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Wanna tell you a story, as Max Bygraves used to say, who? Nevermind
Long long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile, no no no!
Long long time ago there was a company called Amplification & Recording, Cambridge. Yes that's the right start!
Two young guys, John and Chris, who grew the company until they attracted the attention of a larger company that said No no no you can't be called that.
You are infringing on our name AR. No problem John said our name also says Cambridge
But we're from Cambridge Massachusetts, see you in court. Eh, no, let's not go there, John said sensibly.
And so A&R Cambridge became ARCAM
Many products and categories followed and Lo Arcam employed many people making cd players, DACs , dvds, blu-rays, preamps. power amps, av amps, even a few speakers. Through good times and bad ARCAM has always been a premium brand that you could depend on for well made great sounding gear. They outgrew manufacturing in Cambridge and many of these new technologies although designed in the UK had to be made in China.
And Lo Arcam attracted the attention of an enormous company who couldn't understand why these Cambridge folk had such a following for their premium products when some of their brands didn't command the same respect from hifi retailers and enthusiasts.
And so they hatched a plan and bought ARCAM.
Arcam are now part of the Harman Luxury group, formerly Harman Kardon and now including JBL, Revel speakers, Mark Levinson and Lexicon.
And the Harman group is owned by an even bigger fish, Samsung
So when you own all these brands and you have the clever Arcam research team at your disposal the next stage is logical.
Use your Arcam boffins to design keenly priced mass market gear that you can then distribute in larger quantities through your distribution channels.
And Lo above is a JBL AV ampliifer that I have just had supplied by Arcam, or Harman and at a price that Arcam would not have the volume to possibly reach.
There are 4 models to be launched:
MA310 5.2 channel, 4k, 60w at £ 499, really, only £ 499 ??
MA 510 5.2 channel, 8k, 75w at £ 699, seriously?
MA 710 7.2, 8k, 110w at £ 999, and more?
MA7100 High Performance 7.2, 8k, 125w, £ 1399
There will also be a MA9100 to follow
310s and 510s have arrived first, eagerly awaiting the 710 which is probably what we will do most of.
Also available black but the white looks great!
Now if you had a huge organisation with marketing gurus who know which way is up you would have matching speakers badged JBL,
lo and behold that has also happened
With bookshelf speakers from £ 599 and floorstanders from £ 999 a decent AV system entry point has just dropped in price.
Being Lyric I'm more cynical about the speakers and will report back when we hear them.
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I haven't written much about Sonus Faber loudspeakers so their updating of the popular Sonetto range to Gen2 is a great reason to do so.
FYI it's pronounced Fab-er not Fabe-er, I'm told.
Made in Italy by true craftsmen Sonus Faber produce the most beautiful cabinets around.
We have found a steady stream of happy clients for Sonetto and the new range promises to continue this.
Visually the cabinets are very similar, keeping their famous lute shape.
There are technical improvements to the drive units and as a result they sound cleaner than the current range, which I already like and enjoy.
Their press release is a bit flowery for me: relentless pursuit of sonic excellence, bespoke approach to design, elevates the audio to new heights, ensuring 100% sound purity, innovative approach ensures a seamless flow of sound waves, precise control over sound propagation and resonance, all pretty meaningless faff, perhaps it was written by AI !
What does mean something is the 'internal cork chamber'. This is to break up the sound from the back of the treble and midrange units internally. If you were a manufacturer who looked at Kef's meta material and thought 'that's a bloody good idea' this is one approach you could take. The curved internals of the Sonnetto already helps in this respect.
Sonetto 1
There is also a new base made of concrete which looks great and makes the cabinet more stable
Other improvements include a new midrange unit with a phase plug in the middle and new drive unit surrounds.
Sonnetto V
Of course all these improvements cost money and the respective models have increased in price. I also have a few of the Gen1 models here available to go at reduced prices.
The new line ups comprises:
- Sonetto I small standmount: £1,750/pair
- Sonetto II bigger standmount: £2,200/pair
- Sonetto III slim floorstander: £4,000/pair
- Sonetto V slim with an extra bass unit floorstander: £5,500/pair
- Sonetto VIII large floorstander: £7,000/pair
- Sonetto Centre channel: £2,250/each
- Sonetto On Wall speaker: £1,150/each
Sonetto I-II G2 speaker stand: £800/pair
New models will start arriving from July onwards, call in for a listen
Or snaffle a pair of the current Sonnetto 1s for only £1150 down from £ 1450