use in Windows environments.

By design, Oppo’s HA-1 supports a different and somewhat broader set of roles than its disc players. Thus, it can be used as a conventional high-end stereo DAC, as an analogue/digital preamplifier (complete with home theatre bypass), or as a high-powered and full-featured headphone amplifier/DAC sporting both digital and analogue inputs.

The analogue amplifier section of the HA-1 is a fully balanced design, based on discrete Class A circuitry. In exchange for that extra bit of heat Class A brings to the party, listeners enjoy extra precision and clarity, plus all of the high gain/low-noise benefits that fully balanced amplifier circuits confer. Oppo takes an unabashedly purist approach to its balanced circuit topology, emphasising that, “For digital audio, the signal runs in balanced mode all the way from the DAC to the output jacks.” Further, Oppo stresses that the HA-1’s, “balanced analogue input is kept intact, and (the) single-ended input is converted to balanced at the input buffer.”

The HA-1 provides both a single-ended headphone output (via a 6.35mm headphone jack) and a balanced headphone output (via a 4-pin XLR connector). In balanced mode the amp delivers output of 800 mW @ 600 Ohms or 2000 mW into 32 Ohms, while in single ended mode the amp delivers 200mW @ 600 Ohms or a 500mW @ 32 Ohms. Frequency response is quoted at 10 Hz – 200 kHz (+0B/-1dB) or 20 Hz – 20 kHz (+-/-0.04dB).

 

Oppo’s HA-1 is offered either in brushed black or silver, with both versions offering the type of upscale anodizing and surface finishes rarely seen in affordable components. It also comes with a lovely, sturdy, and easy to use remote control whose metal-sleeved housing gives it a just-right touch of weight and heft in the hand. Moreover, the HA-1 provides an absolutely beautiful, colour user interface screen that is highly reconfigurable to suit the owner’s tastes.

The display supports basic setup and control functions, enabling users to choose from among digital or analogue inputs, to configure muting options, to select screen dimmer settings, to set fixed or variable DAC output modes, to enable or disable Home Theatre bypass settings, to choose between normal and high gain modes, and to set playback volume levels. Moreover, the HA-1 provides three primary display options: a text-only Settings Summary screen, a real-time bar-graph type Spectrum display, or a display panel that depicts an old-school pair of VU meters. All in all, the display panel adds a welcome touch of polish and class to the HA-1, giving it the look and feel of a considerably more expensive product.

Importantly, the HA-1 comes with a first rate User Manual, which is worth taking time over. Sophisticated multifunction components such as the HA-1 merit a certain amount of study, if only so that owners learn how to take full advantage of the broad range of features and functions they support. In any event, the quality of Oppo’s documentation sets an example I wish more manufacturers would follow.

During my listening tests, I fed the Oppo HA-1 a variety of uncompressed standard and high-res PCM, DXD, and DSD digital audio files from a Lenovo-based music server running jRiver Media Center 19 software. Test headphones included Oppo’s own PM-1s; HiFiMAN’s HE-400i, HE-560, and HE-6; and the Abyss AB-1266. Finally, to assess the HA-1’s capabilities as an analogue/digital preamplifier, I used the HA-1 in my main reference system, where it drove a pair of AURALiC MERAK monoblock amps connected to a set of GoldenEar Triton One loudspeakers.

Considered as a headphone amp/DAC, the HA-1 offers a sound that is articulate, that offers very fine levels of resolution, and whose tonal balance is neutral without becoming ‘clinical’ or sterile. Where some past Oppo products have exhibited tonal balance shaded to a degree toward the colder or brighter-sounding end of the ‘neutrality sweet spot’, the HA-1 really plays things straight up the middle of the tonal balance fairway. This is very important because today’s better headphones are exceedingly revealing and thus tend not to tolerate even trace amounts of excess brightness or sonic sterility very gracefully. Happily, the HA-1’s neutral sound lets the natural warmth of good recordings shine through, producing gorgeous—yet not unduly lush-sounding—results with top-tier headphones.

 

The only very small caveat I would mention is that, because the amplifier section of the HA-1 features pure Class A circuitry, it is important to allow the unit to come up to full operating temperature before doing critical listening (this takes about a half hour, give or take a bit). This wait-for-warm-up precaution is, as many Hi-Fi+ readers know, pretty much par for the course when using any solid-state Class A audio device. When cold the HA-1 can sound, well, a bit cold and ‘stiff’, but as it warms up it invariably begins to sing quite sweetly.

