Focal UK today announced the launch of a new series of special edition loudspeakers exclusive to the UK market. The new series, the Chorus 800V W UK Special Edition, feature Focal’s very special W cone sandwich and is finished is high gloss black.
Originally launched in 2006 the Focal Chorus range has been a consistently popular range worldwide. The 800V W UK special editions are the result a special request from Focal UK to add the W Cone technology to the Chorus Series.
The IOTA delivers a spectacular audio performance from an almost impossibly small cabinet. It is specifically intended for use very close to walls, or in locations such as bookshelves and desktops, where even a regular size compact/bookshelf design may be too large.
The Neat IOTA is now shipping following a hugely successful preview at the Manchester Sound and Vision Show in November and an equally successful launch at the Sound and Vision Show Bristol in February.
In a surprise move Neat Acoustics launches a floor standing loudspeaker based on the already revered Ultimatum XLS model. The XLi will be available in July.
This year I am planning on getting a XTZ Room analyzer. For what it does it’s not too expensive. For what improvements it can help you making to your system it’s really cheap.
Naim has updated its CDX2 CD player to coincide with the forthcoming launch of the Naim DAC.
This is the first major revision for this product in over 7 years. This takes the CDX2 into new markets delivering greater performance and far increased flexibility. The price remains the same.
The new version CDX2 adds a switchable S/PDIF output on a 75 Ohm BNC connector for the correct impedance match.
During the month of October 2009 Radio Paradise www.radioparadise.com (one of the most popular internet radio stations in the world) is running a promotion where one lucky listener can win a NaimUniti all-in-one audio player and a pair of Naim n-SAT speakers.
It’s around £200 if one shops around so I decided to risk it. I also purchased a cheap PC Express to IE1394 card to fit my HP2133 netbook. Lots of fiddling around and finally all the drivers matched up and were running. My best DAC, or at least the best that will do anything above 48kHz, at the moment is the Cambridge DacMagic so I tried it it with the output from the TC.
Very interesting, the combination delivers the best computer audio sound quality I’ve achieved so far. It has a rightness and a feeling of grip that is so much better then the shiny chromium plated sound that it’s so easy to get.
So a plea to companies running demos at hi-fi shows: besides good systems, good choice of music and pleasant atmospheres can you please just make it easy for us music fans to find out what you are playing.
Naim Audio the UK’s leading manufacturer of high-end hi-fi products announced today the launch of the new XS Series. The XS series is the first slim-line series to carry a brushed anodised black fascia. The new fascia signifies that the XS series is a step up from the i series.
Very interested to read on Amarra’s website and I paraphrase ‘it’s easy to make music sound good on a computer but hard to make it sound fabulous’. I think they have been listening to my conversations.
Next week I’m in Munich for the High End show and by coincidence will be sharing a booth (or to be more exact one of my clients Thorens is sharing a booth themed Sources of the future as it’s vinyl and streaming with Higoto who are Germany’s streaming experts.
The demos will be of Thoren’s new Tri-Balance turntable, the Logitech Transporter and a Macbook running iTunes with the Amarra software into a Weiss DAC.