Andrew Everard Reports 
In a worldwide launch event held on Wednesday, September 9th, Bowers & Wilkins announced an all-new generation of its celebrated 800 Series. The new 800 Series Diamond may have a familiar ring to its name – after all, the current speakers have been using the company’s diamond-dome tweeter for many years now – but is in fact completely redesigned.

In fact, the company says that, of the 800+ components making up the new 802 D3 speaker, which is the range-topper for now until the flagship 800 D3 comes on-stream next spring, only a handful is carried over from the model it replaces: the dome of the tweeter, the terminals on the rear and – well, that’s almost it.

With my system reconstructed with potential review product including new MM2 XL Series 2 Transparent cables, a massive Constellation Centaur Stereo power map 500W/ch into my 4ohm Magico S5, plus the Audio Research Reference 5SE, and my sorted out NAIM NDS/555ps, Alon dropped by to see how his speaker design sounded in situ. 

Never one to dish out praise, he muttered that there was likely sufficient gestalt in the reproduction and that my spacious if unorthodox room complemented the S5 pretty well. He had noted that several reviewers he had visited, on both sides of the pond, had rooms so small that the innate speaker acoustic never freed itself from the over-proximate boundaries and that the sound quality he had painstakingly developed was not significantly present. He felt that he had to take the view that the reviewer was likely adjusted to the location and that some quality differences could be discerned between products after all.

CEntrance launches crowd funding project  ‘HiFi-Skyn’  clip-on amplifier for iPhone series 5 and 6 and iPod touch 5G.

Your phone gets larger with this clip-on auxiliary battery case with an extended lower section containing the electronics, at an estimated $400. Conversely overall battery life is extended and it has 10 hours of high definition audio replay. Not from iTunes, but from your own HD downloads at up to 24 bit/192kHz, and including DSD. It can be described as a snap-on USB DAC and audiophile soundcard for the iPhone. It will be featured at CES 2015 and may be seen as a rival to Neil Young’s portable HD Audio Pono player and other HD players from Sony and also Astell and Kern.

The Philips release for the Lightning cable connected, active Fidelio M2L headphones explains that they have a direct digital connection to compatible iOS devices, thus supporting 24bit HD audio formats using  inbuilt DACs and amplifiers powered via the cable. Thus the rumours for HD, 24 bit, up to 48kHz audio playback from new generation Lightning equipped Apple devices seem confirmed. Where does this leave other HD music and playback device providers?

Selling for rather less, but still expected to be in the premium audio sector, is the C700 Series range of components: this will comprise the ST-C700 network audio player, the SL-C700 CD player, the SU-C700 integrated amplifier and bookshelf/standmount SB-C700 speakers. A CD player is available as an £800 option.

The link between the R1 preamplifier and power amplifier is digital, using a 32-bit/192kHz Technics Link interface, also found between the network player and the integrated amplifier in the C700 system, while the amplification in both systems uses a Load Adaptive Phase Calibration system able to measure the output of speakers to which the amplifiers are connected, and adjust the amps’ output characteristics accordingly.

Called VinylPlay it has internal electronics, the whole powered by an external 24V supply. With on-board RIAA equalisation serving the pre installed moving magnet cartridge, signal outputs include phono and 3.5mm jack for analogue outputs, eg to a system or to increasingly popular active and powered speakers, while the built in DAC delivers digital audio from USB A > USB B for easy connectivity to SONOS active speakers, and also via the CONNECT system onwards to multiple active speakers.