Innholdsfortegnelse for March - April 2016 i Australian HiFi

I had a frightening Christmas break. Since I live in Sydney, at least half my time off was spent listening to the rain beating down on the roof… and, in my case, coming in through the roof and windows, and also flooding the back of my house. But that wasn’t the frightening bit. The frightening bit was when I started ripping my CDs to a new NAS. I decided this would be a great project for a rainy week. I could insert CDs and read books during the rips, thereby multi-tasking and not feeling even a bit guilty about not being out in the great outdoors. My first fright came when I opened the cases of some of my older double and triple-CD sets, many of which came with thin…

Yamaha has won a ‘Good Design’ award for its Relit LSX-70 portable lighting/audio system. A departure in design from Yamaha’s more traditional audio offerings, the Relit LSX-70 is a portable Bluetooth loudspeaker system that incorporates a mood light. ‘Adorned with luxurious finishes the LSX-70 presents itself as much as a furniture piece as a Bluetooth speaker capable of Yamaha’s trademark ‘natural’ sound quality,’ said Simon Goldsworthy, General Manager of Yamaha Music Australia who accepted the award for Yamaha. ‘We’re delighted that it’s won a Good Design award here in Australia, which comes on the back of its success in winning an iF Design award in Germany.’ The judges for the Good Design Award commented, ‘The Yamaha LSX-70 Portable Lighting/Audio System is a beautifully executed piece of design—beautiful to look at…

Canadian manufacturer Bryston has released its ‘Cubed Series’ amplifiers, which it says replaces the Squared Series that has been in production for the past seven years. ‘The SST3 series is a statement design platform ideal for music enthusiasts, home theatre installations and professional audio applications,’ said Bryston’s CEO, Chris Russell. Russell said the new line-up will be rolled out in phases during the year, with the 2.5B SST3, 3B SST3, 4BSST3, 7BSST3, and the 14BSST3 being first to market and the flagship 28B SST3 model following later. ‘All the new amplifiers feature a patented super-linear, low noise input buffer jointly developed by Bryston and the late Ph.D. engineer Dr Ioan Alexandru Salomie,’ said Russell. ‘The Cubed Series also has more robust r.f. and audio frequency noise filtering circuitry before the…

Melbourne-based distributor Audio Magic has been appointed the Australian distributor for Hana moving-coil phono cartridges, which are manufactured in Japan by Excel Sound Corporation. According to Aleksander Maksimovic, of Audio Magic, Excel Sound Corporation developed the Hana Series with an eye to ease-of-use and set-up, as well as to deliver high-performance reproduction. All four models in the range have aluminium cantilevers and crossed armatures and the two ‘S’ models have Shibata styluses, while the ‘E’ versions have standard elliptical styluses. ‘The nude natural diamond Shibata stylus is famed for its excellent high-frequency reproduction, its superb tracking, and its low distortion,’ Maksimovic told Australian Hi-Fi Magazine. ‘This means these cartridges will give you supreme transparency, a brilliant gorgeous sound, and excellent trackability.’ The range also has both high-output and low-output moving-coil…

The new, upgraded Schiit Vali 2 (it’s made in Valencia, California, despite the Germanic-sounding name) is now available in Australia from Addicted To Audio. Schiit says the Vali 2 has been significantly upgraded over the now-dated Vali, with higher output power, lower noise, lower distortion, and lower output impedance. It now has also gain switching and preamp outputs. But perhaps most importantly, it now has a ‘real’ valve, rather than the subminiature that was fitted to the original Vali. ‘This re-design has resulted in a headphone amplifier that’s a much more serious tube amp than anything else near its price point,’ said Jason Stoddard, who was a designer for Sumo before he co-founded Schiit Audio with Mike Moffat (founder of Theta, Theta Digital, and Angstrom). ‘Unlike most tube amps at—or…

Radiance Audio Visual is now distributing Denmark’s Densen products in Australia. It says one of the most popular models is the B-410XS CD Player, which also doubles-up as a DAC. One of the features that distinguishes the Densen B-410XS from most other CD players is that Densen developed its own software to control not only the CD drive, but also the complete user interface, including the display and the remote control. The CD drive itself is modified at Densen’s Danish factory so that the unit’s motherboard controls the system clock, to avoid jitter by using same clock at both the sending and the receiving ends of the data stream. The power supply of the B-410XS uses a large custom toroidal transformer with four separate output windings for the B-410XS’s four…

