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HiFi Lounge - All Our Latest News, PMC, Naim, Bryston, Rega amongst Many others!

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been to countless gigs over the last 30 years but I can honestly say that I have never been to anything remotely close to last nights Embrace concert so I thought I would share a few pictures as it was such a fun night.

I have been an Embrace fan since their first album back in 1998 and have been to many of their gigs, they are always great nights out as their is just so much passion for their music with the fans so when I got an e-mail through a couple of weeks ago for an invite to a secret Embrace gig in Halifax somewhere entitled ‘An Unholy Christmas’ I couldn’t resist and snapped up a couple of tickets for Wendy and myself, even though it came with the following warning -

'This is going to be unlike anything we have ever done before, and for your own safety the ticket price includes goggles, face mask and protective clothing. You must wear your protective clothing at all times whilst in THE ROOM. We expect that it will get messy so please wear old clothes and footwear to the event… (interpret this as you will).'

What an earth was going to happen? this just added to the intrigue and sounded like too good an opportunity to miss so here is a photo diary of the events of last nights amazing gig :)

First we were told to meet up at a boxing club in Halifax with glow sticks, red lights and a picture of someone we used to be obsessed with.

All looks a bit eerie, particularly being a wet and windy evening.


Even though no one knew what to expect the crowds quickly grew.

Once inside we were given our protective gear.

Here is one of the obsessive picture walls, can anyone guess what mine and Wendy’s pictures were?

Once in the room we can see that the band are set up in a boxing ring.

Then you realize that the whole room is covered in plastic, much like a kill room from the tv series Dexter.

Wendy chilling before the chaos.

Dressed and ready for action.

Me too, Glow sticks at the ready.

The Band come on, nothing out of the ordinary so far other than everyone looking dressed like scientists.

First we are given to nod to get the glow sticks glowing.

Then we are given cups of a dry powdered paint substance and told to throw it everywhere, so much fun :)



30 seconds later, the aftermath.

Then the gig continues.

A few songs later we do it all again.

Then it is all over, everyone looks like they have just walked from some disaster movie, all grinning like children though.



Danny and Richard from the band didn’t escape the carnage but seemed to love it and then went on to perform an awesome DJ set with all genres of music covered, it’s been a long time since I have danced that much.




What a night!

I’m sure Embrace won’t see this but I’d like to thank them for an amazing night that I will never forget and wish them all the best with their new album, it should be a huge success as the new songs are amazing, normally it takes me a little while to get into new tracks but these instantly grabbed me, probably helped by the fact that they use PMC IB2’s speakers in their studio :) These guys really do deserve to be big stars as their music is great and their gigs are some of the best I have ever been to.

One thing I learnt from last night was that everyone should take glow sticks to gigs, it really did add to the atmosphere, maybe I’ll try it at my next Bruce gig :)

Cheers,

Paul.
 
Hi all,

Christmas came early yesterday as I got a Bryston PowerPac 300 to power my PMC CB6i centre speaker :) This will be replacing my trusty PMC DS-001 which has now unfortunately been discontinued.

I have always wanted to add a PowerPac for centre duties to complete my 5.1 Bryston/PMC rig but the DS-001 did such a cracking job I never got round to it, well now the PP300 is here and WOW what a beast it is, its absolutely huge, I'm hoping it will fit into my rack ok, hopefully get it hooked up later, can't wait to find out how it compares to the DS-001, if size is anything to go by it should blow it out of the water :)









Have a great Christmas,
Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi Guys,

If anyone would like a great centre speaker or possibly to use as a rear channel in a 6.1 setup I have a PMC DB1M+ for sale in Oak, excellent condition, boxed with all packaging and documentation.

Price - £350

Please PM me or ring 01767 448121 for more information.







Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi guys,

Certainly looks like it is going to be a busy year this year for PMC in 2014 what with moving from their current HQ in Luton to their new premises just up the road from me in Biggleswade, I really can't believe that PMC are only going to be a couple of miles away. It is a stunning looking place, basically a Georgian style mansion set in 5 acres of gardens giving them plenty of room for the odd garden party with active BB5's blasting out, I'm sure the neighbours won't mind :)

Being that they are so close I'm hoping once they are moved in we will be able to arrange the odd factory tour for fellow PMC Enthusiasts, please see below for the press release from PMC -

PMC expands into new global headquarters | PMC Loudspeakers



In other PMC news I was really happy for one of our customers, Paul, who won PMC's final Golden Ticket draw resulting in him getting a full refund on his PMC Twenty.23's that he purchased from us, lucky man :)

The winner of the third PMC twenty series Golden Ticket announced | PMC Loudspeakers

Cheers,
Paul.
 


