COMPETITION QUAD WIN a PRO-JECT PHONO BOX S2 ULTRA WORTH VENA £200! (UK ONLY) AUDIOLAB 8300 CDQ Cd Player Integrated Amplifier
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VINYL NEWS AND REVIEWS SECTION SEE PAGE 80 HI-FIHI-FIJUNE 2019 UK £4.50 WORLDWORLDwww.hi-fiworld.co.uk FREE READER CLASSIFIED ADS IN THIS ISSUE! ! Exclusive COMPETITION QUAD WIN A PRO-JECT PHONO BOX S2 ULTRA WORTH VENA £200! (UK ONLY) AUDIOLAB 8300 CDQ cd player integrated amplifier SME SYNERGY turntable JUNE 2019 NAD D 3020 V2 hybrid digital amplifier LEEMA ELEMENTS STREAMER iBASSO IT01S IN-EARPHONES PSB ALPHA P5 LOUDSPEAKERS MEASUREMENT SIVE! COWON PLENUE PD2 HI-RESOLUTION PLAYER EXCLU SIX PAGES OF LETTERS - THE BEST WINS A KEF EGG WIRELESS DIGITAL MUSIC SYSTEM! (UK ONLY) [master] The definitive version. Ultimate performance, bespoke audiophile cable service. Chord Company Signature, Sarum and ChordMusic form the vanguard of our cable ranges and feature our latest conductor, insulation and connector technology. High-end audiophile quality at a realistic price and each one built to your specific requirements. Book a demonstration and hear the difference for yourself. Designed and hand-built in England since 1985 by a dedicated team of music-lovers. Investigate the full product ranges and find your nearest Chord Company retailer at www.chord.co.uk chordco-ad-HFW-MAR19-MASTER-002.indd 1 07/03/2019 11:34:27 welcome EDITOR he LP and the CD after it assembled music tracks onto a disc in pre- Noel Keywood packaged form. You might only end up wanting or enjoying half of e-mail: [email protected] the content – but too bad. You paid for the lot. It all seemed logical at the time, since the alternative to the LP was the bulky single and DESIGN EDITOR changing these every 5 minutes to hear tracks rather than albums Faiza Chunara would have been an evening’s marathon. tel: +44 (0) 20 8206 6018 Prepackaged music went out of the window when MP3 players arrived, e-mail: [email protected] T epitomised by Apple’s once-dominant iPod. Now, we had PRODUCTION EDITOR individual tracks rather than albums – and track listings. The difficulty here David Noble is sorting and accessing thousands of tracks. We could all remember album tel: +44 (0) 20 8206 6017 names like Hotel California, Abbey Road and such like, since albums not only e-mail: [email protected] carried songs but also an underlying message of the time: a story, a view, their own rhetoric even. They were easy to remember. But individual tracks? It’s like SALES MANAGER remembering the names of ants. Louise Palfrey Enter meta-data, that list of info appended to digital files with Artist, Title, mob: +44 (0) 7917 047 548 Date, Genre and what have you. Even more data – and to use it you must e-mail: [email protected] be able to read it, necessitating a screen. But small screens on a piece of hi-fi ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE equipment are illegible at a distance, so that’s a bad idea. The obvious solution Joanna Holmes is a screen in the hand – and what more obvious a choice than a mobile ‘phone. mob: + 44 (0) 7958 602 347 It’s already been paid for, so doesn’t add to equipment cost. e-mail: [email protected] In effect when a manufacturer uses a control app on a ‘phone or iPad he is relieved of that cost elsewhere, on the product itself or as a remote control PUBLISHER Noel Keywood possibly. No wonder then that now, as we listen to tracks stored on Flash e-mail: [email protected] Drives, computers or on the ‘net by a music provider such as Spotify, Tidal or iTunes, the use of an app on ‘phone or tablet is becoming ever more popular. FREE READERS CLASSIFIEDS And Leema’s Elements Streamer we review on p41 exemplifies this approach. tel: +44 (0) 20 8 206 6017 Blindingly simple in construction – just a case with a light – it acts as a do-it-all e-mail: [email protected] digital player. Don’t miss our review where you can read about the trials and tribulations of such a source, but also the benefits. SUBSCRIPTIONS At the other end of the scale comes SME's new Synergy turntable. A fabulous construction in tel: + 44 (0) 1442 820 580 typical no-compromise style, this source offers a fabulous if expensive way to hear what lies in the fax: + 44 (0) 1442 827 912 latest vinyl. Our in-depth review on p83 peers into the issues behind disc spinning at the highest e-mail: [email protected] quality levels possible. PHOTOGRAPHY I hope you enjoy our breadth of coverage in this latest great issue, with informed views on all David Noble the latest in high quality audio. tel: +44 (0) 20 8206 6017 Noel Keywood WRITERS Editor Paul Rigby, Jon Myles, Martin Pipe, David Tutt. testing (see www.hi-fiworld.co.uk