Bel Canto seems to be extending its product range almost by the month, which is no small achievement for a small high-end audio outfit that builds all its products in Minneapolis in the USA. The model number of its latest amplifier, the REF600M, takes its numerals (600) from its rated power output into 4 (600-watts). The following character (M) indicates that the amplifier is mono, so you’ll need a pair for stereo. Currently, there is no ‘S’ model—nor is there ever likely to be, for reasons that should shortly become obvious… THE EQUIPMENT Being a small company means having to think smarter with tooling, because otherwise the cost of a chassis alone can become a significant part of the overall manufacturing cost. But it’s not only manufacturing costs. An expensive…

Tom Waters: Do you have a first memory, a first unforgettable musical experience that left an impression? NN: Both my parents loved Western classical music and as a child I went to many concerts. We always had around the house some basic low-end mono equipment to play records with which I was always tinkering. I loved to take the covers off our Grundig tape deck and watch all the complex mechanics at play. And I remember thinking that tin foil was the toughest thing around so I used it to insulate myself from electricity. That wasn’t very clever—I did learn quickly though! TW: And did that start you on the hi-fi journey or did something else start you on the audio equipment quest? NN: By the time I…

“Any omissions? Yes… there’s no USB connectivity... which could turn out to be a potentially costly omission” In yet another inroad from the Pro studio arena into the audiophile/enthusiast space, Switzerland’s Merging Technologies’ NADAC (network-adaptable digital-to-analogue converter) has plans to disrupt the status quo of the established consumer high-end digital specialists. And, as if to rub further salt into the wounds of the competition at consumer level, the NADAC’s in-built Merging Technologies-developed Procredentialled Ravenna Ethernet network protocol allows connectivity (via standard RJ45-terminated Cat5e/6 cable) to a LAN and music server environment without the cable length limitations and other potential issues related to ye ole’ USB. Ethernet connectivity allows digital information to be sent across from the server (or dedicated computer source) to the NADAC in data packets transferred at gigabit…

ABOUT US Sydney Hi-Fi Castle Hill has been operating in the Hills district for twenty-five years. We specialise in quality Hi-Fi and Home Theatre products and back it up with many years of industry experience. Top quality brands and accessories partnered with our design team and custom installation options give our customers an unparalleled choice in Hi-Fi, home theatre and outdoor systems tailored to your individual requirements. SERVICE & SUPPORT With six dedicated sound lounges, including a custom theatre, a visit to our store is a true experience for the AV enthusiast. Our audio specialists have spent many years putting together music and theatre systems to meet the requirements of discerning listeners and it remains a true passion that we still enjoy today. Come in store today and experience outstanding…

THE PERFORMANCE OF Portable Digital Audio is improving rapidly, with the advent of high performance players (Astell & Kern for example), and a number of high-quality portable Digital to Analogue Converters coming onto the market, most notably from Oppo and Chord. The latest player to enter this field is Peachtree with ‘Shift’, a portable USB DAC and headphone amplifier. This unit bypasses the headphone output of your smartphone, tablet or laptop. It will drive the most demanding headphones, and can also be used between your laptop and powered desktop speakers. The improvement that the Shift will bring to either your smartphone or laptop is considerable. The DAC utilised in these devices is generally second-rate at best, and restricts the performance of your music. The use of a device such as…

IT’S NOT OFTEN we write about a product that we cannot sell you (well, not yet at least). I recently had the privilege of experiencing one of the listening highlights of my life (outside live music – and even then it came close). I had the opportunity to listen to a pair of Sennheiser Orpheus headphones, one of only two pairs in the world. There is not much that Sennheiser doesn’t know about designing and manufacturing headphones – they have been doing it, and doing it well, since 1968. So when they set out to make the world’s best headphone, you know you are in for something special, and they did not disappoint. Admittedly, price was obviously not a consideration… the Orpheus will sell for around $70,000 a pair when…

