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FEBRUARY 2014
WWW.HIFINEWS.CO.UK
THE HOME OF REAL HI-FI
& Record Review
E
xc
lu
si
ve
We ring in the New Year with a host of stereo stars
K
ATE
BU
SH
HOUN
DS OF L
OVE
Loit Passeri CD
Tubes do the talking in
this radical top-loader
Audio Research
Stunning SP20 valve preamp
McIntosh MT5
The ‘green’ turntable
NEW SERIES
Budget Esoterica
Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers
Cable Group Test
Five interconnect/speaker
cable combos under £500
Buying Vintage
The best early solid-state amps
• PLUS
18 pages of music reviews & features
• SHOW BLOG
We report from the Tokyo Show 2013
• OPINION
11 pages of letters and comment
• VINTAGE REVIEW
Marantz 1300DC integrated amp
• VINYL RE-RELEASE
Velvet Underground & Nico
180g LP
• READERS’ CLASSIFIEDS
Hi-fi bargains
UK £4.00 US $9.99 Aus $9.95
0)
683(5,253(5)250$1&(+($'3+21(6
When music matters most
9(5<+,*+48$/,7<086,&$/),'(/,7<'(6,*1('
1(2'<0,80'5,9(81,76
ZZZPXVLFDOÀGHOLW\FRP
FEB/14
RIGHT:
Q Acoustics’
standmount Concept 20
speakers cause a storm in
Budget Esoterica, p62
P
ublishing schedules
being what they are,
and despite this being
our February 2014
cover, those readers
quickest off the mark will be
tucking into this issue very soon
after tucking into their turkey.
And even if the Xmas holidays
are not universally observed,
ringing in the New Year almost
certainly is, so I’ll take this
opportunity to wish you all a
musically rewarding 2014.
Hi-Fi News
is kicking off its
own celebrations with three
exceptional high-end party-
poppers from around the
globe. UK enthusiasts got their
fi
rst glimpse of the Loit Passeri
CD player at last year’s Bristol
hi-
fi
show while
the stunning Audio
Research SP20
preampli
fi
er was
unveiled at our own
audiophile exhibition
in Windsor.
Both of these products
employ tube-based analogue
stages and both are reviewed
exclusively in this month’s issue.
As, I might add, is the jolly green
giant of the turntable world –
the MT5 from McIntosh. This
LP spinner doesn’t require a
badge on its chassis as one look
immediately identi
fi
es the brand.
Few marques are as iconic but
hardly any spark the ‘love it/
loathe it’ Marmite reaction as
strongly. It’s dif
fi
cult to remain
agnostic about an acrylic platter
bathed in green light...
If glowing green platters are
unlikely to be a major trend in
2014, guessing the real modes
of the year does not require an
especially prescient crystal ball.
Along with headphones
and headphone amps, high-res
digital audio will expand its
grip on the audiophile market,
whether through the burgeoning
availability of album downloads
ABOVE:
Meridian extends its reach with a bespoke headphone amp and
outboard power supply. But is it prime beef? First technical review, p54
‘Guessing the key
trends of 2014 doesn’t
require a crystal ball’
or the record industry’s big push
with Blu-ray Audio. Here we have
one ‘format’ available in both
virtual and physical (disc) forms,
the latter for enthusiasts still not
wholly comfortable driving their
hi-
fi
systems via a computer.
The organisers behind the
International CES 2014 certainly
think this is a signi
fi
cant trend,
creating a dedicated ‘Hi-Res
Audio Experience’ on the show
fl
oor. We’ll report on the entire
event next month.