One interesting aspect of the HA-1 is that its own capabilities seem to expand to match the capabilities of the transducers with which it is used, which I consider one of the hallmarks of fine audio electronics components. For example, if you use the HA-1 with a very good but moderately priced headphone such as HiFiMAN’s excellent HE-400i, the HA-1 will show the HE-400i in a favourable light, enabling the headphone to deliver very good (albeit not quite top-tier) levels of definition, resolution, and finesse. But, if you plug in a headphone with considerably higher performance limits, such as the Abyss AB-1266, the HA-1 unleashes whole new levels of textural refinement, dynamic agility, and sonic subtlety.  After a time, I came to trust the fact that the HA-1 would let me hear all—or nearly all—that even the finest headphones have to offer.

As you might expect, the HA-1 makes a terrific partner for Oppo’s fine PM-1 headphones, serving up more than enough power to drive those headphones up to and beyond sane listening levels. It also has sufficient power to drive very inefficient headphones, provided that you use the HA-1’s balanced outputs, which have considerably more dynamic ‘oomph’ than the single-end outputs do. If you’re the sort of listener who, down deep, prefers a one-stop shopping experience, you could order up a pair of Oppo’s PM-1 headphones (or perhaps the new cost-reduced PM-2 headphones) plus an HA-1 amp/DAC and live quite happily ever after.

However, the really interesting part is what happens when you match up the HA-1 with even higher performance transducers like the Abyss AB-1266.  When you do that, the HA-1 serves up stunning layers of power, subtlety, and finesse, in the process showing that its sonic sophistication belies the unit’s comparatively modest price. This point was driven home to me during a session where I used the HA-1 to power the Abyss AB-1266s as I listened to the powerful and passionate ‘Eat, Drink’ passage from Ståle Kleiberg’s opera David and Bathsheba [2L, high-res DXD]. The passage shows an interchange between King David and Uriah that—with the Oppo’s help—proves to be packed full of vocal power, nuance, and emotion, plus a quality of stage presence so vivid that it nearly takes one’s breath away.

On David and Bathsheba the Oppo waded right in with the suave self-assurance of a much more expensive amp/DAC, letting listeners hear how Uriah is torn between a desire to please his King yet committed to honouring his men by declining the offer of dining with the King. The Oppo/Abyss combination captured, but did not overplay, the complex interplay of emotions revealed in both of the singers’ voices, with the Oppo demonstrating power, nuance, and control comparable to—if not fully the equal of—far more costly components.

 

But an even bigger surprise came when I inserted the HA-1 at the front end of my reference system. From the outset, it was apparent that the HA-1 was very quiet and that it offered plenty of gain. I heard that same subtle, powerful, self-assured quality that had won me over during my headphone listening sessions. But I also heard one thing more: namely, an unexpected treble delicacy and ‘sweetness’ of the kind no previous Oppo component has been able to achieve in such an effortless way. As a result, the HA-1 found the elusive sweet spot between detail and resolution and graceful musicality of the sort that fosters long-term satisfaction.

Oppo has a long history of building well-respected high-value products, but in my view the HA-1 stands as the firm’s best all-around effort to date. What is impressive is not just the number of roles the HA-1 can play (as a high-performance headphone amp, preamp, and DAC), but the astonishing sonic sophistication that it brings to each of those roles. If you have wanted near benchmark levels of performance for a fraction of what most benchmark components cost, look no further. In the best possible sense of the term, Oppo’s HA-1 represents a true ‘point of diminishing returns’.

Technical Specifications

Type: Solid-state, class A, balanced-output, desktop headphone amplifier/preamplifier with high-resolution DSD and DXD-capable DAC.

Inputs: Digital: Bluetooth with aptX support, one AES/EBU input, two S/PDIF input (one optical, one coaxial), one asynchronous USB, and one mobile USB. Analogue: One stereo single-ended input (via RCA jacks), one balanced input (via XLR connectors).

Outputs: One single-ended headphone output (via 6.35mm headphone jack), one balanced headphone output (via 4-pin XLR connector), one stereo single-ended analogue output (via RCA jacks), and one stereo balanced analogue output (via XLR connectors).Other: 12V trigger signal in/outs.

Device drivers: None required for Mac environments, Oppo-supplied driver pack required for Windows environments.

