New music and technology: February 2022
Here's what's new in music and technology this month
Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 Turntable
$3299
Vinyl records and the turntables they’re played on continue—year-on-year—to grow in popularity. But for many, this doggedly ancient technology has a few joy-killing downsides.
While hardcore audiophiles are generally rather attached (pun intended) to cable connectors, many of us wish that we could just play a vinyl platter without the encumbrance of cobwebbed ‘spaghetti’. But while there are some poor-quality Bluetooth-enabled turntables out there, high-quality wireless disc-spinners have been notable by their absence. Until now.
Cambridge Audio understands our pain. Their new Audio Alva TT V2 turntable (and its little sister, the more economical Alva ST at a mere $1599) are genuine hi-fi decks that just happen to have the ability to transmit sans cables.
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Cambridge Audio’s Alva TT V2 Bluetooth-enabled turntable
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Capable of sending aptX Bluetooth signals at 48kHz/24-bit resolution, one of the real, practical advantages of this technology is that the turntable no longer needs to be placed right next to the amplifier and speakers.
And that means you could plonk it right next to your favourite listening seat so you can flip that disc without even moving your derrière. With its award-winning built-in phono stage and discrete form factor, the Audio Alva provides a hi-res advantage that’s hard to ignore.
Klipsch The Fives McLaren Edition Powered Speakers
$2999
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The Fives McLaren Edition turbocharged powered loudspeakers
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Readers may remember that last month we featured the special McLaren Edition Klipsch earbuds. But the celebrated loudspeaker brand’s motor sporting obsession doesn’t end there. Now they’ve "modded" their acclaimed The Fives bookshelf powered speakers and boy, do they sing!
The original The Fives met with wide approval for their excellent quality, reasonable price, and incredible adaptability. We were amazed at how great they sounded with a television panel.
Unlike most soundbars, The Fives can be placed at either end of the television for incredible stereo imaging and a wide, deep soundstage. And because they’re capable of 192kHz/24 bit decoding, they’re as great at resolving the subtleties of music as they are with dynamic action movie explosions.
The McLaren Edition take the original The Fives up more than a notch or two, with an all-new turbocharged amplifier and meticulously-engineered carbon fibre woofers for the superb performance benefits of its supreme strength and ultra-low mass.
Eliminating the need for a receiver, The Fives are capable of detailed, deep, and dynamic bass, but they do also include a subwoofer output should you require the earth to move. Klipsch calls them "the most versatile speakers on earth" and we can’t argue with that!
Jethro Tull—Thick As A Brick
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Jethro Tull’s 50-year-old Thick As A Brick: pretend-newspaper
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1972! What a year! Fifty years ago, rock music was running rampant and a force to be reckoned with as the dirty long-haired hippies dominated the charts and the world stages, while pop movements like glam—helmed by David Bowie and T.Rex—appealed to a new generation that would go on to love punk rock a few years later. But in 1972, it was all about extravagance and that dripped down to album cover artwork, which became more ornate and ostentatious.
One of the key releases was Jethro Tull’s progressive rock homage/satire, Thick As A Brick, presented as one unified piece, broken up only by the need to flip the vinyl disc. Pure genius, the music was almost as good as the cover, which was modelled on a tabloid newspaper, with articles in a Monty Python vein. Reissued as a chunky box set with a book in 2012, it already fetches extravagant sums on Discogs.
John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band—Sometime In New York City
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John Lennon’s 50-year-old Sometime In New York City: ditto!
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Former Beatle John Lennon was reportedly very annoyed that Jethro Tull’s newspaper concept reached the record store racks a month or so before Sometime In New York City, which also looked exactly like a newspaper but lacked the conceptual creativity.
Lennon’s double-live is largely forgotten today but for those who can handle Yoko’s extreme vocal ululations, this uneven album is worth a listen, especially for the cracking excerpt of John and Yoko’s guest performance with Frank Zappa’s band. In the wake of the Blu-ray release of Peter Jackson’s Get Back film of The Beatles, Sometime In New York City will finally get a deluxe reissue later this year.
SolidSteel HP-4 Audio Rack
$12,999
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The ultimate rack: SolidSteel’s HP-4
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Sadly, it’s all-too-common for consumers to throw big money at audiophile gear only to forget about the ancillary factors that can make the difference between achieving genuinely great sound in a room and a sonic disaster.
Anyone embarking on a hi-fi adventure needs to budget for a rack to put their gear in, and no, you can’t just place your separates on a random shelf and definitely never put preamps, power amps, CD players, or turntables directly on top of each other.
You’ll need a rack that will have adequate shelves for your individual components and leave ventilation and room at the back so you can get to the cables. Perhaps most important of all is sound and vibration isolation.
The last thing you need is the hum from the power amp to impact the turntable’s performance and a properly isolated rack will ensure that your gear gets a chance to really shine.
SolidSteel’s HP-4 audio rack is eye-wateringly expensive but we’re not suggesting that you need to spend anywhere near this much to achieve the desired performance from your gear.
There are many more economic options out there in rack-land, but the HP-4 sure is a beauty. The ‘HP’ stands for the Hyperspike Prestige Series. According to SolidSteel, the HP series is the result of years of research and development.
The frame is stainless steel with adjustable hyperspikes in every position, while the 30mm-thick ceramic shelves are scratch-proof and filled inside with polyurethane foam and resin on the edges. Golly.
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