THE VINYL RESURGENCE is well documented – there is even an official top 30 vinyl chart in the UK. However the vinyl market is about to go 21st century with the Pro-Ject Essentials 11 Digital turntable (pictured right). Not only does this turntable have a built-in phono stage for connection to amplifiers without a phono stage, it also has an optical output. That’s right, it has an in-built A/D (analogue-to-digital) converter, and will connect into any device with a digital input. This is ideal for any consumer who still has a vinyl collection, or is captivated by the technology but has moved to an all-digital base. At this stage we don’t have a definite release date for this model, or even a price, but it will be an intriguing product…

“hooking it into to your home network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, you’ll discover support for virtually every music file format all the way up to 24-bit/192kHz...” NAIM HAS DELIVERED an exciting new addition to the Mu-so family – the compact Mu-so Qb. Using much of the componentry of the bigger Mu-so, this cube-like speaker is significantly smaller and more affordable, making it ideal for places where bench space is at more of a premium such as kitchen, bedrooms or smaller apartments. It carries over much of the design language of its bigger sibling, including the touchscreen round control dial for selecting functions and controlling volume, plus stylish detail touches such as gorgeous aluminium metalwork, including the heat-sink detailing and the oh-so-subtle speaker grille ripple. If you want to get personalised,…

Absolute Hi End is now the Australian distributor for Tri-Planar tonearms. Tri-Planar’s founder and designer, Herb Papier, was originally a watchmaker who received official recognition from the US Navy for his expertise in chronometer calibration. He started building tonearms in 1967 in Wheaton, Maryland, though at that time his tonearm was known as the ‘Wheaton’ decoupled arm. After Papier’s death in 2003, the company has been run solely by Tri Mai, who had purchased it from Papier four years earlier, and produces only three tonearms. ‘All three Tri-Planar tonearms use the unique dual-pivot design developed by Papier that provides unrivalled tracking, transparency and resolution,’ said Boris Granovsky, of Absolute HiEnd. ‘Tri-Planar tonearms create a musical sound stage unmatched by any other… one that’s powerful and dynamic, solid yet expressive, delicate…

Many very good phono stages have made it into production, but nearly all are complicated to use, with adjustments having to be made via DIP switches, links, or by inserting resistors and capacitors. On Dan D’Agostino’s new Momentum phono stage all adjustments are made via the front panel using pushbuttons that control gain, 16 resistive loads for the two MC inputs, 16 resistive and capacitive loads for the MM input and select any one of five different phono equalisation curves (RIAA, FFRR, RCA, Columbia, or DGG). In order to get the a.c. power supply as clean as possible, the Momentum’s power transformer is in a separate chassis, and the rectification and regulation circuits are built into the base on which the Momentum sits. ‘In doing this, Dan has given the…

Pass Laboratories has released its first headphone amplifier, the HPA-1. All its circuitry is discrete and the output stage employs direct-coupled MOSFETs that the company says make the HPA-1 capable of driving any headphone load from 15 to 600 ‘while still maintaining unrivalled dynamics.’ A custom-made, low-noise shielded toroidal power transformer supplies raw voltage to a discrete low-noise fully-regulated power supply that feeds both the J-FET input stages and the MOSFET output stages. The front panel has a single high-quality headphone jack plus input selector switches, while the rear panel sports two sets of single-ended analogue RCA inputs and a set of switchable preamp line-level output jacks, which flag Pass Labs’ intent that the HPA-1 should also be used as a stereo preamplifier. Volume control is done in the analogue…

Pioneer has released three new high-powered, 9.2-channel AV receivers that support both DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. All three offer nine channels of Class-D amplification, with the SC-LX89 rated at 260-watts per channel into 4 , the SC-LX5 rated at 250-watts per channel into 4 , and the SC-LX rated at 240-watts per channel (all figures with only a single channel driven). ‘The three models produce the ideal surround-sound environment that lines up and simultaneously drives the playback conditions of all speakers based on Pioneer’s multi-channel stereophonic philosophy, which achieves stereophonics between all adjacent speakers,’ says Shelden Walker, audio product manager at Powermove Distribution, which distributes Pioneer in Australia. ‘Through Direct Energy HD amplifiers that enable high-power output on all channels simultaneously and MCACC Pro 4, which corrects temporal reverb characteristics…

