Genus Type-R review

A rare tactile treat, the Type R is a fascinating combination of 70s retro and up to date technology Tested at £150.00

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

It looks and feels the business, but the execution here leaves something to be desired

Pros

  • +

    Style, style and more style

  • +

    beautifully built, too

Cons

  • -

    Erratic touchscreen controls are frustrating

  • -

    sound just too thick

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A rare tactile treat, the Type R is a fascinating combination of 70s retro and up to date technology. In fact. Its control panel aside, it looks just like a vintage Roberts or Hacker model, and we're not entirely unsure that Roberts don't still make radios that look like this. Anyway, its side panels are wooden, its handle and top-plate are anodised metal and the controls all touch-sensitive.

All well and good so far, but it's a different story when the Type R is in operation. The controls are erratic, making tuning or adjusting volume more taxing than it should be, and the sound – while offering lush scale to classical pieces – renders contemporary stuff soupy and ill-defined.

What Hi-Fi?

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