Designed to demonstrate some of the star quality of the larger A30, the A10 integrated valve amplifier is the newest and least expensive arrival in a range from Pure Sound which includes amps, preamps and phono accessories. In fact, due to market enthusiasm for the new amps, the A10 may well rule the roost in sub-£1,000 models. Vacuum minimalism The A10 is a class A Ultra Linear push-pull design.
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ZYX isn’t exactly the most forthcoming company in the world on the subject of itself – its website is ‘under construction’, hence their website goes to its Japanese exporter. Its printed instructions and publicity don’t give much away either – but its reputation as a high-end cartridge manufacturer is enviable. The range is quite wide and a little confusing, simplified somewhat by UK importer GT Audio, which carries just seven models. The R100 Yatra sits in the middle of that range. At first sight, the R100 Yatra cartridge looks fairly typical – ‘micro ridge’ stylus (one of countless variations on the general theme of line contact), boron cantilever of typical length, low-impedance generator with an output on the lowish side, and a robust, non-resonant plastic body.
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These days few hi-fi manufacturers want to be caught without an iPod dock or two in the catalogue. The Arcam irDock is one of a pair in Arcam’s current range, both notionally part of the ‘Solo’ range and, as such, twinned with the Solo and Solo Mini all-in-one systems. There’s absolutely no reason, however, to discount the possibility of using it on its own with any amp and speakers – and indeed TV or monitor, since it has video outputs. You can watch your favourite flick from a suitable iPod or just relay the cover art from the iPod’s tiny screen. You do get slightly more integrated functionality by connecting to a Solo with the supplied RS232 cable, but as a standalone unit, with its little dedicated remote control, it does just fine.
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From a reviewer’s perspective, hi-fi components can be a tad opaque, metaphorically, if not literally. It can be hard to tell where they come from, or what they’re intended to achieve that is not already available, perhaps from a multiplicity of sources. Or it may be that the products are so literal in the way they ‘interpret’ music, that it is hard to tell where the notes stop and their musical meaning begins. The other side of this coin is that there are components which are so obvious in what they are attempting to achieve, that they present the reviewer few, if any, problems in understanding them. Here we have two components that have just this quality
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There’s no shortage of iPod dock solutions available for the casual shopper, but those seeking a quality option have a more restricted choice – and finding the best hi-fi performer amongst them is a challenge. Approaches vary considerably between brands, and some may suit your lifestyle better than others. For this sound-off we compare three very different iProducts from three rather different hi-fi brands, all with enviable reputations. Bose offers the SoundDock Series II, Yamaha the distinctive PDX-50 and B&W the dramatic Zeppelin
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Onkyo has just announced the first affordable digital iPod dock, the Onkyo DS-A3. so are analogue docks now redundant? Not according to Onkyo’s representative, to whom we put that exact question. He pointed out, reasonably enough, that not everyone will have a digital input available, nor will they want to buy a separate DAC just for an iPod. Accordingly, this dock is optimised for extracting the most from an iPod’s analogue output
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It’s been almost a year since we last reviewed any YBA products, the last was the YBA YA 201 integrated amp. We have just had another YBA product delivered for review which is the YBA WD202 Digital to Analogue Converter. Read TechRadar’s YBA YA 201 review The brand goes back a long way, though, to 1981 when Yves-Bernard André set up the company that bears his initials. His past included work with some of the classics of French hi-fi, including Goldmund and Pierre Lurné (both among the most rarefied names in turntables), but his own company has been his main focus since its foundation
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