signals news blog

Trilogy 906 Phono Stage 

Not news, strictly, since we’ve had it here for a little time now but the sub-£900 Trilogy 906 has been going down very well indeed with listeners.

We have always been fans of big brother 907 and the 906 does the considerably more than half as good for under half the price thing. 

The 907 remains the better ‘stage but the 906 the better buy. We have both of them here if there’s an itch . . .

Price rise looms on August 1st.

As a result of the weakening pound / dollar relationship, Arcam have released a revised price list. See attached.

Notice the new AVR 390 £1999 receiver. New Solo Muso speaker too. 

Turntablists and Turntable Survival

Hear the Nottingham Analogue team on a BBC programme called Turntable Tales that was aired March 2016

every song, every note, every room

From 1st July until 30th September 2016, Naim are offering a package deal on a Mu-so and Qb purchased together. 

After all, if you're going to have multi-room products, you really need to multiply your purchase. This way you can save something too.

In our shop here:

 http://www.signalshifi.com/naim_mu_so/naimmu-sobundle.html

SuperSummerSuperLuminaSpectacular

Hey, it’s summer. Honest. What an excellent time to investigate Naim’s high end SuperLumina cables. 

If you decide to make the change, you can trade in your existing wires, Naim ones or otherwise, for an extremely generous allowance.

To arrange a demonstration, email us at: [email protected] or phone Andy or Alastair 01473 655171 / 655172

Warm white on white 

Forty years after they first coined the term ‘Rega Planar 2′, the plain simple P2 is back with us. Essentially, it replaces the RP1 Performance Pack.

To celebrate, we opened up our white one today and loaded a couple of albums to compare with the rather more junior RP 1.  Rather than use the RP1-PP which has the Rega Bias cartridge, we pitted it against the basic RP1 which the same bundled-with-the-deal Rega Carbon cartridge. 

The comparison was illuminating. We are quite used to the differences wrought by the Performance Pack’s upgrade of cartridge, belt and mat. The, admittedly more expensive,  P2 is an altogether more sophisticated device. The new, far more rigid, RB220 arm, the 24v motor and different platter bring a fundamental transformation. 

Surely, in gloss white, this has to be the coolest £375 turntable out there? Such a pity that Gregory Porter’s ‘Take Me To The Alley’ is the just wrong shade of pale for a perfect match!

Whatever I suggest in an effort to raise the profile of white, most buyers will opt for the smart, safe and far more dust-prone gloss black.

Sonically, there is very little to criticise. It resolves far more than either version of the RP1, is tonally far richer and produces a much larger, more believable soundscape. More to the point, musical elements, such as phrasing and intonation, not to mention bass playing, are handled so much better. It’s pretty impressive that a deck at this level can make you so keen to invest a substantial chunk of your day in listening. 

John Martyn’s half speed remaster of Solid Air from Abbey Road sounds superb on even the basic RP1 but it’s utterly spellbinding on the Planar 2. 

Hard on the heels of the stunning P3, this is another cracker from Rega.

We even have some stock. At the moment!

Grand day out at Holm Court - PMC’s new HQ:

Hard on the heels of yesterdays excitement regarding us finally getting the keys to our potential new Signals Towers (and me barely sleeping for some unaccountable reason), a morning drive into deepest hert-bed-hert-fordshire was not quite the appealing prospect that it should have been.

Pleased to say that PMC made it all OK! Spending the day with a strange and eclectic bunch of moderately weird people (HiFi dealers and PMC staff) turned out to be a fantastic tonic for my excessive mental ruminating. I should say that the rather lovely female staff who appeared to actually make everything work like clockwork were not in any way strange, odd or weird.

Anyway, today was about celebrating 25 years of PMC being in business. The new twenty5 series was demonstrated in the afternoon after we were given an illuminating talk on the history of the company and of the technology used to develop the new range. The chunky speakers photographed above are the very first ones to be made by PMC, incidentally.

After a most excellent lunch, accessed via a journey in very wide coach driving along some very narrow roads, we were settled in for the main event. As it happens, we already have our demo twenty5 21 and 23 speakers, so we know how good they are. It was nevertheless brilliant to sit there while someone else swapped things over so that we could compare and contrast. 

