HiFi ACCESSORIES CHRISTMAS BUYER’S GUIDE

I have seven HiFi accessory items for you, because it’s such an obviously round number

Some are brand new. Well, new to me at any rate. One or two are old favourites but I wonder if they might have passed you buy so I’m giving them a shout out right now.

Onto our first contender then.

ARCHIFIX BOX

I recently did a review of German company, Knosti’s Disco Antistat MkII+ manual vinyl disc cleaner. The nice thing about that machine is that, if you’re not using it, the drying rack stores underneath the bath to reduce the storage footprint.

But where do you put the actual bath itself when you’re not using it? On a shelf somewhere? Well Knosti now provides an option to store your Disco Antistat. That latest Mk.II+ or one of the older variants. 

Called the Archifix Box, you can use it to store your Disco Antistat and a few pieces of vinyl or the Disco Antistat and your bottle of liquid or the Disco bath and the drying shelf separated for quick access or just vinyl or whatever. Of course, you can buy more than one and stack those horizontally or vertically. Most storage options like this are made from MDF but this one is constructed from tough ABS plastic which is antistatic, heat resistant, hard wearing and scratch resistant. 

Price is €24.99. In the UK I’ve seen various price points ranging from around £30 down to £20 or so. So shop around. 

PHILE

This next accessory is also new and it comes all the way from Sydney, Australia, although they work with specialists across their region. 

The company is called Phile, which is a marvellous play on words because they provide an alternative CD storage option called Phile CD. A place to file away your silver discs. 

The aim of the game is to produce a sustainable option, one that saves space over and above your typical jewel case or pregnant digipak and to provide protection for those precious discs. 

Each case is designed to hold the disc, the cover booklet and rear tray art if supplied. 

Each case is also just 4mm wide, half the width of a typical jewel case. While the material used includes acid-free card and recyclable PVC.

The idea of the look? To be understated. The company says that the packaging is non-abrasive, using an antistatic Tyvec lining. 

I checked out Tyvek. Made by Dupont, it’s non woven fibrous material that is apparently tear and puncture resistant, a water-resistant yet breathable material, rejects bacteria so slows down the ageing process of the disc because of that and is non abrasive. It also doesn’t include binders, fillers and plasticisers.

You can buy the Phile CD covers in sets of 10, 20 or 50. Free samples are available if you want to check those out first throughout Europe, North America, South East Asia and Australasia. Prices?

1. x 10 for $35 (currently £19)
2. x 20 for $60 (£32)
3. x 50 for $135 (£71)

So, as you might expect, the more you buy, the lower the unit cost. That starts at £1.90 per sleeve for 10 reducing to £1.42 per sleeve for a pack of 50.

SOUNDECK VTAA

Bit of a double header now from the UK company Soundeck and a pair of useful tools for your turntable.

First up is the SOUNDECK VTAA. A supremely simple little gadget. Basically a thick piece of Perspex that stands, hands-free on your platter with lines etched on top, used to make sure your tonearm is lying perfectly horizontally or to see if your cartridge is running a little high or low.

If you need to correct and your turntable allows that to happen in the first place, then this tool provides a useful reference. Now yes, you can find variations of these tools all over places like eBay but many provide different gauge patterns or colours.

Soundeck offers you another choice. I use it all of the time when installing tonearms, cartridges and even platter mats. Price is £10.

SOUNDECK DAMPING PUCK

Next is a turntable stabiliser called the Soundeck Damping Puck. Priced at £75, this stabiliser is machined from stainless steel – weighing in at around 390g – in two parts then bonded with SDS (that’s Sound Damped Steel) noise absorbing polymers. This is the same approach to the isolation feet and platter mats I’ve reviewed from the company in the past. This stabiliser adds mass to damp the bearing and add focus if you think your turntable needs that.

As well as adding mass, which is what other stabilisers do, the Soundeck sample here incorporates the constrained layer to tackle vibration. 

Doing a quick sound test, I played Ella Fitzgerald’s 1963 LP These are the Blues on Verve and the track Jail House Blues via my Michell TecnoDec and Goldring 1042 cartridge and noted the enhanced clarity and tightened bass when I added the Soundeck stabiliser. Before? The track was a little dull, rounded off treble and upper mids and flabby bass. After? Such a clearer listing experience, the vibration from the organ, the ‘ting’ of the cymbal taps, the bass added strength to the track too. I like this stabiliser a lot.

There is an aluminium version which weighs in at 270g which is more suited to suspension/sprung decks. The spring tension may have to be adjusted for that one.

MA INNER SLEEVES

For vinyl accessories fans who want nothing but the best, from the USA but made in Japan are inner sleeves from MA Recordings. Unlike sleeves from MoFi, for example,  the MA sleeves are single layer, relatively strong and made from the same material that is used in Japanese Shoji Window treatments.

The sleeve material is made from a combination of two, very soft, synthetic microfibres which are randomly “woven” so that the material is permeable. They are also not abrasive in any way.

These sleeves are quite soft to the touch. They will protect your vinyl but they will also cause no additional harm to the outer sleeve they sit within. And that side is often ignored, the potential long-term abrasion between the inner sleeve and outer sleeve. Which may be a factor, especially for rare record packages.

One large difference between the MA sleeves and all other competitors is that the MA sleeves do not trap moisture, the material releases moisture from the vinyl to the outside world. Which is why the Japanese love the material in Shoji windows. So if you live in a damp environment or you don’t thoroughly dry your vinyl after cleaning, then that means the threat of mould build up or other residues is reduced by using these inners. Price? £40 for a pack of 50. 

DEKONI ACCESSORIES

Headphones accessories outfit Dekoni has a number of new releases so lets check those out before we do anything else. 

Focal Bathys Elite Earpad Series which is priced at $89.99

Dekoni’s Elite series of earpads apparently maintain the performance of the original headphones but also improve isolation properties. 

Onto the Audeze LCD Vegan Earpad Series, priced at $89.99

Audeze discontinued their Vegan pads almost a decade ago but Dekoni has brought them back. 

Meze 109 Pro Elite Earpad Series – $89.99

Dekoni’s Elite series uses three options – Sheepskin, Hybrid and Fenestrated Sheepskin.

Audeze Maxwell Elite Earpad Series – $49.99-$79.99

Audeze has quickly become one of the most respected gaming headphone brands out there and the Maxwell solidified their reputation. With its advanced technology and design features, it was only right that Dekoni produce a range of earpads for this extremely popular gaming headset. The Audeze Maxwell Elite earpads are available in Velour or Sheepskin – each taking the Maxwell to a new level.

Finally and coming soon are Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Choice Leather Earpads. No price as yet but the mix of leather and foam apparently enhances the comfort level. 

GLORIOUS STORAGE 

From the storage people, a slightly more expensive accessory. Glorious comes the Vinyl Vault modular system, available in black or white. This is a home-build flat pack system that uses a half-height drawer system to store your records.

Each drawer offers space for up to 80, 12” records, 160 in all for each unit. The idea is that you get access to vinyl at the back of the drawer by pulling the drawer out via its full-extension runner, then you can riffle through your collection. The rear of the drawer is also adjustable for flexible record loading.

Each Vinyl Vault comprises two drawers placed in a vertical orientation. You can then buy additional units, snuggle them up to each other and thus expand your storage options horizontally. 

Each Vault features pre-drilled mounting holes for wall mounting and stability. 

Price is £209 or €219.99.

And that’s your lot, my friends. I hope you have enjoyed this quick HiFi accessory survey. If you think I might have missed an important accessory or if you might have a favourite of your own that is not included above, please add it in the comments. If you can let us all know the price and a weblink, that would be useful too. Thanks.