similar to the Robin, as one would expect given their obvious similarity. I prefer the style, and they’re as impeccable in build and finish as any other Sivga headphone I’ve tried. Unlike plastic-laden rivals for similar money, they should last a lifetime if you look after them.
Resurrecting an original Cambridge Audio A5 integrated amp. A very clean sounding amp, that sounds a lot more powerful than it is. Quite capable of cranking out the tunes into the right speakers; just know its limits.
The DIY preamplifier kit from Hypex is a brand new product fresh off the production line. It is a fully analogue design with modern conveniences including remote control, flexible signal routing, and a large monochrome display. Herein I document the build and show how easy it is for anyone to construct this high-end preamp, regardless of experience or technical ability.
4 Can you assemble a puzzle? If so, you can put together a Hypex amplifier. Herein the build of the new Hypex Nilai500 DIY monoblock power amplifiers.
A tiny top flight tuner and Bluetooth receiver that offers excellent performance and clever BestTune tech.
Too expensive for what it is, with much better systems even from majority themselves available for similar money. It does have a nice tuner though, useful alarm and timer functions, handy Bluetooth connectivity and USB playback.
9 A diminutive little box, in which is a simple but objectively and subjectively top-class circuit typology. The Spartan series should be underlined at the top of your shortlist. They represent high-end objective performance and save you a boatload of cash.
2 The objective of hi-fi is to reproduce the source as accurately as possible, and that is pure transparency. That’s what the ZEN stream offers.
The MX Stream delivers bit-perfect audio to your DAC of choice and does so without character, noise or fuss.
1 Have you ever typed “amplifier” in to Amazon or eBay? Do so, and you’ll find a plethora of […]
Cutting-edge Bluetooth headphones for the wifi generation, packing some of the best tech currently available, supporting the latest wireless codecs, offering outstanding comfort, portability and battery life, and with some of the best planar-magnetic headphone drivers on the market. They may not be pure STAX, but they’re worthy of the STAX name through and through.
1 If you’re buying these primarily to listen to music, I would certainly suggest you buy two to pair them up for proper stereo. But if you’re after a great-looking, well-built streaming speaker, and you don’t want invasive smart tech in your home, The MS-50 may just be for you.
The Majority Oakington is an all-in-one audio system with a CD player, DAB+ radio and Bluetooth. It sounds surprisingly excellent given its compact dimensions, and provides the ideal companion for a compact turntable.
The Belford is a highly affordable no-frills radio with the advantage of an AM tuner, something which many radios now lack. The Eddington is the ideal travel companion - an excellent DAB+ radio with added FM, a pocket Bluetooth speaker and a Bluetooth bridge for your old-fashioned headphones.
2 the Fitzwilliam packs plenty of useful features and a sound I can’t fault into an aesthetically pleasing chassis of slimline proportions that will fit comfortably with any hi-fi system.
7 The Technics RS-B665 is a direct-drive cassette deck and roughly the middle of its model range from 1989 to 1991. It's a good performer and a fuss-free, maintenance-free cassette player.
The Toshiba PC-G10 cassette deck was sold in 1983 as part of a Toshiba ‘Rack system’. These are fine decks and well worth the little they cost to pick up on the second-hand market.
the culmination of the so-called ‘ghettoblaster’ in its best form after decades of refinement. This particular example had a few faults. The CD player didn’t read discs, the tape deck warbled hopelessly off key and FM radio reception wasn’t as good as I thought it should be.
A Sony CFS-W318 radio cassette boombox from the turn of the millennium. Scrapped due to brittle plastic in the tape mechanisms, but an interesting electronic design and a useful source of parts including a nice tuner module.
You can't save 'em all. This is a Philips MC-151 micro 'hi-fi' system, a far cry from the once-great audio division of Philips who produced the first cassette recorders, a myriad of portable and hi-fi turntables, one of the first consumer CD players and even owned Marantz for a time.
A basic primer on cassette capstan and turntable DC motors and how to repair them if they become noisy. With due care and a steady hand many can be repaired with success.