All Hi-fi & radio Feeds

Downloads blamed for Warner share slump

Marc Chacksfield — 1210345413

Warner Music Group, the company behind Muse, REM and Nickleback, has announced losses of around $34 million. This second quarter deficit is worse than the loss of $19 million it made a year ago.

The company has blamed the lower revenue on an increase in taxes and a decrease in CD sales, as more and more music buyers migrate online for their tunes. It has also cited illegal downloads as a reason the company is losing money.

Digital downloads up

Even though the company has made a loss, its digital revenue is up a whopping 48 per cent. The digital arm of its company now accounts for just over 20 per cent of sales. This equates to around $164 million.

Warner is also gaining money on the sale of mobile ringtones but even this combined with online sales hasn’t been enough to stop the slump.

To counteract the losses, Warners has announced it is to diversify revenue streams. According to The Guardian, it is to recoup money from ticket sales, merchandising and making deals with MySpace.

New MartinLogan Spires

Dan George — 1210342140

MartinLogan, the American high-end electrostatic loudspeaker manufacturer, has launched a new upmarket model – the Spire. The new ‘panel’ loudspeaker follows the hybrid line most recently popularised by the company’s recent Source and Purity loudspeakers, which broke new price ground for the iconic manufacturer.

The new Spire, however, is a more high-end product, with deep, well extended bass and a host of acronyms to describe MarinLogan’s proprietary technology. It features a ‘CLS’ (Curvilinear Line Source) ‘XStat’ electrostatic panel, mounted in the firm’s rigid, extruded aluminium ‘AirFrame’ chassis.

Panel beater

The speaker’s treble and midrange are handled by a slim-line stator panel, which integrates with the ‘PowerForce’ bass system, to offer a full-range output. PowerForce comprises a 250mm aluminium bass driver coupled with a 200-watt amplifier to deliver bass down to a claimed 29Hz. This unit acts as the literal and figurative base for the panels and takes up approximately the same space as a case of wine.

Further key features include the ‘Vojtko’ crossover – derived from the Summit loudspeaker – which includes a parametric EQ knob (centred around 35Hz) to optimise the interaction between loudspeaker and room. The cabinet part of the panel speaker is offered in a range of wood finishes as standard, in addition to special ‘Custom Shop’ options. The Spire is ready now priced at £7,300.

Amphion's anniversary Argon2

Dan George — 1210159910

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Amphion loudspeakers, the Finnish firm has launched a new model – the Argon2 anniversary. The company – which is renowned for its wonderfully stylish speakers – has made a number of improvements to the Argon standmount over the years, but none as significant as this anniversary model.

Krypton factor

The new celebratory two-way model will feature the same innovative titanium ribbon tweeter as developed for the company’s ‘Krypton project’. The tweeter is specially made for Amphion by Norwegian driver expert SEAS and enables the Argon2 to extend to a claimed 40kHz.

Amphion calls the new tweeter the ‘integrator’ and it’s highly likely we’ll also see the unit on forthcoming Amphion models later in the year.

To accommodate the new tweeter unit, Amphion has made adjustments to the Argon’s crossover network. It has also specified high-quality binding posts from leading connectivity specialist WBT. The compact standmount boasts a rigid baffle made from Finnish birch, which houses the new tweeter and the 6.5-inch (165mm) SEAS-made aluminum mid/bass driver. Sensitivity is rated at 86dB with an 8ohm impedance.

The special anniversary standmount will be available in a range of high-quality finishes including white, black, birch and cherry.

Third generation of KEF 2000 Series speakers hatches

Dan George — 1210154581

KEF has announced details of the third-generation of its popular Home Theatre 2000 Series – the KHT2005.3 5.1 speaker system. Affectionately known as the KEF ‘eggs’ the iconic speaker package has been with us since 2000 and has seen a number of improvements over the years.