First thing to understand is that the twenty series is not ceasing production. Whilst stocks last, the existing veneer finishes are available, but the price has fallen by roughly 10%. Once the existing finishes have been exhausted, they will remain available, but only in a black stained wood veneer. The twenty5 series is a little more expensive than the twenties were, so there is a proper model range price step between them. What was incredibly obvious was that the level of improvement more than justifies the extra cost. 

Whilst the twenty5 models look superficially similar to the twenty range, every single aspect, with the apparent exception of the screws used to fix the tweeters, is different. Sonically, they are cleaner, bolder, deeper, more colourful and more dynamic. More to the point the differences are wholly musical ones. It’s quite a remarkable shift.

The new Laminair grille visible in the ports is apparently a large part of the story and not just a funky trim. With PMC using a new and much longer through bass driver (still their own design and with their own cone material) it meant that real gains were to be made by speeding up the flow of air in and out of the transmission line port. Reducing turbulence, in exactly the same way are aerodynamic diffusers do for formula one cars, has impacted on air flow such that the speaker becomes more efficient, much clearer and is subjectively ‘faster’.  The bass maintains level far deeper yet none of the existing positives of the immensely popular twenty series have been sacrificed.

Best to let your own ears decide, so feel free to book a session.

Many thanks to Peter Thomas and his rather fine team at PMC. Happy anniversary!

Here follows an unedited review of the Russell K Red 50s by one of our customers who just happens to be called Russell. Reading between the lines, I think he quite likes them . . .

Hi Alastair

Sometime ago I said I would write something about the Red 50's and here it is, if it isn't of any use to you for the website, then don't worry. Please share it with Russell if you think he would like it.

Thanks again for all your time and help with the system. It has given me enormous pleasure.

'When will they be fully burnt in?' I asked, as I chatted happily to the creator of the speakers I had purchased from Alistair and Andy at Signals, just a month previously.

'About Six months,' replied Russell Kaufman, with refreshing honesty. The setting was the Audio Show East last year. Russell had just been demonstrating the jaw dropping wonders of his floorstanders and the scale of the Red 100's. We were listening to Fleetwood Mac's 'Landslide' and Nick's voice had an equisite, fragile, wounded tenor to it. An ache that filled the room with musical humanity. It had never sounded so vital or bruised.I had bought the entry level Red 50's. All three speakers are Cracker Jack products. All three charm and punch, like pugnacious Cassius Clays, nimbly, with fluent footwork, above their weight. They are winners.

Russell kindly then demonstrated how to set his speakers up for the ultimate playback. The advice on listening to a bass heavy track, to get the distance between the speakers right, followed by using subtle toe in, with a treble inclined groove, to get the stereo imaging right, has proved to be invaluable. So now here I am, playing record after record, writing this over six months later as 'No Easy Way Down' from Dusty in Memphis spins mellifluously from the now on fire Red 50's: this then is a tale of considered ownership,pride,delight and pure joy.

They have truly rounded out. The vocals that were firstly pellucid and protean are now fully present and muscular.Around them,strings,drums and organs blaze, warming the room.'The Only Living Boy in New York' being particularly potent in demonstrating the benefits of the burn.

The hi fi quest for a sound that returns you to the music is a complex beast.Why put yourself through it? The time,the outlay, the packing up and unpacking,the connecting of cables,the coffee?For this moment, six months and more down the line, when everything swings, when 'Avalon' sounds as rhythmically robust as a newly tightened string on Novak Djokovic's racquet.

For the music now just breathes and the pleasure it gives is akin to drinking from a well that draws water for the soul. There's that grail quest again.

What the Red 50's do so dependably is to make the sound live in your mind as well as your ears. Songs sound both as you remembered them and subtly enhanced. Rhythm, speed, timing and vocals. These are the elements that sing out to you from the Red 50's.

Don't just take my word for it. Several visitors to the house have noted the quality of the sound, some of them fellow Signals aficionados who have been thoughtfully* impressed.   *did you mean thoroughly maybe?

I cannot with any honesty write about the technical specifications of the speakers but the fluidity of the timing may well be related to the absence of more traditional damping. There is nothing between you and the music but the insistency and percussively sweet metronome of the beat.It is such a pleasure for the listener. You just get lost in the head nodding, foot tapping, movement. Lost in the right way that is all about sensual involvement in the sound.

