Hi-Fi Choice

Hot on the heels of its Essential II (HFC 376), Pro-Ject has unveiled its follow-up Essential III. Manufactured from high-quality MDF and wrapped in a high-gloss paint finish (in a choice of red, white or black), the design will be familiar to those that know the II – even down to the three anti-vibration feet. The Essential III comes pre-fitted with an 8. 6in aluminium tonearm and Ortofon OM 10 cartridge (the II had the OM 5E).

Fittingly, Leema Acoustics chose the occasion of London’s Indulgence Show held in Hammersmith in mid-October to unveil its new hi-fi grade music server, Sirius. The result of a collaboration with music software specialist Innuos, the latest addition to Leema’s flagship Constellation component range is described as being the high-quality streaming music server system built for “discerning music lovers”. Offering straightforward operation, it’s claimed that Sirius makes backing up CD audio a breeze, with lossless FLAC, WAV, AIFF, ALAC, OGG Vorbis, AAC and MP3 formats available. An asynchronous USB DAC that’s based on a high-end ESS Sabre chip combines with an Xmos USB interface to provide support of 16, 24 and 32 bit-depths from 44.

The original AE1 appeared when Acoustic Energy was a startup business in 1987. It was widely acclaimed as a benchmark for compact loudspeaker designs, and earned the Gloucestershire-based company recognition around the world. Fast forward 30 years and home speaker systems have changed dramatically, and partly because of this and to celebrate the company's anniversary in 2017, Acoustic Energy's engineers have been hard at work on an active version of its popular original AE1. Designed in response to the changing desires of audio systems at home, the AE1 Active combines the company's traditional craftsmanship along with its Aego active sub/sat system experience with built-in amplification.

Welcome to the January 2017 issue! It may seem a little early to be welcoming in the new year with the first Hi-Fi Choice issue of 2017, but we’re already bursting into next year with exclusive reviews and the hottest news. Speaking of which, breaking news as we go to press with this issue is that Samsung is to acquire Harman International for a cash sum of $18bn. As one of the biggest names in the business, the US firm has its fingers in almost every sector of the audio market through a roll call of big-name brands that includes Harman Kardon, AKG and JBL, along with specialist premium audio brands Infinity and Mark Levinson et al. There had already been rumors circulating that Samsung was looking to buy a specialist audio brand, but it’s understood that Harman’s automotive connections are what ultimately secured the landmark deal as the smart-tech giant looks to move into these sectors.