VINYL:
Kate Bush’s
Hounds Of Love
is
this month’s Vinyl Icon (p72) while Steve
Sutherland remembers Andy Warhol and
Lou Reed as
Velvet Underground & Nico
is reissued as a 180g LP (p70)
RIGHT:
Hi-Fi News & RR
is the exclusive
UK representative of EISA’s Audio and
Home Theatre panels. Paul Miller is
EISA’s Audio and HT Panel Manager
PAUL MILLER
EDITOR
HI-FI NEWS’ EXPERT LINE UP: THE FINEST MINDS IN AUDIO JOURNALISM BRING THEIR EXPERIENCE TO BEAR ON ALL AREAS OF HI-FI & MUSIC
JOHN BAMFORD
JB brings huge
industry experience, a
penchant for massive
speakers and a love of
hi-res audio in all its
diverse guises
BARRY FOX
Investigative journalist
supreme, Barry is the
fi
rst with news of the
latest developments
in hi-
fi
and music
technologies
KEN KESSLER
is currently our Senior
Contributing Editor
and almost singularly
responsible for the
renaissance in valves
and ‘vintage hi-
fi
’
KEITH HOWARD
has written about
hi-
fi
for 30 years, and
edited
Hi-Fi Answers
for nine. KH performs
our speaker and
headphone lab tests
STEVE HARRIS
Former Editor of this
very title from 1986
through to 2005. A
lifetime in audio and
a love of jazz makes
Steve a goldmine
JOHN HOWES
Foremost collector and
archivist of vintage
hi-
fi
, famous for the
UK’s bi-annual Audio
Jumble, John shares his
experience with
HFN
STEVE SUTHERLAND
Worked on
Melody
Maker
and then edited
NME
from 1992-2000,
the Britpop years. Steve
brings a unique slant to
our Vinyl Release pages
FEBRUARY 2014
|
www.hi
fi
news.co.uk
|
3
CONTENTS
VINYL & RECORD REVIEWS
NEWS AND OPINION
68
Vinyl Frontier
Chris Heard of Classic LPs brings
you the best of the new reissues
and re-releases on premium vinyl
70
Vinyl Release
The LP was said to have sold just
100 copies on release, but
The
Velvet Underground & Nico
is
now iconic. Steve Sutherland
relistens as it enjoys a 180g reissue
72
Vinyl Icon
A staple of many an audiophile’s LP
collection, Kate Bush’s
Hounds
Of Love
was as pop-orientated as it
was experimental. Johnny Black
takes a look at how it was recorded
78
Classic Rock Venues
Steve Sutherland continues his tour
of the world’s iconic rock venues,
this month bringing you the story
of Alexandra Palace in London
85
Music Reviews
06
News
Dedicated ‘hi-res’ amp and player
from Sony, entry-level speaker for
Spendor D-Line, Audioquest updates
DragonFly DAC, plus Cyrus all-in-one
and new headphones from JBL
08
Show Blog
The Tokyo International Audio Show
boasts over 10,000 visitors while
playing host to some 180 brands.
Ken Kessler
fl
ies East with camera
and notepad in hand...
16
Investigation
Buying vintage kit from dealers in
other parts of Europe is nowhere
as costly as it once was. Steve Harris
visits an impressive store in Sweden
that’s packed with tasty classics
98
Opinion
Insider comment on the audio
topics of the day from Paul Miller,
Barry Fox, Jim Lesurf, Steve Harris
and, writing from the US, Barry Willis
106
Sound Off
Your experiences and experiments
with hearing aids, a reader’s recipe
for home-brew hi-
fi
, getting the best
from the ARC REF75 amp, plus a
look at the hi-
fi
reviewing process
138
Off The Leash
26
Loit Passeri
Debut product from new designer
is a CD player with a sophisticated
tube output stage and looks to dazzle
32
McIntosh MT5
Pre
fi
tted arm and cartridge, factory
adjusted for ‘perfect playback’... we
spin the US amp maker’s baby deck
39
Group Test: £360-£435
interconnect/speaker cables
Tested to the core –
fi
ve sets of
matching interconnect and speaker
cables put through their paces to see
how different cable architectures
make their mark on a system’s sound
50
Acoustic Energy Reference 3
British company continues to revamp
its sealed-box loudspeakers with an
AE5-inspired four-driver
fl
oorstander
54
Meridian Prime/Prime PSU
Headphone amp/PSU with ‘analogue
spatial processing’ and able to be
powered via USB... What’s not to like?
58
Exposure 3010S2
Company adds a standalone phono
stage to its range with plug-in
modules for MM and MM cartridges
62
Q Acoustics Concept 20
Our selection of audiophile LP
and hi-res downloads reviewed by
our specialists alongside the latest
rock, jazz and classical albums
DEFINITIVE PRODUCT REVIEWS
22
Audio Research SP20
Tube preamp sports ’70s looks yet
As all-new headphone brands pique
packs a touchscreen, phono stage
the interest of the iPod generation
and headphone amp. What gives?
Ken Kessler wonders if sound quality
is at last winning over convenience
Eye-catching, easy to drive, easier to
listen to and, best of all, affordable...
Budget speakers from a UK brand
VINTAGE
ABOVE:
For our Group Test
of £360-£435 interconnect/
speaker cables, see p39
114
Buying vintage hi-
fi
We continue our series on how to
secure the best vintage hi-
fi
buys
with a look at the market for classic
secondhand transistor ampli
fi
ers
120
Vintage Review
SUBSCRIBE!
SUBSCRIBE!
SUBSCRIBE!
How do the classic components of
Special Christmas offer:
Three issues for just £3!
See page 60
Special Christmas offer:
Three issues for just £3!
