News

There are always alternative ways to skin a cat. The ‘chat noir’ of hi fi has always been ‘coherence’ – it is a creature occasionally alluded to, but mainly ignored. Which is a shame, because time coherence is as fundamental part of music reproduction as dynamic range. It’s not talked about because it is filed under too difficult. None the less, all the most musical speakers take into account phase coherence. Technics understand this, and with their new SU-G700 amplifier you get a time coherence ‘get out of jail free’ card, in the form of LAPC.

AND IT WORKS, MAKING ALMOST ANY SPEAKER TIME COHERENT

A very special amplifier for £1,799

LAPC (Load Adaptive Phase Calibration)

Speaker impedance changes with each frequency and a power amplifier is required to drive speakers without being affected by the speaker’s characteristics. However, conventional digital amplifiers are connected to speakers through a low-pass filter at the output stage, so they are even more strongly affected by the speaker impedance characteristics. Also, although the amplitude characteristics of conventional amplifiers due to negative feedback were improved, the phase characteristics could not be enhanced. We thus developed a speaker impedance adaptive optimisation algorithm that performs correction to the ideal impulse response through digital signal processing by measuring the frequency amplitude-phase characteristics of the amplifier with the speakers connected. This new technique enables flattening the frequency characteristics of amplitude and phase, which had previously not been achieved by amplifiers, as well as delivering a sound with rich spatial expression.

Technics having taken a break from audio for around 10 years, re-emerged a couple of years ago with some very high end product. We have kept a watching brief since then. Now they have entered the mainstream again, with some very interesting and innovative products. We are delighted to welcome them aboard the good ship The AudioWorks with a mixture of new innovative & classic products.

Ottava SC-C70 – All in one music player

Firstly, in the world of all in one players, the Ottava sounds very good – clear, powerful insightful – this is the most complete all in one system we have come across. Features adaptive technology that produces the most natural sound in its environment – by measuring its own output then correcting it for its environment. Features streaming, CD player, blue tooth, Airplay, Spotify, Tidal, high res audio….

All this for £799

SU-G30 Network Amplifier

This 50W amplifier has some stunning features. As well as providing the streaming hub and high quality amplification for your system, its inbuilt Digital Signal Processing system allows the amplifier to correct the system’s phase and amplitude response by listening to the speaker output, then correcting for anomalies.Features DLNA (network player), Bluetooth, Airplay, USB, Spotify, Tidal…

Price around £1,500

Classic Direct Drive Turntables

The Technics SL-1200 series turntables have a huge following. We are delighted to offer Technics new take on their classics. For example the SL-1210GR will soon be on demonstration.

Price £1,299

ATC are one of the most respected manufacturers of high performance domestic and professional monitoring loudspeakers in the UK. We are delighted to now represent their products.

Through ATC’s commitment to multi-channel mastering and its direct involvement with leading players in the professional audio industry including Sony Music and Telarc, ATC’s products are installed at some of the world’s most prestigious multi-channel studios and auditoria. Where ever the best is required you will find ATC.

A British made amplifier for less than £400! £450 with optional phono stage.

The Edwards Audio Apprentice IA1 Integrated Amplifier is an all new design from the ground up.

The intention was to try to build the best and least expensive British made amplifier on the market, just to prove that we can still do it. The result is the impressive Edwards Audio series of integrated amplifiers, which we feel is a very attractive product with our customary top level of sonic performance.

The main design is a spin off from its bigger brothers, with some lessons learnt along the way. It is based around an all new class AB, Bi-polar, Darlington configured output stage using Sanken devices, coupled with a differential front end and buffered voltage stage. The main PSU consists of a custom wound toroidal transformer with 20,000uF of smoothing. The active pre-amp section uses a Soundwell volume control and features relay input switching. So, there are no compromises on the parts!

The IA model design brief was to produce a ‘hair-shirt’ all out performance product that anyone could afford, which especially in these tough economic times we believe is an important consideration, so the only concession to modernism has been the elimination of remote volume. The IA1-R has remote volume if you can’t live without it!

The elegant ‘half width’ case size with RED LED backlit display allows the amplifier not to be imposing in the domestic environment even with  its flexible input arrangement:  you have 1 x line level on 3.5mm stereo jack and 4 x line level inputs on RCA, one of which is labelled OPTION, for use with the optional moving magnet RIAA input stage.

The PCB’s are all surface mounted using Vishay mini melf 1% resistors – not the usual thin film type which sound inferior. The capacitors, no less than Panasonic FM series and larger components are all hand placed and hand soldered as flow soldering has a negative impact on sound quality.

So where have we been able to make the savings? Well the answer is simple, by investing over many years in buildings and machines we have very low overheads and consequently a low cost of production. This is enhanced by some efficient design techniques that enable us to produce a complete tested amplifier in less than an hour, most of which is spent on the hand soldering of all the thru-hole components.

So, IF you TRY really hard and you really WANT to, you can still build quality, budget components in the UK

We are delighted to have the new Silver series from Monitor Audio on demonstration. Looking and sounding drop dead gorgeous, these speakers will complement any good audio system. Full A/V packages are also available.

The range comprises everything from compact bookshelf to substantial floorstanding speakers, available in a wide range of finishes.

Now on demonstration!

We are delighted to add two very important loudspeakers to our portfolio from British manufacturer Russell K. A mini monitor, and a compact but very capable, floorstander.

These are beautifully constructed speakers made by a designer who understands the requirements for fine music reproduction.

Red 50 £999

Red 120 £2,700

If I say, this is possibly one of the least impressive Hi Fi speakers I have heard, you may well stop reading at this point. That would possibly be a mistake.

The NSMT PSM (like its smaller brother that we have had on demonstration for a little while) is a totally musical speaker. A speaker that does not shout ‘look at me’ every time it plays. It is science totally subservient to the art form it is reproducing. If you want music to engross you, have complexity rendered intelligble, hear the the power and tonality of acoustic instrumentation – then, these may be the best speakers you ever hear.

So, definitely not for everyone, but the sort of self effacing masterful reproduction that many of us have been looking for for years.

Available from £4,600 depending on version & finish