Klipsch has released a pair of small two-way powered monitor loudspeakers, the Reference R-15PM, which are being distributed in Australia by Powermove Distribution. In addition to conventional analogue inputs, the Klipsch R-15PM ($1,299 per pair) powered monitors have phono, digital optical and USB audio inputs as well as a Blue-tooth capability, plus they also have a wired subwoofer output so anyone who wants more bass than these small two-way bookshelf speakers can deliver has an easy expansion path. The R-15PMs come with a dedicated infra-red remote for access to system features such as dedicated source selection, track controls and play/pause options. In common with Klipsch’s passive reference models, the new R-15PM powered monitors feature proprietary 90° × 90° ‘Tractrix’ horns that are driven by titanium dome tweeters. The bass/midrange drivers…

“Particularly exciting is that when it comes to connecting it to your hi-fi system you have three options—two analogue and one digital…” Simplicity. It’s a beautiful thing. Albert Einstein was a huge fan. He’s often quoted as having said ‘Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler’, though there’s scant evidence that he ever said this. We do know, however, that he was a fan of simplification, because in his Herbert Spencer Lecture (titled ‘On The Method of Theoretical Physics’) which he delivered in Oxford, on June 10, 1933, he said pretty much the same thing, but expressed it far more elegantly, to wit: ‘It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and…

Despite being a small boutique brand, German company Lindemann audiotechnik has been consistently ahead of the game for most of its twenty-plus-year existence. It was one of the first high-end manufacturers to build a USB–SPDIF adaptor, which preceded its introduction of one of the first USB DACs. So you can see that the company has embraced the concept of what’s now being called ‘computer audio’ right from the start. Yet unlike some manufacturers of computer audio equipment, Lindemann has not eschewed legacy formats entirely. If you look very closely at the photograph of the musicbook:25 network music player reviewed here, you’ll see a CD slot, so you do have the option of ‘conventional’ digital playback if you would like. And if you don’t want a CD capability, Lindemann makes an…

Legend Acoustics’ Kurre loudspeaker is one of its longest-lived designs, having been originally released in 1995: back then it was only the second model to be released by this now award-winning Australian loudspeaker manufacturer. That it’s taken twenty years to get to Version 8 is proof of the superiority of the original design. However this latest version marks a marked departure for the Kurre, because it now has a metal-coned bass/midrange driver and the cabinet is now sealed, rather than ported. THE EQUIPMENT The original Kurre had a head-start in the research and development stakes because much of its R&D was built on what Legend Acoustics’ founder and owner, Dr Rod Crawford, had learned while he was designing speakers for famous Scottish manufacturer Linn. For example, while the exterior of…

WE ARE CONSTANTLY amazed at how quickly people write off a technology as soon as the next new thing appears on the horizon. We have been in business long enough to witness ‘the demise of vinyl’ when CD was released some decades ago – it’s been a very long drawn-out demise!! We are now seeing similar predictions for the demise of CD, with the advent of high quality streaming. There can be no doubt that CD sales are suffering. However we believe that the predictions of the death of the CD player are greatly exaggerated, and obviously so does Musical Fidelity... “The Nu-Vista CD player is also a very high quality 32-bit DAC, featuring two coaxial and two optical inputs.” Nu-Vista CD We have recently received the Nu-Vista CD player,…

THE ELARA SERIES is a departure from the usual offerings from Triangle, as the tweeter is not horn-loaded. Their use of a silk-dome tweeter here is a more traditional approach to speaker design – however they have utilised the rear mounted radiator usually reserved for their much higher priced models. The other unusual design feature is their dispensing with dust-caps for both the mid/bass and bass drivers. The Elara range is, by Triangle’s standards, a budget series, but they have not cut any corners with the LN07. They are beautifully built, come in high-gloss black or white, are easy to drive, and given the price of $2,599 a pair, they offer exceptional value for money. They are equally at home in either Home Theatre or two-channel applications.…

ONE AMPLIFIER THAT we have been playing with for a while (and which was a huge brand for us in days gone by) is the Perreaux Audiant 80i integrated amplifier. It is amazing how gems sometimes slip under the radar. Firstly, and most importantly, this is a very good sounding amplifier, its performance belying its $4,200 price tag. There is no shortage of fine-sounding amps out there, but most then fall down in the practical side of the offering – or worse still, there are many amplifiers that offer all the bells and whistles, but disappoint sonically. The Audiant 80i is a high-current MOSFET design rated at 80 watts/channel into 8 ohms, and 130 watts into 4 ohms. It features eight stereo inputs, including asynchronous USB, coaxial and optical digital…

