Etsuro Nakamichi, a tape magnetics research engineer, created the Nakamichi Corporation in Japan in 1948. In 1951, he began creating open reel decks for other hi-fi businesses to put their own badges on, as he was captivated by tape. It was a difficult business to be in, needing tight tolerances and precise alignment, as well
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This is for you if you’re an audiophile who’s tired of all those bothersome cables, or a regular person who’s put off by the notion of them in the first place. It’s essentially a high-quality digital-to-analogue converter that also functions as a UPnP music server and an AirPlay receiver. As a result, it’s a surprisingly
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Remember the 1970s, when the stereo receiver was at its pinnacle? Of course, the breed grew to become multichannel in the 1990s, and it’s now difficult to find one that doesn’t contain at least seven channels. So it was with great interest that I stumbled across Arcam’s FMJ SR250 back in 2016. It’s a two-channel
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Despite being the company’s best-selling and possibly most-loved legacy product, few audiophiles in the United Kingdom paid attention to the launch of the Audio Research SP9 in 1987. It was a powerful – and technically creative – preamplifier that appealed to a British audience that was enamored with other trends at the time. If we’re
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The new Audio Technica AT-OC9X is the fourth iteration of this venerable moving coil in 32 years. Bonded Elliptical (AT-OC9XEB, £210), Nude Elliptical (AT-OC9XEN, £300), Microlinear (AT-OC9XML, £480), Shibata (AT-OC9XSH, £570), and Special Line Contact (AT-OC9XSL, £660) are among the stylus options. “When the first AT-OC9 series was introduced in 1987, it was an innovative
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After what seems like decades of waiting, Audio-Technica released a new cartridge line in 2017, with bodies in the 500, 600, and 700 Series and seven different styli kinds, including special line contact, Shibata, MicroLine, elliptical, and conical varieties. The playback of stereo, mono, and even 78 rpm shellac recordings is optimized in all versions.
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This Japanese cartridge expert isn’t exactly prolific, to put it that way. Since 1962, Audio-Technica has manufactured its own phono cartridges, but it has launched much fewer types than European competitors like as Ortofon. Despite its age, the popularity of its evergreen – forgive the pun – entry-level AT-95E moving magnet, which is now in
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While inexpensive DACs are a dime a dozen, excellent Compact Disc transporters are hard to come by. Given that there are billions of CDs in circulation, you’d assume there would be a demand for new silver disc spinners, even though new music sales are down in this format. The Audiolab 6000CDT is a £379 integrated
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Despite costing only a few hundred pounds more than its predecessor, the 2019 8300CDQ was sleeker and more complex in terms of build, finish, and functionality – plus it had MQA, which Audiolab thought was a useful new feature. This should help the player remain future-proof, but DSD playback, which is finally gaining traction among
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The £400 Q-DAC was released in 2013 to capitalize on the success of the award-winning M-DAC from a year or two before. It’s essentially a ‘low calorie’ M-DAC, with a lot of the same wonderful things under the hood but at a lower price point to appeal to a more budget-conscious clientele. Let us not
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