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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Rewind to 1987 in Glasgow. Linn Products, which had earned its name with the Sondek LP12 turntable, was well aware that the new Compact Disc format was beginning to eat into its sales. The company’s response was to expand its loudspeaker lineup while also moving away from the first generation of boxes (Kan, Sara, and
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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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Linn’s LP12 was the undisputed vinyl monarch for the majority of the 1970s and 1980s. New competitors to the Sondek’s championship came and went, but the Sondek remained on top. Ironically, because they didn’t turn out to be nearly as good, these aspirant vinyl kings were unfairly neglected and dismissed. This always struck me as
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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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Although it benefited from designer Jonathon Carr’s vast experience, this was not totally hand crafted by Lyra’s artisan Yoshinori Mishima when it was first released in the UK in 2007. Instead, the initial construction was outsourced. It was also the first to use a Namiki MicroRidge line-contact stylus, however it was wrapped in the traditional
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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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What’s not to like about the MD-90 from Magnum Dynalab? Any red-blooded radiohead will be enchanted by its delectable fascia, which is packed with analogue meters, LED numerals, switches, knobs, and the inscription ‘analogue FM tuner.’ If there was ever a product that extolled the virtues of its medium, this is it. The MD-90 instantly
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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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Ken Ishiwata, a Marantz brand advocate, says, “When I first heard CD, I was surprised.” “I saw the potential of what this tiny disc could achieve — it was incredible.” What astonished me the most at first was the lack of surface noise, as well as the measurements – I appreciated the clear sine waves,
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