See page 60
yesteryear measure up today? This
Free! Audioquest Mackenzie
interconnect
See page 82
month it’s the turn of a big late ’70s
integrated – the Marantz 1300DC
ABOVE:
Acoustic Energy Reference 3, p50
See page 60
See page 57
See page 82
See page 60
See page 57
FEBRUARY 2014
|
www.hi
fi
news.co.uk
|
5
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl audipoznan.keep.pl
FEBRUARY 2014
WWW.HIFINEWS.CO.UK
THE HOME OF REAL HI-FI
& Record Review
E
xc
lu
si
ve
We ring in the New Year with a host of stereo stars
K
ATE
BU
SH
HOUN
DS OF L
OVE
Loit Passeri CD
Tubes do the talking in
this radical top-loader
Audio Research
Stunning SP20 valve preamp
McIntosh MT5
The ‘green’ turntable
NEW SERIES
Budget Esoterica
Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers
Cable Group Test
Five interconnect/speaker
cable combos under £500
Buying Vintage
The best early solid-state amps
• PLUS
18 pages of music reviews & features
• SHOW BLOG
We report from the Tokyo Show 2013
• OPINION
11 pages of letters and comment
• VINTAGE REVIEW
Marantz 1300DC integrated amp
• VINYL RE-RELEASE
Velvet Underground & Nico
180g LP
• READERS’ CLASSIFIEDS
Hi-fi bargains
UK £4.00 US $9.99 Aus $9.95
0)
683(5,253(5)250$1&(+($'3+21(6
When music matters most
9(5<+,*+48$/,7<086,&$/),'(/,7<'(6,*1('
1(2'<0,80'5,9(81,76
ZZZPXVLFDOÀGHOLW\FRP
FEB/14
RIGHT:
Q Acoustics’
standmount Concept 20
speakers cause a storm in
Budget Esoterica, p62
P
ublishing schedules
being what they are,
and despite this being
our February 2014
cover, those readers
quickest off the mark will be
tucking into this issue very soon
after tucking into their turkey.
And even if the Xmas holidays
are not universally observed,
ringing in the New Year almost
certainly is, so I’ll take this
opportunity to wish you all a
musically rewarding 2014.
Hi-Fi News
is kicking off its
own celebrations with three
exceptional high-end party-
poppers from around the
globe. UK enthusiasts got their
fi
rst glimpse of the Loit Passeri
CD player at last year’s Bristol
hi-
fi
show while
the stunning Audio
Research SP20
preampli
fi
er was
unveiled at our own
audiophile exhibition
in Windsor.
Both of these products
employ tube-based analogue
stages and both are reviewed
exclusively in this month’s issue.
As, I might add, is the jolly green
giant of the turntable world –
the MT5 from McIntosh. This
LP spinner doesn’t require a
badge on its chassis as one look
immediately identi
fi
es the brand.
Few marques are as iconic but
hardly any spark the ‘love it/
loathe it’ Marmite reaction as
strongly. It’s dif
fi
cult to remain
agnostic about an acrylic platter
bathed in green light...
If glowing green platters are
unlikely to be a major trend in
2014, guessing the real modes
of the year does not require an
especially prescient crystal ball.
Along with headphones
and headphone amps, high-res
digital audio will expand its
grip on the audiophile market,
whether through the burgeoning
availability of album downloads
ABOVE:
Meridian extends its reach with a bespoke headphone amp and
outboard power supply. But is it prime beef? First technical review, p54
‘Guessing the key
trends of 2014 doesn’t
require a crystal ball’
or the record industry’s big push
with Blu-ray Audio. Here we have
one ‘format’ available in both
virtual and physical (disc) forms,
the latter for enthusiasts still not
wholly comfortable driving their
hi-
fi
systems via a computer.
The organisers behind the
International CES 2014 certainly
think this is a signi
fi
cant trend,
creating a dedicated ‘Hi-Res
Audio Experience’ on the show
fl
oor. We’ll report on the entire
event next month.
