News/ Blog

Another great review for The Wand Turntable in EAR Magazine October 06 2022 1 Comment

EAR Magazine Editors Choice Wand 14-4 TonearmA musicians perspective, Chris Beeching said;

"There is something so definingly, assuredly resolute about the way in which it presents, or rather allows me to access, music. It’s unfussy, unpretentious, and at its heart, actually quite basic, but so very well engineered. The arm ‘just works’, and for me has now set a benchmark. Maybe not the absolute ultimate that could be achieved in vinyl replay, but for the money that’s being asked, so close that it needs serious consideration where the emotional content of music of a prerequisite."
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"Best Buy" for Wand Master 9.5in tonearm from Fidelity Magazine Germany. December 20 2017

The reviewer concluded ; ......The Wand Master can set new standards. Its relatively reasonable price lifts it very high up the Best-Buy-List. The New Zealander already has a fixed place high on my shopping list.

He used Ortofon Winfield and Grado Reference cartridges on a TW Acustic Raven turntable and compared it (favorably) to Thomas Schick and TW Acustic arms...

Thanks to Hans and Bernd for the translation.


The Universal Tonearm! HiFi & Musik Magazine Sweden July 07 2017

Swedish Magazine Hifi & Musik have just reviewed The Wand Tonearm® and applaud it as the “Universal Tonearm” after using it with no less than ten different cartridges. (in particular, saying it was the perfect arm for the Clearaudio Stradivari cartridge, which costs around 5x The Wand Plus that they reviewed it with)

They said; “Are there any disadvantages to in sound quality? In this test, the truth is, that I have not found a single problem with how The Wand presents music. It's could be said it does not have the same grip and precision as our familiar SME V, but being a unipivot, they have their own particular virtues of sufficient quantity. And in that way The Wand delivers less of the poetic story of Nottingham Analogue Ace Space can provide, So we’d say the combination of abilities  is greater than the sum of shortcomings. …… The design points to a perfect balance of these abilities. Against the fact that he wanted to create a good deal Tonearm for a reasonable money. What he has succeeded in constructing is one of the world’s best compromises between sound quality, operation and finish. In the final say The Wand always is a good alternative. No matter what tonearm you jam with. Highly recommended!

…and what they say about using it on a Linn is worthy of a separate post…..

 

Peripheral Equipment;

Cartridges

Clearaudio Stradivari,

Dynavector Karat 1703,

Gold Note Donatello Red, Hana SL,

Klsekl Purple Heart NS,

Koetsu Black,

Lyra Kleos,

Transfiguration Axia-S

Turntable Nottingham Analogue Space 294 HP Phono Stage · ASR Mini Basis Power Amplifier:  ATC SIA-2 150 Speaker ProAc Response 2.5



Audiophile Jazz Review; The Wand 12in/ S.A.M. Reference Turntable / ZYX 4D (and other) cartridges… December 29 2016

One of our customers Mike Sands, runs a website; Audiophile Jazz Review. He has recently published a review of his experiences with The Wand 12in (some extracts…)

Let’s just cut right to the chase for those who are impatient….like me….! If you’re looking for a tonearm that will allow whatever cartridge you use to be heard as designed. Then this strange looking, carbon fiber, cigar shaped marvel called “The Wand Plus” is it!  There you have it. Now the details….

For over a year I’ve put this arm through its paces on the S.A.M. Reference turntable using such notable cartridges as the, Denon DL160, ZYX R100H, Jasmine Tiger, Dynavector XX2 Mk II, Haniwa HCTR-01, and my current reference the ZYX 4D. Whatever cartridge used, the Wand allowed me to easily hear the characteristics of these fine pickups. The Dynavector’s characteristic ballsy bass and smoothness was easy to discern, as was the detail, clarity, and spaciousness of the Haniwa. But It wasn’t until I mounted the ZYX 4D that the magic started to happen. No disjointed hi-fi spectacular, just music!

Setting up the arm is a snap. It is easier than any arm I’ve had before which includes the Syrinx PU3 MKII, Zeta, Linn Ittok, Premier MMT, SME 309, and Origin Live Silver. This I attribute most to an ingenious setup jig supplied with the arm, which allows correct pivot distance and bearing height adjustments in less than a minute!

…..every now and then you find that special component whose performance belies their affordable price and relax knowing that you are hearing the truth from your system without having to mortgage the home. Such is the realization with the Wand/ZYX/Reference combination.

