Lab: Paul Miller

Review: Andrew Everard, | Nov 08, 2024 | Published: Nov 07, 2024 | 0 comments

The long-anticipated final piece in Exposure’s 3510 series has arrived – a CD player that leverages the 3010 S2 series electronics and XM CD’s top-loading transport mechanism

With a memory long enough to remember buying my first CD player, a Philips model, back in the mid-1980s, complete with a free copy of Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms, it feels a little strange to be considering the format, launched promising 'Perfect Sound Forever', as something of a niche proposition. Yes, CD has been a huge commercial success, with a 2007 press release marking 25 years of the format declaring that some 200 billion discs had been sold in that first quarter century, and many people having huge collections.

Loudspeakers

Canton Reference 7 floorstander

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Oct 31, 2024 | 0 comments

The slimmest of Canton’s new, five-strong Reference floorstanders blends style with established technologies

Calling your speakers ‘Reference’ is quite a bold statement, but then again making grand claims is not exactly unknown in the hi-fi industry! Canton’s Reference speakers – the top-tier of Germany’s largest loudspeaker manufacturer – is the product of a fierce R&D exercise and comes seven years after the previous flagship range, Reference K, was introduced. It’s a comprehensive series to boot, comprising six models of which only one is a standmount (the Reference 9) and all others are floorstanders.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Technics SL-1200GR2

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Oct 31, 2024 | 0 comments

From SL-1200GR to 'GR2, Technics' adherence to the theory of 'marginal gains' ensures its most popular direct-drive deck remains at least one step ahead of the competition

Following the debut of its first direct-drive models over 50 years ago [see PM's boxout, p75], many versions of Technics' iconic SL-1200 model have appeared, all able to trace their technical and industrial design back to the original. Neither have enthusiasts been short of choice - when the legendary spinner returned in 2016, after a six-year hiatus, the brand introduced four SL-1200 tiers. The 'GR' or 'Grand Class' occupied a middle position, with the apex SL-1200R version and heavier 'G/GAE' models catering to hardcore audiophiles, and the more affordable 'MK7/ M7' units aimed at budding DJs.

Network Audio Players/Servers

WiiM Pro Plus

Review: Andrew Everard, | Oct 29, 2024 | 0 comments

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.

Loudspeakers Vintage

Technics SB-F3 Loudspeaker

Review: Tim Jarman, | Oct 28, 2024 | 0 comments

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.

Loudspeakers

Sonetto V G2

Review: Mark Craven, | Oct 25, 2024 | 0 comments

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.

Loudspeakers

Quad Revela 2

Review: Ken Kessler, | Oct 25, 2024 | 0 comments

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...

Network Audio Players/Servers

Marantz Model M1

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Oct 25, 2024 | 0 comments

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.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Garrard 301 Advanced

Review: Adam Smith, | Oct 23, 2024 | 0 comments

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?

Loudspeakers

B&W 705 S3 Signature

Review: Mark Craven, | Oct 23, 2024 | 0 comments

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

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