Product Reviews

MONITOR AUDIO STUDIO 89 STANDMOUNT SPEAKER REVIEW

 Introduction

We at Hifi Gear have been lucky enough to have the brand-new Monitor Audio Studio 89 speaker in the store for the last month. The nice part about this is that we've had a good amount of time to get to know the speaker before its launch and to have it set up on a variety of different kit and in various positions. Being big fans of Monitor Audio speakers we jumped at the chance to get these speakers in the shop early and we're not disappointed. 

Design

Measuring 340 x 157 x 361 mm they are a beautifully compact and stylish speaker which when mounted to the matching stand wouldn't look out of place in many differently styled rooms. They come in one finish only, which is a high-gloss black with gold highlighted twin 4 1/4 drivers and an MPD III transducer sat between them with a small studio 89 logo on each outer edge. When taking the speaker out of the box you can tell you are in for something special. Monitor Audio has gone

AudioQuest introduced their first portable headphone DAC and amplifier seven years ago in 2012. The Dragonfly Black allowed music lovers to bring their music anywhere, with a high-resolution DAC and powerful headphone amp. Shortly after, the Black was joined by the Dragonfly Red. Boasting a higher output for more demanding headphones, as well as a more sophisticated and capable DAC chip.

As of July 2019, the Dragonfly line-up has expanded. Introducing the Dragonfly Cobalt, AudioQuest's newest and arguably best portable DAC and headphone amp to date.

The Cobalt promises superior performance thanks to a wide range of improvements. Such as a new ESS ES9038Q2M DAC chip, delivering a more expressive, detailed sound. As well as a PIC32MX274 microcontroller, which draws less current than the Dragonfly Red, while increasing the processing speed by a third. The new Dragonfly also features improved power supply filtering, reminiscent of AudioQuest's dedicated JitterBug USB Noise Filter, which reduces

Chord Electronics is widely renowned for making the best DAC's on the market and their pocket-sized Mojo is no exception.

Using technology from Chords Hugo Series and their flagship Dave reference converter, the Mojo features a custom made FPGA DAC, DSD capability and support for sample rates up to a whopping 768kHz. All squeezed into an aluminium chassis no bigger than your wallet.

The Mojo also features a headphone amp, powerful enough to drive any pair of headphones. I listened to a range of headphones from the Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature's, Quad ERA 1's and the Sennheiser HD660S's, all of which were driven effortlessly by the Mojo.

On the one side of the Mojo you will find two 3.5mm headphone jack outputs. With the other side featuring a micro USB input and a 3.5mm digital COAX input (both capable of handling 768kHz/32-bit

With the release of their new A11 and CD11, Rotel has created high-performance hifi on a budget.

The A11 and CD11 add to Rotels well established 14 series, offering high-performance sound and build at a more affordable price.

Having 30 years experience in making CD players, Rotel has crammed the CD11 with technology found in their higher end machines. Featuring a Texas Instruments 24-bit 96kHz DAC for the CD11's Analogue RCA Outputs, Rotels balanced design and a high-end power supply to reduce any unwanted noise. All paired with Rotels high-end CD transport mechanism to provide musical, detailed playback of your favourite CD's.

With specs and performance rivalled by products twice the price, the A11 and CD11 are leaving us impressed. The A11 features a 50-Watt class AB stereo power amplifier, a moving magnet phono stage and a Texas Instruments DAC for its Bluetooth aptX input.

I set

The two headphones I will be comparing are the Bowers & Wilkins PX and the Sennheiser PXC-550. I will be talking about the Sound Quality, Noise Cancellation, Comfort, Physical Appearance, App Control and any features which I think are worth mentioning. 

The PX’s are currently priced at £329 and the PXC-550’s are £249. There has recently been a price reposition on the Sennheisers’ from £329 to £299 - which makes them a great competitive price against the PX's! 

After three years of being on the market in their current form, the award-winning and critically acclaimed P7 from Bowers & Wilkins has had a major function upgrade - wireless capability. (These are now discontinued)

We've been anticipating the arrival of Nighthawk since we first heard of the project, and now the luxurious pair of headphones are on my head, I couldn't help but tap up this review.

First Impressions

The level of meticulous care and attention that AudioQuest have put into the construction of the Nighthawk is immediately evident. A classy leather hard-case zips open to reveal the headphones nestled gently within a shock-absorbing foam. Also in the box are two cables (Nighthawk, why two cables?), a 1/4” jack adapter and a 1 month free subscription to high-quality music streaming service; Tidal.

Having read such wonderful things on Naim’s latest release; the prolific and glorious looking Mu-So, I was ecstatic to be able to sit down and get to know the unit for myself.

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Bowers & Wilkins saw massive success with their AirPlay compatible loudspeakers; the Zeppelin Air, Z2, A5 and A7, arguably setting a still unbeaten standard within the new media hifi market. While the aesthetic design prowess has always been exceptional with these units, the overall sound quality has always been at the forefront of the Bowers & Wilkins product engineering process.

About two weeks ago, I noticed a Facebook post from Bowers & Wilkins regarding the release of their newest and largest headphone to date - the P7.