Ed Selley

Spendor A3 Spendor’s new compact floorstander has much in common with the company’s successful SA1 baby Spendor’s baby SA1 sub-miniature has already proved quite a hit, commercially and critically (Group Test Winner HFC 334), so it’s hardly surprising that the company should use some of its elements as the basis for this very compact floorstander. There’s much more to it, of course, than simply transposing drivers and crossover network into a larger box. Although the tweeter is the same for both models – the unusual wide-surround unit that Spendor now favours for most of its models – and the bass/mid driver is built on the same chassis, there are substantial changes elsewhere. The very compact, sharp-edged enclosure is set low, with the drivers comfortably below seated-ear height, but the optimum listening axis is deliberately arranged to fire slightly above the horizontal to compensate.

Irresistible force The latest single-ended Unison S6 offers audiophiles pure Class A operation and a honey-rich glow says a smitten Jimmy Hughes Although solid-state amplifiers offer many practical benefits – smaller size for a given power output, cooler running, higher maximum power output and potentially lower noise – tube amplifiers promise a certain extra ‘something’ that many audiophiles seem to find irresistible. But is it all imagination and hype? While tube amps might seem to hark back to the golden era of high-fidelity, do they really offer any tangible benefits over a good transistor design? With its pure Class A output stage, the Unison Research S6 has all the right credentials. It undoubtedly talks the talk, but does it walk the walk? Gutsy sound Like most modern amplifiers, the S6 keeps things simple. It offers five unbalanced line inputs, a set of tape outputs and a single set of loudspeaker outputs.

Tiny Temper Die-hard LP12 fans have found a new haven in Well Tempered. Jason Kennedy looks at the entry-level Simplex, complete with silicone damping There are some radical turntable designs in the glorious world of analogue audio, but very few comparable to a Well Tempered product. The Simplex was first developed in the early eighties and this new entry-level turntable is still the least expensive in the Well Tempered range. The design, unlike all other turntables, doesn’t have mechanical arm bearings; instead the arm pivots on a silicone-damped golf ball that hangs from a nylon filament thread.

Power towers Roth Audio has moved into loudspeakers. Ed Selley gets to grips with the flagship model from the new Oli range, complete with ribbon tweeter Roth is a youngster in audio terms. From its founding in 2007, the company has produced a wide range of iPod ancillaries and lifestyle products, and has now moved into loudspeakers. The five- strong OLi range has two bookshelf speakers and three floorstanders, the largest of which, the £800 OLi 50, is tested here.