Volume 9 No. 4
October / November / December 2015

Reviewed In This Issue

2 Have High-End Audio Preamplifiers Lost Their Credibility?
Editorial By Paul Messenger

4 Stan's Safari No32
In planning his 'definitive speaker system', Stan explains why he's going for high efficiency.

6 Ophidian Loudspeakers
Paul Messenger tries out the Minimo, Mojo, and Mambo transmission line speaker designs from the Wirral.

8 Designing Out The Room
Billed as 'the future of sound', the very complex Beolab 90 might well be the first step in room-proofing loudspeakers, as Andrew Everard and Martin Colloms explain.

14 G9 Audio Nero MKII
This massive and costly valve amplifier combo shows that hi-fi is alive and well in Russia. Paul Messenger investigates.

16 Metrum Pavane DAC
Metrum is becoming more complex and moving more upmarket. Chris Bryant checks out its Pavane DAC.

18 Audio Note Kegon Balanced
Kevin Fiske reviews a valve power amp that's actually the most costly HIFICRITIC has yet tried in terms of pounds per Watt.

21 Request The Beast
Martin Colloms assesses an SSD audiophile server/DAC/pre-amp, conceived in the USA and built in Switzerland.

24 Neat Momentum SX3i
Is the SX3i really larger inside than out? Martin Colloms poses and answers the question.

26 Naim NAP 300 DR
Chris Binns tries out one of Naim's recently revised power amplifiers.

29 Bowers & Wilkins 803 D3
Andrew Everard reports on an all-new model that joins a re-invented flagship speaker range.

32 Constellation's Inspiration
Constellation's Inspiration combo consists of a pre-amp 1.0 and two mono 1.0 power amplifiers. Martin Colloms and Jose Victor Henriques listen to it.

36 A New World Order?
Julian Musgrave suggests that the very nature of change in high end audio has itself changed. We might not always agree, but his polemic makes fascinating reading.

40 Entotem Plato
Chris Bryant tries out the all-singing-and-dancing Plato, with a second opinion by Paul Messenger.

43 Gryphon Diablo 300
Is this integrated amplifier just an example of brute force industrial design or does it really deliver £12,000 worth of sound? José Victor Henriques reports.

46 Q Acoustics 3050
Martin Colloms gets very enthusiastic about a surprisingly inexpensive pair of floorstanding loudspeakers.

48 Roksan Darius
Paul Messenger tries out a costly but classy and attractively styled stand-mount.

50 Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800
Martin Colloms assesses Musical Fidelity's high power, line input, valve/transistor hybrid integrated amplifier.

52 Bits
Short reviews on various different cables.

53 Chord Mojo
Rafael Todes gets to try out a Mojo.

54 Jazz Picks
Greg Drygala picks a handful of recent jazz releases.

56 The Best Of Classical
Colin Anderson picks a handful of recent classical releases.

58 Rock, Pop And Other Nice Music
The Chord Company's Nigel Finn seems to be in a nostalgic mood this month.

60 Subjective Sounds
Paul Messenger discovers a fascinating German brand called Phöress.

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