Category Reviews
REVIEW: Hands-on with mu-so by Naim
Much-anticipated all-in-one proves stylish and flexible – and it does ‘the Naim thing’, too! UPDATE: A new Naim control app for mu-so and other Naim network music products, mentioned in the review below, is now available for both iOS and Android smartphone and tablets. The new unified control app for Naim’s mu-so and the […]
REVIEW: Oppo PM-1 headphones
Beautifully presented high-end headphones also have a beautiful presentation UPDATE: Oppo has responded to those users wanting slightly more treble from their PM-1 headphones with the announcement of new earpads, designed to give a slight lift in the treble response while maintaining the existing midband and bass characteristics. The newly-designed earpads will be supplied as […]
REVIEW: Oppo HA-1 headphone amplifier
Bells, whistles and solid engineering in this all-in-one headphone amp and DAC, plus a smooth, confident sound to make the most of the superb PM-1 ‘phones Headphone amplifiers are clearly like buses: you wait ages for one, then two come along at once. And so it was, just as I was wrapping up my review […]
REVIEW: TEAC HA-P50 headphone amplifier
Compact and very capable, great-sounding and with a good range of digital input flexibility The boom in the sales of headphones has seen the hi-fi industry undergoing two changes: one is the large number of companies getting into the personal audio market with their own range of headphones, and the other is the appearance of […]
REVIEW: PJB H-850 headphones – why they beat Beats, and at a fraction of the price
With their roots in famous speakers and pro audio, these headphones deliver serious bass, and so musically they should be celebrated way beyond the studio or rehearsal room Products find their way to me for review in a variety of ways: some come as the result of a press release or are spotted at a […]
REVIEW: Cambridge Audio Azur 851E/851W
Heavyweight pre/power amplifier is a remarkable purist flagship for the value for money range This year marks two decades since London-based Audio Partnership acquired the Cambridge Audio brand, and in those 20 years the company has moved on from the initial budget amplifier offerings under the new ownership to a wide-ranging product portfolio. As well […]
REVIEW: Fiio X3 gets even better as new firmware adds DSD and a slicker interface
Free download improves the user-interface immensely, and the £160 digital media player now handles more music formats and plays them better, too The Fiio X3, the Chinese company’s great-sounding little digital media player, just keeps on getting better. You may have read my original review of this bargain-priced device back in August last year, and […]
REVIEW: Cocktail Audio X30
Slimline casework hides a real Swiss Army Knife hi-fi component: hard-disk player, amplifier, network music server/player, Internet radio and more Many people, it seems, want a simple solution to enable them to store and access their music collections: my usual advice to combine a computer with a dedicated network music player or network system cuts […]
REVIEW: Pro-Ject DAC Box DS
Fine-sounding converter is now even better value with DSD capability DSD: it’s a contentious subject among those interested in all things high-resolution. I’ve been subject to some quite scathing comments from some keyboard warriors for suggesting anyone should buy products not supporting DSD, which they see as the way, truth and light; others, meanwhile, see […]
REVIEW: Anthem MRX 510 AV receiver
AV receiver is smart, frill-free and flexible, but puts performance first – time to look beyond the usual surround suspects? My dabblings with home cinema tend to blow hot and cold: I seem to go through periods of watching a lot of films, concerts and the like from Blu-ray, and then settle back into listening […]
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