Hi All,

It seems like we have been waiting for this news forever but at long last HDTracks has confirmed that it will be launching in the UK in the first quarter of 2014, so not much longer to wait until we can get access to the excellent catalogue of Hi Res music that has been available in the US for some time now but due to copyright issues has been locked out to us, unless you understand things like Proxy IP’s and that kind of stuff that is.

HDTracks have announced that they will be launching with over 10’000 24 bit tracks to start with and that there will be new HD releases available from the likes of Black Sabbath, Lorde and best of all, Bruce Springsteen, hopefully they will be releasing all of Bruce’s back catalogue in 24 bit like they recently did with Prince, this is something I have been dreaming off for a while now :)

HDTracks launching in the UK really is great news, as before we only had a handful of sites like Naim and Linn offering 24 Bit music but now there really is a chance for 24 bit to make a real impact in the UK, as well mastered 24 bit really is tough to beat and for me I believe that British companies like Naim and LInn make the best streamers in the world so it is only right that at last we can now access a much bigger collection of 24 bit music to enjoy on these high quality streamers. Also not to forget the new portable players from Astell & Kern that are designed to play 24 bit music at a very high level on the move.

Plus it will make my life easier as the biggest question when demoing a streamer whilst playing 24 bit music is ‘where can I download this music from?’ which is always a difficult one to answer without encouraging people to break the law and download it illegally.

Better start saving those pennies though as the flip side will be that the old credit card could start getting a hammering once you see all the 24 bit music that you’d like to buy :)

It really is great news though and can’t come quick enough, hopefully 2014 will be the year of Hi Res music.

Cheers,

Paul.
 
At HiFi Lounge we are pleased to be offering the excellent and newly re-released Sonus Faber Minima Vintage Speakers with stands, boxed with all documentation in mint condition as new.

I am selling these on behalf of a customer who is upgrading his speakers to some new Sonus Fabers, these were purchased from us in April 2013 and are in as new condition, one owner, non smoking and pet free house.

These really are a stunning looking and sounding speaker, no one makes speakers like Sonus Faber.

Price New - £2900.00
Our Price - £1995.00

Please see below for more information -

http://www.sonusfaber.com/en-us/products/minima-vintage

These can be listened to at our demo rooms in Bedfordshire, so please feel free to come and have a listen, if you could just ring first that would be much appreciated.

If you would like more information please call Paul on 01767 448121 (8am-5.30pm) or e-mail on [email protected].







Thanks,
Paul.
 


Hi All,

Just a quick note to let everyone know that it is that time of year again when we get the annual Naim price rise so if you are thinking of buying anything within the Naim range shortly it may be worth thinking about getting your order in sooner rather than later.

Basically there is an increase of around 4% across the whole range to cover the rise in costs to Naim of raw material, the price rise will come into affect from 1st April so anything ordered up to the 31st March will stay at the current/old prices.

Please find the new price list below, hopefully it shows up OK, if not please get in touch and I will e-mail it over.



Thanks,
Paul.
 
Hi Everyone,

Just a quick message to say that we now have 2 components from the Multi award winning T+A HV Series now on demo, these were first launched just over a year ago to much praise at CES 2013 and just recently the range was expanded to 5 products.

We have both the PA 3000 HV integrated amp and the MP 3000 HV media player on demo. I have been really keen to spend some time with these since being totally blown away by the V Series range that we had at HFL around a year ago, the V10 mono blocks really did make the PMC MB2i’s sing like never before.

The HV Series, which stands for High Voltage is a totally different way of designing the amplifier architecture meaning that it runs at a much higher voltage than your normal amplifiers resulting in extremely low distortion levels and a very neutral and clean presentation. As for the media Player, there really isn’t anything it can’t do, other than vinyl of course, as it will read of a NAS, play cd’s, play internet radio, you can plug in a USB hard drive or thumb drive, all controlled by a very intuitive iPad app.

