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Final ZE8000

The ZE8000 is Final’s flagship in-ear monitor. It has a distinctive long-stemmed earbud shape. The Final ZE8000 comes supplied in a pebble-shaped charging case that slides open. This is very different from the flip-top charging case that Apple popularised. Because flip-top charging cases are so commonplace, there’s a tendency to go caveman with anything different. Before someone breaks a case or two, the Final case opens with a thumb flip.

Its bar-like stem is a perfect place to site touch controls for the True Wireless Stereo IEMs. A richer control set lives on a dedicated Final CONNECT App (iOS and Android). This allows the user to shape the tone of the Final. It includes EQ adjustments and what the company calls ‘8K SOUND.’ Final describes 8K operation as “This brand new 8K SOUND technology exceeds the achievement of ‘Transparency’, accomplished by D8000 and A8000, and delivers an unprecedented level of clarity, with the true identity of every bit of sound revealed in its full form, promising a whole new level of music enjoyment.”

How is this achieved? “Instead of focusing only on fine-tuning of particular frequencies, the time element of every single bit of sound is also carefully calibrated with digital signal processing. In doing so, all information residing inside a musical piece is distinctly revealed in its best quality and aesthetics.” The company’s own f-CORE driver helps, too. You can switch 8K Audio off from the App.

Haptics tactics

What can’t be changed on the App is the haptics. The touch controls are sometimes too sensitive; I scratched the side of my face, and Siri was activated, and it’s easy to change a track while on the move accidentally. However, they also control volume, track and phone handling, and display battery life, all from an elegant crackle black or white finish. Depending on your ears, the stem of the Final ZE8000 often stands proud; on me, it was clear I was wearing them from the front or back.

They come supplied with five sets of eartips and stabiliser sleeves. This is useful because the quality of the performance rests strongly on the fit and seal. Also, the stabilisers mean the IEMs are less likely to fall out, despite the stalk occasionally looking a touch gravity-defying. It includes filter screens and a removal tool; these dust filters are handy to keep those single 13mm drivers clean and spiffy.

Interestingly, the Final ZE8000 has an ‘always on’ form of noise cancellation. Fortunately for audio-obsessed listeners, the ANC is mild and doesn’t impact on sonics. Even the heaviest setting isn’t too intrusive. Final clearly decided four perma-mild noise cancellation options is better than defeatable – but more sonically damaging – options. The Final ZE8000 claim five hours of battery life, and 15 in the charging case, and recharge is fast.

Installation and call quality

Installation was easy, and the Final CONNECT App helps. Like many True Wireless Stereo IEMs, I think the performance on Android is slightly better than iOS, and not simply because the pairing process was a little tougher with iPhones. In truth, the Final ZE8000 were slightly above average in Apple installation terms; if I were a conspiracy theorist, I might be saying that Apple stacks the deck so that the experience with its own IEMs and headphones is so much better!

Call quality is extremely good, both in sending and receiving. Spacing the microphone from your ear somewhat helps the user’s speech articulation and rids the sound of plosives. Meanwhile vocals (sung or spoken) are a Final strong point right anyway, and call clarity is first rate.

Music quality

The Final ZE8000 is definitely ‘flagship class’ in sound quality terms. It’s got remarkable, deep bass for an IEM, excellent midrange articulation that makes voices come to life, and good treble. It also has highs that are detailed but not extreme. This, I felt, was an outstanding balance. It’s free from the ‘screaming details’ presentation so common with top-end IEMs and their high-frequency performance.

Then there’s the soundstaging. This is something I usually gloss over, because imaging effects on IEMs are usually very lateralised. This means musicians appear inside your head, but here the presentation was more like conventional loudspeakers, with a stage spread out in front of you. How this happened is immaterial; that it happened is vital, and shows just how good a soundstage you can get even on a pair of Bluetooth-Enabled in-ear monitors.

I was less smitten by 8K SOUND. It seemed to correct some of the high-frequency roll-off, but brought little else to the party. I’d debate about turning it off, but it didn’t add much for me. Also, ANC deliberately goes for a milder approach, which is good. But I guess they haven’t spent long enough on the London Underground. But, as I said earlier, if it’s a choice between this and drowning the sound, I’d take the ZE8000 every time!

Finally, that four-band equaliser. By default, it adjusts 35Hz, 350Hz, 1600Hz, and 10kHz but you can choose two other frequencies. However, with just 3dB of boost or cut, it doesn’t make a huge difference.

Tip-top?

The Type Q ear tips are the biggest downside to the Final ZE8000. The bonus is it keeps ear and drive unit apart (for cleanliness purpose), but the downside is you’ll have to buy them direct from Final supplies. No biggie, and the fit is great, but if you have an ongoing love affair with custom tips, this isn’t for you.

Final’s flagship In-Ear Monitor lives up to the True Wireless Stereo moniker well. It gives exceptionally good stereo sound and its laid-back treble makes it one of – if not the – most refined sounding in-ear monitors in its category.

Price and contact details

Final ZE8000 £199, $299

Manufacturer

Final

https://snext-final.com/en/

UK distributor

KS Distribution

www.ksdistribution.co.uk

+44(0)1903 768919

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Larsen Model 9

We’ve said this a lot, but hi-fi+ was, until recently, focused on ‘metropolitan’ systems. A fine example of this is the Larsen Model 9. These high-performance speakers are perfect for smaller listening rooms. Even when money is not a problem, space can be a premium for city dwellers. Larsen Model 9s work against the rear wall, thereby maximising floor space.

Boundary designs were once trendy, especially amongst UK companies who got used to trying to squeeze loudspeakers into small spaces. I vividly recall visiting the tiny London living room of the late Malcolm Steward decades ago, where he had shoe-horned a pair of active Naim SBLs into a room about 10’x12′ at best. But boundary loudspeakers fell out of fashion in the 1990s. Today, boundary loudspeakers are rare, and the Larsen Model 9 is one of the exceptions. It’s also the current top of the Larsen range.

Larsen’s resident big brain Stig Carlsson has been championing the boundary loudspeaker for decades. But, unlike those 1980s Brit-fi favourites, he has approached the concept from mathematics. So, this isn’t simply a sealed box loudspeaker with a suck-out in the bass to compensate for rear-wall reinforcement. Instead, these are loudspeakers designed from the outset to use the rear wall to avoid baffle-step concerns in the bass.

The science bit!

Loudspeakers are inherently omnidirectional in the bass until the baffle’s width changes the sound’s directivity in free-space designs. The loudspeaker then shifts the radiation pattern at the baffle-step frequency to what’s known as ‘half-space radiation’, which is the more direct-radiating sound we are used to from our midrange and treble drive units.

The problem is that the baffle-step point is directly linked to the front baffle’s size (specifically, the width). Until the 1950s, this wasn’t an issue, as horn-loaded loudspeakers and the large, sand-filled baffle beloved by Gilbert Briggs of Wharfedale fame meant the baffle-step frequency was sufficiently low to have a limited impact on the sound quality.

That all changed with the invention of the acoustic suspension system. Suddenly, a loudspeaker could deliver reasonably deep bass without the large cabinet volumes required from the 1920s to the 1950s. Loudspeaker cabinets shrunk in size, and by the 1990s, the slimline fronts of floorstanding loudspeakers began to replace the broader baffles of loudspeakers like the Spendor BC1 and Snell E designs. The result is a baffle-step frequency that gets alarmingly close to our ears’ most sensitive frequencies: the all-important midband. A loudspeaker that shifts radiation patterns at 1kHz isn’t ideal, but we have become so used to this radiation pattern change that we almost dial it out when listening. The question then becomes, “Is ‘almost’ enough?”

The Larsen Model 9 says an emphatic ‘no’. By placing the loudspeaker at the room’s boundary, that baffle-step frequency is defined by the size of the rear wall, not the width of the speaker cabinet. This moves the radiation pattern shift out of our peak hearing-sensitivity range. But that’s just the start.

Fancy floorwork

Larsen mathematically modelled the design to suit boundary room interaction. Where other designs try—and fail—to ignore the room in the development of the loudspeaker, Larsen makes it an intrinsic part of the design. This is why the Model 9 has a woofer close to the floor to engage the floor in the most appropriate manner possible in the room. Placing the mid-woofer diagonally changes the first reflection parameters.

