What on earth is Black Ravioli then? Don't try eating it that's for sure.

Energy management, fancy isolation pads - call it whatever you want.....just make sure you try some!

We were a little sceptical regarding them that's for sure, then we heard them.......

It was one of those moments when you need to pick your mouth up off the floor. How can a little pad that is so inexpensive make such an improvement to the musicality and enjoyment of a hi-fi system?

Emperors new clothes perhaps?

We tried them under a very modest (and popular) little system and were amazed at increased detail, speed and space around everything. After a little while we removed the pads and............where did the music go? One of the guys in-store had to turn it off!

Then we started playing with some bigger stuff, it likes Naim.........a lot.

We've been trying it under various things - the new Rega Isis and Osiris, a dCS Paganini system, a Musical Fidelity AMS35 and we love it. Even under more modest equipment the improvements are substantial.

If you want to make your hi-fi system more musical and more enjoyable to listen to you need to try some. We've even put some under AV amplifiers and subwoofers with great success.

The price......a not exactly wallet busting £22.00 a pad, there are also attractive risers and double risers available which look more like a proper foot than a pad.

UPDATE!! After having these pads for a little while now we thought we should report back.....so far everyone who has tried them has enjoyed them immensely. A few customers we've spoken to who have read this have commented that we must be mad.......after trying some at home, the same customers are loving what they have done.

Come and try some......we really are sane, honest!!

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Without a shadow of a doubt the amplifier and cd player pictured to the left are our favourite sub £1000.00 combination. They possess some serious music making abiity for the money.

The Rega 3 integrated amplifier is £328.00, comes with 5 line level inputs (including a MM phono stage), pumps out 49 watts per channels. It doesn't have a remote so you'll have to get up to change volume (keeps you fit as well!). It sounds better than anything this side of £600.00.

The matching CD player is the Rega Apollo, until last year this was £598.00, now it's only £475.00 making the bargain of the decade.....it represented good value at its old price.....

For this sort of money it sounds far better than it should. Rhythm and timing is wonderful, it comes with a remote, plus it looks fantastic.

As a combination the Apollo and Brio 3 really are very good and deserve to be at the top of your audition list if you are looking to spend sub £1000.00 on electronics. Partnered with something like a pair of B&W 686's or even CM1's the results are brilliant. Hi-fi for the this sort of money shouldn't sound this good!

The next step up the Rega ladder is the Saturn CD player for £898.00 (previously £1299) and the Elicit amplifier from £1498.00 (a phono stage is optional) - Again, at this price point (where this is a lot more competition from other brands) this combination offers some seriouos performance, the Elicit is powerful, yet subtle when it needs to be and the Saturn expands on the Apollo in all the right ways.

We've also just taken in some new and improved Rega drive belts (white ones), they are manufactured from a different material to the traditional belts and are made to a much tighter tolerance....the result improved motor control and better sound. Subtle....but they are only £20.00

The NaimUniti combines a ten-input, 50-Watt-perchannel integrated amplifier based on the award wining NAIT 5i, a CD player based on the similarly acclaimed CD5i, and a digital-to-analogue converter with an output filter derived from that developed for the stunning CD5x. To all that, NaimUniti adds a high quality DAB/FM tuner, the ability to play streamed audio files wirelessly from UPnP™ servers or internet radio stations, and separate interface inputs for USB memory sticks carrying audio files, iPods and mp3 players. NaimUniti has every base covered; you just need a pair of speakers.

NaimUniti has an analogue heart. Its NAIT 5i-derived integrated amplifier beats true to our long established design philosophies and is the foundation of the NaimUniti’s audio quality. But in parallel with audio quality, it is NaimUniti’s immense digital versatility that sets it apart from any other all-in-one audio product. Its comprehensive coverage of audio bases includes audio formats as well as audio sources. So along with Red Book CD audio, FM and DAB radio, and iRadio streams at multiple bit rates, NaimUniti can play audio files in MP3, Windows Media–formatted content, AAC, Apple Lossless (from your iPod), FLAC and WAV formats. And thanks to NaimUniti’s internal DAC, external digital audio sources, such as satellite TVs or games consoles, are a breeze too. NaimUniti is the perfect audio hub.

We've just taken delivery the Focal JM Labs Chorus 826W LE.

If you were wondering the LE stands for Limited Edition as it is 30 years since Jacques Mahul formed the company.

