Stuff - UK (2020-11)

AUDIO GUIDE

ALL THE CASH

Cambridge Audio

Alva TT

At a glance, the Alva TT looks

much like any other premium

turntable. Chunky aluminium

platter? Check. Businesslike

tonearm and high-quality

cartridge? Check and check

again. What isn’t so obvious,

until you have a glance at the

back panel, is its integrated

high-quality phono stage

and its switch for Bluetooth

pairing. In fact, the Alva TT

is the world’s first hi-res

turntable. It converts all

that vinyl goodness to

24-bit/48kHz digital then

streams wirelessly. Naturally

that doesn’t come cheap, but

you’re buying into a British

brand with a big reputation.

£1500 / cambridgeaudio.com

SOME CASH

Rega Planar 2

Less sometimes really is

more – if you want proof,

look (and listen) no further

than the Rega Planar 2. Yes,

it looks like a child’s drawing

of a turntable and no, it

doesn’t especially look like

£400-worth, but slip it into

an appropriate system and

it sounds like a steal. Your

money goes in all the right

places – the tonearm and

cartridge, the bearing, the

motor assembly – and as

a result the Planar 2 is easily

the most thrillingly musical

turntable you can buy for less

than £500, leaving you more

cash for buying records. This

is exactly why vinyl has hung

around all these years.

£399 / rega.co.uk

LESS CASH

Sony PS-LX310BT

The most off-putting thing

about vinyl is what a faff it

can be, right? Well, not if you

put £200 Sony’s way. Its

PS-LX310BT is as painless

as vinyl gets. Your money

buys an ordinary-looking

turntable, true, but also one

that features an integrated

phono stage, auto stop/start

and Bluetooth wireless

streaming. So you can plonk

down your record player

wherever’s handy, plug it into

the mains and then stream to

a Bluetooth speaker or a pair

of wireless headphones.

Spending £200 elsewhere

might get you a slightly

better sound, but it won’t get

any more simplicity.

£199 / http://www.sony.co.uk

NOW ADD THIS

iFi Zen Phono

If your hi-fi amp doesn’t

have a phono input or

you want to upgrade

your turntable’s sonic

performance, the all-new

Zen Phono is an absolute

steal. It includes an

intelligent sub-sonic filter

that removes rumbles

without extinguishing the

bass, plus its own isolated

power supply to cut down

on hissing noise pollution.

£149 / ifi-audio.com

KENDRICK

LAMAR DAMN

Confrontational

poetry telling

another story about

being a young black

man in America,

Damn is mindful

hip-hop rather than

shock-and-awe

gangsta rap, and can

be played in reverse

order to flip the

narrative on its head.

DR DRE 2001

Long before

amassing billions

from headphones,

Dr Dre was making

studio albums with

great clarity and

dynamic range,

sparse beats,

bottomless bass,

doomy string

samples... and lyrics

that your mum really

wouldn’t like.

CHILDISH

GAMBINO

AWAKEN,

MY LOVE!

When Gambino (aka

Solo star Donald

Glover) released this

LP, Questlove from

The Roots woke

D’Angelo at 4am to

make him listen to it

because he was so

blown away by its

funk-inspired sound.

OUTKAST

SPEAKERBOXXX

/ THE LOVE

BELOW

A fourth killer record

from the Atlanta duo,

this is essentially two

solo albums in one

where Andre 3000

morphs into a manic

electro crooner and

Big Boi brings the

P-Funk-influenced

club-friendly jams.

ALTERNATIVELY

NOW HEAR THIS HIP-HOP AND R&B

Stage dive^
The phono stage is
switchable. If your system
doesn’t have one, you’ll
need it; and if it does, you
can use whichever
sounds best.