For the full review go to ; http://www.audiophilejazz.com/?page_id=56

There is a ZYX 4D focused review higher up on the page and a Wand 12in focused one lower down.


New TNT Review The Wand tonearm (and Hana cartridge) July 04 2016

New Review! TNT Audio (Italian - English Audio Review site) has a new review of The Wand Tonearm 9.5in Plus model with a bunch of budget cartridges ranging from a Rega Carbon to Hana SL (with the Hana models coming out top)TNT Audio Link


Stereoplay Magazine (Germany) gives The Wand Plus "Highly Recommended" May 17 2016

Stereoplay Magazine (Germany) gives The Wand Plus "Highly Recommended"

....apparently a good review but we can't read it.....


Swedish translates beautifully! February 10 2016

Swedish translates beautifully!

A couple of weeks ago our Swedish distributor Stylus Audio  sent a review from a local magazine Hifi&Music of The Wand Tonearm® fitted to an Analogue Works TT2 and using a Lyra Kleos cartridge. Only we couldn't read it.

Now we have a translation on the summary at the end of the review...

Sure, the combination costs a pretty penny and it is hard to discount the vertiginous precision in the detail that the Lyra cartridge contributes. But, I cannot recall having ever heard a Lyra sound as muscular and dynamic, and clearly the mechanically stable and low loss tonearm contributes to this. Yes, it feels as if the stylus movement is directly coupled to the amplifier. So, considering the price, the Wand presents itself as a true bargain!


Hana Cartridges score 5/5 with HiFi World (UK) January 12 2016

The first magazine review of Hana cartridges has come out in the UK magazine HiFi World.

They reviewed the Elliptical stylus EL & EH models and awarded both ‘Five Globes’ (of five)

With the verdict (EL); A wholly tolerant cartridge that is smoothing and engaging while praising it for –musical engagement, romantic mids, bass and value for money (at a UK retail of £276)

This is a nice symmetry as it was HiFi World who ran the first The Wand Tonearm® review (again awarding it five globes).

Design Build Listen is the New Zealand Distributor for Hana cartridges.

One of our local customers also commented;

The improvement in 3 dimensional accuracy was immediately obvious. It is a solid and precise sound without being at all clinical. The Hana has great timing and I very quickly forgot about the cartridge and just enjoyed the music. Richard B. New Zealand


October 2015 Issue of HiFi Choice now out with interview with Simon Brown about The Wand Tonearm. September 06 2015

October 2015 Issue of HiFi Choice is now out with interview with Simon Brown about The Wand Tonearm.

David Price has crafted a nice three page article from a rambling conversation about The Wand tonearm, it's design aims and origins.


The Wand Tonearm on zStereo February 06 2015

UK HiFi Journalist David Price has a wonderful personal selection of gear on a site called zStereo.

This includes all sorts of famous and obscure bits of gear from the past as well as some of the very latest gear. When he was editor of HiFi World, David published the first review of The Wand Tonearm so we are proud that he has added it to his listing with a nice review of the Classic model.

 


Australasian Analogue Action at the Sydney Audio Club November 24 2014

Vince from Once Analogue presented a very successful demonstration at the Sydney Audio Club on 16th Nov

The result obviously impressed them with the following comment;

".....the turntable I helped present at the Sydney Audio Club yesterday met the only real measure that a turntable should need to meet: exceptional and maybe even the best musical reproduction in its price range.
  It was an Australian Once Analog, with a NZ Wand tonearm and a fairly modest Grado Moving Iron cartridge."

For the full post, see; http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/topic/7681-tantalising-turntables/page-68


Great New Magazine Reviews for The Wand August 18 2014

The latest HiFi Choice (UK) magazine has a good review of The Wand Plus.

This is a follow up on Neville Robert's earlier review of The Wand Classic (which he awarded 5 stars) he concluded;

"The Wand Plus scores over the Classic in terms of features and refinement. The engineering is top class and this arm will certainly impart some magic to your recordings."

 

This follows last month's great review in HiFi Plus (UK) of The Wand Plus as fitted to an Analogue Works turntable One.

Where reviewer Alan Sircom commented; “What The Wand brings to the party is excitement. …. a sense of speed and energy and zest to the LP.    .....the bass has a real sense of shape and dynamism to it. Soundstaging, image separation and image solidarity are good too.." The full review is on the HiFi Plus website