for full explanations of all our tests) hi-fi world To ensure the upmost accuracy in our product reviews, analyser, using pulsed and gated sinewaves, in a large Audio Web Publishing Hi-Fi World has extremely comprehensive in-house test room to eliminate the room’s influence. Pickup arm Studio 204, facilities, and our test equipment - from big names like vibration is measured with a Bruel & Kjaer accelerometer. Buspace Studio, Conlan Street, Rohde & Schwarz and Hewlett Packard - is amongst the No other UK hi-fi magazine has in-house testing, and London W10 5AP most advanced in the world. none has access to such advanced tests across all types www.hi-fiworld.co.uk Loudspeakers are measured using a calibrated Bruel of equipment. That's why you can depend on Hi-Fi World & Kjaer microphone feeding a Clio-based computer reviews. verdicts OUTSTANDING amongst the best EXCELLENT extremely capable GOOD worth auditioning MEDIOCRE unremarkable POOR flawed £ VALUE keenly priced ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE Go to our website www.hi-fiworld.co.uk to buy an electronic version of this magazine, individual issues, back issues or a subscription. Distributed by Select Publisher Services Ltd. P.O. Box 6337, Bournemouth, BH1 9EH UK Tel +44 (0) 1202 586848 Printed by Precision Colour Printing Halesfield 1, Stirchley, Telford TF7 4QQ, United Kingdom Tel: + 44 (0) 1952 585585 Our Agents in Malaysia Millennium Hi-Fi & AV Simon Chang Showroom & office, 500-1-3 First Floor Wisma Indah (Shen Court), Jalan Tun Razak 50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: 603 9283 8171 Fax: 603 9281 3762 e-mail: [email protected] All unsolicited submissions and goods are at the owner’s risk. We accept no responsibility for such submissions, nor do we undertake to return them. No material may be reproduced from this magazine without the publisher’s written permission. © Audio Web Publishing Ltd www.hi-fiworld.co.uk JUNE 2019 HI-FI WORLD 3 contents LOUDSPEAKERS PSB ALPHA SERIES P5 LOUDSPEAKERS 18 Jon Myles listens to new budget standmount loudspeakers from PSB of Canada. DIGITAL NAD D 3020 V2 HYBRID DIGITAL AMPLIFIER 20 Martin Pipe checks out the digital successor to NAD's renown QUAD VENA II AMPLIFIER budget amplifier. 10 COWON PLENUE PD2 HI-RES PLAYER 27 A tiny pocket wizard player impresses Noel Keywood. LEEMA ELEMENTS STREAMER 41 Noel Keywood and Jon Myles tackle a fascinating new streamer from Leema. AMPLIFICATION QUAD VENA II AMPLIFIER 10 An amplifier that does it all – just about – impresses Noel 18 PSB ALPHA SERIES P5 LOUDSPEAKERS Keywood. CD PLAYER AUDIOLAB 8300 CDQ CD PLAYER 50 ...and what a CD player! Or preamp, or... Jon Myles explains. 41 LEEMA ELEMENTS STREAMER 50 AUDIOLAB 8300 CDQ CD PLAYER 83 SME SYNERGY TURNTABLE 4 HI-FI WORLD JUNE 2019 www.hi-fiworld.co.uk JUNE 2019 VOLUME 29 : NO. 4 FEATURES 46 BALANCED CABLES FEATURE Get your hi-fi into balance with this in-depth guide that explains the benefits. Noel Keywood navigates. OLDE WORLDE 54 TECHNICS 1200/10 Martin Pipe talks about one of the most popular turntables of all time, Technics SL-1200. 20 NAD D 3020 V2 HYBRID DIGITAL AMPLIFIER VINYL 80 NEWS All the latest and greatest vinyl releases for you, from the pen of Paul Rigby HEADPHONES 59 iBASSO IT01S 83 SME SYNERGY TURNTABLE Jon Myles listens to an interesting pair in new in-ear monitors. A high-end all-in-one turntable package, reviewed by Noel Keywood. 90 TURNTABLE TWEAKING REGULARS How do you get the best from your record player? Paul Rigby 7 NEWS explains. Words from the world... 93 AUDIOPHILE BOOK 15 COMPETITION The Art of Sound: A Visual History for Audiophiles, reviewed by Your chance to win a Pro-Ject Phono Box S2 Ultra worth £299! Paul Rigby. 24 SUBSCRIPTIONS Ensure your copy every month and save money too! 34 MAIL Six pages of your views, wonderful as always... 62 AUDIOPHILE CD Paul Rigby rounds up the latest audiophile CD releases 65,67,69,71,73 OPINION The team get to grips with matters music, hi-fi and life! 74 WORLD CLASSICS Brilliant designs that have stood the test of time... 92 DIAL-A-DEALER A comprehensive guide to UK hi-fi retailers. 95 CLASSIFIEDS Second-hand bargains. 96 NEXT MONTH What we hope to bring you in the next sizzling issue... 97 ADVERTISERS' INDEX 98 CLASSIC CUTS Curtis Mayfield, Keep On Keeping On, by Paul Rigby. www.hi-fiworld.co.uk JUNE 2019 HI-FI WORLD 5 NEWS newsemail:[email protected] NOW THAT’S WHAT YOU CALL A SYSTEM! The 1871-vintage Royal Albert Hall, famous to many readers as the venue for the annual BBC Proms, has just completed a £2m acoustic makeover – the most significant change to its auditorium since acoustic ‘mush- rooms’ were installed back in 1969.