Supported digital formats and sampling rates:            S/PDIF and AES/EBU: PCM, 44.1 kHz – 192 kHz, 16 – 24-bit.Asynchronous USB: PCM, 44.1 kHz – 384 kHz, 16 – 32-bit; DSD: DSD64, DSD 128, and DSD 256 (native mode only. Mobile USB: PCM, 44.1- 48 kHz, 16-bit

Headphone amp power output: Single-ended: 200 mW @ 600 Ohms, 500 mW @ 32 Ohm, rated power.           Balanced: 800 mW @ 600 Ohms, 2000 mW @ 32 Ohms, rated power. Maximum short-term power output allows generous headroom reserves

THD + Noise: DAC: <0.00056%. Preamp: <0.00071% single-ended, <0.00056% balanced. Headphone Amp: <0.0056% single-ended, < 0.0018% balanced, both figures at rated power.

Signal to Noise: DAC: >113 dB single-ended, >115dB balanced. Preamp: >105 dB single-ended, >110dB balanced. Headphone Amp: >111 dB single-ended and balanced

Dimensions (H x W x D): 80 x 254 x 333mm

Weight: 5.9kg

Price: £1,199

Manufacturer: Oppo Digital UK Ltd.

Tel. (UK): 0845 060 9395

Tel. (Europe): 0044 845 060 9395

URL: www.oppodigital.co.uk

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EAT E-Flat turntable and tonearm

One of the big problems in 21st Century audio is a lack of long-term memory. A good product may have a life-cycle stretching a decade or more, but just a few short months after it’s launched, it’s all-but forgotten. In fact, there are modern classics that deserve continued coverage long after that first flush of reviews have subsided.

One such modern classic is the EAT E-Flat turntable, so named because of that extremely clever flat tonearm. This is a 10-inch woven Kevlar unipivot design, which is effectively extremely flat (naturally), very light, and exceptionally rigid, with a Sorbothane-damped adjustable counterweight, and an outrigger type anti-skate mechanism. Most modern cartridges will be accommodated with ease on this arm, but in the unlikely event you want to use the E-Flat with something truly old, weird, and (potentially) wonderful, there are even lighter or heavier arms available for ‘outlier’ compliances. Of course, having no arm-tube to speak of means there’s nowhere to house the arm leads from cartridge to pivot, so they are held in place with industrial-strength sticky tape.

The E-Flat is not simply a great arm on an OK deck; the rest of the package is up to the task, too. The twin-motor design is elegantly positioned in the platter recess, and this recess helps to make a high-mass platter take on a low-profile look. In fact, the style is reminiscent of one of the better direct drive designs from the 1980s. The platter itself is deliberately oversized at 13”, critically damped and has a ‘mat’ made out of recycled vinyl albums. EAT adds a big shiny record clamp. The polished black plinth is wooden (no ringing, but not so obviously wooden as to make it look like an old fruit box) and the judicious use of Sorbothane in the deck and the adjustable feet help to keep it and the outside world that bit more separated. A two-speed, soft-button controller sits beneath the cartridge itself.

 

The turntable is incredibly easy to set up, even if it does arrive as basically a kit of parts. Jozefina Lichtenegger of European Audio Team is married to Heinz Lichtenegger of Pro-Ject Audio Systems and the two share a common goal of demystifying the set-up process. The instruction manual – although a little ‘international’ in translation at times – is thorough. However, it glosses over one of the joys of a unipivot; that you can mount the cartridge on the arm before you mount the arm to the arm-base. Yes, you need to align the cartridge, but it speeds the process along rapidly. You could also own several arms for different cartridges.

Be warned however, the ‘kit of parts’ is fairly formidable in terms of it arriving in a big wooden box. A fairly big change that happened after those early reviews was the big wooden box is now filled with plastic inserts instead of sheets of styrofoam, so the original criticism of the turntable coming with its own snowstorm is now completely unfounded. But the ‘big wooden box’ part remains.

I tried the turntable with two outstanding cartridges; the Benz Micro Gullwing SLR and the new Miyajima Labs Kansui (a fine stereo moving coil from a brand better known for its monophonic cartridges), both plugged into RCM Audio’s THERIAA dual mono phono stage, and also used with the Allnic AUT-2000 Step-Up Transformer in place (using THERIAA in MM mode). This was fed into a Townshend Audio Allegri into a pair of Resolution Audio m100s and thence to a pair of Wilson Audio Duette IIs. Alternately, all the electronics were replaced with a single Devialet 250! Cabling throughout was single-ended, using either Nordost Valhalla 2 or AudioQuest new Elements-series cables. The table in this case was from HiFi Racks, but the E-Flat didn’t prove too table fussy. An SME Model 20 with an SME V was on hand as a benchmark.

