New preamp and power amp add to tube-free catalogue
Following on from its all-solid-state REX 500 power amplified, Balanced Audio Technology (aka BAT) has launched a solid-state preamplifier in the shape of the VK-85. Joining the company’s trio of SuperTube preamps, and priced £12,500, the unit is said to result from a new design strategy and employs N-channel MOSFET drivers in the amplifier circuit and a fourth-generation implementation of BAT’s ‘Super Pak’ power supply topology.
With its white baffle and walnut or black wood veneer finishes, Mission’s 750 is instantly recognisable as the speaker manufacturer’s latest ‘retro’ model, although unlike the 770, it is not a resurrection of an earlier design...
Available now for £11,995 each, the solid-state C55 and tube-based C2800 are new DAC/preamplifers from McIntosh. Both claim extensive connectivity, including seven analogue inputs split between XLR and RCA, two phono ins both selectable for MM or MC cartridges...
Towering 13-driver loudspeaker set to stun at the UK Hi-Fi Show LIVE
First conceived by Vivid Audio’s founder and designer Laurence Dickie while he was quarantined in a hotel during the Covid pandemic, the five-way Moya 1
loudspeaker has now broken cover, complete with a £400,000 price tag.
Apogee follows the Stage with the hybrid Centaurus Major and Minor but has it made its ribbon technology more accessible
Feeling a bit like the boy who cried ‘Wolf!’, I still can’t help but regard this new range of speakers from Apogee as ‘ribbons for the masses’. But unlike the last models that inspired this sort of reaction – the Stages [p129]and Calipers – the new Centaurs really do make Apogees accessible to a wide range of consumers. And not only by virtue of their cost.
Smallest of a four-strong range of innovative MFB (Motional Feedback) loudspeakers, Philips’ AH585 was in production from 1972-82. How does it fare today?
The Philips Motional Feedback (MFB) loudspeaker has been mentioned a number of times in these pages over recent years. The company achieved considerable success with both its first- and second-generation models, including the 22RH544, but in the UK at least, the third generation is less commonly encountered. The AH585 seen here is the smallest of three consumer speakers, the others being the similar but larger AH586 and the three-way AH587.
This month we review and test releases from: Ralph Towner with Glen Moore, Skinny Lister, Jeff Babko, Tim Lefebvre, Mark Guiliana, Notilus, Hilary Gardner
This month we review: Majeski, O’Neill, Dalayman, LSO/Rattle, Leonskaja, Lucerne SO/Sanderling, Magnificat/Philip Cave, BBC Concert Orch/Rebecca Miller