Blog

About two weeks ago, I noticed a Facebook post from Bowers & Wilkins regarding the release of their newest and largest headphone to date - the P7.

Denon have recently announced the launch of their very own TV Speaker Base, titled 'DHT-T100'.
The speaker base has aptX Bluetooth integrated, which enables wireless music streaming from compatible computers, smartphones and tablets - but also includes a 3.5mm jack input for devices that don't have Bluetooth. This makes the unit an ideal companion for both TV audio, and music audio situations. It's easily connected to your television, through either a coaxial or optical wire - however, it does not feature a HDMI port.
The DHT-T100 is said to give your television 'the sound it deserves' with its on-board decoder and five different listening modes, as well as Denon's personal Virtual Surround mode, which makes an attempt in replicating the stereo field of a surround sound speaker set-up.

We were deming KEF R300 speakers with Arcam A19 amplifier with Arcam CD17 today, a lovely sounding combo  - our customer agreed but wanted to hear some vinyl playing through this system, so we added a Project Debut Carbon with Ortofon 2M red cartridge, a great value package at £299, and available in a range of funky and not so funky colours.

Project Debut Carbon with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge

<!

We are really happy to have recently been appointed Naim Audio dealers for West of England and Midlands - demo stock is slowly arriving in store, here you can see the lovely CD 5Si Cd player bedding in - putting a good 50 hours use into Naim products is well worthwhile to get 100% of the available performance.

Naim CD5Si player now on demo in Hereford

Proac D30R

David Johnston, aka Sales and Loudspeaker guru from Proac, recently treated us to an afternoon of musical delight courtesy of the brand new D30R tower speakers, using a very advanced ribbon tweeter unit. Sounding sublime with the partnering Musical Fidelity M6 series CD and amp, together with Chord Odyssey 2 speaker cable, we were only too happy to order our demo pair of D30R's in real cherry veneer.

The primary details of ten new products were revealed to What Hifi? magazine earlier this week. Other than the ten revelations, Yamaha claim there are more to follow and that they plan to reveal the entirety of them at IFA this year in Berlin. Below is a basic summary of what we know so far!

Yamaha NX-P100
The NX-P100 has been revealed to be a compact Bluetooth speaker, making use of the current APT-X and NFC connection technology. The speaker contains a hefty battery inside that's not only able to power the unit for a lengthy amount of time, but will also charge your smartphone through a USB port (similar to the Loewe Speaker 2 Go)

Yamaha MCR-N560
Built from ideas and experience learned from Yamaha's Pianocraft MCR system is the MCR-N560. This unit is a smooth, complete mini hifi system with a plethora of networking features integrated within. Including AirPlay, DLNA, vTuner and the ability to control it from an App. The mini

This 2004 vintage Arcam CD73 came into us with the reported fault that it would no longer play CD's, or even read the table of contents. Given that it is over eight years old and had plenty of use in that time, we were not surprised to find that the laser had expired and needed replacing.

Arcam CD73 CD player from 2004

Review by Stephen Goode, of Hifi Gear

Having had the pleasure of looking at the stylish, modern-design of the KEF M500 headphones, I jumped at the chance to take them in to our in-store demonstration room and truly get to know them.

* Please note, We are no longer able to carry out repairs on Hifi equipment. This blog is meant as a rough guide and Hifi Gear takes no responsibility for damage to equipment when following this guide. For repair work, we recommend finding a local Hifi repair agent. *

An elderly, but still sought after Marantz CD63SE was bought into the shop last week, with the fault reported that CD's would no longer play. After approximately 15 years of use, this is a common situation, as the laser power will gradually reduce over time to the point where it can no longer focus reliably on the spinning CD disc - however with the easy availability of VAM1202 CD mechanisms for below £20, the repair is a viable option over and above the purchase of a new CD player.

A 15 year old Marantz CD63SE with failed laser mechanism

<

Review by Stephen Goode, of Hifi Gear.

We recently took delivery of the Speaker 2 Go from Loewe, so I decided to have a sit down and take note of my thoughts on the product, which makes use of high-quality Bluetooth, a 3.5mm jack lead connect (with lead included), and a USB port for charging your phone/USB device. It's small in stature... But huge in sound.