Hi-Fi Choice October 2021
Hi-Fi Choice is the essential guide to audio excellence in the home. It is a no-nonsense guide to the finest products available, from vinyl and valves, to multi-channel digital audio and high-fidelity video. Hi-Fi Choice sorts the best from the rest with rigorous test processes and a highly experienced team of reviewers.
in this issue
welcome
These are exciting times. So exciting, in fact, that just as we were passing for press we were invited to visit Bowers & Wilkins in Worthing to witness the launch of its new 800 Series Diamond speaker range. What could be more brilliant? Not a lot as it happens, but the trouble is our Audiofile News section was already full to overflowing and neatly laid-out with other ace launches so that’s why – the eagle-eyed among you may already have clocked – there’s an unusual Audiofile Extra on p66 especially created to accommodate the breaking story. Every month lately it’s seemed incumbent upon us to run an explanatory feature on some new technology or other. Over the last few issues we’ve had the lowdown on NFTs and Spatial Sound and now…
california dreaming
PRICE: £1,000-£1,500 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: JBL.COM US COMPANY JBL is launching two new products this month – the L52 Classic bookshelf loudspeaker and the JBL L75ms Music System. The L52 is in the same range as the larger L100 Classic and L82 Classic (HFC 473) models, the company claiming its compact size: “allows it to work in a variety of applications from standmount, to bookshelf, to tabletop, to wall-mount”. A two-way design utilising a 19mm titanium dome tweeter mated to an acoustic lens waveguide and a 133mm white cone, cast-frame mid/bass driver, the L52 boasts a premium crossover network design, while the company says its front panel HF level attenuator: “allows the sound to be tailored to its environment”. Enclosure tuning is bass-reflex via a front-firing tuned port, while a set of binding…
the cartridge family
PRICE: £2,300-£5,000 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: DS-AUDIO-W.BIZ JAPAN’S DS AUDIO is releasing a new addition to its third generation of optical cartridges in the form of the DS003, an update of the DS002 incorporating innovations from the company’s more expensive flagship Grand Master. DS explains: “like the Grand Master, the new DS003 features a comprehensively re-designed optical system. Its independent LEDs and photo-detectors for the left and right channels deliver a significant increase in the cartridge’s output voltage, from 40mV to 70mV… achieved without compromising the signal-to-noise ratio; in fact the ratio has been further upgraded, giving the DS003 an even lower noise floor and greater musical clarity than its predecessors.” The company also claims the new design has eliminated crosstalk: “greatly improving left and right channel separation, particularly at higher frequencies”. Featuring a smaller…
pro-active
PRICE: £700 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: HENLEYAUDIO.CO.UK AUSTRIA’S PRO-JECT AUDIO Systems is releasing a new turntable, the Debut PRO, the first of the Debut models to feature the company’s carbon-aluminium one-piece tonearm technology. Pro-Ject explains that: “the 8.6in tube is incredibly light and rigid, utilising the light-weight, sturdy characteristics of carbon fibre and combining it with aluminium for its added damping properties and better electrical shielding, resulting in improved resistance to external interferences”. The tonearm, which can be adjusted for accurate azimuth and VTA, is finished with a new CNC-milled aluminium bearing block with special bearings, highpurity copper internal tonearm wiring and a shielded junction box with gold-plated RCA output connectors. The tonearm is supplied with the new Pick it PRO moving-magnet cartridge pre-installed and aligned. For the Pick it PRO, Pro-Ject says it…
hi frequency
PRICE: £89-£135 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: SOUNDTECH.CO.UK AUSTRIAN AUDIO IS launching two new sets of cans – the Hi-X15 closed-back headphones and the Bluetooth-equipped Hi-X25BT. The company claims that the: “sophisticated folding design of the Hi-X15, rare in this price range, makes them easy to store and carry. They are incredibly robust, thanks to the durable all-metal hinge and bow. The closed construction and insulation of the Hi-X15 headphones open up numerous potential areas of use: studio recording sessions, a monitor on stage and a reliable companion in the rehearsal room. They’re also well suited when enjoying music at home or going out on tour.” Hi fidelity The Hi-X15 measures 205 x 170 x 80mm (WxHxD) and weighs 255g without the detachable 1.4m cable. Optional cables of different lengths are also available. It’s priced at…
streamlover
PRICE: £4,600 AVAILABLE: NOW WEB: AURALIC.COM AURALIC HAS LAUNCHED the Altair G2.1 Digital Audio Streamer, which the company reveals: “has been developed with properties and features that ensure its performance is considered next-level, and allow for it to be used as a standalone preamplifier”. It features analogue volume control, similar to that on the company’s Vega G2.1 (HFC 476) and based on a resistive ladder design, designed to provide an ultra-quiet signal, no matter the input. Class A Orfeo output modules allow for an ultra-low-noise and low-distortion signal in the analogue domain. Altair G2.1 also houses two separate all-analogue inputs, completely bypassing the digital structure and maintaining a pure analogue signal from input to out. The first is a line-level analogue input, including home theatre bypass and the second is an in-house…