Eggcellent

The new KHT2005.3 is the latest version of the well-received 5.1 speaker package. It comes complete with four HTS2001.3 satellites, an HTC2001.3 centre channel speaker and the new KUBE-2 subwoofer. Boffins at KEF’s Maidstone HQ have made a number of upgrades over the old models, including an improved multidirectional desktop mount with better stability and user preference positioning.

The KHT2005.3 also uses KEF’s proprietary four-inch (100mm) UNI-Q driver, complete with a metal dome tweeter with neodymium magnets. KEF says the wide-dispersion driver array delivers an extended bandwidth normally associated with much larger units.

The new KUBE-2 subwoofer packaged with the KHT2005.3 system can also be offered as a stand-alone product. It boasts a 250-watt amp, 10-inch (254mm) main drive unit and has an SPL of 112dB. It also offers a degree of adjustability, with its bass boost control.

The KHT2005.3 is finished in either matt silver or new high-gloss black and is priced at £700.

New 'Music First' NAD receiver

Dan George — 1209742739

NAD has announced details of a new receiver that embraces the company’s ‘Music First’ ethos.

The philosophy dictates that all NAD surround sound products are endowed with the same sound quality of that of the company’s stereo components.

The new T755 (£900) is said to use similar ‘audio-platform’ technology as incorporated in the popular NAD C355BEE integrated stereo amplifier and boast ‘up-to-the-minute digital technology’.

Box of delights

Its FM tuner section includes 30 favourite station presets that can be custom named, or if the station supports the Radio Data System (RDS), it will automatically stream information about the station and music being played.

NAD also includes a DAB input on the rear panel of the unit – its optional DB 1 DAB tuner module (£125) can be added at any time, for users requiring digital radio.

The receiver offers a 5x80 watt output and includes a number of proprietary NAD amplifier technologies. It boats a huge array of connectivity options and also has a full suite of video switching to caters for all the popular video formats including HDMI, Component, S-Video and Composite. Digital inputs (including a handy front panel input) and outputs are available in both coaxial and optical formats for increased flexibility.

Naim's new game

Dan George — 1209742200

Naim has unveiled its long-awaited high-end hard disk player, the £4,500 HDX. The significance of this new technology from the UK’s most revered marque is not to be underestimated – some market pundits are predicting the gradual withdrawal of Naim’s traditional high-end CD players.

A new dawn

Naim’s HDX is described as an ‘audiophile hard disk player’ – the company is keen to differentiate the product from ordinary music servers. Certainly it has all the high-end credentials; the player offers bit-for-bit ripping from CD, using a ‘secure’ rip system, which means player will take at least two passes at every disc to eliminate errors.

It comes with two built-in 400GB drives; one for the music, a second ‘mirror’ drive for back-up and automatically copies the main drive to the mirror each day. 400GB allows up to 600 discs to be stored at CD-quality, with the option of adding extra USB or NAS (network attached storage) devices. Naim has tested its database with up to 20,000 CDs without complaint.

The HDX is also compatible with downloaded music files, including non-DRM 24-bit/96kHz and 24-bit/88kHz downloads. It can also be connected to a network, play music from shared drives on a network, look up album data and even obtain cover art, through the AMG database.

Intempo launches new internet radio portal

Adam Hartley — 1209645420

Intempo has launched a new online portal opening up the whole world of internet radio listening direct from your desktop.

Head over to www.intempodigital.com where you can navigate geographically or by genre and customise your own radio listening from over 30,000 global radio stations and podcasts.

"Intempo’s radio player is a perfect introduction to exploring the thousands of internet radio stations and podcasts worldwide. It’s fast and easy to set up and you’ll be amazed at what you can find," said Katie Richards, marketing manager for Intempo.

The online app lets you discover new stations by clicking on ‘Hot Picks’ and you can save your favourites or share your new stations with friends.

For news and weather aficionados you can also set it to give you instant access to news feeds and the latest weather forecasts.