I confess I had to overcome some bias in my own head with the concept of a flat tonearm. Conceptually, it’s never going to be as rigid as a more conventional arm tube, and that must have an effect. I keep thinking of diving boards, for some reason. However, in use the arm proved that my fears were ill-founded, as the more important factor here is the reduction in arm resonance in audible regions of the frequency response. Life is a series of trade-offs, however, and I think many will like the way the E-Flat manages them. Of course, it’s possible to compare it to arms that manage to reduce the effect of an armtube, but when you do the sums, you end up spending more on one of those arms than you will on the whole E-Flat turntable and tonearm package.

The concept burns into your head, though. It’s a good idea, when you start thinking it through, and just as importantly, it’s one of those tonearm designs that doesn’t fall into the ‘me too’ design school. I’d like to say it will become the first of many, but three years on since its launch, only the E-Flat arm and the Scheu Cantus keep the flat flag flying. I hope this is due to trying to perfect the next models, rather than poor sales. But the audio world sometimes fears change, and that I had to overcome bias, might mean bias is a stumbling block in the wider audio community. I hope this isn’t the case because if you skip this because of its shape, you are missing a tonearm trick!

And what that trick does is make the midrange and treble just sound free and open. In fact, it was more like someone making the sound more ‘legible’, which is not a part of the standard audio lexicon, but works here. On an album like Tom Waits’ Asylum Years [Asylum], and tracks like ‘Burma Shave’, Waits was slightly less growly and more jazz singer than in later works, but there is still a lot of lyricism that can be lost to an inarticulate tonearm, and this shows just how much lyricism can be swamped. His voice is not simply sonorous and rasping; between these two aspects there’s an intensity and beauty that draws you closer to the music. Replace singer with instrument, or even orchestra and the same increased ‘legibility’ applies to the midband and upper regions. In some respects this is what people like in unipivot designs; it’s just that the E-Flat arm gives you more of what people like in a unipivot. The fact it seems to deliver transient information with aplomb helps too; digging out a well worn copy of Rush’s 2112 [Anthem] highlighted this fact thanks to Neil Peart’s fast-paced tour round the tom-toms, which was delivered with pace and space to spare.

The limits of a unipivot are typically the frequency extremes, especially the bass. But it’s here where the whole package helps. The big, meaty platter and chassis help deliver big, meaty bass. Not swamping the sound with bass, just giving it the sort of depth and energy that makes bass-heads nod along knowingly. Rush’s Geddy Lee is a paradox here; cavernous low-end from his bass guitar coupled to that squeaky high-pitched wail, and the two are in dynamic balance here. Even the swirling, sweeping chilled out vibe of The Orb’s ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ [The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, Big Life] was presented in a bouncy, yet powerfully underpinned manner, which can be extremely difficult to get right.

 

I can’t help but like what the E-Flat does to LPs. There is something inherently unforced and natural about the sound from the arm, and it sounds positively ‘right’. Couple that to a precise, pitch-stable turntable that is built to last, and prodigious amounts of deep, potent bass, and it’s not hard to see why we should hold to that ‘modern classic’ statement. EAT made a good thing here, and one that presages well for the future, because that flat arm is a perfect candidate for 3D printing. Three years on from its launch, this is still one of the best turntables at the price, and still comes highly recommended.

Technical Specifications

  • Type: Full-size, twin motor turntable with flat Kevlar unipivot tonearm.
  • Rotational Speeds: 33 1/3 RPM, 45 RPM.
  • Supported Tonearm Length(s): 10 inch arm supplied.
  • Drive Mechanism: Belt driven via two AC motors.
  • Speed Control: Microprocessor control to illuminated buttons on plinth
  • Platter Diameter: 340mm.
  • Platter Weight: 6.9kg
  • Bearing Type: Teflon lined inverted bearing, with ceramic ball.
  • Plinth Configuration: Rigid plinth, no suspension system, leveling feet.
  • Dimensions (HxWxD): 400 x 500 x 145mm
  • Weight: 18.7kg
  • Price: £4,100

Manufacturer: European Audio Team

URL: www.europeanaudioteam.com

UK Distributor: Absolute Sounds

URL: www.absolutesounds.com

Tel: +44(0)208 971 3909

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