Then, the tweeter fires further into the room, thanks to its placement at the interface between the two loudspeaker’s top panel surfaces. Finally, two tweeters are firing upwards to create a reverberant field for the upper registers. The whole design simultaneously ‘works the room’ and presents a uniform sound. The absence of rear-wall reflection, the baffle-step frequency moved to a safe place beyond our most discerning hearing region, those sidewall reflections pushed as far as possible… all these things add up to make a loudspeaker that sounds less like a loudspeaker and more like a musical event taking place in your room.

Some observations

There are some observations here. First, placement along that rear wall is essential. The loudspeakers work best when firing across the room rather than down, contrasting with most loudspeaker designs. In fairness, the Larsen Model 9 is not ‘most loudspeaker designs’. However, if you have built a system in a room where conventional placement is the only option, the Model 9 will fail to shine. The speaker works well but diminishes the ‘living, breathing musicians in the room’ effect.

In that vein, if you define your musical experience by how the loudspeakers shape it, designs that do things differently (like the Larsen Model 9) will probably never get a fair hearing. But if you can move your listening room around, put the speakers against the wall, and roll back to a time when you didn’t go to an acoustic concert and lament the lack of decent imagery, then the Larsen Model 9 sings a siren’s song.

In the concert hall

The Larsen Model 9 is among the most ‘live-sounding’ loudspeakers I’ve heard. Not ‘live’ as in the cabinet resonates, but ‘live’ in terms of that feeling you get when sitting with a group of good musicians playing live in a room. The loudspeaker acts like it isn’t there. Instead, your wall miraculously transforms into an acoustically transparent curtain between you and the musicians. It’s an uncanny feeling and one that’s captivating and invigorating.

This is the antithesis of loudspeakers that define audiophile performance purely by imaging. The Larsen Model 9 has good imaging, but not in traditional loudspeakers’ pinpoint, precise holographic style. This is good because that imaging style never happens in the real world. Instead, you are aware of a physical musician playing because of the sound’s dynamic range and leading-edge immediacy.

While the loudspeaker is outstanding at playing the usual ‘audiophile-approved’ music, I found it best playing the kind of music we never see in a hi-fi review. It got behind ‘Intergalactic’ by Beastie Boys [Hello Nasty, Captiol]. Here, the loud and raucous sound gets all the dynamism and intensity it deserves. It brings out the fun of the recording as much as the clarity of the sound. No one uses Beastie Boys tracks to check for vocal clarity or articulation. For that, I used Joyce Di Donato, whose diction was exceptionally well represented. Still, for the sense of a few guys having fun in a studio… the Larsen 9 nailed it!

Everything, everywhere, all at once!

The word I wrote most often in the notebook was ‘convincing’. They made a convincing sense of bass depth and force in a small room. Larsen Model 9s were convincingly real-sounding when playing orchestral passages, whether genteel Mozart confections or Mahlerian bloodletting. The tonal balance and the sense of rightness to the sound are also, you guessed it, convincing. It made music sound like convincing and properly balanced real music, whether live or studio recorded.

The Larsen Model 9s do everything well. They laugh at the constraints usually applied to get a big sound in a small room. Instead, they fill the room with good sound: rich, deep bass, a natural and fluid midrange and keenly extended highs. It does everything for every kind of music and does it exceptionally well. This was one of those times when I was sorely tempted to put my hand in my pocket and buy a pair. Were it not that they worked better in the studio than in my listening room with alcoves and chimney breasts where the loudspeakers should go, I’d be living with Larsen Model 9s for years to come.

Technical specifications

Type: 2½-way floorstanding loudspeaker
Sensitivity: 88dB
Impedance: 4 ohms
Frequency response: 23Hz–20kHz
Finishes: Ebony, walnut, golden maple, maple, white
Dimensions (W×H×D): 93 × 30 × 38cm
Weight: 25kg each
Price: £13,490 per pair, $14,995 per pair

Manufacturer

Larsen hi-fi

www.larsenhifi.com/en

US Distributor

Audio Skies

www.audioskies.com

+1(310) 975-7099

UK Distributor

Audio Emotion

www.audioemotion.co.uk

+44(0)1333 425999

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Tannoy to show its forthcoming Autograph 12 at Tokyo

25 July 2024, Hamilton, Scotland, UK: Tannoy, a proven leader in loudspeaker design and audio quality since 1926, is taking a number of its Prestige Series and Super Gold Monitor Series loudspeakers to the Tokyo International Audio Show 2024 (26-28 July), including the forthcoming Autograph 12 which made its global debut in May.

The unreleased Autograph 12 celebrates 70 years since the introduction of the iconic original and pays homage to Tannoy’s legendary Dual Concentric drive unit while introducing notable contemporary features into its retro-modern design.

Tannoy will also be demonstrating the flagship SGM 15 from the three-strong Super Gold Monitor Series and will have representatives from the UK to introduce the models, explain what makes Tannoy unique and discuss the company’s upcoming centenary in 2026. There will also be a timed talk and demonstration session every day.

Tannoy will be hosted by TEAC Esoteric in room G602.

CanJam London 2024: Our Top Ten

CanJam is a global phenomenon. The show is a rolling event that moves worldwide. In 2024 alone, CanJam rocks up to New York, Singapore, Shanghai, London, and Dallas. It also runs a ‘Social’ event in Orange County. CanJam London 2024 is the only European event in the hectic personal audio calendar. Waterloo’s plush Park Plaza gave over two floors to headphones, IEMs, amps, DACs, cables and more this weekend. It’s a fabulous and bewildering event, part bazaar, part reverent listening sessions.

The English—always fond of a queue—often stand four deep, waiting patiently to hear a product. Queue-jumping—known to the rest of the world as ‘cutting in line’—is met with that most British of insults: loud tutting. With an exhibitor list running to over 50 names, seeing them all is extremely difficult. Here is our Top Ten best-in-show collection of highlights and what we think will prove popular in personal audio this year and next.

Chord Electronics

Chord Electronics has been making pro-audio products since its first days. Even before the brand made its mark in domestic audio, Chord Electronics supplied power amplifiers to the BBC to drive its monitors. However, the Alto is the most recent product to begin life in the pro-world and return to the domestic market. Alto is a nearfield all-analogue monitoring workstation. It combines a headphone and matching power amplifier designed to drive mini-monitor loudspeakers. Driving up to four headphones, it outputs 2250mW to its personal audio output and 50W into four ohms for loudspeakers. It has XLR and RCA inputs, and a remote control (why?). It will cost around £3,000 when launched later this year.

Electromod

UK headphone distributor Electromod had new models from two of its leading brands on show at CanJam London 2024: Topping and Violectric. Value-driven superstars Topping showed the new A50III amplifier (£199) and the matching D50II DAC (£229). These diminutive electronics have giant-killing properties, outperforming many larger and more expensive devices. The Violectric V101 headphone amplifier, proving extremely popular at £700, joined them. Electromod also showcased the upcoming V324 headphone amplifier. This is expected to sit in the middle of the range and will be available by the end of the year. Finally, the company has also introduced a new line of Moondrop IEMs, with prices ranging from £25 to £335.

Ferrum Audio

Polish electronics brand Ferrum Audio‘s first product was the Hypsos hybrid power supply (£1,100). Hypsos upgraded a wide range of products with a wall-wart or plug-top power. An Oor headphone amplifier (£2,000), Erco headphone amp/DAC, and Wandler DAC (£2,795) followed. At CanJam London 2024, Ferrum showed its new Wandler GoldenSound Edition (£3,395), Hypsos Dual Output hybrid power supply, and Erco Gen 2 headphone amp/DAC (£1,795). You can even upgrade your first-generation Erco. Ferrum’s Hypsos Dual Output is available soon.

Hifonix

UK distributor/retailer Hifonix is determined to ‘own’ the personal audio space in the UK and judging by its comprehensive and impressive stands around the show… it’s doing just that! Hifonix was the place where people got to hear the first UK samples of HiFiMAN’s Susvara Unveiled and Mini Shangri-La electrostatic headphone system, where you could hear the Feliks Audio Envy 25th Anniversary amplifier, as well as a plethora of current models from ever-green brands in the personal audio space.