Upon first sight of the HV series you can’t fail to be impressed by the quality of the units from their size, weight to overall build quality, especially the casework and back panel connectors which just screams ‘Highend’.

I had a good listen yesterday and what you get is an extremely clean, detailed and natural presentation but thanks to the amps Class A design they really do get hold of the speakers and give great drive and insight to any recording unlike any Integrated amp you’d have heard before.

Obviously it goes without saying that if you’d like to come in for a listen please get in touch, anyway rather than me rambling on please find more information on our website and here are a few pics that really don’t do these units justice -

http://hifilounge.co.uk/hv-Series

















Thanks,
Paul.
 
For Sale - PMC FB1i SPEAKERS, CHERRY, 18 MONTHS OLD, EXCELLENT CONDITION!

At HiFi Lounge we are pleased to be offering the excellent PMC FB1i Speakers in Cherry, Excellent condition with just a little fading where the grills are as you always get with cherry, 18 months old, unfortunately there are no boxes.

These were a customer trade in who has just upgraded to the PMC Twenty range, I sold him these FB1i's originally. These are at HiFi Lounge so please feel free to come in to have a look and listen.

Price New - £2700
Our Price - £1295

They can be listened to at our demo rooms in Bedfordshire, so please feel free to come and have a listen, if you could just ring first that would be much appreciated.

If you would like more information please call Paul on 01767 448121 (8am-5.30pm) or e-mail on [email protected], or fire me over a PM.











Cheers,
Paul.
 


Hi All,

Just heard from Arcam that they are running a special promotion in the build up to the World Cup later this year called ‘The Road To Rio Promotion’ basically it is a way to save quite a lot of money on Arcam’s brilliant range of AV Receivers and the excellent newly released AV950 Processor.

So if you have any of the qualifying Arcam products from the list below you can trade them in against the AVR450, AVR750 and AV950 and save the following amounts easy to remember amounts -

Promotion Savings

1. Trade-in a qualifying Arcam home theatre product and receive a trade-in allowance of £950.00 against the purchase of an AV950

2. Trade-in a qualifying Arcam home theatre product and receive a trade-in allowance of £750.00 against the purchase of an AVR750

3. Trade-in a qualifying Arcam home theatre product and receive a trade-in allowance of £450.00 against the purchase of an AVR450

Qualifying list of Arcam Products
  • AVR100
  • AVR200
  • AVR250
  • AVR280
  • AVR300
  • AVR350
  • AVR360
  • AVR400
  • AVR500
  • AVR600
  • AVP700
  • AV8
  • AV9
  • AV888
Bearing in mind how fantastic the current range of Arcam receivers and processors are then I have to say that this is a great time to get something that will bring the latest hollywood blockbusters to life but also be extremely musical at the same time, a very difficult job to do but one that Arcam excels at, I have been running the AVR750 at home for a few months now and really couldn’t be happier with it. The promotion runs until the end of the World Cup.

It is also worth remembering that Arcam’s trade in offer is still running on their BDP300 Blu Ray player, basically Trade-in any CD/DVD/Blu-ray player to receive £400 trade-in discount taking the price down from £999 to £599

So if you’d like to find out more or would like to pop in for a demo on any of the qualifying products please feel free to give me a ring on 01767 448121 to arrange time.

Cheers,

Paul.
 
Hi All,

This is a real quick post, I borrowed the Sonus Faber Amati Futura’s and the Guarneri Evolution’s from Absolute Sounds the other day for a customer home demo but I couldn’t let the Evolutions go back without hooking them up and having a quick listen, I would have kept the Amati’s but at 55kgs each there was no way I could get them upstairs unfortunately.

Anyway if anyone would like to pop in for a listen I am hoping to have them here for a few days yet, it will give me a great opportunity to hook them up to our Devialet 240 to see how special this combo will sound ahead of our Devialet / Sonus Faber Day on June 7th.

http://hifilounge.tumblr.com/post/85017763523/devialet-and-sonus-faber-day-june-7th

One thing is for sure both the Amati’s and Evolutions are stunning looking speakers, once I get to 5.30 tonight it will be a case of lock up, sit back and have a good listen, can’t wait :)

As usual I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures.

































Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi All,

Just a quick one to say that we now have the full new REL S Series Range on demo which comprises of 3 new models, the S2, S3 and S5, these are a clear step up from the excellent outgoing R Series and also can now be run wireless thanks to REL’s new Longbow technology first seen with the Habitat1 making installation extremely easy.

It has long been known that REL is the subwoofer company to go to for a sub to integrate with a 2 channel system thanks to its Hi Level connector meaning that you can integrate a REL sub seamlessly with your front L+R speakers, I was always against a sub for music until I tried a REL at home a couple of years ago and it really does work.

Another thing I’d like to share is an upgrade that I did at home this week to my system, which I have to say is one of the best in AV terms that I have ever done so I thought I’d share it, although many have probably already tried it. When I was at Munich a couple of weeks ago for the Highend Show the most impressive demo believe it or not was the REL demo, they were running 3 subs for cinema, now I’ve always read that more than one sub is the way to go but I had never experienced it, so there was one on the front L+R for high level and .1, one on the centre for high level only and one on the rears for high level and .1. I have to say it made such a difference to the overall immersion, especially having a sub on the rears. When all 3 subs were working you were right in the heart of the action, as soon as the rear sub was turned off the soundstage jumped to the front, it was quite a stark difference.

So this week I added a REL habitat1 to the rears at home and a REL T7 to the centre to go with the R-328 that I already had, a bit of a hotch botch of different subs but the difference really is astonishing as it means that you can set all your speakers to large thanks to the high level connection which just adds more weight and scale to the soundstage, not necessarily more bass, although I did have to go round the room and move a few things that were rattling a bit too much

The best upgrade though is adding a sub to the rear channels, for me that was a real game changer as having that extra bass, especially on an action film say where a jet plane fly’s from the rear to the front is absolutely brilliant, adding a small sub to the centre helped level out the front soundstage and equalise the room better but if 3 subs is a little overkill then I would go with 2, one for the front and one for the rear, it is made a lot easier now thanks to REL’s wireless technology meaning you don’t have to run cables everywhere.

I did have to buy an RCA splitter though for my Arcam AV950 as it only has 1 sub out but after talking to REL this really isn’t a problem for the .1 channel.

Anyway, sorry for going on a bit, it is just that I’ve been playing around with kit for what seems like years now and I thought I’d experienced most things in AV but if anyone has got a spare sub kicking about I would highly recommend experimenting as it is a real game changer.

Finally if anyone would like to come in to demo and of the new REL S Series please feel free to pop in anytime.

Below are a couple of pics of the new REL Range that I took at Munich and the awesome G1 for good measure.











Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi All,

Yesterday I was lucky enough for my friendly Arcam Rep to bring in their new Universal player, the FMJ UDP411, I only had an hour of so of listening and then unfortunately he had to box it up and take it away, what a spoil sport, but I did get a chance to put it up directly against the OPPO 105D for 2ch only, as for me sound quality will be the UDP411 main selling point and the OPPO is its main competition.

Firstly we hooked up the UDP411 via both RCA and XLR into the Bryston SP3 as the Arcam AV950 950 wasn’t hooked up unfortunately, and flicked between both connections, both sounded great but the XLR just edged it for me offering a slightly bigger soundstage with more drive with better dynamics, it was only slight but noticeable, I also tried it as a streamer, it saw my NAS and played with no problem at all, compared to Naim though Arcam’s app needs a fair bit of work, the good news is that Arcam have their own coder now who’s main job is to improve the app so all being well this should improve shortly.

So onto sound quality, to sum up I would say that at long last the mighty OPPO 105 has some real competition, not that either was better or worse, which sounds like a real cop out, but both sounded excellent but offering 2 very different presentations. I love OPPO’s presentation, I find it clean, detailed, immersive and all that stuff, but I have have always loved Arcam’s more slightly more laid back and smooth presentation and for me that was the main difference, the UDP411 came across with all the detail of the OPPO but with a weightier more life like presentation, especially apparent with vocals, it just felt more organic.

I guess the OPPO could be considered better value for money with the Darbee processing built in and the M/C analogue outs, but for out and out sound quality it is now great to have two great high performing options that offer 2 very different presentations, I can quite easily see the UDP411 ending up in my system, as I do like my system to match and having a full Arcam rig would be very satisfying, it will also be interesting to try it over HDMI into the AV950 and also digital out into the D33.

