Hifi Pig

Symbol Audio make modern audio hifi consoles and LP storage cabinets “in the tradition of fine furniture”.

Their flagship product is the ‘Modern Record Console’ (pictured) designed by Blake Tovin and Matt Richmond, which “pays homage” to the all in one console hifis of the 1950s.

The console is hand crafted in American Walnut and the metal base is fabricated from ¼ inch steel plate which has been hand patinated to give a warm and natural finish.

It looks very nice indeed, but what about the Hifi? The 15W per channel valve amplifier (12At7 x 1, 12AU7x2, 6BQ5 x 4) is made specially for Symbol Audio and is said to deliver a “warm pure signal” to the 6.5 inch fullrange speakers located either side of the unit. A second amplifier is tucked out of view and is dedicated to powering the built-in sub. The turntable ( a Project RPM 5.1) has a carbon fibre tonearm and comes fully equipped with a Sumiko Point 2 cartridge.

At the flick of a switch you can go from vinyl replay to Wifi playback and stream music from any digital source through the MRC’s wireless router and control it all from your ipod/phone or computer.

McIntosh Laboratories have recently announced the MX151 home theatre preamplifier. The McIntosh MX151 features the latest in HDMI technology and full support for 3D video pass-through.

The Preamplifier has built-in Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding with Lyngdorf’s RoomPerfect room correction technology, which adjusts the audio signal to the specific acoustics of your room.

The useful dual zone feature allows different media to be played simultaneously in two separate rooms with independent program selection and control. The MX151 boasts an impressive array of digital and analogue inputs which can be custom labelled for simplified operation and matched in volume level for a smooth transition between sources.

The new McIntosh unit has assignable balanced input and outputs, a moving magnet phono section, bass and treble controls and optional processing up to 7.1 multi-channel using Dolby Pro Logic® IIx or DTS Neo.

The MX151’s control options include IR-remote, web based GUI, and interfacing with all third party control systems. Audio options for up to 12 channels, multiple subwoofers, or bi-amping of speakers are built in.

Price for the McIntosh MX151 is $12 500.

McIntosh have also announced the MX121 A/V Control Center at $6,000, the MC8207 Power Amplifier at $6,000 and the MVP891 Audio Video Player at $5,500.

NuForce have announced a new digital signal converter – “The NuForce U192S is a digital signal converter designed for transforming digital audio signals presented to the USB port of a computer into a coaxial or optical S/PDIF”: That’ll be a USB to S/PDIF converter then.

The U192S accepts data word lengths of 16 and 24-bits at a maximum sample-rate of 192kHz, permitting playback of high-resolution digital audio recordings via the more common USB ports found on computers.

The Nuforce digital signal converter is USB-powered, no external power supply required and 44.1, 48, 96, 176.4, and 192kHz sampling rates supported. More »

Naim have announced the completion of a two-year development project to design an improved voltage regulator to be used in its power supplies.

The Naim Discrete Regulator (DR) will be fitted to the HiCap, XPS, SuperCap, 552 PS and 555 PS power supplies as of May 14th 2012. The power supplies fitted with the new Discrete Regulator are claimed to  deliver a significant and repeatedly demonstrable performance increase.

Meridian Audio have announced the opening of its first boutique in Kuwait. Opened in partnership with Meridian’s distributor for Kuwait, Electronic Technologies Co., the latest Meridian boutique is situated in the exclusive interior design centre, The Creative Design Mall, in the Shuwaikh district of Kuwait City.

The new boutique is the company’s first dedicated showroom in the Middle East and offers a “unique retail experience in Kuwait City” and has a number of interactive zones for customers to enjoy:

John Buchanan, Meridian’s Director of Sales and Marketing, commented: “This new boutique in Kuwait City marks an important business development for Meridian in the Middle East region. We look forward to building Meridian’s brand presence in Kuwait where demand for our luxury technology offerings has been increasing steadily since 2008.”