But all this was merely a palette cleanser for what awaited upstairs. In Hifonix state-of-the-art room – where the words ‘how much?’ were banished to the Forbidden Zone – the company delivered a spectacular performing system. This comprised a dCS Vivaldi APEX DAC and Upsampler, a two-chassis £110,000 Viva Audio Egoista headphone amplifier (currently, the only one of its kind in the world), a complete loom of Nordost Odin 2 cables and top QBase. The Viva amps weigh around 65kg each, have copper chassis and point-to-point wiring, and the main unit can drive dynamic and electrostatic headphones delivering up to 11w in Class A, as well as loudspeakers. There were a choice of top-end headphones but we settled on the RAAL ribbons. This was one of the most impressive and ‘there’ sounding musical experiences I’ve had from any audio system; personal or otherwise!

Meze Audio

“We can’t make them fast enough!” cried Meze Audio‘s Alexandra Rizoiu. The new Alba is the company’s first in-ear monitor since the up-market Rai Penta. It sports a 10.8mm dynamic driver, detachable cables, and an inline USB-C DAC adaptor. It comes in a striking pearl white finish and matching white travel pouch. It’s little wonder the first batch of the Alba sold out in seconds—especially as it costs just £139.

Noble Audio

If Meze Audio has recently added an IEM to its headphone lineup, then Noble Audio is going in the other direction. The company’s next product is Apollo; its first wired/wireless over-ear headphone. The Apollo is a hybrid design with a dynamic mid/bass driver and a planar magnetic unit for midrange and high frequencies. Noble does not disclose the crossover frequency to show the smooth integration between the two drivers. You can’t hear the point where they cross over. The closed-back headphone also features noise cancellation. Apollo is expected to cost around £599 and is scheduled for late August.

Remora Pro

Remora Pro is a lossless ultra-wide bandwidth wireless signal transmission system. It’s not just a personal audio product and is still a ‘work in progress’. It comprises a module that can clamp to the headband of your headphones and a USB dongle that connects to your source. The module at the headphone end is a smartwatch-level computer that allows users to download apps to provide tailored DSP, head position data for VR systems, tone shaping and more. It currently runs at lossless 24bit, 96kHz PCM rates, with the potential for multiple headsets or use in wireless high-performance multichannel in-room speaker control. It operates in the relatively uncontested 8GHz range. The system has extremely low latency, but its ultra-wide bandwidth precludes it from using a multiroom approach. Prices are expected to be around £500 per module, with the full headband system costing around £900.

SAEQ

Undoubtedly the best-named headphone amplifier in the business, the SAEQ (short for Serbian Audio EQuipment) Armageddon delivers a healthy half a watt into a 300Ω headphone. Its pure class A amplifier stage dissipates an eye-watering 300W per channel and delivers a valve-like performance in the process. It also features a tightly balanced 24-step attenuator and connections for balanced and single-ended headphones. The £7,200 SEAQ Armageddon gets close to destroying the competition! SQAQ is one of many brands Elise Audio showed at CanJam London 2024.

Sennheiser

Headphone legends Sennheiser showed the HD 620 S closed-back headphones (£300). It compared them with considerably more upmarket models from the Sennheiser line. This helped show how open-backed a pair of closed-back headphones can sound. It’s a bold and ambitious comparison. But many came away deeply impressed by the sound of both of them!

Viking Weave Cables

While many companies adopted an ‘everything, everywhere’ approach to their table layout, UK-based newcomer Viking Weave Cables took a more structured and clean approach to selling its wares. Its combination of simple explanations of what goes into the cable, the clear visual and sonic distinctions between the designs, and their excellent value, given their handbuilt nature, all show a lot of promise.

We could have easily made this a top 50 if not for a camera battery that decided to overheat and start to bulge at the wrong time! As always, there were many brands with multi-driver IEMs with exotic finishes and custom cables. Many of these were extremely promising but needed photographic evidence.

Next time, I’ll bring a new camera!

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Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5

We’ve long championed a ‘metropolitan’ approach to audio. These are two-channel systems small enough for listening spaces where full-sized, full-range systems are too physically and sonically overbearing. But what if ‘smaller’ is still too big? What if you want high-grade sound in a studio flat that makes a caravan look ‘roomy’? What if desktop audio is all the audio you need? For that, there’s the ClairAudient 1+1 V5 stand-mount loudspeaker by Audience.

This loudspeaker is not just small, it’s tiny. It’s not quite a cube, but it’s the kind of loudspeaker that can fit on a desktop without looking out of place. It’s also not quite a bookshelf design, as it needs space around its sides and rear. But as a desk or stand-mount loudspeaker, it’s one of the smallest, making it a perfect fit for compact audio setups.

In Search of Space

Why does the Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5 stand-mount loudspeaker need that space around it? It’s a bipole design; the wide-band 50mm A3S2-16 drive unit at the front and the rear of the speaker. Meanwhile, there are 100mm passive radiator drivers on either flank of the loudspeaker. The whole unit stands just 200mm tall. They are not large or heavy speakers. They are extremely well-finished. The richness of the side cheek wood and contrasting piano black gives the loudspeaker a classy, distinctly American look. It’s also angled to create a good degree of non-parallelism in the cabinet to reduce standing waves, ensuring a high-quality sound projection.

That wide-band A3S2-16 drive unit is flat to 22kHz, obviating the need for a tweeter. Coupled with the two passive radiators, it brings the bass down to 55Hz, too. And because this is a full-range unit with two passive radiators, there’s no need for a crossover network. However, there is a high-pass filter to eliminate sub-40Hz signals. This new filter prevents driver damage from deep bass notes when played loud. In the process, the 1+1 V5’s bass response was improved and power handling – and volume – increased.

As the front and rear drivers work in bipole mode, they are wired in phase (unlike a dipole design) so even the wiring from the loudspeaker terminals is simple. It also makes the loudspeaker relatively easy to drive, with an eight-ohm impedance and 87dB in-room sensitivity (1W at 1m). So, partnering these mighty minis with an equally small amplifier is a distinct possibility.

Fifth Iteration

As the name suggests, the latest V5 is the fifth iteration of the ClairAudient 1+1. The first was 12 years ago at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach in California. There were major revisions in 2016, 2018, and 2021 before the V5 launched in June of 2022. There was also The ONE, a single-driver loudspeaker with just a rear-firing passive radiator, which we reviewed way back in issue 104.

Previous editions of the now-discontinued The ONE can be brought up to the last V4 specification, while every iteration of the 1+1 can be brought to the latest V5 specifications. The price for the surgery varies from $500 for a V4 to $1,575 for a 1+1 V1. The upgrades include those new A3S2-16 drivers as well as 6N OCC internal wiring, ultra-low mass KLEI binding posts and re-tuned passive radiators. For the 1+1 V5, additional upgrades include a modified internal cabinet structure, baffle-step reduction, and a high-pass frequency circuit.

No expectation bias

I want to say I had no expectations or biases in opening the Audience box, but that’s not entirely true. I couldn’t help but think the 1+1 V5 is quite a lot of money for not a lot of box. That bias evaporated a few bars into playing the Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5. The ‘where did you put the subwoofer’ cliché is overused in audio, but it does hold here. The tiny loudspeakers pump out impressive amounts of bass in the near-field. You tend to make a comedy double-take, staring at the speakers, looking at that 55Hz rating, hearing the bass, and then going around again a few times.

It’s a grippy and fast bass, taut and precise rather than flabby, but the sound has some real depth. Best of all, it’s the kind of bass that doesn’t just lend itself to one type of music; flip between a string quartet, jazz trio and electronica, and it comes with bowed and plucked strings and the almost square wave bass drum beats with equal aplomb. This loudspeaker doesn’t have the usual 80Hz bloom to make it seem bigger and deeper. Instead, it plays music with fidelity and charm in equal measure.