TechRadar is a big fan of Intempo and we’ve been treating the rest of the office to the delights of our iPod of late via the superb Intempo RDI DAB and iPod dock.

Intempo’s new radio portal is powered by Radeo and works on both Macs and PCs.

In-ceiling speakers appear

Tech Staff — 1209471698

Niche IT solutions and support company Lears has added Decous Audio and Morel to its in-ceiling speaker range.

Decous Audio specialise in supplying equipment to restaurants, hotels, bars and large modern homes – anywhere where there’s a need for in-ceiling speaker technology.

Speaker rigs can be ordered in three different designs, allowing them to be used in multitude of spaces and configurations. In addition all speakers feature adjustable directional design, Vibration Control System (VBS) to reduce internal vibration, and Back wave Elimination design (BWE) to eliminate audio back waves inside the housing.

No leakage

Decous Audio’s SA-4R and SA-4S units are capable of up to 92dB/W/m & 80 watt power handling. The multi-unit coaxial speaker design covers a wide frequency range from 90 Hz up to 20 kHz within 3dB. Prices range from £300 + VAT each for the SA-1 to £900 + VAT for the SA-4L and SA-4S respectively.

Morel’s Harmony Architectural In-Wall range features a number of easily fitted, steel enclosed, sealed speakers that prevent sound leakage while remaining tiltable. The Morel HD-20 (£180) & SD-20 (£260) can handle up to 120W & 200W peak loading respectively. There’s also a Harmony Subwoofer in the range that goes as low as 22Hz.

MonoPulse for less

Dan George — 1208960674

Allan Hendry, boss of MonoPulse loudspeakers, has taken the bold step of upgrading the specification of his flagship Model 82A speaker, whilst simultaneously reducing the price. The top-of-the-range 82A heads up MonoPulse’s A-series range, which is one of only two distinct ranges from the specialist manufacturer.

Fingers on the Pulse

Hendry has confirmed that whilst both the specification and the styling have been improved, the price has been reduced from £2,495 to £1,995. The 82A now offers greater power handling too – maximum power increases from 300 watts to 550 watts, with RMS power also up, from 200 watts to 300 watts.

Hendry’s unique loudspeakers, famed for their phased array radar design principles, have won critical acclaim in the hi-fi press and have been regular award-winners in the UK’s number one specialist hi-fi magazine Hi-Fi Choice. The 82A has already been awarded ‘Best Buy’ status by the publication and the new price drop should make the speakers even more attractive to new buyers.

Although a number of styling changes have also been made to give the 82A a more angular, dynamic look, most of the key design features remain unchanged – the speaker retains its distinctive rolled steel chassis and fabric grille, both of which are available in a wide number of colours.

Denon's latest high-end headphones

Dan George — 1208960043

Denon has added a new set of high-end closed-back headphones to its expanding portfolio. The new AH-D2000 (£250) is described by the Japanese giant as ‘Reference Class’ and is clearly aimed at audiophiles.

The new model joins the company’s recently launched top-of-the-range £500 ADH-5000 headphones and shares a wide number of similarities. Both headphones will now go head-to-head with the high end’s market leaders, Sennheiser, Grado and Audio-Technica.

Ahead of the game?

Denon’s AH-D2000 has a number of key features that earn it high-end status. Frequency response has been extended up to 45,000Hz – for use with high-resolution, wide-bandwidth SACD and DVD-A sources – and the unit’s diaphragms use the latest Micofiber technology in a bid for a high-quality output.

Denon has also included what it calls an ‘Acoustic Optimiser’, which is said to balance pressure in front of, and behind the diaphragm, making greater movement possible. It’s this driver ‘speed’ that’s said to give the headphones an “airy and dynamic sound”, even when complex music is being played.

Magnesium has been used extensively throughout the AH-D2000’s design – both the frame and the capsules themselves employ the material – making the headphones super-light and very rigid. Denon says, “Every element of the D2000 has been engineered for maximum performance and a long service life”.