Priced at £1880.00 a pair they clearly punch above their weight.

They sounded a little ropey at first but after a few days of almost constant use they are starting to sound very good indeed. Definitely a contender for the best sub £2.5k floorstander we carry.

Serious bass weight combined with good agility (we're not talking flabby bottom end here) and excellent dynamics, musically they are incredibly engaging.

One other thing we really like about these is the fact they are so easy to drive. You don't need a gargantuan amplifier to get the best out of them, yes of course they get better the better the system is as a whole, but of on the back of Naim Uniti they sound seriously good.

As is often the case with a Limited Edition they are aren't going to be around forever so act sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.

A picture really can say a thousand words.

The Rega Isis and Osiris are stunning, they look absolutely beautiful, they are built like a battleship.

Then you turn them on and they just get even better.

Utterly transparent, a joy to listen to.

I want a pair!

Versatility is however little use without accessibility. NaimUniti’s coherent and intuitive user interface makes using and navigating around each of its audio sources child’s play. NaimUniti finds DAB or iRadio stations without prompting; it connects to networks and discovers UPnP™ server shared audio files automatically, and it presents everything via a large front panel display that’s the model of clarity. Every CD track, audio file, stream or source is literally just a couple of button presses away. NaimUniti also works seamlessly with iPod devices. Simply connect an iPod to the interface socket, using Naim’s specially-designed iPod cable: the n-Link, and NaimUniti both takes over iPod control and displays iPod contents. It charges the iPod battery too.

There’s never been a more exciting time to be an audio enthusiast and NaimUniti is an audio product whose time has come. NaimUniti: All in one, for one and all. On demonstartion now, RRP £2040.00

You’ve probably noticed; audio has exploded. Along with listening to CDs and radio, we can now download audio, stream audio across networks, broadcast audio across WiFi, store audio on memory sticks and, with iPods, drop audio into our pockets. And if that wasn’t enough, vinyl is definitely back on the menu.

So imagine everything audio in one place: integrated amplifier, CD player, DAB/FM tuner, internet radio, iPod dock, digital-to-analogue converter, music file player and network stream player. And now combine all that with legendary Naim musical quality, engineering integrity, design sophistication and interface know-how. Congratulations! You’ve just come up with the NaimUniti.

The new Naim Audio Ovator S600 loudspeaker has finally arrived.

These speakers do scale....in a big way.

The sheer presence on offer is incredible, oh, they are not even close to being run in yet either.

They are improving massively with every passing day.

The odd looking drive unit in the picture to the right is called a Balanced Mode Radiator which is a flat diaphragm design and covers all frequencies from 350Hz up to 35kHz, leaving the 2 bass drivers to concentrate on......the bass.

The BMR is isolated from the rest of the cabinet, unusual - yes, but very effective.

The S-600 are £5995.00 a pair, call us 0191 4774167 to arrange a demo.

The HDX app to allow control from an i-Phone or i-Pod touch is now available to purchase from the Apple App store.

Features include being able to play, pause and skip tracks; browsing your music library by album, artist, genre, newest album, last played, top 100, composers, conductors or performers; get detailed info on any album or track with the info icon on the ‘now playing’ screen or by pressing and holding the album or track name in any of the browse lists.

Album cover art is displayed for the ‘now playing’ track as shown in the photograph.

The app allows use of the extended metadata available from the HDX’s Extended Music Database to view detailed info on any album or track. This information can include track and album contributors’ names and even individual musicians on a per track basis.

Now that our PB1i’s have been with us for a little while and are well and truly run in we felt we should put our feelings into words as we have all been seriously impressed by what they offer.

They’ve spent a lot of time in our listening room over the past couple of months, as have we (although not as much as we’d like!!) and they just keep getting better and better. Speed, dynamics and scale are all in abundance with fantastic imaging. Oh, and did we mention the bass? Fantastic depth and rhythm, drums have never felt so real for this sort of money. All this and the ability to rattle the windows!

They do appreciate decent amplification on the end of them (unsurprisingly we’ve been using Bryston) and a good front end……the dCS Puccini (more on this to come soon)

An open window to the music is the best description we can think of without sounding like a magazine reviewer. All we want to do is listen to them…….after all, that’s what it’s all about, is it not?

Anyone thinking of investing in some serious new speakers…you need to hear these!