Point source

Then there’s the imaging. Point source loudspeakers like this image well and the Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5 stand-mount loudspeaker is no exception. However, I can’t help but listen to the ClairAudient 1+1 V5 and think ‘Quad Electrostatics’. The two loudspeakers share an ability to image that few other brands get close to achieving. The image adds immensely to the realism with the right recording, such as the Decca/Eloquence reissue of the 1957 D’Oyly Carte recording of the overture to Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. You get the impression of singers walking around on stage, the orchestra pit in front of them and occasionally the rumble of Underground trains beneath the Kingsway Hall where they recorded.

Like the Quad Electrostatic, the little ClairAudient 1+1 V5 has a seamless and coherent sound, even from top to bottom. It has none of the brash brightness or glare that you often find in shrill tweeters and instead sounds lithe and smooth, especially across the mids and treble. This becomes all important with recordings with solo voices. My go-to Joyce DiDonato Stella Di Napoli album [Erato] gives the voice extension and clarity that is a joy to listen to. The interplay between the two is perfectly highlighted as the orchestra gradually falls away to just her and a French horn. This is how a Quad Electrostatic resolves this music, although the ClairAudient doesn’t need a barn of a room to breathe.

Differ dynamically

Where the Audience and Quad loudspeakers diverge is in the dynamic range. The ClairAudient 1+1 V5 is a far stronger contender when playing music with either subtle textures or large and loud dynamic swings. This is a loudspeaker that knows no fear playing Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances and Tool’s Fear Inoculum, so that audiophile jazz trio is easily dealt with.

This loudspeaker is a remarkably powerful little model, too. It can fill a small room with sound and goes loud enough in context. No, it won’t play at PA levels, but given you are likely not far from touching distance to the loudspeakers, maybe a PA level isn’t necessary. It goes loud enough and clean enough in the near-field to set off the ‘Loud Environment’ alarm on an Apple Watch. While that shouldn’t be a badge of honour, if it can play loud and clear in an appropriately sized room, what’s not to like?

The limitations of the ClairAudient 1+1 V5 are clear and entirely academic in context. In not trying to break the laws of physics, the restrictions on bass and absolute headroom from a small speaker become noticeable when used in a large room. It remains surprising how large a room these loudspeakers can fill and how little that bass matters to those of us who don’t have a collection of Organ Pedal and Alpine Horn music. But if you are determined to try and use a pair of ‘personal monitors’ in a room where a PA might struggle, yeah… you found the limits of this speaker. And you probably won’t find a subwoofer that can keep pace with the quicksilver-fast ClairAudient 1+1 V5 either.

Personal monitors

Look at them for what they are, though, and suddenly, the Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5 stand-mount loudspeaker makes a lot of sense. They are true ‘personal monitors’; used in the near-field in a small listening space, these pocket rockets are stunning and extremely hard to beat. These loudspeakers make many more conventional multi-way loudspeakers sound uneven and inconsistent. They have none of the artifice we usually accept as part of listening to ‘hi-fi’. They sound closer to real music in so many ways.

This could form the loudspeaker end of your first system in a starter home. Or you could live in a chic apartment that costs a fortune in rent. Or perhaps you decided to downshift to somewhere smaller now that the kids have grown up. Regardless, the Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5 brings Big Audio Sensibilities into the smallest spaces. But don’t just dismiss them as micro monitors; they are one of the best loudspeakers money can buy. And they need to be more widely available!

Technical specifications

Type: Full-range bipole loudspeaker with side-mounted passive radiators
Drive Units: 2x 50mm A3S2-16 titanium full-range units in dipole layout, 2x 100mm passive radiators
Terminals: five-way binding posts
Frequency Response: 55Hz-20kHz ±3dB
Impedance: eight ohms
Sensitivity (in room): 87dB/1W/1m
Dimensions (HxWxD): 20.3×15.2×24.8cm
Weight: 3.29kg
Price: $3,900 per pair

Manufacturer

Audience

+1 760-471-0202

Home Page: https://audience-av.com

Product Page: https://audience-av.com/loudspeakers/

Where to Buy: https://audience-av.com/dealers/

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Ansuz Acoustics Mainz8 D3 power distributor

The notion that something doesn’t have to look fancy to be good is a very Scandi design ethos. It’s a long-term approach that means products become more attractive over time and are in direct contrast to making them flashy and of the moment for up-front appeal, which means such products look out of date a few years down the line. Ansuz Acoustics is down with this approach. There are eight versions of the Mainz8 power distributor, and all but the most expensive look almost identical. In fact, they look remarkably plain and understated.

The Mainz8 D3 sits just over halfway up the range. That is an awful lot of power distributors for one brand, but with a price range from £1,200 to £60,000, there is one for almost every budget. Ansuz is keen to point out that these are not power conditioners; instead, they are noise-reduction devices designed to deliver the cleanest AC power to the components in a system. The 3 in D3 indicates that this is the third generation of Mainz8 distributors, and the part that has evolved to this status is the so-called analogue dither technology that Ansuz use to keep noise at bay.

Analogue dither is not mentioned in any other manufacturer’s information. It is apparently based on radar tech, where a pulsing signal of a specific frequency is used in antiphase to cut through the noise and focus on the relevant frequency, which in the case of European mains is 50Hz. The D3 has eight of these dither circuits.

Zirconium power

Another technique Ansuz uses to reduce noise is Tesla coils, essentially a coil within a coil running in opposite directions. This form of balanced circuit is said to cancel spikes in the incoming power. For the third-generation Mainz8 units, a zirconium bar is used to control the resonance of the Tesla coils. Ansuz is very interested in the properties of different metals and makes a range of isolation feet made of all sorts of metals with unusual coatings; zirconium is one of their favourites, thanks to time spent with the research team at Aarhus University.

The cabinet used to contain all this radical tech is made of a ‘natural-based composite,’ which is presumably some variation on MDF as the fit and finish are exemplary, with only top and bottom plates offering a flat surface that might be prone to resonance. Of the eight sockets, one has a white ring, and this indicates that it is best suited to the preamplifier in a system as this is where best grounding is required. All the outlets are connected to a star ground with a very low impedance designed to stop noise from getting from one outlet to another.

Balls

The Mainz8 D3 follows the Ansuz protocol by standing on metal feet with a circular ring machined into the underside. This ring is designed to accept three titanium balls perched atop one of the company’s Darkz feet. As with the distributors and power cables, numerous versions of Darkz are available in a range of metals and finishes at prices that seem ambitious—at least they do—until you put them under a product like this within a revealing system.

Mainz8 distributors are only available with European Schuko and flat-pin US sockets. We may have the best mains plugs in the UK, but it’s a small market in international terms. This means that you must use cables with Schuko plugs, such as the wide range that Ansuz offers. As prices for these start at £720, this is a consideration if you need several. The cable that goes from the wall socket to the Mainz8 is a regular 13A to IEC cable and so could be from any brand, but Ansuz would prefer it if it were one of theirs. I used A2 power cables for the most part, being slightly lower up another eight-strong range. These are not at the same level in range terms as the D3, but they do the trick. They are particularly stiff cables, however, which is worth considering when ordering for a particular system; I would say that they need to be at least 50cm longer than a more flexible power cable.

Change up

The Mainz8 D3 and its associated half-dozen Mainz cables are not a quick install by power distributor standards; the cables have to be coerced into position, and it would take an hour to take the entire system from one distributor and cables to another. With this in mind, I went through the system piecemeal, contrasting the Ansuz combination with an admittedly vintage Russ Andrews pairing of Powermax cables and a distribution block that is probably a forerunner of the X6 Block but not necessarily as fancy. Essentially a much less expensive option but a decent mains distribution system, nonetheless.

I started with the System on the Russ Andrews block and cables and switched a Merason DAC1 MkII converter over to the Mainz8 whilst playing the Locrian Ensemble’s Mendelssohn Octets. The result was a significant increase in image depth alongside an evident relaxation of the presentation. The sound was no longer up front and urgent but open with better dynamics and timing. Doing the same thing with the Melco N10 server, which is effectively the source of this streaming setup, brought out space, separation, and naturalness of tone with another track. This more significant change made the overall sound sweeter due to quieter backgrounds, which revealed low-level detail that produced a more complete musical picture. It was as if someone had taken the lid off the sound so that it could open up into the room.