High-quality streaming The advent of CD-quality streaming sites such as Tidal has changed consumer expectations when it comes to wireless streaming products such as Bluesound. We all want the convenience that we are now accustomed to, but we are also now expecting a level of performance that is on par with what we have experienced with component Hi-Fi of past. Bluesound is cashing in on this shift. Wireless multi-room streaming systems are all the rage at the moment – and it appears that everyone wants to get in on the act, which for many can be a daunting task after giving Sonos a 10-year head-start. HOWEVER THERE ARE a number of companies who have made good inroads into the market – and one of the most notable is Bluesound. This…

Denon has released a new entry-level AV receiver, the AVRX520BT (RRP $599). Based on Denon’s X Series AV models, it’s a 5.2-channel full-4K Ultra HD Receiver with Bluetooth streaming along with a unique Bluetooth App control, and full HDCP 2.2 for the latest HDMI specification support. There are five HDMI inputs, all of which are 3D compatible and three of which support HDCP 2.2/4K60p, as well as support for full rate 4K Ultra HD along with 4:4:4 Pure Colour sub-sampling pass-through. Bluetooth connectivity means you can stream your favourite audio tracks. The receiver can remember up to eight paired Bluetooth devices and is also equipped with a front-panel USB port. Denon has a Bluetooth App (Denon 500 Series Remote App) that allows you to control the AVR-X520BT from any Bluetooth…

Graham Audio has released its LS5/8 loudspeakers, which it says are ‘the big brother’ to the LS5/9. Although the original BBC-designed LS5/8 was an active speaker, the Graham Audio version designed by Derek Hughes is a passive bass-reflex design, using a bespoke 305mm Diophantine polypropylene bass/midrange driver made for Graham Audio by Volt Loudspeakers and a 25mm 13D34H Audax tweeter which together deliver a claimed frequency response of 40Hz–16kHz ±3dB at 89dBSPL when driven by a 2.83V input. ‘Thanks to these two drivers, and Derek’s masterful passive crossover design, this new model greatly improves on the resolution and imaging of the original speakers,’ said George Neophytou, of Neophonics, which distributes Graham Audio in Australia. ‘But although the tonal balance and natural sound of the speakers is greatly improved over the…

Synergy Audio Visual has announced that Pryma headphones are for the first time available in Australia. ‘Pryma headphones are all handmade in Vicenza, in Italy, and the brand is an exciting new venture by World of McIntosh (WOM), which owns Audio Research, McIntosh, Sonus faber, Sumiko and Wadia,’ said Phillip Sawyer, of Synergy Audio Visual, which distributes all six brands in Australia. Pryma headphones are available in five distinct designs—Coffee/ Cream, Black, Gold, Rose Gold/Dark Grey and Carbon Marsala—and all use 40mm-diameter mylar-diaphragms driven by neodymium magnets. Nominal impedance is 32 and WOM claims all Pryma headphones will deliver 118dBSPL with an input of just a single milliwatt, with distortion at less than 0.1%. All headphones have interchangeable headbands made from Italian leather with breathable microfibre interiors, die-cast lightweight aluminium…

Audio Active, which distributes Tannoy in Australia, has released a new entry-level loudspeaker series, called Eclipse. Three models are available now, the Eclipse One (a bookshelf model), and the Eclipse Two and Eclipse Three (both floor-standers); a smaller bookshelf and a centre-channel will become available later this year. ‘This new entry-level hi-fi series from Tannoy redefines the budget loudspeaker market,’ said Paul Clarke, of Audio Active. ‘By distilling Tannoy’s technologies and engineering expertise to their basic, essential elements, refining manufacturing processes and offering a stylish, black oak finish, these Eclipse models redefine performance for budget loudspeakers, offering audiophile quality music reproduction at outstanding value for money.’ The drivers used in the Eclipse models are new designs for Tannoy. Common to all models, the new tweeter has a 28mm woven polyester…

