The worthy recipients of What Hi-Fi?’s coveted Best Buy Awards have just been revealed for 2017 and one small yet stunningly-formed turntable has won again – for the seventh time!
Hearty congratulations to Clearaudio, whose ever-innovative Concept turntable is once again winner in the category ‘Best Turntables £800-£1,200’.
Continue reading Record breaker: Clearaudio Concept deck scoops a seventh What Hi-Fi? Award!
Hand-crafted in Japan by Immutable Music’s Seiji Yoshioka, Transfiguration moving coil (MC) phono cartridges have been hailed as being among the world’s most musically honest. This is no accident, since their design has always been guided by two firm principles: first, to extract the most minute, natural musical detail from a record’s groove and second, to get out of the way. So when it’s said that a Transfiguration cartridge ‘lacks character’, it’s a compliment. Says Yoshioka, “The best audio components are those that simply don’t seem to exist – so good that they add nothing, subtract nothing.”
It’s precisely this quest for ever-more natural musical detail that led Yoshioka to develop a very special, limited edition of Transfiguration’s flagship Proteus cartridge: the new Proteus D.
Always coveted the stunning sound of Danish loudspeaker legend Raidho, but lacked the requisite budget? Sister company Scansonic HD shares ‘DNA’ and a designer, Michael Borresen, with the prestigious brand. Nick Tate takes their attractively-priced £5,799 MB-5 for a test drive for Hi-Fi News.
“It’s a hard life being a £6,000 loudspeaker,” says Tate in the introduction to his review. “Competition is tough, both from more budget brands doing their cost-no-object flagships, and high-end marques making entry-level designs. In short, six grand speakers risk being run over from both sides of the road…” So how will the MB-5 hold up?
Continue reading “Well-rounded winner”: Nick Tate highly commends Sansonic’s MB-5 loudspeaker in Hi-Fi news
In the world of analogue audio, there’s little doubt that a system’s sonic performance can be markedly constrained or improved by the quality of its various cables. But when it comes to digital audio, could there be even more to play for? Computer Audio Design’s (CAD) Scott Berry believes so, and has been putting his ideas to the test for some time before bringing two exceptional new USB interconnects to market.
The September issue of US-based audio magazine The Absolute Sound is out now, revealing winners of the Golden Ear Awards for 2017. Published annually, the Awards give The Absolute Sound’s staff and freelance writers the opportunity to choose those components that are “truly great” and “that stand out from the competition”.
Among the worthy winners in 2017 are Gamut Audio’s M250i mono power amp and DS Audio’s DS 002 optical phono cartridge.
Continue reading Gamut amplifier and DS Audio phono cartridge scoop The Absolute Sound’s Golden Ear Awards 2017
Red Bull’s monthly magazine The Red Bulletin features out-of-the-ordinary stories from “the world of Red Bull and its playgrounds” spanning sports, culture and lifestyle.
In home entertainment, the September 2017 issue includes an Inner Space photo shoot featuring “the best tech for kicking back in your pad.” For the audiophile, The Red Bulletin’s exclusive selection includes Clearaudio’s Ovation turntable with its timeless minimalist design.
Continue reading Beyond the ordinary: Clearaudio Ovation turntable in Red Bull’s The Red Bulletin
Devon-based Timestep has garnered something of a reputation (and bagged a number of awards) for its shrewd modifications of several iconic Technics turntables. The latest of these is the EVO GR, an upgraded version of Technics’ budget SL-1210 GR deck. Hi-Fi World editor Noel Keywood takes it for a spin.
Clearaudio’s Concept MC and Essence MC are the most affordable entry points to the brand’s range of moving coil cartridges, priced at £650 and £960 respectively. The former was recently pitted against five higher-priced rivals in a Hi-Fi Choice group text, while the latter was reviewed by Adam Smith for Hi-Fi News. How did the pair fare?
Japanese cable and accessories experts Furutech continue their assault on the various unwanted ‘intruders’ that can get in the way of peak hi-fi performance. The new destat III effortlessly eliminates dust and static from analogue and digital media, from audio and video components and, well, from pretty much anything….
“Try before you buy” is the wise advice from Hi-Fi Choice when it comes to choosing from the “astonishing array” of hi-fi upgrades and accessories now available to the ardent audiophile. In the July issue, the magazine recommends six of the best add-ons “to take the performance of your system to the next level”.
David Denyer PR | The hi-fi specialist 