Although Compact Cassette was first introduced in 1963, it was not until the 1970s that the format properly matured. It was still quite low on the evolutionary scale at the start of the decade, being the domain of small mono cassette portables that found their way into cars, toilets, children’s bedrooms, and gardens. It’s even […]
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Hugo is a new portable DAC by Chord Electronics, which was unveiled four years ago. Because there were – and still are – so many of these products on the market, from Cambridge Audio to Oppo, it didn’t immediately catch the attention of many audiophiles. However, Chord has previously built some excellent household hi-fi systems,
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The M-301 microsystem was “refined to the essence of hi-fi perfection,” according to Aiwa’s 1980 brochure. It went on to say, “The 35 Watt System: Refinement, Ingenuity, and Performance.” It’s easy to chuckle at the marketing hype, but once you get past that, it’s a very astounding piece of gear. This is largely due to
When Chord Electronics’ first Hugo portable DAC/headphone amplifier debuted at CES in January 2014, the world knew it was something unique – so excellent, in fact, that many people bought it to use as their primary digital converter rather than as a travel companion. That’s not to imply it was flawless; eager early users quickly
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Like fashion, hi-fi formats come and go. When they’re on top, they appear majestic and unstoppable, ready to conquer the world. On the way down, no one seems to mind. This happened in the instance of Sony’s Digital Audio Tape format over the course of eighteen years. Pundits predicted it would “wipe out” Compact Disc
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Creek has long been the king of low-cost British integrated amplifiers. The CAS4040, for example, is a delightful listen and one of the nicest things any wannabe audiophile could afford back in the day. It featured a rich, gripping sound that was detailed and melodic, and it delivered a lot of bang for your buck.
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This would have been great if NAD had built a tube amplifier. It shared a lot of DNA with the ubiquitous 3020, having been designed by Peter Bath (who worked for Dolby, AR, and even NAD), and built by IEEE in Taipei (who used to build Cambridge Audio, Luxman, Proton, and NAD devices). While the
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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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