Not to be confused with one-time US loudspeaker brand Thiel, Germany's Thiele is a boutique turntable/tonearm manufacturer established in 2021 by Helmut Thiele. Formerly chief designer at Thorens, Thiele's own-brand debut TT01 deck and TA01 arm are now in the UK courtesy of distributor Absolute Sounds.
This unassuming little black box packs as much streaming technology and features as the biggest players in the audio biz - plus support for Google/Alexa voice control...
Every once in a while, the hi-fi industry encounters a disrupter - a brand or a product able to create waves and challenge established ways of doing things. Think the original NAD 3020 integrated amplifier , which entered an arena full of feature-heavy products, and became a best-seller thanks to its combination of price, simplicity and sheer performance.
Largest of a trio of bookshelf speakers featuring diecast alloy cabinets and horn-loaded tweeters, Technics’ SB-F3 was a true high-tech compact. How does it fare today?
The smallest speaker in Technics' three-strong F series has already featured in our Vintage Review section . It was a popular product and sold in decent numbers for something that could have easily been mistaken for a mere novelty. Less well remembered were the larger members of the same family, the SB-F2 and SB-F3. Neither of these was exactly 'large', but the SB-F3 was certainly too big to be considered a miniature model like the SB-F1. It was, instead, in the class of conventional compact loudspeakers intended for shelf or stand placement, a sector where the number of competing models was far greater.
Leveraging tech developed for Sonus faber’s flagship Suprema, its second-gen Sonetto V is all the more fragrant
Sonus faber has shown signs of branching out since its acquisition by North American company Fine Sounds - also the owner of McIntosh Group - in 2016. First, in 2019, came its Palladio architectural speakers destined to partner McIntosh custom install hardware, followed in 2022 by the Omnia all-in-one desktop speaker and the Duetto active stereo wireless models in 2023. It then kicked off 2024 with the £695,000 Suprema 2.2-channel system.
Bigger brother to the standmount two-way Revela 1, the three-way ’2 lifts Quad’s engineering into a floorstander
Quad’s Revela 1 is a classic two-way standmount offered at £1799 per pair minus supports, or £2498 if bought as a set. The floorstanding Revela 2 tested here sells for another £1k at £3499, complete with fitted, spiked plinth. The basic technology defines both speakers, but for the Revela 2 it has been doubled up and more. The test, then, is to discover how much extra that £1000 delivers...
This unassuming little black box packs as much streaming technology and features as the biggest players in the audio biz - plus support for Google/Alexa voice control...
Largest of a trio of bookshelf speakers featuring diecast alloy cabinets and horn-loaded tweeters, Technics’ SB-F3 was a true high-tech compact. How does it fare today?
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