The company now has standalone boutiques in England (Oxford), India (New Delhi and Bangalore), Mexico (Mexico City), Chile (Santiago), Taiwan (Taipei), South Korea (Seoul), Singapore plus two in Russia (Moscow). Meridian’s first concept store opened in Thailand (Bangkok) in 2009.

UK distributor Fidelity Art has launched a new range of unique Anti-Vibration Accessories from Pro Audio Bono, a specialist manufacturer of dedicated audiophile-grade products based in Poland.

PAB’s complete range includes PAB Anti-Vibration Platforms, PAB Stand-Mount Speaker Stands, PAB Anti-Vibration Feet and PAB Anti-Vibration Racks.

PAB Anti-Vibration Platforms are designed to support audio/video equipment and isolate it from external vibrations,  minimising unwanted resonance. This is mainly achieved by suspending hi-fi components on specially designed shelves that minimise physical contact with adjacent units.Each shelf is suspended on strings which can be adjusted by using tension screws (the design is patent pending with the Polish Patent Office). More »

Pioneer Europe has unveiled eight new stereo components and new components complete Pioneer’s new stereo line-up, after the December ’11 introduction of its N-50 and N-30 network audio players. The new stereo components include the A-70, A-50, A-30 (pictured), A-20 and A-10 amplifiers, and the PD-50, PD-30, PD-10 SACD players.

Philippe Coppens, Technology and Product Information Manager at Pioneer Europe said “The top-of-the-line A-70 amplifier will be tuned according to exacting professional standards by the internationally respected AIR Studios in London. The AIR Studios quality seal is proof not only of the extraordinary engineering that has gone into these audio units, but also of the exceptionally high quality of their craftsmanship and carefully selected electronic components.”

The A-70 and A-50 amplifiers come equipped with high efficiency power MOS FET (Class D) amplification optimised for “pure sound reproduction.”

In addition, the AIR Studios tuned A-70 amplifier features ESS 192 Khz / 32 bit SABRE32DACs, and offers an integrated asynchronous USB DAC solution capable of handling 192 kHz / 32 bit sources More »

Naim has launched the NaimUniti 2, the successor to the NaimUniti, at the Munich High End show. This new edition of Naim’s original all-in-one player has a 70W per channel amplifier whereas the original had just 50W. It boasts a new CD player section with a new tray and transport and a new Burr Brown PCM1793 DAC.

Other design modifications are also said to improve the quality of the Uniti 2 including additional regulator lifting capacitors, a new lower load capacitance crystal within the clock, a lift to the Wi-Fi antenna and new rectifier diodes on the digital power supply..

The NaimUniti 2 comes fitted with 24bit/192kHz high-resolution streaming functionality as standard and inherits the larger front panel display window of its big brother the SuperUniti. The Uniti 2 comes complete with CD player, multi-format tuner (DAB/FM/Internet radio).high-resolution (up to 24bit/192kHz) digital stream player, iPod/iPhone/iPad dock, MP3/USB-stored audio player, digital to analogue converter and a 70W integrated amplifier.

Nagra, the Swiss company long associated with the Montreaux Jazz Festival, have announced, at the Munich High End show, that they will introduce the Nagra Jazz preamplifier. Giving the preamplifier a name is something of a departure for the company, but the same compact size as other Nagra preamplifiers such as the PL-L and PL-P is maintained.

More details as soon as we have them.

As part of KEF’s on going 50^th Anniversary celebrations, from 1^st May the company  will offer a free £50 voucher to anyone signing up to KEF’s weekly KEFTalk newsletter.

The free voucher can be used against any product in the brand’s online KEFStore on purchases over £300. All purchases are supplied by the nearest official KEF retailer to the consumer, a process that maintains the level of customer service and support that is expected.

Michael Johnson, Head of Marketing commented, ‘Having the ability to offer this type of initiative at this time, as our online store becomes more valued by our retail partners and consumers alike, will not only help us develop and grow our communications database but will offer consumers and KEF fans the crucial money- off incentive that is so valued in these tough economic conditions. This is something we’re very proud to offer, especially as it helps to celebrate our 50^th year.’

You can sign up at the KEF website.