Switching my Lumin U2 mini streamer with Network Acoustics mods and an LDA power supply to the Mainz8 D3 made the leading edges cleaner and brought out the kick of the drum. It was a better defined and more precisely paced rendition that likewise enhanced the sense of space in the sound. The drums on Patricia Barber’s ‘Company’ really motored now with a taut, snappy drive that made the track that much more compelling.

Adapting

To contrast the effects with a Townshend Allegri Reference preamplifier, I used a UK to EU adaptor of the basic travel variety. It was not ideal, but it made the connection with that unit’s wall-wart supply doable. Even with this compromised connection, there was a clear uplift in space, dynamics, and ease, which was surprising. This preamp is fundamentally passive, the power only being necessary to allow remote control of relays, yet it sounded as if the speakers had disappeared; so much better was the imaging. I later realised I could connect an Isotek distribution block with an IEC cable to achieve the same end with less compromise.

The final step was to add the power amp to the Mainz8 D3. This was initially connected directly to the wall with a chunky Living Voice power cable, which may be why the change was so significant. The sound became cleaner here, and the separation between instruments and voices was much more apparent. The reduction in low-level noise opened up the space in the mix. It revealed the grunge in the ‘70s funk recording but removed the background noise, which was polluting the signal.

By contrast

As I was on a roll, I decided to see what the Ansuz power delivery components could do for the analogue source. I connected the Tom Evans Groove SRX phono stage and Rega Planar 10 turntable. The results were very similar to those encountered with the digital source; more relaxation, space and better image depth were the primary benefits, alongside more precise placement of instruments in the soundstage. The Mainz8 D3 and A2 cables reinforced the ease of vinyl without undermining the fabulous timing of the format. Dynamic contrasts were increased thanks to the quieter background, broadening the perceived dynamic range. One interesting contrast was with a Naim Powerline mains cable, which usually sounds excellent on the phono stage. This comparison revealed that it brings an energetic drive to the sound, but this sounded less natural in the context of a system fed by the Ansuz components.

I got a great result with the more affordable Mainz8 A3 earlier in the year and used it with the same A2 cables for long enough to make it clear that the D3 delivers a cleaner, more open and revealing result, albeit doing much the same thing but to a greater extent. The Mainz8 D3 is remarkably good at keeping noise out of the system and every component I tried it with opened up and revealed more musical detail. It’s proof that clean power delivered without compromising current delivery is the lifeblood of a high-resolution sound system; give it a try; you won’t want to go back.

Technical specifications

Type AC mains power distributor
Outlets Eight outlet EU or US
Input IEC C14 230/110V
Dimensions (H×W×D) 91 × 500 × 263mm
Weight 5.4kg
Price £8,500, $8,500
A2 Mainz cable 1m £1,800, $1,800

Manufacturer

Ansuz Acoustics

www.ansuz-acoustics.com

UK distributor

Auditorium HiFi

www.auditoriumhifi.co.uk

+44 (0) 7960 423194

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Cian Nugent: She Brings Me Back to the Land of the Living

Noted acoustic guitar picker Cian Nugent has recently released an album of songs made with a band, like a regular rock musician. As luck would have it She Brings Me Back to the Land of the Living is also a beautiful example of contemporary Americana, it’s a style that evolved from folk and which largely American musicians have been honing for decades. This album might not win any prizes for originality but it’s the sort of stuff that is so easy to enjoy that you don’t care. Cian Nugent however is not American, he hails from Dublin, and this gives his work an angle that separates it from the usual fayre. His inclusion in a recent John Fahey event suggests he started out as a pure acoustic guitar player, which means he knows how to make an impression without using his voice and broader instrumentation. Both factors play into the appeal of this album.

The title is apparently a phrase that he picked up when caring for his mother Kathy when she was recovering from a stroke and suffering from aphasia, something that she would utter out of the blue and unsurprisingly it stuck with Nugent. Kathy also created the cover art for the album. She Brings Me Back to the Land of the Living is his fourth release since his 2011 debut Doubles and contains eight cuts that were conceived whilst the artist was looking after his mother; returning home to a less rock and roll existence helping him to process change and accept unexpected events.

Nugent doesn’t sound exactly Irish on the album and nor do his band, he plays guitar, Mellotron, organ and Wurlitzer alongside Sean Carpio (drums, percussion, Wurlitzer), Garvan Gallagher (bass), Greg Felton (piano), Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh (viola) and Dan Lead (pedal steel). Ryan Jewell (percussion) and Jasmine Wood (‘mellowtron’) feature on ‘The Sound of the Rain’. Not a synthesiser in site. This is pure Americana from a place that many Americans consider to be ‘home’.

Album opener ‘Empress’ is a classic example thanks to the prominence of the pedal steel, rotating rhythm and keening guitars behind a mellow song whose meaning is far from clear, which makes it all the more intriguing.

‘The Sound of Rain’ serves up more perfect pedal steel up front with the rhythm sitting back to create the lovely warm tone found across the album. It could be crisper and more open but then it wouldn’t have the charm that Nugent injects into every song.

‘High Up Airplane’ is high point that runs to nearly seven minutes and builds up to a joyful noise with guitars full of light and the glory of distortion, Nugent’s playing keeping it just the right side of the invisible line between rawk and real. The song is once again enigmatic with the chorus line “A high up airplane and a low kind of pain”, but it gets its subliminal message through.

‘Siamese Sharks’ could be a Lambchop song, it sounds very different to the other tunes here with beautiful guitar, tinkling piano and what sounds like a flute but comes from keyboard. Side two of the vinyl starts ‘I’ve been Down’ which has something of the Ryley Walker at his best about it, fuzz guitar behind shiny plucked electric high notes and a simple beat with a subtle bass line get things going and the way that Nugent mixes electric and acoustic guitars is very effective.

‘Dogs in the Morning’ reveals the influence of JJ Cale with its laconic, laid back vocals and lilting rhythm, but the arrangement is a lot richer than you will find in that artist’s back catalogue. On ‘Pass the Time Away’ keyboards meld to create synthy sounds and slightly overwrought guitars add a psych vibe. Nugent sings “I need a chance to be wrong” in an ode to the slacker lifestyle with bass and guitar in counterpoint to great effect.

There is a lot of good music made in this vein, but Cian Nugent has the depth of character required to make this fine album stand out. She Brings Me Back to the Land of the Living does what it says on the tin in an easy distinct fashion.

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Bring a new analogue richness, depth and dynamic excitement to streamed music, with Network Acoustics eno2 Ethernet Filter

In 2020 Network Acoustics arrived with their market defining passive Ethernet Filter, the original eno. With an eno in your system, the music-obsessed founders, Rich and Rob, demonstrated that they were on their way to capturing the magical sound of their cherished vinyl in streamed music, but without the crackles and pops!

The all-new eno2 features an 8-core passive ethernet filter, meticulously designed to maximise the benefits of a
1Gb/s connection. This removes significantly more noise from the Ethernet signal than the original eno, and consequently improves on its performance in every way.

Comprehensive 8-core Noise Filtering

Featuring a version of Network Acoustics groundbreaking 1Gb/s filtering technology, first used in the muon Pro Ethernet filter, the eight-core filter system is housed in an aluminium enclosure that is precisely milled to the perfect thickness for optimal RFI/EMI shielding. Completing the package is the 1Gb/s eno2 Streaming Cable, designed with their latest noise-rejecting technology to ensure a clean connection between the filter and streamer.

“The overwhelming and often emotional feedback we received about the original eno showed us how much pleasure it brought to our customers’ lives. It also had a profound effect on ours. It allowed us to turn a part-time passion project into a full-time endeavour, making Network Acoustics a reality. With eno2 we have stayed true to the values of the original while incorporating everything we’ve learned over the past four years. The result is an entirely new filter capable of delivering a sound our human ears crave: an analogue smoothness, richness, depth of tone, and dynamic excitement that is so hard to achieve with digitally sourced music.”

