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It’s an unfortunate side effect that as records spin on turntables, friction with the air causes them to constantly gain a static charge. The result is that a record’s level of frictional static electricity can reach up to anywhere between 3,000V and 20,000V. This electro-static noise interference, of course, has compromising effects on sound quality. Enter Furutech’s revolutionary SK-Filter, which aims to solves the problem.

A duo of new ‘Special Production’ speakers from Glasgow

In the 1986 hit, Huey Lewis and the News famously sang: “It’s hip to be square”, but is it really? Could it be that the man behind the eighties powerhouse The Power Of Love hadn’t quite managed to get his facts straight? There’s no doubt that when it comes to the most popular shape for loudspeakers, square – or perhaps more precisely rectangular – is the way to go. But what if someone were to break from the norm and come up with something a little bit more exciting looking? Could it really be possible to get a high-end performance from a shape other than those boring four straight lines that make up an oblong? And while they’re carrying out the process ofreinventing the audio equivalent of the wheel, how about making just one of the things, rather than the pair that we’ve hadto make room for up to now? Enter the clever folk at Geneva, who with the AeroSphère Large (HFC 407) have created something that looks more like a piece of high-concept furniture than a way to impress your friends and terrify audio traditionalists. Beneath that slightly flattened 40cm orb, is a rather more angular forward-facing structure that houses two 25mm tweeters, a brace of 102mm mid/bass drivers and an upward-firing 152mm subwoofer. These are configured within three separate acoustic chambers and powered by individual, DSP-optimised Class D amplifiers capable of some cunning fine tuning to suit your room via a free app that can be downloaded from the Geneva website.

New “game-changer” in multi-room audio

Gibson Innovations has unveiled the Philips BM5, which is the first product in its new Izzy multi-room platform, designed to make using multi-room music is as simple as possible. The idea being that the user simple connects to a single speaker using Bluetooth and then Izzy will automatically find and connect to all other Izzy products around the home. The BM5 connects easily to your playback device via Bluetooth and is equipped with two 2. 5in full-range drivers while an integrated bass port delivers what the company describes as "a true, deep low-end performance".

Analogue Studio 45 RPM Centre Hole Spindle Adapter Machined from a single block of aluminium, the 45 RPM Centre Hole Spindle Adapter is an elegant solution for playback of any singles that are missing their detachable centre. The adapter is simply fitted over the spindle of your turntable and the single will then fit over the outside of the adapter. The adapter is very well made and the aluminium finish looks great with any modern turntable. On sale at: Analogue Seduction Price: £8 Contact: 01733 350878 Website: analogueseduction.

It’s all very well filling your hi-fi rack with numerous separates, but there comes a time when space becomes a premium, when one box is so much more desirable than four or five. And that’s where Gold Note’s superb IS-1000 comes in. Described as the “complete all-in-one super integrated”, this quite phenomenal box of tricks neatly bridges the gap between a traditional integrated amplifier and a networked music streamer. At its heart, the IS-1000 is an integrated amplifier with a Class A/B output section capable of a 2x 125W into 8ohm (doubling to 250W into 4ohm loads).