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Hi-res magic DAB minitest Bargain network player Four great portable radios with high-end sonics with Bluetooth streaming PASSION FOR SOUND Issue No. 393 January 2015 Music master Why this Primare pairing is all the amp you’ll ever need WIN CHORD COMPANY cables worth £1,890 Record revival HowHow to keepkeep youryour valuablevaluable collectionll i sounding di great BEAUTIFUL SYSTEM Stunning vinyl setup puts you in the groove PRODUCTS30 ON TEST: B&W, Denon, Grado, NAD, Pure & Usher PRINTED IN THE UK US$10.99 US$10.99 PRINTED IN THE UK £4.50 2015 JANUARY Art of noise GROUP TEST Compact USB DAC pack floorstander – EssentialEsssseseeential convertors forfor hi-res hi res big on sound musici at homeh andd on theh go INTRODUCTION PASSION FOR SOUND Welcome www.hifichoice.co.uk Issue No. 393 January 2015 It’s that time of year again... When we get bombarded with low-cost 59 features and TV programmes Grado SR225e recapping the highs and lows in a greatest ‘who’s hot and what’s not’ rundown of the last 12 months. Amongst the season’s inevitable ‘100 best of...’ moments of 2014 comes the timely and very welcome news that vinyl sales have reached an 18-year high with more than one million records sold so far this year. It doesn’t sound much I know, but when you consider that the last time vinyl achieved this level of sales was back in 1996 you’ll understand it marks a significant change in our music buying habits. The news that vinyl’s popularity is on the rise is unlikely to come as much of a surprise to regular Hi-Fi Choice readers who, like us, have valiantly supported the 107 B&W T7 format and its sonic virtues throughout its mass market decline. But if the media storm that followed is anything to go by, the news seems to have come as a surprise to the rest of the music-buying public, with many unaware 99 that the format still even existed! While the increase is undoubtedly good news for the record industry with plans by The Official Record Chart Company to launch a weekly vinyl chart, it’s good news for the hi-fi industry too. Christmas is likely to see a further increase in sales and the knock-on effect will mean more record releases and inevitably more new vinyl-related products. 2015 looks to be shaping up Pink Floyd The Endless River nicely for both music and hi-fi fans. BADGES EXPLAINED Lee Dunkley Editor OUR AWARDS Follow us: EDITOR’S RECOMMENDED: GROUP TEST twitter.com@HiFiChoiceMag facebook.com/hifichoice.co.uk CHOICE: Products that WINNER: Awarded to those we feel meet a Comparative tests products that are high standard of can only have one judged to deliver performance winner, and this outstanding badge says it all! ENTERPRISE HOUSE, ENTERPRISE WAY, performance EDENBRIDGE, KENT TN8 6HF JANUARY 2015 3 Contentshifichoice.co.uk Issue No. 393 January 2015 WIN NEWS & OPINION GROUP TEST Chord 6 Audiofile Company The latest news on the hottest products cable looms! from the world of hi-fi coming your way p120 12 Webwatch Essential websites to direct your browser towards for all your hi-fi requirements 69 Letters Put your points of view and queries on audio matters to our team of experts 77 Opinion The Hi-Fi Choice team say it as they see it as they discuss the issues of the day 99 Music Reviews The month’s essential new CD, vinyl and hi-res releases given a work out READER SERVICES 122 Reader Classifieds Sell your unwanted hi-fi for FREE here 130 Next Issue The sonic treats to look out for next month FEATURES 14 The Hi-Fi Show 2014 Didn’t go to the hottest audiophile show of the year? Fear not, here’s what you missed Portable and stay-at- 26 home DACs battle it out to find out which is 62 the top-dog USB offering 62 Topic Records The oldest independent record label in the world celebrates 75 successful years 86 Thud, Crackle, Pop Take a look at artist Pete McKee’s installation – a pop-up record shop with a diff erence 90 Beautiful System Pro-Ject and Acoustic Energy come together to create a stunning vinyl setup 94 Labelled With Love Few record labels define the word eclectic quite as well as Transatlantic Records 116 Guide To... 6 86 Looking after your record collection and ensuring it stays in tip-top condition Audiofile: Roksan’s new K3 Series Feature: Thud, Crackle Pop record shop 4 JANUARY 2015 CONTENTS JANUARY 2015 “To continually get the best from your vinyl, each record needs to 110 NAD PP 4 phono/USB premp be kept clean and stored properly” TESTED THIS MONTH Guide to... Looking after your record collection p116 REVIEWS Kit testing 20 