Review: Jamie Biesemans

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Aug 25, 2023 | 0 comments

A mid-'80s audiophile favourite from UK brand Epos is reimagined by the go-to-speaker designer, Karl-Heinz Fink

Revivalist products are in the ascendant, but they range from the dubious, cashing in on nostalgia, to more respectful attempts aiming to recreate something remarkable from yesteryear. Rest assured – the ES14N is firmly positioned in the second category. In fact, it goes one step further by claiming to be both truthful to the design ethos of the original '80s speaker icon, while also improving on it.

Network Audio Players/Servers

Yamaha R-N2000A Network Receiver

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Aug 15, 2023 | 0 comments

Marrying old-school Yamaha looks with new-fangled digital functions, the R-N2000A streaming amplifier offers convenience in a package to delight vintage devotees

Few audio brands have escaped the component shortages and wonky logistics of the last few years, including Yamaha, but the company is putting all that behind it with a slew of new products. The £2895 R-N2000A is in the vanguard of a new series from this venerable Japanese manufacturer, one or two sneak-previewed at High End Munich 2022. The 2023 show then saw the launch of its lower-tier R-N1000A and R-N800A network-attached amplifiers, sharing many features with the flagship model reviewed here. Yamaha is also offering a range of speakers to match, so if you want to go full Yammy then matching high-gloss piano black NS-2000A floorstanders are available to pair with the R-N2000A. This fits with the brand's efforts to re-establish its once-familiar position in the two-channel hi-fi scene.

Headphones Outboard DACs

EarMen ST-Amp DAC/Headphone Amp

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Jul 21, 2023 | 0 comments

Based in Chicago but with manufacturing in Serbia, the EarMen brand is developing its range at pace. The new ST-Amp DAC/headphone unit is a 'back to basics' audiophile hit

After collecting an EISA Award last year for a complete headphone system featuring a stack of four mini-sized separates – the Staccato, Tradutto, CH-Amp and PSU-3 [HFN Oct '22] – EarMen has doubled back with this minimalist ST-Amp. This is a book-sized, do-it-all unit combining a DAC and dedicated headphone amp, aimed at head-fi enthusiasts looking for a quick and effective path to high-quality desktop listening. So while the ST-Amp moniker might suggest it's simply a more affordable alternative to the aforementioned CH-Amp, it's really a different beast altogether.

Pre/Power Amplifiers

Hegel P30A/H30A Pre/Power Amplifier

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Jul 03, 2023 | 0 comments

Dubbed 'The Conductor' and 'The Orchestra', respectively, Hegel's replacements for the decade-old P30/H30 pre/power amplifiers are flagships worthy of their names

By all accounts Hegel has been very busy over the last few years, which is a notion that might raise some eyebrows because – understandably – the Norwegian company went a little quiet during and after 2020. In fact, the V10 phono preamplifier [HFN Mar '21] has been about the only piece of hardware to escape the drawing board of Hegel's owner and master engineer Bent Holter since Covid. However, as industry insiders and the company's user base well knew, Hegel was battling the angry gods of software development to make its major integrated amplifiers Roon Ready.

Disc Players Integrated Amplifiers

Denon DCD/PMA-1700NE SACD Player/Amplifier

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Jun 19, 2023 | 0 comments

Denon has been in existence for 111 years, resolutely supporting CD playback for the last 40. Its latest CD disc spinner handles SACD too, and joins the 1700 series amplifier

The Denon duo in the limelight here are an obvious refresh of the previous generation DCD-1600NE disc player and PMA-1600NE amp, introduced in 2017, rather than entirely new designs. Partly that's because both the £1299 DCD-1700NE and £1699 PMA-1700NE look very similar, if not identical, to their predecessors. The solid construction, metal front fascia that curves to ensure the Denon logo catches the light, the weighty volume knob in the middle of the amp, the old-school tone controls… it's all very par for the course, as is the choice between black or silver colourways.

Loudspeakers

B&W 803 D4 Loudspeaker

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Jun 01, 2023 | 0 comments

This downsized, but perfectly-proportioned, facsimile of B&W's 801 D4 flagship is smaller in all but sound...

It's all good and well lusting after a flagship like the B&W 801 D4 [HFN Nov '21], but not everyone has the means or opportunity. Cue the 803 D4, which is a modestly downsized version costing (nearly) half the price. Intriguingly, it also utilises the same technology and similarly designed drivers as the 801 D4, including the trademark turbine head.

Integrated Amplifiers

Pro-Ject MaiA DS3 Integrated Amplifier

Review: Jamie Biesemans | May 11, 2023 | 0 comments

Nearly ten years on from its first 'My audiophile integrated Amplifier', or MaiA, Pro-Ject launches its latest compact, but feature-packed, phono/digital integrated amplifier

Mini hi-fi, very much 'a thing' in the 1980s, is still breathing today thanks to Heinz Lichtenegger's Pro-Ject brand. 'Small is better', according to Pro-Ject's head honcho, stating that modern music lovers want great sound without bulky hi-fi gear. Surprisingly, the MaiA DS3 integrated amplifier tested here is one of the larger of Pro-Ject's 'Boxes', being part of its DS line which, together with the RS line, trades some compactness for improved electronics. The company's budget E and more accomplished S series are the home of truly diminutive devices.

Integrated Amplifiers

NAD C 3050 LE Integrated Amplifier

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | May 08, 2023 | 0 comments

It may look like the 3030 from 1976, but beneath the faux-retro exterior of NAD's celebratory, limited edition C 3050 integrated beats the heart of a 21st century amp

Since its founding in 1972 NAD has grown into one of the mainstays of the hi-fi industry, and to celebrate its first half-century of existence, the brand has launched the C 3050 LE streaming amplifier. Taking cues from forerunners such as the C 700 [HFN Feb '22] and the C 389, it's a just-add-speakers package, including HDMI connectivity and an MM-only phono input.

Network Audio Players/Servers Outboard DACs

iFi Audio NEO Stream Network-Attached DAC

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Apr 26, 2023 | 0 comments

Built into the same chassis as the NEO iDSD, with the same DAC onboard, this new version loses the headphone amp in favour of a bespoke, app-driven streaming platform

To say iFi Audio is an industrious producer of compact hi-fi solutions would be an understatement. More recently the brand has been on a steep upward path of technical evolution, employing designers as accomplished as the marketing department is imaginative. The result? IFi Audio is successful because it has identified new hi-fi hotspots that appeal to both younger and older music lovers alike.

Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Pro-Ject Audio Systems X8 Turntable

Review: Jamie Biesemans, | Apr 03, 2023 | 0 comments

Inspired by the longstanding Xtension 9 turntable, the new X8 features a 9cc EVO arm with balanced connections to better serve the 'bundled' Ortofon Quintet Blue MC

Launched in 2022, the X8 is the new LP spinner that Austria's Pro-Ject is betting on to entice vinyl lovers onto that next step beyond the entry-level and midrange products that are the brand's bread and butter. To justify its higher price point, this sleek-looking deck borrows features from the company's top-tier Xtension turntables, making it Pro-Ject's most affordable 'mass-loaded' model to date. It's also fitted with a rigid 9cc Evolution carbon tonearm, which is an upgrade on the carbon-aluminium arms found on its lower-range offerings, including the X2 B [HFN Sep '22].

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Review: Jamie Biesemans

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