Around fifteen years have elapsed since the Super Audio CD was introduced. Sony and Philips had hoped that this new 12cm optical disc format might replace the CD. As we all know, both SACD and DVD-Audio—the competing high resolution audio disc format—never made any headway outside the audiophile community. But now, with increasingly fast Internet speeds and increasingly cheap digital storage, the high-resolution digital audio first provided on SACD and DVD-Audio is now available for download. The SACD-equivalent downloads are in the form of DSD—Direct Stream Digital, the underlying digital format used for SACD. The DVD-Audio-equivalent downloads are typically in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) which simply contains the granddaddy of digital audio formats: PCM (Pulse Code Modulation). But while the ground has shifted, the battle continues. Since the start…

IT MAY APPEAR incongruous to produce a Soundbar with Atmos technology – after all, one is a simplistic and relatively inexpensive solution, and the other is cutting-edge technology aimed at homes with high-end Home Theatre installations. Yet Yamaha appear to have married the two beautifully. There is no way that any Soundbar, irrespective of how good it is, will ever give you the performance of a component system with individual speakers. In all fairness, though, this is not the intention. A Soundbar is a valid option for anyone when 1) they cannot fit numerous speakers into their living environment; 2) traditional speakers do not suit the aesthetics, or 3) the interest in the technology is not great enough to justify the cost and effort. Nevertheless, the Yamaha YST-5600 is a…

ONE COMPANY THAT has set the DAC world alight is Chord. The success of their rather unique products, such as Hugo, 2Qute and Mojo, has been extraordinary, and with good reason. Their latest DAC, with the unusual name of DAVE, has recently hit our shelves. This rather unconventional looking product is a highly advanced reference-grade DAC, digital preamp and headphone amplifier. Selling for $17,800 and hand-made in Kent, DAVE is based around a proprietary FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) offering more than ten times the program capacity of its predecessor. At its heart lies a new (and in electronics terms, huge) LX75 version of the Spartan 6 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The FPGA’s extraordinary capability enables a number of key sonic benefits including significantly improved timing and the best…

THE MODERN HOME is becoming increasingly tech savvy, and not just for entertainment purposes. Convenience is a huge drawcard, too. Whether you’ve got a spare room by way of the basement or have a full house and hectic schedule, decking out your house with the latest tech solutions can create flow and make life more enjoyable. This existing 6.9m x 3.9m basement room in our client’s residence in Sydney’s Bexley North was once an unloved junk room for a family of six. But it was always our client’s dream to have a home cinema installed there for him and his family to enjoy, equivalent in sound and picture to the quality of a commercial theatre. For this project we combined forces with builder/theatre designer Andrew Fenton of Trade A Management…

WHILE LISTENING TO the Sennheiser Orpheus (see page 13), I could not help but compare them to what has always been my favourite headphone brand, and that is the electrostatic headphone manufacturer Stax. Obviously the Sennheiser is the superior product – hands down. But at the same time it did highlight just how good Stax is. It can hold its own – at a very much more affordable price. Stax have just announced some new models, something that they do not do very often, and hopefully by the time you receive this newsletter we will have the first of these new releases in stock. The SRS-5100 system will be replacing both of the existing SRS-3170 and SRS-4170 systems. This new system consists of the SR-L500 electrostatic earspeaker (pictured left) and…

“Some speakers work better with specific amplifiers. SAM (Speaker Active Matching) is Devialet’s answer – all speakers work well with their amplifiers...” DEVIALET’S PRODUCTS are like nothing this industry has seen before. This is a company which has obviously started at the end goal of music reproduction and then worked back to the product development that would achieve this, rather than the traditional approach of trying to improve on what has gone before. We predict that we will see much more of this type of thinking in the future. Hi-Fi, the reproduction of recorded music as accurately as possible, will explode in the near future. Consumers are starting to listen to music again. For decades they have been seduced by Home Theatre (which will continue as a strong market) and…

RICHTER, THE AUSTRALIAN speaker company, has been around since 1986, and during this time they have sold thousands of loudspeakers onto the Australian market. Recognising that the time has come for an upgrade for many of these speakers, Richter have instigated a trade-back program for older models. The offer is that if you trade-in any Richter speakers on a new pair of Richters, you will receive the minimum trade-in allowances listed below. Please note that these are minimum allowances, and depending on model and condition the value of your trade-in could exceed the figures listed above.…