Hi-Fi News & Record Review
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• SHOW BLOG BLOG SHOW • • OPINION OPINION • • PLUS • We visit Stockholm’s High End Show Show End High Stockholm’s visit We 12 pages of letters & comment comment & letters of pages 12 18 pages of music reviews & features features & reviews music of pages 18 • VINTAGE REVIEW VINTAGE • High-end cans on the move the on cans High-end • READERS’ CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS READERS’ • • VINYL RE-RELEASE RE-RELEASE VINYL • Oppo PM-3 Oppo ‘Le Player’/USB DAC Player’/USB ‘Le A&R Cambridge’s inaugural A60 amp A60 inaugural Cambridge’s A&R Metronome CD Metronome Led Zeppelin’s debut on 180g vinyl 180g on debut Zeppelin’s Led dZeppel Hi-Fi bargains galore bargains Hi-Fi Triode 25 tube amp tube 25 Triode pelin’s Unison Research Unison in ’s s s d debuton180gvinyl eb ut Cutting-edge floorstander Cutting-edge o n 18 KEF Blade 2 Blade KEF 0g v in yl UK £4.50 US $12.99 Aus $10.99 Aus $12.99 US £4.50 UK Battery-driven LP spinner LP Battery-driven Thales TTT-C Thales musical mystery, p22 mystery, musical Reviews Phase distortion Phase 1st In-depth 1st Constellation’s pure Inspiration amps Inspiration pure Constellation’s EXCLUSIVE! STAR TURNS STAR We unravel the unravel We DOUBLE INVESTIGATION JULY 2015 JULY OUT OF THE BLUE THE OF OUT ELO THE HOME OF REAL HI-FI REAL OF HOME THE IEW EV R N O C I L V V Y I N WWW.HIFINEWS.CO.UK 0) 683(5,253(5)250$1&(+($'3+21(6 Music Is Our Religion 9(5<+,*+48$/,7<086,&$/),'(/,7<'(6,*1(' %$/$1&('$50$785(1(2'<0,80'5,9(81,76 ZZZPXVLFDOÀGHOLW\FRP CONTENTS VINYL & RECORD REVIEWS NEWS AND OPINION 74 Classical Companion 13 Welcome Christopher Breunig’s guide to A message from the editor classical music continues with 14 News 15 JULY Beethhoven’s Pastoral Symphony Focal unveils Sopra speaker range, 76 Vinyl Release tube-based CD player from Icon As Led Zeppelin’s debut album is Audio, Wilson debuts diminutive reissued on 180g vinyl as part of a Sabrina fl oorstander, and more... series remastered by Jimmy Page, 16 Show Blog Steve Sutherland reminds us of the Exotic-looking turntables, majestic music that infl uenced their sound amps, mighty speakers and early 78 Vinyl Icon listens to new tech as we report ELO’s Out Of The Blue couldn’t from the Stockholm High End Fair have jarred more with the lo-fi DIY 22 Investigation punk ethic of the day yet it went Not everyone agrees on the effect on to be a runaway commercial that phase has on sound quality. success. Johnny Black fi nds out why 52 Benchmark SMS1 Keith Howard digs deep into the 84 Classic Rock Venues Brand best known for DACS and amps topic and also explains why speaker Steve Sutherland continues his tour branches out into speakers, with a phase distortion is tricky to measure of the world’s iconic rock venues at two-way, sealed-box standmount 103 Opinion California’s Coachella Festival 56 Cambridge Audio Azur 851N Insider comment on the audio 90 Music Reviews Something of a departure for the UK topics of the day from Paul Miller, Audiophile LPs, hi-res downloads company as its latest network player Barry Fox, Jim Lesurf, Steve Harris and the very latest rock, jazz and packs a DAC and a digital preamp and, writing from the US, Barry Willis classical albums reviewed 60 Unison Research Triode 25 112 Sound Off Anniversary valve amplifi er offers Help with restoring a B&O turntable DEFINITIVE PRODUCT REVIEWS switchable pentode and triode modes and receiver, seeking a modern amp along with a convenient USB input to replace an ’80s Krell, ripping 28 KEF Blade Two 64 Oppo PM-3 SACD to hi-res PCM, plus internet Company equips Blade loudspeaker Chinese fi rm expands its range of radio and BBC changes revisited with more compact drivers to add planar magnetic headphones with 138 Off The Leash appeal for those with smaller rooms keenly priced closed-back cans With the recent passing of two of 34 Constellation Audio 68 Acoustic Research AR-UA1 the high-end’s most important Inspiration Pre/Stereo 1.0 AR aims for the mass market with a fi gures, Ken Kessler takes time to New entry-level Inspiration pairing USB DAC and headphone amp said mark their contributions to audio from high-end amp manufacturer to offer high-end sound at a low price costs £20,000. Value for money? 40 Thales TTT-Compact VINTAGE Swiss deck boasts a battery-driven motor and a ‘tangential’ tonearm 118 Vintage Review comprising two tubes. We listen... How does the classic kit of yesteryear 44 Lehmann Audio Silver Cube measure up today? This month we With four gain settings the German test the A&R Cambridge A60 amp, company’s fl agship phono stage is which fi rst appeared in 1976 certainly fl exible. What of its sound? 