So this is customer feedback when the product has bedded in beautifully.The journey was not without its hold ups. The Red 100's I first tried never had a chance due to their retro 1980's styling, an aesthetic misstep that Alistair has typically acknowledged with self deprecating humour on the website. However, the 50's have found their way home. They are approved of by all. Listening to Paolo Nutini as I type, the scope and gravelly soul in his vocal is stamped on the room.Surrounding it are secure,fluid bass and guitar lines that just want you to move.

From Mobile Fidelity to records over fourty years old, these speakers are faithful to the sound. They communicate.

Buy, audition and fall for the Red 50's, as they will reward you for your investment, over and over again. Daily.

So Alistair and Andy, thank you for your time, your patience and your watchful listening of and for the listener. I don't think the musical fidelity that the speakers and all the other system matched components have given would be half as pleasurable if it wasn't for your involvement, service and sense of how to keep the customer satisfied, however frustrating that might have been as a process.

Oh my, what have we done? 

For the past few years we've been looking for a fresh home for signals to set it free of the constraints of being located in my home. We have, I’m certain, become greatly hampered by the lack of space available and inability to have relaxed and simple to organise open days.

After a couple of false starts, including us seriously considering an awkwardly located crumbling ruin in Stowmarket, we happened across a 1992 Catholic church in nearby Trimley st Mary. The fact that it seemed the right size, albeit needing some internal reorganisation, and was named after St Cecilia, the patroness of music, made us feel that it was ‘meant’.

We would need to get change of use, so instantly made an offer based on getting this. Sadly, it became quite evident that this was not really an option. If we wanted it, we needed to offer a tender via sealed bid and to gamble on getting planning sorted later. Figuring that our respective pensions already invested in shares were pretty vulnerable anyway, we made the best offer we could back at the end of October. This was accepted and the purchase process seems to have broken all records for inexplicable delays.

Anyway, as of 15.25 hrs June 1st 2016 we apparently own a church. It’s deconsecrated and there are no bodies, at least no official ones.

We can’t actually use it either, of course, and the possibility remains that the council will not play ball in the change of use front. Should it all work out, I think we will have a very appealing and definitely unique listening and working environment. I’m quite excited, too, at the prospect of also getting the Ikea trolly in the picture. Is this evidence of God working in mysterious ways?

New PMC TwentyFive series now rolling in - 

Hey, great . . . we’ve got more boxes:)

If you saw the state of our overcrowded hovel at the moment you would understand the irony. 

In truth, though, it’s all good. The new Twenty-Five series was launched a few weeks ago at Munich and already the real live product is now rumbling forward. Today we got the 21 stand-mount (pictured) and the slim 23 floor standers. The 24 should follow soon, along with the 26 later in the summer. 

If you fancy an upgrade to the Twenty series we will be pleased to be our competitive best. But first, you’d want to hear them, so some bank holiday run-in will make sense.

Interesting to see the shift to single wiring. And they do look rather fine, I must say.

Melco upgrade now here -

New V3.00 Firmware now available with Direct CD-Import and performance upgrades!

The latest Melco firmware is now available, V3.00, applied by selecting UPDATE – INTERNET from the main menu. It is advisable to update the firmware on the Melco N1 whenever a new release is made as new functionality and operational improvements will often be present.

Available to all existing and new owners, V3.00 FW enables users to make a once-and-for-all archival quality import of their beloved CD collections onto a MELCO that will never have to be repeated – it will be so good that it cannot be improved.

This newly developed function allows a user to take CDs from their collection and make a bit-perfect import into the MELCO

Set up is simple - the CD is read using a USB connected CD loader direct to the MELCO via the front panel USB socket or the rear-mounted USB 3.0 socket (A list of compatible drives will be available on the MELCO web site). Melco have tested and recommend the Buffalo BRXL-16U3 and Pioneer BDR-S09J-X. We at Kog audio have found the LG GP57 series drives successful and affordable. Please note the Apple Superdrive is not compatible.

The Direct CD-Import function starts automatically once the CD is recognised and the imported music is automatically located within the MELCO in a folder called ‘CD-Import’ and is date stamped for user convenience.

Metadata is derived from the industry leading Gracenote database.  This includes high-resolution royalty free and totally legal cover art.  Integration between the metadata download and the internal MELCO UPnP server ensures a comfortable user experience.

