THE HI–FI HEADLINES
NEWS LETTER No. 225
To say there has been a lot happening during the last couple of months at the store would be an understatement.
At one end of the price scale we now have Dave – this is an extraordinary new $17,000 DAC from Chord. This exquisite handmade product is based around new proprietary electronics offering ten times the program capacity of the previous model. This translates into a playback experience with unmatched reality, musicality and an unrivalled timing response. At the other end of the scale we now have our hands on the Naim Mu-so Qb, the smaller version of the bigger Muso released last year – it loses little to its bigger brother on musical performance, proving how quickly compact wireless speaker technology has evolved. Naim has never been a company to cut corners, and it certainly shows with Qb.
On the subject of wireless technology our support of the Bluesound range is no secret, and they have recently released Pulse 2, the upgrade of their premium speaker, plus the baby of the range, Flex (selling for $699), is also now in store. These additions now make a very compelling argument that Bluesound is the best all-round value multiroom wireless music distribution system on the market. Besides the performance, it’s worth the extra just for the brilliant control app.
We are finally starting to catch up with the demand for the new B&W 800 D3 speaker series, and it’s a delight to have almost all of the new range now on display. I have said it before, but I believe that B&W have done themselves a dis-service by continuing the previous 800 series nameplate for this new range. The previous series was unquestionably superb but somehow the new models represent such a considerable advancement, a new name would have helped rule a line under what has been achieved with these remarkable speakers.
Stax have launched a new SRS-5100 headphone system, which is significant given they don’t do this often. Replacing both of the existing SRS-3170 and SRS4170 systems the new system consists of the SR-L500 electrostatic ear-speaker and SRM-353X driver unit. So how does it sound? Well as we’ve seen many times before, most Stax owners never intended to own a pair, but after listening to them everything changes…
Finally we have a special on Musical Fidelity’s Merlin System. This innovative package of desktop digital amplifier, Bluetooth aptX streamer and the unique Merlin speakers is now only $899, a saving of $400 off the RRP. Sleek and compact, the Merlin system carries a very high specification, featuring two 24-bit, 192kHz DACs and twin high-grade amplifier modules. And if you really want to complete this system, there is also a Merlin Series Roundtable turntable you can add, which is now just $899.