Recent content by matthewpianist

They are, and both BIS and Chandos have long released their albums as Hybrid SACDs, but big boxes collecting together the complete output of particular artists are more common than ever, and these are mostly from Warner and Universal, and on CD only (they haven't really taken SACD to their...

There's things like gapless playback, some machines won't properly play anything longer than Red Book (and there are discs in some big boxes that are as long as 80+ minutes), transport noise, user interface (the Arcam CD5 one isn't great, for example)...

Good question, and as someone who has never wavered in using the format, I agree. Furthermore, as someone who is involved in the business of selling CDs (as well as downloads, streaming and vinyl), I can confirm that sales are holding up nicely in classical and jazz music.

Sony made some fine SACD players also.

Worth looking at Neat models, including the IOTA Xplorer if you can find a pair. They're compact floorstanders but don't sound it at all.

We just use the built-in speakers, whether it's on the Samsung Serif in the lounge or the 43" Samsung in our room. Seeing as we don't watch a huge amount of TV, usually just an episode or two of our 'current' series of choice each night, it isn't a big issue for us. I'm not fond of the idea of...

There's no resonating chamber in the electric, that's why (as I'm sure you know). I have an acoustic upright piano in the same room as my hi-fi, and it means I have to choose my speakers very carefully to avoid resonance that leads to boom. If I had a digital there the problem wouldn't exist...

Waiting until you know the room would be very sensible. Also, if your drum kit is an acoustic one, you will need to dampen it to get the best out of your stereo. Certainly, locking the snare is essential, and pretty obvious, but throwing a thick blanket over the whole kit when you're listening...

You should look at Audiolab. They make superb amps and CD transports.

The Rega io is great fun, if less polished than the Mission and certainly less flexible. The Brio is more equivalent in sound, and with more gusto to it, but still not quite as flexible, and more expensive. It all depends what you want overall, but certainly Rega amps are worth looking at...

Listening yourself is the best bet. I can't see any reason for a grudging review of the 778X. A V-curve response is one where the bass and treble are accentuated and the midrange has a dip. I've found this to be a pretty consistent trait of B&W speakers, certainly at the affordable end, and it...

The Audiolab is reasonably priced though, and extremely capable, to the point where it would be very hard to improve upon it.

The Mission is a splendid amplifier, and having had many amps of many different brands and prices, this one feels like it's going to be a long-term fixture. It's a much more competent all-rounder than the Arcam A5 I had before it. I've tried it with a few different speakers. It works very well...

Don't choose an amp based on having a matching CD player. That cuts quite a few amps out these days anyway, and if you are only going to use a CD player occasionally there are perfectly good ones such as the Denon DCD-600NE, NAD C538 and Marantz CD6007 available for significantly less than the...

Out of those three my pick would be Musical Fidelity. Plenty of well delivered power, excellent build and excellent phono stages. Hard to go wrong.