Music storage can be selected as either .wav or .flac with selectable compression ratios including zero compression flac – favoured by audiophiles as there is no unpacking burden for the DAC.  Both wav and flac include fully embedded metadata.

Supporting the MELCO Direct CD-Import feature are the following additional features, all of which are packaged within V3.00 firmware:

- Precision Start permitting connected DAC settling time for both PCM and DSD. Music delay is adjustable by the user. - Automatic hybrid MODE control – auto selects Mode 0 or Mode 1 depending on the UPNP App chosen by the user.  Mode 0 or Mode 1 can also be fixed by the user. - Gapless playback – both PCM and now DSDs.  (NB requires compatible DAC) - QUAD DSD 11.3MHz or 256fs DSD support for .dsd and .dsf files - Further sound quality improvements based on internal data-flow management - Compatibility Enhancement with new embedded drivers for additional external DAC implementations beyond UAC2. Full details will be posted on the MELCO-Audio website.

The full press release is avaiable here - http://www.kogaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/Melco-CD-Import-Press-Release-V5.pdf

Please feel free to forward this email to new and existing customers

Introducing the MELCO N1ZH60

Based on the same platform as the range - topping N1Z, the N1ZH60 employs 2 x 3TB high performace HDDs and medical-grade dual power supplies to create a more affordable model offering the same high-quality performance characteristics as the flagship.

Whether requiring playback of music over a network or when combined with a DAC for USB audio, the N1ZH60 is the perfect enviroment for audiophiles to store and access their valuable digital music.

The full press release is available here - http://napthineporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Melco-N1ZH60-Press-Release.pdf

The new N1ZH60 retails at £3500.00 and is in stock in black and silver - available now. http://www.signalshifi.com/melco_audio/MelcoN1ZH.html

HI-FI + SERVER OF THE YEAR 2016 ( N1Z )

HI-FI NEWS EDITORS CHOICE ( N1ZH60 )

THE ABSOLUTE SOUND EDITORS CHOICE 2016 ( N1A )

THE EAR BEST OF 2015 ( N1A )

HI-FI NEWS EDITORS CHOICE BEST OF 2015 ( N1A )

Warranty Remember to register all new Melco products here for the extended 3 year warranty.  http://www.kogaudio.com/warranty-registration/

Melco update

Interesting time with Alan Ainslie from Melco Audio and Tim Lawson from Kog Audio.

Had a listen to the new N1ZH (just like the solid state ‘Z’ server but with hard drives) and had a play with the new software that will be released as a download in the next week.

The new software release brings the ability to ‘rip’ discs straight into the Melco. Simply connect a USB3 CD drive and off you go. It’s not just operationally better but it sounds significantly better too. And all for free!

The N1ZH shares the more compact and solid ‘Z’ casework and more sophisticated power supplies. Predictably, sound quality sits somewhere between the N1A and the N1Z. With 6 tb storage it has a lot to offer. 

We were fascinated to learn that far from Buffalo creating Melco as a sub-brand, Buffalo was developed, initially as a manufacturer of print buffers (clue was in the name), on the back of Melco. Every day is a school day.

Another week, another Linn combo

But this one is for us and it’s staying here, adding to our demonstration armoury.  

Our brand spanking Audio Origami UniArm (think Naim Aro / Syrinx PU7 crossbreed) has been sitting patiently in its box for over a month awaiting a suitable opportunity. Finally, we have it mounted on a fairly modestly specced LP12 comprising current standard sub-chassis for Rega, Lingo PSU and the fairly new Linn Krystal cartridge. 

There are two versions of the UniArm, the Rega-mount one being slightly longer and rated more highly by Johnny at Audio Origami. This, coincidently, gives us a good basis for that other rather lovely affordable unipivot, the Roksan Nima.

The UniArm has caught the eyes of folks who aspire to the late lamented Naim Aro. It is available with more advanced arm cable at a more advanced price but even the basic version that we have here is sounding very special. I had best be careful giving comparative judgements at this early stage but  . . . wow. This is serious. And fantastic value for money.

One thing that is very evident is that, whilst it’s decidedly weighty and extended in the bass, the overall presentation is energetic, composed, incredibly realistic and effortlessly musical. Mind you, it was hooked up to a rather splendid amplifier. 