It looks like it is still a couple of months away before the UDP411 is available but yesterday’s taster has certainly left me wanting to explore it in more depth as early signs sounded very promising so needless to say we will have one on demo as soon as released.

Please see a link below for more info and couple of pics -

Arcam FMJ UDP411 Audiophile Blu-ray player











Cheers,
Paul
 
Hi Everyone,

Just a quick blog to say that we now have the new Musical Fidelity M3si and M6si integrated amps on demo, both offering a clear step up in performance and features to the older outgoing M3i and M6i models. I think it is fair to say that Musical Fidelity are best known for their high quality amps which always offer exceptional performance and power at reasonable prices, I’m glad to say that these new models are no different.

Please find a quick overview below -

Musical Fidelity M3si

  • 90 Watts Per Channel with virtual monobloc power amps with their own separate power supply.
  • High Performance Moving Magnet Phono Stage
  • 24 bit 96 kHz asynchronous USB input
  • 4x Line Level RCA / Phono Inputs
Price - £1099

More information below -

http://hifilounge.co.uk/musical-fidelity-m3si

Musical Fidelity M6si

  • 220 Watts per channel into 8 Ohms, configured as a pre amp with two completely separate and independent monobloc power amps.
  • Moving Magnet and Moving Coil Phono Stages
  • 24 bit 96 kHz asynchronous USB input
  • 4x Line Level RCA / Phono Inputs
  • Balanced XLR Input/Output
Price - £2499

More information below -

http://hifilounge.co.uk/musical-fidelity-m6si-integrated-amplifier

If you’d like to experience these new amps for yourself please feel free to pop in for a listen, here are a few pictures below -

M3si







M6si









Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi All,

Last week I had the pleasure of spending some time listening to Musical Fidelity’s new monster integrated amp, the NuVista 800, to be honest I haven’t heard any of the original NuVista products launched back in 1999, but I am constantly reading HiFi Mags and often hear about the ‘much loved MF NuVista products from years back’ so when I was offered the opportunity to have a listen to the new NuVista offering I jumped at the chance.

From what I understand is that NuVista tubes offer many advantages over standard valves like better reliability, more consistant matching, they are smaller and run cooler + offering much better performance, apparently they were developed by RCA in the 50’s for TV’s and the like but around 15 years ago MF started using them in their NuVista HiFi range of components, but their availability was limited as there weren’t too many of the bases left that the valves sit in, so MF ended up with stacks of tubes left but no bases, now MF’s boss Antony Michaelson didn’t give up on the NuVista technology and after years of searching he came across more NuVista bases which he ended buying the whole lot meaning that NuVista is back.

Now the NuVista 800 really is a sight to behold, it is a beautiful piece of engineering, it is definitely a 2 man lift coming in at a back breaking 45kgs and it is certainly no shrinking violet as this is a big amp, its basic design is a hybrid so it uses the NuVista valves for the pre-amp section and uses a solid state dual mono design derived from MF’s Titan amp to create 300 watts per channel power amp section.

But what does it sound like? Well for our listening we used the Magneplanar 1.7’s panels with their additional bass panels, Maggies are notoriously hard to drive but when driven properly they really do sing, and this is what the NuVista 800 achieved, what is great is that the valve pre section just added a hint of warmth which made vocal tracks sound gorgeous but the power amp section really got hold of the Maggies in a way that I have never heard before, I can honestly say that I have tried our Maggie 1.7’s on a lot of amps and I have never heard them sound this good, I can only imagine what the bigger 3.7’s would sound like when driven by the NuVista 800.

It will be priced at £7999 which to be fair is a lot of money for an integrated amp, but the NuVista 800 doesn’t perform like any other integrated, it really is like a Pre/Power combo and with the NuVista Tubes really does offer something quite unique and really does have to be heard to be appreciated, we will hopefully have a NuVista 800 on demo in around a month so please do get in touch to arrange a demo.

Please find more information below on our website + here are a few pictures that really don’t do it justice.

http://hifilounge.co.uk/musical-fidelity-nuvista-800

I’m sure I could see the wooden shelf bowing under the weight.



4 NuVista Tubes glowing.



Beautifully Machined Military Spec Aluminium Front Panel.