– Network Acoustics co-founder Rob Osbourn
60-day home trial money back guarantee

eno2 will deliver an instant upgrade to any streaming system, one that Network Acoustics thinks you’ll find very hard to live without. They’re so confident in the performance of eno2, they invite you to experience the difference risk free in your system, thanks to an extended 60-day money-back guarantee, and free worldwide shipping.

eno2 Highlights

Streaming sounds better at 1Gb/s: The eno2 1Gb/s Ethernet Filter and Streaming Cable are meticulously designed to maximise the benefits of a 1Gb/s connection. While 100Mb/s designs can stream Hi-Res music without dropouts and simplify noise rejection, their extensive testing and critical listening conclusively showed that a 1Gb/s connection significantly improves sound quality.

Universally compatible: We are increasingly seeing new streaming equipment and audio related software being optimized to only work with a 1Gb/s connection. The eno2 Ethernet Filter and Streaming Cables ensure universal compatibility now and in the future.

Comprehensive 8-core filtering: the eno2 filter cleans all eight conductors in a standard Ethernet cable, whereas 100Mb/s filters only clean four, leaving the others untreated.

Tuned shield enclosure: Network Acoustics tested multiple grades and gauges of aluminium to develop an enclosure that provides the perfect level of RFI shielding without compromising the integrity of the output Ethernet signal.

1Gb/s eno2 Streaming Cable: Network Acoustics understand how important the final connection is between the filter and streamer, so every filter is supplied with a 0.75M length of their new eno2 Streaming Cable.

Engineered, hand assembled and individually tested in the UK: every eno2 Ethernet Filter and Streaming Cable is hand-built by Network Acoustics in the UK and individually tested against the original.

eno2 Streaming Product Range & Pricing

eno2 Ethernet Filter (Ethernet Filter and 0.75m Streaming Cable)

UK Price : £995.00 (inc. 20% VAT)
Outside UK Price : £829.17

eno2 Streaming Cable (1.5m standard length)

UK Price: £795.00 (inc. 20% VAT)
Outside UK Price: £662.50

eno2 Streaming System (Ethernet Filter, 0.75m & 1.5m Streaming Cables)

UK Price: £1,395.00 (inc. 20% VAT)
Outside UK Price: £1162.50

As with all Network Acoustics products, the eno2 is offered with free express worldwide shipping, two-year warranty and 60-day money back guarantee.

For more information visit www.networkacoustics.com

Dyson introduces OnTrac headphones

London, 18.07.24: Dyson unveils its first high-fidelity, audio-only headphones: the Dyson OnTrac™ headphones. Offering best-in-class noise cancellation, these headphones deliver up to 55 hours of immersive listening.

With over 2,000 customisable colour combinations for outer caps and ear cushions, each ear cushion is crafted from ultra-soft microfiber and high-grade foam for superior comfort and acoustic seal. Multi-pivot gimbal arms and a uniquely positioned battery in the headband ensure balanced weight distribution.

Jake Dyson, Chief Engineer: “Dyson’s audio engineering mission is to preserve the integrity of the artist’s sound wave, free from interference. We also wanted to create a set of headphones that people would cherish, be excited by, and be proud of. With over 30 years of experience in aeroacoustics, we’ve mastered sound physics. By reducing noise through in-house anechoic chambers and expert engineers, we’ve applied and further expanded our audio knowledge to develop the Dyson OnTrac™ headphones. Our first over-ear audio only headphones deliver best-in-class ANC, exceptional sound quality, and all-day comfort through unique materials, design and customisation.”

Best-in-Class Noise Cancellation

To create an optimal listening environment, the Dyson OnTrac™ features a custom Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) algorithm which uses 8 microphones, sampling external sound 384,000 times a second. This combines with superior materials and carefully designed internal geometry to cancel up to 40dB of unwanted noise.

Enhanced Sound Range

With 40mm, 16-ohm neodymium speaker drivers and advanced audio signal processing, the Dyson OnTrac™ ensures that every note or word is delivered with precision. The headphones reproduce frequencies from as low as 6 Hertz to as high as 21,000 Hertz, providing deep sub-bass that you can feel, and clear highs at the upper end of the frequency range. Meanwhile, the speaker housing tilted 13˚ towards the ear for a more direct audio response.

55-Hour Battery Life with ANC

With up to 55 hours of battery life, Dyson OnTrac™ provides up to two weeks of listening even with ANC enabled. The two high-capacity lithium-ion battery cells are suspended in the headband for more even weight distribution. To switch between ANC on and off, simply double tap on either ear cup.

Engineered for All-Day Comfort and Acoustics

Certified ‘comfortable’ by US Ergonomics, Dyson OnTrac™ unites comfort and acoustics with precision. Select materials and ergonomic design ensure a superior acoustic seal and lasting comfort. High-grade foam cushions and multi-pivot gimbal arms relieve ear pressure, while battery positioning in the headband evenly distributes weight. Soft micro-suede ear cushions and optimised clamp force provide a consistent fit across diverse head sizes.

MyDyson™ App

The MyDyson™ app, includes real-time sound tracking that monitors in-ear and external volume, alerting users to potentially harmful levels. The MyDyson™ app³ also enables owners to choose between three custom EQ modes: Bass Boost, Neutral and Enhanced.

Additional Features –

Head Detect: Capacitive sensors detect when earcups are removed from the ears, signalling to pause your audio. Audio resumes automatically once replaced.
Intuitive Joystick: Easily play, pause, skip, fast forward, and rewind tracks, or hold down for voice commands.
Crystal-Clear Calls: Dual beam-forming microphones pick up your voice clearly, not outside noise.
Real-time sound tracking: Continuously monitors in-ear and external volume, and indicates potentially harmful levels through live reports in the MyDyson™ App.
Controlled by the MyDyson™ app: The MyDyson™ app gives you automatic software updates.

Customisable with Durable Materials and Premium Finishes

The Dyson OnTrac™ comes in four colourways, each precision-crafted with unique, durable finishes designed by Jake Dyson and our CMF team. Inspired by the CNC manufacturing process, options include CNC Aluminium, Copper, and Nickel. The Ceramic Cinnabar variant has a ceramic-feel painted finish. In addition to these four colourways, you are able to customise your Dyson OnTrac™ with custom outer caps and ear cushions in various colours and finishes.

The Dyson OnTrac™ will be available to purchase from Thursday 1^st August, directly from Dyson.co.uk for £449.99.

Available caps and cushions for customisation – Available direct from Dyson.co.uk from 1^st August.

The outer caps are machined from high-grade aluminium, for a lightweight, durable finish in a range of colours and finishes – ceramic or anodised. Each set is costed at £49.99.

Audio Research & Development

Dyson is known for pioneering new technologies, entering unexpected fields. Each project starts with fundamental research and a scientific understanding. Within the audio category, Dyson engineers prioritise preserving the integrity of sound. The goal is to reproduce sound as accurately as the original recording or mix, free from distortion or noise pollution. Achieving this requires a deep understanding of acoustics and psychoacoustics, which Dyson engineers have developed over years of creating products that move air. Dyson has built a world class team over 30 years with extensive knowledge of acoustic and noise reduction techniques. The team is constantly evolving, building knowledge around audio reproduction, noise cancelling, and electro-acoustic design.

Talk Talk: Laughing Stock

Many know Talk Talk’s first three albums, with hits like ‘It’s My Life’ and ‘Life’s What You Make It.’ But Talk Talk made five albums, each better than the last and then quit at the top of their art. Surprisingly, few know the band’s last two albums: The Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock. With these two last albums, Talk Talk proved that less is indeed more.

Laughing Stock demands your full attention. The seemingly sparse music has layers upon layers that take years to appreciate fully, and the album only gets better and better after each listen and with each passing year.

Laughing Stock is the band’s most significant effort and arguably the greatest album of all time, only slightly ahead of Talk Talk’s previous album, The Spirit of Eden. This sublime album has only six tracks that vary widely in tempo, energy and style, yet somehow, it remains coherent and should be listened to in one sitting. I did not grasp or even really like this album when I first heard it, and I put it aside, only listening occasionally until I sat down and listened seriously. Suddenly, a veil lifted, and the sweet music and the late Mark Hollis’s magical voice revealed its secrets.

