IS this an Arcam ??

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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.

Sonus Faber Upgrade Sonettos

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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

New Rega Cartridges, wow!

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We are about to see the largest change in the Rega cartridge line up for many many years!

Although the Elys2 and Exact are still doing well they will be replaced very soon. There are three new moving magnets to come:

The Nd3, Nd5 and Nd7

Eagle eyed among you will say that looks like the Rega moving coils and you are right. The body is the same moulding in super tough thermoplastic. Polyphenylene sulfide since you ask!

Using tooling that is already paid for allows Rega to spend big money on other parts. 

The magnet used in this new range is NeoDymium, a world first for a moving magnet it is already in the Rega moving coil cartridges.

 It is extremely light and powerful and makes the unique generator layout the most dynamic available.

Nd3 uses an aluminium cantilever and elliptical stylus and replaces the Elys2 at the same price!

Nd3 will be available during July 24 and will also feature as a factory fit option to both Rega Planar 2 and Planar3. 

Nd5 features a vital elliptical stylus and replaces the Exact, again at the same price!

It will be a factory fit on Planar 3 and Planar 6 from September 24

AND there's MORE

In September we will also see the Nd7 which features a fine line stylus profile as used on the High end moving coils Apheta 3 and Aphelion!

This will be £ 450 and will be available as factory fit on Planar 6 and Planar 8

So why go to all this trouble with a moving magnet when moving coil is superior I hear myself asking myself.

Glad you asked Michael, you see it's the number of turns on the MM that generates the higher output and also rolls off the high frequencies, the biggest limitation of moving magnets.

The Nd magnet being more powerful and this new generator layout means that you can have fewer coils and extend the frequency response so that these new Nd models close the gap between MM and MC. 

AND you might assume that all this micro technology is made in China, of course not, that's not the Rega way.

The coils are wound at the Rega factory in Essex and the cartridges are assembled and tested there. The cartridge bodies are made in England and as many parts as possible for all Regas are sourced in the UK. In this case the stylii could be from Switzerland. 

Now I haven't had them here yet so watch this space for when they do arrive!

Can't wait.

Kef Evening

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The Kef evening last week was a great success, a full house at Lyric Hifi

There were three parts to the presentation.

Alex Holt, one of Kef's R&D boffins, explained the difference between R series and Reference Series. The R3 meta at £ 1899 has had rave reviews everywhere so how can the Reference One with the same number of drive units in the same configuration be £7500 ??

First of all Alex showed us the different drive units and then he let us hear the difference. OMG, so much more clarity, so much more realistic, a night and day difference everyone agreed.

Kef R3 Meta                                       Kef Reference One

Spot the Difference !! 

Most recently Alex has been responsible for parts of Kef's new subwoofer range. These all include a Music Integrity Engine. This is a set-up system that has enhanced their capabilities in a stereo set-up, generally the weakest part of other manufacturers subwoofers.

We played the Kef LS50 W2 without a subwoofer and then added the Kube 15MIE. The transition from mid bass to deep bass was seamless, well done Alex!

This new technology is now in Kef subs from £ 599 to £ 2499

The third part to the evening was pure showing off !

Take the amazing Kef Blade 2 loudspeakers and feed them the best possible source, the Linn Klimax DSM3 feeding monobloc 500 w power amplifiers. 

Comments afterwards were along the lines of "Didn't realise a hifi system could sound so good! "

Truly stunning, yours for just £ 77,000

Not sure what the next Musical Evening will be, watch this space or make sure that you're on our mailing list