Getting the best out of the Maggies.



Stock Picture.



Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi Everyone,

It’s certainly been quite a while since there has been a new product announcement from Bryston and I guess this is more of an revisement rather than a new product but it is certainly a good idea, so basically Bryston have now added the BDP-1USB to their range.

The idea is that if you have a USB DAC like the BDA-2 you can run direct from the BDP-1USB via USB meaning that you don’t need an internal sound card creating a cheaper product, the difference between this version is that it only has a USB output, so no SPDIF or AES, I run the BDP-2 via USB out into my BDA-2 and I have to say that it offers the cleanest presentation I have ever heard.

The Bryston digital players have always sounded amazing and with the versatility of being able to read from an attached hard drive or thumb drive as well as reading from NAS drives it really is a very complete digital source.

Still waiting on price and availability to be confirmed -

Bryston BDP-1USB Digital Player

Spec Below -
  • EXCELLENCE in digital playback is a cost-no-object endeavor, but expense in engineering should not demand unnecessary features. If your digital-to-analog converter features only a USB input, or USB is the best sounding way to connect your source, choose Bryston’s BDP-1USB.
  • SOUND QUALITY When used with a USB DAC the expensive custom audiophile sound card found in our BDP-2 serves no purpose. The BDP-1USB eliminates this cost and saves you money with no sound quality penalty. The system is powered by a noiseless linear power supply which will not pollute the delicate digital audio path or your AC mains. It can also comfortably manage complex music libraries of up to 30,000 tracks stored on either locally connected USB drives or your home NAS.
  • FEATURES A vast array of features such as UPnP compatibility, Squeezebox® emulation, DoP (DSD over PCM), and more are all built in to our intuitive and attractive firmware accessible from practically all web browsers.
  • CONTROL Comfortably control your BDP-1USB from your chair using Android or iOS tablets and mobile phones using our built-in interface or your choice of many 3rd party apps.
  • You just discovered the perfect partner for your USB DAC. Hear the most engaging musical experience possible—Bryston’s new BDP-1USB.
Features:
  • Linear Power Supply - not switching common to computers and other digital music players
  • 4 USB inputs/outputs any of which can be used to connect mass storage or Digital to Analog Converter
  • Back bottom USB provides high current for large capacity buss powered hard drives
  • Fast Ethernet 100mbps connectivity to network Connect to music stored on NAS
  • UPnP/DLNA Client, Server, Renderer availability Large library support up to 30,000 tracks Gapless playback
  • Intuitive Graphical User Interface accessible by virtually all web-browsers including on mobile devices.
  • Support for FLAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV, MP3, and a huge variety of other audio formats
  • Seamless control with iOS, Android, or other mobile devices
  • Bit perfect digital audio playback Compatible with Asynchronous USB DACs
  • DSD over PCM (DoP) playback with compatible DACs 5 year parts and labor warranty




Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi Everyone,

I think it is fair to say that Arcam really are on it at the moment as we now have their new A49 Integrated Amp on demo and it really is something quite special.

We got it in last week but it wasn’t until Saturday that I had a chance to have a proper listen, once with a customer then later in the evening. I was always keen to listen to this amp at length as it uses a new type of amp design called Class G which Arcam promised would be something quite special and it appears that they weren’t wrong. Now I’m not that technical and to be honest it is the sound that matters but the beauty of Class G is that it gives you the first 50 watts as Pure Class A which always sounds natural and as soon as I powered it up I could hear that the A49 was something pretty special.

I was running it on the excellent PMC Twenty.23’s which I know extremely well and with the A49 driving them there really was a extra level of bass weight and control that sounded gorgeous and a fullness to the sound that just sounded right, it offers a very natural, effortless presentation that is hard to not be impressed with, this is an amp where you could listen for hours without any fatigue setting in.

In total it has 200 watts per channel, offers a MM phono stage and can power direct Arcam’s R Series of products so pair it with the irDAC or airDAC to add digital playback to it all powered from the A49.

Even better partner it with Arcam’s excellent D33 DAC to create something very special indeed, and with the UDP411 Universal Player just round the corner shortly followed by the C49/P49 Pre/Power Combo based on Glass G as well as some other exciting products from Arcam this year, it certainly looks like Arcam are going to be a big player in the 2 channel market again which is great news for everyone and needless to say that we will have it all on demo once available.