124 From The Vault 46 Métronome Le Player This month’s pick of articles from From a manufacturer with a passion HFN’s archive is from 1980 where for top-loaders comes a machine Tomlinson Holman of THX talks power that simply plays CDs. Can it cut it? amps designed to drive ‘real’ speakers ABOVE: Our defi nitive fi ve-page Investigation on Phase Distortion LEFT: Easy to drive begins on p22 and able to rock BSCRIBE! out – the SMS1 from SUBSCRIBE! Benchmark marks the company’s fi rst foray into Special Christmas offer: the loudspeaker FREE!Three Audioquest’s issues for NRG-X3 just £3! market, p52 power cable See page 60888257 JULY 2015 | www.hifi news.co.uk | 3 851SERIES ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE OUR AWARD WINNING FLAGSHIP 851 SERIES IS DESIGNED WITHOUT COMPROMISE. EVERY COMPONENT HAS UNDERGONE THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING SO EACH ONE IS BUILT TO BE THE BEST AT WHAT IT DOES. THE RESULT? TRULY REFERENCE STANDARD AUDIO WHICH TAKES YOUR LISTENING EXPERIENCE TO NEW HEIGHTS. SHOWN HERE ARE: 851N NETWORK PLAYER 851C CD PLAYER, (851C) (851A) (851E+851W) (851C+851A) 851D DAC + PRE AMPLIFIER, 851W POWER AMPLIFIER 851 SERIES ARE AVAILABLE IN BLACK AND SILVER. 851N 851C 851D 851A 851E 851W UPSAMPLING CD PLAYER UPSAMPLING DAC INTEGRATED PRE-AMPLIFIER CLASS XD NETWORK PLAYER + PRE-AMPLIFIER + PRE-AMPLIFIER CLASS XD AMPLIFIER POWER AMPLIFIER + PRE-AMPLIFIER WWW.CAMBRIDGEAUDIO.COM /CAMBRIDGEAUDIO /CAMBRIDGEAUDIO /CAMBRIDGEAUDIO www.chord.co.uk Sarum Super ARAY “If you couldn’t hear the differences between these network cables you either weren’t listening or you are in denial” Close Roy Gregory, The Audio Beat To Yo u Designed and built to order in England by music lovers. Enjoyed by music lovers all over the world. The Chord Company Ltd, Millsway Centre, Amesbury SP4 7RX, UK To get more information and find your nearest retailer, please call us on: +44 (0)1980 625700 or visit: www.chord.co.uk REVOLUTION How could we improve the T+A R Series? After painstaking analysis, the only option was to start again from the ground up, using the latest techniques developed for our multi award-winning HV Series. Ultimately, the only facet that remains unchanged is the name, together with the original great idea: to design a collection of devices perfectly matched to each other, representing in terms of sound and technology the absolute extreme of what is possible in keeping with the R Series stylish yet compact form. The amplifiers of thenew R-series are of symmetrical construction, exploiting the double-mono principle and our High Voltage technology. The Multi-Source player features separate High-Resolution converters for DSD and PCM formats, whilst the audiophile turn- table can be fitted with various tone arms and cartridges. The previous R-series was considered the standard of perfection in casework, so we have raised the standard even higher, with the whole case now consisting of machined thick-walled aluminium. But even better than reading about our new R Series is to listen to it, and your specialist T+A dealer is already looking forward to seeing you. T+A elektroakustik GmbH & Co. KG · Planckstraße 9 – 11 · 32052 Herford · Germany · +49 (0) 5221-7676-0 · [email protected] · www.ta-hifi.com Hand built in Germany, the PA 2000 R, MP 2000 R and G 2000 R from T+A are available in the UK now. For more information or to arrange a demonstration, please contact: Dynaudio UK Tel: +44 (0)1353 721089 Email: [email protected] THIS IS WHERE THE QUANTUM LEAPS. THE NEW FOCUS XD SERIES. Reinventing the high-end loudspeaker. No more loss. No more compromise. Absolute Dynaudio precision. With 24 bit/192 kHz reproduction direct from [OLZV\YJL-\SS`KPNP[HS^P[O+:7HUKOPNOYLZWV^LY+(*>P[OH^H[[KPNP[HSHTWSPÄLYMVYLHJOVM[OL\S[YH powerful Esotec+ drive units. For a true revelation in tonal beauty, depth and musicality. An earth-moving experience. Coming to you in benchmark (Focus 600 XD), elegant (Focus 400 XD) and bookshelf (Focus 200 XD) format. (UK^OPSL^L^LYLH[P[^LYLKLÄULK^PYLSLZZOPÄ[VV^^^K`UH\KPVJVTMVJ\Z_K All there is. :-689373 +++++ PIHXS%VGEQ´W½RIWXIZIVEQTPM½IVXLIRI[ %MRXIKVEXIHEQTPM½IV-XWYPXVEVI½RIHGPEWW+XSTSPSK] WIXWRI[WXERHEVHWSJTIVJSVQERGI%REYHMXMSR[MPPGSR½VQ XLEXTS[IVMWRSXLMRK[MXLSYXGSRXVSP %VGEQ´W+GPEWWEQTPM½GEXMSRTVSZMHIWXLITIVJIGXFEPERGISJ YPXVEPS[HMWXSVXMSRERHIRSVQSYWTS[IV=SYGERVIEHEPP EFSYXXLMW[SVPHGPEWWXIGLRSPSK]F]ZMWMXMRKSYV[IFWMXI [[[EVGEQGSYO BRINGING MUSIC AND MOVIES TO LIFE JUL/15 RIGHT: Oppo’s headphones just keep getting better, and more affordable! We bench ever let it be said test the ‘portable’ PM-3 that Hi-Fi News planar magnetics on p62 doesn’t respond to the issues, Nquestions and misconceptions that keep its readers up into the wee small hours, even if it means sacrifi cing the odd sacred cow.