What Hi-Fi? September 2015

In some ways the resurgence of vinyl is only a bit of a red herring. Its days as a mainstream format are unarguably long since over – but I think the recent upswing in sales of turntables and, ahem, LP records has more to it than fashionable posturing à la breakfast-cereal restaurants, knitting or unmanageable beards. Because just as it’s difficult to argue against the sheer inconvenience of vinyl, it’s hard to make a case against the quality of the sound a well-sorted turntable is capable of. Turn to the four good/great/outstanding-yet-affordable turntables(p44)to find out exactly how true this is. No matter the initial reason consumers are beginning to (re)acquaint themselves with the charms and shortcomings of vinyl as a format, its sonic benefits will be obvious. There’s life in the…

Pioneer VSX 930 Group test p38 “A talented performer, and proof that treating your home cinema to Dolby Atmos doesn’t have to cost the earth” Becky Roberts Staff writer Chord Hugo TT Temptation p70 “It’s a better-sounding version of the standard Hugo. What’s not to like?” Ketan Bharadia Technical editor Roku 2 First test p19 “Possibly the best-value streaming box out right now” Ced Yuen News editor Apple Music First test p28 “Well curated playlists, great recommendations and a zippy interface that keeps you listening” Kashfia Kabir First Tests editor UE Roll First test p16 “As bold as it is brilliant, the UE Roll is the perfect on-the-go musical companion” Verity Burns Multimedia editor ProAc Studio 118 First test p24 “An energetic sounding speaker that’s hard to find any fault with” Andrew Murphy Staff writer…

If these new Bronze 2s give you a sense of déjà vu, that’s exactly what Monitor Audio intended. Seeing no reason to mess with a successful formula, instead it has chosen the door marked ‘Evolution’, and introduced a whole raft of engineering changes, making these arguably the most complete Bronze standmounters yet. Launched in 2000, the original Bronze series was the entry point into Monitor Audio’s range. Five generations on, it remains at the core of the company’s product output, with the ‘2’ standmounter in particular a cornerstone of the brand. Smart cosmetics While the model’s appearance has hardly changed from the last generation, pretty much everything else has. Both drive units are new. They still use Monitor Audio’s C CAM (ceramic-coated aluminium magnesium) diaphragms, but beyond that much has been revised. The…

1 Opening the Monitor Audio Bronze 2s’ box, we’re confused. Check we haven’t got old ones out by accident. We haven’t 2 These are smart. We can’t think of another company that dresses box speakers so well, and for such an affordable price too. 3 We prefer using biwire form. The differences aren’t massive but the speakers do become more spacious and insightful. 4 Listening to music, we’re impressed by the scale and dynamic reach. The large cabinet and mid/bass driver helps. 5 The Bronze 2s sound at home on a range of music, delivering strong dynamics with subtlety. Highly capable performers.…

1 Traditional gold dome The traditional gold dome looks the same, but changes in the geometry have improved high frequency extension and behaviour at break-up 2 Venting system The main upgrade to the tweeter is a venting system that allows the air directly behind the dome to leak into the chamber below. 3 New cone The new cone may have improved rigidity and have a greater radiating area but wouldn’t work so well without this inverted surround 4 Clever bolting system There are no traditional fixing bolts for this mid/bass. It is held from the back with a bolt which screws into here…

What does it mean when your hi-fi equipment empathises with you? It’s too early in the morning, and, if truth be told, we aren’t really morning people. Nor, judging by the time it takes to wake up and stick out its tongue for us to feed it a CD, is the Arcam CDS27. End-of-the-world urgency This combination CD/SACD player and streamer looks sleek, its black metal shell in keeping with the rest of the company’s FMJ line – and, when it’s ready, the opening thump and shimmer to 65daysofstatic’s Prisms doesn’t sound bad at all. There is a good anchor to the bass and the synthesizer flashes to demonstrate a fine amount of detail and wide dynamic range. There’s plenty of insight here, and a pleasing degree of precision to the way notes…