Volume 5 No. 4     October To December 2011

 

Reviewed In This Issue
2 EDITORIAL BY PAUL MESSENGER
The business of reviewing hi-fi products and field-coil speakers.

4 STAN’S SAFARI No 16
Stan tiptoes with some trepidation into the murky jungle of hi-fi cables

7 LETTER FROM SHENZHEN
Peter Comeau examines Chinese attitudes to Western brands and products

9 GAME-CHANGING DAC
This radical Dutch DAC delivers excellent sound quality at a realistic price

12 "ANYBODY CAN MAKE A GOOD PROTOTYPE"
When developing the RubiKon subchassis, Mark Holterman found the road from prototype to production littered with obstacles

15 ELECTROMOTION
Does this MartinLogan hybrid provide the best of both worlds?

18 WHAT PRICE MAGNETS?
Neodymium alloy was the loudspeaker magnetic material of choice, until China suddenly and dramatically increased the price

20 BUILD YOUR OWN NAS
Malcolm Steward delves into the murky world of network assisted storage

24 RIPPING YARNS
Mac-oriented Jason Kennedy explores the world of computer ripping software

25 A QUESTION OF BALANCE
Stan Curtis examines the ins, outs, pluses and minuses of balanced mains operation

28 TRIPLE ‘A’ RATED?
Martin Colloms checks out the Apollon Audio Apache, which looks remarkably good
value for money

30 GOOD VALUE VALVES?
The Jolida name is currently controversial, but this new-to-the UK valve amp looks promising value

32 SMALL AND BEAUTIFUL
AudioSmile takes a radical hybrid-active approach in adding bass to its sub-miniature Kensai

34 HERESY: THE BABY AND THE BATHWATER
Absolute Sounds’ Ricardo Franassovici casts a sceptical eye over computer audio

36 MSB PLATINUM SERIES IV
MSB makes some of the best DACs around, but choosing the right combination of options can be tricky

43 NEW GURU
This unusual little Swedish speaker has just undergone a Mk2 makeover

45 THE SUPRAVOX FIELD-COIL
Chris Bryant tries out a simple full range driver with an electromagnet motor

48 SIX HEADPHONES
For use at home and/or on the move, the iPod has made headphones fashionable again

50 THE VOICE OF VOXATIVE
Ines Adler describes how she developed the Voxativ full range drive units

53 BITS & PIECES
MC and PM provide short reports on several interesting new components

55 THE BEST OF CLASSICAL
Colin Anderson selects some recent classical music releases

58 ROCK, POP & OTHER NICE MUSIC
Nigel Finn picks half a dozen new rock & pop releases

60 SUBJECTIVE SOUNDS
Paul Messenger spends a fascinating day with the guys from Nordost 

 

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