The music is filled with silences, harmonic distortion and shifts in tempo and intensity. Sometimes Mark’s voice is so low, so soft, you’re unsure if it’s an instrument or him, until suddenly his voice erupts with full force, making you wonder how any human voice can scream at the top of their lungs and contain all the power and dynamics, yet sound harmonic and clear without any discord — astounding! His voice is like a roaring waterfall, yet it always sounds pleasing no matter how hard he seems to press — like warm honey running down soft velvet.

The lyrics are complex and often demanding to hear. Mark and the band weren’t thinking ‘cash.’ They set out to create musical artistry regardless of financial gain and succeeded – they did not make much money, and it is art! Laughing Stock’s opening track ‘Myrrhman’ is quiet and subdued, but give it time; its quiet intensity will overwhelm you.

‘After The Flood’ has the coolest organ that grinds and ebbs with Mark’s vocal eruptions that will envelop you in the most rhythmically pleasing percussion that goes on and on until, unfortunately, it has to end after 9 minutes and 38 seconds. ‘New Grass,’ my current favourite, makes me believe in a better life, where beauty and art mean more than money and hope springs eternal.

Buy this album today! Please turn off your iPhone, sit down with your significant other, or send them away, and listen! You won’t be sorry. Laughing Stock might turn out to be one of your most prized possessions. It’s the one album I would bring to a deserted island… if it had a working turntable.

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B.audio B.amp mono power amplifiers

It’s not unusual for fathers to influence sons, I wouldn’t be writing this today if my dad had not had a passion for music and an interest in decent equipment to play it on. I still remember the day that he replaced a beautiful Bang & Olufsen music centre with a Linn Sondek and put on the copy of JJ Cale’s Naturally that was the soundtrack in our house at the time. That was probably when the bug struck me. I’ve been living with the consequences ever since but I think I have it under control. B.audio was formed by brothers Cédric and Sébastien Bermann but this wouldn’t have come to pass if their father Gérard had not been a music and technology enthusiast.

The electronics that they make are not typically French in appearance but they are made in the Alsace region of France, which is perhaps close enough to Germany to explain the understated styling. There are two full ranges in the catalogue with DACs preamps and power amps in each plus the new Alpha One streaming amplifier launched for this season. The B.audio B.amp mono is the range topper when it comes to power amplifiers, the reference in all respects.

Vive la resistance

B.amp mono is as the name suggests a single channel amplifier built around a fully balanced circuit that’s specified to deliver up to 500 Watts into a four Ohm load and 300W into a typical eight Ohm resistance. Few if any loudspeakers have a linear impedance but these ratings suggest that the B.amp mono will be capable of powering pretty well all but the most extreme models on the market. Given this high power the casework is strangely devoid of heat sinking and while you can spot two rows of the stuff under the grille they aren’t very large and not a great deal of heat comes off the amps.

The Bermann brothers mention a number of technologies that they have used in the B.amp mono including circuitry that “reduces the crossover distortion below the measurement threshold”, which given that crossover distortion is the reason why Class A amps (which don’t have it) sound so nice, has to be a good thing. They also mention intelligent output drive which uses local feedback to “allow perfectly linear operation under all conditions”, this is apparently why heat output is lower than expected.

The B.amp mono also uses a Class A push-pull driver stage to deal with return currents from the loudspeakers and over size output transistors to provide a high current reserve with which to drive them. This stage is designed to insulate the amplifier from return currents caused by back EMF (electromotive force) produced by the loudspeaker crossover, these are known to have a negative influence on sound quality yet few amp makers mention this particular issue.

The design of the B.amp monos is simple and clean, Nordic in fact, with the bare minimum of connections and switches. Those that are included however are of the highest quality, input is via XLR only and output to the loudspeakers handled by a pair of WBT Nextgen terminals that accept banana plugs, spades and bare wire. The button that sits flush with the front panel has two LEDs beside it, the bottom one is on whenever the unit is in standby, both light up as the amp stabilises and the top one remains on when the amp is powered up. Fit and finish are superb. The grey of the wrap looks like Nextel and the anodised silver fascia is precision incarnate.

Caressing your ears

In the system driving Vivid Audio Kaya S12 loudspeakers the B.amp monos brought a precision and delicacy to the sound that was a delight, even when cold they have an ease that lets the melody float into the room as if on a breeze, the vocals caressing your ears and brushing away your cares. It became clear quite quickly that the B.amp monos are a bit special, they do micro and macro dynamics so well that it seems like there’s a lot more going on in the music than usual, in fact they clarify what’s going on so well that you can appreciate it that much more easily. It’s a defogging of sorts, an opening up of the background sounds alongside an ability to deliver the impact of the major sound sources in the mix. Their dynamic range is clearly very wide indeed.

The separation of instruments and of the notes from those instruments, including voices, is in the premier league. The B.amp monos are most definitely high end when it comes to transparency, this term is bandied around so much that it has lost its power, but when you hear something that gives you so much of what’s in the recording there is no more apt a description. It means visceral power behind electric instruments and seriously deep bass extension that’s full of shape and graduation, these amps are very sharp instruments that have no sharp edges save for those on the recording.

I really like the way you get speed without any sense of hurry, nor blurring of leading or trailing edges, a good drum recording such as that on The God In Hackney’s ‘Interstate 15’ reveals superb attack and natural reverb, it’s spacious and immediate which makes the sound extremely real indeed. There is no apparent change in character with level either, the Vivids aren’t a particularly difficult load of course but they reveal such limitations when they exist. Not here though, here you get dynamic drama from recordings that usually sound restrained. This happened with the Svaneborg Kardyb album covered last month which generally burbles along within a seemingly limited dynamic envelope, it seems however that my regular amplifier just couldn’t process the dynamic changes in the recording. Hearing it in full effect like this was quite an eye opener.

Class act

While the B.amp monos have some of the characteristics of a Class D amp, such as speed and the ability to start and stop with precision, they deliver a naturalness and depth of resolution that no such design has ever revealed in my system. They lack the slightly thick, cuddly sound found with many Class AB designs but retain the body and substance that the best of breed exhibit. It’s a presentation that is at once both fluid and analytical, a real best of both worlds combination that allows acoustic instruments in particular to really shine. Drums, pianos and voices all have a life and realism that is inspiring. Take Beck’s version of ‘Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime’, a great take on the Korgis’ hit, here the voice is startling in its presence and immediacy.

I tried the B.amp monos with my reference PMC twenty5.26i speakers but this wasn’t a happy partnership, the result being too lean for my tastes, however when the new Bowers & Wilkins 801 Signatures turned up things got a lot more interesting. These are rather special loudspeakers and the pairing with the B.audios proved a near perfect match, the sound was taut, clean and locked down in terms of timing and resolution, everything was laid bare and yet the music came first. The amps helping to clarify the way that the kick drum sits behind the first note of the bass riff in Laura Marling’s Soothing, and the depth of impact to the same drum on another The God in Hackney track, ‘Frozen Western’, here the openness of the percussion and piano, the brushes on the snare and the vivid overall sense of restrained power brought a whole new dimension to the track.

Unadulterated

The really nice thing about these amplifiers is that they bring out the best in all manner of recordings, you don’t need to stick to audiophilia to enjoy them. ‘How Much a Dollar Cost’ by Kendrick Lamarr wasn’t made for hi-fi nuts but it was very carefully put together despite the fact that most listeners will only hear it from MP3. It has a very low bass line and a superb drum sound which must have taken some time to get sounding so good. But it was Joni Mitchell’s ‘Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow’ that delivered the killer blow, the off kilter rhythms made clear and the voice piercing straight to the heart without even seeming to try brought a tear to my eye, it’s a masterpiece.

Cédric and Sébastien have surely made their father proud with the B.amp monos. These amplifiers are exemplary, a reference point that needs to be on your bucket list of must-hear components. They have power, speed and resolution down to the finest details of dynamics and timbre, qualities which when combined reveal the full glory of the music in no uncertain style.