That old ‘fruit box’ don’t half sound good!

Alastair

Celebrating their first 25 years in business, PMC launch the Twenty 5 series at the Munich High End Show.

Possibly less than ideally suited for all weather listening . . .

The web site is already up and running:

http://pmc-speakers.com/products/consumer/twenty5

NEW HUGO TT PARTNERING AMPLIFIER, TTOBY, PLUS NEW SPM1050MKII POWER AMP SHOWN AT HIGH-END, MUNICH

Press release from Chord Electronics 05th May 2016:

Chord Electronics is revealing two new proprietary-tech amplifiers at High End 2016 on 05th May. The TToby is an exciting new desktop stereo power amplifier designed to complement the Hugo TT DAC and take advantage of its high-quality digital preamp functionality. The TToby has been created using the same form factor as the Hugo TT and its introduction enables desktop audio lovers to create a high-performance Chord system where space is tight.

The new TToby (£2,750, available August/late summer) will offer Chord’s proprietary amplifier technology and deliver 130 watts into a four-ohm load. The Hugo TT and TToby combination, allows music lovers to enjoy the benefits of Chord’s class-leading DAC technology via headphones and loudspeakers, giving complete flexibility within busy households. TToby offers both balanced and unbalanced inputs to complement the Hugo TT’s outputs, and benefits from Chord’s famous switch-mode power supplies.

The new SPM1050MkII is a 200-watt stereo power amp which introduces a raft of internal upgrades, plus a number of aesthetic improvements over its predecessor. The new MkII version, which will be priced at £4,995 and is available now, benefits from reduced output distortion and improvements to capacitance for a bigger, cleaner power delivery.

The new SPM1050MkII uses the latest low-distortion amplifier circuitry and features four proprietary lateral-structure dual-die MOSFETs, enabling the amp to drive a wide range of difficult loudspeaker loads with ease. The MkII version also includes greater isolation on the mains transformer, to reduce interference.

Our full Statement

Having been using the Naim S1 preamplifier here for almost a year, a period that saw in the arrival of the new DR power amplifiers, it seemed like a good idea to finally finish the job and become full-on Naim Statement dealers. 

We’re excited, therefore, to welcome the S1 power amps which we’ve managed to nestle into the corner of the larger listening room. See above.

Some things we’ve learned already:

1) 141 Kg (packed weight of a single mono power amp) takes some lugging. Thank goodness for the wheels. Home dems could be problematical.

2) Lining up three spiked, heavy and valuable black slabs in a row on a carpeted floor is actually quite difficult.

3) Even freshly unpacked and temporarily used with standard Super Lumina DIN-XLR interconnects these sound substantially more accomplished at every conceivable level than the 500 DR. Because of Naim’s asymmetrical use of the XLR plug for their NAPS 300 and 500, this configuration actually makes the speakers out of phase until you reverse one of the connections.

4) Arrival, a day later, of the proper balanced SL leads means that we now have a proper upgrade all over again. And so soon! :)

You may gather that this is an early days report but we really are more chuffed with these than we could possibly convey or even imagine. The Kudos Titan T808 loudspeakers that, at £21500 suddenly look just a little low rent in this company are sounding absolutely stunning.  I guess the same 'low rent’ accusation could be hurled at the twin 555 power supplied NDS streamer but the results are genuinely breathtaking.

Bearing in mind the vast power on tap, there has been some trepidation but, gradually, we are releasing the taps! The joy, ironically, is how wonderful the system sounds at very low levels anyway. Harmonics, complexities, extremes of bass and treble are all handled with ease and staggering musicality. Familiar recordings turn out to have far more dynamic contrast than had been evident before. 

Our experience here is pretty unusual. Most buyers and dealers will meet the Statement as a whole. Here, we are simply swapping one power amplifier for the mono blocs. The source, the preamp, cabling and loudspeakers have remained static. If anyone has hoped that the Statement-derived transistors in the NAP500DR give it a similar level of performance (but with a bit less welly), then I’m sorry to disappoint.

This is at ‘game changer’ level. It’s a lot like going active but, we suspect, with even greater qualitative gains. Of course, active with this could be something else! 

If you would like to have a listen, feel free to give us a call. 

We’ll try not to let this go to our heads. 

Alastair