VINYL:
Kate Bush’s
Hounds Of Love
is
this month’s Vinyl Icon (p72) while Steve
Sutherland remembers Andy Warhol and
Lou Reed as
Velvet Underground & Nico
is reissued as a 180g LP (p70)
RIGHT:
Hi-Fi News & RR
is the exclusive
UK representative of EISA’s Audio and
Home Theatre panels. Paul Miller is
EISA’s Audio and HT Panel Manager
PAUL MILLER
EDITOR
HI-FI NEWS’ EXPERT LINE UP: THE FINEST MINDS IN AUDIO JOURNALISM BRING THEIR EXPERIENCE TO BEAR ON ALL AREAS OF HI-FI & MUSIC
JOHN BAMFORD
JB brings huge
industry experience, a
penchant for massive
speakers and a love of
hi-res audio in all its
diverse guises
BARRY FOX
Investigative journalist
supreme, Barry is the
fi
rst with news of the
latest developments
in hi-
fi
and music
technologies
KEN KESSLER
is currently our Senior
Contributing Editor
and almost singularly
responsible for the
renaissance in valves
and ‘vintage hi-
fi
’
KEITH HOWARD
has written about
hi-
fi
for 30 years, and
edited
Hi-Fi Answers
for nine. KH performs
our speaker and
headphone lab tests
STEVE HARRIS
Former Editor of this
very title from 1986
through to 2005. A
lifetime in audio and
a love of jazz makes
Steve a goldmine
JOHN HOWES
Foremost collector and
archivist of vintage
hi-
fi
, famous for the
UK’s bi-annual Audio
Jumble, John shares his
experience with
HFN
STEVE SUTHERLAND
Worked on
Melody
Maker
and then edited
NME
from 1992-2000,
the Britpop years. Steve
brings a unique slant to
our Vinyl Release pages
FEBRUARY 2014
|
www.hi
fi
news.co.uk
|
3
CONTENTS
VINYL & RECORD REVIEWS
NEWS AND OPINION
68
Vinyl Frontier
Chris Heard of Classic LPs brings
you the best of the new reissues
and re-releases on premium vinyl
70
Vinyl Release
The LP was said to have sold just
100 copies on release, but
The
Velvet Underground & Nico
is
now iconic. Steve Sutherland
relistens as it enjoys a 180g reissue
72
Vinyl Icon
A staple of many an audiophile’s LP
collection, Kate Bush’s
Hounds
Of Love
was as pop-orientated as it
was experimental. Johnny Black
takes a look at how it was recorded
78
Classic Rock Venues
Steve Sutherland continues his tour
of the world’s iconic rock venues,
this month bringing you the story
of Alexandra Palace in London
85
Music Reviews
06
News
Dedicated ‘hi-res’ amp and player
from Sony, entry-level speaker for
Spendor D-Line, Audioquest updates
DragonFly DAC, plus Cyrus all-in-one
and new headphones from JBL
08
Show Blog
The Tokyo International Audio Show
boasts over 10,000 visitors while
playing host to some 180 brands.
Ken Kessler
fl
ies East with camera
and notepad in hand...
16
Investigation
Buying vintage kit from dealers in
other parts of Europe is nowhere
as costly as it once was. Steve Harris
visits an impressive store in Sweden
that’s packed with tasty classics
98
Opinion
Insider comment on the audio
topics of the day from Paul Miller,
Barry Fox, Jim Lesurf, Steve Harris
and, writing from the US, Barry Willis
106
Sound Off
Your experiences and experiments
with hearing aids, a reader’s recipe
for home-brew hi-
fi
, getting the best
from the ARC REF75 amp, plus a
look at the hi-
fi
reviewing process
138
Off The Leash
26
Loit Passeri
Debut product from new designer
is a CD player with a sophisticated
tube output stage and looks to dazzle
32
McIntosh MT5
Pre
fi
tted arm and cartridge, factory
adjusted for ‘perfect playback’... we
spin the US amp maker’s baby deck
39
Group Test: £360-£435
interconnect/speaker cables
Tested to the core –
fi
ve sets of
matching interconnect and speaker
cables put through their paces to see
how different cable architectures
make their mark on a system’s sound
50
Acoustic Energy Reference 3
British company continues to revamp
its sealed-box loudspeakers with an
AE5-inspired four-driver
fl
oorstander
54
Meridian Prime/Prime PSU
Headphone amp/PSU with ‘analogue
spatial processing’ and able to be
powered via USB... What’s not to like?
58
Exposure 3010S2
Company adds a standalone phono
stage to its range with plug-in
modules for MM and MM cartridges
62
Q Acoustics Concept 20
Our selection of audiophile LP
and hi-res downloads reviewed by
our specialists alongside the latest
rock, jazz and classical albums
DEFINITIVE PRODUCT REVIEWS
22
Audio Research SP20
Tube preamp sports ’70s looks yet
As all-new headphone brands pique
packs a touchscreen, phono stage
the interest of the iPod generation
and headphone amp. What gives?
Ken Kessler wonders if sound quality
is at last winning over convenience
Eye-catching, easy to drive, easier to
listen to and, best of all, affordable...
Budget speakers from a UK brand
VINTAGE
ABOVE:
For our Group Test
of £360-£435 interconnect/
speaker cables, see p39
114
Buying vintage hi-
fi
We continue our series on how to
secure the best vintage hi-
fi
buys
with a look at the market for classic
secondhand transistor ampli
fi
ers
120
Vintage Review
SUBSCRIBE!
SUBSCRIBE!
SUBSCRIBE!
How do the classic components of
Special Christmas offer:
Three issues for just £3!
See page 60
Special Christmas offer:
Three issues for just £3!
See page 60
yesteryear measure up today? This
Free! Audioquest Mackenzie
interconnect
See page 82
month it’s the turn of a big late ’70s
integrated – the Marantz 1300DC
ABOVE:
Acoustic Energy Reference 3, p50
See page 60
See page 57
See page 82
See page 60
See page 57
FEBRUARY 2014
|
www.hi
fi
news.co.uk
|
5
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]