The early 1980s were a period in which everyone was enamoured with new technology. From the video recorder to the ‘microcomputer,’ it appeared that anything with an LED display and an 8-bit silicon chip inside might solve all of the world’s problems. Sharp agreed, and applied its digital wizardry to the issue of LP track […]
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The TC-399 came in Sony’s Autumn 1978 catalogue at a time when the domestic open reel tape recorder was already on its way out. Only two years prior, the Akai 4000DS had stunned the world by selling in significant numbers, delivering outstanding sound-per-pound from the (at the time) dormant open reel format. It was as
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1992 was a memorable year for avid amateur recordists all over the world. Sony announced the first ever DAT portable, the TCD-D3, which offered better-than-CD quality digital recording on the move for around £600. However, contrary to common opinion, it was not the first DATman. Denon won the award ahead of Sony, but those who
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In comparison to any modern music portable, Sony’s WM-D6C Walkman Professional cassette recorder is a massive, brick-like device. It’s ridiculously large by today’s standards, measuring 180x90x40mm and seeming like an eighties phone compared to the latest iDevice. When you look closer, however, you’ll notice the best-sounding portable ever created… Let’s not forget that Sony, not
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Loudspeaker design isn’t the dark art that some consider it to be. Speakers aren’t immune to physics’ laws; in fact, it’s the principles of physics that decide the sound of any particular product. Simply put, there are the cabinets to get right, the drive units to get right, and the interplay between the two to
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Apart from the LP12 turntable, Linn has always collaborated with other firms to produce its analogue goods — the first Ittok tonearm was called after one Mr. Ito, the Japanese co-creator, and the majority of the early ones were built in Japan. The cartridges have also been outsourced; the most recent Linn Kandid moving coil
One poster on a Naim-friendly internet forum adds, “Naim Audio makes musical instruments, other manufacturers build hi-fi.” It’s an intriguing proposal since it captures the essence of what Naim Audio devotees see in the brand. Of course, flippant remarks like this aren’t entirely accurate, but they do provide some insight into why people love this
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The narrative of this renowned record player begins in 1972, when it first emerged from the Castlemilk factory, blinking into the Glasgow sunlight. That was a long time ago, and the Sondek has been chastised in recent years for being “old hat.” It may lack the acres of gleaming Perspex and fancy gold-plated finery that
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The original NAIT was the product that kicked off the ‘super integrated’ fad in the 1980s. Whereas “integrated” was formerly considered the poor relation of their high-end pre-power brethren, it became fashionable to opt for a high-quality one-box design with the same level of attention paid to internal component quality and circuit design. As a
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Arcam hi-fi separates have always been geared at the mass market, but they’ve frequently turned out to be a little odd. Always well-engineered, the company frequently tries bold engineering techniques, sometimes with tremendous success — as evidenced by this high-end CD player introduced at the turn of the century. The FMJ CD23 was a development
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