http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk SEPTEMBER 2019 HI-FI WORLD 37
WORLD STANDARDS
ELAC BS243 £1,000
More transparent and spacious than they’ve a
right to be at this price, these refined mid-price
standmounters represent top value.
EMINENT TECHNOLOGY LFT-16A £1,200
U.S. planar magnetic bookshelf loudspeaker with
unrivalled mid-band and treble. Hear it before
all else.
WHARFEDALE DIAMOND 220 £200
Builds on the success of previous Diamond
ranges with better bass, more detail and a greater
sense of scale.
KEF LS50 £800
Supremely musical mini-monitors which sound
much bigger than they look.
MARTIN LOGAN MOTION 35 £1,300
Folded Air-Motion tweeter gives a taste of Martin
Logan’s electrostatic sound in a standmount.
Different from the standard mini-monitor and all
the better for it.
PMC TWENTY.21 £1,575
Transmission line loaded standmount with a big
box sound from a compact cabinet. Punches well
above its weight.
Q ACOUSTICS 2020i £165
Great little bargain-priced stand-mounts with a
friendly, fun yet surprisingly refined sound. Hard
to better for a pair of starter loudspeakers.
WHARFEDALE DENTON £500
A beguiling mixture of retro looks with modern,
high-technology drive units. The Denton has an
easy-going, big-hearted sound with a touch of
trad warmth that should appeal to many.HEADPHONE AMPLIFIERS
CREEK OBH11 £150
Designed specifically for low to medium imped-
ance (30 Ohm – 300 Ohm) headphones the little
Creek has a marvelously well-judged sound.CHORD MOJO £399
Class leading portable DAC and headphone amp
with ability beyond all else. Big, open spacious
sound.EPIPHANY EHP-O2 £99
PP3 battery-powered portable gives great sound
quality at an almost giveaway price. Happy with
the output from an iPod or CD player, the little
epiphany is a true bargain.ICON AUDIO HP8 MKII £650
The HP8 MKII valve-based headphone amplifier
brings the spacious sound of valves to head-
phones. And it matches ‘em all.FIDELITY AUDIO HPA 100 £350
Great little headphone amplifier with a lively yet
refined and open sound.MUSIC FIRST PHONE BOX £276
Brings a big stage, plenty of detail and rich, deep
colours to the sonic spectrum.OPPO HA-2 £250
Remarkable performance and sound from ESS
Sabre32 DAC in a slim portable package.CD PLAYERS
AUDIOLAB 8200CDQ £949
Inspired CD player and DAC with price-perfor-
mance ratio like no other. Capable of matching
designs costing much more.CANOR CD2+ £3,100
Musically coherent and tuneful valve-driven CD
player from Slovakia. Lovely liquid sound.CAMBRIDGE AUDIO AZUR 651C £410
Snappy modern presentation from this budget
CD player. Cracking audiophile entry point for any
digital fan.CHORD RED REFERENCE MKIII £16,000
A unique and massive engineering exercise
that could well be the best CD player available.
Chord’s Pulse Array DAC technology produces a
musical experience like few others. A true refer-
ence player.ESOTERIC K-03 £9,495
Superb high-end silver disc spinner that is beyond
criticism. Devoid of its own character but has a
flawless presentation.EXPOSURE 101 £395
Detailed player with fine sense of timing should
be an automatic entry on any demo list at this
price.