News

Audio scrutiniser-in-chief Paul Miller has auditioned the In-akustik LS-4005 Air speaker cable in Hi Fi News’ July 25 issue. Awarding his top Editor’s Choice accolade, he says it’s “both lighter and more physically flexible than its 4cm diameter might suggest. Its sound, too, is writ large with air and atmosphere, and proves more than competitive even at this heady price. If you’re after a big sound, the Referenz LS-4005 AIR pulls out all the stops.”

“Quality room-filling sound; design; build and finish” is what you’ll get from the SVS Ultra-Evolution Bookshelf speaker says Hi Fi Choice in its June 25 issue. Awarding a top Editor’s Choice badge in a review that compares the Bookshelf with its smaller Nano sibling (also an Ed’s Choice), the mag notes all the virtues that come with scale to drive larger rooms. “The choice, if you want an SVS Ultra Evolution standmount, is entirely yours.

Having experienced Perlisten’s Limited Edition S7t, Audiograde.uk’s Andrew Simpson says it “adds so much more to what was an already highly accomplished model…the soundstage is notably vast and all encompassing, being expansive as it is engaging as you’re enveloped in a mix that’s bursting with detail and energy…the control and precision these speakers muster is spellbinding…Wish I was there? This is the next best thing.” Review HERE

“A detailed, smooth and open performance that gets to the heart of the music” says Hi Fi News of BAT’s VK90 tube preamp in the June 25 issue. Awarding an outstanding badge, the mag enthuses that the VK-90 sounded “effortlessly musical”, while retaining “an ability to fully immerse you in the music”, and draws comparisons with another venerated act – The Rolling Stones – in its concluding paragraph: “For a band in its sixth decade

For the-ear.net David Vivian plugs-in the Emotiva XDA-3 DAC/Pre and discovers a true hi-fi bargain: “No slow-burn, you’ll-like-me-when-you-know-me transactional posturing here. With all that familial firepower to do its bidding, the XDA-3 is an instant, get-a-load-of-this, high-achiever…With Primare’s excellent NP5 Prisma Mk2 streaming transport plugged in via the Toslink optical input, listening to a 24/96kHz Qobuz stream through the XDA-3/A-300 after a talented and far pricier super-integrated/outboard DAC of repute (I’ll save the blushes) is