The Hi-Fi Headlines
Technics have just released a white version of their popular SL1500C semi-automatic direct drive turntable – joining the silver and black options already available. This has been a very popular model for Technics – a performance turntable with automatic stop and a built-in phono stage, all for $1,995.
Plus - if you are quick there is a promotional offer – on all three colours – of $1,699 until the end of June.
Another hot offer is the upcoming Rega Planar 3 50th Anniversary turntable. This is not due until September, and is being released to mark Rega’s 50th anniversary, and will sell for $1,899. It is based on the current Planar 3, but with a walnut plinth and also featuring a Neo PSDU Mk2 external power supply, a EBLT belt upgrade and an Exact moving magnet cartridge. At this stage we do not know how limited this limited edition will be, but we are taking pre-orders.
And still on the subject of turntables we now have the McIntosh MT10 turntable on demonstration. In true McIntosh tradition this is a very distinctive piece of kit, priced at $24,495
One company that can do no wrong at the moment is Musical Fidelity. They continue to announce new product and one recent release was the M6X DAC. Despite just hitting the market the MX6 DAC was named the Sound and Image DAC of the year. It is easy to become blasé about DAC’s – but they do play a very big part in the performance of your system – and trust us, they are not all born equal. If you already have a good system the addition of the M6X DAC at $4,200 would be money very well spent.
The Yamaha YH-5000SE headphones also took out a Sound and Image Award. No surprise that they did - these are exceptional headphones that hark back to technology first introduced by Yamaha ½ a century ago. This headphone spent six years in development and production, and the wait was worth it. Drop in and have a listen.
Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound A5 is a recent addition to a growing lineup of portable speakers from the Denmarkbased firm. The realm of battery-powered Bluetooth speakers has seen remarkable advancements in quality, exemplified by the Sonos Move released a few years back. B&O has elevated this trend to a whole new level of elegance with the A5. Priced at $1,650, this speaker not only boasts a stunning design but also delivers a performance that lives up to its aesthetics.
Finally – in this age of rampant inflation it is great to see prices come down – and that is exactly what Marantz have done, and in some cases quiet significantly. For example their popular CD6007 CD player has dropped from $1,299 to $1,000 and the PM-7000n streaming integrated amplifier is now $2,000, down from $2,400. Marantz has always been one of the most reliable and better performing brands in the A/V midmarket – these new prices certainly make them ultra-competitive as well.