ICONS: The history of Finnish loudspeaker manufacturing cannot be written without the Gradient 1-series.

Don’t feel embarrassed if, when watching this loudspeaker, you think what you see is a design speaker. It certainly looks as if it were a design speaker, and your belief surely would be justified in view of the fact that the speaker ended up being an item in the MoMA (NY) permanent collection as well […]

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CONVERSATIONS WITH COLIN / STEP DOWN CONVERTERS: Do they degrade the sound?

  Dear Colin, I recently saw a 240v integrated amp from the UK and was wondering if it is ok to use with a Step Down Converter? What are the pros and cons of using a step down device? Does it affect the sound and am I in jeopardy of blowing the transformer or ruining […]

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A DC blocking capacitor is a heck of a lot simpler than a complex DC servo-eliminating circuit.

PAUL McGOWAN / PS AUDIO Conventional wisdom would have us believe best results are obtained via simple solutions. The simpler the solution the better and cleaner the outcome. I find simple solutions are often the most difficult to accept and inevitably the hardest to find. How many times have you gone round and round in […]

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ARCAM: FMJ integrated test review

FOR Detail and musicality are both highly developed in this understated amplifier, but don’t let its calm manners put you off guard for more dramatic moments AGAINST Some may find the degree of control excessive Can seem a touch polite at times “A winning combination of sonic virtues with vices that are so minor, most […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

GLOOM and/or OPPORTUNITY: Audiophile retailing in the current economic gloom

Previously published here in 2017 It’s impossible, however hard I try, to remain immune to the financial crisis gripping the UK. Of course it’s tempting, and yes I have been sorely tempted, just to sit back in the comparative warmth and security of Stereonow, warm in both the physical and the financial sense, and try […]

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CONVERSATIONS WITH COLIN: Do slow blow t2 250v fuses blow for no reason?

Hi Colin. Just had a crackle in a left channel (nothing you’ve built by the way), fade to nothing, then that stench of death. Took the lid off my Crimson mono (a simple oblong) and all looks healthy in fact like new, the only thing that’s gone is the fuse. Could it be a mains […]

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