It is an exciting time at the moment for integrated amps as there is so much choice of really top end amps like Naim’s excellent SuperNait 2, Musical Fidelity’s new M6si or their storming M6500i, Devialet with their stylish highend amps, Bryston with the B135 SST2, or something quite different like the PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium valve amp, and now with the Arcam’s A49 joining the party there is now another top end offering that really does bring something quite different to the party.

If you’d like to book a demo of the A49 please get in touch, it is priced at £3750, please find more details below + a few pictures -

http://hifilounge.co.uk/arcam-a49-integrated-amplifier









Cheers,
Paul.
 


Hi Everyone,

Wow, where did that last year go, it only seems like yesterday that we were preparing for our 1st anniversary and here we are a year later making plans for our 2nd Anniversary. This is a very special one for me as when we were discussing starting a HiFi shop I hoped we would make it to 2 years as I knew we had enough money to pay the rent till then but I had no idea what would be in store after that, luckily everyone has been brilliant and we are still here and fighting fit, so thanks to everyone who has helped support us so far and has made this the perfect job, well that is if you can call it work :)

So after the success of last years vinyl bash we promised to make it a yearly anniversary event, this year it is made even more special as we are holding it in collaboration with Rega, probably the worlds most Iconic and successful turntable manufacturer around who have been making turntables for over 40 years now. There aren’t many vinyl lovers who haven’t owned a Rega deck at some point in their lives, so Rob from Rega will be here all day to answer any questions you may have and to help spin the tunes all day.

As last year Chris, and hopefully Martin, will be coming along with their great selection of new and used vinyl for sale, this proved extremely popular last year, and ended up costing me a small fortune as I couldn’t resist adding to our collection, if I remember right we went on late into the evening with people still buying vinyl at 8pm, then running upstairs to put it on for a quick listen, be warned, buying vinyl can become a real addiction.

This year we will have 2 vinyl systems setup, downstairs we will be running the excellent Rega RP6 with a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge, a match made in heaven in my opinion, we will run this through the Fono MM Phono Stage going into the excellent Rega Elicit-R amp with a pair of Rega speakers which are to be confirmed. In our upstairs demo room will be running the stunning RP10 turntable with the Apheta cartridge, if you love your vinyl you really do need to hear this turntable, we will run that into Rega’s Reference Ios phono stage then into the Rega Osiris flagship amplifier and a pair of PMC Fact.12’s or Twenty.26’s to finish of the system. Don’t tell anyone but there were rumours that Rega may be able to bring along their state of the art Naiad £30,000 turntable, this is far from guaranteed as none are available just yet but we live in hope :)

In celebration of our 2nd Anniversary and as part of our partnership with Rega we are offering some special packages for any Turntables purchased on the day, please see below for more details -

1, Buy a RP1, RP1 Performance or RP3 Turntable and receive a Fono Mini A2D phono stage worth £89 absolutely free.

2, Buy a RP6 Turntable and receive a Fono MM Phono Stage worth £198 absolutely free.

3, Buy a RP8 or RP10 Turntable with the Rega Apheta Cartridges and save 50% off the price from a Aria Phono Stage, so £399 instead of £798.

You can see the full Rega range on our website below -

http://hifilounge.co.uk/rega

This event last year was great fun, one of the best we did, this year to keep it fresh we would like to try and do it with a 1970’s theme, don’t worry you haven’t got to dress up in flares and wear flowery skirts, but please feel free to do so if you want to :) It would be great if we can play 70’s music all day as it was such a brilliant era for music in general. I will need some help here though as I haven’t got loads of 70’s vinyl what with being a bit of an 80’s boy. So if you’ve got any vinyl from that era that you’d like to hear through a great system please feel free to bring it in, this can be from any genre from dance, jazz, blues and rock etc.

We will have croissants and coffee for breakfast with nibbles throughout the day, so look forward to seeing as many of you as possible to help celebrate our 2nd Birthday but more importantly to have the chance to play some great music throughout the day.

Here are a couple of pictures rom last years event -











Cheers,
Paul.
 


