Volume 6 No. 4

 

Reviewed In This Issue
2 FM RADIO AND DAB
Editorial By Paul Messenger

4 STAN'S SAFARI No20
Start-up companies represent the lifeblood of the hi-fi industry, but they face many difficulties today

6 CLASSIC REVIVALIST
The SP Acoustics SP1 takes a classic-nostalgic design concept and applies the very latest component technologies

8 LETTER FROM SHENZHEN
Peter Comeau reports on the changing working conditions and the increasing wealth of Chinese consumers

10 DAB MYTHS – THE STEAMROLLER
LURCHES ON
Roger Sinden examines the disaster that is DAB digital radio, and the authorities' attempts to deny the fact

14 GATHERING MOMENTUM
Dan D'Agostino's new power amps prove that there's life beyond Krell

18 DISCRETE REGULATION
Upgrading a Naim SuperCap to DR spec can transform the SuperLine phono stage

20 BEAUTIFUL BODNAR?
This single-driver speaker might not look pretty, but it's remarkable value for money

22 AND ONE FOR ALL
The latest electronics developments have enabled Naim to create the ‘one box does all' NaimUniti 

25 RIPPING YARNS
Jason Kennedy discovers networks can sound better than computers

26 ULTIMATE VINYL
Thrax creates the remarkable Orpheus phono stage with triodes and exotic inductors

28 ANNA
Ortofon's latest high end cartridge is named after operatic soprano Anna Netrebko

30 THE TONY FAULKNER INTERVIEW
Tony Faulkner talks about making his huge back-catalogue available as hi-res downloads

33 USB CABLES COMPARED
Martin Colloms tries some fifteen USB cables, and discovers some quite obvious differences

36 DAC WITH TUBES
Audio Research comes up with an artful chip'n'valve combination for its REF DAC Digital Media Bridge

38 TRUMPING THE OCTAVE
Metrum acoustics' Hex represents a one-box upgrade over the successful Octave

40 ULTIMATE COMPUTER AUDIO?
CAD's USB-only DAC is designed to get the very best audio quality from a computer

42 DOUBLE MAGIC
Cambridge's DacMagic adds a Plus, so Martin Colloms and Paul Messenger see if the upgrade is worthwhile

44 BULLY FOR YOU!
Bret D'Agostino's new US operation plans to make affordable high end products

46 A FINE IDEA
Avalon's smallest floorstander provides a new entry point to this high end specialist's range

49 EXTRA-NEAT NEAT
A tiny loudspeaker for a tiny room, for music-while-you-work on a desktop

50 HIFICRITIC AWARDS
A selection of superior hi-fi equipment culled from our history and experience

52 JAZZ PICKS
A selection of recent (and not so recent) jazz releases

55 THE BEST OF CLASSICAL
Colin Anderson's classical selection

58 ROCK, POP AND OTHER NICE MUSIC
Recent highlights from the pop and rock canon

60 SUBJECTIVE SOUNDS
A toe in the room treatment water

 

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