Home  Hi-Fi Audio Reviews  Audiophile Shows Partner Mags  News     

  High-End High-Performance Audiophile Review Magazine & Hi-Fi Audio Equipment Reviews

  High-Performance Audio Reviews
  Music News, Show Reports, And More!

  Celebrating 29 Years Of Service To Music Lovers

 

Enjoy the Music.com
Hi-Fi World
May 2014
In This Issue... Class D, Tweeters And Cables
Editorial By Noel Keywood

 

In This Issue... Class D, Tweeters And Cables By Noel Keywood Hi-Fi World May 2014  The only innovation in amplifiers has been the rise of Class D. It's cheap and it can be made to work well, as NuForce and Hypex show. One of the problems facing Class D is old-fashioned Class A. Spend time with a good Class A and you'll realise that all others are losing something. And that's what we found yet again with Sugden's quietly impressive FPA-4 Class A amplifier, reviewed by Jon Myles (see p10) this month. Like earlier Sugdens, notably the A21SE we used as a reference until it was sold from under us (!), the FPA-4 needs a little understanding. It didn't suit Tannoy DC10As, Martin Logan Electromotion hybrid electrostatics or Usher N-6311s, all good loudspeakers – but it flew with Quadral Wotan VIIIs.

Their ribbon tweeter revealed the FPA-4's superb treble, whilst slightly underdamped bass suited the Sugden's reticent bottom end. OK, we couldn't party with it, there wasn't enough volume, but we were impressed by a Class A that has been developed over the years to stay ahead of the whizziest latest technologies.

A fascinating press release arrived at our Editorial in-box the other day. Yet again, Russ Andrews has had a complaint made over claims that his cables – in this case mains cables – improve sound quality. A persistent anonymous complainant, obviously an engineer of the fundamentalist sort, persuaded the Advertising Standards Authority to investigate. The ASA “told Russ Andrews not to imply that RFI from mains electricity was a perceptible problem or that their products could reduce mains-borne RFI, unless they held robust substantiation to show that was the case”.

In response Russ Andrews got 3C Test Ltd., an independent UKAS Accredited EMC certified test facility, to test the cables and they found they did suppress RF noise. Consequently, the ASA threw out the complaint. Similarly, What Hi-Fi have suffered two ASA investigations about ‘misleading' reviews of cable sound quality and successfully defended both.

Cables clearly do affect sound quality and readers usually report the effect significant. Happily, dealers commonly allow home demo of cables, so try before you buy. I hope we can cover this controversial subject in more detail in a forthcoming issue.

--- Noel Keywood, editor.

 

Subscribe!
Click here to subscribe to Hi-Fi World

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
 

Quick Links


Premium Audio Review Magazine
High-End Audiophile Equipment Reviews

 

Equipment Review Archives
Turntables, Cartridges, Etc
Digital Source
Do It Yourself (DIY)
Preamplifiers
Amplifiers
Cables, Wires, Etc
Loudspeakers/ Monitors
Headphones, IEMs, Tweaks, Etc
Superior Audio Gear Reviews

 

 


Show Reports
HIGH END Munich 2024
AXPONA 2024 Show Report
Montreal Audiofest 2024 Report

Southwest Audio Fest 2024
Florida Intl. Audio Expo 2024
Capital Audiofest 2023 Report
Toronto Audiofest 2023 Report
UK Audio Show 2023 Report
Pacific Audio Fest 2023 Report
T.H.E. Show 2023 Report
Australian Hi-Fi Show 2023 Report
...More Show Reports

 

Videos
Our Featured Videos

 


Industry & Music News

High-Performance Audio & Music News

 

Partner Print Magazines
audioXpress
Australian Hi-Fi Magazine
hi-fi+ Magazine
Sound Practices
VALVE Magazine

 

For The Press & Industry
About Us
Press Releases
Official Site Graphics

 

 

 

     

Home   |   Hi-Fi Audio Reviews   |   News   |   Press Releases   |   About Us   |   Contact Us

 

All contents copyright©  1995 - 2024  Enjoy the Music.com®
May not be copied or reproduced without permission.  All rights reserved.