Hi All,

There have been Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin remasters lately but this is the one I have been waiting for, Bruce Springsteen is re-releasing his first 7 albums remastered from the original master tapes as a box set on the 17th November as both CD and Vinyl :) For me it doesn’t get any better than this although I must say though that it is a shame that there is no 24 Bit download available at the same time, but for me the vinyl is what I am most excited by, follow the link for more information -

‘Bruce Springsteen: The Album Collection Vol. 1, 1973-1984’ boxed set out November 17 - The Official Bruce Springsteen Website

For me the best of Bruce’s work were his first 4 albums, I grew up listening to these on my walkman with my first weeks wages going on Bruce’s back catalogue on tape back in ‘85, according to the reports, thanks to new mastering techniques there is a new level of detail on these albums that have never been heard before which really is fantastic news for all Bruce fans, I just can’t wait to sit back and re-visit these classic albums in all their re-mastered glory.






It is a real shame that the box set isn’t going to be released in time for our 2nd anniversary vinyl day on October 18th as it would have been fun to play a few tracks but maybe we should arrange another Bruce Springsteen day but this time just working through all 7 albums in order, now that sounds like fun :)

Talking of our 70’s themed vinyl day in a couple of weeks, details below, I have been buying up a fair bit of 70’s vinyl lately, I have just got round to ordering the re-mastered Led Zeppelin box sets + I’ve just bought my 2 favourite Bowie albums on vinyl, Scary Monsters and Hunky Dory along with some Bread and Carpenters vinyl classics for a bit more laid back listening, but if you have got some 70’s vinyl please do bring it along to our vinyl day to give it a spin.

So although the new Bruce vinyl won’t be out in time for our vinyl day I do have the original versions so I guess we could still play a couple of tracks, anyway hope to see you at our Vinyl day on October 18th.



http://hifilounge.tumblr.com/post/97717171673/2nd-anniversary-vinyl-bash-in-conjunction-with-rega

Cheers,
Paul.
 
Hi Everyone,

Well as we have said before, it is certainly a busy time for Arcam at the moment and as one of our favourite brands it is great to see so many excellent products coming out of Arcam HQ just up the road in Cambridge.

I thought I would just do a quick post with a couple of updates on some of the incoming products, please see below -

Arcam FMJ UDP411 Universal Player.

We took delivery of our demo UDP411 yesterday, this is a product I’ve been looking forward to quite a lot as it is going up head to head against my favourite Blu Ray player brand OPPO with their brilliant 105D player, I listened to an early UDP411 and for out and out sound quality I was really impressed, very different to the OPPO but then choice is always good, but apparently it is even more refined now than a few weeks ago when I listened.

I will run it in first but a player that can play Blu Rays, CD’s, SACD’s and is also a network streamer is always going to be an interesting proposition, please find more info on our site and a few pictures below, needless to say if you’d like a demo please get in touch.

http://hifilounge.co.uk/arcam-fmj-udp411-bd-player







Arcam FMJ A39 Integrated Amplifier

Every now and again a product comes along that just seems to be too good to be true and this is where the A39 comes in, basically this is a slightly cut down version of the awesome A49 and it only costs £1500, using the same Class G technology, I was lucky enough to have a listen to a early version again and I was amazed how close it gets to the A49, obviously it hasn’t got the same power but for normal listening it offers a very similar presentation at a price that I find hard to believe, we should have the A39 on demo shortly, if you are after a new amp then I would highly recommend a listen.

http://hifilounge.co.uk/arcam-fmj-a39









Arcam FMJ CDS27 Player

For the last piece of news, Arcam will shortly also have their new audio only player available, basically the CDS27 replaces the CD17 and CD37 and will play CD’s, SACD’s and is also a network steamer up to 24/192 and at a price of £800, what is not to like.

It uses the class leading TI/ Burr Brown PCM1794 DAC and also uses a high precision re-clocking system along with a new specially designed power supply. The player has single-ended and balanced outputs so again I am expecting big things of the CDS27.

http://hifilounge.co.uk/arcam-fmj-cds27





So as you can see it is certainly a busy time for Arcam and great to see them really getting stuck back into the 2 channel market again where so many of us first really got into hifi with Arcam.

Next up will be the P49 and C49 but that is for another blog, if any Arcam products do take your interest please do get in touch as we will have the full range on demo.

Cheers,

Paul.
 
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