It was difficult to get a competent affordable amplifier in the late 1970s. For showroom attractiveness, brushed aluminum-fronted Japanese versions with tone controls and power meters flooded the market. Sound quality had received little attention; most sounded bland and inoffensive at best, and terrible at worst. New Acoustic Dimension, a relatively new firm, saw a […]
This is one of Musical Fidelity’s numerous unusual yet appealing products, first released in 2002 as a direct competitor to Naim’s Nait 5 integrated. It was a lovely half-width integrated amp – the business has flirted with this format before returning to full-width – that made a style point of its sleek, custom-built aluminium extruded
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Anthony Michaelson uncorked the Cockburn’s Special Reserve, polished the silver, and introduced a celebratory collection of Tri-Vista items in 2003 to honor the two decades since its legendary Dr. Thomas preamp first hit dealer shelves. The Tri-Vista 300 integrated amplifier (of which only 500 were created) and the Tri-Vista CD/SACD player (of which only 800
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The M1, which is currently in the ‘where is it now’ category, first emerged on the analogue scene little under a decade ago and made more of a ripple than a splash, if only for a brief while. However, it did not sell well, and the ever intrepid Antony Michaelson quickly went on to other
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Traditionally, British hi-fi amplifiers start off as integrated amps and then progress to preamplifier/power amplifier combos as the price grows. If you’re spending more than £2,000, you won’t be able to get a one-box amplifier — you’ll need two. That’s why, when it debuted in 1990, Musical Fidelity’s A1000 was a bit of a fish
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Mordaunt Short, founded in Fulham in 1967, quickly established itself as a genuinely middle-class loudspeaker brand, catering to those seeking high performance in a conservatively fashioned package. For example, the 1977 Pageant was a symbol of suburban respectability, a type of hi-fi Volvo. However, the brand underwent a series of transformations, including ownership changes and
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Monitor Audio should be commended for using ribbon tweeters in its flagship Platinum series, which debuted in 2007. A very good ceramic coated aluminium/magnesium ribbon HF unit rode shotgun with a single 6.5 inch Rigid Diaphragm Technology bass-mid driver on the PL100, which cost £2,300. The heft of a traditional dome tweeter, according to designer
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Farad Azima founded Mission Electronics in 1977, and the 770 loudspeaker, the first to use a polypropylene mid/bass driver, appeared in 1978. It received a lot of positive feedback and projected a picture of a bold, forward-thinking, modern corporation in a historically conservative industry area steeped in history. Henry Farad, Farad’s brother, was a skilled
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In a way, it’s the Citroen of the hi-fi world. Micromega is a French firm that has always gone above and beyond. Its products are occasionally excellent, and occasionally less so, but they are never dull – at least in terms of design. It’s maybe no surprise that it was one of the first to
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In 2007, Didier Hamdi, a flamboyant ex-motorsportsman, bought the well-known French hi-fi manufacturer Micromega, relegating company founder Daniel Schar to engineering duties. The CD-30, released in 2010, was one of the first items of the new era. On the surface, it didn’t appear to be anything extraordinary. It was a decent player, but it didn’t
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