Review: Adam Smith

Review: Adam Smith, | Nov 25, 2024 | 0 comments

Sitting bang in the middle of a six-strong range of loudspeakers, the Cantor III was in production from 1983-85. How does this 'compact two-way system' fare today?

If you were to attend a classic car show and make a beeline for the enthusiasts exhibiting vehicles made by mass-market manufacturers, it would be easy to predict the kinds of designs you'd see on display. Most space would be given over to the noteworthy models: the big-engined ones, the sporty or luxury variants, the rare limited editions. And yet the bread-and-butter models that carried sales reps up and down the land and took many of us to school as children are largely forgotten. They were workhorses, used until the end of their lives and then replaced.

Phono Preamplifiers

Lehmannaudio Phonolith

Review: Adam Smith, | Nov 08, 2024 | 0 comments

This latest two-box MM/MC phono stage from Germany also includes a line input and preamp alongside a fully discrete headphone amp. It's the brand's first 'analogue hub'

Is it my imagination, or are more hi-fi products steadily adopting greater functionality? Now, it's highly unlikely that Germany's resolutely 'analogue' Lehmannaudio brand will succumb to networking its phono stages any time soon, but the new £2599 Phonolith does wrap a trio of roles into one - an MM/MC phono stage, line level preamplifier and headphone amplifier. That said, it's not quite strictly rolled into 'one' as it's a two-box design, with the second unit being the standalone, dedicated power supply.

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?

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

SME Model 15 MK2

Review: Adam Smith, | Sep 27, 2024 | 0 comments

SME’s rollout of MK2 models – all benefitting from lessons learnt in the development of its flagship Model 60 turntable – has reached the Model 15, tested here with 309 arm

SME’s development of its formidable flagship Model 60 turntable, released a couple of years ago [HFN Jul ’22], continues to influence designs lower down the UK manufacturer’s range. All are being upgraded to MK2 status, the latest being the Model 15. On test here, retailing for £12,067 with pre-fitted SME 309 tonearm, this deck is also the most affordable in SME’s lineup with a proper suspended subchassis.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Clearaudio Concept Signature

Review: Adam Smith, | Aug 30, 2024 | 0 comments

Clearaudio’s entry-level deck for over a decade, the Concept is refreshed with ‘TSC’ (Tacho Speed Control) and speed selection, plus a selection of arms and cartridges

Thanks to the continued resurgence of the vinyl format, enthusiasts can now choose from a good number of plug-and-play turntable packages. Even better, the quality of these complete solutions – once considered a first step on the vinyl ladder for those wanting ease of use, or for whom the dark arts of turntable setup were a terrifying mystery – has been creeping ever higher.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Goldring Ethos SE

Review: Adam Smith, | Jul 18, 2024 | 0 comments

The Ethos MC has waved the flag for UK pick-up brand Goldring for over five years, and now the design has been given the ‘SE treatment’ with silver wiring and more...

Everyone loves a special edition because, unlike a limited edition, it’s usually the forerunner of trickledown into the standard range. The hi-fi industry is a fertile ground for such bounty and the latest manufacturer to come up with a tempting morsel is Goldring, its new Ethos SE moving-coil taking its place at the top of the range, priced at £1299. Historically, while this is a big ticket for Goldring it is still rather more affordable than many a premium pick-up from the artisan suppliers based outside of the UK.

Loudspeakers

PS Audio aspen FR10 Loudspeaker

Review: Adam Smith, | May 16, 2024 | 0 comments

The most compact of three floorstanding models in what will ultimately be a four-strong range, PS Audio's 'triple ABR' aspen FR10 packs a deceptively huge punch

For a 50-year-old company that released its first loudspeaker barely two years ago, PS Audio has not been resting on its laurels. Coming swiftly on the heels of the flagship £30,000 aspen FR30 [HFN Jun '22] are a raft of junior siblings. First up was the £20,000 FR20 [HFN Apr '23] and now we have the baby floorstander of the range, the £10,000 FR10. As an aside, I don't think we'd be letting the cat out of the bag by revealing a fourth model is in the pipeline – the two-way, ABR-loaded FR5 standmount. If it isn't priced at £5000, I'll eat my hat.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Denon DP-3000NE Turntable

Review: Adam Smith, | Apr 04, 2024 | 0 comments

Having launched its first direct-drive deck over a half century ago, and its last over a decade ago to celebrate 100 years, Denon is back with another, sleeker turntable

If I was to give a vinyl enthusiast a choice of high-quality turntables made by Technics, Yamaha, Denon or the team behind Micro Seiki, and then stated that two of the options were direct-drive, I'll wager they would think I was about to take them on a vintage shopping spree. However, it's 2024 and, remarkably, the above selection comprises a range of models that can be bought new today.

Phono Preamplifiers

Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 Phono Preamp

Review: Adam Smith, | Mar 04, 2024 | 0 comments

Previewed at the UK Hi-Fi Show Live '23, Musical Fidelity's much anticipated Nu-Vista front-end components – a DAC and phono preamp – see the latter leading the charge

Visitors to Henley Audio's room at the UK Hi-Fi Show Live at Ascot's Grandstand back in Sept '23 will already have seen three new items from Musical Fidelity, all partnering the Nu-Vista PRE and PAS amplifiers [HFN Mar '23]. The new M8xTT turntable [HFN Dec '23] has already premiered in these pages and this is followed here by the Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 phono stage and Nu-Vista DAC, both priced £9999.

Phono Preamplifiers

Mola Mola Lupe Phono Preamplifier

Review: Adam Smith, | Feb 22, 2024 | 0 comments

Developed from the phono stage debuted in the Makua preamp and Kula integrated, the Lupe is a deceptively simple-looking but hugely flexible, app-driven phono preamp

In recent years Dutch firm Mola Mola has spread its wings from the Bruno Putzeys-designed pre/power amplifiers it debuted at CES in 2013 to include partnering separates. The first of these was the innovative Tambaqui DAC [HFN Nov '19], which fleshed out the company's optional digital module into a standalone design, and into the Kula integrated [HFN Oct '21]. These are now joined by the £7299 Lupe phono preamplifier named, in typical Mola Mola fashion, after a fish – 'Lupe' being the Hawaiian name for the broad stingray.

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Review: Adam Smith

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