From the Vault

An understated revolution in loudspeaker design has been taking place in Kent. KEF's Technical Director Laurie Fincham has put together a team of engineers who have been quietly but thoroughly examining the fundamentals of moving-coil, box loudspeaker behaviour, spinning off a regular series of products, starting with the original R105 nearly a decade ago.

Given that few people will defend tube/transistor hybrids, how do you go about satisfying the valve-oriented consumer who wants his or her amp to have everything under one cage? And without simply adding to the buttonry? Italian company GRAAF (Gruppo Richerche Audio Alta Fidelta) has as its slogan 'II Suono Fatto A Mano', which I think translates into 'Hand-Made Sound'. This is about as cool a way of saying 'Lunatic purism' as I can imagine.

The new Audiolab range is introduced by the 8000A integrated amp, which sells for around £250. Trade rumours are that the first batch was sold out even before any press mention of the product, and that the few dealers appointed so far are finding it impossible to hold any stock. In these commercially depressed times it is certainly refreshing to cover a success story such as this, though I suspect that this model may be in short supply for some time to come.

For as long as hi-fi has existed, consumers have been forced to choose between pure sound quality and ergonomic/aesthetic delight. In short, the best-sounding equipment has always been either spartan, ugly, expensive, or simply a pain in the butt to live with or to use.

Much gnashing of teeth and wringing of corporate cheque books later, and the B&W Group has become the latest recipient of Philips’ cherished Red Book licence: an exorbitant magic wand that bequeaths the rights to design and assemble own-brand CD players, rather than simply modify an existing box. Incidentally, I hear from trusted sources that manufacturers who have traditionally opted for this cheaper halfway-house will soon be stomped on from a great height. B&W can therefore sleep soundly at night as two variants of a new BitStream player are launched under its ‘Aura’ brandname.

By 1985 standards, preamps selling for between £500 and £1000 are thought of as 'upper mid-fi' and not really expected to match the standards of the Krell PAM-3/Audio Research SP-10 variety. But they should bring you close enough to the state-of-the-art that you have to think long and hard about justifying an expenditure of double their prices – or even more. Aah, diminishing returns...

The long awaited Carver Cube power amplifier is at last available in the UK. Bob Carver, its designer, is not a particularly well known figure in the UK but most people have heard of Phase Linear, which was founded by him, and he also designed its range of products. His special interest has been in high-power amplifiers, with the 400 B and 700 B Phase Linear models now audio legends.