Primare PRE32/A34.2 preamp/power amplifier 44 B.M.C. PureAmp integrated amplifier (Exotica) 48 Usher Audio N-6311 floorstanding loudspeaker 52 Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 V2 20 network music player/DAC Primare PRE32/A34.2 preamp/power amp 54 Edwards Audio SP2 floorstanding loudspeaker 59 Grado SR225e headphones 88 Musical Fidelity A1 integrated amplifier (retro) GROUP TEST USB DACs £165-£900 29 Denon DA-300USB 48 31 ADL X1 Usher Audio N-6311 44 33 Hegel HD12 DSD B.M.C. PureAmp integrated amplifier 35 Henry Audio USB DAC 128 mkII MINI TEST 37 iFi Nano iDSD Bluetooth DAB radios 39 LH Labs Geek Out M £180-£200 102 Ruark R1 Mk III 103 Pure Evoke D4 Mio Bluetooth 103 Revo SuperSignal 104 Philips Original Radio 52 CHOICE EXTRAS Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 V2 107 Bowers & Wilkins T7 Bluetooth loudspeaker 109 Kate Koeppel Record dividers 109 ISOkinetik Silver Melody 1.1 interconnect cables 110 NAD PP 4 phono USB preamp 113 Black Rhodium Samba VS-1 loudspeaker cable 115 Miyajima 90 54 Kotetu Mono MC cartridge Beautiful System Edwards Audio SP2 Never miss an issue – turn to p60 for our latest subs offer JANUARY 2015 5 THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS… Special K Roksan rolls out its new K3 series with integrated amp and CD player PRICE: £1,250 EACH AVAILABLE: NOW CONTACT: 01235 511166 WEB: HENLEYDESIGNS.CO.UK FOLLOWING THE DESERVED move towards high-end hi-fi , and are Bluetooth connectivity to enable acclaim for its Kandy K2 series of designed to challenge performance streamers to listen to tunes wirelessly. components alongside a clutch of expectations at the price. Inside the elegant new chassis of awards – including winning the Best The K3 Integrated Amplifi er offers the K3 Integrated Amplifi er, its new Stereo Integrated Amplifi er category connections for every eventuality to symmetrical layout offers improved for the K2 BT amp in our very own ensure it will remain a vital hub to all audio circuitry with new op-amps AVTech Media Awards 2014/15, your stereo audio sources for years to and Roksan claims it delivers a hefty Roksan has announced the come. As well as fi ve line-level inputs 140W into 8ohms. introduction of its K3 series. The there’s a built-in moving magnet Proving that CD players really aren’t London-based company has managed phono stage to appeal to new or a thing of the past, the new K3 deck to establish a very strong reputation reemerging vinyl fans, and aptX is based on the original K2 design. It over recent years with its entry-level Kandy K2 series, and the highly anticipated K3 series offers the next logical step up. Said to be inspired by the company’s more upmarket M2 range of components, distributor Henley Designs tells us that although the new series shares the Kandy name, the K3 products offer a signifi cant 6 JANUARY 2015 COMMENT SPOTIFY VS TAYLOR SWIFT Spotify has had it’s detractors over the years, but few can have caused the streaming service quite as much of a headache as pop sensation Taylor Swift. Though unlikely to be spinning on any HFC readers’ turntables, Swift is currently the biggest artist anywhere right now, with her latest album, 1989, selling an astonishing 1.287 million copies in its first adds new circuitry and high-grade Available in three brand new week. To put that into perspective, no other components to improve on fi nishes including charcoal, opium artist has had sales as significant as that performance, alongside a PCM1798 and anthracite, both components also since Eminem’s The Eminem Show in 2002. 24-bit/192kHz DAC. Digital outputs come supplied with a newly designed All of which made Swift’s decision to include AES/EBU XLR, coaxial RCA system remote to provide complete withdraw her entire back catalogue from and optical Toslink. Additionally control of all the commands on each Spotify the week before the release of there’s a variety of rarely found but of the components. the record-breaking album all the more useful features including Shuffl e Play, Both models are available to buy frustrating for the streaming service. Repeat Play (One and All) and Intro from your Roksan dealer now. Read The reasons given for the decision vary Play that are likely to further enhance our reviews on the new K3 series in depending on which particular quotes you the K3’s usability and appeal. these pages over the coming months. believe. Swift has been vocal about her dislike of piracy in the past and implications seem to be that she feels her ‘art’ is devalued by it being given away for free.