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...
With HEOS built-in, and support for numerous streaming services, Marantz's bijou Model M1 network-attached amplifier pulls off a blend of minimalism with supreme flexibility
To some readers, the Model M1 might appear an unusual product to carry the Marantz moniker. After all, for the last few years the brand has positioned itself in the premium sector, with amplifiers like the Model 30 and Model 40n . This, however, discounts the existence of various Marantz Melody mini systems over the years and, more importantly, the perceived need to counter the surge in popularity of soundbars. The (now) £1800 Model 40n was a first step in that direction, adding an HDMI ARC input to a more traditional amplifier. But that's still a relatively expensive piece of hardware, at least for someone otherwise considering a soundbar. The Model M1, at £900, closes that gap and is compact to boot.
Launched in 1954, the Garrard 301 'transcription motor' saw seven editions until production ceased in 1964. Sixty years later comes another, in an 'Advanced' plinth!
I can sense your confusion. However, before you start wondering why our 'Vintage Review' has moved closer to the front of the magazine than usual, let me explain. Yes, you are looking at a turntable based around a Garrard 301, but this is a rather special one - a Garrard 301 produced in limited numbers and made strictly to order. In the plinth shown here and complete with SME Series V-12 tonearm, it will set you back £51,645, or £43,945 with an SME M2-12R. What, you might reasonably ask, is going on?
First debuted in 2017, B&W's 705 standmount has been through three major iterations with both 2020's Series 2 and the current Series 3 being offered in 'Signature' guise
Loudspeaker brand B&W launched its first Signature model in 1991, in the shape of the (founder) John Bowers Silver Signature, and has intermittently released further Signature editions in the 30-plus years since. Well, I say intermittently - while only four more Signature speakers came in the next two decades, the 700 S3 Signature range, which also includes the 702 S3 Signature floorstander , comes hot on
Chord's first new integrated amplifier in some seven years combines no fewer than four switchmode PSUs and 125W of stereo power into a very stylish Ultima 3 preamp chassis
First seen in 2023 at Munich's High-End show, Chord Electronics' Ultima Integrated is steadily finding its way into selected hi-fi emporia. Based around John Franks' tried-and-tested amplifier architecture [see PM's boxout, p65], it's the entry point to the Ultima family, whose rollout began with the flagship Ultima monoblocks .
Still big in Japan, the SACD takes pride of place in Soulnote's 'ultimate digital playback system' that also includes the option of digital filterless conversion and external clocking
With Soulnote having already proved its analogue mettle in these pages with the E-2 phono preamp , does the brand have similar prowess with digital? And not just with CDs, for this S-3 flagship is a fully-fledged SACD player.
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?
With HEOS built-in, and support for numerous streaming services, Marantz's bijou Model M1 network-attached amplifier pulls off a blend of minimalism with supreme flexibility
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