FiiO FH1 Review
The FH1 features a dual driver design with one dynamic and one balanced armature. The former handles the lower frequencies while the latter is for extended upper midband and treble. They are housed in an elliptical ABS plastic shell which is both light and durable. Playing Led Zeppelin’s ‘When The Levee Breaks’ through these there […]
Read moreFiiO F9 Pro Review
The FiiO F9 Pro – which shares exactly the same design of the F9 – has been tweaked slightly. There isn’t a huge amount of difference but enough to make you notice. It sounds cleaner than the F9 and has a better sonic balance – although I could imagine fans of heavy bass or female […]
Read moreStar Polaris Auralic’s Review
Auralic has won many admirers for its sophisticated range of music streamers – and deservedly so. They are wellengineered, easy to set-up and operate and, most importantly, extremely detailed and clean sounding. I first came across the Auralic Aries wireless streaming bridge last year and was taken aback by how much more resolution it provided […]
Read moreFiiO F9 Review
The FiiO F9 ups the ante from the FH1 by using a different shell – made from CNC machined aluminium. It’s an elliptical look again but features a wave-shaped design on the outside. Whether this makes a difference to the sound is a moot point – but it does like nice. The major difference from […]
Read moreLeema Sirius Review
The Sirius streaming music server from Leema Acoustics is now shipping. This unit provides 2TB of storage for ripping CDs and storing high-definition files, as well as UPnP/DNLA capability for accessing music on a home network. The TEAC-sourced optical CD drive is said to provide bit-perfect copying to the hard drive making it easy to […]
Read moreGrande Ambitions Review
French loudspeaker specialist Focal has unveiled its most sophisticated loudspeakers yet – the Grande Utopia EM Evo and Stella Utopia EM Evo. However, you’ll need some deep pockets (and a big room) to experience them. The EM Evo, for example, stands over 6 feet tall and weighs in at some 265kg with its five drivers […]
Read moreOpen Reel Review
Open reel tape recorders may well be a niche market but if you are a devotee this one may pique your interest. It comes from specialist maker Metaxas & Sins and is named the GQT. It’s been developed in conjunction with Switzerland’s open reel specialist Stellavox. It runs at 15 inches per second, is purely […]
Read moreYamaha A-R801 Review
Yamaha have a long history in hi-fi, producing distinctively styled and beautifully built amplifiers like the CA1000 from 1973, wth slim, rectangular switch knobs that were a delight to use and looked good: form followed function. In their recent 100 Watt A-S801 I’m reviewing here they’ve returned to the style and the values of their […]
Read moreTitan Audio’s Styx Review
Titan Audio’s Styx high-current mains block proved a potent performer under review earlier this year. It brought improved sound staging with both source components and amplifiers. During the listening period it was partnered with Titan Audio’s recommended Styx mains lead which is at the relatively budget end of the market for specialist power cords. Which […]
Read moreIFI XDSD Review
Ifi caused a stir with its iDSD portable high-resolution DAC/headphone amplifier four years ago. Now it has brought out an improved version – the xDSD. It will accept connections from a mobile ‘phone, tablet, PC, Mac and digital audio player, or any other digital audio device via cable – as well as wireless streaming via […]
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