Technical specifications

Type solid state mono power amplifier
Analogue inputs One pair balanced(via XLR)
Analogue outputs One pair of speaker taps (via 5-way binding posts)
Power output 300Wpc @ 8 Ohms, 500Wpc @ 4 Ohms
Bandwidth > 200kHz
Sensitivity 1v RMS
Distortion THD < 0.0005% (1–100W, 8 Ohms).
Dimensions (H×W×D) 112 × 450 × 385mm
Weight 20kg
Price £25,950/pair

Manufacturer

B Audio SAS

www.b-audio.com

+33 6 51 03 84 93

UK distributor

Reference Audio Ltd

www.referenceaudio.co.uk

+33(0)1376 526070

Back to Reviews

AURALiC ARIES G2.2 streamer

There is no shortage of hype in this business, in fact it’s abundant everywhere, but in our field there is plenty of talk that isn’t always backed up when it comes to actual results. It is refreshing therefore to find a company that doesn’t tend to exaggerate, one which when it says that nearly ten years of research and development have gone into a product the chances are that’s true. AURALiC is such a company and the ARIES G2.2 streamer is the freshest fruit of that labour. I don’t imagine that engineer/founder Xuanqian Wang gets much sleep, it’s not as though he has only been designing the so-called Tesla G3 platform for a decade, in that time AURALiC has released over half a dozen iterations of their dedicated ARIES streamer, but this time things have changed.

The casework of the ARIES G2.2 looks exactly like that of its predecessor the G2.1, small changes to the back panel notwithstanding, it’s inside the chunky aluminium box that things get interesting. The heart of any streamer is the processor, the computer that controls everything from signal routing to upsampling to converting formats. For the G2.2 generation the processor is built around a quad-core with 64-bit architecture that has eight times the power of that found in the G2.1. The way that this processor interacts with the audio signal has also changed, unlike most it no longer uses a USB bridge for this purpose but has DMA (direct memory access) technology as the interface. This eliminates a stage in this bridge and reduces jitter and latency by a claimed 90% over the previous design. To keep this high-power processor happy AURALiC has added 4GB of system memory for the purpose.

Dirty work

The power supply dubbed Purer Power has also undergone a significant revision, it is built around two linear supplies with twice the capacity of G2.1, alongside galvanic isolation to ensure that the one dedicated to signal processing is not tainted by the ‘dirty’ work of running computing and display. This was achieved with high-speed galvanic isolation, ensuring that EMI and jitter are kept as low as possible in a design focusing on ultra-quiet operation for maximum sonic resolution.

The ARIES G2.2 design goes to great lengths to keep interference out of the audio circuit because it’s this type of electrical noise that undermines the quality of digital audio, it’s what makes it sound hard and cold with limited low-level resolution. CD players have the advantage that they are not connected to that major source of this interference, the internet, they cannot avoid the EMI that comes in with the mains power of course and are still prey to the influence of RFI or radio frequency interference which is everywhere. AURALiC minimise the extent to which this invades the circuit by building a nickel-plated copper case around the circuitry, you can’t see this because it’s under the machined aluminium hood but it’s far more effective as a shield.

Connections

The G2.2 connects to a partnering DAC via coaxial, optical, XLR (AES) and USB outputs; apparently, there have been changes made to the last of these to ensure wider compatibility with third-party converters. Those with an AURALiC VEGA DAC can use the HDMI-based Lightning Link connection, allowing two-way communication between the devices. There is a second Lightning Link socket for those wanting to upgrade the ARIES with a LEO GX.1 clock, which is a tempting but pricey proposition. A second USB A connection is provided for a storage drive, this is a high-speed USB 3.0 port and when you connect a drive and use AURALiC’s Lightning server software it means that the music files stored on it can be accessed in the same way as those on a NAS or dedicated music server.

There is an even more interesting alternative to this which marks another change to the ARIES, the G2.1 iteration allows an onboard SATA drive to be fitted and used to store music files much like an external drive. For G2.2 AURALiC has moved to NVMe SSD storage which has much faster operation and the low noise benefit of solid-state memory, thus the ARIES G2.2 can be purchased with 4TB of SSD storage onboard for £600 extra. This is considerably cheaper than adding a dedicated music server and one would expect it to offer decent performance.

Where the magic is

The sonic character of the ARIES G2.2 is underpinned by extremely low noise. We’re not talking about crackles and buzzing, but rather the noise in signal-to-noise measurement, the noise floor below which audio signals are unlikely to be clear. Dropping the noise as far as AURALiC has with this ARIES means you can hear mountains of detail usually hidden beneath that noise floor. Of course, this is the quiet stuff; the fundamentals will always be clear, but the high resolution is all about the quiet stuff because that’s where the magic is. With each note, there is a fundamental that has harmonics which are quieter and ebb away in what some call reverb tails, it’s these quieter elements that make the sound real and, critically, give it a naturalness and warmth that is usually the preserve of analogue sources.

You need a decent network and DAC to appreciate this of course, and you need the Lightning DS app on your iOS device to set up the library and log into the streaming services you want to hear, the ARIES gives access to more of these than most. It also allows you to rip your CDs to the onboard or any outboard drive to which it’s connected by using a USB disc drive, a cheap computer one if you like. The processor onboard can do remarkable things with a raw feed, it can even play the disc straight through like a CD player.

But it’s with streaming from services and local libraries that it really shines, and I mean that literally. High frequencies are so clean that they have a clarity and beauty that often eludes digital systems, they open up the soundstage and bring the venue’s air into your room. I had the opportunity to compare an ARIES G2.1 with its replacement and this was one of the key areas where it delivered so much more, the image scale and depth seemed to double. In fact, the musical data seemed to double in truth, it was quite shocking how much more the G2.2 revealed, and the G2.1 is no slouch. Clearly, Tesla G3 is a breakthrough of no small significance.

Full scale

On its own terms, this streamer has an ease and relaxation that is totally exhilarating, by pushing the noise floor down so far it delivers image depth and width that is uncanny, it reveals so much more than most that you can’t help wondering how much more there is? The fact that there is an ARIES G3 at nearly twice the price due later in the year might answer that but for now, this streamer is a wonder that keeps you listening way too late for the seven o’clock alarm the next day. The Locrian Ensemble recording of Mendelssohn Octets proved just how much detail there is in a decent recording, the violins producing an image that soared to the ceiling and out to the side walls with enough depth to almost replicate the huge hall that the performance was made in. In the studio, John Martyn’s rendition of ‘Glory Box’ sounded better than I’ve heard it and that was on Qobuz, generally streaming services lag behind local files but this was superb with a richness of tone and emotional depth that is on another level.

I played a lot of music through the ARIES G2.2 whilst it was in the system and would love to keep hold of it, my regular streamer is good but not in this league. You have to hand it to Xuanqian Wang, the new ARIES is significantly better than its predecessor and, I suspect, better than the competition at this price. Throw in the option for inexpensive SSD storage and the massive feature count of Lightning DS and you have a seriously competitive streamer at a price that is very keen for the quality on offer. If you enjoy the finer things in audio or you don’t think that streaming is as good as CD, have a listen to the ARIES G2.2 and a decent DAC, I guarantee it will be an eye/ear-opening experience worth savouring.

Technical specifications

Type Solid-state network streamer with optional SSD storage
Analogue Inputs none
Digital Inputs One Gigabit Ethernet (via RJ45), one USB A, 802.11b/g/n/ac Tri-Band WiFi
DAC Resolution/Supported Digital Formats FLAC/WAV/MP3, etc. Sampling rate for D/A conversion 384kHz/32 bit, DSD512
Music services/Wi-Fi inputs Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon, HighResAudio, TuneIn, vTuner, KKBox/Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Airplay, Bluetooth
Analogue Outputs One stereo balanced (via XLR connectors), one stereo unbalanced (via RCA jacks)
Digital Outputs One coaxial S/PDIF (via RCA jack), one TOSLink, one AES/EBU (via XLR), one USB, one Lightning Link (via HDMI)
Frequency Response Not specified
Distortion (THD + Noise) Not specified
User Interface 4 inch display (on main unit), Lightning DS application software for iOS, Roon Ready, Open home
Dimensions (H×W×D) 96 × 340 × 320mm
Weight 10.2kg
Price £5,299, $6,099

Manufacturer

AURALiC

www.auralic.com

UK distributor

AURALiC Europe

www.auralic.com

+44(0) 7590 106105

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