http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk SEPTEMBER 2019 HI-FI WORLD 3
A
udio products can be eye-wateringly expensive,
but we try to avoid the ultra high-end since it
is more quirky than distinguished. This month,
there is little esoterica in Hi-Fi World, but
plenty of affordable products striving to offer
great value.
Audiolab’s 6000N streamer isn’t definitive by any
means – Naim will lose no sleep – but as reviewer Jason
Kennedy notes, at modest price it brings you free music from Spotify. Seen
like this the 6000N and a few price rivals that Jason lists don’t just cost less
than CD players, you end up not paying for CDs. The cost of listening to and
enjoying music from around the world has never been pushed so low. Read
more about Audiolab’s 6000N on p10.
Loudspeakers are listened to by many people at Hi-Fi World – and
if everyone says “yes”, then yes it is! Jamo’s modest C 95 II floorstanding
loudspeakers got a big thumbs up this month because they had a fluid sound
free from artifice that just seemed natural to us all. Measurement showed
perfection was not quite – well – ‘perfect’, but there are subtle properties in
loudspeakers not easily pinned down by measurement, meaning humans are
always the best arbiter of quality. Best of all though the Jamos managed to
deliver great sound at a great price. You can see and read about them on p16.
Much awaited and talked about – Technics SL-1500 latest budget Direct
Drive turntable. Unlike the popular SL-1200GR, this new design comes as
a package without removable arm, to swing in at under £1000. With Direct
Drives like Lenco’s L-3808 at half the price, Technics are facing serious
competition. Can Japanese Technics hold their own in a market swamped by
Chinese rivals? Can they retain loyal customers around the world, who came
to love the now discontinued SL-1200 Mk2? For definitive measurement of
their new Direct Drive motor and arm in the SL-1500, don’t miss our in-
depth review on p83.
Good audio products do not have to be “eye-wateringly expensive”. I
hope you find the affordable products in this issue interesting – they gave
great results at a great price.Noel Keywood
EditorTo ensure the upmost accuracy in our product reviews,
Hi-Fi World has extremely comprehensive in-house test
facilities, and our test equipment - from big names like
Rohde & Schwarz and Hewlett Packard - is amongst the
most advanced in the world.
Loudspeakers are measured using a calibrated Bruel
& Kjaer microphone feeding a Clio-based computeranalyser, using pulsed and gated sinewaves, in a large
room to eliminate the room’s influence. Pickup arm
vibration is measured with a Bruel & Kjaer accelerometer.
No other UK hi-fi magazine has in-house testing, and
none has access to such advanced tests across all types
of equipment. That's why you can depend on Hi-Fi World
reviews.testing (see http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk for full explanations of all our tests)
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