John
The most interesting hi-fi news stories for Week 41, 2022.
Pro-Ject is attempting to take the pain away when buying one’s first hi-fi system and with a large dollop of colour. The Austrian’s company’s Colourful Audio System comprises: 1) a Debut Carbon EVO turntable; 2) a (Kallax-Fi-sized) MaiA S3 integrated amplifier, complete with Bluetooth input and MM phono stage; 3) a pair of Box 5 S2 standmount loudspeakers; 4) a 3m pair of LS S2 loudspeaker cable to tie it all together; and 4) a set of Damp it isolation feet to go under the loudspeakers for when they and the turntable sit on the same surface — you don’t want loudspeaker vibrations feeding back into the turntable. The amplifier is black but the loudspeakers and turntable are colour matched. Your choice of Golden Yellow, Fir Green, Steel Blue, black or white. The Colourful Audio System is also available in a real wood veneer. This European-made set will sell for £1599 / US$2000.
Linn‘s Edition Hub (£9950/US$12,940) is the second of its modular Selekt DSM units. The new version features an upgraded chassis (better rigidity, wave-styled vent), an improved control dial (stainless steel bearing,100-LED upward-firing illumination), the Scottish company’s all-new Utopik power supply design and mirrored spy glass front fascia. DAC options number four: standard — or Katalyst, Organik (£5505/US$4225) and Dual Mono Organik (£3250/US$7510). Now the Selekt DSM Edition Hub is a streaming DAC with S/PDIF, USB, and HDMI ARC inputs plus line-level outputs, a headphone socket, MM/MC phono staging and Linn’s own ‘Space Optimization’ room correction smarts. Add the optional amplifier module to turn the Selekt DSM Edition Hub into a streaming amplifier or the optional HDMI module (with eARC) for more advanced home theatre integration. The same options apply to the original Selekt DSM which has since been renamed Selekt DSM: Classic Hub and for which pricing starts at £4900/US$6370.
For those who like their turntables with a more olde world vibe, the new ELAC Miracord 80 offers a plinth milled from solid wood that’s bolstered by anodised aluminium front and rear panels and finished with high-gloss black or walnut veneer. This belt-driven turntable sports a 10″ carbon-fibre tonearm (with detachable headshell) that comes factory-fitted with a D96 MM cartridge made by German neighbour Clearaudio. The steel platter that spins the ‘sound plates’ puts almost 6kg on the scales, is supported by a ‘complex bearing design’ and is driven by a PID servo-controlled DC motor. The UK RRP on the Miracord 80 is £2199 with the D96 cartridge or £1999 without. The optional lid sells for £199.
