August 2021

Loudspeaker Reviews And More Within This Issue
We have the old, the new and the new posing as the old in this issue.
Editorial By Noel Keywood

  Perusing a forum discussion about transmission line loudspeakers then admiring Falcon Acoustics revivalist IMF 200 transmission line shortly due for release takes me back to the glory days, when loudspeakers were big. So big they arrived in a Pantechnicon, or that's what happened when Wharfedale sent me a pair of 2075s from Bradford. Tannoy deliveries, especially of the Westminsters we reviewed in the November 2015 issue, were similarly frightening.

And from speakers so large that's the sound you got too: frightening. I was reminded about all this when reviewing the DeVore Orangutans in this issue, that you can find on p10. This is a speaker with a generously large sound smoothly delivered. Those that like a big cabinet with looming presence will surely find the DeVore attractive – and its sound satisfying.

Then through our portals came another product whose design harks back to the old days. Those days, when products were fronted by circular meters, pre-date me and most readers I suspect, but Teac have invoked the idiom in the unlikely surroundings of a phono stage, the PE-505 reviewed on p71. What I don't say in the review is that it perfectly complemented our Icon Audio Stereo30 SE valve amplifier, in style and in sound. Technologically, a peculiar pairing because the Teac is in truth very modern under the skin, but a lovely combo all the same.

As a direct contrast to the Orangutan we decided to run the app controlled Devialet Phantom 1 Gold loudspeaker you can find on p62, another hi-end product with substantial price tag, yet massive ability. How different could two loudspeakers ever be?

Not all French manufacturers aim at the luxury market though. Bit like Renault, Triangle deliver a great product at a great price, one that mightily impressed John Pickford when he auditioned their BR03 loudspeaker, as you will find on p44.

We have the old, the new and the new posing as the old in this issue. I hope you enjoy reading all about them in another great issue of Hi-Fi World.

— Noel Keywood
Editor, HiFi World

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