News

Cyrus Audio's i7-XR integrated, Neat Acoustics' Orkestra floorstander, Mark Levinson's No5105 turntable, JBL's L82 Classic loudspeaker and a six-way budget floorstander Group Test

Inside our March Issue: The way we listen to music and the audio equipment we aspire to is continuously evolving. A quick glance through the pages of this month’s issue demonstrates that there are plenty of new products emerging to grab the attention of serious music fans, but many break with what hi-fi aficionados would consider to be traditional components. Take this month’s exclusive review of Acoustic Energy’s AE1 Active standmount loudspeaker, which takes the iconic AE1 design – celebrating 30 years since its introduction – and has evolved it into a truly active loudspeaker for next-gen audio fans. Active speakers have traditionally been the staple of the pro audio sector, with few models making the crossover to the domestic market as home hi-fi fans prefer the potential upgrade flexibility that’s offered by a separate amplifier, rather than opting for a speaker design with dedicated amplification built in.

5000 series introduces two highly flexible and surprisingly affordable integrated amplifiers to the UK

If you’re in the market for aluxury all-in-one music player, MarkLevinson’s N°519 digital audio player may just be the ideal media hub for you. It’s a wired and wireless network-ready DAC capable of handling 32/192 PCM music files with DSD support as well as CD playback via the front disc-loading slot. The black with silver trim aluminium housing is designed and built in the USA and the company claims it uses a pure path discrete, direct coupled, fully balanced, dual-monaural signal path for best performance. Around the back there’s a hostof digital connection options, including balanced, coaxial, optical and USB asynchronous inputs.

One of Britain’s leading contemporary composers has written what is thought to be the longest single piece of music ever to be recorded. Sleep is eight hours long – and has been composed with the sole purpose of sending the listener off to the land of nod. “It’s an eight-hour lullaby,” says its composer, Max Richter. The piece is scored for piano, strings, electronics and vocals, but features no vocals as such.

ELAC Miracord 80 Turntable, Apple's second generation HomePod smart speaker, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista PRE/PAS amps and PSUs, AVM Inspiration AS 2.3 all-in-one amp, Astell&Kern Acro CA1000T DAC/DAP/amp and a standmount speaker Group Test